Our Blessed Hope

Walking can add minutes to your life. This enables you at 85 years old to spend an additional 5 months in a nursing home at $7000 per month.

My grandpa started walking five miles a day when he was 60. Now he’s 97 years old and we don’t know where he is.

I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me.

I have to walk early in the morning, before my brain figures out what I’m doing..

I joined a health club last year, spent about 400 bucks. Haven’t lost a pound. Apparently you have to go there.

Every time I hear the dirty word ‘exercise’, I wash my mouth out with chocolate..

I do have flabby thighs, but fortunately my stomach covers them.

The advantage of exercising every day is so when you die, they’ll say, ‘Well, she looks good doesn’t she..’

If you are going to try cross-country skiing, start with a small country.

I know I got a lot of exercise the last few years,…… just getting over the hill..

We all get heavier as we get older, because there’s a lot more information in our heads. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

AND

Every time I start thinking too much about how I look, I just find a Happy Hour and by the time I leave, I look just fine.

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Dr. Jimmy DeYoung

Pentagon: US Strategy For Two Wars

In a report released by the Defense Department, the United States military leadership says that they must focus on fighting a wide range of threats from cyber-attacks to terrorism and they have revised the previous objective of being equipped to fight two major conflicts at any time. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates says this new strategy accounts for threat such as cyber-attacks, Global Warming, and guerrilla style insurgencies, while at the same time, having enough men on the ground in the present war zones and any that may come up in the future.

The report says that the US military’s top priority is to prevail in today’s wars citing the need to dismantle terrorist networks in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Jimmy’s Prophetic Prospective

The new strategy plan for the United States military calls for dealing with multiple wars in our world today, a precursor to the end time prophetic scenario that can be found in Bible prophecy.

Strategic planners at the United States Defense Department have revised their military strategy to focus on fighting multiple wars all at the same time. With the onslaught of cyber-attacks on the Pentagon and even in war zones the top brass in the United States military said they must be prepared to deal with what comes their way. As every day passes the threat of terrorism or even guerrilla style insurgency must be an intricate aspect present day strategy for the military.

This report is in line with the end of days scenario found in Bible prophecy. Jesus, in the most powerful prophetic message he gave while here on Earth, the Olivet Discourse, recorded in Matthew 24. Jesus said that there would be wars and rumors of wars with nation fighting against nation and kingdom against kingdom (Matthew 24:6-7). In the book of Revelation we see the prophecies that also describe a period of wars, a seven year long period with the major wars at the beginning of this period (Revelation 6:3-4) and at the end of the seven years (Revelation 19). Each of the other Jewish prophets, 17 of them, also reveal a similar scenario for the last days.

The new Pentagon strategy focuses on multiple wars - indeed it is a precursor to Bible prophecy being fulfilled.

Abbas: Jerusalem To Be Palestinian Capital

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told the American peace envoy that the Palestinian people will not accept any other city for the capital for their Palestinian state except Jerusalem and the Palestinians would insist on receiving control over the eastern section of the city of Jerusalem. The Palestinian Authority president says it is very important that it would be clear which part of the capital, Jerusalem, belongs to the Palestinians and which part belongs to Israel.

Jimmy’s Prophetic Prospective

The claim by the President of the Palestinian Authority that Jerusalem will be the capital of a Palestinian state is in contradiction to Bible prophecy for the last days and the Israelis and the Palestinians.

The Palestinians since 1967 have been claiming that their state, Palestine, that this state will have Jerusalem as its capital city. Meanwhile, the Israeli leaders say that Jerusalem is the eternal, undivided capital of the Jewish people. There seems to be no middle ground for the Jews and the Palestinians and neither side is ready to compromise.

There are several thoughts that come to mind as I consider this complex situation. First of all, history reveals that there never has been a Palestinian state and thus Jerusalem has never been its capital. Secondly, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is about more than Jerusalem. The Palestinians don’t want a Jewish state they want all of the land of Israel as their Palestinian state.

Bible prophecy speaks to both issues. The ancient Jewish prophets Ezekiel, Malachi, Jeremiah, and Obadiah say that in the end the Palestinians will be destroyed (Ezekiel 35, Malachi 1, Jeremiah 49, and the little book of Obadiah. Zechariah says that Jerusalem will be the center of controversy in the last days (Zechariah 12:2). But Zechariah also quotes Jesus in chapter 1:14-16 where it says Jesus will come back to Jerusalem and build His temple in the city.

The final solution for Jerusalem will be resolved by Bible prophecy - Bible prophecy that will be fulfilled.

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The Pentagon Says US Military Strategies Must Focus on Fighting Multiple Wars

By Jimmy DeYoung

In a report released by the Defense Department, the United States military leadership says that they must focus on fighting a wide range of threats from cyber-attacks to terrorism and they have revised the previous objective of being equipped to fight two major conflicts at any time. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates says this new strategy accounts for threat such as cyber-attacks, Global Warming, and guerrilla style insurgencies, while at the same time, having enough men on the ground in the present war zones and any that may come up in the future.

The report says that the US military’s top priority is to prevail in today’s wars citing the need to dismantle terrorist networks in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Jimmy’s Prophetic Prospective on the News

The new strategy plan for the United States military calls for dealing with multiple wars in our world today, a precursor to the end time prophetic scenario that can be found in Bible prophecy.

Strategic planners at the United States Defense Department have revised their military strategy to focus on fighting multiple wars all at the same time. With the onslaught of cyber-attacks on the Pentagon and even in war zones the top brass in the United States military said they must be prepared to deal with what comes their way. As every day passes the threat of terrorism or even guerrilla style insurgency must be an intricate aspect of the military’s present day strategy.

This report is in line with the end of days scenario found in Bible prophecy. Jesus - in the most powerful prophetic message he gave while here on Earth, the Olivet Discourse - said that there would be wars and rumors of wars with nation fighting against nation and kingdom against kingdom (Matthew 24:6-7).

In the book of Revelation we see the prophecies that also describe a period of wars, a seven year long period with the major wars at the beginning of this period (Revelation 6:3-4) and at the end of the seven years (Revelation 19). Each of the other Jewish prophets, 17 of them, also reveal a similar scenario for the last days.

The new Pentagon strategy focuses on multiple wars - indeed it is a precursor to Bible prophecy being fulfilled.

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The US Is Not the Only Nation with a Debt Problem

By Todd Strandberg

For the past few years, I’ve been regularly reporting on America ’s growing national debt load. We are not the only nation spending more than we take in. In fact, there are several countries with a much larger problem with public debt - Greece, Portugal, and Japan are three examples. They all suffered downgrades last week to their credit worthiness.

Greece has an out-of-control budget deficit. It has been in the news concerning whether it may need an emergency loan from fellow EU members to avoid default.

“If you fear a Greek crisis, then you should not only avoid government bonds but corporates as well,” said Philip Gisdakis, head of credit strategy at UniCredit SpA in Munich.

Portugal also has runaway spending. Moody’s ratings agency warned that Portugal ’s credit rating could suffer unless its deficit was reduced. Last week, Portugal reported a larger-than-expected budget deficit of 9.3 percent of gross domestic product in 2009.

Standard & Poor’s lowered its assessment of Japan’s fiscal health, threatening a credit rating cut if the economy stays weak and debt remains sky high. In a surprise move, S&P affirmed the country’s “AA” long-term debt rating, but revised its outlook to “negative” from “stable.”

“The outlook change reflects our view that the Japanese government’s diminishing economic policy flexibility may lead to a downgrade unless measures can be taken to stem fiscal and deflationary pressures,” S&P said in a statement.

Japan shoulders the biggest public debt burden among industrialized countries, and because of the size of the Japanese economy, its debt problem needs the most attention. Greece and Portugal are smaller nations that can be bailed out by an IMF loan.

The size of Japan ’s debt is staggering. Economists predict the country’s debt will balloon to 190 percent of gross domestic product over the next couple years. To give you a perspective of the size of this finance burden, the U.S. has a national debt that is only at 70 percent of GDP.

Someone might ask, “What are we worried about?” We could double the size of our debt and still be second to Japan. It’s a bit of an “apples-to-oranges” comparison. Japan has been able to run a higher-than-average public debt-to-GDP ratio because it has had such a high personal savings rates. Only 6 percent of its debt is held outside the country. Their borrowing costs are also very low. The yield on ten-year government bonds has been around 1.30 percent this year, and the short-term rates are around a tenth of a percent.

Japan’s debt load has that nation in a death grip. The need to service the debt has sucked the life out of the Japanese economy. Nominal GDP has only increased at an annual rate of 0.1 percent since 1991. It is a formula for calamity when a nation’s debt is growing and its economy is not.

The Japanese have proven that you can’t just spend your way out of financial trouble.. Tokyo tried for twenty years to jump-start the economy, and all they have to show for it is a mountain of debt. Oddly enough, we are going down the same path. Washington has just pumped $2 trillion into our economy, and unemployment continues to rise.

The most likely factor that could trigger a collapse in Japan is their entitlement program. They have a rapidly aging population that will eventually bankrupt their retirement services.

Even if someone found the secret to eternal youth, there is no way for the Bank of Japan to keep rates artificially low forever. The rate on long-term bonds would only need to double to 2 percent to create a situation of total insolvency.

The Bible predicts that some day, a man is going to come and promise to solve much of the world’s social, political, and economic problems. To have the whole world turn to the Antichrist for answers seems to imply that a time of chaos will sweep over the planet.

“And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?” (Revelation 13:4).

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SPIRITUALITY TODAY

Going to church this Sunday? Look around. [Excerpts]

The chances are that one in five of the people there find “spiritual energy” in mountains or trees, and one in six believe in the “evil eye,” that certain people can cast curses with a look — beliefs your Christian pastor doesn’t preach.

In the 1980s, Albert Mohler and Julia Jarvis were in graduate school together at Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville. Today, Mohler is president of the seminary and a leading voice for Baptist orthodoxy. He sees a “rampant confusion” about faith revealed in the Pew findings.

Pew says two in three adults believe in or cite an experience with at least one supernatural phenomenon, including:

·26% find “spiritual energy” in physical things. ·25% believe in astrology. ·24% say people will be reborn in this world again and again. ·23% say yoga is a “spiritual practice.”

Mohler calls these “the au courant confusions,” attachments to the latest fashionable free-floating beliefs. “One hundred years ago, it would have been ’spiritualism.’ They wouldn’t have known what yoga was but might have been attracted to the ‘New Thought’ of the time,” Mohler says.

His former classmate giggles at that. She’s an ordained minister in the progressive United Church of Christ and leads the Interfaith Family Project, which meets for weekly worship at a Silver Spring, Md., high school.

Jarvis, of Takoma Park, Md., also studies with Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh and finds a spiritual dimension in yoga.

“I don’t do astrology, but my mother, who grew up in Birmingham, Ala., and was a staunch Baptist all her life, looked at her horoscope daily and totally believed it,” Jarvis says.

“My mother feared for years that I was no longer saved, but just two days before she died, she had an epiphany,” Jarvis says. “She said she was ‘told’ in a spiritual experience to put aside all religious and political differences and just love each other. That was her blessing to me, and that’s what I’m doing.”

http://www.usatoday.com/NEWS/usaedition/2009-12-10-1Amixingbeliefs10_CV_U.htm

[TBC: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears” (2 Timothy 4:3).]

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Rome Leader Makes “Historic Visit” to Israel: Says His “Greatest Dream” Is for Israel to Join the European Union

By Joel Rosenberg

On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu welcomed Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and the Italian cabinet for a series of joint meetings with the Israeli cabinet. He also hosted a gala dinner for the Italian delegation at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem. Netanyahu described the leader from Rome as “one of Israel’s greatest friends, a courageous leader who is a great champion of freedom and a great supporter of peace.” Netanyahu said this despite the fact that the Associated Press reports Italy is the leading trading partner with Iran in the E.U.

Berlusconi was one of only three leaders in Western Europe who voted against the anti-Israel U.N. resolution last fall regarding the Goldstone Commission Report (the other two were German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Netherlands Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende).

Rome was Netanyahu’s first stop on his first trip to Europe upon becoming Prime Minister in 2009, specifically to see Berlusconi. Likewise, Avigdor Lieberman headed straight to Rome to see Berlusconi as his first trip as Israeli Foreign Minister.

“I can think of very few nations who have made such a contribution to Western culture as our two nations. In Rome and Jerusalem, the foundations for Western culture were laid,” Netanyahu said Monday night.

Berlusconi, who brought eight senior members of his government, returned the compliment saying that Rome considers Jerusalem one of its closest allies and considers Israel a part of Europe. “As long as I am one of the shapers of politics,” the Roman leader stated, “my greatest dream is to include Israel among the European Union countries.” He invited Netanyahu to come to Italy for another round of meetings.

The meetings were described by some in the media as “historic.” They also had echoes of Bible prophecy. The Hebrew Prophet Daniel indicates that in the “last days” Israel will sign a peace treaty with her many neighbors that appears to be brokered or negotiated or confirmed in some way by a leader from Rome (see Daniel chapter nine). It’s too soon to say definitively that yesterday’s events were in any way part of those prophecies, but they were certainly intriguing to those tracking geopolitical events in light of End Times prophecies.

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What Happened to Flying Cars?

By Jack Kinsella

I was thinking about all the technological wonders that we had envisioned for the 21st century back in the 1960’s; stuff like death-rays, videophones and flying cars.

(Cell phones weren’t expected until the 24th century, when Captain James T. Kirk uses one to call Scottie aboard the Starship Enterprise. But flying cars and videophones were due around the Year 2000.)

Videophones do exist, but they’re not all that popular. (Back in the 60’s we never dreamed hardly anybody would WANT a videophone.)

And while we could build flying cars, we still haven’t mastered driving the ones on wheels safely.

(It turned out it isn’t the building of cars that fly that was the problem. It’s the idiots that would be driving them while they’re up there.)

But all in all, the future is really much more interesting than even I had daydreamed it would be when I was a kid in the 1960’s.

Who, in the age of LPs and two-song 45 rpm records, could have envisioned a 4G iPod the size of a matchbox that could hold a radio station’s entire library?

Remember the GPS-guided cement warheads used against the tanks that Saddam parked nears schools and hospitals to minimize collateral damage?

While we imagined death-rays (and, indeed, they exist) who would have thought that the first war of the 21st century would instead be fought using high-tech rocks?

In 1968, a typical office consisted mainly of a desk and a telephone, some notepads, a typewriter and some filing cabinets.

Who would have dreamed that just four decades later it could all be packed into a laptop computer the size of a clipboard?

Or that an office filing room could be replaced by a “pen” drive smaller than a Bic lighter?

Or that I could sit in this ordinary room in my ordinary house and instantly communicate with thousands of people located on every continent in the world - by hitting the “send” button at the bottom of this page?

In the 1970’s, I was assigned as a computer operator in the Data Processing Department at the Marine Corps Air Station at Cherry Point, NC.

The computer was housed in a climate-controlled 4000 square foot room kept precisely at a chilly 68 degrees. It had rows and rows of tape drive banks, each the size of a refrigerator.

One of our jobs was printing out payroll checks for the base’s military and civilian employees.

It involved: 1) programmers writing the code; 2) keypunchers to input it onto keypunch cards; 3) a sorter to operate the EAM sorting machine and box them up; 4) an operator to hang the tape on the drive, input the keypunch cards in a big hopper, transfer it to tape, and then; 5) another computer operator to tell the mainframe where to look for the data.

The entire process tied up the whole department for five days, twice a month, using equipment that costs millions and took up a small city block.

Today, I could do it all on my MacBook (which cost less than my first microwave oven did) using Quicken and my laser printer - in two hours or less.

Wirelessly. While watching TV in a little corner of my computer screen.

In 1899, as the 19th century was drawing to a close, US Commissioner of Patents Charles H. Duell solemnly pronounced that, “Everything that can be invented has been invented.”

When Duell was born, transportation, communications and trade moved at the same speed as it had since the Greeks discovered hemlock was a poor choice for a cocktail beverage.

In his lifetime, he’d seen the invention of the railway, the steamship, the telegraph and the automobile. What else could be left to invent?

But Duell wasn’t the only one suffering from a lack of vision.

In 1922, Thomas Edison declared, “the radio craze . . . will die out in time.”

In 1943, Thomas J. Watson, who was at the time the chairman of IBM, gave this business forecast: “I think there is a world market for about five computers.”

In 1977, Ken Olsen, president of Digital Equipment Corporation declared, “There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their home.”

And in 1981, Bill Gates opined; “640K ought to be enough for anybody.”

As we’ve seen, predicting the future is no simple task. One of the problems with trying to forecast the future is that the future is a conspiracy of unknown and seemingly unrelated events that must work together exactly for the prediction to be accurate.

IBM failed to see a computer hardware market, Digital Equipment failed to see the demand, and Bill Gates failed to see its potential.

All their predictions failed - and laughably so - within a matter of decades or mere years of their prognostications. And they were the world’s leading experts in those particular fields!

But the Apostle John predicted, not over a period of years or decades or even centuries, but across two millennia, the rise of a centralized global economic system that would come into existence over the space of single generation, somewhere in time.

Such a system wasn’t possible until the invention of computers, in this generation.

The Prophet Ezekiel predicted the rise of a Russian/Persian Islamic alliance that would come into existence in “the latter years” at the same period in history when there was again a nation called “Israel.”

Ezekiel spoke across two and a half millennia, from a point in history when Israel and Judah had both been invaded and destroyed and the survivors taken as foreign slaves.

And from Ezekiel’s day until May 14, 1948, there was no such place on earth as ‘Israel’ (and no Russian/Islamic alliance, either)

The Prophet Daniel, from the same perspective in history, predicted the rise and fall of Babylon, Medo-Persia and Alexander the Great’s Greece.

Daniel also predicted the rise of the Roman Empire, its decline and fall, AND he prophesied its revival, concurrent with the restoration of Israel.

The Hebrew prophets weren’t forecasting the immediate future of a particular industry in which they were the leading actors.

They were forecasting world events, geopolitical alliances, wars, and social and technological changes so profound there were no words in their vocabulary with which to describe them.

And unlike technological ‘prophets’ like Charles Duell, Ken Olsen or even Bill Gates, the Bible prophets have proved themselves 100% accurate, 100% of the time, even when they admittedly didn’t know what they were talking about!

The Prophet Daniel didn’t have a clue as to what he was seeing and hearing:

“And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?” (Daniel 12:8)

And for centuries, neither did anybody else. Until only recently, Daniel’s words were sealed.

From the Reformation until the middle of the 20th century, the Book of Daniel was the least studied, least understood and least preached Book in the Bible.

Martin Luther questioned whether or not Daniel even belonged in the canon of Scripture, and John Calvin omitted Daniel altogether when he wrote his commentaries on the Bible.

Without the existence of a literal place called ‘Israel’ Daniel’s prophecies made little sense.

But once Israel was restored to the land, what had previously seemed to be a collection of symbolic heads, horns and beasts began to take on a literal meaning.

Especially in the context of the revealing angel’s charge to Daniel:

“But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” (Daniel 12:4)

Duell, Olsen, Gates, etc., couldn’t begin to imagine the wonders that would exist by 2008, even as they were in the process of working to bring them about.

The Bible prophets, under the inspiration of God, could imagine them, but they couldn’t find the words to describe them.

But Jesus brings it all into perspective, speaking across the ages and addressing us directly, saying;

“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)

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Tectonic Shifts and Shafts

By Wilfred Hahn

Much has happened over the past few months. Crucially, the tide is shifting from one extreme to another. Beginning from the panicked financial lows of late 2008 and March 2009, policymakers and Wall Street had been ferociously attempting to blow air into the collapsed balloon.

They surely gave it a hefty effort. The result - as this chart clearly shows - is that government debt around the world rose on average by 75% in a period of only 2 years. Yes, that is not a typo. It reads seventy-five percent … over 2 years!

While this statistic is no surprise for anyone who has followed the day-to-day developments of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), it represents an unmitigated disaster that is simply stunning in its scope. The gravity of this development cannot be overemphasized. The major reasons for the debt increase were unprecedented government funded economic stimulus programs, financial bail-outs and guarantees.

These are certainly fast-changing times … both obvious and subtle. We have certainly covered the most obvious. While we had developed some 7 scenarios that could possibly play out over the next few years (with so much uncertainty, anything could be possible!) recent events raise the probabilities of a more deflationary outcome over the nearer term horizon. I will explain why shortly. However, let’s first consider the tenor of recent events and trends.

Critically, Paul Volcker is back on stage, side by side with President Obama. This is a meaningful signal. Previously, this veteran central banker had been frozen out by the younger members of the Obama Economic Recovery Advisory Board. (Volcker is well into his 80’s.) If Mr. Volcker’s policies are now followed (as consensus now seems to indicate), it will be a deflationary influence. The banking industry will be curtailed, shrunken and unbundled.

While bankers are not well loved these days, and no one will be crying for them, these government incursions into private industry will throw a wet blanket upon commerce overall for some time. Volcker’s recommendations are sensible. It’s just that removing a 100 pound tumor from the “body economic” is a dangerous operation, drawing enormous blood supply.

Also, it is now well known that insiders on Wall Street were net sellers over recent years of their ownership shares in financial firms. They did know that crazy things were going on, and reduced their personal risks accordingly.

Next, the AIG investigation is gathering steam as it should. The biggest corporate give-away by the U.S. government in history occurred. Yet, the monetary alchemists thought it best — in their elite view — that the public should not know the details. Actually, bailing out AIG was really about bailing out some key Wall Street firms whom AIG owed money. At last count, the U.S. government has funnelled some $180 billion into the AIG unwinding. These bankers that had their counter-party positions made whole (at 100% on the dollar, no less) are now again paying themselves big bonuses. In part, not surprisingly, this has caused a bit of a backlash. While, national unemployment stands at 17.5% (employing the classical definition) and the net wealth of households having collapsed, Wall Street is perceived as eating cake.

Recently, the loss of the Massachusetts seat to the Republicans now signals that new government spending bills will be stymied at every turn. Already, the Obama government is announcing spending pull-backs. While these cuts are very minor to date, it nevertheless represents a significant shift in policies.

At this point, there are no easy solutions. Past mistakes have their unavoidable legacy … and require their respective penance. That partly explains why the tough phase — the “cold turkey” stage (as it will feel) — is still ahead. Once the drug addict is weaned off the narcotic — in this case, debt expansion and government deficit spending — the colds sweats and cramps of withdrawal begin.

The bottom line? “Money manager capitalism” is out. The piper will now be paid and the times likely to be dangerous and volatile over the next few years. While I will certainly keep probabilities open on an inflationary outcome longer-term (and not entirely discount this scenario), for now it looks like the balance of evidence is shifting towards the deflationary side. There are a number of contributing factors, in addition to the political tide changes already mentioned.

Firstly, all of history argues that maniacal booms which are fed by a debt explosion eventually succumb to the malaise of over-indebtedness. The handmaiden to these grand trends that can play out over a series of decades, is a widening and extreme wealth skew. This is usually the final nail in the coffin for great countries. A high wealth skew means that debt quality deteriorates and economic growth slows as much productive resources gets progressively siphoned off as interest costs. As such, the toxins of debt eventually kill off the debtor. Just as in a wine vat, the accumulation of the waste products of fermentation (ethyl alcohol) eventually kills the yeast.

America now indeed has a massively imbalanced wealth skew. The top 1% of households may now own 45% of total wealth according to some unofficial surveys. The graph to the right shows one estimate supplied by the University of Columbia. The trend is clear. In fact, the U.S. now has a wealth skew that is fast approaching that of some Latin American nations.

Yet, it is true that sometimes great hyperinflations have also ensued from reckless periods of monetary malfeasance. But this time, such an outcome is unlikely for some key structural reasons … at least for now. For one, the western world, including North America, is in an aging crisis. People today are poorly prepared for retirement, especially after suffering significant losses in their net worth throughout the recent financial crisis. Both retirees and pension funds are starved for income, especially with interest rates being so low. Secondly, today we have structured and large bond markets that are highly reactive to inflation. As such, bond markets (though also vulnerable to bubbles at times) act as an inflation regulator.

Given the recent change in sentiment, the sacrificial lambs are being lined up. How far this process may go, no one knows. However, there are some dangerous elements to fear. First, consider that there has been such a massive collapse of the U.S. middle class that respected analysts are openly pondering the thought that it had all been planned. Albert Edwards, who is the Chief Strategist for Societe General, openly writes:

“Some recent reading has got me thinking as to whether the US and UK central banks were actively complicit in an aggressive redistributive policy benefiting the very rich.”

If the economic times become more difficult for America over the next few years, could there be public revolts … even open anarchy? Japan, despite suffering a deflationary period for nearly two decades following its financial bust, kept calm and organized. Society did not fracture. But then again, Japan’s, wealth skew was mild compared to America’s.

Christians who take a literal pre-millennial view of Bible prophecy, will also want to be alerted to the ongoing and future fate of the Jews. With Volcker back on the scene, even in his non-executive capacity, the Gentiles can be seen to be taking top influence of the U.S. monetary structure. After a consecutive set of Jewish federal reserve governors (Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke, who clearly presided over an era of monetary mayhem); several Jewish Treasury Secretaries; the Obama economic policy team also visibly staffed with a number specialists who are Jewish, the change in tide could be ominous.

Please stay on the look-out and do not fall prey to demonic anti-Semitism. I encourage you to read Chapter 10 entitled Jews, Gentiles and Money in our recent book Global Financial Apocalypse Prophesied to get a balanced explanation of this unfortunate and long-running dynamic.

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Give and Take in Iran

By Chuck Missler

Iran reacted negatively to reports this weekend that the US is building up defenses in the Persian Gulf yet still agreed to send its uranium abroad for enrichment. In the meanwhile, Iran will be executing more of its own people, and still holds hostage three US hikers who accidentally wandered into Iranian territory last summer.

Missile Defenses: Tensions between Iran and the United States were cranked a bit tighter this weekend over US plans to build up its missile defenses in the Persian Gulf. The Obama Administration is reportedly sending in ships armed with missile-targeting capabilities off the coast of Iran, and is also placing anti-missile systems in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused the US of causing weakness and division in the Middle East, and Iranian Parliament speaker Ali Larijani on Tuesday insisted that Iran is no threat to its neighbors.

“America’s new puppet show for protecting and implementing security in the region is nothing but a new political trick to pave the way for its presence at others’ expense,” Larijani said in comments to the house carried by the state broadcaster.

Iran regularly puts on war games in the Persian Gulf and has threatened to hit Western targets if the US or Israel attack Iran’s nuclear power plants.

Uranium Enrichment: In the midst of these tensions, after four months of stalling, Ahmadinejad on Tuesday announced that Iran was willing to send its low-enriched uranium abroad for enrichment. He offered a slightly different timetable than the International Atomic Energy Agency, though. Originally, the IAEA plan called for Iran to get the uranium back after a year, but Ahmadinejad agreed publicly to less than half that time.

“If we allow them to take it, there is no problem. We sign a contract to give 3.5 percent enriched uranium and receive 20 percent enriched one after four or five months,” Ahmadinejad said.

The plan is geared toward making sure that Iran sticks to using its uranium enrichment for peaceful nuclear power purposes only. The fuel rods Iran would get back would be suitable for nuclear power, but would be difficult to turn into weapons grade material. Sending 70 percent of its uranium out of the country in one batch would also theoretically delay Iran from pursuing a weapons program.

It isn’t certain that Iran intends to follow the actual guidelines set up during the six world power talks last October. Ahmadinejad did not mention whether Iran would swap the entire 70 percent of its uranium at one time, as outlined by the talks. He did, however, express a willingness for Western countries to come in and build nuclear power plants in Iran.

“They want to cooperate? OK, we cooperate. We do not have any problem. Let them build 20 nuclear power plants. Is there a problem? Russia, France and the U.S., come and build.”

Hikers: January 31st marked six months since three UC Berkeley graduates, Sarah Shourd, 31, Shane Bauer, 27, and Josh Fattal, 27, were arrested in Iran after having accidentally crossed the border while looking for a waterfall. The Americans speak some Arabic, but not the Persian language Farsi. Because the US does not have diplomatic relations with Iran, Swiss proxies have been working to get the Americans released, but have not seen the hikers since October. Two Belgian tourists who were released from prison in December said that Iran was keeping the hikers in solitary confinement. The hikers’ families are anxious for their release and have hired a prominent Iranian attorney to represent them, but he has not yet been able to see his clients.

Executions: In the meanwhile, Iran is preparing to celebrate the 31st anniversary of the fall of the Shah on February 11. Leading up to the celebration, Iran has started executing some of the protestors who were arrested after the controversial reelection of Ahmadinejad last June 12. About 4000 people were arrested during the post-election protests, which have continued despite the police crack down.

Tehran’s Revolutionary Court gave death sentences to eleven people last month, and two were hanged last week. Nine more will soon be put to death as traitors, and Mir Hossein Moussavi, the Iranian opposition leader is slamming the Iranian leadership for simply continuing the tyranny of the Shah.

“In the early years of the Islamic Revolution, most people were convinced that the structure of the revolution would destroy the past political situation of tyranny and dictatorship, and I was one of them who believed that,” said the former prime minister, who acts as the symbolic leader of Iran’s protest movement against the current regime. “The current political situation in Iran indicates the presence of the remaining roots of tyranny and dictatorship of the Shah.”

Legislator Hassan Noroozi named Moussavi among three people whom he said “must be arrested” The other two are Mehdi Karrubi, another Iranian opposition leader, and Fa’ezeh Hashemi, daughter of the former reformist president, Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

“They must not remain on the sidelines and be safe,” Noroozi said. “Those who issue statements and invite people to create chaos in the streets and attack one another must be dealt with according to Islamic laws.”

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Iran’s ICBM Capability on Global Display

By Sean Osborne

According to various news sources Iran launched an indigenously manufactured Omid (Hope) satellite into a 55 degree inclined low earth orbit (LEO) at 18:30 GMT yesterday via their indigenously developed Kavoshgar-3 (Explorer-3) launch vehicle. Other reports cite the launch vehicle as being the Safir-2 making the specific identification unconfirmed.

Early direct and parametric observations are indicating that this was a 2-stage launch to orbital altitude. One orbit of the Omid and rocket body is accomplished in 90 minutes and the orbital altitudes range from an apogee of 200 miles to a perigee (closest approach to earth) of 150 miles. The perigee altitude is just 50 miles above the minimum altitude required for sub-orbital space flight, making the Omid’s orbit analogous to that of an orbiting ICBM warhead.

The launched satellite is reportedly a capsule carrying live animals (a rat, some turtles and worms). The live animals onboard the satellite would tend to indicate that Iran intends to precisely deorbit the satellite for a return to earth at some point. Even if the animals fail to survive this “space mission” a successful deorbiting of the capsule would be the primary objective of the mission. I cannot help but to speculate that given Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad recent statements of a “surprise” on 11 February that this capsule is deorbited on that date.

Assessment: Iran is using the anniversary of its Shi’a Islamic revolution to demonstrate its new intercontinental ballistic missile system and warhead deorbiting capability to the West and to Israel despite months and months of futile Western-imposed economic sanctions. The message sent by this launch is now crystal clear: time has now expired with respect to making a decision to act against the Iranian nuclear weapons and delivery program.

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HEAVEN AND NATURE AND AVATAR

Heaven and Nature [Excerpts]

It’s fitting that James Cameron’s “Avatar” arrived in theaters at Christmastime. Like the holiday season itself, the science fiction epic is a crass embodiment of capitalistic excess wrapped around a deeply felt religious message. It’s at once the blockbuster to end all blockbusters, and the Gospel According to James.

But not the Christian Gospel. Instead, “Avatar” is Cameron’s long apologia for pantheism — a faith that equates God with Nature, and calls humanity into religious communion with the natural world.

In Cameron’s sci-fi universe, this communion is embodied by the blue-skinned, enviably slender Na’Vi, an alien race whose idyllic existence on the planet Pandora is threatened by rapacious human invaders. The Na’Vi are saved by the movie’s hero, a turncoat Marine, but they’re also saved by their faith in Eywa, the “All Mother,” described variously as a network of energy and the sum total of every living thing.

If this narrative arc sounds familiar, that’s because pantheism has been Hollywood’s religion of choice for a generation now. It’s the truth that Kevin Costner discovered when he went dancing with wolves. It’s the metaphysic woven through Disney cartoons like “The Lion King” and “Pocahontas.” And it’s the dogma of George Lucas’s Jedi, whose mystical Force “surrounds us, penetrates us, and binds the galaxy together.” Hollywood keeps returning to these themes because millions of Americans respond favorably to them. From Deepak Chopra to Eckhart Tolle, the “religion and inspiration” section in your local bookstore is crowded with titles pushing a pantheistic message. A recent Pew Forum report on how Americans mix and match theology found that many self-professed Christians hold beliefs about the “spiritual energy” of trees and mountains that would fit right in among the indigo-tinted Na’Vi.

Indeed, it represents a form of religion that even atheists can support. Richard Dawkins has called pantheism “a sexed-up atheism.” (He means that as a compliment.) Sam Harris concluded his polemic “The End of Faith” by rhapsodizing about the mystical experiences available from immersion in “the roiling mystery of the world.” Citing Albert Einstein’s expression of religious awe at the “beauty and sublimity” of the universe, Dawkins allows, “In this sense I too am religious.”

Pantheism offers a different sort of solution: a downward exit, an abandonment of our tragic self-consciousness, a re-merger with the natural world our ancestors half-escaped millennia ago.

But except as dust and ashes, Nature cannot take us back.

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Solar Roads: Energy Plus for the Future?

By Chuck Missler

Imagine driving down a road made of giant solar panels. White strips of LED lights in the road brightly mark the lanes - especially helpful in the early morning darkness. Additional lights in the road suddenly blink on to warn, “Caution. Deer crossing.” Sure enough, two hundred yards later, four deer hop across the road and bound into the snow on the other side. Thick white flakes still pour down, but they melt as they hit the road surface because the road is self-heated. Welcome to a solar road.

Scott Brusaw of Sagle, Idaho hopes to make solar roadways a reality. Last summer, he received a $100,000 small business contract from the US Department of Transportation to develop prototypes of his invention. Working with Pennsylvania State University’s Materials Research Institute, Brusaw has been spending the past five months getting his product ready for testing. He’s scheduled to deliver the panels to the DOT by February 12, 2010.

The positives? Thousands of miles of roads would not only get us from here to there, but would provide for all our energy needs. Solar energy from the roads would power the LED strips, as well as all houses and businesses in the vicinity. Not only could this technology eliminate the need for other power plants, but gas guzzling cars could also get phased out. Brusaw imagines a series of recharge stations for electric cars along the new solar highways. The self-warming roads would save states millions of dollars per year in snow-plows, sand and cinders, not to mention the added wear and tear on asphalt. Goodbye to black ice forever. Brusaw also claims that all electric and phone wires could be run under the road so that we could get rid of unsightly telephone poles and their tendency to get knocked down in storms.

It sounds fantastic. Solar roads could provide us with a massive supply of renewable energy and solve the endless problem of how to pay for road and infrastructure maintenance.

Brusaw and the folks at Penn State still have a series of hurdles in their way, though. First off, they need glass strong enough to withstand the constant beating of tractor trailers zooming along at 80-miles-per-hour month after month. The glass has to be textured in order to give vehicles traction and to allow water to run off. It also needs to be able to handle it when tires roll over dirt and rocks and branches and dead opossums. The areas of highest population will also have to deal with cars covering the roads, blocking sunlight. While Wyoming and Nevada may produce a surplus of power, that may not necessarily help New Jersey.

The cost will be another issue. Yes, states will theoretically be able to generate revenue from the roads once they are installed, but the $6,900 price tag for a 12 x 12 panel is a hefty initial cost for something that’s never been tried before. There are other questions to answer too. How hard would the panels be to replace? How will the energy be harnessed and distributed, and who will be in charge of it all?

Brusaw is used to skeptics. The Infrastructurist called Brusaw’s solar road a “dubious green scheme” last September and offered to buy him dinner in New York if he actually produced a prototype that did most of what he claimed it could. Brusaw responded by saying:

‘The contract that we have with the U.S. Department of Transportation requires us to have a working prototype Solar Road Panel by February 12, 2010. That’s actually the easy part. We knew early on that getting the DOT, DOE, EPA, and Homeland Security on board would be the tough part. In the DOT contract, it states, “It is anticipated that this project may be of interest to the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency for Phase II funding. That leaves Homeland Security, which we expect will be very interested in the ability to track hazardous materials and known terrorists in real time…

‘Just for the record, Julie and I are fond of Red Lobster and Marie Calendar’s. I don’t like to gloat, so a trip to New York would be a waste of time. Perhaps you could send some gift certificates?’

We hope Brusaw and his wife get to enjoy that free Red Lobster dinner, and we look forward to seeing what happens to his Solar Road Panels after February 12th.

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BEATEN BUT UNBOWED [Excerpts]

A recent visitor to Jerusalem, Majed El Shafie, bore witness to [anti-Semitism and the persecution of Christians] at a reception and press conference held at the Van Leer Institute on December 14. Shafie and his colleagues formally introduced his Toronto-based international human rights organization, “One Free World International.” Shafie knows a great deal about Christian persecution: He converted from Islam to Christianity in his Egyptian homeland when he was 18. “During my years in law school in Alexandria,” Shafie explains, “the persecution of Christians was going on all around me and it made me wonder why it was happening. For the first time in my life I started to think about it. I started asking questions of my best friend Tamer, who was a Christian, and I started reading the Bible. I started making comparisons between the Bible and the Koran….Of course, converting from Islam to Christianity — or to any other faith — is dangerous business in Muslim lands. Under Shari’a law such conversions are understood to be a capital offense - enforced by the death penalty in some states, and bringing about various abuses and vigilante tactics in others. Nonetheless, Shafie was outspoken about his new faith.

“After I converted I wrote a book about the difference between Islam and Christianity which soon caused me to be arrested and imprisoned. There were three charges. The first charge was that I was trying to make a revolution against the Egyptian government. The second charge was that, because I was seeking equal rights for Christians, I was accused of trying to change the state religion to Christianity. The third charge was that I worshiped Jesus. So in fact I looked at the judge and I said, ‘Guilty as charged.’”

Shafie was imprisoned and tortured. Even today scars on his back testify to the violence he endured. After a lengthy hospitalization, he was placed under house arrest in Alexandria, and it was from there that he escaped and made his way to Israel. Finally in 2002 Majed got approval to enter Canada….Shafie’s December 2009 trip to Israel was, in part, a gesture of thanks to a country that gave him a new beginning. He also took the opportunity to affirm his personal support of Israel as a free nation and to take a stand, in solidarity with Israel, against anti-Semitism.

Shafie appeared at his press conference with two Canadian members of Parliament, Scott Reid and Mario Silva, both of whom are actively engaged with issues related to human rights and anti-Semitism. Dr. Frank Dimant, executive vice president of B’nai B’rith Canada, and Timothy King, a One Free World board member, also shared the podium with them. The speakers agreed that “anti-Zionism is the new anti-Semitism.” Shafie went on to say that the report on the IDF’s Cast Lead operation in Gaza by the head of the UN fact-finding mission, Justice Richard Goldstone, serves as a disturbing example of anti-Zionist rhetoric. Shafie underscored specific facts about Hamas’s tactics and the IDF’s response that were not mentioned in the Goldstone report: “We needed to know from his report that Hamas was using civilians as human shields. We needed to know from his report that for I don’t know how many years Hamas has been shooting thousands of rockets into Israel. We need to know from his report that before the Israelis bombed any target in Gaza, they sent thousands of fliers into the area and told the people to get out - ‘We’re going to bomb here in two hours.’ Goldstone’s report is a disgrace!”

After speaking about anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism, Shafie then began to discuss the plight of persecuted Christians. One Free World reports that in 2008, 165,000 Christians were killed worldwide because of their faith, claiming, “Every three minutes a Christian is being tortured in the Muslim world… between 200 million and 300 million Christians are persecuted in the world, of which 80 percent are in Muslim countries and the rest in communist and other countries.”

(Gilbert, “Beaten But Unbowed,” The Jerusalem Post, January 1 - 7, 2010, p.18-19).

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This week on ‘The Hal Lindsey Report’

On this week’s edition of “The Hal Lindsey Report,” I discuss the almost unbelievable speed at which knowledge is increasing in our world. The prophet Daniel precisely predicted this development 26 centuries ago. I’ll show you portions of a presentation now available on the internet that demonstrates with amazing clarity the ‘exponential’ increase in knowledge that Daniel said will occur just before the end of this Age. I was stunned when I first encountered this information, but it renewed my appreciation for the accuracy of the Bible’s prophecies. Like me, I think you’ll be amazed and inspired.

In recent years, China has been a major concern of the West in several ways: as a developing market, as the dominant industrial and financial engine of Asia, as one of America’s major creditors, and as an emerging global military threat. The sheer scope of China’s potential will amaze you. And it’s happening just in time for that massive nation to assume its role as an important player in the ‘last days’ scenario.

We’ll examine the breathtaking advance of technology. It’s one of the prophesied signs of the last days. Those technological advances seem to be the key to ‘unlocking’ the words that have been ’sealed’ since Daniel wrote them. Only today can the meaning of those prophesies be understood.

That’s why I am convinced that we are on the threshold of Christ’s return!

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Playtime for Kids and It’s Called Divination

By Jan Markell

I was planning to write about a current event issue when this story hit my in-box. I am no longer shocked by issues like what I am about to report. Our kids and teens have been seduced for decades. Harry Potter hasn’t helped nor has Twilight. Both kids and adults have been introduced to the paranormal in dozens of TV programs and movies. So much so, in fact, that the paranormal is the new normal.

So now ToysRus has a cute little pink Ouija board and one that glows in the dark, both marketed for children. They advertise that kids as young as 8 need to have these new sorcery objects! (Well, they don’t call them “sorcery objects” but the Bible does.) I know it is billed as a “toy” but I have enough personal experience that I can tell you it is blatant divination.

ToysRus children’s Ouija board

The Bible speaks extensively about “divination” and “sorcery.” Entire civilizations have been wiped out because of sorcery. Those perpetrating this are aiming at younger kids every day. Serious reproach against witchcraft and divination is given in Deuteronomy 18:9-15.

Are Christian parents going to say that this new kids’ Ouija board is “just a game,” just like they say Harry Potter and Twilight are “just fiction” and can’t hurt anyone? You can bet some will!

Let me tell you my personal ordeal with a Ouija board.

I was 23 years old. (I know that was back in the Bronze Age, but divination hasn’t changed.) I was addicted to a Ouija board. I had people driving 100 miles to put their hands on the glass object, ask the board questions, and have it spell out answers. I was so good at it that the glass object could move with no hands on it.

It made predictions and many of them came true. It instilled power in me that was stunning. The glass object that spelled out words would often spin around the board in a frenzy, and it was always talking about dark, evil things. All predictions were negative. It scared many participants. It has supernatural power, but since it is of the devil, not all predictions came true because the devil does not know the future.

When I asked the board where it got its power, it spelled S-A-T-A-N. One evening I put the board away and felt a presence in my apartment. I did not want to open my eyes because I knew I would see a demon.

If you think I am doing this for sensationalism, I can tell you that it has not been easy reliving my experience. I do it only to spare some of you from my mistakes. I had roots in a solid church in my teenage years and I sensed I had crossed a line. I seriously repented, took the board and glass object out to a bonfire and forever said good-bye to its evil. That was in accordance with Acts 19 which says that those who practiced magic gathered up their instruments and burned them.

Sadly, I had obtained almost a lust for the paranormal from the Ouija board and that is why most participants then move to deeper and darker occultic practices. The Ouija board is stepping stone number one.

But isn’t this just a game like Monopoly? you ask. Going back to my personal experience — the glass object was profane, cursed God, and sometimes flew off the board in a rage. Evil spirits were present to be sure. So no, it’s not just like Monopoly. This is playing with FIRE.

If anyone you know, child or adult, is playing with this force of evil, warn them. March on over to ToysRus and register a complaint.

There are many Web sites that speak of people getting obsessed/addicted to this so-called game. Others say this was the start of their paranormal journey. Sadly, most toy stores will put profits before protecting children, but speak up nonetheless.

This is just another sign of the times and of the lateness of the hour. In these last days, evil will wax worse and worse. That is why we as believers are called to be salt and light in a dark world. If a Christian feels they can dabble in darkness and still be “light,” they are seriously deceived.

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Is Modern Israel a Move of God or a Satanic Counterfeit?

By Dave Hunt

Question: In light of Joshua 21:43-45, and 2 Corinthians 1:20, do you have a list of the specific unfulfilled promises to Israel…not fulfilled by either the initial entering into the Promised Land, and/or by Jesus Christ Himself? It has always been very curious to me that dispensationalism, as a major, influential doctrine within the church (actually, only within the United States, to be more accurate), rose in prominence at precisely the same contemporary time period as political Zionism under Theodor Herzl and the World Jewish Congress (I refer, of course, to the initial publication and promulgation of the Scofield Reference Bible as the crowning achievement of the efforts introduced in America by Darby a few decades earlier in the 19th century). So, is modern Israel a move of God or a satanic counterfeit?

Response: Joshua 21:43-45 tells us,

“And the Lord gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein. And the Lord gave them rest round about, according to all that he sware unto their fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand. There failed not ought of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.”

Some believe this to mean that all prophecy concerning Israel and the land was fulfilled at this time.

Yet, the Book of Judges records that Israel did not act upon every promise of God concerning the land. Manasseh didn’t drive out the inhabitants of Bethshean…Ephraim didn’t…Zebulon didn’t…Asher didn’t…etc. (Jdgs 1:27-31 et al.). Looking at other verses, the Jews haven’t received all that God has promised (Gn 15:18-21, Nm 34:1-15, Ezk 47:13-20).

Second Corinthians 1:20 states,

“For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.”

All prophecies concerning Jesus’ life, ministry, death, burial, and resurrection are “yea and amen” by the Father. But other prophecies tell of His triumphant return and earthly reign. Zechariah 12:10 says,

“And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.”

This hasn’t been fulfilled.

Furthermore, some say that most, if not all, prophecy was fulfilled in AD 70. Some even say we are now in the Millennium. During the Millennium, the “wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them” (Is 11:6). Today when the lamb dwells with the wolf, the lamb is inside the wolf!

We do not have space within the confines of a Q&A for an exhaustive list of unfulfilled prophecies, but the few examples given are a good start.

John Darby and the Brethren movement were birthed in Britain, not America. Not influential in Britain? It is the conclusion of some that British Prime Minister Lloyd George was greatly influenced by dispensational doctrine of the return of the Jews to Israel, as was Lord Balfour. It has been said that modern Israel might not have been birthed were it not for evangelical influences on the British government. Although Darby is alleged to have invented premillennialism, interpretations by a number of Puritan writers predate Darby’s by centuries. (See For Zion’s Sake, Paul Wilkinson).

Isn’t it reasonable to consider that the “coincidental” emergence of Zionism, dispensationalism, Darby, et al., was the orchestration of the Lord?

“Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children” (Is 66:8).

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The New Israel Fund and the Next War

By Caroline Glick

A regional war may well be approaching. The actions and statements of Iran and its Syrian, Lebanese and Palestinian proxies over the past week or so indicate that this is what Israel’s enemies are gunning for.

In preparing for this growing threat, Israel’s leaders need to consider more than just the military challenges it faces. They must consider the political actors at home and abroad that limit the IDF’s ability to fight to victory and develop strategies for neutralizing those actors.

The latest developments are menacing. Last Saturday, Iran’s unelected president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad threatened to open up a new round of hostilities on February 11. Then Wednesday, Iran launched a new missile into space. Israeli and US missile experts claim that the missile launch signals that Iran is developing intercontinental ballistic missiles and building the capacity to launch nuclear warheads on ballistic missiles.

Following the missile launch, Syria’s president and foreign minister issued incendiary comments threatening Israel with war. Notably, they did so the same day the US informed Syria of its intention to send an ambassador to Damascus for the first time in five years.

Hamas, for its part, sent barrels of explosives drifting to the Israeli coastline - exposing new ways it can kill us. And Fatah, for its part, decided to kiss Hamas’s ring this week. Senior Fatah official Nabil Shaath’s obsequious visit to Gaza Wednesday was a graphic demonstration of Hamas’s preeminence in Palestinian society.

Then there is Hizbullah. In a speech on January 15, Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah pledged that the next war will “change the face of the region.”

This may not be an exaggeration. It isn’t simply that under the blind eye of UN peacekeepers Hizbullah has replenished and expanded its arsenal to include long-range missiles. It isn’t simply that in the three and half years since the war Hizbullah has taken control over the Lebanese government. Hizbullah has also built up a formidable ground force. In the event of war, these forces may be deployed as an expeditionary force inside northern Israel.

And if the precedent of former MK Azmi Bishara - who fled Israel after learning that he was about to be indicted for serving as a Hizbullah agent in the 2006 war - is any indication of Hizbullah’s modus operandi, Israel may also face Israeli Arab fifth columnists assisting Hizbullah forces inside the country.

Assuming for the moment that the IDF and the government are prepared to contend with these mounting military threats, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his colleagues must take the necessary steps to withstand and minimize the effectiveness of the far left’s expected political warfare against Israel. As the past decade has made clear, the aim of that warfare is to delegitimize Israel’s right to defend itself in order to make it impossible for Israel to pursue the war to military and political victory.

As in the military arena, so in the political arena, Israel’s foes have grown from nuisances into strategic threats over the past decade. The UN-sponsored Goldstone Report, which effectively denies Israel’s right to defend itself and criminalizes its military efforts to secure its citizenry and its territory, is evidence of the gravity of the threat Israel faces as our leaders plan for the coming war.

On this latter plane, the past week has been an eventful and hopeful one. The latest developments offer guidance for how the government must proceed as the winds of war blow ever stronger. Late last week, the Zionist student movement Im Tirzu published a detailed report demonstrating that 16 anti-Zionist NGOs funded by the post-Zionist New Israel Fund worked hand in glove with the UN Human Rights Council and Richard Goldstone to bring about the establishment of the Goldstone committee and give credibility to its allegations that Israel committed war crimes during Operation Cast Lead. According to the Im Tirtzu report, 92 percent of Israeli allegations that Israel committed war crimes in its campaign against Hamas came from these 16 NIF-funded organizations.

Im Tirtzu’s report was prominently covered by Ma’ariv last weekend. The media coverage provoked calls in the Knesset this week to investigate the NIF and its operational arms in Israel, both through regular committee hearings and perhaps through a parliamentary investigative panel.

These calls are extraordinary because they represent the first time in a decade that the legitimacy of these NGOs has been seriously scrutinized.

Since the Palestinians began their terror war against Israel in September 2000, NIF-sponsored groups have worked steadily to intimidate political leaders, law enforcement officials and military commanders to toe their anti-Zionist line. In the wake of the PLO-incited riots in the Israeli Arab sector in October 2000, the overtly anti-Zionist NIF-funded Adalah group agitated for the formation of the Orr Commission. Charged with investigating the police who quelled the rioting rather than the rioters whose violence forced the prolonged closure of major highways to Jewish traffic throughout the country, the Orr Commission had a devastating impact on the police’s morale and organizational culture.

Adalah successfully cowed the Barak government into agreeing to rules of inquiry for the commission that denied police officers even minimal rights of due process. They were not allowed to confront or question their accusers. In the aftermath of the commission’s public hearings - which amounted to little more than show trials - the careers of several dedicated officers were destroyed. As a consequence, police commanders began curtailing their law enforcement activities in Arab villages. Everything from illegal building to livestock theft to incitement to war against Israel has gone uninvestigated and unpunished.

Furthermore, the Adalah-instigated and orchestrated Orr Commission empowered the most radical voices in Israeli Arab society. Supported by Arab political leaders, Adalah published a manifesto calling for the destruction of Israel as a Jewish state. Bishara’s suspected espionage for Hizbullah, and the legal establishment’s self-evident fear of prosecuting him for treason, are also the direct consequence of the Orr Commission.

As for the IDF, NIF-funded organizations have played a key role in organizing the weekly riots at flashpoints like Ni’ilin and Bi’ilin and in the recent expansion of these riots to other places in Judea and Samaria like Neveh Tzuf. Supported by anti-Israel activists from Europe and the US, these riots have had a devastating impact on the IDF’s morale and its ability to defend Israeli communities.

The NIF-funded pro-Palestinian group B’Tselem provides the rioters with video cameras with which they regularly shoot distorted footage. Their canned films portray Israeli civilians seeking to defend themselves from the rioters as attackers. They portray IDF soldiers trying to keep order and protect Israeli civilians as violent bullies. B’Tselem gives these films to its supporters in the Israel media, which broadcast them as credible footage and demand that the IDF open investigations against its officers for carrying out lawful orders.

On the defensive, the IDF is compelled to curtail its operations and Israeli civilians, now demonized, are viewed as legitimate targets for terror attacks. One recent film of the rioting outside Neveh Tzuf posted on YouTube shows border policemen simply fleeing the scene and leaving the residents of the community to fend for themselves.

Im Tirtzu’s offensive against the NIF sparked outraged protest among the NIF’s supporters on the far left in Israel and in the US. Everyone from Ma’ariv’s in-house anti-Zionist reporters Maya Bengal and Meirav David to J Street have piled on, attacking Im Tirtzu’s financial backers and seeking to demonize the organization by referring to it as extremist, far right, racist, fascist, out-of-the-mainstream and all the other routine far-left terms used to demonize Zionists.

What is most encouraging about the aftershocks of the Im Tirtzu report is that the Left’s attempts to demonize it have so far failed. Indeed, the loudest voices calling for an investigation of NIF and its sponsored organizations have been MKs from Kadima.

The harsh truth is that the main cause of Israel’s poor performance in Cast Lead and the Second Lebanon War was the Olmert government’s ideological dependence on the far left and its central contention that it is Israel’s presence in contested areas rather than our enemies’ commitment to Israel’s destruction that causes wars. Owing to their allegiance to this falsehood, Ehud Olmert and Tzipi Livni were unable to prosecute the wars to victory militarily, justify the limited steps they did take to defend Israel diplomatically, or discredit the rising chorus of Israeli NGOs arguing that Israel had no right to defend itself politically.

Since Cast Lead, however, two important things have happened. First Kadima was replaced by the Likud. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu rightly recognized the Goldstone Report as a strategic attack against Israel. If Israel has no right to defend itself; if its moves to do constitute war crimes, then Israel cannot fight, cannot win and will be destroyed. Rather than give credence to the report, Netanyahu has made discrediting it one his primary aims in office. And to counteract its force, among other things, for the first time since the start of the Oslo peace process with the PLO, Israel’s government is asserting the Jewish people’s right to Judea and Samaria.

Beyond that, Kadima itself has changed its tune. Now in the opposition, Kadima no longer needs to defend its rejected plan to unilaterally withdraw from Judea and Samaria. Mahmoud Abbas’s refusal of Olmert’s offers to withdraw Israelis civilians and military personnel from nearly all of Judea and Samaria and to cede sovereignty in Jerusalem discredited the notion that it is possible to make peace with the Palestinians. Most importantly, the fact that Goldstone castigates Livni and Olmert as war criminals requires Kadima to fight all forces - including the far left it previously supported - that give credibility to Goldstone.

These developments clear the way for the Netanyahu government to take steps to neutralize the potency of these groups. The government should move swiftly to order the police and the IDF to enforce the law against these groups and their allies. It must also provide the political support to police and military commanders in the field to empower them to fulfill their orders without fear that they will be persecuted for doing their jobs.

If the government seizes the opportunity to weaken these subversive groups, not only will it be making it clear that the political open season on Israel is over. It will be clearing the way for any future war to end not only in military victory, but in political victory for Israel as well.

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Red Line Crossed

By Michael G. Mickey

And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all [these things] must come to pass, but the end is not yet (Matthew 24:6).

The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from [being] a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap (Isaiah 17:1).

A quick real estate tip if you’re thinking of investing in any Middle East properties: Don’t sink any cash into Damascus as it may well be on its way out, potentially very soon.

Tensions between Israel and Syria are presently sky high as a result of Syrian president Bashar Assad announcing this week that Israel is avoiding peace, his comments following on the heels of Syria’s foreign minister saying Israeli cities will be attacked in a future war between the two nations.

Responding to all the saber rattling coming out of Damascus, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman yesterday said Syria has “crossed a red line that cannot be ignored”, adding that any future war will not only result in defeat for Syria but the removal of Assad and his family from power as well.

I’ve heard it said before, in relation to marriage, that couples should never allow the word divorce to be spoken in the heat of a dispute as even the mention of it plants a seed of insecurity within both parties, seeds having a tendency to grow, sometimes wildly fast. The same, I believe, is true where threats of war are concerned, even if they’re somewhat veiled.

The history of Israeli-Syrian relations is overflowing with conflict, both direct and by proxy on the part of Syria. Given that is true, especially at this time when Israel is already feeling threatened - and rightly so - by Tehran’s nuclear weapons program, Syria has selected the worst imaginable moment to “cross a red line” with Israel.

The prophet Isaiah tells us that Damascus is living on borrowed time and from where I’m sitting? There doesn’t seem to be a lot of sand left in the upper half of the hour glass. Many lost souls hang in the balance if things should go wrong and we can be more than certain, based on Isaiah’s prophecy, they’re going to sooner or later. Like it or not, believe it or not, Damascus is going to be removed from existence at some point in the future. Hundreds of thousands, in all likelihood, will die when fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy occurs. If that disturbing truth doesn’t motivate us to pray, both for the lost in Israel and Syria, nothing will.

In closing, a request from me to my readers. After reading these final words, please take a moment to pray for the lost in Syria, Israel and all over the world for that matter. As recent events in Haiti and Indonesia (the tsunami event of 2006) reflect, hundreds of thousands of souls can enter into eternity, with or without Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, on any given day. We need to care about that - and deeply.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16).