Ephesians 6:11
Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the
wiles of the devil.
12
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against
spiritual wickedness in high places.
Carefully study the picture above to see the pagan abominations
contained within. Celebrating Easter with eggs comes directly from Satanism. Therefore, by urging the use of Easter
eggs to celebrate the Christian celebration of our Lord's Resurrection is
linking Satanism with Christianity, and is forbidden in Scripture. In this
picture, we can readily see that each of these eggs contains a Christian symbol
within. We can see praying hands and a cross, as two examples.
Nowhere in the Bible are we
allowed to link the things of the Lord with the things of Satan. Let us examine
these Biblical prohibitions.
1) "Be ye not unequally
yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with
unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord
hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of
the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I
will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among
them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and
I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and
daughters, saith the Lord Almighty."
[2 Corinthians 6:14-18]
"What communion hath light with darkness?" Once
we study how Satanic the Easter celebration is, and how closely Eggs are tied
to this Pagan celebration, you will fully understand that the Southern Baptist
Convention is linking the precious spiritual Light of Jesus Christ with the
Pagan darkness, impenetrable blackness, of Satanism.
"And what concord hath Christ with Belial?" The
Holman Bible Dictionary says that "Belial" is a term for Satan. In
the original Hebrew language, the word, Belial, means "wicked" or
"worthless". In my opinion, this linking between Resurrection Day and
Pagan Eggs is nothing more nor less than "wicked" or
"worthless", as it links Jesus Christ with Satan.
Now, let us examine how truly Satanic and Pagan the
celebration of Easter with eggs truly is. I found a witches site, called the
"Satanic Witch".
Listen to their description of the place which Easter and
Eggs have in their Pagan celebration.
"Ostara, also known as The Spring or Vernal Equinox,
the Festival of Trees, Alban Eilir, Ostara, the Rites of Spring, and the Rites
of Eostre ... and marks the first day of true Spring. Day and night are equal
on this day, hence the name Equinox. It is observed by Pagans throughout the
world. For Wiccans and Witches, Ostara is a fertility festival celebrating the
birth of Spring and the reawakening of life from the Earth ... The Spring
Equinox was Christianized by the Roman Church as were most Pagan festivals of
old. On the first Sunday after the first full moon following the Equinox (or
"Eostre's Day" from which the name Easter was derived), the
Christians celebrates their Easter holiday. The Christian festival commemorates
the resurrection of Christ, synchronized with the Jewish Pesach, and blended
since the earliest days of Christianity with pagan European rites for the
renewed season. It is preceded by a period of riotous vegetation rites and by a
period of abstinence known as Lent." ( The "Satanic Witch",
Ibid.)
We have just learned from the pagans that the very name of Easter is taken from
the Pagan celebration of the "Rites of Eostre". Reverend Alexander
Hislop, writing in his monumental work, "The Two Babylons", states that the name of Easter was derived from the
goddess Astarte [page 109]. In reality, both are probably right, because the
Pagans have a history of worshiping the same gods in different lands under
different names.
But, then Alexander Hislop dropped the bomb on this
issue: "What means the term Easter itself? It is not a Christian name. It
bears its Chaldean origin .. Easter is nothing else than Astarte, one of the
very titles of Beltis, the queen of heaven ... The worship of Bel (Baal) and
Astarte was very early introduced into Britain, along with the Druids ... If
Baal was thus worshipped in Britain, it will not be difficult to believe that
his consort, Astarte, was also adored by our ancestors, and that from Astarte,
whose name in Ninevah was Ishtar, the religious solemnities of April, as now
practised, are called by the name of Easter..." (Alexander Hislop, "The Two Babylons", p. 104)
Can you believe it? Easter is Baal worship!
If you see any church advertising
Easter Eggs as part of their Easter celebration, you can know for certain that
this church and its leadership are not a place you will want to attend or support
or listen to its teachings. Jesus said "you shall know them by their
fruits", that a "good tree cannot bear bad fruit nor can a bad tree
bear good fruit".
Easter is bad spiritual fruit
and it proves that the church promoting it is a bad tree. Doubt it not.
This is the
Reuters headline that should have made the front page of newspapers everywhere:
Russian oil firm says Asian buyers willing to use
euros
The only
thing that is keeping the United States of America alive right now is the
Petrodollar. Oh... and the willingness of the U.S. to kill people for the purpose of keeping the Petrodollar
alive. I 'forgot' about that.
Have you
ever wondered why oil and natural gas is only priced in US dollars?
You cannot
buy oil or natural gas on the international markets in any other currency than
the US dollar. This means that if you don’t have US dollars, you don’t get to
heat your home or drive your car – unless you have your own oil and natural
gas.
What do you
do, to get US dollars?
Well, you
have to make something that Americans want and exchange that ‘something’ for
the dollars you need to buy the oil and natural gas that you want. And, you can
bet that a lot of people are getting tired of playing the game of ‘keep
Americans happy’.
However, if
you stop playing the petrodollar game, you get invaded by the US military. You
might think of Iraq, Libya and Syria as… object lessons …in
what happens when you try to get out of the petrodollar game.
Unfortunately
for the petrodollar, the US chose to overthrow the government of Ukraine and
then threaten sanctions when Russia responded. That was a very bad move, and
that means ‘game over’ for the petrodollar.
But wait,
why is that so bad?
Well, the
tables will have been turned on the US. Instead of the rest of the world
needing to coax dollars out of Americans to pay for oil and gas, now the US
will need to work hard to coax oil and gas out of the rest of the world.
Do you know
of anything that the US produces, that the world needs?
Well,
there’s food, but China and Europe don’t want it because of the hormones and
GMOs that we’re putting into it. Also the problem with food is that it requires
cheap gasoline and diesel to produce it. So, the death of the petrodollar will
make US food more expensive and less competitive.
Well…
there’s, um… war. Yeah. …war. Oh, and pornography. Very few people in the world
do pornography
as well as the US. And, entertainment. America is really good at
that. Of course, it’s getting to be a lot like the pornography.
Outside of
that… can you think of anything that the US produces that the rest of the world
would want – in exchange for oil and gas.
Can you
think of anything?
Seriously. I
can’t.
Recently I
asked an American who was traveling abroad if there was anything in his
apartment that was made in America. He told me Oreo Cookies, corn chips, Ritz
crackers and the software running this computer. That’s it.
Think about
these facts, we no longer have a space launch vehicle, we have to hitch a ride
with the Russians. Our military is being down-sized, soon we will be back to
the Carter years type of military.
I personally
believe it is a deliberate program of the globalists to turn the U.S. into a
second rate nation. They have been working slowly and steadily towards this for
about 100 years. They have gotten us so far into debt we will never see day
light.
What is
America going to do?
Well,
America-as-we-know-it is pretty much going to become a second rate power unless
we repent and turn back toward God. We
have sealed our own doom.
 |
| Malik and his brother |
Malik Obama’s nonprofit, Barack H. Obama
Foundation, has a partnership with the House of Yahweh, a cult headed by
Yisrayl Hawkins. Malik plans to be in Abilene, Texas, Friday to attend a
conference hosted by Hawkins.
(Malik, Barack and Hillary Clinton have
been indicted by the Egyptian government for crimes against the Egyptian
people.)
Malik Obama, a professing Muslim, embraced Yisrayl Hawkins’ proposal to build the Third Temple next to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, or Dome of the Rock, in a Nov. 16, 2010, address to the First Annual Global Council of Peace in Washington, D.C., sponsored by the House of Yahweh.
The Dome of the Rock, on what Jews identify
as the Temple Mount, is one of the holiest and most revered Islamic sites in
the world.
Many people believe that the Temple Mount
is the site of the First and Second Temples. I do not believe that as Ken Klein
reported in his excellent DVD Jerusalem and the Lost Temple of the Jews.
“I’m at that stage now where I’m trying to
do something and make a contribution to mankind,” Malik Obama said, referring
to Yisrayl Hawkins’ Third Temple proposal. “I feel a lot better with myself
today, and I welcome and embrace the principles and the concept I am hearing
today.”
In the speech, Malik addressed the apparent
contradiction between his Muslim faith and the goal of rebuilding the Third
Temple adjacent to the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount.
“It’s easy for me to get with the program
because I’m a Muslim, you know, a practicing Muslim, and all the principles
that are within the program (of building the Third Temple) are within my
beliefs,” Malik said. “So, it’s easy for me to step right in and be part of the
program.”
Arabic-speaking Islam researcher Walid Shoebat has noted on his blog that
Malik Obama’s advocacy for building the Third Temple is “blasphemous to his own
religion.”
Shoebat also points out that Hawkins meets
the standard definition of “false prophet” in Islam.
Rebuilt ‘in our time
Hawkins’
plan for the Third Temple was reported in a April 10, 1997, article published by the Boston Jewish Times.
The article quoted Hawkins as saying the group was inspired to build the Third
Temple by what Hawkins believes is a biblical prophecy by the Prophet Ezekiel,
whom the group calls “Yechetzqyah,” that the Third Temple will be rebuilt “in
our time.”
In an undated
newsletter titled “A Peaceful Solution to Building the Next Temple Yerusalem” published
on the House of Yahweh website, Hawkins explained goals for the Third Temple.
“In my many years of study – of which you
will only see a part in this article – we have discovered that the Prophet
Yechetzqyah wrote about a temple and a time period – for the day in which we
now live!
“Even though Yechetzqyah was inspired to
write this prophecy over 600 ears before the Temple was destroyed in 70 c.e.
[“Common Era”] – He (sic) was inspired to write for us who live in these days;
these troublous days; these same troublous times that the other inspired also
proclaimed.
“In these same prophecies we are also shown
a peaceful solution to building the Temple; the Temple of Yahweh!”
| Yisrayl Hawkins and Malik Obama - The Muslim and the false prophet |
In the publication, Hawkins further claimed
that the building of the Third Temple – according to precise specifications of
location, design and measurement he claims to have discerned from his reading
of Ezekiel in the Bible – are essential to bringing peace to Jerusalem and to
the world.
A composite image produced by the House of Yahweh to illustrate Hawkins’
proposed Third Temple make clear the cult intends to construct
the edifice on the Temple Mount adjacent to the Dome of the Rock, so as to
dominate the Dome of the Rock by its close location and larger size.
The House of Yahweh claims Hawkins
has been traveling to Israel since the 1980s to advance with various Jewish
leaders the House of Yahweh plans to build the proposed Third Temple.
A House of
Yahweh press release dated Feb. 21 reacts to a story published in the Times of Israel Jan. 3, 2013, in
which Jordan’s Islamic Endowments Minister Abdul Salam Abadi accused Israel of
planning to partition the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem and the
surrounding Temple Mount plaza to erect the Third Temple.
“I’ve been to Jerusalem. My team and I have
measured the area, and we’ve lined everything up with prophecy correctly,”
Hawkins said in the press release.
“Our work has been studied and found valid
by many biblical scholars. Rebuilding the third Temple next to the Dome of the
Rock is the right solution, add a dividing wall between the two and you’ve got
what the Bible says will work,” he said.
“To remove the Dome of the Rock would cause
all out war. It’s unnecessary, and it’s not the peaceful solution.”
To date, no credible Jewish religious or
political leader in Israel that endorses Hawkins’ proposal to construct his
version of the Third Temple.
Malik supports Hamas
In an apparent contradiction of his goal to
build the Third Temple according to the plans of Yisrayl Hawkins and the House
of Yahweh, Malik Obama has embraced Hamas, the radical Palestinian terrorist
organization which has a state aim of eliminating Israel.
Malik Obama posted on the Barack H. Obama Foundation website a photograph showing
him at a conference in Yemen in 2010 wearing a Hamas scarf that bore the
well-known Palestinian slogan “Jerusalem is ours – We are coming!”
On the Hamas logo is a map with the phrase
“From the river to the sea,” a reference to the elimination of Israel which
lies between the Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea.
As I have
reported previously, Malik Obama is the executive secretary of the Islamic Dawa
Organization, IDO, and has operated bank accounts in the Middle East with known
ties to al-Qaeda that are being widely utilized to raise money for terrorist
activities conducted by Hamas in Gaza.
Though
small, the Al Shamal Islamic Bank enabled bin Laden to move money quickly from
one country to another through its correspondent relationships with some of the
world’s major banks, said University of California, Berkeley, professor Peter
Dale Scott, writing for GlobalResearch.org in 2013.
The Al Shamal bank was identified as one of
bin Laden’s principal financial entities during the trial last year of four
al-Qaeda operatives convicted in the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in
Africa.
Malik’s IDO
is part of the Coalition of Islamic Organizations, CIO, that also includes the Islamic Society in Gaza, a Hamas front
organization founded by Hamas terror leader Sheikh Yassin.
The U.S.
Counterterrorism Center has characterized Hamas as a radical Islamic
organization with roots in the Palestinian branch of the Muslim
Brotherhood that calls for the creation of an Islamic Palestinian state in
place of Israel and rejects all agreements made between the Palestinian
Liberation Organization and Israel.
Lois Lerner, who directed the IRS tax-exempt division currently under congressional
investigation for discriminating against tea-party and other conservative
groups, signed the letter approving tax-exempt status for Malik’s foundation.
The foundation received the highly
irregular IRS retroactive tax-exempt approval only after the group came under
fire for operating as a 501(c)3 foundation since 2008 without ever having
applied to the IRS for a tax determination.
In September 2011, the IRS confirmed to WND
that the Barack H. Obama Foundation had received a determination letter in June
2011, awarding the group tax-exempt 501(c)3 status, retroactively to 2008.
On
April 9, the House Ways and Means Committee voted along party lines to refer
Lerner to the Justice Department for possible criminal prosecution. The next day, the House Oversight and
Government Reform Committee voted along party lines to recommend to the House
that Lerner should be held in contempt of Congress for refusing to answer
questions.
Last year the vice president of the Supreme
Constitutional Court of Egypt gave a speech and participated in an interview on
Egyptian television identifying Malik Obama as “a major architect” managing investments
for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.
In September
2013, a criminal complaint cited Malik for managing funds for both the
Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and the Islamic Dawa Organization in Sudan, a
country designated by the U.S. State Department as a terrorist state.
Egyptian
lawyers filed criminal terrorism charges in the International Criminal Court
against President Obama and Hillary Clinton, in addition to the criminal
terrorism charges previously filed in Egyptian courts against Malik.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is reporting a 7.2-magnitude earthquake – a very strong earthquake – that took place in central and southern Mexico this morning 18 April. It was originally reported as a 7.5-magnitude and then revised downward. The deep earthquake, whose epicenter was 30 miles below Earth’s surface, occurred near Tecpan, Guerrero, Mexico at 14:27:29.40 UTC on Apr 18, 2014. USGS said the quake was centered northwest of the Pacific resort of Acapulco, where many Mexicans are vacationing for the Easter holiday. The quake was also felt in of Mexico City, a city of 8.8 million which is vulnerable to earthquakes. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
In the rubble of Syrian cities like Aleppo and Damascus, Christians who refused to convert to Islam have been kidnapped, shot and beheaded by Islamist opposition fighters. In Egypt, mobs of Muslim Brotherhood members burn Coptic Christian churches in the same way they once obliterated Jewish synagogues. And in Iraq, terrorists deliberately target Christian worshippers. This past Christmas, 26 people were killed when a bomb ripped through a crowd of worshipers leaving a church in Baghdad's southern Dora neighborhood.
Christians are losing their lives, liberties, businesses and their houses of worship across the Middle East. It is little wonder that native Christians have sought refuge in neighboring countries—yet in many cases they find themselves equally unwelcome. Over the past 10 years, nearly two-thirds of Iraq's 1.5 million Christians have been driven from their homes. Many settled in Syria before once again becoming victims of unrelenting persecution. Syria's Christian population has dropped from 30% in the 1920s to less than 10% today.
In January, a report by the nondenominational Christian nonprofit organization Open Doors documented the 10 most oppressive countries for Christians; nine were Muslim-majority states noted for Islamic extremism, and the 10th was North Korea. These tyrannical regimes uphold archaic blasphemy and defamation-of-religion laws under the guise of protecting religious expression. In truth, these measures amount to systematic repression of non-Islamic groups.
Last year in Saudi Arabia, two men were prosecuted for the "crime" of converting a woman to Christianity and helping her flee the Islamic kingdom. According to the Saudi Gazette, one of the men, a Lebanese, was sentenced to six years in prison and 300 lashes, and the other man, a Saudi, was sentenced to two years and 200 lashes. Those are relatively mild sentences in Saudi Arabia, where conversion to another religion is punishable by death.
The "justice system" in other Islamic nations is not particularly just for Arab citizens, but it is uniquely oppressive for Christians. Radical Islamists in the northern Syrian city of Raqqa are using an ancient law called the "dhimmi pact" to extort local Christians. The community is faced with a grim choice: pay a tax and submit to a list of religious restrictions or "face the sword."
In the Islamic Republic of Iran, expressions of political dissent are regarded as acts of blasphemy. Last summer, three Iranian Christians caught selling Bibles were found guilty of "crimes against state security" and sentenced to 10 years in prison. They were relatively lucky. The regime has executed dozens of people for the so-called crimes of "waging war against God" and "spreading corruption on Earth."
The scene unfolding in the Middle East is ominously familiar. At the end of World War II, almost one million Jews lived in Arab lands. The creation of Israel in 1948 precipitated an invasion of five Arab armies. When they were unable to annihilate the newborn state militarily, Arab leaders launched a campaign of terror and expulsion that decimated their ancient Jewish communities. They succeeded in purging 800,000 Jews from their lands yet this is something the media almost never mentions in the current Israel/Palestinian peace narrative.
Today, Israel is the only country in the Middle East with a growing Christian population. Its Christian community has increased from 34,000 in 1948 to 140,000 today, in large measure because of the freedoms Christians are afforded.
From courtrooms to classrooms and from the chambers of Parliament to chambers of commerce, Israeli Christians are leaders in every field and discipline. Salim Joubran, a Christian Arab Israeli, has served as a Supreme Court justice since 2003 and Makram Khoury is one of the best-known actors in Israel and the youngest artist to win the Israel Prize, Israel's highest civic honor.
Father Gabriel Nadaf, a Greek Orthodox priest living in Israel, recently said: "Human rights are not something to be taken for granted. Christians in much of the Middle East have been slaughtered and persecuted for their faith, but here in Israel they are protected."
Nations that trample on the rights of their people sow the seeds of instability and violence. The uprisings that have erupted across the Middle East are evidence that the region's Holy Grail has become the pursuit of freedom, democracy and equality. Let us hope that this quest bears fruit before it is too late for the region's remaining Christians.
Why can’t we speak of a ‘brother extraterrestrial’? It would still be part of creation… There could be other beings “who remained in full friendship with their creator.” Another prominent Vatican astronomer, Guy Consolmagno, has publicly suggested that aliens could actually be the “saviors of humankind”.
Truth Wins recently reported the NASA viewpoint of Vatican interest from their website description: Motivated by the rapidly increasing number of known Earth-sized planets, the increasing range of extreme conditions in which life on Earth can persist, and the progress toward a technology that will ultimately enable the search for life on exoplanets, the Vatican Observatory and the Steward Observatory announce a major conference entitled The Search for Life Beyond the Solar System: Exoplanets, Biosignatures & Instruments.
The goal of the conference is to bring together the interdisciplinary community required to address this multi-faceted challenge: experts on exoplanet observations, early and extreme life on Earth, atmospheric Biosignatures and planet-finding telescopes.
Truth Wins also reports researcher Tom Horn saying that “ What they (the Vatican astronomers) are saying now is that they (aliens) are coming here and they’re going to baptize us into their faith and it is going to require us to make changes to our knowledge, to our understanding, of the Gospel. In fact, some of their deepest theologians have said, “Perhaps everything we think we know about the Gospel is going to have to be thrown out.”
Which is quite an alarming statement, given the Biblical warnings given by the Apostle Paul to the Galatians: “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed (Galatians 1:8,9).
Tom Horn further asks: “Could it be that the world is far hungrier than I thought to usher in the Man of Sin? The ultimate “fixer” of our nations? And furthermore, would it ever truly be in God’s will for the human race to transcend to some higher level where we no longer need His direct intervention through personal relationship and prayer, but the intervention of another superior being? These alien contact agendas would not surprise me if coming only from the scientific community, but from a body of people whose primary focus and claim is to be God-fearing?”
Tom also quotes the works of select individuals within the Roman Catholic church who perpetuate the idea that our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is a descendant of alien life and that Mary’s virgin birth was a direct result of an alien abduction scenario. Perhaps a suggestion that Jesus Christ was a descendant of the Nephilim; however irrespective of the intended suggestion or conclusion, these ideas are clearly blasphemous and heretical – worst of all, coming from supposed representatives of Biblical doctrine and truth.
Further, in an article for openminds.tv about a year back, Jason McClellan wrote: “ A new book claims that Vatican astronomers are looking for extraterrestrials. And they are using LUCIFER to do it. Although it shares the same name as Christianity’s fallen angel and the personification of evil, LUCIFER is an instrument attached to a telescope.
As Popular Science explains, LUCIFER is an acronym for the instruments lengthy title, “Large Binocular Telescope Near-infrared Utility with Camera and Integral Field Unit for Extragalactic Research.” This instrument is attached to the University of Arizona’s Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) located on Mt. Graham in south eastern Arizona. The Vatican-owned Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope (VATT) is right next door.”
Against this backdrop readiness to accept extra-Biblical sources of information from “aliens” and to even “throw out the gospel”- how likely is the coincidence that the telescope would accidentally be acronymed “LUCIFER?”
Michael Snyder raises the questions: “So if aliens showed up and wanted to show us a “new way”, would society be willing to accept it?....what would happen someday if “aliens” showed up and claimed that they seeded life on this planet, guided our evolution and are now here to lead us into a new golden age? And what would happen if the Catholic Church gave those aliens their stamp of approval?”
Perhaps the Vatican astronomers should start looking at the Bible first for those answers. 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 would be a good starting point:
Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
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 |
| The Donetsk Jewish registration letter |
World
leaders and Jewish groups condemned a leaflet handed out in the eastern
Ukrainian city of Donetsk in which Jews were told to "register" with
the pro-Russian militants who have taken over a government office in an attempt
to make Ukraine part of Russia, according to Ukrainian and Israeli media.
Jews emerging from a synagogue say they were handed leaflets that
ordered the city's Jews to provide a list of property they own and pay a
registration fee "or else have their citizenship revoked, face deportation
and see their assets confiscated," reported Ynet News, Israel's largest
news website, and Ukraine's Donbass news agency.
Secretary of State John Kerry said the language of the leaflets "is
beyond unacceptable" and condemned whomever is responsible.
"In the year 2014, after all of the miles traveled and all of the
journey of history, this is not just intolerable — it's grotesque," he
said. "And any of the people who engage in these kinds of activities —
from whatever party or whatever ideology or whatever place they crawl out of —
there is no place for that."
U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt called the leaflets "the
real deal." But the man whose name appears on the leaflets, Denis
Pushilin, identified as chairman of "Donetsk's temporary government,"
said he was not responsible.
Pushilin, who is a leader of the pro-Russian movement in Donetsk,
acknowledged that leaflets were distributed under his organization's name but
denied any connection to them, Ynet reported.
Donetsk is the site of an "anti-terrorist" operation by the
Ukraine government, which has moved military columns into the region to force
out militants who are demanding a referendum be held to join Russia.
Emanuel Shechter, in Israel, told Ynet his friends in Donetsk sent him a
copy of the leaflet through social media.
"They told me that masked men were waiting for Jewish people after
the Passover eve prayer, handed them the flier and told them to obey its
instructions," he said.
The leaflet begins "Dear Ukraine citizens of Jewish
nationality" and states that all people of Jewish descent over 16 years
old must report to the Commissioner for Nationalities in the Donetsk Regional
Administration building and "register."
It says the reason is because the leaders of the Jewish community of
Ukraine supported Bendery Junta, a reference to Stepan Bandera, the leader of
the Ukrainian nationalist movement that fought for Ukrainian independence at
the end of World War II, "and oppose the pro-Slavic People's Republic of
Donetsk," a name adopted by the militant leadership.
The leaflet then described which documents Jews should provide: "ID
and passport are required to register your Jewish religion, religious documents
of family members, as well as documents establishing the rights to all real
estate property that belongs to you, including vehicles."
Consequences for non-compliance will result in citizenship being revoked
"and you will be forced outside the country with a confiscation of
property," it said. A registration fee of $50 would be required, it said.
Olga Reznikova, 32, a Jewish resident of Donetsk, told Ynet she never
experienced anti-Semitism in the city until she saw this leaflet.
"We don't know if these notifications were distributed by
pro-Russian activists or someone else, but it's serious that it exists,"
she said. "The text reminds me of the fascists in 1941," she said
referring to the Nazis who occupied Ukraine during World War II.
The Jewish community in Donetsk issued a statement saying the leaflet
distribution "smells like a provocation." The chief rabbi of nearby
Dnipropetrovsk, Shmuel Kaminezki said, "Everything must be done to catch
them."
"It's important for everyone to know its not true," Kaminezki
said and "The Jews of Donetsk will not do what the letter says."
Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America, the
oldest pro-Israel group in the USA, said the leaflets should be seen in the
context of a rising tide of anti-Semitism across Europe.
"This is a frightening new development in the anti-Jewish movement
that is gaining traction around the world," Klein said.
Michael Salberg, director of the international affairs at the New York
City-based Anti-Defamation League, said it's unclear whether the leaflets were
issued by the pro-Russian leadership or a splinter group operating within the pro-Russian
camp.
But he said the Russian side has used the specter of anti-Semitism in a
cynical manner. Russia and its allies in Ukraine have issued multiple stories
about the threat posed to Jews by Ukraine's new pro-Western government in Kiev,
Salberg said.
"The message is a message to all the people that is we're going to
exert our power over you," he said. "Jews are the default scapegoat
throughout history for despots to send a message to the general public: Don't
step out of line."
| Another so-called peace process turns into the "Pothole to Peace" |
For nearly one hundred
years, repeated attempts have been made to achieve peace between Israeli’s and
Palestinians. The Paris Peace Accords of 1919, the Camp David Accords of 1978,
the Oslo Accord of 1998 and the present talks mediated by US Secretary of State
John Kerry, have all sought peace. To date, none of these negotiations has
brought any lasting peace to the region.
This week it was
revealed that the current talks, set to expire on April 29th, may already have
been shelved.
According to an
article in the Guardian this week, “Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
has reportedly ordered his ministers to end all meetings with Palestinian
counterparts.”
Netanyahu halted
the meetings in response to what Israel has deemed a "provocative"
move by Palestine to join UN agencies. At the direction of Prime Minister
Netanyahu,” cabinet ministers and ministry directors will no longer meet with
their Palestinian counterparts. An exception was granted for the lead peace
negotiator, Tzipi Livni.”
Responding to
the action by Netanyahu, on Wednesday, Hamas appealed to Palestinian Authority
President Abbas to "unleash the resistance" in the West Bank against
Israel, in order to deter the Israeli occupier and to defend our people, our
land and our holy sites."
The Hamas statement requested
the Palestinian Authority end the peace negotiations, end security coordination
with the "occupation," and embark on an international and regional
campaign to de-legitimize it.
This diplomatic
development increased pessimism in the White House this week. In a meeting
between President Obama and Kerry, the Secretary of State expressed his hope
that the two sides would “find a way back” to work with negotiators. In Arab
states, Kerry's peace drive was met with deep skepticism from the start, and”
over the course of more than eight months of tireless diplomacy neither side
has been willing to make the tough compromises needed to achieve a peace deal.”
Reportedly,
Arabs states lacked confidence in Kerry and the administration‘s ability from
the outset of the current negotiations. Sources close to Saudi security
officials suggested that “Arabs never trusted this administration as a peacemaker.”
A poll by the
Israel Democracy Institute and Tel Aviv University revealed last week that 64%
of Israelis do not trust Mr. Kerry to treat Israel's security as a
"crucial factor" in the framework peace proposal, while some 53% of
Israeli Arabs don't trust him either.
It would seem
that Mr. Kerry has now lost the modest amount of credibility he may have
initially had at the beginning of this current round of talks.
Additionally, it
was revealed this week that the “Obama administration has been waging a secret
media war in capitals across two continents blaming Israel for the recent
collapse of peace talks with the Palestinians, according to former Israeli
diplomats and Washington, D.C. insiders familiar with the peace process.”
The Washington Free Beacon reports
that multiple sources revealed top Obama administration officials manufactured
a crisis over the reissuing of housing permits in a Jerusalem neighborhood
widely acknowledged as Israeli territory. Apparently, the groundwork was laid
for Israel to be blamed for collapsing talks by spinning a narrative to the
Israeli press and US news outlets of Palestinian outrage over the Israeli settlements.
So where do the
“Peace Talks” stand at present? It would seem, at an impasse.
For the “two
state” solution, proposed by most negotiators, to be effective, mutual
acceptance and respect on the part of both parties is required. Israel and
Palestine would need to recognize the sovereignty of each other’s state.
Palestinian leaders have vehemently refused to recognize the right of Israel to
exist as a Jewish state.
This fact has
been and continues to be a major source of division.
In the last
weeks, as the looming deadline approached, Mr. Kerry issued veiled threats
towards Israel warning of increased isolation and sanction by the
“international community.
A UN agency, the
Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), which was established
to aid development in the Arab world, recently published a report titled “Arab
Integration: A 21st Century Development Imperative. Interestingly, it was a
nation that does not fall under its jurisdiction – Israel which received much targeted
criticism. This official UN agency, receiving over 88 million dollars in
allocations, last year, has a lot to say about the Jewish state. Charges
against Israel included occupation of Palestinian land, ethnic cleansing,
fostering and causing civil wars and violence against Arab states.
Not surprisingly, according to the ESCWA,” Israel’s adamancy that it is a Jewish State, which violates the rights of both the Muslim and Christian indigenous populations and revives the concept of state ethnic and religious purity,” was cited as Israel’s most dangerous policy.
Not surprisingly, according to the ESCWA,” Israel’s adamancy that it is a Jewish State, which violates the rights of both the Muslim and Christian indigenous populations and revives the concept of state ethnic and religious purity,” was cited as Israel’s most dangerous policy.
It seems that
once again, the “Peace Talks” are going nowhere fast!
Did you know that 2% of Israel’s population is Christian,
representing a little over 160,000 persons? 30% of that population, or almost
50,000 of them, are under the age of twenty.
The annual growth rate of Christianity is about 1.7%. The largest concentration of Christians reside in the north—Haifa and Nazareth—and further south, in Jerusalem. They live in autonomous communities that self-govern their communal issues.
The majority of Israel’s Christians are Maronite, Assyrian, Greek-Orthodox and Roman Catholic. 80% identify with the Arab minority and 20% originate out of the former Soviet Union.
The highest rate of high school education is reported among Christians, who also make up 2% of Israel’s university students.
Christian youth have largely integrated well into Israeli society. Increasingly, they serve in the army and choose civil service, which are both considered an indication of loyalty toward the state.
Some Christians align themselves with the Palestinian identity and narrative, growing more hostile toward Israel and its governmental institutions.
The annual growth rate of Christianity is about 1.7%. The largest concentration of Christians reside in the north—Haifa and Nazareth—and further south, in Jerusalem. They live in autonomous communities that self-govern their communal issues.
The majority of Israel’s Christians are Maronite, Assyrian, Greek-Orthodox and Roman Catholic. 80% identify with the Arab minority and 20% originate out of the former Soviet Union.
The highest rate of high school education is reported among Christians, who also make up 2% of Israel’s university students.
Christian youth have largely integrated well into Israeli society. Increasingly, they serve in the army and choose civil service, which are both considered an indication of loyalty toward the state.
Some Christians align themselves with the Palestinian identity and narrative, growing more hostile toward Israel and its governmental institutions.
Major social problems arise out of Muslim hostilities toward
Christians. As a symptom of continuing antagonism, the Christian population in
Jerusalem has shrunk to 2% from 20% in the late 1940s.
In 2012, the founding of the Israel Christian Forum for IDF Enlistment and the Israel Christian Lobby has provided a strong forum for Christian advocacy and recognition of Christians as a separate community in Israeli institutions. Last month, Israel’s legislature, the Knesset, recognized Christians as a separate minority group under the Equal Opportunities Commission, angering Muslim Arabs, who reject the political and social views of these pro-Christian organizations.
Israel’s treatment of Christians has been far better than that of its geographical neighbors. In fact, the ongoing consistent depopulation of Middle-East Christians stems from regional institutional discrimination, social violence and direct oppression, particularly evident in Iraq, Egypt, the West Bank and Syria.
Though alarming reports of anti-Christian persecution continue to surface, no clear policy exists either in the churches or in Western states that legally protects Christian communities.
Anti-Christian sentiment and violence are fueled by misperceptions in the Middle East that Christians are “disloyal” due to their Western religious affinities, further aggravated by the return to a traditional Islamic opposition to non-Muslim communities under Islamic rule.
When asked during an interview how life is for Christians living in Israel, First Lieutenant Shadi Khalloul, spokesman for the Israel Christian Recruitment Forum, said, “Israel is a paradise for us. Israel is the paradise for Christians from the Middle East. Look what happens in the region! In Israel we enjoy freedom and have rights, we can say what we want, organize activities, found associations, and that is why we can be so active in society,” he said.
Khalloul pointed to the complete lack of support for Christians in the Middle East, from Western and European nations. Nobody defends them, he says. “And so they are being slaughtered like goats. Europe needs to act now because soon what is going on here will arrive there as well.”
An Israeli Christian named ‘Johnny Curi’, (pseudonym) was also interviewed and asked if Israeli Christians identify themselves culturally as Christian-Arameans.
“Precisely”, he answered. “In Syria and Iraq, Christians have spoken Aramaic until a few decades ago and there are still villages in which people speak Aramaic. There were schools in Israel in which Aramaic used to be taught until the 1950s. And now we are reviving Aramaic, teaching our children and reintroducing the language in daily life. This is the land where Jesus was born, raised and lived speaking Aramaic. Jesus was not Arab, as many priests and politicians say today.”
When asked why many Christians define themselves Arab Palestinians, Curi responded, “They do it for fear. I believe they keep silent and do not rise up against Arab oppression for fear that things may worsen. Look what happens in Syria, but they prefer speaking up against Israel. If Israel is such a racist country, why are Christians finding jobs? How do you explain that there are Christian judges? Is that racism? Obviously there is racism, you can find it everywhere, but the state is not racist.”
Curi’s plea to Europe and the West is a wake-up call, on behalf of the plight of Christians in the Middle East. “Europeans in particular should start thinking closely about why Christians are running away from the Middle East. Churches are being destroyed here, while mosques are being built in Europe. This is what is going on, and they have to reflect on this… We all live well here, Jews, Christians, Muslims and Druse. You want to help here? Make Christians stay, because it could be that soon there won’t be Christians in the Middle East, apart from Israel.”
The underlying question is if the United States and European nations are only passively defending Christianity within their own borders, how can they be expected to fight for the very existence of a rapidly dwindling Christian population in the Middle East, in fear for its life?
In Israel, it’s not the government that is violating Christians. One might even argue that the nation of Israel affords legal freedoms and protections for its Christian citizens that far exceed those of “Christian” America and Europe. At the very core, this should be an embarrassment for “Christian” nations, and a real eye-opener for those in power who have the ability to facilitate change.
1st Peter 3:8,9 (NKJV) instructs us well:
Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.”
In 2012, the founding of the Israel Christian Forum for IDF Enlistment and the Israel Christian Lobby has provided a strong forum for Christian advocacy and recognition of Christians as a separate community in Israeli institutions. Last month, Israel’s legislature, the Knesset, recognized Christians as a separate minority group under the Equal Opportunities Commission, angering Muslim Arabs, who reject the political and social views of these pro-Christian organizations.
Israel’s treatment of Christians has been far better than that of its geographical neighbors. In fact, the ongoing consistent depopulation of Middle-East Christians stems from regional institutional discrimination, social violence and direct oppression, particularly evident in Iraq, Egypt, the West Bank and Syria.
Though alarming reports of anti-Christian persecution continue to surface, no clear policy exists either in the churches or in Western states that legally protects Christian communities.
Anti-Christian sentiment and violence are fueled by misperceptions in the Middle East that Christians are “disloyal” due to their Western religious affinities, further aggravated by the return to a traditional Islamic opposition to non-Muslim communities under Islamic rule.
When asked during an interview how life is for Christians living in Israel, First Lieutenant Shadi Khalloul, spokesman for the Israel Christian Recruitment Forum, said, “Israel is a paradise for us. Israel is the paradise for Christians from the Middle East. Look what happens in the region! In Israel we enjoy freedom and have rights, we can say what we want, organize activities, found associations, and that is why we can be so active in society,” he said.
Khalloul pointed to the complete lack of support for Christians in the Middle East, from Western and European nations. Nobody defends them, he says. “And so they are being slaughtered like goats. Europe needs to act now because soon what is going on here will arrive there as well.”
An Israeli Christian named ‘Johnny Curi’, (pseudonym) was also interviewed and asked if Israeli Christians identify themselves culturally as Christian-Arameans.
“Precisely”, he answered. “In Syria and Iraq, Christians have spoken Aramaic until a few decades ago and there are still villages in which people speak Aramaic. There were schools in Israel in which Aramaic used to be taught until the 1950s. And now we are reviving Aramaic, teaching our children and reintroducing the language in daily life. This is the land where Jesus was born, raised and lived speaking Aramaic. Jesus was not Arab, as many priests and politicians say today.”
When asked why many Christians define themselves Arab Palestinians, Curi responded, “They do it for fear. I believe they keep silent and do not rise up against Arab oppression for fear that things may worsen. Look what happens in Syria, but they prefer speaking up against Israel. If Israel is such a racist country, why are Christians finding jobs? How do you explain that there are Christian judges? Is that racism? Obviously there is racism, you can find it everywhere, but the state is not racist.”
Curi’s plea to Europe and the West is a wake-up call, on behalf of the plight of Christians in the Middle East. “Europeans in particular should start thinking closely about why Christians are running away from the Middle East. Churches are being destroyed here, while mosques are being built in Europe. This is what is going on, and they have to reflect on this… We all live well here, Jews, Christians, Muslims and Druse. You want to help here? Make Christians stay, because it could be that soon there won’t be Christians in the Middle East, apart from Israel.”
The underlying question is if the United States and European nations are only passively defending Christianity within their own borders, how can they be expected to fight for the very existence of a rapidly dwindling Christian population in the Middle East, in fear for its life?
In Israel, it’s not the government that is violating Christians. One might even argue that the nation of Israel affords legal freedoms and protections for its Christian citizens that far exceed those of “Christian” America and Europe. At the very core, this should be an embarrassment for “Christian” nations, and a real eye-opener for those in power who have the ability to facilitate change.
1st Peter 3:8,9 (NKJV) instructs us well:
Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.”
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is reporting a 7.2-magnitude earthquake – a very strong earthquake – that took place in central and southern Mexico this morning 18 April. It was originally reported as a 7.5-magnitude and then revised downward. The deep earthquake, whose epicenter was 30 miles below Earth’s surface, occurred near Tecpan, Guerrero, Mexico at 14:27:29.40 UTC on Apr 18, 2014. USGS said the quake was centered northwest of the Pacific resort of Acapulco, where many Mexicans are vacationing for the Easter holiday. The quake was also felt in of Mexico City, a city of 8.8 million which is vulnerable to earthquakes. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
The month of April has been a shaky one, with earthquakes reported in San Francisco, Los
Angeles, Wyoming, Chile and now Mexico.
Over the past month, a wave of earthquakes has captured people’s attention ;a magnitude 6.9 off of Eureka, north of San Francisco, a pair of magnitude 4-5 earthquakes in the Los Angeles basin, a magnitude 4.8 near the Yellowstone Caldera in Wyoming, and then, a massive magnitude 8.2 off the coast of Chile that even generated a tsunami.
Each year, there are many thousands of earthquakes felt around the world. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, using data going back to 1900, there are over 20,000 earthquakes of magnitude 4 or greater every year. That works out to be, on average, approximately 50 per day. Even large earthquakes (magnitude 6 or greater) occur, on average, over 150 times per year.
The 8.2 earthquake that shook northern Chile and surrounding countries late Tuesday night was one of a string of recent earthquakes along what is known as the “Ring of Fire,” a circle of quake-prone areas on the Pacific Rim.
On Monday, March 31st, parts of Wyoming-Montana were shaken by a 4.8 magnitude earthquake in the Yellowstone National Park area.
In the days following this trembler, bison and other animals were seen fleeing the area. Bloggers in the region have theorized that the animals are fleeing an impending eruption of the Yellowstone Park’s Caldera supervolcano.
“Whether I believe this, or whether I don’t believe the story or not, I don’t know. I can tell you this story I saw this morning about the buffaloes running the street … whether or not it’s because of any activity in Yellowstone or not, I don’t know,” stated blogger Jay Lee, who posted a story on his site tatoott1009.com.
“But I’ll tell you this, whatever the case may be that their running away from Yellowstone is an alert of some sort.” predicted Lee.
Seismic activity at Yellowstone isn’t unusual. The land boasts the world’s largest collection of geysers, formed by volcanic activity.
Ton Lupshu reported seeing “herds of bison running for their lives on the public roadways…running right past a filming crew.” A survivalist and search and rescue expert, Lupshu believes the animals are running for their lives and “the Yellowstone Supervolcano is the only thing that fits the bill.”
Monday’s seismic activity was the largest in 34 years and the latest in a flurry that began last week, with more than 25 smaller quakes reported by the University of Utah’s seismographs.
A team of researchers, including Dr. Bob Smith of the University of Utah, recently discovered that the supervolcano is approximately 2.5 times bigger than previously thought with a cavern stretching more than 55 miles!
“We’ve been working there for a long time, and we’ve always thought it would be bigger … but this is astounding,” Smith said.
So what, if anything, do all these recent quakes have in common?
Earthquakes do tend to occur in clusters. These” seismic clusters” result when a big earthquake puts further strain on the surrounding faults, which are likely to rupture soon after. Earthquakes therefore can trigger one another.
A large number of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur around the “Ring of Fire”. In fact, 90% of Earth’s quakes happen in this area. Not surprisingly, due to the natural beauty of the Pacific Rim area, this is a highly populated region.
This high level of population and subsequent development makes this region particularly susceptible to loss of life and property damage.
Of note, March 27th marked the 50th anniversary of the largest earthquake in U.S. history: Alaska’s 9.2 magnitude spawned a deadly tsunami, massive landslides, damage from Canada to Hawaii and ultimately killed 131 people. Interestingly, this was the second most powerful earthquake ever recorded.
2000 years ago, as a part of His Olivet discourse, Jesus listed “earthquakes in divers places” as a “beginning of sorrows” that would occur before His 2nd coming. (Matt. 24:7 KJV)
Over the past month, a wave of earthquakes has captured people’s attention ;a magnitude 6.9 off of Eureka, north of San Francisco, a pair of magnitude 4-5 earthquakes in the Los Angeles basin, a magnitude 4.8 near the Yellowstone Caldera in Wyoming, and then, a massive magnitude 8.2 off the coast of Chile that even generated a tsunami.
Each year, there are many thousands of earthquakes felt around the world. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, using data going back to 1900, there are over 20,000 earthquakes of magnitude 4 or greater every year. That works out to be, on average, approximately 50 per day. Even large earthquakes (magnitude 6 or greater) occur, on average, over 150 times per year.
The 8.2 earthquake that shook northern Chile and surrounding countries late Tuesday night was one of a string of recent earthquakes along what is known as the “Ring of Fire,” a circle of quake-prone areas on the Pacific Rim.
On Monday, March 31st, parts of Wyoming-Montana were shaken by a 4.8 magnitude earthquake in the Yellowstone National Park area.
In the days following this trembler, bison and other animals were seen fleeing the area. Bloggers in the region have theorized that the animals are fleeing an impending eruption of the Yellowstone Park’s Caldera supervolcano.
“Whether I believe this, or whether I don’t believe the story or not, I don’t know. I can tell you this story I saw this morning about the buffaloes running the street … whether or not it’s because of any activity in Yellowstone or not, I don’t know,” stated blogger Jay Lee, who posted a story on his site tatoott1009.com.
“But I’ll tell you this, whatever the case may be that their running away from Yellowstone is an alert of some sort.” predicted Lee.
Seismic activity at Yellowstone isn’t unusual. The land boasts the world’s largest collection of geysers, formed by volcanic activity.
Ton Lupshu reported seeing “herds of bison running for their lives on the public roadways…running right past a filming crew.” A survivalist and search and rescue expert, Lupshu believes the animals are running for their lives and “the Yellowstone Supervolcano is the only thing that fits the bill.”
Monday’s seismic activity was the largest in 34 years and the latest in a flurry that began last week, with more than 25 smaller quakes reported by the University of Utah’s seismographs.
A team of researchers, including Dr. Bob Smith of the University of Utah, recently discovered that the supervolcano is approximately 2.5 times bigger than previously thought with a cavern stretching more than 55 miles!
“We’ve been working there for a long time, and we’ve always thought it would be bigger … but this is astounding,” Smith said.
So what, if anything, do all these recent quakes have in common?
Earthquakes do tend to occur in clusters. These” seismic clusters” result when a big earthquake puts further strain on the surrounding faults, which are likely to rupture soon after. Earthquakes therefore can trigger one another.
A large number of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur around the “Ring of Fire”. In fact, 90% of Earth’s quakes happen in this area. Not surprisingly, due to the natural beauty of the Pacific Rim area, this is a highly populated region.
This high level of population and subsequent development makes this region particularly susceptible to loss of life and property damage.
Of note, March 27th marked the 50th anniversary of the largest earthquake in U.S. history: Alaska’s 9.2 magnitude spawned a deadly tsunami, massive landslides, damage from Canada to Hawaii and ultimately killed 131 people. Interestingly, this was the second most powerful earthquake ever recorded.
2000 years ago, as a part of His Olivet discourse, Jesus listed “earthquakes in divers places” as a “beginning of sorrows” that would occur before His 2nd coming. (Matt. 24:7 KJV)
The term
“diverse” is an archaic spelling of diverse, meaning many and varied. So we
should expect to see many earthquakes of differing intensities, happening in
various places throughout the Earth, prior to the return of Jesus Christ.
According to the US Geological Survey, from 1973 until 2011, there have been 8 years that have exceeded the yearly average number of major earthquakes, 7.0 or greater. Those years were, 1976,1990,1995,1999,2007,2009,2010, and 2011.
The Bible reveals that there will be several major earthquakes during the last 7 year period on earth, often called "The Great Tribulation".
According to the US Geological Survey, from 1973 until 2011, there have been 8 years that have exceeded the yearly average number of major earthquakes, 7.0 or greater. Those years were, 1976,1990,1995,1999,2007,2009,2010, and 2011.
The Bible reveals that there will be several major earthquakes during the last 7 year period on earth, often called "The Great Tribulation".
One of those
earthquakes will directly affect Jerusalem:
Revelation
11:13 "At that very hour there was a severe earthquake and a tenth of the
city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the
survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven".
During last
October five tremors shook the northern region of Israel in a span of one week,
prompting Israeli officials to issue a general alert to citizens to update
their knowledge about emergency measures during quakes.
Seismologists
in Israel agree that a major earthquake is only a matter of time. The last Big
One was in 1837 -- magnitude 7.0 and with an epicenter in northern Israel's
Hula Valley. It devastated the town of Safed, killing some 4,000 people.
According to Ata Elias, an assistant
professor of geology at the American University in Beirut, “We know from
historical records that at least twice in the last millennium along the entire
fault line form the Red Sea up to Turkey there were a major series of
earthquakes in the 3rd to 6th century and then again between the 11th and 13th
century. Apparently the faults in the area have a cycle of 8–10 centuries, so
we’re due for another one.”
In many
areas of the Middle East, homes are built very closely together, often on sandy
soil or clay, rather than on solid rock. The cost of constructing new buildings
in accordance with earthquake codes adds an estimated three to five percent to
the total price tag. Making existing buildings safe is very expensive and
governments do not seem to want to invest these sums of money.
Israeli
seismologist Ephraim Laor says that in Israel, new fault lines have been
discovered in heavily populated areas. He says Israel is not prepared for an
earthquake, “you can’t even dream of what a big earthquake would be like
here".
While we
have not yet entered that seven year period of time described in the Bible it
seems inevitable that we are going to experience much more shaking in the days
ahead. The great and final earthquake that appears to change the very
topography of the earth is described in the Book of Revelation in such a way
that one is reminded of the language used to describe Noah's flood:
Revelation
16:18 “And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a
great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great
earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an
earthquake, and so great.”
 |
| A church burns in the Middle East |
This week, as
Jews celebrate the Passover holiday, they are commemorating the Bible's Exodus
story describing a series of plagues inflicted on ancient Egypt that freed the
Israelites, allowing them to make their way to the Holy Land. But over the past
century, another exodus, driven by a plague of persecution, has swept across
the Middle East and is emptying the region of its Christian population. The
persecution is especially virulent today.
The Middle East may be the birthplace of three monotheistic religions, but some Arab nations appear bent on making it the burial ground for one of them. For 2,000 years, Christian communities dotted the region, enriching the Arab world with literature, culture and commerce. At the turn of the 20th century, Christians made up 26% of the Middle East's population. Today, that figure has dwindled to less than 10%. Intolerant and extremist governments are driving away the Christian communities that have lived in the Middle East since their faith was born.
The Middle East may be the birthplace of three monotheistic religions, but some Arab nations appear bent on making it the burial ground for one of them. For 2,000 years, Christian communities dotted the region, enriching the Arab world with literature, culture and commerce. At the turn of the 20th century, Christians made up 26% of the Middle East's population. Today, that figure has dwindled to less than 10%. Intolerant and extremist governments are driving away the Christian communities that have lived in the Middle East since their faith was born.
In the rubble of Syrian cities like Aleppo and Damascus, Christians who refused to convert to Islam have been kidnapped, shot and beheaded by Islamist opposition fighters. In Egypt, mobs of Muslim Brotherhood members burn Coptic Christian churches in the same way they once obliterated Jewish synagogues. And in Iraq, terrorists deliberately target Christian worshippers. This past Christmas, 26 people were killed when a bomb ripped through a crowd of worshipers leaving a church in Baghdad's southern Dora neighborhood.
Christians are losing their lives, liberties, businesses and their houses of worship across the Middle East. It is little wonder that native Christians have sought refuge in neighboring countries—yet in many cases they find themselves equally unwelcome. Over the past 10 years, nearly two-thirds of Iraq's 1.5 million Christians have been driven from their homes. Many settled in Syria before once again becoming victims of unrelenting persecution. Syria's Christian population has dropped from 30% in the 1920s to less than 10% today.
In January, a report by the nondenominational Christian nonprofit organization Open Doors documented the 10 most oppressive countries for Christians; nine were Muslim-majority states noted for Islamic extremism, and the 10th was North Korea. These tyrannical regimes uphold archaic blasphemy and defamation-of-religion laws under the guise of protecting religious expression. In truth, these measures amount to systematic repression of non-Islamic groups.
Last year in Saudi Arabia, two men were prosecuted for the "crime" of converting a woman to Christianity and helping her flee the Islamic kingdom. According to the Saudi Gazette, one of the men, a Lebanese, was sentenced to six years in prison and 300 lashes, and the other man, a Saudi, was sentenced to two years and 200 lashes. Those are relatively mild sentences in Saudi Arabia, where conversion to another religion is punishable by death.
The "justice system" in other Islamic nations is not particularly just for Arab citizens, but it is uniquely oppressive for Christians. Radical Islamists in the northern Syrian city of Raqqa are using an ancient law called the "dhimmi pact" to extort local Christians. The community is faced with a grim choice: pay a tax and submit to a list of religious restrictions or "face the sword."
In the Islamic Republic of Iran, expressions of political dissent are regarded as acts of blasphemy. Last summer, three Iranian Christians caught selling Bibles were found guilty of "crimes against state security" and sentenced to 10 years in prison. They were relatively lucky. The regime has executed dozens of people for the so-called crimes of "waging war against God" and "spreading corruption on Earth."
The scene unfolding in the Middle East is ominously familiar. At the end of World War II, almost one million Jews lived in Arab lands. The creation of Israel in 1948 precipitated an invasion of five Arab armies. When they were unable to annihilate the newborn state militarily, Arab leaders launched a campaign of terror and expulsion that decimated their ancient Jewish communities. They succeeded in purging 800,000 Jews from their lands yet this is something the media almost never mentions in the current Israel/Palestinian peace narrative.
Today, Israel is the only country in the Middle East with a growing Christian population. Its Christian community has increased from 34,000 in 1948 to 140,000 today, in large measure because of the freedoms Christians are afforded.
From courtrooms to classrooms and from the chambers of Parliament to chambers of commerce, Israeli Christians are leaders in every field and discipline. Salim Joubran, a Christian Arab Israeli, has served as a Supreme Court justice since 2003 and Makram Khoury is one of the best-known actors in Israel and the youngest artist to win the Israel Prize, Israel's highest civic honor.
Father Gabriel Nadaf, a Greek Orthodox priest living in Israel, recently said: "Human rights are not something to be taken for granted. Christians in much of the Middle East have been slaughtered and persecuted for their faith, but here in Israel they are protected."
Nations that trample on the rights of their people sow the seeds of instability and violence. The uprisings that have erupted across the Middle East are evidence that the region's Holy Grail has become the pursuit of freedom, democracy and equality. Let us hope that this quest bears fruit before it is too late for the region's remaining Christians.
Was more
proof found in Russia that in ancient times that Fallen Angels and their off
spring giants (Nephilim) lived and worked on the Earth? As Rod Sterling used to
say the following story is submitted for your consideration.
On Mount
Shoria in southern Siberia in Russia, researchers have found an absolutely be a revolutionary and groundbreaking
discovery, some of these gigantic granite stones are estimated to weigh more
than 3,000 tons and many of them were cut “with flat surfaces, right angles,
and sharp corners”, and then seemingly transported up the side of a
mountain and stacked up to 40 meters high.
This finding
was recently reported in TruthWins.com in
which Michael Snyder wrote: “Russia is no stranger to ancient megalithic sites,
like Arkaimor Russia’s Stonehenge, and the Manpupuner formation, just to name
two, but the site at Shoria is unique in that, if it’s man-made, the blocks
used are undoubtedly the largest ever worked by human hands.”
Yet it is
commonly accepted by both historians and archaeologists that it would be
impossible for ancient humans with very limited technology to accomplish this.
On the other hand, flat surfaces, right angles, and sharp corners are also not
consistent with natural shapes and forms, thereby raising the question as to
how these highly precise geometric shapings could have come about.
 |
| A fossilized Irish giant |
According to Archaeologist John Jensen’s blog,
the super megaliths were found and photographed for the first time by Georgy
Sidorov on a recent expedition to the Southern Siberian mountains. There are no
measurements given, but from the scale depicted by the human figures, these
megaliths are much larger (as much as 2 to 3 times larger) than the largest
known megaliths in the world. An example is given of the Pregnant Woman Stone
of Baalbek, Lebanon weighing in at approximately 1,260 tons. Some of these
megaliths could easily weigh upwards of 3,000 to 4,000 tons.
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| This man stood 8'11" tall, one inch short of Goliath |
Another very
unusual thing about these stones is that they caused the compasses of the
researchers to start behaving very strangely, deviating the compass arrows were
away from the megaliths. Could the negative geomagnetic field be a remnant of
ancient anti-gravity technologies? This is one of the many questions that
require further extensive research for credible answers. Nobody knows who cut
these stones or how old they are. Jensen believes that they come from a time
“well back into the mists of pre-history”, further stating that “…our
pre-historical past is richer than we ever dreamed.”
Similarly
impressive is the ancient city of Baalbek, Lebanon, known as one of the
greatest archaeological mysteries of all time for its world famous, exquisitely
detailed yet monumentally scaled Roman temple ruins. Roman temples were
actually built on top of an ancient 5 million square foot platform that was
made from some of the largest stones ever used in any construction project in
the history.
Snyder
comments: “How people in ancient times were able to move such massive stones is
a complete mystery. In fact, these giant construction stones were
stacked so closely together that you can’t even fit a piece of paper between
many of them. Many of the architectural feats found at Baalbek
cannot even be duplicated with 21st century technology. So how did they do it?
How did they move such massive stones to create a structure of such intricate
precision? Evidence continues to mount that very sophisticated technology was
used in the ancient world. These megalithic ruins are undeniable reminders of
highly advanced ancient civilizations. So who were they and what happened to
them? Could it be possible that they were wiped out by a massive global
cataclysm such as a global flood?
Although
there are currently many more questions than answers, this last question could
very well hold one answer: that the Nephilim were
partially or fully responsible. The Nephilim were offspring of angels or “sons
of God” and human women or “the daughters of men” in Noah’s time, as described
in Genesis 6. These hybrid offspring, who grew into physical giants, could also
have been endowed with the supernatural capabilities emanating from their
‘spirit-father’ side. These inherited traits (superhuman build and strength, as
well as spirit-level knowledge and intelligence) could then have enabled them
to perform such feats as creating megaliths, pyramids, futuristic hieroglyphics
and any other astonishing feats considered inconsistent with what ancient
civilizations should have been able to achieve.
It is my
personal opinion that the ancient Greek gods like Hercules, Achilles, Zeus etc.
as well as other pagan gods from other ancient cultures were actually giants.
The Israelites who scouted the Promised Land reported seeing the giants, some
were as tall as Lebanese Cedars..
How else
would ordinary human beings from ancient days, with supposedly just basic
or average intelligence, technology, skills or equipment inferior to modern day
knowledge and capabilities, be able to construct such a wide array of
technological and engineering wonders?
The answers
should prove to be fascinating in the event that we are ever privileged to find
out for sure, this side of eternity.
Vatican
astronomers have reportedly been working towards locating extraterrestrial
life. Earlier in March, the Vatican Observatory cosponsored a major conference
on extraterrestrial life that brought together 200 of the leading
astro-biologists in the world.
One of the organizers stated that one of the goals of the conference was to figure out “how we can find life among the stars within the next two decades.” Some high profile Vatican astronomers seem quite confident that “something” is out there.
The question that comes to mind is why this level of interest from the Vatican: Is there something they know that the general public isn’t aware of? Why are they taking a lead role in areas that are not within the traditional Catholic scope or domain?
José Gabriel Funes, an Argentine Jesuit priest and astronomer, and the current director of the Vatican Observatory says there is no conflict between believing in God and in the possibility of extraterrestrial civilizations perhaps more evolved than humans: “Just as there is a multiplicity of creatures on earth, there can be other beings, even intelligent, created by God. This is not in contrast with our faith because we can’t put limits on God’s creative freedom.
One of the organizers stated that one of the goals of the conference was to figure out “how we can find life among the stars within the next two decades.” Some high profile Vatican astronomers seem quite confident that “something” is out there.
The question that comes to mind is why this level of interest from the Vatican: Is there something they know that the general public isn’t aware of? Why are they taking a lead role in areas that are not within the traditional Catholic scope or domain?
José Gabriel Funes, an Argentine Jesuit priest and astronomer, and the current director of the Vatican Observatory says there is no conflict between believing in God and in the possibility of extraterrestrial civilizations perhaps more evolved than humans: “Just as there is a multiplicity of creatures on earth, there can be other beings, even intelligent, created by God. This is not in contrast with our faith because we can’t put limits on God’s creative freedom.
Why can’t we speak of a ‘brother extraterrestrial’? It would still be part of creation… There could be other beings “who remained in full friendship with their creator.” Another prominent Vatican astronomer, Guy Consolmagno, has publicly suggested that aliens could actually be the “saviors of humankind”.
Truth Wins recently reported the NASA viewpoint of Vatican interest from their website description: Motivated by the rapidly increasing number of known Earth-sized planets, the increasing range of extreme conditions in which life on Earth can persist, and the progress toward a technology that will ultimately enable the search for life on exoplanets, the Vatican Observatory and the Steward Observatory announce a major conference entitled The Search for Life Beyond the Solar System: Exoplanets, Biosignatures & Instruments.
The goal of the conference is to bring together the interdisciplinary community required to address this multi-faceted challenge: experts on exoplanet observations, early and extreme life on Earth, atmospheric Biosignatures and planet-finding telescopes.
Truth Wins also reports researcher Tom Horn saying that “ What they (the Vatican astronomers) are saying now is that they (aliens) are coming here and they’re going to baptize us into their faith and it is going to require us to make changes to our knowledge, to our understanding, of the Gospel. In fact, some of their deepest theologians have said, “Perhaps everything we think we know about the Gospel is going to have to be thrown out.”
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| Rupert Murdoch's (a RC) FOX News loves to roll out the above RC priest |
Which is quite an alarming statement, given the Biblical warnings given by the Apostle Paul to the Galatians: “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed (Galatians 1:8,9).
Tom Horn further asks: “Could it be that the world is far hungrier than I thought to usher in the Man of Sin? The ultimate “fixer” of our nations? And furthermore, would it ever truly be in God’s will for the human race to transcend to some higher level where we no longer need His direct intervention through personal relationship and prayer, but the intervention of another superior being? These alien contact agendas would not surprise me if coming only from the scientific community, but from a body of people whose primary focus and claim is to be God-fearing?”
Tom also quotes the works of select individuals within the Roman Catholic church who perpetuate the idea that our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is a descendant of alien life and that Mary’s virgin birth was a direct result of an alien abduction scenario. Perhaps a suggestion that Jesus Christ was a descendant of the Nephilim; however irrespective of the intended suggestion or conclusion, these ideas are clearly blasphemous and heretical – worst of all, coming from supposed representatives of Biblical doctrine and truth.
Further, in an article for openminds.tv about a year back, Jason McClellan wrote: “ A new book claims that Vatican astronomers are looking for extraterrestrials. And they are using LUCIFER to do it. Although it shares the same name as Christianity’s fallen angel and the personification of evil, LUCIFER is an instrument attached to a telescope.
As Popular Science explains, LUCIFER is an acronym for the instruments lengthy title, “Large Binocular Telescope Near-infrared Utility with Camera and Integral Field Unit for Extragalactic Research.” This instrument is attached to the University of Arizona’s Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) located on Mt. Graham in south eastern Arizona. The Vatican-owned Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope (VATT) is right next door.”
Against this backdrop readiness to accept extra-Biblical sources of information from “aliens” and to even “throw out the gospel”- how likely is the coincidence that the telescope would accidentally be acronymed “LUCIFER?”
Michael Snyder raises the questions: “So if aliens showed up and wanted to show us a “new way”, would society be willing to accept it?....what would happen someday if “aliens” showed up and claimed that they seeded life on this planet, guided our evolution and are now here to lead us into a new golden age? And what would happen if the Catholic Church gave those aliens their stamp of approval?”
Perhaps the Vatican astronomers should start looking at the Bible first for those answers. 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 would be a good starting point:
Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
My good friend Howard H. wrote the
following article.
An acquaintance and I were talking in my
office one day, and it became apparent to me that he did not believe in the
existence of absolute truth or moral absolutes. I asked him if that was
the case, and he said yes. So I said, "So you believe that truth is
relative to the situation. What is truth in one situation might not be
truth in another. Or to put it another way, to you truth is relative to
the situation. There are no truths that are eternal, unchanging and
absolute. Is that right?" He agreed. I smiled and said,
"Then I have a hypothetical situation for you. It's 1938. We
are in a small Bavarian village in southern Germany. I'm the local
Nazi SS Group Leader, and you are the head rabbi from the local Jewish synagogue.
I've had my SS thugs bring you to my office. I have a loaded 9mm luger on
my desk with a round chambered and the safety off. Tell me why I should
not blow your Jewish brains all over the front wall of my office."
He laughed. I didn't and said, "Watch your attitude in here.
You are a Jew. I am an SS officer. Tell me why I should not kill
you here and now." He stopped laughing and said, "You can't
kill me. That's murder." I said, "Yes, I can kill you,
and no, it's not murder in this situation. I was brought up in the Hitler
Youth. We were taught that you people and the socialists stabbed the
Fatherland in the back and that's why we lost WWI. We were taught that
you people are not even human, that you are 'untermenschen,' sub-human, and
that it's not only my right but IT'S MY OBLIGATION TO WIPE YOU PEOPLE OFF THE
FACE OF THE EARTH! Now, in this situation, tell me why I should not kill
you." He got angry and said this is ridiculous. Then I laughed
and said, "Calm down, and let me tell you why I should not kill you.
I should not kill you because murder is ALWAYS WRONG. That's an absolute
truth. And how do I know? Because God said so." Shortly
after our exchange, he left my office, and as I recall, he never visited me
again.
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