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A Parable That Pulls No Punches - By Gene Lawley -
http://www.raptureready.com/2017/08/13/a-parable-that-pulls-no-punches/ The title of this article comes from the Parable of the Wedding Feast in Matthew 22:1-15, wherein the king sets up a wedding and a feast for his son and sends out invitations to the expected guests. Somewhat surprisingly, none wanted to come. Moreover, they even mistreated and killed the messengers. The king was furious and when he heard of it, he had those murderers killed and their city burned. It is a prophetic parable if there ever was one! The "pulls no punches" part of the title comes from the "sport" of boxing where a punch is "pulled" when the puncher holds it back from the fist's intended target. Otherwise the punch will hit with full force. To get the full impact of the parable in its prophetic overtones, though lengthy, I must record it in its completeness from Matthew 22:1-15: "And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said: 'The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come. Again, he sent out other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, 'See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding."' "But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them. But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. "Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.' So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests. "But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. So he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?' And he was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' "For many are called, but few are chosen." "Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk." It looks like the religious leaders understood that He was implementing them in the parable, based on their concluding response. Here are the prophetic portrayals in the parable, as I see them:
Jesus said to Nicodemus, "You must be born again," and Paul later confirms the result, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17). 9. Then the parable gives us this statement: "For many are called, but few are chosen." They are called-invited-to put on a wedding garment, the Lord Jesus Christ, in a new birth experience. In a great mystery of the workings of justification and redemption, God brings it about and draws a person to Himself and then to Christ as John 6:44 and then, 37-40 relate: "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; all that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day." "This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. "And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day." 10. That final conclusion of the religious leaders, not part of the parable, is repeated over and over during the ministry of Jesus among "His own," eventually coming to His crucifixion on the cross. Even that, however, was his design, for He, Himself, is our redemption. Contact email: [email protected] Palestinian Officials Threatens to Take State Bid to UN if Trump Efforts Fail - http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Palestinians-consider-turning-to-intl-bodies-again-if-peace-process-fails-502415 The Palestinian leadership is considering turning to international institutions including the UN afresh, if US President Donald Trump's administration fails to revive a "serious" peace process, Fatah Central Committee member Azzam al-Ahmad said on Monday. "We are giving the Americans a chance to move a serious peace process forward and we hope they succeed, but if they fail to make progress, we will turn to international institutions including the United Nations to request full membership," Ahmad said in a phone interview. The Palestinian leadership submitted a formal application to gain full membership in the UN in 2011, but it was rejected because it had insufficient support from the UN Security Council. The Palestinian leadership could try to gain full membership again by submitting another membership application, but US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley would likely block it. Haley has consistently defended the Israeli government since arriving at the UN. Ahmad defined a "serious peace process" as one in which the US and Israel announce their support for a two-state solution and Israel halts settlement activity. Both Israel and the US have not endorsed the two-state solution since Trump assumed office in January. Meanwhile, Israel has committed to limiting construction to the settlement blocs as much as possible, but rejected freezing settlement activity altogether. Ahmad's statements came days after the White House announced it will dispatch a delegation of high-ranking officials including Trump's senior adviser Jared Kushner, US special representative for international negotiations Jason Greenblatt, and National Security Council official Dina Powell to Israel and the Palestinian territories, in the coming days. According to a White House official, Trump believes the relative calm in Israel and the Palestinian territories at the current moment presents an "opportunity to continue discussions and the pursuit of peace." If the Palestinian leadership decides to turn to international institutions, it would not be a novel policy. Since the failure of peace talks in 2011, the Palestinian leadership has applied for membership in tens of international organizations and sought to challenge Israeli policies in many of them. Since Trump assumed office, however, the Palestinian leadership has significantly put the breaks on its international activity, refraining from pushing for new Security Council resolutions and other measures. The one exception is that Palestinian leadership initiated two UNESCO resolutions on Hebron and Jerusalem, which were approved in July. Two other senior Palestinian officials said the possibility of engaging with international institutions to confront Israeli policies is being studied, but would not elaborate. In the past two weeks, Palestinian officials have expressed increased frustration with the Trump administration, especially for its handling of the Temple Mount crisis. Nabil Shaath, Abbas's international affairs adviser, characterized the administration's response to the Temple Mount crisis as "negative." Sources in the Foreign Ministry said there is currently no indication that the Palestinians are planning to take any concrete measures at the UN. "There might be something as we get closer to the General Assembly meeting," one source said, "but right now there is nothing." The annual UN General Assembly meetings will take place on September 19, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expected to address the world body that day and Abbas on September 21. Iran Sending Warships to Atlantic Ocean Amid Massive New Military Buildup - Adam Kredo - http://freebeacon.com/national-security/iran-sending-warships-atlantic-ocean-amid-massive-new-military-buildup/ Iran boosts war spending by $500 million after U.S. issues sanctions Iran is preparing to send a flotilla of warships to the Atlantic Ocean following the announcement of a massive $500 million investment in war spending, according to Iranian leaders, who say the military moves are in response to recent efforts by the United States to impose a package of new economic sanctions on Tehran. The military investment and buildup comes following weeks of tense interactions between Iran and the United States in regional waters, where Iranian military ships have carried out a series of dangerous maneuvers near U.S. vessels. The interactions have roiled U.S. military leaders and prompted tough talk from the Trump administration, which is currently examining potential ways to leave the landmark nuclear deal. Iran's increasingly hostile behavior also follows a little-noticed United Nations report disclosing that Iran has repeatedly violated international accords banning ballistic missile work. Lawmakers in the U.S. Congress and some policy experts also believe that Iran has been violating some provisions in the nuclear agreement governing nuclear-related materials. With tensions over sanctions and Iran's compliance with the nuclear agreement growing, Iranian parliamentary members voted to increase war spending by more than $500 million. This is at least the second recent cash influx to Iran's military since the landmark nuclear deal that unfroze billions in Iranian assets and saw the United States awarding Tehran millions in cash. Iranian lawmakers reportedly shouted "death to America" as they passed the measure, which boosts spending to Iran's contested missile programs by around $260 million. The bill also imposes sanctions on U.S. military officials in the region. Additionally, Iranian officials are moving to set up courts to prosecute the United States for the recent sanctions, which Iran claims are in violation of the nuclear deal. Meanwhile, following several aggressive encounters with U.S. military vessels in the Persian Gulf, Iranian military leaders announced that they would be leading a flotilla of warships into the Atlantic Ocean. "No military official in the world thought that we can go round Africa to the Atlantic Ocean through the Suez Canal but we did it as we had declared that we would go to the Atlantic and its Western waters," Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari was quoted as saying over the weekend. "We moved into the Atlantic and will go to its Western waters in the near future," Sayyari said. U.S. military officials reported Monday yet another "unsafe" encounter with an Iranian drone that was shadowing a U.S. carrier in the Persian Gulf region and reportedly came close enough to an American F-18 jet to risk the pilot's life. As with other similar encounters during the past months, the Iranian craft did not respond to repeated radio calls by the United States. While the drone is said to have been unarmed, it is capable of carrying missiles. Iranian leaders have been adamant that the country will not halt its work on ballistic missile technology, which could be used to carry nuclear weapons. The United States has issued several new packages of sanctions as a result of this behavior, but U.N. members have yet to address the issue, despite recent reporting that found Iran is violating international accords barring such behavior. "Little-noticed biannual reporting by the UN Secretary General alleges that Iran is repeatedly violating these non-nuclear provisions," Iran Watch, a nuclear watchdog group, reported on Monday. "Thus far, the United States has responded to such violations with sanctions and designations of Iranian and foreign entities supporting Tehran's ballistic missile development," the organization found. "However, the U.N. and its member states have not responded. More must be done to investigate allegations of noncompliance and to punish violations of the resolution." Rep. Sean Duffy (R., Wis.), a proponent of a more forceful policy on Iranian intransigence in the region, told the Free Beacon that the Trump administration must make it a priority to address Tehran's increasingly bold military activity. "Iran was emboldened to flex its military muscle after eight years of President Obama's passivity and his delivery of cold, hard cash to the regime, but they should make no mistake: President Trump was elected to put a stop to rogue regimes pushing America around, and the American people know he will address the world's lead sponsor of terrorism with resolve," Duffy told the Free Beacon. Michael Rubin, a former Pentagon adviser and expert on rogue regimes, said that Iran's recent behavior shows the regime has not moderated since the nuclear deal was implemented. The Obama administration sold the deal in part on promises that it could help bring Tehran into the community of nations. "Every time the Islamic Republic has cash, it chooses guns over butter," Rubin told the Washington Free Beacon. "What the [nuclear deal] and subsequent hostage ransom did was fill Iran's coffers, and now we see the result of that." "What [former President Barack] Obama and [former Secretary of State John] Kerry essentially did was gamble that if they funded a mad scientist's lab, the scientist would rather make unicorns rather than nukes," Rubin said. "News flash for the echo chamber: Iranian reformist are just hardliners who smile more. Neither their basic philosophy nor their commitment to terrorism have changed." Iran's presence in Syria a 'red line for Israel' - Oded Granot - http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=44607 The presence of pro-Iran militias on Israel's northern border is not an existential threat but it cannot be taken lightly * If Western powers negotiating a Syrian deal fail to keep them away from our borders, Israel may have to take independent action. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani owe a great debt of gratitude to the West for its contribution to bolstering the Islamic republic's power, and while neither of them can be mistaken for righteous, their work has been and is being done by others. The 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and Western powers, led by the Obama administration, has revived the Iranian economy and allowed Tehran to pursue lucrative international contracts. Moreover, despite the agreement, Iran remains a nuclear-threshold state and in the not-so-distant future, when certain limitations outlined in the deal elapse, it will be able to build nuclear weapons unhindered. Perhaps even more serious is the Western coalition's indirect "contribution" to the Iranians and their allies' territorial expansion in the Middle East. The explanation for this is simple: the West's obsessive focus on the war against the Islamic State group has paved the way for the flow of pro-Iranian Shiite militias into the Iraqi and Syrian spheres, which has emptied of Sunni insurgents. Khamenei could not have hoped for a better outcome. But as a result of these developments, for the first time since the Arab Spring plunged the Middle East into turmoil in 2011, Israel is facing the actual threat of a "small Shiite crescent" on its northern border, meaning a strip of territory controlled by Hezbollah forces and pro-Iranian Shiite militias, which will stretch from Rosh Hanikra, near the Israel-Lebanon border in the west to where the Israel-Syria-Jordan borders converge in the southern Golan Heights. While this is not an existential threat, it cannot be taken lightly. Israel has repeatedly demanded that any agreement mediated by Russia and the U.S. to end the civil war in Syria include a specific stipulation keeping pro-Iranian forces away from Israel's border in the Golan Heights. So far, this demand has gone unheeded, underscoring the severity of the problem. Mossad Director Yossi Cohen, who briefed the Diplomatic-Security Cabinet on the Iranian threat on Sunday, was right when he said that Israel alone cannot curb Iran's nuclear ambitions. If Israel were to launch a strike on Iranian nuclear facilities without coordinating with the U.S., it could spark chaos in the Middle East. Israel and the international community are not the only ones now carefully monitoring what U.S. President Donald Trump may do -- the Iranians are also watching. If Trump proves hesitant or soft on North Korea, Iran will take it to mean that he is a paper tiger, looking at the U.S. administration as nothing to fear. This is not true as far as the threat lurking on the northern border. The most effective way of dealing with the possible deployment of Iranian, Hezbollah and pro-Iranian militias not only in Lebanon but also in the Golan Heights, is to prevent their presence in the area altogether. Given the military abilities these hostile elements possess, this is a red line for Israel. If Western powers fail to ensure their removal from the area near the border, Israel must make it clear that it will act -- independently if necessary. Such action would constitute a departure from the Israel's long-time policy of steering clear of any military involvement in the ongoing civil war in Syria. Nearing Midnight: Perilous Times in White House - Terry James - http://www.raptureready.com/category/nearing-midnight/ I prefer to move on from writing about the enragement and turmoil within the American political milieu. Prophetic implications wrought by that process, however, keep imposing upon my inclination to move on. White House goings-on recently beg analysis in light of God's prophetic Word, and I must dwell a bit longer in that arena. The particular prophecy involved, I believe, is one we have looked at many times in overview fashion. I would like to focus on a peculiar area of that over all prophecy. I'm referencing Paul's perilous times prophecy of 2 Timothy 3:1-5. The parts of this prophecy I would like to look at specifically in regard to current White House intrigues are the following. This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be... trucebreakers,...traitors, heady, high-minded. (2 Timothy 3: 1-2, 3, 4) The term "leakers" is at the top of the news. Attorney General of the United States Jeff Sessions, as we know, has put "leakers" on notice. They will be found, and if they have broken the law, they will be prosecuted. Sessions pointed out recently that leaks are part of every government-and of every White House administration. With the Trump White House, though, the leaks far surpass the number, intensity, and possible harm to the nation than those of any previous administration of recent memory. "Leaks," of course, is information divulged by those within positions of knowledge of things being discussed, planned, and implemented within government. Here, we are talking specifically about leaks within the White House. They are being done, it is generally acknowledged, to do harm to Donald J. Trump's presidency. This presidency is under unparalleled attack from every quarter. It is particularly the news media that has been the recipient of these leaks. The leaks are used by those extremely antagonistic to the Trump presidency to try to bring public opinion of this president to as low a point as possible-thus to see to it that 1) he is so ineffectual as to not get his agenda accomplished; 2) he is impeached; or 3) that he will be voted out of office next presidential election. The assault is unrelenting and more ferocious than any I have witnessed during my now 75 years on the scene. The voraciousness of many of those who hate this president is so virulent that those carrying out the "silent coup-d'état," as it is called by some, totally cast aside any thought of the damage it is doing to national security. They apparently couldn't care less that they are exposing things that should be kept secret for security purposes to enemies who wish us only destruction. It means nothing to these leakers that they have taken an oath to guard carefully such essential secrets. They are "trucebreakers" in the parlance of the apostle Paul's prophecy. A report/analysis from one source not friendly to this president says the following: Government employees are growing increasingly willing to criticize or defy the White House and President Trump's top appointees... The growing opposition in the executive branch comes as the White House's legislative agenda has stalled in Congress and Trump turns to his Cabinet agencies to change course in several policy areas. It also is emanating from career staffers or political holdovers whose resistance to Trump has, at times, been rooted in deep opposition to the president's agenda... Trump's allies have often cast the president as the victim of the "deep state," an entrenched liberal bureaucracy bent on damaging his agenda through leaks and resistance. They argue the deep state extends from agencies such as the EPA, where employees could be angered with Trump's decision to pull out of the Paris climate deal, to career service intelligence agency staff who leak damaging information about the president. Former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) on Friday even accused special counsel Robert Mueller, the former FBI director now investigating Russia's involvement in last year's election, as representing the "deep state at its worse." ("Federal employees step up defiance of Trump," By Devin Henry, www.thehill.com, 08/05/17) The report, while couched in terms intended in my view to make those of us who understand the assault underway seem paranoid, the assertion within the above report is nonetheless true. There is a deep state-which includes mainstream media, entrenched government bureaucrats, and globalist elitists. As an observer of Bible prophecy, laying that Holy template over the issues and events of our times, I go further. It is an assault directed and fueled by none other than the grand deceiver of all-Lucifer the fallen one. The apostle Paul prophesied that there will come a time when people will be observably traitorous-like those leakers within the Trump administration. They will be heady-meaning they will demand their own way no matter who is hurt or destroyed. They will be high-minded-meaning they will consider themselves the sole determiners of what is best for everybody else. They will, like in the case of climate change/global warming types like Al Gore, say: "Do what I say, not what I do." (Gore, it was reported a week or so ago, has a home that uses 21 times more electricity than the average home. He dispenses a huge carbon emissions footprint as he jets about the world in his private jets.) This, in my analysis, the epitome of headiness and high-mindedness. Paul's perilous times are upon us, to be sure. North Korea: The Israeli Connection - By Ariel Nathan Pasko - https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/93199/north-korea-israeli-connection-opinion/#PHhRghhEvBUhiUJB.97 Why should Jews globally, and Israelis, care about what's going on, way over there on the Korean peninsula? Because as good world citizens we should? Because the second largest Jewish community, after Israel, is being threatened in America? Because the North Koreans are Weapons of Mass Destruction proliferators? Because of their aiding Iranian, Syrian, and possibly even Hamas and Hezbollah weapons development? Because we now have a chance to judge how the new American administration deals with a crisis, highly impacting on close allies? Because the latest North Korean ICBM test proves North Korea can hit Israel? If you answered, all of the above, you win the grand prize, an escape card from Nuclear Incineration Island... By the way, North Korea has never recognized the State of Israel. Even after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, and the opening up of China, North Korea has continued its Cold War rhetoric, calling Israel an "imperialist satellite''. North Korea has continuously supported the Palestinian cause. Relations with the PLO began in 1966. Kim Il-Sung - the current North Korean leader's grandfather - and Yasser Arafat, had a very close relationship. North Korea provided arms and aid to the PLO, PFLP, and DFLP throughout the 1970s and into the 1980s. Since Yasser Arafat's declaration of independence in 1988, North Korea has recognized the "State of Palestine''. There's never been a military conflict between Israel and North Korea... Guess again, during the Yom Kippur War of 1973, North Korea sent 20 pilots and 19 non-combat military advisors to Egypt. They deployed a MiG-21 Squadron to Bir Arida to protect Egypt's south, the first aerial engagement on the Egyptian front, took place on October 6th, when Israeli F-4s engaged North Korean-piloted MiG-21s. On October 19th, the NYT reported that the Soviet news agency TASS disclosed that Premier Kim Il-Sung had met with Egyptian and Syrian ambassadors in Pyongyang, promising "to give material assistance, including military aid" to them. Over the years, North Korea has supplied various weapons, missile technologies, and NBC -Mass-Destruction - technologies, to several of Israel's enemies, including Iran, Syria, Libya, Egypt, Iraq under Saddam Hussein, Hezbollah and Hamas. For example, Libya had the same designs as North Korea for a 500-kilogram nuclear warhead missile, before Gaddafi shut down the program. Because of the Syrian Civil War, the Assad regime has lost a lot of equipment. The North Koreans have replenished them with T-55 tanks (North Korean variants), trucks, RPGs and shoulder-fired missiles. According to North Korean expert, Bruce Bechtol, "if you look at the Syrian army, it is much like the North Korean one, based on legacy Soviet systems from the 1950s and 1960s." Syrian-North Korean nuclear cooperation can be clearly seen. On September 6, 2007, when the IAF attacked a target in the Deir ez-Zor region of Syria, it was reported that at least 10 North Koreans, who "had been helping with the construction of a nuclear reactor'' were killed during the airstrike. The Syrian nuclear facility was nearly identical to that of North Korea's Yongbyon installation. According to reports, the facility was built by North Koreans and financed by Iran. North Korea has forged a relationship with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) since 1983. North Korea sends weapons to Hezbollah via the IRGC trafficking network or transfers them through Syria, or they are shipped directly from North Korea to Hezbollah in Lebanon, paid for by Iran. Since 2003, North Korean engineers have built underground facilities for Hezbollah, directly into rock, some of which the IDF struggled to target, in the Second Lebanon War in 2006. Hezbollah has an entire underground "city" of command and control bunkers and tunnels in southern Lebanon, all built with the aid of the Iranians, who paid the Korean Mining Development Company to do it. North Korean technicians moved into Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, pretending to be Chinese domestic workers. After the 2006 war, 100 Hezbollah fighters traveled to North Korea for a year of training in guerrilla warfare tactics, under a body known at the time as the Reconnaissance Bureau. North Korean advisers have also trained Hezbollah fighters in Iran. North Korea has thousands of 107mm and 122mm rockets sitting around in warehouses, plus rocket-propelled grenades and SKS semiautomatic rifles. Looking for cash, the North Korean regime has sold many of these arms to Hezbollah. Hamas, like Hezbollah, has close links with North Korea, which is happy to support groups that are opposed to Western interests in the Middle East. The relationship between Hamas and North Korea first became public in 2009 when 35 tons of arms, including surface-to-surface rockets and rocket-propelled grenades, were seized after a cargo plane carrying the equipment was forced to make an emergency landing at Bangkok airport. Investigators later confirmed that the arms had been destined for Iran, who planned to transfer them to Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Hamas in Gaza. In 2014, North Korea and Hamas struck a deal for the sale of 102mm and 107mm multiple rocket launchers. Hamas installed some of these systems on pickup trucks. North Korea regularly condemns Israeli defensive actions against Hamas, such as during the 2008-2009 and 2014 Israel-Gaza conflicts, and the 2010 Gaza flotilla raid as "crimes against humanity,'' as well as a threat to the Middle East Peace Process. The North Koreans have one of the world's most sophisticated network of tunnels running beneath the demilitarized zone with South Korea. The IDF believes Hamas has used this expertise to improve their own tunnel network in Gaza. For example, the type of cement reinforcement, enabling Hamas fighters to move weapons without detection by Israeli drones, is similar to North Korean tunnels. And now for Iran; during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, North Korea began selling them Scud B missiles. They also sold Iran artillery, tanks, and trucks, Soviet-made equipment from the1950s and 1960s. Since then, North Korea has sold Iran Scud B, C, D, extended-range scuds, and played a central role in Iran's domestic missile development program. They've helped Iran build the Safir two-stage missile and the Sejil solid fuel missile. Iran's Imad and Shihab-3 ballistic missile programs are based on North Korea's Nodong missile prototype, with an extended range. North Korea has sent at least two long-range missile parts shipments to Iran in the past two years. Iranian technicians also traveled to North Korea for help in developing an 80-ton rocket booster. Since the mid-2000s, Iran came up with an ingenious way to avoid US missile nonproliferation enforcement. It built Shihab-3 "factories," which were actually North Korean-supervised assembly stations, allowing North Korea to smuggle the missiles in pieces. The components are assembled under the supervision of North Korean advisers. The same thing happens with the Scud D missiles in Syria, and with chemical weapons in Syria according to Bechtol. Iran is still relying on parts coming over from North Korea. The North Koreans split them up into components - they are harder to detect that way. Without North Korea, Iran's entire liquid fuel ballistic missile industry would grind to a halt, he said. The Assad regime, too, would lose its Scud missile program. Bechtol claims the North Koreans helped Iran develop a nuclear warhead for the Nodong missile, and assisted with the Iranian plutonium reactor at Arak. "We know that the head of Iran's highly enriched uranium program was in North Korea in 2013, likely to observe a uranium nuclear test," he said. About the latest crisis between America and North Korea, watch closely. America fought a serious war on the Korean Peninsula in the early 1950's with North Korea and has been South Korea's ally and protector since. They also have had a strategic partnership with Japan, since the 1950's. As the saying goes, "countries don't have friends, just interests." There are close parallels between the US, South Korea, and Japan, vis-a-vis North Korea, and the US and Israel, vis-a-vis Iran. So Jews and Israel should be watching closely how the Trump administration "protects" its allies. One can get a picture of just how well America would cover Israel under its "security umbrella," when pushing Israel to take a "chance for peace" as has been suggested, in any future Middle East peace deal, by watching the Korean crisis unfold. And, it will give a clue as to how much Israel can count on the US in dealing with Iran's nuclear program. Guess what, if you thought the latest ballistic missile tests of North Korea proved they can finally hit Israel, you're wrong. They've been able to hit Israel theoretically, since their 2012 test of the Taepodong-2, or in 2013 with their UnHa-3, which successfully launched a satellite and could have carried a 500-kilogram nuclear warhead. See, satellite launching ability and ICBM nuclear warhead delivery are closely related. Don't worry, Israel has its own Jericho-3 ICBM that could hit North Korea, not to mention Iran. Israel's Jericho-3, is a missile with a multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV) warhead, allowing for more flexibility in targeting and better anti-ballistic missile (ABM) survivability. In fact with Israel's submarines and aircraft loaded with nuclear tipped cruise missiles, Israel has a nuclear triad, of land, sea, and air delivered weapons, guaranteeing a credible second-strike capability. And if that's not enough deterrence, don't forget Israel's homegrown multi-tiered missile defense system, including Iron Dome, David's Sling, Arrow-2 and 3, and the Barak-8. The Arrow-3 is not only an anti-ICBM missile but can be used as an anti-satellite weapon as well. Iron Beam and Drone Dome are laser-interception systems. Lt. Gen. Patrick J. O'Reilly, Director of the Missile Defense Agency in the American Dept. of Defense, said in 2009: The design of Arrow-3 promises to be an extremely capable system, more advanced than what we have ever attempted in the US with our programs...This has to do with the seekers that have greater flexibility and other aspects, such as propulsion systems - it will be an extremely capable system. Maybe America can get some Israeli Arrow-3 batteries, to protect themselves against incoming North Korean ICBMs. The Arrow-3 system was just declared fully operational in January of 2017, but believe it or not, Israel is already developing a concept for a sort of Arrow-4 system, to keep one step ahead of its enemies. Israel's MAFAT Defense Research and Development Authority of the Ministry of Defense, along with state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries and other defense firms, are working to evaluate technologies needed to improve the ability to track, target and ultimately destroy future threats, such as massive salvo strikes, submunition warheads and multiple reentry vehicles, or MRVs. About the vulnerable Jews in America, who have used the excuse for years, that "it's too dangerous to live in Israel;" well, it's about time for Aliya - to come home to Israel - before it's too late, no more excuses! Do you have your Escape Card yet? Daily Jot: From the abundance of the heart - Bill Wilson - www.dailyjot.com On Friday, August 11, liberals from across the country gathered at a Netroots Nation conference, which gave them a platform to criticize the President and his policies in front of the leftist media. Some of the rhetoric centered on the President's handling of North Korean situation. Congressman Keith Ellison, (D-MN), who is the first Muslim congressman elected to office and he is the deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee said that communist dictator Kim Jong Un is acting more responsible that is President Donald Trump. He says that Trump should be backing down rather than standing up for America. Then, when pressed on it later, Ellison tried to say that he didn't mean what he said. The Daily Beast reported, that Ellison said, "You have this guy making bellicose threats against somebody else who has very little to lose over there. Kim Jong-un, the world always thought he was not a responsible leader well he's acting more responsible than this guy is. And what I'm telling you is once you start seeing missile launches, you're going to see-the time for cranking up the anti-war machine is right now. So if you don't want to get caught, deer-in-the-headlights, start calling for diplomacy in North Korea immediately." Ellison later retracted his remarks to The Washington Post, saying, "That was one of those I wish I'd not said. It's tailor-made for somebody to misuse." Ellison was referring to President Donald Trump's remarks that the US would rain down fire and fury on North Korea if it attacked Guam. Ellison and the Democrats are fearful that Trump will actually cause a nuclear attack with his rhetoric rather than show resolve that there will consequences of such a hideous act. The governor of Guam, however, had a different view. Governor Eddie Calvo backed Trump's warning in a Fox News interview last Wednesday night. He said, "As far as I'm concerned, as an American citizen, I want a president that says that if any nation such as North Korea attacks Guam, attacks Honolulu, attacks the West Coast, that they will be met with hell and fury." America had eight years of a "president" cowering in a corner and apologizing for everything the United States has done in its foreign policy. Then when a President stands up for America and says if North Korea acts on its threats, they will essentially be destroyed, all the weak-kneed, anti-American appeasement crowd starts fear-mongering. Ellison saying that a North Korean communist dictator is acting more responsibly than the American President shows just where Ellison and his political Party stand. As Jesus said in Luke 6:45, "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks." Daily Devotion: A Walk of Faith - By Greg Laurie - www.harvest.org "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." -Romans 5:1 The Bible tells the story of a man who had everything this world says one should have to feel happy and fulfilled: power, wealth, influence, and fame. But along with that came an emptiness that sent him on a search for God. As secretary of the treasury for a powerful nation, he was second only to the queen. But there was a hole in his heart, so it led him on a search to the spiritual capital of the world, Jerusalem. He did not find what he was looking for, but as he was returning home, he unexpectedly found the answer to his questions. He had an appointment with God that resulted in his conversion and complete transformation. His story shows what happens when a person becomes a Christian. When someone truly believes in Jesus Christ, his or her life changes dramatically. This man went from emptiness and misery to overflowing joy. His story ends with the statement, "He went on his way rejoicing" (Acts 8:39). It is no exaggeration when the Bible says that we pass from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to the power of God, when we believe in Jesus Christ. It is describing what takes place in our lives. But we also need to recognize that not every case is identical. There are different types of people who come to faith in different ways. Some have a tremendous emotional response, while others have no emotional experience at all. An emotional experience has little to do with the reality of a person's conversion. When I prayed and asked Christ to come into my life, I felt nothing. And because of this, I falsely concluded that God had rejected me. Thankfully, I discovered later that Christianity is a walk of faith and not of feeling. FROM THE HEART
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