Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

The Rolling Drums of War
Nov 22nd, 2009
CommentaryJerusalem Watchman - Stan Goodenough
Categories: The Nation Of Israel;Warning;War

It’s never quiet in the Middle East, but sometimes the drums are muted. They roll like faraway thunder. You hear them, you know they are out there, but they’re not pressing in on your consciousness, not demanding your attention or causing you to act. Your life - our life - continues as normal.

This is both a blessing and a pity. It’s a blessing because no-one can live constantly hyped on the edge of expectation for an imminent conflict explosion.

On the downside, there’s the tendency to switch off - the danger of losing one’s own edge.

That airforce jet patrolling high over Jerusalem for the third time this morning is just another plane on patrol - never mind that we haven’t heard them this frequently for some time. The interview given by jailed venerated “Palestinian” leader - Marwan Barghouti - last week was just another interview and not a coded message to both the Fatah and Hamas terrorist cells to unleash a “Third Intifada” against Israel.  The latest rash of scary headlines? They’re just that - the latest rash.

And the drum rolls on.

In Ha’aretz this morning I read, “Iran set to hold ‘huge’ war games.”

My laptop is shouting the latest threat from Iran’s religious leaders: “We’ll hit the heart of Tel Aviv.”

They can: IDF Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi warned just 12 days ago that Tehran’s proxy army, the Lebanese Hizb’allah - now has rockets that can hit all of Israel’s major cities, including Jerusalem. And Iran has test-fired missiles from its own territory with the range to reach Israel’s heart.

That we’re well into the countdown towards a major war with Iran seems a given. Few Israelis believe this issue - a nuclear-armed Iran - will simply go away; or be diplomatically defused.

Despite this, there is little sense of nervousness on the street. Like us, everyone else seems to be living life as usual.

In fact, it seems on some days as if Israel’s friends “out there” in the wider world - and notably in the United States - are far more concerned about the threat hovering over us than we are.

When it happens? What then? When Israel hits Iran, what will happen in Haifa; what will happen in Tel Aviv; what will happen in Jerusalem?

That’s the first question. No-one seems to have the answer to it so no-one is even talking about it.

The second question? How will the Israeli strikes be reported abroad? When IAF fighters bomb Natanz and the other nuclear facilities, what will Israel be accused of in the court of world opinion?

And when - may God not let it happen - Iranian warheads start dropping on Dizengoff Street and Jaffa Road, on the Haifa Bay area and on the Old City, what will you hear, and how will you respond?

Hopefully you will hear something about it here on Jerusalem Newswire and the Jerusalem Watchman. Unless our Internet access is knocked out we’ll do what we can to keep you in our part of the loop.

But brace yourselves: Israel - already painted a war criminal by Judge Goldstone - is going to be blamed for the fallout of the inevitable strike. And that fallout could reach us all.

Earlier this year, during Operation Cast Lead, we saw the power of the media to turn people who were staunchly for Israel against the Jewish state.

With Iran it will be much bigger. Huge. What will you do? It’s probably worth asking yourself that question now, before it happens.

If hitting Iran brings American interests under attack - propelling the price of gas through the roof and crashing the precarious economy to the ground; when the world as you know it is collapsing around you, you will need to guard your heart.

It’s not too early to prepare for this now. It may nearly be too late.

We’d better get ready - on our knees

The Mark of the beast
Nov 22nd, 2009
Weekly CommentaryArt Sadlier
Categories: Commentary;Prophecy;Exhortation

John tells us in Revelation 13:16 about the mark of the beast. The Antichrist will arise out of the Revived Roman Empire, he will, by the midpoint of the tribulation period, become a dictator who will control and enslave the entire world. He will then proceed to cause all to worship him.

“And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” Revelation 13:16-17.

There has never in all of history, until this present hour, a time when this prophecy could be fulfilled. In the last decade we have been introduced to Bio Chip Technology. It is now possible to place a micro chip smaller than a grain of rice, under the skin. This chip, like the micro chip in the newest credit cards, can potentially store everything relating to the individual. It could be used to receive wages, to pay bills as a credit card, in fact it could be used to totally monitor and control the bearer. It could limit him from being able to carry on business and to prevent him  from buying or selling.

That which Bible students were perplexed over for centuries concerning the mark of the beast, is now understood and ready to be put into operation. One of the big questions has been how could this ever be made operational on a world wide scale?

We have now learned that India is planning to give biometric Ids to its 1.16 billion people. When you consider that the mark of the beast will not be used until the mid tribulation point, it now seems  possible to implement the mark of the beast on a world scale. This technology is being rapidly developed with breakthroughs coming at a steady pace.

Wherever you look at end time prophecy, the pieces are falling into place. The time is at hand, we are even at the doors.

“And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” Luke 21:28

Revelation14:8
Nov 22nd, 2009
Exploring RevelationArt Sadlier
Categories: Commentary;Prophecy;One World Church

Vision three - "And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations to drink of the wine of her of the wrath of her fornication."  Verse 8. This is the announcement of the fall of religious Babylon, this takes place at the mid-trib point.

The first Babylon was on the Euphrates River in Iraq.  The second Babylon is the city of Rome.  Babylon is not just a city, but a system, a religious, political system, government and religion united to make,

1. An earthly Utopia (without God) by human effort,
2. A religion to reach heaven by human effort.    Its goal is to unite the world in this effort.

The destruction of the city of Babylon – (not the system) by the Medo-Persians (539 BC) Jeremiah 51:11.  This was prophesied for the immediate future, not 2500 years later.  “And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling place for dragons, an astonishment and a hissing, without an inhabitant”, Jeremiah 51:36-37.

J. Vernon McGhee: “Note that this utter desolation is to follow not some future overthrow, but the sack of the city resulting from the turning aside of the waters of the river. The Euphrates which flowed directly through Babylon was diverted from its course, which left an entryway at each end for warriors of the enemy to enter under the walls in the dry riverbed, by this maneuver they were able to appear suddenly in the streets and take the city by surprise. 

The destruction was to be complete – Jeremiah 51:29, 37, 43. “Come against her from the utmost border, open her storehouses; cast her up in heaps, and destroy her utterly: Let nothing be left of her,” Jeremiah 50:26.

J. Vernon McGhee: “You can look at Babylon today; it is a heap of ruins. It was utterly destroyed!

Smith’s Bible Dictionary (page 31): “Babel, Babylon (Gate of God). Capital on the plain of Shinar, Gen10:10. Built, 2600 B.C., on both sides of the River Euphrates, a vast square, 56 miles in circuit. About 5 miles above Hillah, on the east bank of the river, are a great many artificial mounds of enormous size in three groups. Scarcely a trace of these walls can be found now, except it may be a few mounds which are supposed to mark some of the gates.” (page 219) “330 B.C. Alexander found the great temple of Belus in so ruined a condition that it would have required the labour of 10,000 men for two months even to clear away the rubbish with which it was encumbered. His designs for the restoration of the temple and general embellishment of the city were frustrated by his untimely death, and the removal of the seat of the empire to Antioch under the Seleucide gave the finishing blow to the prosperity of the place.”

Since then, Babylon has been a quarry from which all the tribes in the vicinity have perpetually derived the bricks with which they have built their cities. The “great city,” “the beauty of the Chaldee’s excellency”, has thus emphatically “become heaps” (Jer.51:37) She is truly “an astonishment and a hissing, without inhabitant.” Her walls have altogether disappeared – they have “fallen”, (Jer. 51:44) been ”thrown down”, (50:15) been ”broken utterly”, (51:58) A “drought has been upon her waters” (50:38), for the system of irrigation, on which Babylonia fertility altogether depends has long been laid aside; ”her cities” are everywhere “a desolation” (51:43) her “land a wilderness;” wild beasts of the desert: (jackals) “lie there”, and the “owls dwell there”. The natives regard the whole site as haunted, and neither will the “Arab pitch tent, nor the shepherd fold sheep there” (Isaiah 13:20).

The destruction was to be final (never to be restored again – Jer. 50:39, 51:44, 62, 64,   Isaiah 13:20,21   n.b. Isaiah 13: 19  The reference to the overthrow of Sodom & Gomorrah may be a prophetic reference to Rev. 17:16, which refers to the yet future destruction of the second (Eschatological) Babylon. This is not an uncommon device in the prophetic scriptures.   For example Isaiah 9:6,7is a prophetic reference to two separate events at least 2000 years apart with no explanation given.  Also Isaiah 61:2 is a prophetic reference to two separate events at least 2000 years apart with no explanation.

The Second (Eschatological) BABYLON IS not literal historical Babylon - Excerpts from Feinberg (page 329)”The reason is that the Apostle John is not speaking of literal, historical Babylon. First - he uses the word “mystery” with reference to Babylon. This conveys the force of a mystical Babylon. Second – The book of Revelation uses proper nouns figuratively: 1- Jezebel (2:20); 2- The key of David (3:7); 3- Jerusalem (The new) comes down out of heaven (21:2, 10); 4- Sodom and Egypt (11:8); 5- Gog and Magog (20:8); not the same geographical areas of Ezek. 38and 39.  6- Babylon chapters 17and 18 not the city of Mesopotamia, which was situated on a plain, (17:9)”

The chief references to Babylon are in Genesis, the Prophetic Books and Revelation. The references indicate that the city of old signified spiritual confusion (Gen. 11). The apostle John states that the idolatry of ancient times will come to a head in an ecclesiastical and political colossus with many commercial ramifications (Rev. 17-18). It will encompass all anti-God systems (cults and religions) concentrated in a vast ecclesiastical system. “Rome alone answers to the description given”, H.A. Ironside.

Excerpts from Ironsides- (page 297)”The federation of the future will be utterly godless and God-defiant. When that league is formed it will be but natural that a confederacy of all religious systems will be wrought out, and this too will be satanic in character. It will be a union of Christless professors, inheriting all the human and demonical mysteries of Babylon. In other words all sects will be swallowed up in one distinctively Babylonian system that has ever maintained the cult of the mother and the child. This system will for the first part of the tribulation period dominate the civil power. Thus the woman will be in the saddle again and ride the beast. He who has eyes to see and a heart to understand can readily discern the preparations now in progress, with this very end in view.

Identification of Eschatological Religious Babylon - We see six identifying marks:

Fornication with the kings of the earth, (Rev.17:2, 18:3). There is no other city in the world which can claim a special relationship with global, political Leaders, yet being in nature itself strictly religious. Over many centuries the Roman Catholic Church has committed spiritual fornication because it claims to be the church of Christ and yet it has entered into union with Anti-God political entities.

Wealth and splendour of the Church of Rome - (Rev. 17:4). The Roman Catholic Church is the wealthiest organization in the world. Much of that wealth came from the sale of salvation (indulgences).  

• “arrayed in purple and scarlet color and clothed and decked with gold and precious stones”. If you have seen Roman Catholic ritual, you will recognize this verse.
• “having a golden cup in her hand”. There are many thousands of gold chalices in Catholic Churches around the world.

The immorality of the Church of Rome - (Rev.17:4), “Full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication” The unnatural vow of celibacy has filled the Catholic Priesthood with sexual fornication for a thousand years.

Mystery Babylon - Rome’s new catechism explains that liturgy aims “to initiate souls into the mystery of Christ”. Mystery is at the very heart of Catholicism.

The Martyrs of Jesus – (Rev. 17:5) there is no city in the world where the blood of the martyrs of Jesus was shed more than in Rome. Only Rome qualifies not Historical Babylon.

The Seven Hills – (Rev. 17:9) from verse 18, we learn that the woman was a city or identified with a city on seven hills. Rome is the city that sits on seven hills.

Is there not cause for judgment?  With whom does God have a controversy? Ancient Babylon which has not existed for 2300 years, or Religious Babylon who has martyred millions of God’s dear children over the last 1500 years, and who will martyr multiplied millions more, in the tribulation period.

With whom does God have a controversy? The ancient city of Babylon which has not been populated for 2300 years, and did not even exist to reign over the kings of the earth. Or with Religious Babylon who has committed spiritual fornication with the kings of earth for 1500 years and will do so with Antichrist and his kingdom in the future.

How does this apply today?  The last days apostasy of the Laodicean/Evangelical church are now upon us. A part of that apostasy is a widespread ecumenical movement among evangelicals. It has swept through the Evangelical Church bringing evangelicals and Catholics together. I believe the future of the ecumenical movement is in a union with the Harlot Church which Antichrist will use. The infrastructure for the World Church and the World Government has now been laid and awaits the signal to take over the world. The trumpet is soon to sound!

Mass Murder on U.S. Military Base Was An Act of Islamic Terrorism
Nov 22nd, 2009
Daily NewsFriday Church News Notes - David Cloud
Categories: Commentary;Warning

In spite of attempts on the part of some government officials and media personalities to blame something else, it is clear that Nidal Malik Hasan’s mass murder of 13 people and wounding of 31 others at Fort Hood Army Base in Texas was an act of Islamic terrorism. Hasan cried “Allahu Akbar” (“Allah Is the Greatest”) before opening fire, and one of his neighbors said that he gave her a Koran at 9am that morning before heading to the base and said, “I’m going to do good work for God” (“Fort Hood Gunman Had Told US Military Colleagues That Infidels Should Have Throats Cut,” Telegraph, London, Nov. 8, 2009). Hasan had told some of his colleagues that “infidels” should have their throats cut and that they should be set on fire. Earlier this summer he cheered the shooting death of a Little Rock Army recruiter by a Muslim (“The Military’s Blunders,” New York Post, Nov. 7, 2009). In a lecture at Walter Reed Army Medical Center (where he worked prior to being assigned to Fort Hood in July of this year) Hasan ranted that “non-believers should be beheaded and have boiling oil poured down their throats.” While stationed at Walter Reed, Hasan attended the Dar al-Hijrah mosque at the same time as two of the 9/11 terrorists (“Fort Hood Shooting: Texas Army Killer Linked to September 11 Terrorists,” The Telegraph, Nov. 7, 2009). The imam at that time was Anwar al-Awlaki, who now lives in Yemen. Charles Allen, former under-secretary for intelligence at the Department of Homeland Security, described him as “an al-Qaeda supporter who targets US Muslims with radical online lectures encouraging terrorist attacks.” Val Finell, an Army doctor who studied with Hasan, said he and others questioned Hasan’s allegiance to the U.S. Constitution and his commitment to the defense of America (“Officials: U.S. Aware of Hasan Efforts to Contact al Qaeda,” ABC News, Nov. 9, 2009). Dr. Finnell said that most of the officers did not file complaints for “fear of appearing discriminatory against a Muslim solder” (“Fort Hood Gunman Had Told US Military Colleagues,” The Telegraph, Nov. 8). That exposes the foolish “political correctness” that has taken over the U.S. military, which is more zealous to please the feminists, environmentalists, Muslims, and lawyers, than it is to fulfill its obligation to protect America from all enemies. The root problem, though, is not the weakness of the military; the root problem is the apostasy and cowardliness of the nation’s preachers, which refuse to proclaim the fear of God boldly and without compromise. As a result, the nation has been robbed of its wisdom and power. The solution, therefore, from the Bible believer’s side is not to focus on politics and immerse himself in conservative talk radio; the solution is to focus on godliness, in our individual lives and in our churches. “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).

Israelis to Obama: Back Off!
Nov 22nd, 2009
Daily NewsIsrael Today
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Israel's regular War and Peace Index poll revealed last week that the vast majority of Israelis don't trust US President Barack Obama and want him to back off on pressure for Israel to meet Arab demands.

Over two-thirds of respondents said Obama is being too aggressive and unfair with Israel and needs to take a step back. Israelis never demanded less involvement from past US presidents in the peace process.

That things are different with Obama probably has a lot to do with Israelis' perception that he is blatantly pro-Arab, a view held by over 40 percent of respondents in the recent survey.

Over sixty percent of Israelis said that in addition to simply not trusting Obama, there is no point to the current US pressure, since Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas is either unwilling or incapable of reaching a genuine peace deal with Israel.

Iran Bribing Nations to Vote Against Israel At UN
Nov 22nd, 2009
Daily NewsIsrael Today
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Nearly every member state of the United Nations routinely votes against Israel at the world body, which has for 60 years overwhelmingly focused on the Jewish state.

But having an overwhelming majority against Israel isn't enough for Iran, it seems. A report obtained by Israel's Foreign Ministry last week and published by Israel's Yediot Ahronot newspaper at the weekend accuses Iran of bribing those few nations who up until recently had voted in Israel's favor at the UN.

According to the report, last year, Iran's foreign ministry promised a $200,000 check and technological aid to the Solomon Islands, a tiny and very poor Pacific island nation. Up until that time, the Solomon Islands, along with fellow Pacific island nation Micronesia, had consistently voted in favor of Israel.

But that all began to change a few months back when the Solomon Islands surprised Israel by backing anti-Israel resolutions in the General Assembly. Most recently, the Solomon Islands voted in favor of the Goldstone Report, which accuses Israel of war crimes in the recent Gaza war.

Iran Begins War Games to Protect Nuclear Sites
Nov 22nd, 2009
Daily NewsAP -
Categories: Today's Headlines;Warning

Five-day drill will cover an area a third of the size of Iran

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran on Sunday began large-scale air defense war games aimed at protecting the country's nuclear facilities against any possible attack, state television reported.

It said the five-day drill will cover an area a third of the size of Iran and spread across the central, western and southern parts of the country.

Gen. Ahmad Mighani, head of an air force unit that deals with threats to Iran's air space, said Saturday the war games would cover regions where Iran's nuclear facilities are located.

The drill involves both Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard, the paramilitary Basij forces affiliated with the Guard as well as army units.

The United States and its European allies accuse Iran of embarking on a nuclear weapons program. Iran denies the charge and insists the program is only for peaceful purposes.

Israel has not ruled out military action to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

IAF Retaliates for Rocket Attack, Overnight Air Strikes in Gaza
Nov 22nd, 2009
Daily NewsArutz Sheva - Hana Levi Julian
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel;Warning

 
The Israel Air Force carried out an air strike against terrorist operations in Gaza overnight in retaliation for a Kassam rocket fired at the western Negev on Saturday. The rocket exploded in the city of Sderot, according to the IDF Spokesman's Office, but caused no injuries or damage.

In response, IAF fighter jets targeted and identified hitting two weapons factories in the northern and central regions of Gaza early Sunday. They also struck one smuggling tunnel located in the area of Rafiah, along Gaza's southern border with Egypt. All pilots returned to base safely.

The Qatar-based Aljazeera news network reported that the IAF carried out four attacks during the night.

The air strikes were carried out despite an announcement Saturday by Hamas "Interior Minister" Fathi Hamad that the terror organizations had cut a deal with allied groups to temporarily halt the rocket attacks. Hamad told reporters at a news conference in Gaza the decision had been made in order to give people time to "rebuild" following the IDF's counterrorist Operation Cast Lead.

"The IDF will not tolerate any attacks by terror organizations against Israel and its citizens," said the IDF in a statement.

Nearly 270 rockets and mortar shells have been fired at Israel since the end of last winter's counterterrorist operation on January 18. This is in comparison to more than 3,300 rockets and mortars fired in the year before the IDF carried out the operation, the IDF spokesman pointed out.

In the past month, Hamas terrorists have again slowly begun increasing the number of rocket attacks on Israel, with approximately 15 rockets and mortar shells fired to date.

Herman Van Rompuy: Europe's First President to Push for 'Euro Tax'
Nov 22nd, 2009
Daily NewsTelegraph.co.uk - Bruno Waterfield and Justin Stares in Brussels and Colin Freeman
Categories: Today's Headlines;Revived Roman Empire

Herman Van Rompuy, Europe's first president, is to join forces with the European Commission to push for sweeping new tax raising powers for Brussels.

Within days of taking office in January, the former Belgian prime minister will put his weight behind controversial proposals already floated by the commission's head, José Manuel Barroso, for a new "Euro tax".

He will add credence to Mr Barroso's plans, to be formally tabled in the New Year, by arguing for a Euro-version of a "Tobin Tax" – a levy on financial transactions already floated by Gordon Brown as a solution to the international banking crisis. It would result in a stream of income direct to Brussels coffers, funding budgets that critics say are already rife with waste and overspending.

Mr Van Rompuy, 62, who was appointed to the newly-created £320,000-a-year post at last week's special EU summit, set out his stall on direct Euro-taxes during a private speech at a recent meeting of the Bilderberg group of top politicians, bankers and businessmen. The group officially meets in secret, but when selected details of his remarks leaked out, his office was forced to issue a public statement on his behalf.

"The financing of the welfare state, irrespective of the social reform we implement, will require new resources," he said. "The possibility of financial levies at European level needs to be seriously reviewed."

Mr Barroso, whose commission acts as the European Union's executive arm and civil service, has set out alternative plans for a Euro tax that would involve Brussels taking directly a fixed percentage of VAT and fuel duties. While these taxes already help to fund EU spending – set at £121 billion next year – they are currently gathered by the treasuries of individual nation states, from which varying sums are paid into EU coffers.

Opponents of the idea could also underestimate Mr Van Rompuy's determination to get his own way. Ostensibly chosen for his new job because of his skill as a consensus-builder, he is also known as a skilled and ruthless political operator, who is happy to play rough as well as smooth. Last year he ordered the locks to be changed on a chamber in the Belgian parliament in order to prevent deputies holding a politically disruptive debate. According to Belgian newspaper De Morgen, van Rompuy told colleagues a few weeks ago that to achieve a top EU function you must "not ask for high office, but become a grey mouse, and offers will come."

Egypt's President Warns Israel Over Jerusalem
Nov 22nd, 2009
Daily NewsAP
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel;Peace Process

Mubarak says settlement activity threatens to anger the Muslim world

CAIRO - Egypt's president on Sunday criticized Israeli construction in east Jerusalem, telling his Israeli counterpart that settlement activity in the disputed sector of the holy city threatens to anger the entire Muslim world.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak emphasized to Israeli President Shimon Peres that the future of Jerusalem, which both Israelis and Palestinians claim as their capital, is an issue for the entire Islamic world.

Mubarak also said that the time had passed for talk on temporary solutions and borders — which has been floated as a step to solving the crisis — and instead a final peace agreement should be concluded swiftly.

"I expressed my concern to President Peres that peace talks have not progressed since our last meeting in July and that Egypt is looking forward to an Israeli response, such as halting the building of settlements in east Jerusalem," he said.

Plans for new apartments
The tough words came in the wake of last week's Israeli announcement that it plans to build 900 new apartments in a Jewish neighborhood of east Jerusalem.

The Palestinians have refused to restart peace talks if there isn't a total halt in Israeli settlement building in the West Bank and east Jerusalem — areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war and now claimed by the Palestinians as parts of a future independent state. Israel has offered to scale back construction in the West Bank but says it reserves the right to build anywhere in Jerusalem.

Peres told reporters that Israel is not building any new West Bank settlements or seizing land to expand existing ones. He said that once negotiations begin, all the outstanding differences would be resolved.

"The minute we shall start to negotiate, there won't be more settlements, new settlements. There won't be confiscation of land," he said. "There will be no financial investment in new settlements. There will be a dismantling of the settlements that were established without authorization. (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu announced that he supports a two-state solution."

While Peres' appeared to be reiterating Netanyahu's standing offer to the Palestinians, aides said they hoped that his stature as a Nobel Peace laureate with a long working relationship with Mubarak would convince the Egyptian leader that Israel is serious about restarting negotiations.

Peres, whose office is largely ceremonial, often acts as an unofficial envoy for the government.

Relations deteriorating
Egypt was the first Arab nation to conclude a peace deal Israel. While relations have never been warm, Egypt has been a key mediator in Israel's relations with the Palestinians.

Art's Commentary.......It seems the Muslim world is on a collision course with the God of the Bible.  God said in Numbers 34:12-13, "And the border shall go down to Jordan, and the goings out of it shall be at the salt sea: this shall be your land with the coasts thereof round about. And Moses commanded the children of Israel, saying, This is the land which ye shall inherit by lot, which Lord commanded to give unto the nine tribes, and to the half tribe:" Over and over again the Lord promised that this land would be Israel`s forever.

Christian Leaders Unite on Political Issues
Nov 22nd, 2009
Daily NewsNew York Times - LAURIE GOODSTEIN
Categories: Today's Headlines;Exhortation

Citing the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s call to civil disobedience, 145 evangelical, Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christian leaders have signed a declaration saying they will not cooperate with laws that they say could be used to compel their institutions to participate in abortions, or to bless or in any way recognize same-sex couples.

“We pledge to each other, and to our fellow believers, that no power on earth, be it cultural or political, will intimidate us into silence or acquiescence,” it says.

The manifesto, to be released on Friday at the National Press Club in Washington, is an effort to rejuvenate the political alliance of conservative Catholics and evangelicals that dominated the religious debate during the administration of President George W. Bush. The signers include nine Roman Catholic archbishops and the primate of the Orthodox Church in America.

They want to signal to the Obama administration and to Congress that they are still a formidable force that will not compromise on abortion, stem-cell research or gay marriage. They hope to influence current debates over health care reform, the same-sex marriage bill in Washington, D.C., and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation.

They say they also want to speak to younger Christians who have become engaged in issues like climate change and global poverty, and who are more accepting of homosexuality than their elders. They say they want to remind them that abortion, homosexuality and religious freedom are still paramount issues.

“We argue that there is a hierarchy of issues,” said Charles Colson, a prominent evangelical who founded Prison Fellowship after serving time in prison for his role in the Watergate scandal. “A lot of the younger evangelicals say they’re all alike. We’re hoping to educate them that these are the three most important issues.”

The document was written by Mr. Colson; Robert P. George, a professor of jurisprudence at Princeton University, who is Catholic; and the Rev. Timothy George, dean of Beeson Divinity School, an evangelical interdenominational school on the campus of Samford University, in Birmingham, Ala.

They convened a meeting of Christian leaders in Manhattan in September to present the document and gather suggestions. The 4,700-word document is called the “Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience.” The New York Times obtained an advance copy.

The document says, “We will not comply with any edict that purports to compel our institutions to participate in abortions, embryo-destructive research, assisted suicide and euthanasia, or any other antilife act; nor will we bend to any rule purporting to force us to bless immoral sexual partnerships, treat them as marriages or the equivalent.”

Ira C. Lupu, a law professor at George Washington University Law School, said it was “fear-mongering” to suggest that religious institutions would be forced to do any of those things. He said they are protected by the First Amendment, and by conscience clauses that allow medical professionals and hospitals to opt out of performing certain procedures, and religious exemptions written into same-sex marriage bills.

The most likely points of controversy, he said, could involve religious groups that provide social services to the public. Such organizations could be obligated to provide social services to gay people or provide spousal benefits to married gay employees.

Mr. George, the legal scholar at Princeton University, argued that the conscience clauses and religious exemptions were insufficient, saying, “The dangers to religious liberty are very real.”

Art`s Commentary......It is good that some will take a stand against moral evil. There is a greater issue involved in this situation, it is more important to preserve the sound doctrine of the Word of God, including the purity of the gospel than to fight these evils. To unite with those with those who corrupt the gospel and confuse the teaching of the Word, no matter the cause, is to destroy the gospel. We can fight these things without union with apostasy. The greatest influence for right and truth is to teach the Word of God and preach the gospel. That has always been the message and method of the Church. Spiritual revival will change society one individual at a time.

Abbas Refused U.S. - Israeli Offer to Resume Peace Talks
Nov 22nd, 2009
Daily NewsIsrael Today
Categories: Today's Headlines;Peace Process

Israel's Channel 10 News reported at the weekend that Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas rejected a desperate plea and offer of concessions by Israel and the US to immediately restart peace talks.

According to the report, Israel offered to approve a new large shipment of US weapons for the Palestinian Authority, to release 400 jailed Palestinian terrorists and to extend PA jurisdiction over parts of Judea and Samaria currently under Israeli security control.

But Abbas reportedly replied that unless Israel also stops building homes for Jews on the eastern side of Jerusalem, he is not interested. Ironically, the network reported that the US may actually be aiding Abbas in holding to that hard-line position. The reporter for Channel 10 told viewers that the US Consulate in Jerusalem recently set up a joint monitoring committee with the PA to keep tabs on Jewish housing projects in parts of the capital claimed by the Palestinians.

Meanwhile, Abbas and the Palestinians continue to insist that it is Israel that is ruining the peace process and not interested in talks.

'the Secret of Oz' Banned By E - Commerce Giant
Nov 22nd, 2009
You TubeWND - You Tube
Categories: Today's Headlines;Warning

After being sold on Amazon.com for only three days, a new DVD video documentary on the state of the economy has been banned by the e-commerce giant for mysterious reasons, according to the fimmaker.

"The Secret of Oz: Solutions for a Broken Economy" was officially knocked off Amazon for "performance" issues.

"You may no longer sell on our site," said Amazon in an email to Still Productions at noon yesterday.

"This came completely out of the blue without warning, and without any shred of legitimate cause," said Director Bill Still.  

An email from Amazon referred to its "customer experience metrics" page. But a check of the page showed no performance issues.

Still has appealed the ban. Amazon says they usually respond within 24 hours to appeals.

Still's documentary suggests government debt is at the root of the world's global economic problems.

"In the coming year, the federal government will spend $4 trillion, but it will have to borrow half of that from big banks, both here and abroad," he explains. "It creates a vicious cycle of government debt dependency. Government just can't say no to them – or so officials think."

This was Thomas Jefferson's main complaint about the U.S. Constitution as well: "I wish it were possible to obtain a single amendment to our Constitution ... taking from the federal government the power of borrowing."