Prophecy Update Newsletter
IN TODAY'S NEWSLETTER...
Nowhere To Hide: Part I (Dedicated to the Skeptics, Scoffers, and Deniers) - By Pete Garcia -
http://rev310.com/2019/07/nowhere-to-hide-part-i-dedicated-to-the-skeptics-scoffers-and-deniers This part of the series is dedicated to those who think Christianity is an archaic, misogynistic, biased, racist, intolerant, homophobic, obtuse, and outdated belief system. You think that Christianity is the cause of all the world's problems. From your perspective, Christianity is responsible for the Crusades, the Inquisitions, slavery, Jonestown, and global warming. You may have no issue tolerating other belief systems such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Wiccan, Islam, atheism, etc., but Christianity, oh that just gets your blood boiling. You strongly believe that all religions essentially are the same and need to coexist. You also believe that "true" Christianity is not about sharing the good news that Jesus died for your sins, but about feeding the poor, clothing the naked, and housing the homeless. In your view, tolerance is everything and the only thing you cannot tolerate, is intolerance. This is the 21st century after all, and if a man wants to marry another man, so be it. If a man wants to identify as a woman, or vice versa, so be it. Women should be paid the same as men, regardless of the job they do, because of gender equality (even though you believe gender is a fluid concept). If a woman wants to marry her cat or the Pacific Ocean, so be it. If people want to come into this country "illegally," they should, because nations shouldn't have borders. Perhaps you think life doesn't begin in the womb, but only when a parent and a doctor agree that it begins (even if the baby is already born). Love doesn't have gender (or age), and objective truth is just some racist construct meant to oppress minorities. In the 21st century, post-modern, post-Christian America, emotions trump facts, and truth is relative. Truth is whatever you want it to be. For the Bible Deniers Since I (a simple blogger) will not be able to appeal to your common sense and reason to show you why the Bible is true, let this then be a warning. There is coming a day that you cannot escape from, either through death, or the apocalypse. It is coming whether you think truth is relative or irrelevant in the 21st-century. If, after looking at some reasonable and concise points regarding why Christianity and the Bible can be trusted, you still do not want to believe...that is on your head. The Holy Bible (both the Old and New Testament) predates every nation and organization on the planet currently in existence by millennia (beginning with the book of Job - circa 2000BC). It predates the US Constitution, the English Magna Carta, and the Roman and Greek Empires. The Bible predates the Persians, Babylonians, Assyrians, and is probably on par (timeline-wise) with the first Egyptian dynasty. Needless to say, the Bible then also precedes all of these cultures and their associated philosophies and belief systems. We here in the 21st-century believe that we are superior to all who have come before us, not because we are collectively smarter (we aren't), but because technology has lifted mankind out of the morass of having to grind out a living. But this has also freed up mankind to pursue other things, such as higher education, entertainment, and careers that do not entail manual labor. Along with all that extra time and education, man began to develop philosophies regarding where he came from, why he is the way he is, how we should live, and where he is going after he dies. It is true that every great empire has had their philosophers. It is also true that every empire had arrived at a level of comfort so that a particular class of their citizens (the wealthy) had more free time on their hands than others. Albeit, this selective freedom usually came about through the use of slaves. However, we (the world collectively) have never enjoyed a time such as the one we are in now, where we take things like electricity, motorized machinery, heating and cooling, food production, instant communication, and the Internet for granted. All that to say, man has collectively arrived again to a time where the general consensus is that God is dead, man is god, and everyone does what they think is right in their own eyes. However, the Bible details a time before the global flood in antediluvian history where mankind arrived to a similar conclusion. Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Genesis 6:5 So if you are a skeptic or scoffer reading this, I understand you do not see the Bible as an authoritative source document. However, even the most ardent skeptic must come to a conclusion; either the Bible is true, or it is not. If you believe the Bible is not true, then quit reading this and go on about your life. However, if it is true, then it has to be 100% true, or it is not true at all; it cannot be both, because the Bible does not give you the option. The reason for this dogmatic position of either/or, is because the Bible claims it is 100% perfect, and is far too interwoven to be both true and false. In other words, every book within the Bible connects with every other book within the Bible in such a way, that it would be impossible to separate them or have them contradict each other. Want proof? The last canonized Old Testament book, was written by the prophet Malachi (circa 450-424 BC). This was over three-hundred years before Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem. However, nothing in the Old Testament conflicts with anything in the New Testament. So how can that be? Furthermore, the Old Testament was largely written by the Jewish people who practiced Judaism, to the point their descendants killed the prophesied Messiah (of whom they still deny to this day). The New Testament was largely written by Jews who practiced Christianity because of this same Messiah (of whom they affirm to this day). So the same system of worship Jesus Himself kept, Judaism, ended up killing Him because He fulfilled the things that system said the Messiah had to fulfill? Yes. A sacrifice was necessary. (Leviticus 17:11; Isaiah 53; Matthew 26:28; John 1:29; Revelation 5:9-10, 13:8) Paradox abounds. However, when you understand one simple principle, it all begins to make sense. They are two parts of the same whole. Christianity, is Judaism fulfilled. From Creation to the Patriarchs, the Law, the Prophets, the Psalms, Proverbs and so on, are all part of the foundation for the New Testament. Furthermore, the Old Testament does not and could not exist in a messiah vacuum. Beginning in Genesis 3:15, the Old Testament requires and demands a Messiah figure to come as its culmination point. The first century Pharisees and Sadducee's believed that the Messiah who would come, would only be a man like Moses or David. This man would throw off the shackles of Gentile domination that had hounded them for centuries. What they wanted, was the kingdom that was promised to them all throughout the Old Testament (Isaiah 2, 11, 66; Ezekiel 40-48; Daniel 2; Psalm 2; etc.). However, Jesus was not just trying to free the Jews from Gentile oppression, He was freeing all of mankind from the bondage of sin and death. When Jesus the Messiah did come, His primary mission was to make them (the Jews) a people fit for the kingdom. That is what the eight Beatitudes were all about in Matthew chapter five's Sermon on the Mount. Of course, these were impossible to keep, so they killed Him by having the Romans crucify Him naked on a wooden cross instead (Matt. 27:27-55), as foretold by King David a thousand years earlier. My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, And from the words of My groaning? 2 O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear; And in the night season, and am not silent... 6 But I am a worm, and no man; A reproach of men, and despised by the people. 7 All those who see Me ridicule Me; They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, 8 "He trusted in the Lord, let Him rescue Him; Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!"... ....Many bulls have surrounded Me; Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled Me. 13 They gape at Me with their mouths, Like a raging and roaring lion. 14 I am poured out like water, And all My bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; It has melted within Me. 15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, And My tongue clings to My jaws; You have brought Me to the dust of death. 16 For dogs have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; 17 I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me. 18 They divide My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots. Psalm 22 1-18 Christianity finds the culmination of all the Old Testament Law and Prophets fulfilled in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Christ (Hebrew- Yeshua Hamashiach, or the Greek rendering of the name, Iesus Cristos). Of all the would-be messiahs who have come and gone in Israel's four-thousand years of history, only Jesus of Nazareth a) fits the prophesied timeline perfectly (Daniel 9:24-27) and b) fulfilled over 108 specific prophecies concerning His coming. Furthermore, this denial of His Messiah-ship (authority) would continue (and has) until the end of time. Shortly before His crucifixion, Jesus foretells one other prophecy concerning the length of His departure, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!' " Matthew 23:37-39 And from 70AD until 1948AD, Israel's house was in fact, left desolate and a wasteland (e.g., the Jewish Diaspora as prophesied in Deuteronomy 30:1-5). But this divine abandonment was not permanent, because God had also made unconditional promises to their forefathers (i.e., the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) in Genesis 12, 15, 17, 28, Jeremiah 31:40, and so on. He will give them the kingdom here on earth with Jesus reigning from Jerusalem for a thousand years, because God cannot lie, and what thing He has determined, He will do (Isaiah 46:9-10) However, because that generation (Jesus's contemporaries) rejected Him as their Messiah, He says... I will return again to My place Till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me." Hosea 5:15 That time of His return has many names and is broken down into several segments. Collectively it is known as the day of the Lord, which encompasses both the before and after of this specific period of time. The official name for the seven-year period that makes up the core of the day of the Lord (the official start and ending) is Daniel's 70th Week. However, it is commonly referred to simply as the Tribulation. This seven-year Tribulation therefore will be comprised of two, three and a half year segments; the latter becoming the ultimate affliction (see verse above) of the Jewish people by the Antichrist known as the time of Jacobs's Troubles (Jeremiah 30:7-11). It is at the end of this 70th Week of Daniel, that the Jews (or a remnant) will finally recognize Jesus as their Hamashiach. "And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. Zechariah 12:10-11 Conclusion As you can see, this world is passing away, and our current state of affairs is not destined to last forever. It had a beginning and it will have an ending. The world, and all its current geopolitical complexities and dramas exists presently, to keep God's promise to one particular group of people, the Jews. If that were not true, why is there so much hatred towards them? Why have they been the most persecuted group/ethnicity in the entirety of human history?
All of these have at one point or another, persecuted, attacked, laid siege too, imprisoned, conspired against, confiscated the wealth of, and expelled the Jewish people from their lands. Since the Bible comes from the Jews (both Old and New Testaments), Jesus Christ was Jewish, and the Bible states Satan hates the Jews and is currently running this planet (Luke 4:4-6, 1 John 5:19), it only makes sense that Satan has been in a perpetual state of war against them. The book of Revelation (written in 95AD) mentions that there would one day be a one-world government, ran by two men, the False Prophet and the Antichrist. These would kill all who do not worship the Beast, or gives aid to Israel. In the meantime, God has opened up an opportunity for salvation and is currently working through His body of believers here on earth known as the Church to accomplish just that. It would be impossible for me to persuade you to believe that the end of this age is coming and very soon, but simply look around and ask yourself three questions:
So regardless of your beliefs, philosophies, college degrees, wokeness, political correctness, gender identity, stratification on the victim identity chart, anyone who does not know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior personally, will die in their sins, and be eternally separated from God (John 14:6). This is what you have to look forward too, Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. 14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. Revelation 20:10-15 Pre-Tribulation Ponderings - By Terry James - https://www.raptureready.com/2019/07/15/pre-tribulation-ponderings-terry-james/ Listening the last 2 years to the "experts" thinking aloud on what the last presidential election meant is exercise in frustration, if not futility. The talking heads across the cable and broadcast spectrum have consistently attributed Donald Trump's win to everything from the fake news of a Trump-Russian collusion to news media's biased poll-taking and misreading of exit polling the day of the election. These throw in that those in charge of the losing campaign just didn't understand the people of middle America. They didn't see the people's pent-up rage against the Washington establishment-the D.C. insiders. All of these elements no doubt contributed to that election-as many of the pundits framed it-eventuating in a totally unexpected outcome. But, it is the never-mentioned aspect of that 2016 election dynamic that is frustrating to me as a Christian. It is this that produces a sense of futility. No one in media has talked about the 81% - 84% (depending upon the figure you accept) of "evangelicals" who turned out in that election. Christian participation just isn't figured in at the highest levels of broadcast and cable punditry. This means, to me, that the experts believe the 2016 election had nothing to do with our being fed up with the social debauchery and degradation that took place, particularly over the Obama years. The homosexual, transsexual, same-sex marriage agenda, with mandated same-sex, multiple-occupancy public restrooms, had no influence on the voting in that election year, the experts are saying with their silence. We, the voters-who are Christians and came out in numbers that have not been seen in many elections-apparently weren't (according to the pundits) making a statement that we were fed up with our White House being bathed in rainbow colors emblematic of the homosexual lobby. We aren't sick and tired of having the homosexual rainbow flag flown atop that same American presidential edifice, is the message of the pundits' silence. That electoral landslide against the candidate and party that crammed down America's throat all of this hellishness-mostly through presidential, executive order-fiat-had nothing to do with the social issues, I guess we are to take away from this silence. That we are disgusted with small bakery owners being publicly humiliated and fined for refusing to bake same-sex wedding cakes obviously isn't considered worth mentioning in the analysis of that 2016 election results. The absolute horrors and atrocities that we learned about involving Planned Parenthood and the selling of human baby body parts didn't, in the thinking of the post-election, political analysts, figure in our collective voting statement. It was all about terrorism, wallet issues, and building back America's defense, while determining to "drain the swamp." These were all important issues in my own thinking, as in the thinking of many other Christians, while election day approached. But, in addition to stopping a further tearing down of America's founding structure, I wanted-and continue to want-a government that will stop the anti-godliness, down the road of which the Obama administration deliberately moved this nation. As expressed previously in these commentaries, it was God's people praying the prayer of 2 Chronicles 7:14 that turned that election so dramatically. This is the answer the pundits are seeking when they ask incessantly about what happened that the news media types missed. How could this election have turned out so differently than expected right up until 9 p.m. EST Tuesday, November 8, 2016? The fact is that the throne room of Heaven was deluged day and night with God's people imploring Him for mercy-asking that He hear from Heaven and answer our prayers. This, of course required repentance-not of America's population, but of God's people. It is more than obvious that He did hear and answered in a spectacular way. God cannot lie, and He promised He would answer such prayer-uttered under biblically prerequisite conditions. Now, the question is: Will we who are called by His name continue to pray and to follow up on those prerequisite conditions? How we respond will determine how our nation-and our lives-fare over the coming days, months, and, perhaps, years. We have proof that our Lord answers prayers in a spectacular way. The pundits will never see it, but we who did and are doing the praying certainly understand. We can further understand God's influence in that stunning election by the truly Christian people He has placed among the power elite that govern us. So, in this pre-Tribulation time, we have a window of opportunity to honor our Lord's merciful answer in giving us a leadership that promises a return to founding principles. Along with that merciful action, it is also obvious that we have been given a course-correction, a return to the moral pathway-out of the depravity foisted on us in recent years. We don't have to wonder about how to honor His mercy and kindness in having answered our prayers. His number-one priority has always been and will always be the salvation of souls. We are expected to honor His decision to give America a reprieve-I have no doubt-in order to, first and foremost, lift Jesus Christ so that the Holy Spirit draws all to Christ for salvation. Just beneath that all-important mission for God's people in America is to let the pastors of our churches know that the true, Christ-believing bodies of worship should be devoted to teaching and preaching truth. That is, we are now, more than ever, to be the Philadelphian church and not the Laodicean church (read Revelation chapter 3). There is no doubt that we see this gracious, merciful, moving of God's hand in America. However, there are also signals that are growing stronger by the day that we are in times at the very end of the age. Jesus forewarned in the Olivet Discourse that there would be great ethnic strife. We have been seeing it manifested in American cities. The seas and waves of humanity are "roaring" in America and in Europe. The 2016 election has intensified that roaring, I believe. People who continue to refuse to accept the election results are exemplifying the apostle Paul's perilous times characteristic "incontinent"-or, "out of control." Jesus said societal conditions will be exactly like now when He intervenes catastrophically into the affairs of mankind. That will happen with the Rapture. With the United States now seeming to be headed back toward the America we once knew and loved, with the promises of the Trump Administration, we can enjoy our moment of gratefulness. However, this time of national renewal is also likely to be a time like described by Jesus-a time that will bring His next catastrophic intervention into the affairs of mankind. That time might just be upon us. "Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh." (Matthew 24: 44) Soon and Very Soon - By Daymond Duck - https://www.raptureready.com/2019/07/14/soon-soon-daymond-duck/ First, on June 30, 2019, a freak hailstorm dropped 5 to 7 ½ feet of hail on Guadalajara, Mexico. The temperature was in the mid-80's, and the hail melted and refroze as it hit the earth. The governor of the area said he had never seen anything like it, but some see similarities to the seventh plague in the days of Moses. "Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven: and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground; and the LORD rained hail upon the land of Egypt. So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous, such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation" (Exodus 9:23-24). Some Bible skeptics say hail and fire wouldn't exist at the same time, but 5 to 7 feet of hail recently fell in Guadalajara, Mexico, while the temperature was in the mid-80's; and that is not normal. Second, two weeks ago, I wrote about Facebook's plans to implement a global currency called the Libra in 2020 (see "Approaching Our Blessed Hope.") Since that article was written, there have been two new developments. One new development came on June 25, 2019, when Steve Forbes, a two-time candidate for the Republican nomination for Pres. of the U.S., posted an open letter to Mark Zuckerberg on his website. Forbes believes Zuckerberg can create a global currency to replace the U.S. dollar, if he plays his cards right; and Forbes told Zuckerberg four things he wanted him to know: Link your global currency to gold. There have been other currencies that were successful because they were linked to gold. A global currency linked to gold would be the most desirable currency on earth. Call the currency the Mark instead of the Libra. The Mark of the Beast is one thing, and a one-world currency called the Mark is another; but prophecy teachers have been linking the Mark of the Beast, tracking all buying and selling, and a one-world currency together for years. (CLICK HERE) - Open Letter To Mark Zuckerberg The other new development came in early July 2019 when World Net Daily reported that about 30 public-interest groups have asked Congress to permanently or temporarily stop Facebook from creating a global currency. According to these groups, a global currency will impact the sovereignty of nations, it will impact every person on earth, there will be privacy issues, corporate power issues, government control issues, money laundering issues, the role of the IMF, etc. They believe it is dangerous for the U.S. to let Facebook create a global currency that will impact our national sovereignty and all of our citizens without any discussion in Congress. Facebook is establishing a group of corporations called the Libra Association to manage the currency. The Libra Association will be located in Switzerland because of that nation's supposed global neutrality. Facebook plans to issue its global currency in about a dozen nations in early 2020 (a global currency in a dozen nations perhaps less than one year from now). Third, on July 5, 2019, it was reported that UNESCO has just made the ancient city of Babylon a World Heritage Site. I have long believed that Babylon will be rebuilt and become the home of the one-world economic and religious systems during the Tribulation Period. I am not predicting anything, but I will be watching to see if the Libra Association decides to locate the headquarters of their one-world currency (called the Mark???) at the World Heritage Site known as rebuilt Babylon. I am in awe that a one-world currency may be on the horizon in the same year that the UN grants a global status to Babylon. Fourth, I have also long believed that the Kurds will destroy rebuilt Babylon at the end of the Tribulation Period. My last article mentioned that a delegation of Christian leaders, including some of Pres. Trump's Faith Advisors, unofficially met with Kurdish military officials in Iraq. The Kurds want to be an ally of the U.S., and they want the U.S. to give or sell them modern weapons. The Christians that met with them promised to relay the message to Pres. Trump. So, the Kurds, who may be the ones that destroy Babylon in one hour, are asking the U.S. for high-tech weapons in the same year that the UN grants a global status to Babylon; and that is roughly one generation after Israel has become a nation. I don't know what is going on, but it is as strange as hail in 80-degree weather. Fifth, two small political parties that ran in Israel's April 6, 2019, election failed to get enough votes to be included in the Israeli government. Prime Min. Netanyahu won the election, but he couldn't get enough support to form a new government; so he scheduled another vote. Those two small political parties have decided to merge and run as one party in the September election. One of their main issues will be to rebuild the Temple. They believe their merger and support for rebuilding the Temple will easily get them enough votes to participate in the next Israeli government. Prophecy Plus Ministries, Inc. Daymond & Rachel Duck [email protected] The Hamas March to Destroy Israel - by Khaled Abu Toameh - https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14548/hamas-march-destroy-israel By choosing to hold the protests under the banner of the "Three No's," the organizers of the "Great March of Return" have again proven that the weekly demonstrations are not about improving the living conditions of Palestinians or easing restrictions imposed on the Gaza Strip. Instead, the message the organizers are sending to the Palestinians and the rest of the world is: "We don't recognize Israel's right to exist and therefore we will never make negotiate or make peace with it." Hamas's two other "No's" - no to recognizing Israel and no to making peace with Israel - do not come as a surprise. In fact, Hamas appears to be reminding Palestinians of its true objectives as outlined in its 1988 charter: "There is no solution for the Palestinian question expect through Jihad (holy war). Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors...[Hamas] believes that the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf consecrated for future Muslim generations until Judgement Day. It, or any part of it, should not be squandered." This is all that Hamas has to offer the Palestinians 12 years after its violent takeover of the Gaza Strip? Sadly, thousands of Palestinians continue to heed Hamas's call for trying to breach the border with Israel every Friday while ignoring that it is their leaders who are mainly responsible for dragging them from one disaster to another. When the Palestinians launched the weekly protests along the Gaza-Israel border in March 2017, they said that their No. 1 goal was to force Israel to lift the "blockade" on the Gaza Strip. The protests, however, according to the organizers, have another goal: achieving the "right of return" for Palestinian refugees and their descendants to their former homes inside Israel. The protests, held under the banner "The Great March of Return," have since been hijacked by Hamas and other Gaza-based Palestinian armed groups who are using them to advance their political agendas. The weekly demonstrations are no longer aimed either at lifting the "blockade" on the Gaza Strip or paving the way for millions of refugees and their descendants to return to their former homes. On July 12, the weekly protests along the border with Israel were held under the banner of "No to negotiations [with Israel], no to reconciliation [with Israel] and no to recognizing the [Israeli] entity." The Three No's appear based on the Khartoum Resolution issued at the conclusion of the Arab League summit convened three months after the 1967 Six-Day War between Israel and the Arab countries: No peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel and no negotiations with it. By choosing to hold the protests under the banner of the "Three No's," the organizers of the "Great March of Return" have again proven that the weekly demonstrations are not about improving the living conditions of Palestinians or easing restrictions imposed on the Gaza Strip. Instead, the message the organizers are sending to the Palestinians and the rest of the world is: "We don't recognize Israel's right to exist and therefore we will never make negotiate or make peace with it." Even some Palestinians have expressed astonishment over the Gaza protests' "Three No's," calling them "unrealistic" and "absurd." Hassan Asfour, a former Palestinian Authority (PA) cabinet minister and political analyst, scoffed at the organizers' decision to use the "Three No's" during the protests along the border with Israel. Denouncing the decision as "damaging," Asfour said that the organizers of the demonstrations "have become stranger to the public scene and are engaging in political cynicism." He added: "Unrealistic slogans never serve the national struggle. We do not believe there is a Palestinians who would have been able to read that slogan (the "Three No's") without being ridiculed because he sees how Arab interaction with Israel has become closer than interaction with the Palestinians." Next week's Friday protests will be held under the banner "Burning the Zionist flag." The organizers announced that the "peaceful" and "popular" protests will continue "until the Palestinians achieve their rights." The protests along the border with Israel, they said, are also aimed at foiling US President Donald Trump's plan for peace in the Middle East, also known as the "Deal of the Century," and abrogating the Oslo Accords signed in 1993 between Israel and the Palestinians. In the eyes of Hamas and the organizers of the weekly demonstrations, burning the "Zionist flag" and foiling a peace plan to end the conflict with Israel is part of a "peaceful" and "popular" protest. Last June, the weekly protests were held under the banner "The Friday of foiling the Bahrain conference" - reference to the recent US-led "Peace to Prosperity" economic workshop sponsored by the Trump administration. The Palestinian Authority called on Palestinians and Arabs to boycott the workshop on the pretext that it was part of Trump's scheme to "liquidate the Palestinian cause." At the workshop, the Trump administration unveiled the economic portion of the "Deal of the Century" -- a plan that "represents the most ambitious and comprehensive international effort for the Palestinian people to date and which has the ability to fundamentally transform the West Bank and Gaza and to open a new chapter in Palestinian history." The thousands of Palestinians who participated in the protest against the Bahrain workshop were in fact saying no to economic prosperity and improving their own living conditions. Ironically, the organizers of the weekly protests were acting against their own declared goal: ending the "blockade" and improving the economy and living conditions of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Last April, the organizers of the weekly protests again proved that the demonstrations near the border with Israel are totally unrelated to the suffering of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. This April protests were held under the banner "Together against normalization [with Israel], " and The demonstration was directed against some Arab states that were accused by Palestinians of normalizing their relations with Israel. Bizarrely, while the organizers of the weekly protests are voicing their opposition to negotiations with Israel, they are at the same time conducting indirect talks with Israel on ways to reach a truce between Israel and Hamas. The indirect negotiations are being held under the auspices of Egypt and the United Nations. Last week, a senior Egyptian security delegation visited Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip as part of an effort to preserve those truce understandings. Hamas said that under the unwritten terms, Israel agreed gradually to lift restrictions imposed on the Gaza Strip in exchange for calm. The Israeli measures include expanding the fishing zone and allowing Qatar to deliver financial aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. However, continued rocket and arson balloon attacks from the Gaza Strip toward Israel have hindered the implementation of the understandings. On the one hand, Hamas is sending Palestinians to clash with Israeli soldiers along the Gaza-Israel border under the banner of "No to negotiations [with Israel]." On the other hand, Hamas is begging the Egyptians and the UN to help arrange a ceasefire with Israel. The pounding seems a way of trying to coerce the Israelis into bigger concessions, faster. Hamas's two other "No's" -- no to recognizing Israel and no to making peace with Israel -- do not come as a surprise. In fact, Hamas appears to be reminding Palestinians of its true objectives as outlined in its 1988 charter: "There is no solution for the Palestinian question expect through Jihad (holy war). Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors...[Hamas] believes that the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf consecrated for future Muslim generations until Judgement Day. It, or any part of it, should not be squandered." Evidently Hamas, instead of seeking ways to solve the economic crisis in the Gaza Strip, is taking advantage of the weekly protests to advance its ideology. In addition, Hamas is now seeking to take Palestinians 52 years back, to the days when the Arab countries issued their three No's. This is all that Hamas has to offer the Palestinians 12 years after its violent takeover of the Gaza Strip? Sadly, thousands of Palestinians continue to heed Hamas's call for heading to the border with Israel every Friday while ignoring that it is their leaders who are mainly responsible for dragging them from one disaster to another. Now that Hamas has again revealed its true intentions, it should change the name of the weekly protests from the "Great March of Return" to the "March to destroy Israel" or the "March to destroy peace." Daily Jot: The hidden darkness of the Epstein case - Bill Wilson - www.dailyjot.com It's amazing how the news media has left out an entire pattern of behavior surrounding the sexual harassment and assault of women. Blasted across the news these days is the Jeffrey Epstein case. Epstein, a friend of Bill Clinton and a large donor to members of the Democratic Party, is a convicted sex offender. He was known to have orgies with young girls on his plane. Women have come forward now with accounts of being sex trafficked by Epstein when they were as young as 14 years old. Over the past year there have been scores, if not hundreds, of women coming forward with their stories about being sexually assaulted-revealing a most disturbing pattern in the entertainment business and poltics. Bill Crosby, Harvey Weinstein, and several other men-had reputations of such acts, but rarely did anyone come forward for fear of losing their careers. The list of Hollywood democrats who sexually assaulted or harassed women was long and famous. There were politicians, too. What about Hillary Clinton's friend Anthony Weiner? Or even more so, Clinton and her husband's association with Epstein. Fox News reported in May 2016 that former President Bill Clinton took 26 trips with Epstein aboard his "Lolita Express" aircraft. Fox News reported that Epstein "spent 13 months in prison and home arrest for "solicitation and procurement of minors for prostitution." Epstein allegedly had a team of traffickers who procured girls as young as 12 to service his friends on "Orgy Island," an estate on Epstein's 72-acre island, called Little St. James, in the U.S. Virgin Islands." And this is a story that appeared during the last election cycle. It was documented with flight ledgers and court accounts. But the rest of the mainstream media downplayed it to protect his wife's presidential candidacy. A Democrat consultant once told several of us about the Clinton's sexual exploits during a stay in Columbus, Ohio when Jimmy Carter was running for President. The media knew about it then, too, but did nothing. There is a public list of over 18 women claiming sexual assault, sexual harassment, sexual affairs, and rape against Bill Clinton. There likely are other high-level politicians, businessmen and actors who have been or are involved with Epstein and are laying low right now. The number of people in politics, media and business who have ties to sex trafficking is unknown. And given the media's reluctance to truly investigate and report it, the public may never know. Human trafficking and sex trafficking are among the darkest of evils. As is written in Jeremiah 17:9, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" We are getting a glimpse of this evil with the Epstein case, but my hunch is that if ever the truth is revealed of who is involved with human and sex trafficking, it would shock the world. Daily Devotion: Always There - by Greg Laurie - www.harvest.org For He Himself has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.' - Hebrews 13:5 I remember one of the first times as a young believer when I didn't feel God's presence. I woke up one morning and just didn't have the great feeling I had before. And being new in the faith and not knowing the Bible very well, I thought, "I think God left me last night. What happened?" When I talked to a Christian friend about it, he told me, "You're going through a trial." "What? I'm on trial?" "No, you're going through a trial." "What's a trial?" My friend explained there are times in our lives when we don't feel the presence of God, but He is still there. And in time I came to realize that God will allow us to go through trials. For instance, you might walk outside tomorrow, and it's an overcast day. So you say, "The sun was here yesterday. But I don't see the sun today. I don't feel its warmth. I guess the sun must have gone away last night." No, the sun hasn't gone away. It has been merely obscured by a cloud covering. And if you don't believe that, then try going to the beach without wearing any sunscreen. When you return home resembling a ripe tomato, you will realize the sun was out. In the same way, some people falsely conclude that when they don't feel God, He is gone. He has disappeared. But He is there, even when you don't feel Him. The Bible tells us in Hebrews, "For He Himself has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you' " (Hebrews 13:5). It is during these times that we must walk by faith, not by feeling, because God has promised in His Word that He will be with us. That is how we know He is there. 
FROM THE HEART
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