August 9, 2010

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STAY INFORMED - DON'T BE LEFT BEHIND!

Let us make the short time we have left count for all eternity!

FROM THE HEART – PLEASE READ – THANKS!

Dear Reader / Supporter,

Who can deny that we are living in the End Times, our time is truly short, let us make the time we have left count for all eternity. The predicted “birth pangs” are certainly increasing with frequency and intensity. Earthquakes, floods, famines, disease, wars and rumors of wars are daily headlines! The tragic headlines that we are seeing now will dwarf in comparison to the headlines that will be seen during the Great Tribulation period. The entire world is in an economic meltdown and around the world people are fearful and feelings of panic, uncertainty and anxiety are at an all-time high. The Middle East is a powder keg waiting to explode, the once and mighty lone world superpower, the United States, has been knocked off its perch and is in a downward spiral and most likely has passed the point of no return.

As these ‘birth pangs’ increase in intensity more people than ever before from around the world are seeking answers. More people than ever before are looking and searching for answers and I am sure as prophetic events continue to unfold at an accelerated pace, even more people will visit Prophecy Update looking for answers. We receive visitors from over 122 nations around the world and each month we break new records in the amount of hits that we receive to the website and subscribers to the free Prophecy Updates is at an all time high.

Folks as you know, we have the answer and the answer is Jesus Christ, but many if not the majority of the world’s population including the many churches, walk around in total darkness, you can help Prophecy Update continue to be a beacon of light to the world!

With these thoughts in mind I want to take the time to thank of all you who subscribe to Prophecy Update and all of you who frequent the Prophecy Update website and take advantage of all the teaching resources that we have available and I do want you to take advantage of us! Thank you for your prayers and encouragement and financial support. Thank you for taking the time to forward the Updates to family and friends. Thank you all that use the Updates for teaching material and all that send in articles for posting. I do want to encourage you to forward us articles that you feel worthy enough to share with other readers!

First, above all things I ask that you continue to keep this ministry in your daily prayers, secondly I ask that you would prayerfully consider becoming a financial supporter of this ministry. Many of you are already monthly supporters but we sure could use more, monthly supporters are the backbone and foundation of this ministry. We receive over 320,000 unique visitors a month and average about 4.5 million hits a month and I also send out nearly 500,000 Prophecy Update emails each month. You would think with so many visitors that I would never have to bring up the subject of giving. I do so humbly and reluctantly, but in reality only about 50 dear and precious Saints give to this ministry with any regularity and I can actually name most of them off in my head because I am constantly giving thanks for them!

Every day I write the two daily newsletters, update the web site, research new material, work on new books, edit material for the next DVD and read and answer as many of the nearly 300 emails I receive daily. I am not complaining one bit, I love every minute of it but please do not be offended if I don't answer your email promptly or not at all. It takes a lot of time and effort, but is a true labor of love to bring you the updates and provide all the contents of the web site.

The updates and the web site are provided free so that no one can be denied access to the Word of God. Twice I have been offered a lot of money to sale the web site, but I turned them down, I care too much! There is a charge to cover the cost of the teaching materials but even then we provide them free upon request. The web site is free of pop-up ads and commercial banners so that you can view the contents of the site without disturbance. We don't bombard you with offers and we don't plead and beg for money and tell you that we are going off the web if we don't get money. We don't have weeklong marathon fundraisers, nor do we have elaborate fundraising schemes. 

My prayer: Lord Jesus, I pray right now that you would touch the hearts of those that you would lift up to support this ministry and I pray that you would bless them and give them a heart and a fire and a passion to support this ministry. Lord Jesus I pray that you would bless them in return for their faithfulness beyond any measurable comprehension, wonderfully and abundantly exceeding any and all expectations! Lord Jesus I pray for those that already support this ministry through prayer and financial means that you would continue to bless them in the most amazing ways, that not only they would be blessed but also those whom you have surrounded them with! In Jesus Name...Amen!

I ask that you would prayerfully consider partnering with us to get the Word out and keep the world informed. Remember, your gift, no matter how small, does make a difference! You will be helping to touch lives, around the world, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, thanks to the internet your generosity carries a global impact! Please pray about giving $5, $10, $25 or more if possible each month, I know in these harsh economic times many of you just can’t afford to give financially but you can lift this ministry up in prayer daily!

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THE END OF TIMES

We are about to enter a time like no other time, a time that no man has ever seen, a time like no other time in the history of this world, as a matter of fact we are about to enter the end of times. Most movies start at the beginning, this movie starts at the end and ends at the beginning, a new beginning. We are about to enter the End Times and the End Times begins with a mass evacuation. Suddenly, without warning, millions of people will disappear off the face of the earth. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, now you see them, now you don’t. Where did they go and what will happen next?

ISRAEL GOD’S TIMEPIECE

God sees the beginning from the end and knows all things; God has a schedule and has appointed times for events to happen. God has lovingly given us a look at His schedule so that we won't be caught off guard when these events take place. He has appointed Israel as His prophetic timepiece, if you want to know what time it is on God's schedule all you have to do is look at what's happening in Israel! Find out how God uses the nation of Israel as sign to the world that His return is near!

THE RAPTURE

According to the Lord's own words, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17

AS IN THE DAYS OF NOAH

We often envision the Days of Noah, from a Sunday school point of view with a sort of cute little story with the animals boarding the Ark in pairs while Noah happily looks on, a sort of Disney-ish-Zippity-Doo-Dah scene with singing and dancing. Not! A careful examination of the Bible story paints quite a different picture, more like something out of the X-Files. If God destroyed all living things except for Noah and his family because of Sin in the world, then we had better all be walking around wearing lifejackets!

THE SOON TO BE REVEALED ANTICHRIST

Soon! A man, who has been waiting in the wings, will come upon the world's stage and the final seven years of life as we know it will begin. This time is known as 'the Great Tribulation’! This man, we call the Antichrist, will at first seem to be the answer to all the world's problems. He will, practically overnight, solve many of the dilemmas and troubling issues facing mankind, including doing what no other person could do. He will bring peace to the Middle-East, he will guarantee for a period of seven years a treaty between Israel and its neighbors. All will seem well, but exactly 3 1/2 years into this seven year treaty the door will open and reveal this man for what he truly is, the Antichrist !

PERILOUS TIMES

The Bible tells us that in the last days, perilous times shall come.

“But realize this, that in the last days perilous times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.” 2 Timothy 3:1-5

These words were written nearly 2000 years ago but they perfectly describe the times in which we are presently living in. At no time in history were times more perilous on a global scale than they are now. There have always been wars, and rumors of wars, but never has the potential for the utter destruction of the human race been more profound. We are living in the last days according to the Bible.

GOG AND MAGOG

In the near future, a dark cloud shall descend upon the tiny nation of Israel. This cloud is a massive army formed from a military alliance led by Russia and its allies which include: Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Sudan, Libya, Austria, Germany, and parts of Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, Turkey and various other nations. This is all in the Bible and foretold thousands of years ago by the prophet Ezekiel. This is the infamous Magog invasion, it will happen; the alliances are falling into place. Soon God will put the hook in the mouth and draw this army into battle...

AFTER THE RAPTURE

In case of Rapture, Open Immediately!

Synopsis: If you are watching this DVD and millions of people around the world have just disappeared, you need to know the truth. What you are going to see and hear in the next few minutes will change your life forever!

For 2000 years the Bible has been proclaiming to the world that Jesus would be coming back. Jesus stated in John 14:1, "I will come again."

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

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Four armies on alert, Khamenei takes charge of Lebanese crisis – www.news.yahoo.com

Tehran threw all its weight behind Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah ahead of his contentious speech Monday, Aug. 9, by declaring that "Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan are Iran's security belt," and sending its National Security Council Director Saeed Jalili, who is also lead nuclear negotiator, to Beirut Sunday to strengthen his hand. This is reported by debkafile's Iranian sources.

Upon arrival, the NSC head went into conference with Nasrallah and the spiritual leader's special aide Ali Akbar Velayati, who arrived in Beirut last Thursday, Aug. 5 after the Lebanese-Israeli border clash, and is still there.

Jalilee then took off for Damascus to give Syrian president Bashar Assad a piece of his mind. According to our sources, in a conversation that went on till early Monday, the Iranian official made it clear that Tehran would not tolerate the deal Assad concluded with Saudi king Abdullah to pull away from - or even reduce - Syrian relations with Hizballah.

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has clearly taken charge of the Lebanese situation. He is maintaining control through two top officials kept standing by in Beirut and Damascus as Nasrallah prepares to accuse Israel of assassinating Rafiq Hariri, four-time prime minister of Lebanon, in February 2005.

This is the gambit Nasrallah is using to blackmail the Hariri government by a threat of civil war and/or a military confrontation with Israel into disbanding the UN special tribunal and so avoid surrendering indicted Hizballah leaders to the court.

 With Tehran ranged solidly behind him at the highest level, the Israeli, Lebanese and Syrian war planners have put their armies, along with Hzballah, on the ready for trouble.

Iran made sure border tensions remained high after Lebanese army snipers killed an Israeli officer in a clash last Tuesday, Aug. 5. As debkafile reported at the time, a group of Iranian intelligence and commando officers Friday openly toured the South Lebanese-Israeli borders and studied Israeli positions, making sure they were seen on the Israeli side.

They are still present at Hizballah's forward positions.

Sunday, Lebanese foreign minister Ali Al-Shami flew to Tehran to appeal for help in toning down the ultimatum posed by Nasrallah for Prime Minister Saad Hariri to disband the special tribunal established by the UN and Lebanon to probe his father's murder and instead accuse Israel before the UN Security Council. Al-Shami maintained that this move would break up Lebanon's unity government and open the gates to a recurrence of civil warfare and fighting with Israel.

His appeal to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad fell on deaf ears. Instead, Jalilee was put on a special plane to Beirut to strengthen the Hizballah leader's hand. This was clear from his remark: "The power of resistance and unity of the Lebanese Army does not let the Zionist regime to even cut a tree. Earlier, the Zionist regime could advance to the borders of Beirut fearlessly. Today the Zionist army gets a strong response from Islamic Resistance…"

His words meant that, for Tehran, the Lebanese Army's 9th Battalion is no longer a separate, autonomous entity but integral to Hizballah and a partner in its radical mission. 

U.S. to Sell Fighter Jets To Saudis, Riling Israel – www.foxnews.com

The Obama administration plans to sell advanced F-15 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia but won't equip them with long-range weapons systems and other arms whose inclusion was strongly opposed by Israel, diplomats and officials said.

WASHINGTON—The Obama administration plans to sell advanced F-15 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia but won't equip them with long-range weapons systems and other arms whose inclusion was strongly opposed by Israel, diplomats and officials said.

The proposed $30 billion, 10-year arms package, which would be one of the biggest single deals of its kind, has been a source of behind-the-scenes tension during months of negotiations. Israeli officials have repeatedly conveyed their concerns in private that the U.S. risks undermining its military advantage by equipping regional rivals with top-flight technologies.

U.S. officials say they provided "clarifications" in recent weeks about the deal to help damp Israel's qualms. Two officials close to the negotiations said Israel still had some reservations, but that the country isn't expected to challenge the sale by lobbying Congress, which can hold up the deal or push for assurances of its own. The administration is expected to formally notify Congress of its plans as early as next month.

The information-sharing with Israel is part of a longstanding commitment by successive U.S. administrations to maintain its military edge in the region. Congress has the power to block any weapons sales deemed detrimental to Israel's military advantage.

The tussle is a window into the White House's delicate balancing act in the Middle East. The administration has championed advanced weapons sales to Gulf states as a way to check Iranian power. In addition to Saudi Arabia, the U.S. has moved to sell arms to the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf states, as well as support on a smaller scale the Lebanese army and Palestinian security forces in the West Bank.

Iran is far from the only security challenge facing Saudi Arabia, which has considerably beefed up its standing army since Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, when the ruling Saud family began to see potential border troubles as a more serious threat.

Earlier this year, Saudi armed forces sustained heavy losses during extended skirmishes with Yemeni rebels on the southern border, the kind of flare-up a new crop of fighter jets would seemingly be ideal to fight.

But the scope and size of the Saudi deal has unnerved Israel and its allies in Congress at a time when U.S.-Israeli relations are particularly unsteady.

Israel PM defends flotilla raid as 'lawful' - by Patrick Moser – www.news.yahoo.com

JERUSALEM (AFP) – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted Israel acted in line with international law in a raid on Gaza-bound aid ships which killed nine Turks, in testimony Monday before an Israeli panel.

Netanyahu also accused Ankara of looking to gain from a high-profile confrontation between Turkish activists aboard the lead ship and the soldiers who seized the vessels in international waters.

"I am convinced that at the end of your investigation, it will become clear that the state of Israel and the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) acted in accordance with international law," Netanyahu told members of the Tirkel Commission.

Netanyahu looked at ease as he entered the room, smiling at the hordes of journalists and a few members of the public waiting to hear his sworn testimony.

Sitting in a chair facing the five-member panel and the two international observers, Netanyahu opened his testimony with an explanation of Israel's policy towards Hamas, and of the rationale behind the naval blockade.

He insisted the naval blockade was crucial to Israel's security as it stops vessels from delivering weapons for Hamas, the Islamist movement which rules Gaza and is sworn to the destruction of the Jewish state.

Netanyahu said Israel exerted every diplomatic effort to have the ships turn back or dock elsewhere.

But Turkey made no effort to prevent the six-ship flotilla from breaking the blockade, which was organized by the "radical Turkish organization IHH (Foundation of Humanitarian Relief) which supports Hamas," he said.

"The Turkish government did not consider the confrontation between Turkish activists and Israel to be against its interests," he charged.

Even so, Netanyahu insisted he had ordered troops to make "a supreme effort... to avoid harming anyone."

He also reiterated Israel's long-held assertion that there was no humanitarian crisis in Gaza, just the perception of one.

"There is no starvation in Gaza," he said, complaining about groups that "undermined the blockade through false claims of a humanitarian crisis."

Netanyahu evaded several questions, including whether Israel had considered alternatives to military action, saying he would respond during the closed-door session that followed the 90 minutes of public testimony.

Netanyahu was the first of three top officials to give sworn testimony about the May 31 assault on the fleet of boats trying to run the blockade on Gaza, killing nine Turkish activists and wounding scores of others.

The bloody raid caused a diplomatic crisis between Israel and Turkey and sparked global calls for an inquiry -- prompting Netanyahu's government to set up the Tirkel Commission to look into the legality of the operation.

Israel says its commandos resorted to force only after they were attacked when they rappelled onto the deck of the Mavi Marmara.

The soldiers "faced a very real danger to their lives from brutal attacks with clubs, metal rods and knives," Netanyahu said, adding the Turkish ferry "was no love boat and the IHH activists were not exactly innocent peace activists."

But activists have claimed troops opened fire as soon as they landed.

The committee is only mandated to examine the international legality of the naval blockade and of the actions taken to enforce it.

Panel members are not authorized to probe the decision-making process which led up to the operation, nor do they have the authority to question troops involved in storming the boats.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak will take the stand on Tuesday, followed by armed forces Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi on Wednesday, with both likely to be quizzed over the operational aspects of boarding the ships.

Last week UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon named his own panel to look into the botched raid, which is set to begin work on Tuesday and includes representatives from Israel and Turkey.

North Korea fires artillery off west coast - Hyung-jin Kim – www.news.yahoo.com

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea fired about 110 rounds of artillery Monday near its disputed sea border with South Korea, the South's military said, amid high tension over the deadly sinking of a South Korean warship blamed on North Korea.

The firing came shortly after South Korea ended five-day naval drills off the west coast that the North called a rehearsal for an invasion, vowing to retaliate.

All the artillery shells harmlessly landed into the North's waters and caused no damage to the South, a South Korean Joint Chief of Staff officer said on condition of anonymity, citing department policy.

South Korea considered the firing to be part of a military drill by North Korea but still bolstered its military readiness against further provocation, the officer said. The South also warned Pyongyang over the firing by naval radio, he said.

"This was their way of saying 'We'll respond to military drills with military drills,'" said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at Seoul's University of North Korean studies.

Yang said the firing is also aimed at highlighting the instability of the Korean peninsula to apply pressure on the United States to start talks on the signing of a peace treaty to formally end the 1950-53 Korean War. The conflict ended with an armistice, thus leaving the peninsula technically at state of war.

North Korea has long sought a peace treaty and diplomatic relations with Washington to guarantee that the U.S., which has 28,500 troops in South Korea, would not invade and topple Kim Jong Il's government. The U.S. has repeatedly said it has no intention of attacking the North.

Tension on the Korean peninsula is running high in the wake of the March sinking of the South Korean warship that an international investigation blamed on a North Korean torpedo attack. The North flatly denies the accusation and has warned any punishment would trigger war.

Tension deepened last week when South Korea launched large-scale naval training in response to the sinking, prompting its communist neighbor to warn it would counter the maneuvers with a "strong physical retaliation."

On Sunday, North Korean authorities also seized four South Korean and three Chinese fishermen aboard a 41-ton South Korean fishing boat for an alleged violation of the North's exclusive economic zone. South Korea has demanded the North quickly release them but the North has not responded.

China — the North's main benefactor and traditional ally — expressed concern over news of the seizure but said its diplomats in North Korea are verifying the report with local authorities, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported Monday night.

Once the incident is confirmed, the North Koreans should treat the Chinese crew members well, guarantee their rights and inform Chinese officials, Xinhua reported, citing consulate officials in Chongjin, North Korea.

The South Korean naval drills, which ended on Monday afternoon, followed large-scale joint military exercises with the U.S. last month off the east coast. The South Korean drills included exercises near the western sea border where the warship Cheonan exploded and sank, killing 46 sailors.

The area is also where the navies of the rival Koreas have fought three bloody gunbattles since 1999.

Jewish group rips church plans for Temple Mount replica – Aaron Klein – www.wnd.com

'This mockery stands in diametric opposition to everything the holy site represents'

JERUSALEM – A Jewish Temple organization has slammed as "a hubris-inspired act of self-aggrandizement" controversial plans by a Pentecostal church to reportedly build a $200 million replica of the First Temple in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

"This planned church is a mockery which stands in diametric opposition to everything that the Holy Temple of Jerusalem represents," Rabbi Chaim Richman, director of the international department of the Temple Institute, stated in a press release.

"The Bible, bequeathed to the world by the Jewish people, emphasizes the preeminence of Jerusalem and its spiritual and prophetic role in the future of both Israel and all mankind," Richman said.

Is Israel already done for? Aaron Klein's "The Late Great State of Israel" brings you unvarnished truth straight from the front lines

"We are witness today to the phenomenon of nations that seek to de-legitimize Israel's connection to Jerusalem. This planned mega-church represents the next logical step, the de-legitimization of the significance of Jerusalem altogether," he said.

Richman slammed the reported plans by the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God as a "cynical and manipulative attempt to morph the Bible's universal message into its own self-serving agenda."

According to the UK Guardian, the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God will construct a church in Sao Paulo based on King Solomon's Temple, including a replica of the Ark of the Covenant at its center.

"We are preparing ourselves to build the temple, in the same mold as Solomon's," Bishop Edir Macedo, the church's leader and founder, was quoted as saying in the report.

"[Solomon's] Temple … used tons of gold, pure gold ... .We are not going to build a temple of gold, but we will spend tons of money, without a shadow of doubt," said Macedo.

Macedo told the British newspaper his church had signed an $8 million contract to import stones from Israel.

"We have signed the contract and commissioned the stones that will come from Jerusalem, just like the ones that were used to build the temple in Israel; stones that were witnesses to the powers of God, 2,000 years ago," he said. "It is going to be a knockout, it is going to be beautiful, beautiful, beautiful – the most beautiful of all. The outside will be exactly the same as that which was built in Jerusalem."

Rebuilding Third Temple

While the Temple Institute criticized Macedo's plans, Richman's group, based in Jerusalem, focuses on preparation for the rebuilding of the Third Temple in its biblical location - the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The Institute has been preparing ritual objects suitable for Temple use. Many of the more than 90 ritual items to be used in the Temple have been re-made to the highest standards the Temple Institute.

The First Temple was built by King Solomon in the 10th century B.C. It was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. The Second Temple was rebuilt in 515 B.C. after Jerusalem was freed from Babylonian captivity. That temple was destroyed by the Roman Empire in A.D. 70. Each temple stood for a period of about four centuries.

The Temple was the center of religious worship for ancient Israelites. It housed the Holy of Holies, which contained the Ark of the Covenant and was said to be the area upon which God's presence dwelt. All biblical holidays centered on worship at the Temple. The Temples served as the primary location for the offering of sacrifices and were the main gathering place for Israelites.

According to the Talmud, the world was created from the foundation stone of the Temple Mount. It's believed to be the biblical Mount Moriah, the location where Abraham fulfilled God's test to see if he would be willing to sacrifice his son Isaac.

The Temple Mount has remained a focal point for Jewish services for thousands of years. Prayers for a return to Jerusalem and the rebuilding of the Temple have been uttered by Jews since the Second Temple was destroyed, according to Jewish tradition.

The Al Aqsa Mosque was constructed in about A.D. 709 to serve as a shrine near another shrine, the Dome of the Rock, which was built by an Islamic caliph. Al Aqsa was meant to mark what Muslims came to believe was the place at which Muhammad, the founder of Islam, ascended to heaven to receive revelations from Allah.

Jerusalem is not mentioned in the Quran. It is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible 656 times.

Islamic tradition states Muhammad took a journey in a single night on a horse from "a sacred mosque" – believed to be in Mecca in southern Saudi Arabia – to "the farthest mosque" and from a rock there ascended to heaven. The farthest mosque became associated with Jerusalem about 120 years ago.

According to research by Israeli Author Shmuel Berkovits, Islam historically disregarded Jerusalem as being holy. Berkovits points out in his new book, "How Dreadful Is this Place!" that Muhammad was said to loathe Jerusalem and what it stood for. He wrote Muhammad made a point of eliminating pagan sites of worship and sanctifying only one place – the Kaaba in Mecca – to signify the unity of God.

As late as the 14th century, Islamic scholar Taqi al-Din Ibn Taymiyya, whose writings influenced the Wahhabi movement in Arabia, ruled that sacred Islamic sites are to be found only in the Arabian Peninsula and that "in Jerusalem, there is not a place one calls sacred, and the same holds true for the tombs of Hebron."

A guide to the Temple Mount by the Supreme Muslim Council in Jerusalem published in 1925 listed the Mount as Jewish and as the site of Solomon's Temple. The Temple Institute acquired a copy of the official 1925 "Guide Book to Al-Haram Al-Sharif," which states on page 4, "Its identity with the site of Solomon's Temple is beyond dispute. This, too, is the spot, according to universal belief, on which 'David built there an altar unto the Lord.'"

No prayer zone

The Temple Mount was opened to the general public until September 2000, when the Palestinians started their intifada by throwing stones at Jewish worshipers after then-candidate for prime minister Ariel Sharon visited the area.

Following the onset of violence, the new Sharon government closed the Mount to non-Muslims, using checkpoints to control all pedestrian traffic for fear of further clashes with the Palestinians.

The Temple Mount was reopened to non-Muslims in August 2003. It still is open but only Sundays through Thursdays, 7:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m., and not on any Christian, Jewish or Muslim holidays or other days considered "sensitive" by the Waqf.

During "open" days, Jews and Christian are allowed to ascend the Mount, usually through organized tours and only if they conform first to a strict set of guidelines, which includes demands that they not pray or bring any "holy objects" to the site. Visitors are banned from entering any of the mosques without direct Waqf permission. Rules are enforced by Waqf agents, who watch tours closely and alert nearby Israeli police to any breaking of their guidelines.

Prophetic America: the coming persecution - Bill Wilson - www.dailyjot.com

Ten members of an International Assistance Mission, a Christian organization that has provided medical care to remote parts of Afghanistan on short term missions for 44 years, were summarily executed by the Taliban while returning to Kabul. Six of the group were Americans. Because they were medical personnel doing charity work, they had no security, no weapons, no armed guards. In claiming responsibility for the executions, a Taliban spokesman told The Associated Press that they killed the missionaries because they were "spying for the Americans" and "preaching Christianity." A spokesman for the mission, however, said his organization is Christian, but does not proselytize.

This tragedy underscores the prophetic persecution that is coming to America. So long as Americans count Islam as a religion rather than the totalitarian political system it is, Islamic colonization of the United States will continue to advance rapidly. In its wake will be persecution beyond anything any American has ever experienced. The federal government refuses to secure the boarder with Mexico, allowing thousands of undocumented Islamic colonists each year. Christian denominations embrace Islam through "inter-faith dialogue." And many Americans just fail to see the danger of Islamic encroachment on American society. But persecution is coming.

Politicians and the public alike refuse to recognize that Islam is not a religion and that it should not fall under First Amendment protection. The Founding Fathers knew the First Commandment to have no other gods. Religious freedom meant the ability to worship God freely without government interference. Islam's holy book, the Koran, instructs Muslims to kill infidels, unbelievers, Jews and Christians. This alone is the doctrine of the political system of Islam. It is an enemy to any nation. Its antithesis to God's people was prophesied in Genesis 16:12 when an angel of the Lord said that Ishmael "will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him."

Jesus said in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father, but by me." This is the central doctrine of Christianity. Anything else is a false religion, no matter how nice your Muslim neighbor is. And a false religion is of satan. Jesus warned of satan's wiles in John 10:10, "The thief comes not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy." And that is exactly what the Koran instructs its followers to do to anyone who is not Muslim. Jesus also warned Christians in John 15:20, "If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you." Persecution is coming. It will be swift and brutal as it was for the brave martyrs in Afghanistan. It will be even swifter, if God's people continue to embrace Islam in this nation.

Have a Blessed and Powerful Day!

Bill Wilson
Word of Life Ministry

The Idol in the Mirror - Greg Laurie - www.harvest.org

Jesus replied, " 'You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments."
— Matthew 22:37–40


Oscar Wilde said, "To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance." Indeed. And Whitney Houston sang, "The greatest love of all is easy to achieve. Learning to love yourself, it is the greatest love of all." That we love ourselves is pretty much an established fact. I don't believe it is necessary for us to learn to do it.

Ephesians 5:29 says, "No one hates his own body but feeds and cares for it, just as Christ cares for the church." Some people worship their bodies. They worship every day at the First Church of the Perfect Physique. They just can't get enough of working out. It becomes addicting. They become obsessed with it. However, some people definitely could benefit from a little exercise. Yet there are others who certainly go overboard when it comes to their appearance.

A survey revealed that 94 percent of age 18-and-under girls wish they were more beautiful. And 85 percent of women over the age of 40 said they were not as attractive as the average woman. They feel this way because they love themselves. If they didn't, then they would be happy they were ugly. The truth is that we all love ourselves.

When Jesus said the second greatest commandment is "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:39), He was not saying that we need to learn to love ourselves so we can then love others. Rather, He was essentially saying, ""Hey, you already love yourself. That is obvious. Love your neighbor in the same way. And love God even more."

So the sin is not loving yourself or caring about yourself. The sin is loving yourself more than you love God. And for some, their idol—their god—is facing them in the mirror every morning.

 

The Rapture is a Very Big Deal! – Lambert Dolphin - www.ldolphin.org

In my previous newsletter I brought up the fact that the hope of the soon-return of Jesus Christ for His people was a strong expectation during the early history of the church. But, nowadays even well-versed Christians seem to be indifferent. Because the word "rapture" is not found in our English Bibles, but only in the Latin Vulgate, it is not unusual for someone to mention to me that they do not believe there will be any calling home of all true Christians at a specific date in history. Many of us who follow world affairs and try to be well-read in eschatology strongly believe the coming of Jesus Christ for His (true) Church is very likely to happen any day now.

The Bible considers this event a very big deal even though it may escape much attention in the secular news. For two thousand years God has been adding members to Christ's church one by one. Probably 100 billion people at least have been born on earth since Jesus was here on earth the first time. Very conservatively it seems possible that there are now at least a billion of us Christians in the special family known in the New Testament as the Bride of Christ. From our standpoint on earth most are dead now, but they are all very alive spiritually and waiting for the return of the Lord along with those of us followers of Jesus who are now alive.

Three important events make up the event called the rapture: "For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words." (1 Thess. 4:15-18)

The shout of command from Jesus will first raise all the "dead in Christ." These are all believers who enjoyed a relationship with Jesus from Pentecost till now. Next, there is only one Archangel mentioned in the Bible and that is Michael who has charge of Israel. The voice of the Archangel signifies that Israel will move back to center stage of history at this time. Third, a trumpet call will summon all of us who are alive to be transformed and given new resurrection bodies along with our newly-risen predecessors.

The whole ensemble, Christ's entire church, will be caught up with Jesus, probably to live in the (orbiting?) City of New Jerusalem (see the last two chapters of the Bible, Revelation 21-22).

On the way, all Christians will pass a reviewing stand for God's evaluation of our works (known as the "Judgment Seat of Christ"). This is about how we have used our time and resources since we came to know the Lord Jesus.

The rapture of the church is likened in the Bible to the calling of a virgin bride (the true church) to join the Bridegroom, Jesus. (The false church is, on the other hand, like "the great harlot" depicted in Revelation 17). The positive imagery is one of consummated love between Jesus and His church. The church will then be safe from the terrible time of worldwide judgments, lasting seven years. These "end-time" judgments will commence immediately, down here on earth (2 Thess. 2).

The rapture is all about being united with the God we have professed to love. Most of us by now are aware of the widespread hypocrisy in the church these days, the reality that Christ's Bride-to-be has often gone whoring after other gods. This means that preparing ourselves for the rapture deserves our immediate attention if we are followers of the Lord Jesus, or if we have been delaying our decision to align ourselves with God's people through faith and trust in Jesus. Getting ready for the Rapture is all about repentance in fact. Our nation is falling apart around us and much the blame can is due to the failure of the church to be the holy people we are called to me.

"But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen."

"Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other peoples matters. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter. For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? Now “If the righteous one is scarcely saved, Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?" Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator." (1 Peter 4:7-19)

Should we Christians not be eagerly discussing our new home with Jesus where at last our sagging, aching, hurting bodies are transformed in new resurrection bodies like that Jesus had after His resurrection? "For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, (our present sinful body) is destroyed, we have a building (a solid new body) from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this (present body) we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him." (2 Cor. 5:1-9)

The language of heaven is about going "home." Our transformation will be immediate when Christ calls us: "Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed-- in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: 'Death is swallowed up in victory.' 'O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?' The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." (1 Corinthians 15:51-58)

How do we know the time is near for Jesus to return and to call His Bride home? The daily news should provide us with plenty of evidence showing how fast things are getting worse everywhere. Sadly, but just as predicted, many professing Christians have given up on the church in recent years. This also was predicted for us in the New Testament, http://ldolphin.org/church.html.

Many of us have been lured away from single-hearted love for Jesus by the many false loves and lovers the world throws at us daily. But Jesus will come whether we are fully ready or not. God's many promises to His people will fall into place one by one until Christ is Lord on earth and in heaven. As never before in history, we must be either with Him or against Him. "He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad." (Matthew 12:30)

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

Now Shipping! New DVD "Living on Borrowed Time" for more information and to order your copy of this exciting new DVD, please click below!

www.prophecyupdate.com/living_on_borrowed_time.htm

FREE MOVIE! – THE FEATURED DVD FOR AUGUST – “THE RAPTURE: IN A MOMENT IN THE TWINKLING OF AN EYE…”

Each month Prophecy Update is going to feature one of our DVDS’s that you can watch for free online. This month’s featured DVD will be “The Rapture: In a Moment in the Twinkling of an eye…” – To watch this DVD click on the following link:

www.prophecyupdate.com/the_rapture1.htm 

If You Died Today, Would You Go To Heaven?

Find out, visit: www.prophecyupdate.com/if_you_died_today.htm

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Maranatha! (Lord Come Quickly)
 
 "On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand, All other ground is sinking sand."
 
 "Let Us make the short time we have left count for all eternity!"
 
 YBIC-Randy