Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Messianic Village in Spotlight After Gay Rights Legal Battle
Nov 27th, 2012
Daily NewsIsrael Today - Ryan Jones
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary;The Nation Of Israel

A court ruling penalizing the Israeli Messianic village of Yad Hashmonah for refusing to host a lesbian wedding has severely damaged the community's main source of income, but has also opened the door to be an even greater witness to the Israeli public.

Founded by Finnish Christian Zionists in the 1960s, Yad Hashmonah is today a focal point of the Israeli Messianic movement. It is also home to a beautiful guest house, event hall and biblical garden that are frequented by Israeli visitors.

That is, they were frequented by Israeli visitors until earlier this year, when a Jerusalem court slapped the village with a large fine after it turned down a lesbian couple that tried to get married there three years earlier.

At the time, Yad Hashmonah explained to the couple that the biblical faith of the village prevented them from hosting such an event. The Jerusalem court said this amounted to harassment and discrimination, and Israel's homosexual community rejoiced in their victory over Bible-believers.

Meanwhile, Yad Hashmonah has had to all but shut down its booming business for fear that gay and lesbian weddings would be booked on a weekly basis in an effort to finish off the village.

"Our business is suffering badly," spokeswoman Ayelet Ronen told Israel Today. "We are firing people and cutting every expense possible."

But that's not the end of the story.

At the same time, Ronen exclaimed, "God is really using this!"

Since the court decision, and the initial negative press coverage it spawned, Ronen has been interviewed by three newspapers, two radio programs, and Israel's leading morning TV news show. And then there have been the phone calls from random Israelis.

"I have been flooded with calls from people wanting to know more about the situation, asking about our faith and offering moral support," said Ronen.

This new wave of positive coverage, which has afforded Ronen numerous opportunities to witness directly to Israelis, started with a lengthy article in Makor Rishon, Israel's leading religious newspaper.

The Makor Rishon piece was very positive, giving a bit of background on the Christian Zionist beginnings of Yad Hashmonah and fully siding with the village in its decision to turn down homosexual events on biblical grounds. Perhaps more importantly, however, this religious newspaper clearly identified Messianic Jews like Ronen and the residents of Yad Hashmonah as belonging firmly in the camp of Bible-believing, conservative Jews.

Israeli Messianics have struggled for decades with widespread accusations that their faith in Yeshua means they are no longer Jews. The reactions to the Yad Hashmonah issue are further evidence that this attitude is changing.

As for the village and the future of its primary business, Ronen said the recent media coverage had gotten the attention of a senior Israeli judge who feels that justice was not done in Yad Hashmonah's case.

In the meantime, Yad Hashmonah is hoping to replace the loss of Israeli visitors with Christian groups visiting the country. Nestled in the hills just outside Jerusalem, Yad Hashmonah certainly offers a unique experience for Christians.

To learn more about Yad Hashmonah, visit their website: www.yad8.com

Let the Headlines Speak
Nov 27th, 2012
Daily NewsFrom the Internet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Hamas backs Abbas bid to upgrade Palestinian UN status
Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal supports efforts by Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas to secure state observer status for the Palestinians at the United Nations this week, a Hamas statement on Monday said.

France to back Palestinian U.N. status
France said on Tuesday it would vote in favour of Palestinian non-member status at the United Nations, boosting Palestinian efforts to secure greater international recognition. Frustrated that their bid for full U.N. membership last year was thwarted by U.S. opposition in the U.N. Security Council, Palestinians have launched a watered-down bid for recognition as a non-member state, similar to the status the Vatican enjoys.

Minority Report becomes reality: New software that predicts when laws are about to be broken
The software, dubbed Mind's Eye, recognizes human activities seen on CCTV and uses algorithms to predict what the targets might do next - then notify the authorities.

Crimson tides: Tourists flee from Bondi Beach 'Red Sea' as rare algae bloom turns water the colour of blood
Bondi was among several popular beaches around Sydney, Australia, which had to be closed after an algae bloom transformed the sea into something resembling a scene from a Jaws movie.

Moshe Feiglin leads hardliners’ rise on Likud’s Knesset slate, at expense of moderates
‘This is just the beginning,’ says Feiglin. ‘Eventually, we will build the temple and fulfill our purpose in this land’; veteran Begin could lose his seat, Meridor almost certainly will

China defense chief says military buildup no threat to the world
"The Chinese military must develop, but there's no 'worry' or 'fear' as the outside world says," he said before a meeting with visiting U.S. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus. "That's not what China is about."

Satellite photo shows increased activity at North Korean launch site
The imagery was released days after a Japanese newspaper, the Asahi Shimbun, reported that U.S. intelligence analysts had detected moves that were seen as preparation by North Korea for a long-range missile launch as early as this month.

UN to vote Thursday on raising Palestinian status
The Palestinians said the U.N. General Assembly will vote Thursday afternoon on a resolution raising their status at the United Nations from an observer to a nonmember observer state, a move they believe is an important step toward a two-state solution with Israel. Unlike the Security Council, there are no vetoes in the General Assembly and the resolution is virtually certain of approval.

California Flood Threat From "Atmospheric River"
Meteorologists use the term "atmospheric river" to describe a long, narrow plume piping deep moisture from the tropics into the mid-latitudes. One type of atmospheric river (hereafter, AR) you may have heard of is the "Pineapple Express", a pronounced plume tapping moisture from the Hawaiian Islands to the U.S. West Coast.

Rice to meet senators whose support she covets
U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice is meeting with key lawmakers in what could be her final pitch for their support if she is nominated to be the next secretary of state. The discussions, beginning Tuesday, will focus on her much-maligned explanations of the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya,...but she's also clearly auditioning for America's top diplomatic job.

Syria bristles as Turkey moves forward with plan for surface-to-air missiles along border
Turkey riled Syria, Russia and Iran by requesting the NATO surface-to-air Patriot system, designed to intercept aircraft or missiles, last Wednesday after weeks of talks on how to shore up security on its 900-km border as the conflict in Syria deepens.

SCOTUS opens door to a new Obamacare challenge
...The Supreme Court has ordered an appeals court to reopen arguments on the Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate and contraceptive coverage provisions, opening a potential path back to the highest court by late 2013. The case...filed Liberty University, a Christian college in Virginia. The university had filed one of the earlier suits against the health care law, which was...dismissed by the Supreme Court when it ruled the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate to be constitutional.

Eurozone, IMF reach deal to reduce Greek debt
The 17 European Union nations that use the euro have struck an agreement with the International Monetary Fund on a program to reduce Greek debt and put Athens on the way to get the next installment of its much-needed bailout loans. The first disbursement is set to take place Dec. 13, said Jean-Claude Juncker, head of the eurogroup of finance ministers, after Tuesday's decision.

Bankrupt San Bernardino to halt payments to Calpers, bondholders
Bankrupt San Bernardino, California, voted on Monday to present a plan to a bankruptcy judge that seeks to balance its budget through deferring payments to the state's public employee pension fund and to the city's bondholders.

Medical marijuana proponents in New York renew push for legalization
Medical marijuana could blunt the pain of New York’s budget crunch. Proponents of pot as a medicine have renewed their push for legalization, arguing that licensing fees and taxes could generate hundreds of millions of dollars a year in new revenues for the cash-strapped state.

It's Time for the Direct Election of a European President
Nov 27th, 2012
Daily NewsHuffington Post - Tony Blair
Categories: Today's Headlines;Revived Roman Empire

BERLIN -- From crisis can come opportunity. Out of this European crisis can come the opportunity, finally, to achieve a model of European integration that is sustainable. But right now this opportunity is heavily disguised. There is an old joke told about the stranger who asks the Irishman the way to his destination and is told "Well, I wouldn't have started from here."

We might be tempted to say the same about the way to resolve this crisis, and it would be equally futile. So I shall resist the irritating temptation of being the Brit outside the euro trying to tell everyone inside why it was a bad idea. First, because I don't think it is a bad idea. In principle, in the right political and economic context, a single currency along with a single market makes sense for Europe. Second, because in any event, we are where we are.

There is relevance, however, in understanding why this crisis is so acute. It is because monetary union was, in many ways, an idea motivated by politics but expressed in economics. So politics and economics had to be aligned. They weren't. So now, in the midst of crisis, they have to be. Countries whose economies are divergent have to converge. Since this requires a huge degree of integration in decision making, the politics will then have to shift to catch up to the economics. True economic union will imply a large measure of political union. This is the post-crisis challenge.

One odd but telling difference of opinion between Europeans and those from the investment community in the U.S., China and elsewhere is that the Europeans by and large believe the euro will stay. That is because they are focused on the enormous political will to ensure it survives. The outsiders by and large are deeply skeptical. That is because they are focused on the math.

The strategy so far adopted in Europe by political leaders, including by Chancellor Merkel, who has shown great skill and courage in handling the crisis, is entirely comprehensible as politics. It is to go step by step by a series of increments that are major, but do not deal with all the aspects of the crisis simultaneously. So the European Central Bank action and readiness to buy bonds on the secondary market has hugely helped the liquidity issue and given us some respite.

But it doesn't fully deal with the solvency or growth issues that also dog the euro. The European Stability Mechanism is still untested and, whilst deficit reduction plans are absolutely necessary, austerity makes policies for growth tough. Indeed, sometimes it seems as if the public is being given the choice of austerity with reform or growth without reform. We need growth and reform. And we need liquidity, solvency and growth issues addressed together. Without this, and especially without growth, the pain of the adjustment in debtor countries is frighteningly hard and several years of it may not be politically possible. This is again where politics and economics have to align.

The economics imply a strategy based less on incremental steps and more on a "grand bargain" agreement that deals with liquidity per the ECB: solvency with the necessary fiscal transfers, banking union, a large degree of fiscal coordination, far-reaching structural reform and the back loading, not front loading, of austerity plans, to protect growth -- and all at once. My feeling is that the only way, ultimately, confidence can be restored is with a fully comprehensive set of measures that convince markets and the public alike that the fundamental issues have been overcome. The politics of doing so -- particularly in Germany -- are fantastically difficult. But the economics of not doing so are even more difficult.

That is the immediate challenge. If it is overcome, then the politics of what comes next is also extraordinarily fraught.

Put simply, there can't be the integration of large areas of economic policy -- banking union, fiscal union, even the prospect of an EU Treasury -- without a commensurate political union. So, inevitably now, along with the resolution of the immediate crisis, comes the investigation of what such a union would look like.

We should conduct this investigation with the lessons of previous efforts at integration in mind. There are two crucial strategic objectives which any negotiation for such a political union should strive to achieve.

First, some differentiation in the speed of European integration is now inevitable as members of the eurozone seek to match political structures with integrated economic decision-making. However, this is done is of huge import to the whole of the EU. I can almost feel the relief in some euro-federalist quarters and amongst most euro-sceptics at the prospect of a two or three speed Europe. But I would give a stark warning: if eurozone structures end up with a Europe that is fundamentally divided politically as well as economically, rather than a Europe with one political settlement that accommodates different levels of integration within it, the EU as we know it will be on a path to break up.

Let's be blunt here and go straight to the UK position. It is massively in Britain's interest not to play short-term politics with this issue. Personally, I would like to see the UK take a constructive role in shaping this new union, recognizing the imperative of closer political union for the eurozone countries and trying to keep the necessary divergence in economic decision-making between ins and out, from spilling over into a complete divergence in political structures. It is a very tricky task. But it is an essential one if the UK is not to be side-lined and Europe to be without the active participation of such a large and significant member of the existing union.

The negotiations over the proposed banking union and possibly over the new EU budget will provide an interesting test case of whether such constructive engagement can yield an optimal outcome. But naturally the UK will expect this to be a two-way process. The rest of the EU will have to understand and hopefully accommodate the UK's very special position in the financial sector.

Secondly, we should be heedful of why, when monetary union came into being, structures of full scale political integration were not agreed. They were proposed, by the way. They just weren't agreed. And the reason still has validity as a sentiment today. Greater political integration is indeed inevitable. But any new political union has to balance more carefully than ever before the nation state and EU integration.

This is the hardy perennial of debates over European political union. But now the union proposed for economic decision-making reaches right into the heart of decisions normally reserved for national governments and parliaments. Though the British are often standard bearers of the nation state side of this debate, it is clear many march behind that standard. There is a reason for the referendum results in France and the Netherlands in 2005 and it wasn't just domestic politics overshadowing a European decision.

This has always been the dilemma facing the politics of the EU. People feel far closer to national governments and parliaments. In the minds of the people, there is no plainly unified, homogeneous polity in the way there is, for example, in the USA. Yet as Europe integrates, there opens up a democratic deficit -- namely the gap between the importance of the European-wide decisions and the accountability of the European institutions making them. Hence there is the drive toward more Europe-wide democracy at present formulated in extra powers for the European Parliament.

Here is the dilemma. Though in theory, as Europe integrates, people should demand more Europe-wide democracy, in practice, because they still feel a far closer affinity to national democracy, they don't. The Europe political elite does. But the people often don't. The danger is that the more we talk of "bringing Europe closer to the people," the more "the people" feel alienated from it.

The dilemma is deepened by another factor. As the EU has grown in numbers and as the complexity of decisions necessary for things like the single market has intensified, so, for reasons of efficacy, Europe needs to have institutions that can rise above any one individual national interest. It is why, despite UK objections, more majority voting in some areas can be justified, is even essential to make Europe work. Without it, we can get paralysis when we need movement.

On the other hand, take an area like a common defense policy -- launched by the UK and France in 1998. Here there was acceptance that it should be done at a Europe Council level rather than through the Commission.

So designing this new union will be very difficult. Let me make a few quick reflections. A Europe-wide election for the presidency of the Commission or Council is the most direct way to involve the public. An election for a big post held by one person -- this people can understand. The problem with the European Parliament is that, though clearly democratically elected, my experience is people don't feel close to their representatives. This could change, but only if the European Parliament and National parliaments interact far more closely.

Relegating the European Council, which represents the nation states, to a side show would be a mistake. Even eurozone members will look to their own governments first. But there are a myriad of ways of making the Council more open and its relationship with the Commission more transparent. There could even be more explicit links between the European Parliament and the Council.

We should also ask what political union really means. It doesn't mean simply a set of institutional common bonds. It means, also, that in the minds of the people of Europe, there is a close connection between them. This can't be legislated for. It has to be nurtured culturally and socially, as well as politically.

One thing I am certain of: Europe will mean more to people and be supported more by them if Europe refocuses on practical issues that improve their lives in tangible ways. They understand the need for European action on jobs, on trade, on making the financial sector work for their interests -- not against them -- on common energy policy, a common struggle against illegal immigration and organized crime, even on common defense in a world of increasing security risks and declining defense budgets.

I think they could be persuaded to understand the sense of common cooperation on higher education, on science and research on a much bigger scale than present efforts, and likewise with art and culture. If this were combined with a sensible push for subsidiarity -- relegating only those tasks to the center that the nation states themselves can't do -- this could amount to a package that would work.
So the balance will need to be struck. If not, then the whole project risks failure. I can't see any new political settlement being acceptable without direct popular consent through referendums.

So imagine this scenario. Suppose we find the will finally to resolve the eurozone crisis. Suppose we agree the major future steps of integration for European economic decisions as part of that resolution. Suppose we then push forward to a new framework of political union as a necessary part of economic integration. At this point, we need to be reasonably confident the political union will gain consent. Otherwise we will find ourselves with referendums lost and back in crisis -- this time with no clear way out.

One final point amidst all this anxiety about crisis. Despite the present doubts and crisis, we should recognize that the underlying, profound rationale for Europe and its union is stronger than ever.

Ultra euro-skeptics -- by which I mean those essentially in opposition to the whole Europe project -- are on the wrong side of history. The 21st century case for Europe is based not on war or peace but on power, or irrelevance.

A 21st century with China and India that in time, as GDP and population size realign, will become vast economic and political powers, with Brazil and Russia behind, a country like Indonesia with a population three times that of Germany and nations like Mexico, Pakistan, Nigeria and Vietnam all bigger than any European nation. In this new 21st century geopolitics, Europe carries weight, multiplies opportunity and makes sense for its individual nations.

In its essence Europe is the right idea, at the right moment of time and in the right geographical space between East and West.

Tony Blair is the former Prime Minister of Britain. His remarks are adapted from a roundtable discussion at the Berggruen Institute of Governance recent "town hall" meeting in Berlin.

Consider My Trouble…Psalm 9
Nov 27th, 2012
CommentaryPastor Bill Randles
Categories: The Nation Of Israel

Have mercy upon me, O LORD; consider my trouble which I suffer of them that hate me, thou that liftest me up from the gates of death: That I may shew forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion: I will rejoice in thy salvation.(Psalm 9:13-14)

Psalm 9 is an eschatological psalm. It describes the coming of the Lord to this earth to deliver a besieged people, Israel, surrounded by menacing enemies on the verge of destroying her.

The Psalmist reveals that Israel’s enemies will be routed by the very presence of the Lord, the perousia spoken of in the New Testament, as Old and New Testament prophets testify also, by the Holy Spirit;

For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.(Zechariah 14:2-3)

When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;( 2 Thess 1:7-9)

The Psalmist asks the Lord to consider the troubles he has, which are due to the hatred of the world.

Why has Israel been so universally hated? What is it about her that consumes so much frenetic activity in world forums such as the United Nations? Why so many censures of the only free and democratic nation in the middle east? How could there even be a suggested ‘moral equivalence ‘ in discussions of Israel and her enemies?

How is it that there can be a Red Cross, and a Red Crescent but there can never be a Red Star of David?

Israel, even in it’s current temporary state of unbelief, is an ongoing testimony to the reality of the God of the Bible. The world seeks to “will away” the existence of God, therefore it hates Israel.

Many centuries earlier a pagan prophet, Balaam, was used by the Holy God to prophesy to the King of Moab, who had paid him to curse Israel. Instead God inspired Balaam to bless and extol Israel, predicting that Israel would triumph over all of her enemies in the last days.

One of his statements was the prediction that Israel would dwell alone and not be reckoned among the nations,(Numbers 23). Israel alone can not have a seat on the U.N. security council, nor will the vast majority of the nations of the world place their embassies in Jerusalem, but rather in Tel Aviv.

The world hates Israel. Other than the majority of evangelical christians who else is Israel’s friend in the world?

The eschatology of the Muslim world, (one out of six people in the world) insists that the “last day cannot come until the Muslims wipe out the Jews”, the very existence of a nation of Israel is an affront to Islam, and a daily reminder of the impotance of Allah.

The secular democracies of Europe hate Israel, because they see it as an impediment to their ongoing attempt to appease the Arab world, for the sake of cheap crude oil. The secular aspect of America is going the same way, despising Israel, accusing her of being an “occupier” and nearly taking the side of Hamas and Fatah in the political debate?

Another prophetic Psalm describes the alienation of Israel in the last days ,

Woe to me that I dwell in Meshek,
that I live among the tents of Kedar!
Too long have I lived
among those who hate peace.
I am for peace;
but when I speak, they are for war (Psalm 120:5-7)

Such is modern Israel’s plight, that she is situated in the world’s worst, most implacably bitter neighborhood, the middle east. “Meshek” , a son of Japheth whose descendents eventually settled in the Caucasus area, is slated to lead a confederation of Moslem nations against Israel.

Kedar is a son of Ishmael, one of the forefathers of the Arab nations. Like their father Ishmael, of whom God said he would be a “Wild Ass of a man”, who would be at war with everybody, including his brothers, Kedar is currently for war, though Israel wants peace.

The ‘ everlasting hatred’ is coming to a head. The events leading up to the last intervention of God almighty to this earth are centered around this Israel hatred. This is why the Psalmist cries out to God, to consider the trouble inflicted upon Israel by it.

But Israel’s prayer to God shall be answered for she will not always be surrounded by such hateful and painful neighbors, who seek her destruction even as she seeks peace, the Lord promises her in Ezekiel that by the time He is through “sanctifying Himself before the nations”,

Arab Men Harass and Attack Jewish Girls
Nov 27th, 2012
Daily NewsIsrael Today - Ryan Jones
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Outside Israel, most of the world only hears about the major eruptions of violence between Jews and Arabs in the region. But there is an unseen and constant low-level campaign of racial hatred, intimidation and terrorism that plagues the nation.

Case in point, a few days ago four Arab men were caught red-handed trying to rape a teenage Jewish girl in the northern Israel town of Afula. The rape was prevented at the last minute by a Jewish man who heard the girl screaming and scared away her attackers.

"I was walking in the city center near a darkened building under construction when I heard a girl screaming for help," Itai Cohen told The Jewish Voice. "I went inside and saw four Arab men around 30-40 years of age holding down a crying Jewish girl. I grabbed a crowbar and shouted. They panicked and ran away."

Cohen later said that while he simply acted on instinct in the heat of the moment, had the Arab men decided to turn on him, the incident could have ended far worse for both Cohen and the girl.

After returning the traumatized girl to her family, Cohen stated that this was far from an isolated incident.

"We are surrounded by Arab villages, and Arabs walk freely around Afula," he said, asserting that as a result "harassment has been increasing all over the city, but most Jews are too afraid to speak up."

Demonstrating that this phenomenon is prevalent in other parts of the country, too, The Jewish Voice also reported on the harassment of Jewish girls in downtown Jerusalem on Monday.

The girls in question said they had been hanging out near Jerusalem's Liberty Bell Park when a group of Arab youth passed by and began cursing at them. The incident escalated when the Arab youths threatened the girls and insisted they would not allow Jews to pass through the area.

Both incidents were completely ignored by the mainstream Israeli and international press.

The reason for bringing all this up is not to incite animosity towards the Arabs, nor to suggest that Israelis are perfect angles, while their enemies are heartless and cruel. The reason is to debunk a myth and to again point out a terrible case of double standards.

First, the double standard.

As noted, the media fully ignored both of these incidents, and the hundreds of others like them that happen all the time. Of course, were the roles switched, if it had been four Jewish youths trying to rape an Arab teenager, the Israeli and international press wouldn't be able to stop talking about the story.

Holding Jews to a different standard than their antagonists is anti-Semitism, plain and simple.

Second, the myth.

Israel's Arab antagonists, including those who sit in Israel's parliament, regularly try to paint a picture of widespread discrimination to the point that Arab citizens of Israel are uncomfortable or even under threat in Jewish-dominated areas.

But the opposite is in fact true. Israel's Arab citizens frequent Jewish-dominated areas with great regularity, and are generally treated no differently than Jews. A casual visit on any given day to downtown Jerusalem or the city's Malha Mall will easily prove this point.

A Grim Picture of Jewish - Protestant Relations‏
Nov 27th, 2012
Daily Newstimesofisrael
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Protestant clergymen painted a largely pessimistic view of the church's relationship with Israel and the Jewish community during a visit to the Holy Land, suggesting that anti-Semitism is a deep-seated problem based in Christian theology that will be difficult to uproot.

Jewish-Protestant relations are currently undergoing a severe crisis after senior leaders of Mainline Protestant churches in the US last month accused Israel of "widespread" human rights violations and urged Congress to reconsider military aid to Jerusalem.

"I am completely pessimistic in terms of believing that I, we, are going to overturn 2,000 years of erroneous theology that has manifested itself in all kinds of diatribes and anti-Semitic factions," said the Rev. Paul Wilkinson. "I believe we'd be fooling ourselves if we believed that we can overturn and change what I perceive to be a Goliath of theology in the church. The Goliath we face is the Goliath of replacement theology, the Goliath of Christian Palestinianism that taunts Israel, that goads Israel, that accuses Israel, that condemns Israel and those Christians who stand with Israel."

Replacement theology, also called supercessionism, is the belief that Christendom has taken the Jewish people's place as the recipients of promises God made in the Old Testament.

"That Goliath cannot be felled with a stone and a sling as in the days of King David, because the problem isn't political, the problem isn't sociological, the problem isn't about lack of education or lack of dialogue," Wilkinson said. "The problem is a spiritual one. The problem is that there is an adversary of God, of Israel, of Christians."