September 7, 2010
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Let us make the short time we have left count for all eternity!
LIVING ON BORROWED TIME - DVD
A morally and spiritually bankrupt society …A worldwide economic meltdown…A planet racked with increasingly intense manmade and natural disasters…Are we the Final Generation?
Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. Matthew 24:42-44
Reviews: The DVD should be seen by small groups and youth ministries far and wide. The clear quoting and referencing of bible verses is especially strong. The collage of dramatic imagery - both in photography and artwork, grabs the viewers' attention and weaves the conclusion that God is about to continue His plan in a major way. The video is so fresh - the oil explosion and spill in the Gulf of Mexico is shown as one example of how this old world is wearing out and is in flames
The video next defends the authorship and reliability of the bible before showing eight unmistakable developments in our world that point toward the soon return of the Lord Jesus Christ. The number one sign given to our generation is the return of the Jewish people to form the nation of Israel. Jesus Christ is now standing at the door waiting to take his beloved bride- His true believers. Like the admonition from the Book of Jude, verse 23, I pray that this DVD will be used by the Holy Spirit to pluck dying people out of the fire before the borrowed time runs out. - John Wicklund - Chair- Olive Tree Ministries Board of Directors - Maple Grove, MN
Great Job! We have watched all your DVD’s and we think this is the best one so far. After someone watches this DVD there is no way they could argue that we are not living in the last days! – Don & Cindy K. – Bakersfield, CA
The DVD came and it was great. GOOD JOB ! ! – Julie A. – Whitefish, MT
God bless you, the new DVD is amazing! I know that if there is anyone out there who doesn't know what the bible holds or has no clue about what is really going on after seeing this DVD they will surely be enlightened about what is truly going on in the world today. - The Taylor's - Bakersfield, CA
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Iran on brink of nuclear weapon, warns watchdog - Damien McElroy - www.telegraph.co.uk
Iran has passed a crucial nuclear threshold, weapons inspectors have warned, and could now go on to arm an atomic missile with relative ease.
A report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Iranian nuclear scientists had made at least 22 kilograms of enriched uranium at least 20 per cent purity, a technical hurdle that is the hardest to overcome on the way to weapons-grade uranium.
Experts estimate that 20 kgs of uranium is the minimum required to arm a warhead. The uranium would still need to have its purity raised to 90 per cent, but that is a relatively easy process.
The agency's report comes in spite of the recent imposition at the United Nations of a fresh round of sanctions against Iran and will heighten fears of an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear plants. The prospect of an attack had receded only recently with American assurances that Tehran was more than a year away from acquiring a bomb.
The Vienna-based nuclear watchdog said Tehran had maintained its absolute defiance of international pressure to curb its program despite the imposition of harsh sanctions in May. The IAEA has grown increasingly alarmed at Iran's behavior and the latest report, which will be presented to the agency's governors at a meeting next week, lambasted Tehran on a series of fronts.
The country's refusal to answer questions on its attempts to make a nuclear warhead that could be fitted on to its most advanced missiles was denounced as a violation of sanctions.
The agency also rebuked the regime for its repeated failure to co-operate with weapons inspections designed to ensure that material was held securely at Iranian plants.
Iran barred two weapons inspectors from the country in June after they reported undeclared nuclear activity by scientists. It has also systematically objected to other scientists on spurious grounds.
"The agency is ... concerned that the repeated objection to the designation of experienced inspectors hampers the inspection process and detracts from the agency's ability to implement safeguards in Iran," the report said.
The acquisition of uranium will cause the most alarm however. Until February the Iranians were enriching uranium to levels of no more than 5 per cent at its plant in Natanz.
The government-funded Verification Research, Training and Information Centre, an expert body with privileged access to the IAEA, has estimated that a weapons expert could make a nuclear device from 20 kgs of 20 per cent enriched material with relatively few further obstacles.
The IAEA under Yukiya Amano, its new Japanese director general, has taken a much tougher line with Iran's obstruction of international inspections. But the agency's reports demonstrate that while the Iranian economy has suffered from sanctions the nuclear program has not been impeded. Iran's stockpile of low-enriched uranium, the feedstock of both civilian and military nuclear programs, has risen by around 15 per cent since May to reach 2.8 tons. However the number of centrifuges that refine uranium to higher levels of purity has fallen to 3,772 from 3,936.
Iran: Israeli attack would mean its own demise – www.news.yahoo.com
DOHA, Qatar – Iran's president said Sunday that any Israeli attack against his nation would mean the destruction of the Jewish state.
The two nations have exchanged numerous threats and warnings in the confrontation over Iran's nuclear program, which Israel, the United States and other countries believe is aimed at developing weapons, despite Tehran's denials.
"Any offensive against Iran means the annihilation of the Zionist entity," Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said during a visit to the Persian Gulf nation of Qatar. "Iran does not care much about this entity because it is on its way to decay."
He said he doubted Israel or the U.S. would dare to stage such an attack because "they know that Iran is ready and has the potential for a decisive and wide-scale response."
At the same time, Ahmadinejad sought to ease concerns among neighboring Arab nations that Tehran could target them if armed conflict were to break out with the West over its nuclear work.
Many of Iran's Sunni Arab neighbors, some of which host U.S. bases, fear that Tehran could attack them if such a conflict were to break out.
Ahmadinejad, who met with Qatar's leader during Sunday's visit, said there is a need for reconciliation and cooperation between Shiite-dominated Iran and other Gulf nations.
U.S. military chief Adm. Mike Mullen said last month that America's military has a plan to attack Iran, although he thinks a military strike is probably a bad idea. Still, he said the risk of Iran developing a nuclear weapon is unacceptable and he reiterated that "the military option" remains on the table.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned Wednesday that Iran's response to an attack would not be limited to the region, suggesting Iran would target U.S. interests beyond the Persian Gulf.
Abbas: No Compromise on Jerusalem, Borders – www.newsmax.com
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas rejected Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's talk about an "historic compromise" and said there would be no compromises on core issues such as Jerusalem and borders.
Abbas also reiterated his rejection of Netanyahu's demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state.
"We're not talking about a Jewish state and we won't talk about one," Abbas said in an interview with the semi-official Al-Quds newspaper. "For us, there is the state of Israel and we won't recognize Israel as a Jewish state."
Abbas said that in recent meetings with leaders of the Jewish community in the US, he made it clear that the Palestinians would not recognize Israel as a Jewish state. "I told them that this is their business and that they are free to call themselves whatever they want," Abbas said. "But [I told them] you can't expect us to accept this."
Abbas said that by raising the issue of Israel's right to be a Jewish state, Netanyahu was seeking to "strip" Israeli-Arabs of their rights and turn them into illegal citizens. He said that Netanyahu's goal was also to block any chance of Palestinian "refugees" from returning to their original homes inside Israel.
Asked about the possibility of dismantling the PA, Abbas said he did not rule out such an option if he reached the conclusion that the peace talks are hopeless. However, he stressed that this option was not on the table at present.
Jordan and Syria call for Israeli withdrawal from all Arab lands – www.haaretz.com
Leaders of both states say that Israel must return to pre-1967 borders in order to end Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Jordanian King Abdullah II and Syrian President Bashar Assad on Monday stressed the need for Israel to pull out from all Arab territories it occupied in the 1967 war, if peace with the Palestinians is to be achieved.
Abdullah made a whirlwind visit to Damascus to brief the Syrian leader on the outcome of his talks in Washington last week with United States President Barack Obama, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a royal court statement said.
The monarch had attended the six-way meeting on the eve of direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians being relaunched Thursday.
Abdullah and Assad "emphasized that resolving the Palestinian- Israeli conflict on the basis of the two-state vision requires the regaining of all Arab rights in accordance with ... the Arab peace initiative," the statement said.
The Arab peace initiative offered Israel recognition by all Arab states if it pulled out from all Arab territories it occupied in the 1967 Six-Day Warr, including East Jerusalem.
Turkish-brokered peace talks between Syria and Israel had faltered in 2008, reportedly after Damascus insisted on the restoration of the entire Golan Heights, one of the Arab territories the Jewish state captured in the 1967 war.
Abdullah and al-Assad also agreed to continue "coordination and consultation" on all bilateral and regional issues and discussed means of boosting pan-Arab action "to cope with common challenges".
Egypt seizes anti-aircraft weapons bound for Gaza – www.haaretz.com
In a series of raid across the Sinai Peninsula, troops capture arms including machine guns, shells and anti-tank landmines.
Egyptian troops on Tuesday seized nine weapons consignments bound for the Gaza Strip that included anti-aircraft weapons, according to Israeli and Palestinian news reports.
In a series of raids across the Sinai Peninsula, which borders Hamas-controlled Gaza, troops recovered machine guns, ammunition, over 170 anti-aircraft shells, 90 artillery shells and anti-tank landmines, the reports said.
The arms were discovered in a series of hideouts across the peninsula, while a cache of some 100 kilograms of TNT explosives was found in the border town of Rafah.
Egypt opened its border with Gaza in protest against Israel after Israeli commandos killed nine pro-Palestinian activists on a Gaza-bound aid boat in late May.
But in recent weeks, the Egyptian government has apparently cracked down on weapons smuggling to Gaza-based militants, destroying cross-border tunnels and seizing arms.
According to the Palestinian news agency Ma'an, a cargo of 150 anti-aircraft missiles was captured on August 31.
Gulf states 'welcome' Mideast peace talks relaunch – www.news.yahoo.com
JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) – Gulf Cooperation Council foreign ministers have said they "welcome" the relaunch of direct Israeli-Palestinian peace talks but warned that Israeli "acts of aggression" may compromise them.
"The ministerial council welcomes... the resumption of direct Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations... in hope that the talks (which were relaunched) in Washington will lead to... the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital," a statement said.
But after a meeting in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah on Monday night, the six ministers warned that "continuing acts of aggression" by Israel could "undermine efforts to restore peace and stability in the region."
Western-backed Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas resumed direct negotiations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington on Thursday, 20 months after he broke them off when Israel launched a devastating offensive against the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
The Arab League gave its backing to the Palestinian president's decision to relaunch the talks but last week the 22-nation bloc's secretary general Amr Mussa noted widespread pessimism in the region about their prospects.
On Iran, the Gulf ministers said they were following developments in the standoff over its controversial nuclear program with "deep concern."
They said they hoped Iran would cooperate with diplomatic efforts to allay suspicions about its intentions.
They supported "the right of countries in the region to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes... under the standards set by the International Atomic Energy Agency," and called on Israel, which has the region's sole if undeclared nuclear arsenal, to apply those standards as well.
The ministers called on Iraqi leaders to "form a national consensus government... away from any sectarian or ethnic considerations and foreign interference."
Six months after an inconclusive general election, Iraqi leaders remain at loggerheads over the formation of a new governing coalition.
Washington has called on them to form a national unity administration that ensures representation for all of Iraq's ethnic and religious groups.
Iraqi politicians have blamed meddling by neighboring countries for the deadlock, in what has been widely seen as an allusion to regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia.
The GCC groups Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Hizballah strikes US troops in Iraq, clears way for anti-Israel Eastern Front – www.debka.com
debkafile's military sources report increased Hizballah involvement in actions to terrorize, subvert and destabilize Iraq. A US intelligence source told debkafile's Iraq and counter-terror sources Monday Sept. 6: "Hizballah is striking US targets in Iraq as sub-contractor for Iran and Syria."
According to the Sunday Times of Sept. 5, Iranian "firms" in Kabul are shelling out $1,000 to Taliban for every American soldier they kill in Afghanistan.
These developments make nonsense of the dire predictions heard from some American military experts that an Israeli strike against Iran's nuclear facilities would unleash a wave of anti-US terror in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is happening anyway without Israel lifting a finger against Iran or its aggressive allies.
debkafile's counter-terror sources can exclusively reveal the nature and makeup of Hizballah's operation in Iraq: The Lebanese terrorists are working directly and through two Iraqi Shiite affiliates.
1. Asaib al-Haq (League of the Believers): Under a variety of names, such as the Qais Khazalis for its commander, this group spent the last four years under the tutelage of Hizballah officers at Revolutionary Guards bases in Iran.A few weeks ago, the Lebanese officersleft Iran and crossed into Iraq disguised as Shiite pilgrims to spread out in Baghdad and the southern Iraqi towns of Karbala, Najef, Nassiriyeh and Basra from which to attack attack US targets.
2. Kata'ib Hizballah (Hizballah Brigades): This organization is commanded by Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis who visited Damascus on Aug. 21 with the Revolutionary Guards chief Gen. Ali Jafaari. They got together there with Syrian and Hizballah officers to synchronize their campaigns of violence in Iraq, Israel and the West Bank.
The Iraqi operation was clearly uppermost on the mind of Hizballah secretary general Hassan Nasrallah, judging from the number of words he poured out on Iraq in his speech in Beirut on Palestine Solidarity Day of Sept. 3 and the way he bracketed the two "resistance struggles."
"The steadfastness of the Palestinians, Syria, Iran and the Iraqi people has been able to foil the US plot seeking to partition the region and liquidate its resistance," he said. "The US withdrawal from Iraq is a sign of weakness and defeat." Furthermore, "the Americans came to Iraq to stay there and control it, but years later, they were surprised by the early resistance and cited enormous and strategic mistakes in their reading of the Iraqi arena."
debkafile's military sources report that Hizballah's increased involvement in actions to terrorize, subvert and destabilize Iraq on behalf of Syria and Iran is their first practical step for reviving the Eastern Front which threatened Israel in the days of Saddam Hussein.
In its contemporary re incarnation, the Eastern Front would be orchestrated from Tehran and link up with the armed-to-the-teeth Northern Front composed of Iran's cohorts, Hizballah, Syria and the Palestinian rejectionists.
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Victims on the road to ‘peace’ - By Jeff Jacoby
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Talia and Yitzhak Ames met as students at Moscow University, as they waited in line one day to register for their classes. They got married in 1985, and had two children by the time they emigrated to Israel in 1991. Four more children followed in the next 19 years, and Talia was nine months pregnant with their seventh when she and Yitzhak were murdered by Palestinian terrorists last week.
The killers ambushed them as they were driving home Tuesday night, heading south on Highway 60 toward Beit Haggai in the Hebron Hills. With Talia and Yitzhak in the car when the killers opened fire were two other residents of Beit Haggai: Avishai Schindler, a newly-married yeshiva student, and Kochava Even-Haim, a nursery school teacher and the mother of an 8-year-old daughter. Kochava's husband Maimon, an emergency-aid volunteer, was one of the first responders to arrive at the scene, unaware that he would find his wife among the dead. All of the victims were shot repeatedly at close range, and the car was riddled with dozens of bullets.
Hamas, a terrorist organization whose charter extols the murder of Jews, promptly claimed responsibility for the massacre, describing it as "part of the repelling operations against the occupation assaults on Gaza Strip and West Bank." In Hamas-controlled Gaza, the bloodshed was celebrated; the news was broadcast from loudspeakers and there was a "victory" rally in the Jebaliya refugee camp. The Palestinian Authority, headed by Fatah's Mahmoud Abbas, issued a tepid statement condemning the Hamas "operation" -- not because the slaughter of innocent civilians is a brutal atrocity, but merely on the tactical grounds that it "contradicts Palestinian interests" by making it more difficult for "the Palestinian leadership to garner international support."
The killings on Highway 60 took place as Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was en route to Washington for a new round of negotiations with the Palestinian Authority. When word of the bloodbath reached him, he could have cancelled the talks and immediately returned home to attend the victims' funerals and focus on restoring security. But he declined to alter his itinerary. "We are committed to peace," his spokesman said. His position didn't change even after a second attack along the same highway Wednesday night, when terrorists opened fire on an Israeli car, wounding a young rabbi and his wife.
A persistent myth of the Arab-Israeli conflict is that Palestinian terrorists kill Jews in order to "disrupt the peace process," and that the best response to terrorism is to persevere with negotiations. That explanation for last week's carnage was repeated everywhere, from the White House ("This brutal attack underscores how far the enemies of peace will go to try to block progress") to Israel's opposition leader Tzipi Livni ("[the terrorists had a] "cold, political motive: to prevent the peace process") to the international media.
But far from opposing a "peace process" meant to push Israel into ever-deeper concessions, retreats, and self-endangerment, terrorists -- whether affiliated with Hamas or with Fatah -- seek to accelerate it. The two Palestinian factions may be at war with each other, but they have always been as one in rejecting Israel's existence as the sovereign state of the Jewish people. So long as they refuse to budge from that position, Israeli-Palestinian peace is impossible.
Yet rather than say so forthrightly, Israeli leaders keep insisting that diplomacy can end the conflict, and that they are prepared to sacrifice greatly for peace. It was once Israel's policy never to bargain with terrorists, and to pursue peace through deterrence and patience and strength. But with the advent of the Oslo Accord, deterrence gave way to appeasement, negotiations, and a yearning for peace at any price. To both Fatah and Hamas, that desperation has made the Jewish state seem weak -- and vulnerable to further pressure. In an opinion survey released last week, 55 percent of Palestinians endorsed anti-Israel violence as "essential" or "desirable," while less than 14 percent called it "unacceptable." "Israel's very pursuit of peace," journalist Evelyn Gordon wrote in Commentary earlier this year, "has spurred its enemies to go for the jugular."
Netanyahu should have walked away from the table after last week's butchery. Instead, he publicly anointed Abbas "my partner for peace" and reasserted his commitment to negotiations. When those negotiations fail, as they inevitably will, the impasse will be blamed on the insufficiency of Israel's concessions. That will further enrage its enemies, some of whom will turn to terror.
And so the peace process proceeds. The victims on Highway 60 were only the latest of Israel's "sacrifices for peace." They are not likely to be the last.
Lion's Den: Americans wake up to Islamism – Daniel Pipes – www.jpost.com
What began as a local zoning issue has morphed into a national debate with potential foreign-policy repercussions.
The furor over the Islamic center variously called the Ground Zero mosque, Cordoba House and Park 51 has large implications for the future of Islam in the US and perhaps beyond.
The debate is as unexpected as it is extraordinary. One would have thought that the event that made Islam a national issue would be an act of terrorism. Or the discovery that Islamists had penetrated the US security services. Or the dismaying results of survey research. Or an apologetic presidential speech.
But no, something symbolic roiled the body politic – the prospect of a mosque in close proximity to the World Trade Center’s former location.
What began as a local zoning issue has morphed into a national debate with potential foreign-policy repercussions.
It’s symbolic quality fit a pattern established in other Western countries: Islamic coverings on females spurred repeated national debates in France from 1989 onward.
The Swiss banned the building of minarets. The murder of Theo van Gogh profoundly affected the Netherlands, as did the publication of anti- Muhammad cartoons in Denmark.
Oddly, only after the Islamic center’s location had generated weeks of controversy did the issue of individuals, organizations and funding behind the project finally come to the fore. Personally, I do not object to a truly moderate Muslim institution near Ground Zero; conversely, I object to an Islamist institution being constructed anywhere.
Indeed, building the center in such close proximity to Ground Zero, given the intense emotions aroused, will likely redound against the longterm interests of Muslims in the US.
THIS NEW emotionalism marks the start of a difficult stage for Islamists in the US. Although their origins as an organized force go back to the founding of the Muslim Student Association in 1963, they came of age politically in the mid-1990s when they emerged as a force in US public life.
I was fighting Islamists back then, and things went badly. It was, in practical terms, just Steven Emerson and me versus hundreds of thousands of Islamists. He and I could not find adequate intellectual support, money, media interest or political backing.
Our cause felt hopeless.
My lowest point came in 1999, when a retired US foreign service officer named Richard Curtiss spoke on Capitol Hill about “the potential of the American Muslim community” and compared its advances to Muhammad’s battles in seventh-century Arabia. He flat-out predicted that, just as Muhammad had prevailed, so too would American Muslims.
While Curtiss spoke only about changing policy toward Israel, his themes implied a broader Islamist takeover of the US. Disconsolate, I could not fight his prediction.
But 9/11 provided a wake-up call, ending Emerson’s and my sense of hopelessness. Americans reacted not just to that day’s horrifying violence, but also to the Islamists’ outrageous insistence on blaming the attacks on US foreign policy, their blatant denial that the perpetrators were Muslims, and the intense popularity of the attacks among Muslims.
Scholars, columnists, bloggers, media personalities and activists became more knowledgeable about Islam, developing into a community focused on the Islamist threat, a community that now feels like a movement.
The Islamic Center controversy represents the movement’s emergence as a political force, offering an angry, potent reaction inconceivable just a decade ago.
The energetic push-back of recent months finds me partially elated: Those who reject Islamism and all its works now constitute a majority and are on the march. For the first time in 15 years, I feel I may be on the winning team.
But I have one concern: the team’s increasing anti-Islamic tone. Misled by the Islamists’ insistence that there is no such thing as “moderate Islam,” my allies often fail to distinguish between Islam (a faith) and Islamism (a radical utopian ideology aiming to implement Islamic law in its totality). This amounts not just to an intellectual error but a policy dead-end. Targeting all Muslims conflicts with basic Western notions, lumps friends together with foes, and ignores the inescapable fact that Muslims alone can offer an antidote to Islamism. As I often note, radical Islam is the problem, and moderate Islam is the solution.
This lesson learned, the defeat of Islamism can come into sight.
Dangerous Defeatism is taking hold among America's economic elites - By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - www.telegraph.co.uk
Goldilocks has played a trick on America. Growth is not warm enough to prevent hard-core unemployment climbing to post-war highs and sticking at levels that corrode the body politic, but not yet cold enough to overcome the fierce resistance of the Fed's regional hawks for a fresh blast of stimulus.
Soft bears say the US economy wil limp along just shy of a double dip The US economy has slowed to stall speed: successive quarters of 5pc growth, 2.7pc, and 1.6pc (to be revised down), the worst recovery of the post-war era. Such is the crush of debt.
While last week's data was less bad than feared, it was still awful. Manufacturing orders fell to the lowest in 15 months. Some 54,000 jobs were lost in August and the broad U6 gauge of unemployment rose from 16.5pc to 16.7pc. The US needs to create 150,000 a month just to stay even. The social depression is getting worse, not better.
Hardline bears think growth will drop below to 1pc in the second half as the inventory boost wears off and the tail winds of stimulus turn to headwinds, leaving no margin for error.
Soft bears such as Bank of America's Ethan Harris said the economy will limp along just shy of a double-dip. "Our sense is that the 'growth recession' is already here and it is likely to linger through the first half of next year," he said. His reason for concluding that it will not be worse is telling: the Fed will step in with $500bn to $750bn of fresh QE every six months if necessary.
Perhaps, but perhaps not. The luminaries are lining up to say there is very little that the Fed can do after already cutting rates to zero and purchasing $1.7 trillion of bonds. "The heavy artillery has already been fired," said former Fed vice-chair Alan Blinder.
"I really don't think there is a lot the Fed can do," said Harvard's Martin Feldstein.
"The benefits of additional QE are quite small," said Stanford's John Taylor, of the Taylor rule.
"The US has run out of bullets. More QE is not going to make any difference," said Nouriel Roubini, our Dr Gloom.
Get a grip, the lot of you. While there is no easy way out for the US after stealing so much prosperity from the future through debt, there is no excuse for this dead-end defeatism. Clearly, the 'canonical New Keynesian' model that holds such sway on America's elites is intellectually exhausted.
The Fed has an arsenal of neutron bombs if it wants to use them, and uses them correctly. It can engage in "monetary policy a l'outrance" as Maynard Keynes proposed in his Treatise on Money in 1930, before he lost his way with the General Theory.
Blitz the market with bond purchases, but do so outside the banking system by buying from insurers, pension funds, and the public. This would gain traction on the broad M3 money instead of letting it collapse (yes, the "monetary base" has exploded, but that is a red herring), working through the classic Fisher/Friedman mechanisms of the quantity of money theory.
This is quite different from the Fed's QE which buys bonds from the banks and works by trying to drive down borrowing costs. While Bernanke's 'creditism' is certainly better than nothing, it is not gaining full traction.
"Bernanke continues to babble on about futile credit easing: neither he nor his staff seems to appreciate the difference between purchases of assets from non-banks and from banks," said Tim Congdon from International Monetary Research. Crudely, banks sit on the money. Others use it.
Mr Congdon said a $750bn blitz of QE done the right way would lead to 5pc rise in M3 over three months. "This would indeed transform the US economic outlook". Instead, America drifts. It is already closer to a Japanese trap than Washington wants to admit, and may not escape from it for similar reasons of ideological paralysis.
Dr Bernanke said in November 2002 that Japan had the economic instruments to pull itself out of malaise but failed to do so. "Political deadlock" and a cacophony of views over the right policy had prevented action. He insisted that a central bank had "most definitely" not run out of ammo once rates were zero, and retained "considerable power to expand economic activity".
Yet eight years later, the US is in such "deadlock". Worse, Fed officials now say "the ball is in the fiscal court", arguing that budget policy should do more to "complement" the Fed's existing stimulus. Oh no!
This is the worst possible prescription. What is needed is fiscal austerity (slowly) before debt spirals out of control, offset by easy money or real QE for as long as it takes. This formula rescued Britain from disaster in 1931-1933 and 1992-1994.
Damn the rest of the world if they object. They have been free-loading off US demand for too long. A weaker dollar will force the mercantilists to face some hard truths. So keep those helicopters well-oiled and on standby.
Satan is Busy Buying Souls - Joseph R. Chambers - jrc@pawcreek.org
Yes, Satan has a kingdom and he gives it to whosoever he will. That’s an overwhelming thought and it is changing the way many people live. Satan made that point to Jesus and the Son of God did not argue with it. He simply rejected any desire to be a part of his dark world. Look at the manner in which Satan tempted Jesus, “And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve” (St. Luke 4:5-8). The Scripture further states that Satan is the “god of this world” (II Corinthians 4:4). If you will give him your soul, he does have the power to give you the kingdom of the world.
Our world has a multitude of people that Satan has purchased just like he tried to buy Jesus. Many people will look at their worldly blessings and say, “Look what God has blessed me with.” They do not know that it was not the God of Heaven but the false god of this world. Any material blessing that does not come in a manner that makes you a greater saint or richer toward God did not come from the Heavenly Father. Anything you possess that robs you of your family time, your church life, or your devotion in the Word of God and prayer is not from the God of Eternity. When your job becomes a weight around your neck, you must ask the Lord of your life to free you for His kingdom from the burden of destruction.
If the world offers you some great possession that separates you from the church where God has planted you, you must stop to consider the source of that offer. If the world tries to buy you away from the time necessary to be a great elder or deacon in your church, a dedicated dad or mom, or a dedicated husband or wife, the offer did not come from the third heaven but from that kingdom in the mid-air. Satan is very busy buying this world’s allegiance. We look at lives of rock stars, movie actors, and other celebrity personalities and quickly admit that they have sold out to the god of this world. Do not forget that the devil is buying the little man or woman just like he is buying the big fish.
No wonder Jesus made such strenuous requirements for His disciples and saints. The world and its god, Lucifer, are constantly after your heart. Satan will pay any price to buy and destroy your soul and the only possibility for your eternal salvation is total surrender to Jesus Christ and His Kingdom. You must “forsake all,” the entire world and all of its claims for your one Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?” (St. Luke 9:23b-25). Later, He added, “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26-27). The majority of the church world is religious but knows nothing of this kind of Biblical surrender. They are going to be eternally lost unless someone gets this message to their heart.
The only blessings you can count as being from God are those that come to you after you have denied all to follow Jesus. When you surrender to Him, deny yourself, and deny all the claims men make on you in exchange for the one life of total lordship under Jesus Christ, He will meet all of your needs and give you more than Satan could have ever given, plus eternal life. That is His promise to every saint of God. Read carefully, “And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God’s sake, Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting” (St. Luke 18:29-30). His offer to every living soul is to give you His Kingdom if you will refuse Satan’s kingdom. There are only two kingdoms in the world and the choice is yours. Jesus said, “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (St. Luke 12:32).
Treason by any other name, is still treason – Bill Wilson – www.dailyjot.com
On Wednesday, September 1, I sent a Daily Jot entitled, "The Case for Treason at the Highest Levels of Government." This Jot listed from the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs website some 26 Islamic mosque renovation projects. The projects were in several countries, many of which are egregious human rights violators, persecutors of the Christian faith, and breeding grounds for terrorism. Prior to the Jot's publication, this website was easily accessible with all the projects listed, the country they were in with a full description of the project. Since September 2, after approximately 20 more stories were written, this site page is no longer accessible.
After much retracing of my research and dozens of requests to see it, I found a pre-September 1st url. The listing is located at the following url: http://eca.state.gov/culprop/afcp/project_listings/search_results.cfm?search=mosque&submit=Search . Since this Jot, I have received many emails questioning the accuracy of what I wrote. Some said that the State Department also funds Christian church renovations in countries and they provided me a list of those. The Jot mentioned the uproar that would be caused if the government was funding a local church. All these on the list are overseas. Notwithstanding, to be fair, the State Department does spend some money renovating Christian and Catholic churches in other countries.
Other emails questioned how renovating mosques can be associated with treason. Article III of the US Constitution says, "Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort." In my opinion, every time a mosque is renovated with US taxpayer dollars, it is emboldening, aiding and giving comfort to the enemy, especially in nations like Yemen, Sudan, Algeria, Egypt that house radical Muslims. The so-called war on terror is ambiguous. This war is not against a particular nation, but rather an ideology shared by radicals in nations. Those radicals are Islamic. We are at war with these people. And giving them your tax money helps them.
On July 22, the Washington Times carried an op-ed piece by columnist Jeffrey Kuhner calling for the impeachment of the man who occupies the Oval Office. Kuhner gave many reasons for impeachment, but said refusing to protect US citizens from enemies foreign and domestic by not securing America's borders is treasonous. There is a clear picture developing with this administration. Romans 12:21 says, "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." Evil surrounds our unalienable rights endowed by our Creator to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness and hoovers over us with an intent to kill, steal and destroy. This is no time to justify this evil with reasoning. It is time to confront it with the authority of Christ.
Have a Blessed and Powerful Day!
Bill Wilson
Word of Life Ministry
God's Worldview – Greg Laurie – www.harvest.org
And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. Then He opened His mouth and taught them.
— Matthew 5:1–2
If you want to know how Jesus thinks, then study the Sermon on the Mount. This sermon, found in Matthew 5–7, lays out the worldview of Jesus himself. Do you want to know how His heart really beats? Then study this sermon. It is the official manifesto of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
It begins with the words, "Then He opened His mouth and taught them. . . ." The phrase "opened His mouth" is a Greek expression used to describe something that is solemn, grave, dignified, and weighty. That is not to suggest that other things Jesus taught were not equally important. But it is to say there is weight given to the words Jesus laid out in the Sermon on the Mount. So we are to pay careful attention to everything that is found in it.
Also, the Sermon on the Mount was not given to the multitudes. By that I mean it wasn't given to the world at large. The Sermon on the Mount is not a philosophy by which we govern society, because people don't believe in God for the most part. Thus, they never would live by the Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount is, effectively, for believers only. But even people who are nonbelievers will admire its teachings.
Not long ago I interviewed a man who was raised as a Muslim, yet he was exposed to the teachings of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. He was impressed by them, and ultimately, it resulted in his committing his life to Jesus Christ.
Only a follower of Jesus can live out what He taught in the Sermon on the Mount. And even His followers will struggle with some of it at times. Yet this is God's worldview.
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The Comforter - Jack Kinsella - Omega Letter Editor – www.omegaletter.com
I received an interesting email over the weekend containing another exposition of 2nd Thessalonians and how Chapter 2, in particular, is relevant to this generation.
This email focused its attention on the "great falling away" or the apostasia of 2nd Thessalonians 2:3.
"Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition."
In this exposition, the writer argues that the falling away, or the 'apostasia' does not refer to a departure from the faith, but instead is a reference to the Rapture.
It was an interesting take -- I read the attached article several times, mainly because the author asked all the wrong questions but still came up with the right answers.
I tried really hard to follow his reasoning, and it wasn't until I was on about the third re-reading that I was able to see how he got there.
"I could spend a lot of time presenting definitions of Greek words and quoting from learned scholars who have done much research on this section. But too much technical information can overburden the reader. So I shall distil the research and provide enough evidence to prove our conclusions are accurate and true."
The rest of the article is filled with too much technical research, a lot of which was technically wrong.
The point that jumped out at me is that there are so many well-meaning Christians that believe the Bible can only be understood by a select few.
This author attempted to prove the Rapture is pre-Trib (I agree) and that the falling away does not refer to believers falling away from Christ due to eternal security (with which I also agree.)
But his case is built entirely on the premise that the Scriptures themselves aren't clear enough to sustain his argument.
Let's review the relevant Scriptures. Paul says the "Day of Christ" will not come until first there is a falling away, followed by the revealing of the antichrist.
The next verse confirms his identification as the antichrist.
"Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God."
Paul says that this revelation is being witheld by a Power Paul assumes the Thessalonians recognize without too much elaboration.
"And now ye know what withholdeth, that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only He who now holdeth back will hold him back, until he is taken out of the way.(2nd Thessalonians 2:7, NKJV)
At this point, many scholars believe they have to launch into a complicated dissertation about what the 'mystery of iniquity' REALLY means, instead of the obvious -- the baffling power of sin is already at work blinding the world.
For many, that is too simple.
Then, there is a debate about who He is that holdeth back. Some argue that the one that "holdeth back" isn't the Holy Spirit, but the antichrist himself.
One could save oneself a lot of skull sweat by simply reading it for what it actually says.
It says that the antichrist will not be revealed until He that 'holdeth back iniquity' is 'taken out of the way.' The antichrist doesn't 'hold back' iniquity, he personifies it.
One doesn't have to research the original Greek or cherry-pick scholars that support a particular view. One need only read the Scriptures prayerfully for what they say.
Is it POSSIBLE for the antichrist to be revealed while the Church is still here? According to Scripture, only if one can find away to take away the Holy Spirit, while leaving behind the vessels He occupies.
And if that is possible, then Jesus lied and His promise is meaningless.
One of the most definite, and therefore, most controversial verses in Scripture is John 14:6:
"I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me."
Why is that controversial? It is THAT verse that gives Christianity a bad name among the religions of the world.
If no man can come to the Father, except through Jesus, then it means only Christians can go to heaven. To the world, that is hateful, since it excludes anybody who isn't a Christian.
Which brings us back to the ridiculous argument that Christianity is hateful because it won't admit people that don't believe in it into a heaven that they also don't believe in.
Like claiming that the toothfairy is hateful because you have to lose a tooth first. If you don't believe in the toothfairy, what do you care?
In point of fact, what it really proves is that Christianity is real and Jesus is alive and heaven is a real place.
That is why it is so upsetting to the lost. They KNOW there is no toothfairy.
On the other hand, Jesus says, "Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe Me for the very works' sake."
One can believe in Him by faith, or one can believe because of His works. But the fact is, He is still at the center of the debate 2,000 years later.
The world may not accept Him, but they can't help but believe, even when they deny Him.
If they didn't believe, somewhere deep down inside, then heaven wouldn't matter any more than the tooth fairy. But it does.
It is in this context of explaining to His Apostles Who He really is that Jesus confirms both the Rapture and the timing of it. One needn't have a degree in classical Greek or Hebrew to understand His meaning.
"And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever."
Let's look at the context. Jesus has just revealed that He is in the Father, and the Father is in Him. (John 14:10)
Then He promises another Comforter He says will "abide with you forever." Who is this Comforter?
"Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you." (John 14:17)
Again, one needn't be a Greek scholar to identify the Comforter as the Holy Spirit. And if the answer is still unclear, one need only read down a few more verses:
"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." (John 14:26)
Jesus not only promised to send the Holy Spirit, He promised that; "I will NOT leave you comfortless: I will come to you." (John 14:18)
Now, we return to 2nd Thessalonians Chapter 2 and knowing the Greek antecedents and dangling Greek participles and citing learned scholars seems less necessary.
Jesus promised that He will come to me before He will leave me without the Comforter. The Comforter is the One that teaches and reveals all things to the Church.
Through His occupation of the Church, He restrains evil. I don't think there is any way to logically dispute that.
Paul says the Comforter is taken out of the way, which allows for "that Wicked" to be revealed. (2nd Thessalonians 2:7-8)
All the Greek and Latin gymnastics in the world can't reinterpret the Promise that we will not be without the Comforter unless He (Jesus) has come for me. I can't speak for you. But I know what He promised me.
He can't take His Holy Spirit from me and leave me comfortless without breaking His Word to me.
The Comforter is taken out of the way before the antichrist is revealed at the beginning of the Tribulation Period and the Second Coming of Christ doesn't take place until the end of the Tribulation Period.
So unless the Holy Spirit can be 'taken out of the way' while still indwelling me until the 2nd Coming, I must be taken out of the way at the same time.
"For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only He who now holdeth back will hold him back, until He is taken out of the way. . .
"And THEN shall that wicked one be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming."
One doesn't need to speak Classical Greek to understand the Comforter. Or the identity of the "wicked one". Or the Promise.
The antichrist cannot be revealed while the Comforter indwells the Church, since He must be taken out of the way.
And the Comforter cannot be taken out of the way, leaving us comfortless, because Jesus said He would come for us, first.
It really doesn't get confusing UNTIL one starts quoting classical Greek, learned scholars and long-winded expositions.
"But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty." (1st Corinthians 1:27)
It's really not that complicated. The Bible wasn't written to scholars in some kind of mysterious multilingual code.
"Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein." (Luke 18:17)
Because it was written so a little child could understand it.
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(Lord Come Quickly)
"On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand, All other ground is sinking sand."
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