Prophecy Update Newsletter
IN TODAY'S NEWSLETTER...
ApocEclipse Now - Wendy Wippel -
http://www.omegaletter.com/articles/articles.asp?ArticleID=8492 Eclipse mania in the U.S., for the first time in 99 years, most Americans are within striking distance of areas that will witness a total eclipse. What is not, unfortunately, rare is the simultaneous emergence of the doom and gloom prophets eager to proclaim that this eclipse, for sure, is a sign of the apocalypse. A sure sign of an imminent onset of the Tribulation. Ann Graham Lotz; "The celebratory nature regarding the eclipse brings to my mind the Babylonian King Belshazzar who threw a drunken feast the night the Medes and Persians crept under the city gate. While Belshazzar and his friends partied, they were oblivious to the impending danger. Belshazzar wound up dead the next day, and the Babylonian empire was destroyed." Lotz added, "While no one can know for sure if judgment is coming on America, it does seem God is signaling us about something..." Rachel Baxter, owner of the Z3 website, says, "I know without doubt that the eclipse of August 21st that cuts across America is incredibly significant. Jewish tradition holds that a total solar eclipse is a sign of judgment and a warning to the gentiles. America is the greatest gentile nation in history and we are facing judgment". Mark Blitz, in an interview with World Net Daily, called the eclipse a sure sign of judgement. Bob 'O Dell, because the total eclipse would encompass the North pole, said the eclipse is "likely a general message (of Judgement) from God to the entire world". Oh. Never Mind. Strike that. Those two were the last eclipse. Only a partial one that could be seen only in Northern Europe. And that's the problem. Every time there is an eclipse Or other unusual arrangements of heavenly bodies, or seeming coincidences with respect to meaningful dates in Christianity or Judaism and heavenly bodies, a chorus of condemnation and catastrophe is generally unleashed. Against sinners in general. Against Jews. And against the body of Christ, as punishment for sin. Unleashed by Christians themselves, who should know better, for two reasons. First because we are all- Jews Christians, and sinners (basically just a collection of the first two categories are all still sinners). Some of us are cleansed by His blood. The second reason? The Scriptures used the phrase "signs in the heavens" three times. And none of them have anything to do with impending judgment of sinners. None of them. Jeremiah 10:2-3: This is what the Lord says: "Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by signs in the heavens, though the nations are terrified by them.." Basically a condemnation of astrology. Daniel 6:27 "He rescues and he saves; he performs signs and wonders in the heavens." A statement of God's care and benevolence. John 14:15-26: I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also on the servants and on the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. and I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the LORD come. And it shall come to pass, that whoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD has said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call. A promise of salvation and deliverance to all Jews and Gentiles who call on the name of the Lord. Please understand that I am not saying that God does not use the heavenly lights-the moon, the stars, and the planets to speak to us. He does. The magi followed an unusual star or conjunction of some sort right to the newborn Messiah's manger. The sky is a palette on which God speaks to man. But there is little justification (none, in my view), for speaking judgement on anybody because of what is really a very common event. Impending, as it is on our own turf not withstanding. Here's the bigger issue. You may remember that there was an eclipse that occurred in conjunction with a pretty big event in the life of the Messiah. The last event in his life, actually. His death. The book of Matthew records that while Jesus was on the cross, there was an eclipse; Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. About the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lima[h] sabachthani?" That is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"[i] That eclipse was a heavenly event that marked the biggest turning point in all of history. One that offered eternal life, not death. Life. Not death. One that poured out the love of the God of Heaven to all that would receive Him. To those who believed in His name. I guess that's my problem with the doomslinging faithful. The goal of our instruction is love. "Now the goal of our instruction is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith." 1 Timothy 1:5 What if the Christian world spent more time sharing forgiveness to a fallen world then we do standing in judgement? Will we ever have a chance to find out? More arrests as terror stalks Jerusalem again - http://www.debka.com/article/26187/More-arrests-as-terror-stalks-Jerusalem-again Three major Israeli counter-terror operations in a week (Aug.10-16) are a measure of the intensity of terrorist plots for the commission of mass-casualty strikes in Jerusalem. On Aug. 10, a combined effort of the Shin Bet, the police and the IDF, led to five Palestinians from Hebron being intercepted in the Palestinian Jerusalem neighborhood of El Azaria on their way to an attack. No details of this plot were released. But it was obvious that the five terrorists, armed with guns and explosives, were only stopped at the last minute from reaching the center of Jerusalem, just 15 minutes drive from El Azaria, and conducting a major attack. Then, on Saturday, Aug. 12, a Palestinian woman knifed a man on Suleiman Street in East Jerusalem, mistaking him for a Jew. He turned out to be a local Arab Christian and was not badly hurt, before a police patrol nabbed the woman. On Sunday, Aug. 13, a suspect was shot in the foot while resisting arrest at Bet Tsafafa, in southern Jerusalem . The police later reported they acted on a Shin Bet tipoff that the suspect, a resident of the mixed Abu Tor neighborhood, was primed for a terror operation. On Monday, Aug. 14, indictments were filed at the Jerusalem district court against three residents of East Jerusalem on charges of plotting a shooting attack, as well as targeting police forces and persistent rock attacks on traffic - all in Jerusalem. They were also accused of planning to loose gunfire and explosive devices on vehicles using the Nablus bypass. This group therefore harbored ambitions for a widespread terrorist offensive in and outside Jerusalem. Although Israel's security authorities are cagey with the information they release on the mostly covert war they wage on Palestinian and Israeli Arab terror, three geographical areas may be marked out as significant: They are metropolitan Jerusalem including Bethlehem; Hebron - the city and mountain district; and the Israeli Arab town of Umm al-Fahm, northeast of Tel Aviv, which was the home town of the three gunmen who shot dead two policemen on Temple Mount on July 14. Each location occupies a special place on the terror map. The terrorist networks of Hebron and its environs are mostly tied ideologically and operationally to the extremist Palestinian Hamas. In the past fortnight, Hamas was found to be receiving large sums of money, most of it coming from sources in the United Arab Republic in the Persian Gulf. Some of the cash was funneled to Judea and Samaria and provided those networks with an extra incentive to go into action. Finding the UAE funding Hamas terror was somewhat of a shocker to Israel. After all, the emirate formally joined the anti-terror coalition that US President Donald Trump created during his visit to Riyadh and later to Israel in early April. The terrorist cells operating in Jerusalem mostly belong to Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, or its militia, the Tanzim. Most are fringe groups that are not directly associated with their leaders. But the fact that they are free to perform acts of violence against Israelis is worrying Israeli security authorities. The networks of Umm al-Fahm and its rural villages appear to be ideologically inspired by the outlawed Northern Branch of the Israeli Arab Muslim Movement (which is linked to the Muslim Brotherhood), or directly tied to the Islamic State command center in Syria. At least 20 Israeli Arabs are known to have crossed into Syria to fight in ISIS ranks, some of them from Umm Al-Fahm. Last Friday, Aug. 11, an indictment was filed against two residents of the town, who were preparing to leave for Syria and join the Islamic State. They were being helped by a former resident who had already reached Syria and was fighting with ISIS. One of the accused belonged to the same Jabarin clan as the murderers of police officers on Temple Mount. Then, on Tuesday, Aug. 15, police arrived at the Umm Al-Fahm home of Sheikh Raed Salah, leader of the banned Northern Branch of the Israeli Muslim Movement, with a warrant for his arrest. He was accused of publicly inciting to violence and terror and membership of an illegal organization. Salah has been in and out of Israeli prisons for years over his fiery hate-filled sermons, which regularly call on his followers to "fight for the liberation" of Al Aqsa. Last year, he was locked up for calling on Israeli Arabs to join a Palestinian uprising against the state of Israel. However, this time, the wide publicity given to his arrest so soon after the Temple Mount clashes - in an attempt to press charges serious enough to keep him behind lock and key for the long term - has brought the firebrand sheikh solid sympathy among sections of the Israeli Arab populace. Obviously, Israel's sovereign presence on Temple Mount, which is holy to three monotheistic faiths and claimed by Muslims, is an abidingly explosive issue. Last month's crisis centering on the shrine, appears to have abated - but only on the face of it. The embers of the conflagration continue to simmer under the surface of the site and the city. Iran building long-range rocket factory in Syria - http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Iran-building-long-range-rocket-factory-in-Syria-Israeli-TV-502522 An Israeli television report said on Tuesday that Iran is building a facility in northwest Syria to manufacture long-range rockets, and showed satellite images it said were of the site under construction. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned last week that Iran was strengthening its foothold in its ally Syria as Islamic State fighters were being displaced, and said Israel was watching developments and would act against any threat. "Our policy is clear: We vehemently oppose the military buildup by Iran and its proxies, primarily Hezbollah, in Syria and we will do whatever it takes to protect Israel's security," he said in a speech. The Channel 2 television news report showed images it said were taken by an Israeli satellite showing a site in northwest Syria near the Mediterranean coastal town of Baniyas, saying some of the construction indicated explosives would be stored there. It compared images of buildings it said were of a rocket factory near Tehran to structures at the Syrian site, and said there was a strong resemblance between them. Netanyahu has been harshly critical of a 2015 deal that six world powers including the United States under then-president Barack Obama struck with Iran to curb its nuclear program in return for an end to multilateral sanctions. Iran is Israel's avowed enemy, and Israel argues that the agreement fails to prevent Iranian weapons posing a threat to its very existence. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. The United States last month slapped new economic sanctions on Iran over its ballistic missile program and said Tehran's "malign activities" in the Middle East had undercut any "positive contributions" from the 2015 accord curbing its nuclear program. US President Donald Trump has frequently criticized the agreement as being too soft on Tehran, which remains subject to a UN arms embargo and other restrictions. US news reports have said that Israeli intelligence officials will discuss the situation in Syria and Lebanon with US counterparts in Washington this week. Rebirth of The Turkish Caliphate -- And Why It Matters - By Joel Richardson - http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=1489 In 2004, when I wrote my book "Islamic Antichrist: The Shocking Truth about the Real Nature of the Beast," the nation of Turkey was still viewed by virtually all Western political analysts as the model government to be replicated throughout the Muslim world. The AKP party, led by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was looked to as proof positive that moderate Islamist governments were possible. Even Reagan conservatives argued that moderate Islamist governments were the future of the region. If we simply offered people the option between freedom (albeit with an Islamist veneer) and traditional Middle Eastern authoritarianism, they would always choose freedom. Beyond this, it was argued that the hearts of the Turkish people were very much turning to the West, rejecting the values of the Muslim world to the east. Despite the reality on the ground, however, this was not the future the Bible described for Asia Minor. Twenty-five-hundred years ago, the prophet Ezekiel foretold a last-days invasion of Israel that would specifically be led by Turkey. In my book "Mideast Beast," I carefully work through Ezekiel's prophecy to show how the Bible doesn't point to a last-days Russian-led invasion of Israel, but instead points to an invasion led by Turkey. For the false perceptions of the early 21st century to become the grim reality described in the Bible, however, much had to change. These changes, as we've now witnessed, took far less time than most could have ever imagined. As recently as 2012, President Obama named Turkey's current President Erdoğan as one of his top three closest friends among world leaders. A quick five years later, Erdoğan has emerged as one of the most dangerous dictators of our day. Since Erdoğan has assumed complete control of Turkey, there are now more journalists in prison there than any other nation on the earth. The AKP-led government has assumed complete control over virtually every media outlet in the nation. The president has even sought to arrest his critics in nations as far abroad as Germany and the United States. Erdoğan openly stated that he has imprisoned foreign citizens to use as bargaining chips in his hope that foreign governments will extradite his critics to Turkey for punishment. Well over a hundred thousand of its own citizens have either been indefinitely imprisoned or fired from their jobs on suspicion of supporting opposition perspectives. Throughout the nation, men and woman continue to disappear randomly and suddenly, literally snatched off the streets simply for suspicion of holding critical views of the president. The elderly, those with incapacitating illnesses, pregnant women and even babies are now routinely incarcerated. The current national roundup of Erdoğan's enemies, or political opponents, is eerily reminiscent of Nazi Germany. Yet this is just the beginning. We have reached the point where the president of a NATO nation is now openly threatening European nations, while he increases military cooperation with Russia. Turkish forces brazenly attack U.S. allies in northern Syria and Iraq, and the president openly brags about it, taunting us to do anything about it. After sending Turkish troops into northern Iraq, Erdoğan responded to Iraqi President Abadi's protests by saying, "We do not need your permission!" There is abundant evidence that for the first few years of the ISIS Caliphate, Erdoğan's government was actually assisting them with everything from medical treatment in Turkey, to logistical support, to actually supplying them with weapons. Instead of working to destroy ISIS on its southern border, Turkey has worked to target the Kurds, the primary group responsible for successfully fighting ISIS these past three years. A prominent AKP-sponsored imam has even publicly called for a Turkish invasion of Jerusalem. Meanwhile, a few dozen nuclear warheads still remain under Turkish control at the Inçirlik Airbase in eastern Turkey. Something has gone deeply, deeply wrong. How did this all come about? To better understand how we got here, we need to step back to the early part of last century, when the Ottoman Empire was crumbling. Often referred to then as "the sick man of Europe," Turkey's economy was a complete quagmire. Meanwhile the industrial revolution throughout the West was in full swing. As developing technologies and the economies of the Western world were skyrocketing, Turkey, as the leader of much of the Islamic world, was floundering. Enter Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. (Ataturk is actually an honorific title meaning the father of the Turks). Ataturk looked out and contrasted the ascendancy of Europe with the slumping condition of the Ottoman Empire and decided that he had discovered the problem. More than nearly anything else, it was Islam that was holding Turkey back from modernization, advancement and ultimately competing with Europe. Ataturk reasoned that if a more secular republic could be established, then Turkey would be unfettered to rise just like the West. While maintaining its Muslim cultural identity, the government itself would be free from the antiquated restraints of Islam. And so Ataturk become responsible not only for dissolving the government and office of the caliph (the religious-political-military head of the Muslim world located in Istanbul), but also setting in place a rigid system of checks and balances whereby Turkey would forever remain a more secular nation. If any particular government in Turkey become too Islamic, then the secular-controlled military would step in and remove it from power. Over the past 80 years in Turkey this actually has happened several times, with the secularist elites in control of the military each time wresting control of the Republic of Turkey back from any overly Islamist-oriented government. While most students of history are familiar with Ataturk, few are familiar with another looming figure, a contemporary of Ataturk named Bediuzzaman Said Al-Nursî. (Bediuzzaman is also an honorific title meaning something along the line of, "the most wonderful, unique, elevated man of the time".) Nursî was an imam and theologian who understood well the thought process of Ataturk and sought to counter his efforts to secularize Turkey. Of all the various Islamist thinkers with goals of restoring the Caliphate, Nursî is the dark horse, little known, even among many students of Islamic history. Beside Sayyid Qutb (father of the Muslim Brotherhood), Ibn Taymiyyah (Wahabbism, Salafism) and Abul A'la Maududi (Jamaat-e-Islami), Al-Nursî is easily just as important. In my opinion, Nursî's methodology was far superior to any of the other fathers of Islamist movements. Unlike the others who emphasized violent jihad to accomplish their goals, Nursî emphasized things like science, good deeds and interfaith dialogue. In this regard, Nursî is the father of what we could call "Turkish Islam." Instead of confronting the Western world with acts of jihad and violent resistance, Nursî sought to create a form of Islam the West would welcome with open arms. It worked like clockwork. The West took the bait and swallowed the hook. This was the kind of Islam the West wanted to champion - a moderated, decaffeinated, Christianized form of Islam. Taking the baton from Nursî, a highly charismatic imam named Fethullah Gülen dramatically expanded upon all Bediuzzaman started. Though preaching a more nationalist message than Nursî, Gülen also preached an Islam intermingled with an emphasis on education, science, charitable acts of kindness and service and its greatest outreach tool - interfaith dialogue. As wonderful as this may all sound to the modern ear, Gülen is also infamous for having been secretly recorded instructing his followers to "infiltrate the very arteries of the system" of society and government to "lay in wait until the most opportune time" to retake Turkey from the secularists to ultimately re-establish the Turkish-led Caliphate. Ironically, Gülen today lives in rural Pennsylvania, under the protection of the United States government. There are also over 120 charter schools in the U.S. under Gülen's organization. With regard to the rise of Erdoğan, What must be understood is that it was specifically this vast throng of Nursî and Gülen supporters who created the very backbone of Erdoğan's support. The Gülenists had followed their leader's dictates and infiltrated virtually every sphere of society. It was through this vast support base that Erdoğan rode to power over the past 15 years. It was not until the summer of 2013 that a dramatic spilt between the Gülenists and Erdoğan emerged. As the regional unrest of the Arab Spring finally reached Turkey, the Islamist government began violently cracking down on its own citizens. A handful died in the protests, and thousands were hospitalized. Having been in Taksim Square on May 15, 2013, the night of that year's most violent crackdown on the protesters, I can testify that the tactics of the government against its people were absolutely brutal. Concerned at the heavy-handed tactics of Erdogan's government, from his hideaway in Pennsylvania, Gülen began criticizing Erdoğan. Like any narcissistic dictator who demands absolute loyalty, Erdoğan would have absolutely none of it. What began as an escalating war of words soon grew into a full-blown clash of the titans. Gülen struck first with several high-level Erdoğan officials being arrested in multiple nighttime raids. Going for the jugular, the Gülenists targeted Erdoğan's own son Bilal. To further rub salt into the wound, Gülen's agents released a secret recording of President Erdoğan on the phone with his son, frantically warning him that the police were on their way and that he needed to immediately remove piles of boxes filled with cash from his house. Caught red-handed and utterly embarrassed, Erdoğan claimed the tapes were doctored - and although it was obviously his voice, he continues to vociferously deny it to this day. The gauntlet had been cast, and for the next few years the secret war between Erdoğan's AKP supporters and Gülen's deep-state followers continued to roll over at full boil. On the night of July 15, 2016, the conflict came to a full head, with the now infamous failed Turkish coup d'état. The attempt to overthrow the government was carried out by a faction within the military with ties to Fethullah Gülen. Despite a night of violent attacks and hundreds of deaths, by morning, Erdoğan had regained control of the nation and crushed the rebellion. Immediately, President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry took to the podium and publicly called on all Turkish political parties and citizens to support Erdoğan and the AKP party. Since that night, analysts have sought to determine wether the coup was a genuine failed coup or if it was all staged by Erdoğan and his agents. The best analysis seems to indicate that it was likely a controlled coup attempt, one the AKP-run government had advance knowledge of and yet allowed to happen as an excuse to carry out the harsh purge of its political opponents. This wouldn't be the first time the AKP had staged a red-flag event for the purpose of removing its political enemies. On two occasions, the government claimed that the leaders of the Turkish military were engaged in a conspiracy theory to stage a series of terrorist attacks throughout the nation, as an excuse to remove the Islamist led AKP party. Instead, the AKP had hundreds of top military leaders arrested and removed from office. They were all replaced by officers faithful to Erdoğan. The AKP had effectively beheaded the only wing of the Turkish government capable of removing a runaway Islamist dictatorship. It worked perfectly the first time, and it worked even better the second time. Just one year after the failed coup, Erdoğan's government has arrested over 123,000 citizens, has fired over 145,000, removed nearly 9,000 academics, closed over 2,000 schools, arrested nearly 300 journalists, shut down close to 200 media outlets, and has dismissed close to 5,000 judges. This doesn't include the increasing number of men and woman who continue to simply disappear, having been literally snatched off the streets never to be seen again. This is unparalleled in modern history. Turkey has experienced its own "Nacht der langen Messer," or "Night of Long-Knives." Hitler's 1934 extrajudicial assault on his own supporters know as "the Brownshirts," bears a striking resemblance to Erdoğan's purge of the Gülenists. Although he could not have become president if not for their support, he turned on them and crushed them. Now that Erdoğan has attained absolute power over Turkey, the moderate character that he played to win the support of the Western world is no longer needed. His mask has been removed and his true colors revealed. Now he is free to openly threaten European leaders. As I have been warning for well over a decade, the moderate Islamist who supports democracy was all a facade. His plan, declared nearly 20 years ago, went perfectly according to his plan. As he said then, "Democracy is like a streetcar. You ride it until you get where you need to get, and then you get off." This is exactly where we find ourselves today. So what does the future hold? In 2013, during the height of the Turkish riots, I not only attended one of the protests, but also attended a massive political rally for Erdoğan. This was far and away the largest gathering I have ever been to in my life. As far as the eye could see, there was a throng of supporters waving Turkish flags and chanting their heor's name: "Recep. Tayyip. Erdoğan. Recep-Tayyip-Erdoğan!" I commented then, and will reiterate now, I have never felt as though I were watching history repeat as clearly as I did that day. The combination of nationalism, Islamism and over-the-top political hero worship on display that day should be terrifying to anyone with foresight. One would have to have been completely blind not to have seen the dark ghost of Nazi Germany hanging over the crowd that day. For years, analysts tried to shout down warnings that Erdoğan has a desire to return to the Ottoman era. Today those same critics are taking a fresh look at the man they once made excuses for and even championed. On the day Erdoğan won the referendum (allowing him to rewrite the Turkish constitution and which effectively brought an end to the secular democratic Republic of Turkey as envisioned by Ataturk), to celebrate his victory, he made a very symbolic statement. Not only did he specifically avoid visiting the tomb of Ataturk, but instead, he visited the tomb of Sultan Selim I. He was making a very clear statement. Known as Selim the Grim, the Sultan ruled the Ottoman Empire from 1512 to 1520. He is most remembered for his expansionist conquest over Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Erdoğan was sending a very clear message. The era of Ataturk is over. There is a new Sultan Selim the Grim in power. There is a Turkish proverb that says, "Show the people death, and they will happily embrace malaria." In other words, compared to the horror of the ISIS Caliphate, a Turkish Caliphate looks quite appealing. Even in the Western press, various think tanks and op-ed pieces are now suggesting that the key to Middle Eastern stability is a return to Ottoman regional control - a new Turkish Ottoman order of sorts. As the ISIS Caliphate collapses, and much of the civilized world is breathing a sigh of relief, many others throughout the Muslim world, while acknowledging the horrific excesses of ISIS, also recognize that there is indeed a significant cry through the Muslim world for the restoration of the Caliphate. Having a Caliphate in place is an essential part of Muslim life and doctrine. It is as foundational to Muslims as having a pope in office is to Catholics. Within Islamic theology and practice, the Caliphate is the very means by which Shariah ("God's law" as Muslims might say), is be established, safeguarded and ultimately spread throughout the world. Since that fateful year of 1923 when Mustafa Kemal Ataturk oversaw the dismantling of the Ottoman Caliphate, Islamist thinkers, dreamers and the organizations they birthed have been strategizing and fighting to see its restoration. As the ISIS Caliphate collapses, there is a much larger shadow rising not only over the Middle East, but also well into Europe. The history of American foreign policy has somewhat been a circus of creating our enemies of tomorrow, today. We did it with the Taliban. We did it with Saddam Hussein. We arguably did it with Osama bin Laden. Each time, it was a short decade or more before we were at war with the very entities we had supported, backed and even trained. After 16 years in Afghanistan and Iraq, with American military resources drained,and well over 4,000 American soldiers dead, one could argue the region is in a worse condition than when we first began. But here's the kicker; the Taliban and Saddam Hussein are small potatoes compared to Turkey, a nation that has the largest army in the Middle East. If my understanding of biblical prophecy is correct, this time, the very monster that the United States helped to create, is going to be a lot more than the world can handle. Nearing Midnight: Satan the Ultimate Manipulator - Todd Strandberg - http://www.raptureready.com/category/nearing-midnight/ The Bible lists many times where the devil has tried to challenge God's will and has failed. It is interesting that there is no example where he shows any signs of frustration. He is like Wile E. Coyote. If Plan A fails, he immediately goes to Plan B, and then to Plan C. The source of his tenacity stems from having a spiritual body that never tires or needs rest. Another fact is that Satan has a totally reprobate mind-incapable of realizing that he is no match for God. This endless determination on the devil's part is the explanation for why the world is becoming overrun be evil. When God lifts His hand of protection, Satan immediately fills the void. Donald J. Trump's presidency has now passed the 200-day mark. The liberal media have become absolutely fanatical in their efforts to continue to undermine his administration. They talk about the impeachment process without having any evidence of a crime. You have the lunatic, Maxine Waters, talking about the impeachment of Mike Pence saying, "We'll get him next." The appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller to investigate Russia's supposed election meddling-is obviously an old fashioned "witch hunt" designed to take down President Trump. Ironically, a similar effort to remove Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from office is under way. His political enemies have been using the Israeli justice system to find any bit of dirt on him. Both these leaders have been under such intense scrutiny, I don't see how it is possible for either one of them to do something that could be seen as a clear violation of the law. We have reached such a profound level of demonic madness, I think the punishable infractions will come whether they are real or imagined. A strong indication that we are in uncharted territory has been demonstrated by the cable channel CNN. During the past few months, the reputation of this "news" organization has been pushed through the wood chipper because of its reckless negative reporting on the Trump Administration. When CNN tracked down the Reddit user behind the now famous Trump WWE video file, the person who posted it was forced to apologize. This MAFIA tactic triggered an eruption of rage on social media. In any other time period for a network, upper management would have fired everyone who had disgraced the company's brand name. In fact, it would have never been allowed to advance to this level. People would have been axed in mid-production of a news story. The only goal at CNN is to destroy President Trump at any cost. The executives and reporters at CNN have as little concern over ratings as a kamikaze pilot cares about getting his airplane wings dented. Just as Satan has an ability to motivate his forces, he can cause confusion and division in groups that should be working for good. The devil has done wonders in muddling the Republican Congressional leadership. Despite having a majority in both houses, and a Republican president in the White House-Capitol Hill is in complete gridlock. Mitch McConnell has to be the most incompetent politician in American history; there is a "Ditch Mitch" movement that is trying to get him removed. When I read about his legislative actions, it makes me wonder if he is a liberal mole: McConnell helped pass the Wall Street bailout, increase taxes on 80% of American families, confirm Loretta Lynch, rescue the Export-Import Bank corporate welfare program, pass a bloated highway bill, and pass government spending bills that fully funded Planned Parenthood, Obamacare, sanctuary cities, and the reckless Iran nuclear deal. And now he has broken his promise to repeal Obamacare "root and branch" and failed to pass even the skinniest repeal. Even worse, he continues to use his political machine to defend liberal Republicans in primary elections, making them far less likely to support conservative policies in the Senate.-ditchmitchnow.com A growing number of Republicans seem to have lost their minds when it comes to being consistent in what issues they support. When John McCain voted down the Senate healthcare bill, people started questioning if his brain cancer was responsible for his "no" vote when previously he had said he would vote "yes." The core problem is spiritual in nature. The devil wants to win, and he is going to take advantage of every opportunity to wreak havoc in the world. I think the insanity is only going to get worse right up to the time of the Rapture, which tells us that time is short. "Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time" (Revelation 12:12b). Eclipse as 40 Days of Repentance Begin Signals "End of Era" for America, Warns Rabbi - By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz - https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/93319/eclipse-40-days-repentance-begin-signals-end-era-america-warns-rabbi/#lCMrk5SpBvWX4Lxt.97 "This is Hashem's doing; it is marvelous in our sight." Psalms 118:23 (The Israel Bible™) A rare confluence of conflicting elemental forces may appear next Monday off the coast of America, when a rare hurricane is expected to hit the north Atlantic precisely as the shadow of a total solar eclipse passes overhead. A prominent End-of-Days expert sees this as a powerful last-ditch wake-up call for America, with an especially chilling message for American Jews. The solar eclipse next week is expected to appear over Oregon in the northwest United States at 9:06 AM on Monday, and will work its way southeast in a diagonal path, passing over the South Carolina coast at around 4:06 PM. The shadow will then continue on out to sea, heading south over the Atlantic. Solar eclipses cause unusually high tides in coastal regions. Right now, clouds are forming that may form into a significant hurricane on Monday, stirring up the waters of the Atlantic directly under the solar eclipse. "This is precisely what happened before the flood of Noah,"said Rabbi Pinchas Winston, an end-of-days expert and prolific author on the subject. "The Midrash (Talmud) states that God sent unusual weather before the flood in order to rouse the people to do tshuva (repent)." Rabbi Winston explained that nature is an aspect of God referred to in Judaism as 'Elohim' and unusual natural phenomenon contain divine messages. Next week's mix of darkness and raging storm is indeed rare. The last time solar eclipse appeared over a hurricane in the Atlantic was in 1959. The last time a solar eclipse traversed the United States was 99 years ago. "God uses nature to nudge us along, to trigger us to decide. Any occurrence that is outside of the norm is intended to make people think, each in his own way. People of faith can become stronger in their while secular people can become more so," Rabbi Winston told Breaking Israel News. He explained that the nations of the world are represented by the sun and the Talmud singles out a solar eclipse as a bad omen for non-Jews. "This is the end of an era for America," said Rabbi Winston. "The righteous Christians still have salvation within America. They are getting the wake up call that they are about to go through a very difficult time. It is a call for tshuva." The timing of the eclipse certainly points towards a call for repentance. The eclipse will end just a few hours before the Hebrew month of Elul begins, initiating a forty-day period of repentance culminating in the holy day of Yom Kippur, the most somber day of the Jewish calendar, when tradition holds that God completes his judgement of the world and closes the Book of Life. The forty days between the first day of Elul and Yom Kippur correspond to the 40 days that Moses spent repenting to God for Israel on Mount Sinai. During those 40 days, the Jewish people blow the shofar daily and recite special pre-dawn penitential prayers known as slichot (forgiveness). Rabbi Winston emphasized that the eclipse wake-up call bears a different message for American Jews. "Once this era is over and God decides that the purpose of Jews in America is over, even the righteous Jews will not have any protection," warned Rabbi Winston. He explained that this was a recurring pattern in the history of the Jews in exile. "When an era ended in Spain and Portugal, the countries suffered, but ultimately they recovered," Rabbi Winston said. "But for the Jews of Spain and Portugal, it was the end. The same happened in Germany, and every other country that has ever hosted the Jews." "This eclipse is the final wake-up call for the American Jews to come to Israel," Rabbi Winston said. Astronomical phenomenon are often discussed in Jewish literature as accompanying the Messiah. Rabbi Winston is the latest in a series of prominent rabbis who have speculated on the spiritual implications of the upcoming rare astral event. Rabbi Yosef Berger cited a 100-year old prophecy warning that a solar eclipse occurring on the eve of Elul warns of disaster for "Kings of the East", while Rabbi Lazar Brody explained the eclipse as a warning to America against normalizing Biblically immoral behaviors. Daily Jot: Moral equivalency of fascism and communism - Bill Wilson - www.dailyjot.com The news media is having a melt down over President Donald Trump saying that there were at least two sides to blame in the Charlottesville, Va., riots over the past weekend. The media and the left jumped to the conclusion that the President is a racist because he isn't putting the full blame on the white supremacists. The media and the left is choosing to ignore that the riot didn't become a riot until Antifa communists and anarchists confronted the white supremacists. They see no moral equivalency between racism and anybody standing against the racists. In the minds of the left, it doesn't matter who confronted the white supremacists, and whoever says there were two sides to the violence, is a bigot and a racist. To these reporters and liberals there can be no defense of the KKK, Neo-Nazis, etc., because they are race hate groups. It doesn't matter to the left if these groups were hypothetically sitting peacefully in a park and were provoked and attacked by the Democratic Party, it is the racist groups' fault because they are racist and racism cannot be defended. That's how they are looking at it. Certainly, there are likely racists and bigots among the so-called anti-fascist group Antifa, but they are self-proclaimed communists and anarchists not known for their racism. Hence, the President saying "both sides" are at fault is true, but to the left it means he's a racist because he is defending the white supremacists. Trump's words were just the opening that the left needed to label him a racist once and for all and stain his presidency. They took to the airwaves to cement the image into every American's mindset. According to MRC, the big three networks spent 77.6 percent of their primetime news coverage expressing outrage over Trump "defending" white supremacists. CBS News spent its entire evening news on Trump's remarks. The networks missed stories about North Korea backing down on its nuclear threat, and how the previous "president" was warned about Russian interference in the election, but did nothing about it. NBC and ABC refused to carry Trump's strong condemnation of the murderer in the riot. The truth is that club-yielding members of Antifa played a significant role in the violence of the Charlottesville riots. Trump, however, is now labeled a racist by the left because in their eyes there is no moral equivalency between racists and people standing up against them. Isaiah 59:13-14 may aptly describe the entirety of this situation, "In transgressing and lying against the LORD, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. And justice is turned back, and righteousness stands afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter." Racism, communism, fascism is all of the devil and have no moral equivalency. Daily Devotion: No Room for Prejudice - By Greg Laurie - www.harvest.org "Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them." -Acts 8:5 Being an effective communicator of the gospel requires a willingness to reach out to people who are different from you. We tend to want to hang around people who look like us, who talk like us, and who are just like us. But how willing are we to leave our comfort zone and go to a person completely different from us with the message of the gospel? To put it another way, are we willing to acknowledge that all prejudice is wrong? Everyone needs Jesus, and we need to go without embarrassment and share the gospel with them. We can talk all day about how to do evangelism effectively. We can go to classes on how to share our faith and read books about it. We can memorize a list of conversation-starters that can help turn a conversation toward evangelism. All these things are good. But none of them will matter if we don't care about others. People can tell whether or not we care about them. Even a dog can tell. And a person will know whether you are sharing the gospel out of sincerity or a mere sense of duty. The Bible gives us the example of Philip, who had a heart for unbelievers. Along with Stephen and others, he was called to be a deacon in the church. And when Stephen was martyred and Saul of Tarsus began to attack Christians, where did Philip go? To Samaria. Philip was a Jew, yet he went to Samaria. This was significant, because Jews hated Samaritans, and Samaritans hated Jews. Yet Philip went to these people, people whom Jews normally would not speak to, much less want to reach. May God give us compassion for people who do not yet know Him. Philip had that, and we should too. 
FROM THE HEART
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