Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Study: More Jews in U.S. Than in Israel
Oct 24th, 2010
DailyNewsArutz Sheva - Chana Ya'ar
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel;Contemporary Issues

A new population study conducted by the University of Miami and University of Connecticut says more Jews still live in the United States than in Israel. “Jewish Population in the United States – 2010” estimates the total number of Jews in the U.S. at approximately 6.5 million.

However, the authors of the study, Miami U. Professor Dr. Ira M. Sheskin, director of the project, and Connectiut U.Professor Dr. Arnold Dashefsky, say they believe the figure is inaccurate, and the total is less – approximately 6.4 million.

Just before Rosh HaShanah this year, official census figures in Israel estimated the number of Israeli Jews was nearing six million, having risen to a total of 5,770,900 – an increase of nearly 67,000 from 2009.

However, said Sheskin, “The World Report will claim the opposite.” He added that the discrepancy was due to the method of data collection. “While the World Report uses national studies for its estimate, the U.S. Report sums up estimates of the Jewish population in over 1,000 local Jewish communities to develop a national estimate.” 

Previously collected data was used to analyze Jewish populations by U.S. Congressional districts for the first time, according to Dashefsky. “We continue to add new scientific estimates and discover new concentrations of Jews in local communities,” he said.

The report, which included a number of new elements, compared local Jewish communities using four different criteria:

• Percentage of persons in Jewish households in a community age 65 and over

• Percentage of adult children who remain in their parents’ community when they establish their own homes

• Emotional attachment to Israel

• Percentage and number of Holocaust survivors and children of survivors

Sheskin, a professor of geography and regional studies, is also director of the Jewish Demography Project at the Sue and Leonard Miller Center for Contemporary Judaic Studies at the University of Miami. Dashefsky, his co-author, is a professor of sociology at the University of Connecticut and director of the Center for Judaic Studies and Contemporary Jewish Life at the university.

Revelation 18:21
Oct 24th, 2010
Exploring RevelationArt Sadlier
Categories: Commentary;Prophecy;Exhortation

"And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all," Verse 21.

As we come to verse 21, we have the method of the destruction of Babylon.

Again I emphasize that the Babylon referred to in our text is not the city that long ago sank into the Euphrates River. This Babylon is a religious system that came into being in the days of Nimrod. In Genesis 10, we find this man named Nimrod; he was of the fourth generation from Noah. That is where Babylon began! Harry Ironsides said, "Nimrod was the great apostate of the Patriarchal age." The spirit of Babylon is a man-made way of salvation as opposed to God's way of grace. They sought to build a tower to heaven with their own works, by the works of their own hands. That describes the Babylonian system that is the program of all false religion.

Genesis 11:3 says, "And they said one to another, Go to let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar."  Verse 4 says,   "And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the earth."  We will get to heaven, in our own way, by the works of our own hands. That is the Babylonian system. That is the eschatological Babylon that will be destroyed in the tribulation period, not an extinct city on the Euphrates River. Rome is the city that houses eschatological Babylon.

The counterfeit Bride of Christ (The Church of Rome) has the same soteriology (method of salvation) as Babylonianism. Notice in verse 3, "They had brick for stone and slime for mortar." Their building materials were counterfeit, not the real thing. Their plan of salvation was not the real thing either. The real thing is found in Ephesians 2:8-9, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and not of yourselves, it is the gift of God: Not of works lest any man should boast." The spirit of Babylon is a man-made way of salvation by works instead of, by grace through faith.

In reference to the term “Mystery Babylon,” John Walvoord said, “It has been noted by many writers that the iniquitous and pagan rites of Babylon crept into the early church and were largely responsible for the corruptions incorporated into Roman Catholicism from which Protestantism separated itself in the Middle Ages.”

This is not the Babylonian Empire, nor is it the City of Babylon. This is the mysterious pagan religious practices of early Babylon. These are the practices of the Church of Rome and they will be at the heart of the Harlot Church of the tribulation period.

For a thousand years the Roman Catholic Church has practised Babylonianism.

First they have taught and practised a religion of salvation by works (human efforts).

Secondly they have sought to turn this Babylonian system of salvation by works into a world-wide religion under the authority and control of the Catholic Church. Over the long years they have perverted the gospel and sent multitudes to hell with their false gospel. Adding to their judgment, they have martyred multiplied millions of God's people who have rejected their Babylonian system.

This false religious system comes to full flower in the tribulation period. We see it typified in Revelation 17, as a woman riding on the beast of Antichrist's kingdom.

There is a cause for this judgment of God. The cause is this counterfeit religious system of Rome and her corruption of the gospel, sending millions to hell.  The cause is the Roman Church which has slaughtered millions of God's precious children. The cause is the leaders of Rome proclaiming that they speak for Christ in this world. This judgment is a response to the cry of the saints in Revelation 6:10, "And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?"

Let me make a clarification at this point. There are two judgments of this Babylonian system. One is found in Revelation 17 and is upon Religious Babylon. The other is found here in our text and involves economic and political Babylon, the kingdom of Antichrist who carried this system into his kingdom.

The judgment of religious Babylon was by fire in Revelation 17:16. The judgment of political Babylon is here in our text. We see a mighty angel taking up a great millstone and casting it down on the city. As a result the city is submerged into the sea and comes to its end, never to be seen again.

This destruction is foretold in Daniel 2:44-45, "And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure."

Here in Daniel`s prophecy we see the kingdoms of men coming to their final judgment and the eternal Kingdom of God and His Christ established.

Palestinians Threaten to Break Treaty They Have Never Honored
Oct 24th, 2010
DailyNewsIsrael Today
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Palestinians threaten to break treaty thet have never honored

The Palestinian Authority on Saturday warned that if Israel did not start meeting its peace demands, then the Palestinians would break the so-called “Oslo Accord” that started the whole peace process.

Most in Israel responded to the news by rolling their eyes, fully aware that the Palestinians have never truly honored the Oslo Accord anyway.

“Most probably, we will abandon the Palestinian obligations that resulted from these accords because Israel is denying all agreements and keeping violating them,” declared Ahmed Majdalani, a senior member of the Palestinian Authority, told China’s Xinhua news agency.

Yasser Abed Rabbo, a top advisor to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, added in remarks to the London-based Arabic newspaper Al-Hayat, “We can’t remain committed to the agreements that were signed with Israel forever.”

Of course, since the “Oslo Accord” was signed some 15 years ago, the Palestinians have honored very few, if any, of their primary commitments.

According to the document, the Palestinian Authority was supposed to dismantle the Arab terrorist network in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, end all incitement against Israel and the Jews, and generally foster an atmosphere of peaceful coexistence.

In reality, terrorism rose to new heights under the PA, incitement in the official PA media and state-run schools continues to worsen, and Palestinian leaders themselves often encourage hatred of and even violence against Israel.

Meanwhile, Israel has surrendered huge swaths of land to the PA, nearly all of the Arab population of Judea, Samaria and Gaza today lives under the control of the PA, and Israeli schools have even gone so far as to teach the Palestinian perspective of the conflict. Israel’s land concessions only slowed and eventually ceased when it became clear there was no reciprocity

Palestinian Jihad Gaza Has Camera - Fitted Suicide Vests As in Iraq
Oct 24th, 2010
DailyNewsDEBKAfile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Warning

debkafile's military and counter-terror sources confirm the WikiLeaks revelation that Iran developed camera-equipped suicide vests for al Qaeda's attacks on US troops under the instruction of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Center in Tehran. Our sources have discovered that the Islamic Jihad's "Jerusalem Brigades" in the Gaza Strip have been equipped with those same SVIED (Suicide Vest Improvised Explosive Devices) and have transferred some to al Qaeda cells at large in the territory.
This sophisticated suicide vest is fitted with miniature cameras which enable the bomber to monitor and relay images of an attack before he reaches his target, our military sources report. The bomber can thus stay in close touch with, and receive instructions, from his handlers every step of the way and also obtain images of the environment he is entering and the obstacles ahead.

An Israeli officer told debkafile that these mini-cameras "make it almost impossible for a suicide bomber to miss his aim. It makes him a human guided missile."

The presence of these SVIEDs in Islamic Jihad and al Qaeda hands in the Gaza Strip was recently brought to light by the Palestinian Hamas's intelligence agents as part of their report on the deepening collaboration between the Iranian proxy Islamic Jihad and local Salafi groups which have pledged loyalty to al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden and are a thorn in the sides of the Hamas rulers.

Jihad commanders are training the al Qaeda squads in the use of the novel suicide weapon of exactly the same type as Iran gave al Qaeda in Iraq and are joining them for missions against Israeli targets across the Gaza border. Thus far, Israeli troops have managed to thwart their attempts at encroachment, wiping them out as they crossed the border fence. Most of these incidents are not brought to the public's knowledge.
Hamas has meanwhile cautioned the Jerusalem Brigades to stop cooperating with al Qaeda in the Gaza Strip or else their training facilities and weapons caches will be destroyed, including their rockets, mortars and suicide belts.

However, the Islamic Jihad, which is not about to succumb to Hamas's dictates and disobey its masters in Tehran, sent back a two-part reply:

1.  Any members carrying out attacks on Israel by firing rockets, planting bombs or using explosive vests without explicit instructions from their commanders will be expelled from the Islamic Jihad and ostracized.

2.  Jihad leaders are ready for dialogue with Hamas, provided that its fighters are attached to the Hamas special force known to the IDF as the "Hamas Covert Unit," which was recently established to keep random missile fire against Israel in check.

Jihad did not refer to Hamas' primary demand, to terminate its operational collaboration with al Qaeda cells which challenge Hamas authority.

In Iraq, Al Qaeda is described in the ground-level view of the war offered in WikiLeaks 391,831 classified documents covering six years from early 2004 until Jan. 1, 2010 as "the strongest organization among the insurgent groups."

Matthew 4:12-17 Pt.3
Oct 24th, 2010
Weekly Bible StudyArt Sadlier
Categories: Commentary;Exhortation;Book Study

IV  The Proclamation

Verse 17, "From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

A - The light was introduced by preaching.

"From that time Jesus began to preach."  Preach = Greek = "Kerux" = A Herald  = A man who brought a message direct from the king.

B - The herald has in his voice a note of certainty.

He has been in the presence of the king and has received his message from the king himself. The preacher of God's Word is one who speaks with certainty, he has been in the presence of God and speaks with certainty. He has received his message from God Himself.

C -The herald has in his voice a note of authority.

He has been living in God's Word, he knows what God has said, and he is speaking for the king. He doesn't hope, he doesn't guess, he doesn't expect, he knows what God is saying!

D -The herald's message comes from a source beyond himself.

The herald knows the king intimately. God's preacher knows God intimately, his source is God Himself.

He is called to be a preacher, he speaks with authority, he speaks for God. All of those things divest him of any personal authority.

Lenski said, " To preach is not to argue, reason, dispute, or convince by intellectual proof, but to declare God's Word." The scribes and pharisees could not speak with authority because they mixed God's Word with the traditions of men.

J.C. Ryle said, "The brightest days of the church have been when preaching has been honored and the darkest days have been when the preaching has been lightly esteemed."

E - The key to proclamation is repentance.

"Jesus began to preach and to say repent." The first doctrine Jesus introduced to the world was the doctrine of repentance. Repentance is a thorough change of mind about our sin. It is Godly sorrow for sin. It involves a heartfelt confession before God. It involves a complete breaking off from sin. Such repentance is an inseperable companion of saving faith. You cannot have faith to ask God to forgive you for that which you are not willing to turn away from.

Illustration

Some years ago a murderer was sentenced to death. The murderer's brother, to whom the state was deeply indebted to for years of outstanding service, asked the Governor for a pardon for his brother.

The pardon was granted and the man visited his brother with the pardon in his pocket. He asked his brother, "What would you do if you received a pardon?"  His brother replied, "The first thing I would do would be to track down the judge who sentenced me, and murder him. Then I would track down the man who witnessed against me and murder him."

The brother rose and left the prison with the pardon still in his pocket. Likewise, God will not pardon where there is no repentance for sin.

Repentance and faith are of the same basic essence! J.C.Ryle said, "No christian teaching can be called sound, which does not constantly bring forward repentence toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ."

Jesus said. "Except you repent, ye shall all likewise perish." Luke 13:3,5

Illustration

Governor Neff of Texas visited the State Prison. He spoke to the assembled prisoners. He said that he would remain behind and if any man wanted to speak to him he would gladly listen. He stated that every conversation would be confidential and nothing would be used against them.

One by one the men spoke to the governor. Each man claimed to be not guilty. Some said they were framed and some said they did not get a fair trial. Finally the last man stood before the governor. He said I am guilty as charged and convicted. I deserve to be in prison. I don't deserve a pardon. But if you give me a pardon, I'll do everything in my power to be a good citizen. The governor granted him a pardon.

Weary of earth and laden with my sin,

I look to heaven and long to enter in,

But there no evil thing may find a home;

And yet I hear a voice that bids me come.

The while I tread the heavenly way,

Evil is ever with me day by day;

Yet on my ears the gracious tidings fall,

"Repent, confess, Thou shalt be loosed from all.

                                                         unknown

Detailing the "Everything"
Oct 24th, 2010
Thought for the WeekA.W. Tozer - (1897-1963)
Categories: Commentary;Inspirational

It is important that we trace our benefits back to their source and express our thanks to the One ?from whom all blessings flow,? rather than merely to feel a vague stirring of gratefulness that results in nothing real. I once lived with a fine old couple, neither of whom was a Christian, and I was impressed with the profound sense of gratitude they felt for everything they possessed. When the winter winds moaned through the trees and made the old house tremble, the old man would smile and say, ?Ah! How good it is to have a warm place to sleep on a night like this.? And the mother would often speak of her large family, now grown and scattered: ?How grateful I am that they are all healthy and all mentally sound. I am so thankful.? Their gratitude was genuine. Of that there could be no trace of a doubt, but I often wondered who was the recipient of it. Whom were they thanking? They never said.
The irreligious world has its own way of reacting. When things ?break? fortunately for a businessman, an athlete or a politician he will slap his hands together and shout, ?Great! Wonderful!? He is thanking someone; but whom?

It could be that the old couple of whom I speak were actually meaning to express their thankfulness to God, and that the modern man who shouts his pleasure at his lot in life secretly feels his indebtedness to God; the trouble is that they were and are ashamed to direct their gratitude pointedly to One with whom they are not acquainted. They flee like Adam and hide among the trees of the garden rather than face up to the God they know they have offended. Fear of being thought queer sometimes leads people to express religious ideas in generalities instead of in concrete terms.

Catholic Church: Christ Nullified God's Promises to the Jews
Oct 24th, 2010
DailyNewsIsrael Today
Categories: Today's Headlines;Persecution;Antisemitism

A Covert War
Oct 24th, 2010
Weekly CommentaryArt Sadlier - with Debkafile News Reports
Categories: Commentary;War

Debkafile has reported that an undeclared covert war is taking a toll on Iran. This covert war possibly involves Israel, but neither side has acknowledged the conflict.

1- A cyber attack took place in July. The Stuxnet virus planted in Iran's nuclear and military control networks seriously damaged those systems. This attack is still ongoing, all attempts to exorcise the virus have failed. Iran’s nuclear program has been badly damaged and the operation of the nuclear plant has been delayed.

2. Rockets destroy secret missile launchers:  The following report comes from Debkafile.  “On Tuesday, October 12, the day before Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad flew to Beirut, three massive explosions blasted through one of Iran's top-secret military installations, the underground store holding Shihab-3 intermediate-range ballistic missiles which were held ready for launching against US targets in Iraq and Israel in the event of war. An unknown number of missiles, their launchers and warheads, including some tri-conic nosecones, were destroyed at the site beneath the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's Imam Ali Base near the city of Khorramabad, in the Lorestan province of South Western Iran. The base is also home to IRGC's main missile force, the Al-Hadid Brigade, 18 of whose members were killed and 14 injured in the blast, according the official communiqué in Tehran - probably more, according to our sources. The victims' funerals took place Thursday, October 14, at the same time as Ahmadinejad stood at the southern Lebanese town of Bint Jbail belting out another prediction of Israel's imminent "disappearance."

Debkafile further reports, "Our intelligence sources report that Iran began its inquiry into the disaster to the missile armory by looking for traces of an infiltrator who managed to penetrate one of its most closely-guarded facilities and blow up the weapons tucked away inside deep tunnels. When they found no sign of a trespasser, they turned to the theory that American or Israeli unmanned aerial vehicles launched from Iraq had fired small cruise missiles that somehow found their way past the twists and turns of the underground passages until they found their pre-programmed targets - the missiles and their launchers - and blew them up with rockets.
Iranian investigators were pointed in that direction by Syrian military intelligence which gave them data on Israeli UAV rocket practices against underground targets, including several on the buried command centers of Ahmed Jibril's Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) in Namma, south of Beirut.
Israeli tacticians have found a way of using the deep shafts leading straight down from the surface openings to the command facilities below as testing-ranges for weapons designed to blow up targets sunk deep underground.
Acting on this theory, Iranian investigators began combing through the rubble at the Imam Ali base in search of fragments of the Israeli guided supersonic missile Jumper which fits the Syrian description.
DEBKA-Net-Weekly's military sources describe this missile as, "powered by a two-pulse rocket motor with low radar and acoustic signatures, GPS/INS guidance gear and four steering surfaces on the aft section."
It was basically configured for stationary targets designated by geographical coordinates. The Jumper's accuracy is unaffected by low visibility or weather conditions; its precision may be optimized by an optional laser-guidance unit. It is 180 cm long and 15 cm in diameter. Each launch unit weighs about 1.5 tons and can be deployed by air or land and operate in an unattended mode, without requiring the support or presence of operators, on the principle of Dial and Hit."

We are witnessing a star wars type of situation developing before our very eyes. We are now living in a time when anything is possible. I believe we are gaining an insight into the cataclysmic disastrous tribulation period soon to descend upon the world.

'Gov't Working With U.S. to Ensure Peace Talks Continue'
Oct 24th, 2010
DailyNewsJpost
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel;Peace Process

At cabinet meeting, Netanyahu states intention to renew talks for long-term without further interruption, quash unilateral declarations

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu began Sunday's cabinet meeting with a statement on the government's support of the resumption of peace talks with the Palestinian Authority.

"We are holding intensive contacts with the American administration in order to restart the diplomatic process," Netanyahu told his cabinet. "Our goal is not just to resume the process, but to advance it in such a way that it cannot be halted in a few weeks or months, and will enter into approximately one year of continuous negotiations on the fundamental problems, in order to try and reach a framework agreement ahead of a peace settlement."

During his speech, Netanyahu cast his desire to continue peace talks mainly in terms of Israel's national security interests and sought to quash any Palestinian thoughts of unilaterally appealing to the UN for international recognition of a new state.

"In these negotiations, we will – of course – uphold the vital interests of the State of Israel, with security first and foremost. We expect the Palestinians to honor their commitment to hold direct negotiations," said Netanyahu. "I think that any attempt to bypass them by appealing to international bodies is unrealistic and will not give any impetus to a genuine diplomatic process."

The prime minister's remarks regarding his commitment to see peace talks through came despite an announcement Thursday that he does not have plans to widen the governing coalition.

According to Army Radio, Netanyahu said he called Livni because their meeting was cut short by an urgent situation. He added that he meets with Livni every three weeks, suggesting their meeting was nothing out of the ordinary.