September 1, 2010
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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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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 “As in the Days of Noah” – To watch this DVD click on the following link:
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Obama opens long-shot talks on Mideast peace – Robert Burns – www.news.yahoo.com
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama is opening a new round of Mideast peacemaking, bringing Israeli and Palestinian leaders together Wednesday for talks aimed at forging agreement within one year on a two-state solution: a sovereign Palestine and a secure Israel.
Expectations were low as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas arrived Tuesday for preparatory talks with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who has spent months coaxing the parties back to the bargaining table.
The talks will be the first face-to-face sessions between the Israelis and Palestinians since December 2008, but the two sides are far apart on all key issues, so major progress in the early going is seen as unlikely.
Pointing up the tensions that will probably test Obama's diplomacy, a Palestinian gunman opened fire Tuesday on an Israeli vehicle traveling near the West Bank city of Hebron, killing four passengers. The militant Hamas movement, which rejects Israel's right to exist and opposes peace talks, claimed responsibility. Israeli officials called the shooting an attempt to sabotage the discussions and the White House weighed in with its own condemnation.
"This brutal attack underscores how far the enemies of peace will go to try to block progress" in the talks, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said in a strongly-worded statement. "It is crucial that the parties persevere, keep moving forward even through difficult times, and continue working to achieve a just and lasting peace in the region that provides security for all peoples."
In remarks to reporters before their meeting Tuesday evening at a Washington hotel, Netanyahu, with Clinton at his side, said: "We will not let terror decide where Israelis live or the configuration of our final borders. These and other issues will be determined in negotiations for peace that we are conducting and in these negotiations."
Clinton was equally defiant.
"We pledge to do all we can always to protect and defend the state of Israel and to provide security to the Israeli people," she said. "That is one of the paramount objectives that Israel has and the United States supports in these negotiations."
West Bank settlers said Wednesday they will break a government freeze on construction in their communities to protest the attack.
On Wednesday, Abbas and Netanyahu were to meet separately with Obama. Then, joined by Jordan's King Abdullah and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, they will attend a White House dinner intended to set the stage for the launch of formal talks a day later at the State Department. Jordan and Egypt are the only two Arab nations with peace deals with Israel.
Former Sen. George Mitchell, Obama's special Mideast peace envoy, said Tuesday that a strong argument can be made that allowing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to continue indefinitely is more dangerous than making the hard decisions necessary for a peace agreement.
The goal of reaching a deal within one year is intended, Mitchell said, to counter a sense among many in the Mideast that years of inconclusive negotiations mean the process is never-ending.
"It's very important to create a sense that this has a definite concluding point," Mitchell told reporters at the White House. "And we believe that it can be done."
American officials are hopeful they can at least get the two sides to agree to a second round of talks, likely to be held in the second week of September in Egypt. That could be followed by another meeting between Obama, Netanyahu and Abbas on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly near the end of the month, they said.
Talking to reporters on his plane heading for Washington, Abbas called for decisive American involvement in the talks. He said that if the two sides reach a deadlock, the Obama administration should present "proposals to bridge the gap between the two positions."
One major immediate challenge in the talks will be the Palestinians' demand that Israel extend a 10-month freeze on settlement construction in the West Bank. The freeze expires on Sept. 26.
The Palestinians want a state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem — territories Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war.
Netanyahu, under pressure from his right-wing Likud Party and hawkish coalition partners to resume building inside West Bank settlements when the freeze ends, has made no such pledge. Palestinian officials have warned that without one, the talks in Washington may be nothing more than a two-day excursion to the U.S. capital.
Beyond the settlements, Israel and the Palestinians face numerous hurdles on resolving the other issues of contention, notably the borders of a future Palestinian state, the political status of Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees.
Also complicating the outlook for peace are internal Palestinian divisions that have led to a split between Abbas' West Bank-based administration and Hamas, which is in control of Gaza. Hamas is not part of the negotiations and has asserted that talks will be futile.
Israel hints Jerusalem compromise in peace talks - By Matt Spetalnick and Joseph Nasr – www.reuters.com
WASHINGTON/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's defense minister said on Wednesday the Jewish state would be willing to hand over parts of Jerusalem in peace talks with the Palestinians to be launched by President Barack Obama.
A flare-up of violence in the Palestinian West Bank and a deadlock over Jewish settlements there loom as potential deal-breakers for Obama, who will host Israeli and Palestinian leaders for dinner at the White House in Washington.
Obama brought Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas together for face-to-face negotiations after months of U.S.-mediated indirect talks. But he faces deep skepticism about his chances of success.
Defense minister Ehud Barak's rare comments about the need to partition Jerusalem, which is at the heart of the conflict, could signal Netanyahu's willingness to divide the holy city in any final peace deal with Palestinians.
Netanyahu has publicly balked at ceding the eastern, Arab part of the city that Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war.
"West Jerusalem and 12 Jewish neighborhoods that are home to 200,000 (Israeli) residents will be ours," Barak told the Haaretz newspaper.
"The Arab neighborhoods in which close to a quarter million Palestinians live will be theirs," he added, referring to East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians want as capital of a future state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
He said a "special regime" will be in place in the Old City, where al-Aqsa, Islam's third-holiest shrine, abuts the Western Wall, the vestige of Judaism's two ancient temples and today a Jewish prayer plaza.
SHOOTING ATTACK
Barak also said a shooting attack that killed four Israelis in the West Bank on Tuesday would not derail the talks. Militants from the Palestinian group Hamas, which opposes peace with Israel, claimed responsibility.
Palestinian leaders committed to the peace process joined Israel and the United States in condemning the attack, sending a clear message the talks would go ahead after a 20-month hiatus.
Abbas's security forces arrested 150 Hamas members in the West Bank after the attack.
"This kind of savage brutality has no place in any country under any circumstances," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in Washington shortly as she met Netanyahu.
Obama will meet separately with Netanyahu and Abbas on Wednesday before hosting them for dinner, the warm-up for formal talks on Thursday at the State Department.
The summit marks Obama's riskiest plunge into Middle East diplomacy, not least because he wants the two sides to forge a deal within 12 months. He is staking precious political capital on the peace drive in a U.S. congressional election year.
There is also the danger that failure on this front could set back Obama's faltering attempts at winning over the Muslim world as he seeks solidarity against Iran.
STARK REMINDER
The Hamas attack was a reminder that the Islamist group, which controls the Gaza Strip, remains a threat to peace moves by the moderate Abbas, whose Fatah party governs the West Bank. Hamas threatened more attacks.
The violence could make Netanyahu less likely to accede to Palestinian demands for more control of security in the West Bank. They also want Netanyahu to extend a freeze on Jewish settlement building there.
The 10-month, partial Israeli moratorium on new housing construction in settlements expires on September 26. Abbas has said he will pull out from the talks if the freeze is not extended.
Netanyahu, who heads a government dominated by pro-settler parties, has not given any definitive word on whether he will extend it. Obama's aides have been scrambling for a compromise.
Netanyahu said he would insist in the talks with Abbas that security arrangements in any final peace deal would not expose Israel to attacks like Tuesday's shootings.
"We will not let terror decide where Israelis live or the configuration of our final borders. These and other issues will be determined in negotiations for peace that we are conducting," Netanyahu said.
The four Israeli settlers, two men and two women, one pregnant, were shot dead after nightfall on a busy highway close to the flashpoint West Bank city of Hebron.
The White House strongly condemned the attack and urged that it not be allowed to sabotage the negotiations. It took months of U.S. pressure to bring the two sides to the table.
Abbas, who also met Clinton before the summit, condemned "any operation that targets civilians, Palestinians or Israelis." Hamas calls the Western-backed Abbas, who governs only in the West Bank, a "traitor" for talking to Israel.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan's King Abdullah will attend the White House dinner, expanding the dialogue to two influential Arab neighbors who have made peace with Israel and could promote broader Arab-Israeli reconciliation.
Hamas targets Israeli-Palestinian talks by killing four Israelis - Joshua Mitnick – www.news.yahoo.com
Tel Aviv – As Middle Eastern leaders gathered in Washington to inaugurate a new round of Israeli-Palestinian talks, Hamas gunmen killed four Israeli settlers in their car outside the West Bank city of Hebron.
The attack appeared to be an attempt to spark violence that could undermine the peace negotiations and was a stark reminder that the Islamist Hamas movement remains an important force in Palestinian politics, no matter how much either the Israelis or the Palestinian Authority's Mahmoud Abbas wish they would go away.
Analysts say that after more than a year of US diplomacy and an improvement in security in the West Bank, the summit in Washington won't be jeopardized by an isolated attack.
"The scale of it is not large enough and in terms of relations with America and the international community, the government of Israel is most likely to decide to continue," says Meir Javedanfar, a Tel Aviv-based Middle East analyst. "A future attack against Hamas will be more justifiable for Israel if Netanyahu stays in Washington. To break off the talks because of such an attack would be giving Hamas and their backers in Iran a major victory."
The attack came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Mr. Abbas had departed the region for the US talks.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan's King Abdullah are also participating in the summit, which begins Wednesday night with a dinner hosted by President Obama.
Hamas takes responsibility
The shooting took place near the entrance of the Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba, which neighbors Hebron. According to the Haaretz news outlet, those killed – four adults, including a pregnant woman – were from Kiryat Arba and the nearby settlement of Beit Haggai.
Hebron, a longtime flashpoint because it's home to a shrine holy to Jews and Muslims, is known as a relatively poor and conservative city where militant Hamas cells are believed to operate.
The Islamist Hamas movement, which controls the Gaza Strip, has repeatedly condemned the US-backed Palestinian Authority for agreeing to talks – calling instead to renew an armed uprising against Israel. Hamas claimed responsibility and heralded Tuesday's shooting, the first fatal attack on an Israeli in the West Bank since a police officer was killed in June.
"Hamas praises the attack and regards it as a natural response to the crimes of the occupation," Sami Abu-Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, was quoted by Reuters as saying. He added that the attack was proof "of a failure of security coordination" between Israel and the Palestinians.
That said, Palestinian security forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas have stepped up anti-militant activities throughout the West Bank in coordination with Israel. Increased Israeli-Palestinian security cooperation has led Israel to relax restrictions on Palestinian movement around the West Bank.
Attack on the peace talks
State Department Spokesman PJ Crowley speculated the attack was aimed at the peace talks, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Militants have timed attacks to coincide with peace summits in the past such as a terrorist bombing in Tel Aviv in February 2005, three weeks after a summit of Israeli and Palestinian leaders in Sharm el-Sheikh.
Israeli hard-liners said the attack was evidence that a peace deal is unrealistic and called on Prime Minister Netanyahu to boycott the summit. Education Minister Gideon Saar, a Netanyahu backer, said to abandon talks would be tantamount to rewarding the attacks, according to Haaretz.
Palestinian Authority media director Ghassan Khatib says Prime Minister Salam Fayyad is planning to issue a condemnation Tuesday night.
"I hope that the three parties involved make sure that they don't play into the hands of the attackers," he says. "The attack and its timing aims at sabotaging the peace process so the response should be to redouble efforts."
Iran's Ahmadinejad dismisses Mideast peace talks – www.news.yahoo.com
TEHRAN (AFP) – Hardline Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismissed on Wednesday the holding of direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, saying the negotiations will fail to resolve conflict in the Middle East.
"Tens of negotiations have been held in more than 30 years and tens of plans have been proposed, but they have all failed," Ahmadinejad told Iran's Arabic-language Al-Alam Television in an interview.
His remarks came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas prepared to re-launch direct peace talks in Washington on Thursday after a 20-month suspension.
"If the main problems of Palestine are not considered, the fact that two people sit down and talk will resolve nothing," Ahmadinejad said in comments posted on the website of the channel in Farsi.
"Talks and even signing reconciliation treaties cannot gain legitimacy for the Zionist regime and resolve the Palestinian question."
Ahmadinejad called for the Islamic movement Hamas which rules the Gaza Strip to be involved in any peace talks as it is "the most official representative of Palestinians because it had the people's votes."
"Any negotiations should take place with Palestinians' representative," the hardliner added. Hamas is listed by the European Union and the United States as a terror organization.
Iran has been a staunch supporter of Hamas since the movement won Palestinian legislative elections in 2006, although Tehran says its aid does not extend to military arms and training, as alleged by Israel.
The Iranian president also dismissed Iran's arch-foe the United States's role as mediator in the latest round of direct talks.
"Experience shows US governments have absolutely backed the Zionist regime and its crimes ... how can they be a mediator in talks?" Ahmadinejad asked.
Iran does not acknowledge Israel, while the Jewish state has not ruled out a military strike to force Tehran to halt its controversial nuclear program.
US Intel: Tehran pushes Hizballah hard to attack Israel – www.debka.com
Western intelligence and Persian Gulf sources report that on August 30, Hizballah put its forces on a state of war alert and issued a partial call-up of reservists. According to debkafile's military sources, Hizballah appears to be preparing a major attack on Israel straight after the ceremonial start of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in Washington Thursday Sept. 2. A second target date is the Jewish New Year festival starting on Sept. 8. The pressure from Tehran for the Lebanese Shiite terrorists to strike Israel has intensified in the wake of the example the Palestinian Hamas gave Tuesday night Aug. 31 in the drive-by murder of four Israeli civilians on a road near Hebron.
A large-scale attack appears to be in the works judging by the heavy influx of armed Hizballah units to southern Lebanon in the last few days. Our military sources report that they include special units trained especially for deep-strike incursions into northern Israel in response to Israeli counter-attacks.
Our intelligence sources report that the Iranian al Qods commander of Tehran's networks and surrogates in Iraq, the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian Authority has spent the last ten days in Damascus. He arrived there on August 19 in the party of Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) chief and stayed on after his boss left the Syrian capital, apparently assigned to oversee an important terrorist or military operation against Israel.
Hizballah's own direct commander on behalf of the IRGC, Hassan Mahdavi is reported by Western intelligence sources monitoring events in Lebanon as leaning hard on Hizballah's secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah to strike IDF forces within a few days in response to US sponsorship of direct Israeli-Palestinian talks. The terrorist chief is reported to be on the verge of a decision about what target to attack and when.
Reluctant to leave the field to the Palestinian Hamas, Nasrallah is additionally badgered by a flock of IRGC officers visiting Beirut and trying to persuade Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Beri to allow his rival Shiite Amal organization to join Hizballah for the first time in a strike against Israel. They want all the Shiite streams in Lebanon to show the flag in unison as a gesture of welcome in advance of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's forthcoming state visit to Lebanon.
The date of his visit is a closely-kept secret both by Tehran and Beirut. debkafile's sources disclose that it is scheduled for Sept. 10-12 when Israel is celebrating Rosh Hashana.
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Irreconcilable differences? – H Keinon and K Abu Toameh – www.jpost.com
As direct negotiations are set to launch, a look at where the Israelis and Palestinians stand on core issues.
As Israel and the Palestinians are set to relaunch direct negotiations on Thursday, the sides will lay out their positions on the core issues. What follows is a scorecard of where each side stands on these issues: borders, security, refugees and Jerusalem.
BORDERS
While the Palestinians have demanded that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu acknowledge that the starting point for a discussion on borders is the 1967 lines with mutually agreed upon adjustments, Netanyahu has consistently refused to do so.
His position is that UN Security Council Resolution 242, adopted after the Six Day War, does not require a full withdrawal to the 1967 borders, more exactly called the 1949 armistice lines. Instead, Netanyahu argues that Israel must have defensible borders, something that in his mind is incompatible with a full withdrawal to the 1967 lines.
Regarding settlements, unlike previous governments, where government spokesmen made clear that any agreement would necessitate a complete removal of the settlements in the territories that will become a Palestinian state, Netanyahu has been careful not to talk about the need to uproot settlements.
There are some key members in his inner circle, moreover, who believe that in a future peace agreement, Jews should be able to live in a future Palestinian state, just as there is an Arab minority in the Jewish one.
SECURITY
In last year’s Bar-Ilan University speech, in which Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu accepted publicly the idea of a twostate solution, he said that any future Palestinian state must, however, be demilitarized.
“We must ensure that Palestinians will not be able to import missiles into their territory, to field an army, to close their airspace to us, or to make pacts with the likes of Hizbullah and Iran,” he said, spelling out what – in his mind – demilitarized meant.
Since then Netanyahu has spoken increasingly about the need for an Israeli presence on the eastern border of a future Palestinian state, to ensure that weapons are not smuggled into it, as is the case with arms to Hizbullah coming from Syria, and weapons for Hamas in Gaza coming through Sinai.
And, with the US withdrawing from Iraq, there is increasing concern – again – about having to protect Israel some day against an attack on its eastern front.
REFUGEES
Netanyahu has said repeatedly that any peace accord would necessitate Palestinian recognition of Israel as the state of the Jewish people, a code for refusing the “right of return” to Palestinian refugees.
The government has made clear that acceptance of a two-state solution means that Palestinian refugees who want to return to the region would be absorbed in a future Palestinian state, just as Israel has over the years absorbed millions of Jewish immigrants.
Netanyahu has not said anything about accepting a limited number of Palestinian refugees as a “humanitarian gesture,” as then-prime minister Ehud Olmert did during his talks with PA President Mahmoud Abbas in 2008.
JERUSALEM
Netanyahu has said repeatedly that Jerusalem would remain the undivided capital of Israel. He has given no indication, as Olmert did, that he would be willing to cede Arab neighborhoods in the capital to the Palestinians for their capital, nor that he was willing – as Olmert said he was – to share sovereignty over the Temple Mount, or the area encompassing the Old City and its environs known as the “holy basin.
PALESTINIANS
A document prepared by the PLO Negotiation Department has been delivered to the US administration and other members of the Quartet ahead of the direct talks that are scheduled to begin in Washington this week. The document details the Palestinian Authority’s positions on a variety of issues related to the peace process.
The document states that final-status negotiations must be based on previously agreed terms of reference: international law; UN resolutions, including 242, 338, 1397 and 1515 and 194; the road map; agreements previously concluded between the parties, and the Arab Peace Initiative.
Final-status negotiations must resume from the point at which they left off in December 2008 with former prime minister Ehud Olmert, and must address all core issues such as borders, settlements, Jerusalem, refugees, water, security and prisoners.
The Palestinians also reject the option of a “state with provisional borders” or any further transitional or interim solutions.
BORDERS
The document states that the Palestinians will try to secure a UN Security Council resolution that recognizes the State of Palestine on the June 4, 1967 border, with east Jerusalem as its capital. In essence, this option is an international imposition of a final-status solution between the parties based on international law.
This leaves the option of accepting the solution or rejecting it. Thus it will not be a unilateral declaration of independence, as PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad would prefer.
SECURITY
According to the document, security, stability and peace in the region will not be attained unless the Israeli occupation of all Arab and Palestinian territories occupied in 1967 comes to an end.
An interest-based model of cooperation, taking into account that the US deploys over 230,000 troops in the Middle East, should be adopted by all.
REFUGEES
With regards to the issue of the “right of return” for Palestinian refugees, the Palestinian position calls for a resolving the issue “in a just manner, in accordance with UN General Assembly Resolution 194.”
SETTLEMENTS
The Palestinian position on this issue remains firm and unchanged – that all the settlements that were built after 1967 are illegal and should be evacuated.
Reason for optimism in Mideast talks - By Michael B. Oren
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | (MCT) Israeli and Palestinian leaders are in Washington in an attempt to make peace — again. This summit marks the latest chapter in a story that began on the White House lawn 17 years ago when Israelis and Palestinians committed themselves to ending the conflict once and for all. Since then, every round has failed and bloodshed has continued. Against the backdrop of Tuesday's Palestinian terrorist attack that left four Israeli civilians dead, including a pregnant Israeli woman, why should these negotiations be different? Is there any reason for optimism?
Indeed, there is. For the first time in history, most Arab leaders view a Middle Eastern state other than Israel — Iran — as their major enemy. The Israeli government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is strong, stable and deeply committed to resolving the conflict based on two states for two peoples, Israeli and Palestinian. In the West Bank, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is working to restore law, order and economic prosperity while similarly pledging to pursue the two-state solution. And President Barack Obama has placed achieving peace at the top of his foreign policy agenda. Never before, perhaps, have conditions been so conducive for a breakthrough.
Still, daunting obstacles remain. Nearly half of the territory slated to become part of the future Palestinian state is controlled by Hamas, an Iranian-backed terrorist group dedicated to Israel's destruction. The Palestinian Authority, meanwhile, is insisting that Israel indefinitely freeze all construction in the West Bank Jewish communities. While little can be done at this stage to neutralize the Hamas threat — the hope is that the people of Gaza will someday rid themselves of Hamas and opt for peace — the construction issue need not be a deal breaker. Adding a bedroom for a growing family should not disrupt the peace process.
The West Bank — or, as the Bible calls it, Judea and Samaria — was twice used as a staging ground for wars of annihilation against Israel, which captured the area in 1967. Sacred to the Jewish people for 3,000 years and vital to the defense of Israel's borders which were a mere eight miles wide prior to 1967, the West Bank became the home to hundreds of thousands of Israelis. With the start of the peace process in 1993, successive Israeli governments recognized the need to make painful sacrifices in these crucial territories while upholding the right of Israeli citizens to continue to build there. Palestinian and Israeli leaders agreed that the final status of these settlements would be determined, along with Jerusalem, refugees, and borders, in the peace talks.
Since assuming office a year and a half ago, Prime Minister Netanyahu has made several gestures to the Palestinians to encourage them to return to the negotiating table. In addition to removing hundreds of checkpoints and facilitating the Palestinian economic boom, he refrained from building any new settlements, from acquiring new territory for existing ones, and from incentivizing Israelis to move to them. Finally, in a measure described as "unprecedented" by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Netanyahu froze all new construction within the settlements for a ten-month period.
The Palestinians are now threatening to quit the negotiations unless Netanyahu extends the construction freeze. Israel, of course, is seeking specific goals in the talks, including the demilitarization of the Palestinian state and its recognition of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people. Israel also wants the Palestinians to cease teaching their children that Israel has no right to exist and naming their public squares after terrorists. But we are not insisting that the Palestinians meet these objectives before the talks even begin. We appreciate, therefore, Secretary Clinton's call for "good faith" negotiations "without preconditions."
Settlements have never been an obstacle to peace. Though Israelis account for 17 percent of the West Bank population they inhabit a mere 1.7 percent of the land. The existence of the settlements did not prevent Egypt and Jordan from making peace with Israel or the Palestinians from negotiating with us for nearly two decades. All parties to negotiations understand that the large settlement clusters will, in any final status treaty, remain part of Israel.
As President Obama launches the direct Israeli-Palestinian talks, there is indeed reason for optimism — in spite of the obstacles. If the core issues are determined at the table rather than before the negotiations start, Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Abbas can move swiftly and confidently toward concluding an historic treaty. Though long overdue, but not too late, the peace we have yearned for may yet be achieved.
Have We Anointed An Unworthy Shepherd? - By Jan Markell - www.olivetreeviews.org
Could we say that the church has failed to wake up very many people so, by default, a Mormon -- Glenn Beck -- has made quite a stir and has become an official spiritual leader? He rallied hundreds of thousands last weekend with themes of faith and love of our country. Americans are desperate and fearful of what is coming upon this land so they look to a Mormon for leadership. I am glad his Saturday event was successful for just some of these reasons:
* Americans came to celebrate America after the highest leaders in our land have trashed her around the world.
* They focused on what was right in America and they also honored our military.
* Faith and patriotism were lifted up -- two items that the Left despises.
* Attendees were passionate -- traveling thousands of miles and, once arriving in D.C., walking for miles, even if handicapped.
* Conservative Americans must gather together to fortify one another. Such events strengthen one another and offer hope. Finding kindred spirits in a depressing age is essential.
* Whether the Left heard or not, the attendees sent a message that they are fed up. November is around the corner and they had better look out.
In light of the positive aspects of the honoring America weekend, could there possibly be a down side? I tried to do a fair and balanced radio program last Saturday, August 28, with Brannon Howse, former Mormon Ed Decker, and apologetics' expert Eric Barger. We raised a few issues, and you can hear them here. I have received some thanks for the honesty and integrity of the two hours, and a few hate e-mails and calls for the position the panel took, which will be explained in the paragraphs below.
The theme of the Friday gathering of spiritual leaders and the Saturday rally was an encouragement to turn back to God. The not-so-subtle theme was "many faiths, but one God."
I believe many conservative Christians would have been relieved if Glenn had not brought out Mormon doctrine that very few are familiar with. He stated at the Saturday event that the American Indians are the "chosen people" -- blatant Mormon doctrine. The crowd applauded in approval. You can view that here at the 4:30 mark.
He stated -- and has affirmed this on his radio and television programs -- that God is the only answer. While much was troublesome last weekend, who else is sticking their neck out saying we have to turn back to God and gathering hundreds of thousands in the process? It would be wonderful if Franklin Graham or even Joel Rosenberg could attract a half-million people and deliver the true gospel. We aren't quite there yet. Again, by default, we defer to Glenn Beck.
The weekend opened on Friday night, Augsust 27, with Glenn's "Divine Destiny" program which again, is straight out of Mormonism. Many participants have implied, or blatantly stated, that Glenn is a "saved Mormon" or on the way to becoming one.
Friend and frequent radio guest John McTernan, was present both days just to observe. He writes on his blog, "There were several prayers offered at the Friday event and none were made in the name of Jesus. I was deeply grieved after I left.
"On Saturday, I attended the rally. If it had been just political, I could accept Beck as a leader; however, it went way beyond that. I am not questioning anything about Beck's character or motives. What I am deeply grieved about is that this was not led by the real church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Is America in such desperate spiritual condition that masses of Christians will follow a Mormon for spiritual revival?"
McTernan continues, "The sheep in America are desperate and fearful of what is coming, so they look to a Mormon for leadership. A Mormon leading a meeting like this for America turning back to God should have God-fearing pastors in America on their knees crying out to God for mercy. I am grieved, not so much with Glenn Beck, but that the church is so pitifully weak that a Mormon can now lead God's people, and they do not see the spiritual danger."
What are major Mormon beliefs and how do they play into this scenario? When God is the professed focus of the August 27-28 weekend, what is the deeper meaning? And Glenn is outspoken about his Mormon faith. He so-stated that fact many times over the weekend and in the weeks and months leading up to it. It was not subtle or hidden. But Glenn does not bring out the bullet points below because it reads like science fiction.
Mormon theology teaches:
* God was born and raised on another planet.
* He has a harem of wives.
* They produce spirit-babies that are sent to earth; there they gain bodies and earn sainthood.
* Jesus is the brother of Lucifer.
* Jesus is the chosen/elected savior by a council of gods from other worlds.
* America is the promised land, not Israel. The holy city is Independence, Missouri, not Jerusalem. Jesus' latter-day agenda is to return to Missouri.
* The U.S. Constitution is as sacred as the Book of Mormon. In the latter days, it will be under siege and will be saved by Mormons. Thus, we must "reclaim America" to save the Constitution and usher in a genuine age of Mormon leadership. They want to build a Mormon kingdom on earth, similar to modern day Dominionists/Kingdom Now proponents within Christianity. Founder Joseph Smith had a socialistic philosophy and wished to have a society that shared things in common.
* America's founding fathers were "spirit babies" who created a "sacred Constitution."
* Salvation is works-based and not through grace and faith.
This is what Glenn Beck believes. Is the god of this system, this faith, the one he referred to when he stated, "Today, America turns back to God?" Is his god concept one we can turn back to?
For greater insights, visit the Web site of former Mormon and radio guest, Ed Decker. Also visit the apologetics' site of Eric Barger.
Brannon Howse has done extensive radio programs and written cutting-edge articles on this issue for over a week.
Jim Garlow, a popular and influential pastor who partnered with the Mormon faithful in California to defend traditional marriage, was quoted recently in CNN's Belief Blog, saying, "I have interviewed persons who have talked specifically with Glenn about his personal salvation -- persons extremely well known in Christianity -- and they have affirmed (using language evangelicals understand), 'Glenn is saved. He understands receiving Christ as Savior.' "
In short, Mormonism has a different holy book, father, Jesus, concept of grace, salvation, end-times, etc. You cannot be a "saved Mormon." Evangelicals who should know better already call him a "brother in Christ." Some of those share the Mormon "dominion" of the earth and this is their connection. Promoting this false end-time theology of making the earth perfect seems to trump everything else. We can't save the earth and make it perfect. Jesus Christ has to return to do that.
So, was the following the purpose? Brannon Howse has posted a story at his Worldview Weekend site that the LDS Examiner states through Mormon writer Greg West, "As a Mormon, I have to consider an unintended message throughout Beck's work, which has culminated in this event. That message is: 'Mormons are Christian believers. Despite nearly two centuries of misrepresentation and religious envy by sectarian Christianity, Beck has achieved the visibility, prominence, and has had the time day after day, week after week, to speak openly and truly about his core beliefs. Those statements of faith have disoriented and confused those who had previously believed the lies about Mormons."
West has proved our point. "Evangelicals and Mormons Together" will be next. Why not? A Mormon successfully called a nation back to God.
Most who stand with Glenn, however, do not embrace this theology. Some Christian leaders are just deceived and others think it is hip and cool to align themselves with a man who is so prominent and so pro-America.
John McTernan states, "I know Mormonism real well. There is a Mormon prophecy that America is going to be nearly destroyed with the Constitution hanging by a thread. A Mormon savior would arrive and lead the Mormon church to save America. I can see this coming into play real soon. Maybe the revival Beck is talking about is a massive conversion to Mormonism."
We sincerely hope Glenn Beck will become a true brother in Christ. We can pray to that end and also that Christian leaders will sharpen their discernment and understand the disservice they are doing to the body of Christ by exalting an unsaved man, and allowing him to be a virtual shepherd over millions of Americans who just want to take back America.
The case for treason at the highest levels of government – Bill Wilson – www.dailyjot.com
Imagine the uproar if the US government was found to be funding the renovation of your local church, or releasing large amounts of taxpayer money to an umbrella organization of churches for pet projects? The American Civil Liberties Union would jump on that screaming "separation of church and state." The major network news programs would think they had just won broadcast awards for breaking news. Every leftist demagogue in Congress would be demanding an inquiry. There would be cries for a special prosecutor to be appointed to investigate everyone involved. But the truth is, this government, headed by the man who occupies the Oval Office, is using your money to fund Muslim jihadists.
The State Department, for example, has a list of some 26 Islamic mosque renovation projects that are being funded by your tax dollars. These projects, listed on the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs website, are using tax dollars to rehab mosques in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Pakistan, Bulgaria, Mali, Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, Tanzania, Algeria, Uganda, even in Sudan where Arab Muslims have killed all the Christians and are now killing the African Muslims. The State Department says its perfectly Constitutional because it’s to preserve culture, not religion. The Daily Caller writes that the US Agency for International Development has also spent millions on mosques in Egypt and Cyprus.
But that's not all. Christine Brim of the Center for Security Policy broke the story that the Department of Agriculture was to meet with 25-30 Muslim leaders of the Coordinating Council of Muslim Organizations on August 31. The purpose of the meeting was to show the Muslims how to gain direct access to "funding, government assistance, and resources." This organization has direct ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, a terrorist umbrella waging "Civilization Jihad" on the United States. An extensive search of the news, White House, and USDA websites revealed no trace of the meeting, which was announced through a newsletter email by the Islamic Society of North America, a known terrorist financier.
The White House surely knows that the government is using our tax dollars to fund our enemies. The president is attempting to hide these actions by conducting them through nontraditional venues such as the Department of Agriculture and NASA. This is no less than treason. What's worse is that even though these scoundrels are playing Americans for dupes, the government watchdogs--the free press--won't report it. This makes them accessories to treason. The prophecy of the Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 3:13 is in play: "But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived." Christ is the answer as He is truth. But if we do not act, is it not salt that has lost its savor?
Have a Blessed and Powerful Day!
Bill Wilson
Word of Life Ministry
When Jesus Got Angry – Greg Laurie – www.harvest.org
Then He went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, saying to them, "It is written, 'My house is a house of prayer,' but you have made it a 'den of thieves.' "
— Luke 19:45–46
We all have things that irritate us, and we display our anger in different ways. Yet research has proven that it is not good to be angry. One study found that bad-tempered people are three times more likely to have heart attacks. And a 2006 Harvard study revealed that 10 million men in the U.S. are so angry, they are sick. In fact, their disease has a name: Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED).
Having said all that, not all anger is bad. The Bible records a time when Jesus Christ, God incarnate, was angry. Very angry. After making His triumphal entry into Jerusalem with crowds cheering and palm branches waving, Jesus "went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, saying to them, 'It is written, "My house is a house of prayer," but you have made it a "den of thieves" ' " (Luke 19:45–46).
Was Jesus having a temper tantrum? Hardly. It was righteous indignation. He went into the temple. He took stock of the situation. And He overturned tables. Why such a display of anger? Because the people engaged in temple commerce were keeping others from God. They had a little racket going in which they found fault with the sacrificial animals the people brought in and then sold them an "approved" animal at an inflated price. And this made Jesus angry.
God is angry when people stand in the way of sinners coming to know Him. God doesn't like it when we get in the way, and it happens all too often in the church. But the church is not supposed to be a museum for saints; it is supposed to be a hospital for sinners—a place for people to know God.
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Politics and Bible Prophecy - Why We Need One to Understand the Other - Jack Kinsella - Omega Letter Editor – www.omegaletter.com
According to the Bible, the administration of the coming antichrist will rest on three separate pillars of power.
In order for the antichrist to accomplish all that the Bible predicts within the seven-year time frame allotted, he will have to seize absolute control of a global religious system, a global government, and a global economy.
The Prophet Daniel and the Apostles John and Paul all reference his control of a global government. Daniel 9:26 identifies him as a 'prince' of the people who destroyed Daniel's 'city and sanctuary' and provides an iron-clad time frame for his reign of terror.
These can only be Jerusalem and the Temple. Daniel was a Jewish captive of the Babylonian Empire during the period in which he wrote the Book that bears his name.
The context in which Daniel 9:26 is presented leaves no other alternative explanation.
"Seventy weeks are determined upon THY people and upon THY holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy." (Daniel 9:24)
Daniel's people were the Jews, and Daniel's holy city is Jerusalem.
"And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary . . ." (Daniel 9:26)
The only Jewish sanctuary in the 'city' of Jerusalem is the Temple. Both were destroyed by the Romans in AD 70 -- some five hundred years after Daniel.
"And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease. . ." (Daniel 9:27)
The Jews divide time by seven year periods, (weeks-shabuwa) similarly to the way we divide time using the Greek system of decades (ten years).
Paul picks up on Daniel 9:27's theme, saying of the antichrist that he; "as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God." (2nd Thessalonians 2:4)
And John says "power was given him [the antichrist] over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations." (Revelation 13:7)
Revelation 13:11 introduces a second member of the antichrist's government: "And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon."
This second beast has "two horns like a lamb" (symbolizing Christianity) but he speaks "as a dragon" symbolizing Satan. In context, the passage infers that his religion will be a counterfeit form of Christianity -- a theme also outlined by Paul.
"Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved." (2nd Thessalonians 2:7-8)
Finally, the Apostle John makes it clear that the antichrist will have unprecedented control over what can only be a completely centralized global economy.
"And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name." (Revelation 13:16-17)
Most folks who study the prophecy of the Mark of the Beast miss the relevancy of what it has to teach the Church Age.
Everybody is looking out for the Mark of the Beast. The Mark of the Beast is a mid-Tribulation event. The Church won't be here, so we needn't be fear it.
For the Mark of the Beast to fit John's prophecy, there must first be a 'Beast', and then there needs be a 'Mark'. What IS relevant is the fact that, for the very first time in all of recorded history, the kind of centralized, global economic control described by John is not only technically possible, it is a foregone conclusion.
The elimination of cold cash and its replacement with electronic money via smart cards and rechargable ATM cards makes logical sense. Without cash, drug dealers, terrorist financiers, burglars, tax evaders and so forth would immediately go out of business.
What is significant isn't that the Mark of the Beast is here -- it isn't. But the technology foreseen by the Apostle John in AD 87 is.
The antichrist only has seven years in which to accomplish all that the Bible outlines. That doesn't leave enough time for him to construct all the necessary religious, economic and political infrastructure necessary from scratch.
The infrastructure necessary did not exist even ten years ago. Today, the global economy is one step from being universally cashless. The UN is trying to insinuate itself into position as a functional global government.
Of course, the UN is too feckless to be trusted with that kind of power, but the world is well-aware of the need for some kind of global system of governance.
The UN has already created the essential infrastructure, such as the World Bank, World Trade Organization, UNICEF, UNESCO, UNFOR, etc., all of which are now too well-entrenched to abandon.
The UN itself is destined to join the League of Nations on the trash heap of history. But the existing infrastructure must survive.
The EU recognizes that fact, and is well on the way to constructing a parallel organization capable of assuming control of existing programs when the UN's bloated and corrupt administration implodes.
Daniel clearly identifies a revived form of the Roman Empire as the seat of the antichrist's political government. So it is no coincidence that the EU is already constructed as a global government-in-waiting.
What has yet to be fully developed is a centralized global religious system that meets John's specifications. But even that eventuality is under construction.
The United Nations has established a World Council of Religious Leaders. Under the umbrella of the "Millennium Peace Summit's slogan of "Building an Integrated Framework for Peace" it claims:
"The objective of this Council is to serve as a resource to the United Nations and its agencies around the world, nation states and other international organizations, offering the collective wisdom and resources of the faith traditions toward the resolution of critical global problems."
The Council has identified "religious fundamentalism" as the principle obstacle to peace and is actively working towards a kinder, gentler, more inclusive global religious system that can accommodate all the world's religions under one banner.
The world is currently embroiled in a conflict that pits fundamentalist Islam against fundamentalist Judaism and fundamentalist Christianity.
One of Islam's fundamental doctrines holds that any part of "Dar al Islam" (the Zone of Islam) is a permanent condition. Once an area has been conquered by Islam, any loss is only temporary.
Indeed, Osama bin Laden justified the Madrid bombing in 2003 as retaliation for the Islamic loss of Andalusia to the Spanish -- in 1492!
And at the core of the global fundamentalist religious war is the issue of ownership of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount.
Jewish fundamentalism holds that Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, (once part of Dar al Islam) is Israel's eternal capital by Divine Decree. And fundamentalist Christian theology supports Israel's claim to Jerusalem as Divine.
Fundamentalist Islam cannot recognize Israel's existence without admitting the Koran is false. Fundamentalist Judaism cannot countenance the surrender Jerusalem or the Temple without conceding the Bible is not true. Neither can fundamentalist Christianity.
Iran has threatened to destroy Israel as a fundamental religious duty. To survive, Israel must destroy Iran's nuclear capability before it is used to destroy them. And no US president that abandoned Israel would survive immediate impeachment.
Mainstream Christianity, Judaism and Islam combined, represent about half of the world's population. But of that number, only a fraction are genuine fundamentalists.
The outbreak of a nuclear conflict over such religious fundamentals would result in an immediate and global call for the abolition of religious fundamentalism -- a call that would be loudly echoed by the 'mainstream' from all three faiths.
To accomplish that, all religions would have to be brought under a central authority -- some kind of global council that could serve as both watchdog and moral authority. Such a council already exists.
What remains unfulfilled is the global will to cede authority over to it. For now.
What does it all mean?
As I've noted on plenty of previous occasions, the Church Age draws to a close with the Rapture before the onset of the Tribulation Period.
It is not the role of Christians to be looking for the antichrist. It is our job to be looking for the return of Jesus Christ, and using that information to lead others to Christ while there is still time.
Admittedly, the Omega Letter spends at least as much time examining current events, in particular, political events, as it does on Bible doctrine. I get a lot of grief over that.
"Why don't you stick to the Bible and leave politics alone?" is a common refrain, especially from non-Christians, not to mention from liberals of all religious persuasions.
The Bible's outline of the Tribulation is all about politics. The antichrist is a political leader. The signs pointing to the nearness of the Tribulation Period are far more political than they are doctrinal.
The politics of government. The politics of economics. The politics of religion. It takes injecting all three into the Big Picture in order to see it coming together.
The Bible examines the political, religious and religious worldviews as they will exist during a single generation, somewhere in time, to the exclusion of all previous generations. Those ARE the signs of the times.
I am not looking for the coming of the antichrist. When it comes to his identity, I am both ignorant and apathetic -- I don't know and I don't care. I don't expect to be here when he comes on the scene.
Instead, I am looking for the signs of the return of Christ for His Church. It is much like looking at a calendar. If the calendar says tomorrow is Thanksgiving, then one knows that Christmas is just around the corner.
Jesus said; "when these things BEGIN to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh." (Luke 21:28)
I get as tired of politics as anybody else does. I often get as discouraged and depressed by all the bad news as you do. But Jesus outlined these signs for a different reason. The fact that He said this is how things would be, and that today, this is how things are, proves that He is indeed God, He is still in control, and all things continue according to His Plan. If we trust Jesus, we have nothing to fear.
In a nutshell, what it means its this. At some point before the last puzzle piece falls into place,
"[T]he Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." (1st Thessalonians 4:16-17)
The signs of the times are indeed disturbing. To an unbeliever, they are undoubtedly terrifying.
But the message all this chaos and confusion sends to the Church is not one of fear. It is intended as a source of comfort. As Paul wrote in conclusion to the "Rapture Chapter,"
"Wherefore, comfort one another with these words." (1st Thessalonians 4:18)
Be comforted. It's only bad if you don't know Jesus.
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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
