Prophecy Update Newsletter
IN TODAY'S NEWSLETTER...
LAST DAYS APOSTASY IN THE CHURCHES - By Pastor Mike Taylor - http://pastormiketaylor.blogspot.com/2018/09/last-days-apostasy-in-churches.html
" But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken; 46, The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. 47, And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes." (Luke 12:45-47) Since the turn of the millennium, the world has witnessed a virtual meltdown of biblical Christianity. While many are saying Christianity is experiencing a great revival and even a "new reformation," this could be further from the truth, as I will attempt to explore in this message. In one word, Christianity is being "redefined". Scores of pastors have chosen to abandon the Bible in favor of postmodernism (that is, what they view as progressive and culturally relevant). There is no other way to describe what has happened. Those who love God and believe the Bible is His Word cannot believe what has happened. Light has turned into darkness. What was once believed to be true is now proclaimed to be a lie. Those who once claimed to be followers of Jesus and the Bible are now following men and their philosophies. I had a sister in Christ write me and ask me when the latter day rain of the Holy Spirit will be coming. There are many in the main stream religions that preach an increase in Christianity to such an extent that the world will be getting better and better, so much that we will transform the world into the Kingdom of God, but without the King present. Sadly, I had to correct her and let her know that the revival that she speaks of is of the Kingdom Now, or Dominionism and supported by Preterist that believe Bible prophesy has all been fulfilled. Her awaiting a great revival will not come until the Church of the Living God is forcefully removed from this planet. Then the spread of the Gospel will be spread to the whole world on the efforts of the 144,000 evangelist from the 12 tribes of Israel. Millions will be saved and millions will die for their faith. This is the only revival this world will see and it begins in the Tribulation. They that embrace a Kingdom Now theology await the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ, but in the meantime, they seek a Utopian world view that proclaims the strength and power of the Church and men, and not the Lord of Glory. We will usher in, according to their heresy, the Kingdom of God on our own efforts. Not God's, but theirs. Then and only then in their minds, will Jesus come to set up His kingdom. Is that true? Does the Bible support such a belief, or has the modern day churches gone completely mad? THEY HAVE LEFT THEIR FIRST LOVE! Rather than reaching out to the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ, pastors and Bible teachers are abandoning the Bible in order to embrace the world. They look for ways to market what they call Christianity by incorporating sensual gimmicks that are supposed to attract the masses. Hymn books are tossed out of churches from the pews. Pews have been replaced by soft theater seats with credit card terminals. Being comfortable while attending church is the standard. Don't mention sin or that Jesus shed His blood on the Cross because that would be offensive. The apostle Paul warned of such a time that we now live in, and sadly, this world is not going to get better, it's going to get progressively worse. "Know this also, that in the last days perilous times shall come; 2, For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, braggarts, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3. Without natural affection, implacable, slanderers, without self-control, savage, despisers of those who are good, 4, Betrayers, reckless, egotistical, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; 5, Having an outward appearance of godliness, but denying the power of true godliness. But as for you, turn away from all these." (II Timothy 3:1-5) I could ask: What happened to the God of the Bible who created all things according to the book of Genesis? When did creation become a religious Babylonian myth and the theory of evolution become the science that proves that an explosion plus time and chance is the formula for the origin of all life? It appears that science has replaced The God of the Bible, as men look to logic and reasoning that leaves our Creator alienated in their lives and this has spread to even "Protestant churches", especially to the Emergent Churches that have attempted to redefine Biblical Christianity. They have left their first love and preach a New Age theology that is anathema to Biblical Christianity. There are many symptoms of this heresy in today's churches. Have we been Hinduized and now think that Yoga is a Christian exercise? Or what about getting closer to Jesus by humming mantras, "getting centered," or practicing eastern mystical contemplative prayers that will send you off to Nirvana? Have Christians lost their minds and been seduced by demons? "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 2, Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; 3, Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth." (1st Timothy 4:1-3) I could point to the madness that fills "Charismatic" Churches that promote emotional experiences that leaves one in doubt about their origins. Are they of God, or the human's emotional attempt to redefine what is of God and what is not of God? For example, what about getting drunk in the "Spirit" or barking like a dog because of the "transferable anointing"? Where is that kind of behavior found in Scriptures? Are Christians being prepared for a great revival, or are they being seduced by another spirit? Then there is the trend that embraces "ecumenical madness." The term Protestant is thrown to the ash heap of history, as many say that the term has no relevance to the "modern" churches of today. Church leaders claim there is no difference between the Pentecostal Jesus and the Eucharistic Christ worshiped and adored in a Roman Catholic monstrance. Or for many today, Jesus is nothing more than the Cosmic Christ that sees all is one and one is all. This "Jesus" is the universal Jesus of the New Age. If you don't believe in this "Cosmic Christ" created by your own imagination, you are often deemed a heretic or at least old-fashioned. I am appalled when I see Charismatic churches led by the likes of Kenneth Copeland, or Kenneth Hagin that promote returning to the "mother church". I saw a video where the present Roman Catholic pope was speaking to the churches led by the fore mentioned ministers. They propose coming home to the "one true church" of course the Roman Catholic Church and all it's history of evil and extra biblical practices. Theirs is the bridge that provides a connection for the gap that once existed between Roman Catholics and the separated brethren. Some are calling for the Second Pentecost claiming that the world will turn to Christ and establish the Kingdom of God here on earth without the presence of the King. But that is not what the apostle Paul when warning about the signs of His coming and the Day of the Lord: "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first (apostasy), and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God." (2nd Thessalonians 2:3-4). In this passage, the term apostasy or the falling away has a dual meaning, either departing from the truth of scripture, or the removal of the church from point A to point B. The "falling away" (Greek apostasia) has commonly been transliterated as "the apostasy" (the definite article in the Greek indicates Paul had already told them about it), and then assumed to apply to the final great religious apostasy at the end of the age. The context, however, as well as the etymology of the word itself, makes this interpretation unlikely. In this precise form it is used nowhere else in the New Testament, so its meaning must be defined by its context here. It is derived from two Greek words, apo(meaning "away from") and stasis (meaning "standing"). It thus could properly be rendered "standing away" instead of "falling away." I believe it is a term that means both. One will precede another. A falling away from Biblical truth and then the snatching away of the Bride of Christ before the Tribulation begins and the Anti-Christ revealed. This is a direct reference to the removal of God's Church as the revealing of Jesus in the clouds to gather His Bride before the Tribulation starts. IS THE CHURCH IMPROVING, OR IMPLODING? Look around my reader. Has he church gotten better, or has true Christianity fallen from the faith once delivered by the apostles? Has the church grown in grace and in truth, or has the "Purpose Driven Church" replaced grace and faith found in our Lord Jesus Christ with a counterfeit and false doctrine? "For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them" (2nd Peter 2:20-21) ISRAEL, THE KEY TO END TIME PROPHECY The cardinal sign of the end of this age is Israel no longer has a significant place in Scripture to those who are in error. Jews are a problem to the new emerging church. Replacement theology has ignored the Israel of the Bible and replaced God's chosen people with the church that is about to establish the kingdom of God here on earth. In other words, Christianity has been reformed and those who refuse to accept this are considered uneducated morons (and are standing in the way of world peace). By extension they unwittingly, or with cunning, make way for the coming One World Religion and it's false prophet to be the anti-thesis of John the Baptist and making way for the appearing of the Anti-Christ. I have preached that there is only one man on earth who can lead the world to a false religion that draws it's power from Satan. I don't believe I need to identify his office, as details presented will point to the man. Denominations such as Lutheran and Presbyterian, and the United Methodist, just to name a few, have joined the Roman Catholic Church who have always been Jew-haters and persecuted them relentlessly, calling them "Christ killers"....not understanding that we ALL had a hand in the death of Christ, as Jesus died for all sinners, of "whom I am chief" according the Paul the Apostle: "And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. 15, This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief." (!st Timothy 1:14:15) Those who are offended by Israel, encourage their anti-semitism by such programs as "Christ at the Checkpoint", or "Boycot, Divest and Sanction" of Israel. This travesty of justice and Biblical heresy known as BDS is a global campaign attempting to increase economic and political pressure on Israel to comply with the stated goals of the movement: the end of Israel's occupation and colonization of Palestinian land and the Golan Heights, full equality for Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel, and respect for the right of return of Palestinian refugees. They abandon the clear teachings of the Bible, that God is not done with Israel, but only set her aside, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in, then all Israel will be saved. They attempt to jab a stick into the eye of a Holy God, who proclaims Israel "the apple of His eye". Thus it is a sign of the end of the age and the apostasy that grows within the ranks of modern day followers of the heresy that has been promoted by none other than the Roman Catholic church for nigh 1700+ years and especially in the hey day of her power to rule the people of Europe. " I will bless those who bless thee, and curse him who curseth thee, and in you shall all families of the earth be blessed." (Genesis 12:3) "For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye. (Zechariah 2:8) Those who curse Israel, whether they be atheist, agnostic, humanist, or even the Roman Catholic Church and her deceived daughters in the Protestant Churches, mess with fire and judgment that will discipline them in justice and in truth and receive judgment and many stripes from a Living God that holds Israel beloved It is not for only the sake of the fathers, but for His Holy Name, that does not go back on His promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. BIBLE PROPHESY IS IRRELEVANT IN THEIR VIEW Bible prophecy and the warnings about apostasy are totally relegated to a museum. A one-world religion for peace is in the making, and the Pope and the environment is the man to do it. The postmodern mindset has hijacked true biblical Christianity and made God into a god of their own imagination. The Word of God has been degraded into a myth. The focus of modern day churches is about growth, money and power. They have taken their lessons from the "mother church" and embraced apostasy. Have you noticed the church-growth emphasis that has swept the world and confirms what I speak of? Purpose-driven megachurches that market fun and entertainment are growing exponentially. The churches that stress the Bible and salvation by Jesus Christ alone are dying and on the way out. The big get bigger and the small are getting smaller. It appears that Bible-believing Christianity is on the verge of becoming next to extinct. RISE OF A ONE WORLD CHURCH-GROWTH I have spoken of this coming one world church that begins with "climate change" and the U.N. Charter that promotes Sustainable Development. The goal is to make the world equal in resource, wealth and equality in all aspects of human endeavors. But the real goal of this to dominate the earth in a New World Order that enslaves men to the elites who seek to depopulate the earth to a sustainable level. People may not understand their sinister goals yet, and may never this side of the Tribulation. But to sustain the planet and the worship of "mother earth", they propose a population of 500 million. That would do away with over 6 billion people in a world wide extermination effort. It may have already begun in third world countries such as Africa, where vaccines have led to sterilization and even death of the young, as well as the old and in their minds, the useless. Take warning reader, when this comes to pass and if you are so unfortunate to see this take hold of the world, then you may have just missed the most important event that man has ever witnessed, 2nd only to the crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord Jesus and that is the beginning of the Tribulation and the Church changed in the twinkling of an eye. "Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53, For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54, So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory." (1st Corinthians 15:51-54) This is what I believe the church will experience. Note the last word in verse 54? The word is "victory". That is what Jesus Christ will give His Bride. Victory over death, hell and the grave. We will be transported to a "marriage feast" of the Lamb of God. It is not about "escape" as some detractors from the doctrine of the rapture of the Church proclaim, but ultimate victory through Jesus Christ our Lord. "Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. 11, Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown." (Revelation 3:10-11) WARNING TO ALL MINISTERS WHO PREACH Have you stopped preaching the doctrines of the bible in favor a user friendly version that doesn't offend those who attend your church? Do you preach Jesus and Him crucified? Do you preach His resurrection and base your ministry on nothing but Jesus death and resurrection? Do you stay away from anything that speaks of sin and the separation of men from God, known as the Lake of Fire? Biblical Christianity is not a feel good religion. It does not tickle your ears..it warns those who are lost in their sins. "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4, And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables." (2nd Timothy 4:3-4) Each of us are watchmen on the wall. If you stand behind a pulpit or preach to a congregation in whatever media you use, you have a responsibility to warn those who are in danger of hell fire and all that it represents. God does not send anyone to hell, as it is a decision that each of us must make, but the Word of God must start with men and women who are commissioned by God to take the Word of Truth to those who are in their sins. ""If anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a large millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned at the bottom of the sea. 7, How terrible it will be for the world because it causes people to sin! Temptations to sin are bound to happen, but how terrible it will be for that person who causes someone to sin!" (Matthew 18:6-7) (International Standard Version) ""When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from their territory and make him their watchman, 3, when he sees the sword coming upon the land, if he blows the trumpet and warns the people, 4, then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be on his own head. 5, He heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But he who takes warning will save his life. 6, But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman"s hand." (Ezekiel 33:2-6) These verses could be applied to those who are in danger of enemy forces, and those who are in danger of hell and separation from God with hope of any reprieve. Satan is our enemy and only Jesus is our salvation from the penalty of sin. Whether a minister believes he is a watchman or not, he is commissioned by God to spread the Gospel to the lost. He is to preach the penalty of sin. He is to abandon a feel good "gospel", prosperity gospel, or a social speech of humanism and being just a "good citizen". This won't save anyone. It will not warn those who are walking the wide road and gate to destruction, but will only placate them that they are OK...they are not OK, as they do not have Jesus in their hearts. It is a minister's job to take the message of salvation to his congregation, his community and the rest of the world. "How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? 15, And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!" (Romans 10:14-15) Each of us who proclaim the Gospel, have a duty to God to speak the truth of God's Word..not pulling any punches when God speaks that without Jesus Christ, you will die in your sins! 24 "And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. 25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: 26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. 27 And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: 29 For our God is a consuming fire." (Hebrews 12:24-29) Brothers and sisters in Christ, the world is dying and is drowning in sin. It is the job of the church, and it's ministers to throw the world a life-line. His Name is Jesus Christ. To avoid offending your congregation with sermons dealing with sin, death, hell, and victory through the atoning blood of Jesus the Messiah, is a dereliction of our calling by who we ultimately serve, God our Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ. "I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: 2, preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. 3, For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4, and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. 5, But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist,fulfill your ministry." (2nd Timothy 4:1-5) I beseech you in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, preach the Word, and don't be found guilty of providing fables for itching ears. God will judge. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16) This is Pastor Mike Taylor, praying God will provide someone to teach you the grace of God through Jesus Christ out Lord. If you need counseling, prayer, or just a listening ear, email me at [email protected] , or visit me online at www.pastormiketaylor.blogspot.com . God bless you all, TILL WE MEET AT JESUS FEET. Iran's Shia Crescent Is Almost Ready To Confront Israel As It Expands Into Iraq - By Sean Savage - http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=2570 Situated in the cradle of human civilization, modern-day Iraq has been no stranger to gruesome bloodshed and violence in recent years. With the scourge of the Islamic State largely defeated, many hope that Iraq can now turn a page on its bloody recent past and start building for a new future. However, Iraq's Persian neighbor, Iran, has different plans. As one of the region's major powers, Iran has been focused on taking advantage of the chaos to its west to fulfill one of the core tenants of theocratic regime: Shi'ite Muslim expansionism and revolution. While modern Iran's involvement in Iraq goes back decades--from the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the bloody Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s to support insurgent groups in the years following the U.S. invasion--more recently, Iran has sought to leverage Iraq's majority Shi'ite Muslim population as the final piece in its corridor of control, dubbed the "Shi'ite Crescent" from Tehran to Beirut in Lebanon. "Currently, Iran has control over numerous Iraqi [mostly Shia] political and militia organizations," Phillip Smyth, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told JNS. "These groups generally follow the same organizational and ideological model as Lebanese Hezbollah," he explained. "Their creation and growth are part of a longer-term Iranian strategy that follows the successes they've built when it comes to influencing Lebanon. They wish to construct groups that push their ideologies, policies, and whose armed groups can be utilized." Indeed, Iraq's diversity has been its downfall in recent decades. Stitched together by former colonial powers the British and French following World War I, Iraq is torn between three dominant groups--the Kurds, Sunni Arab Muslims and Shi'ite Muslims, who make up about 65 percent of the population. Iran, which is also Shi'ite Muslim, has had long and complicated ties with its neighboring Iraqi Shi'ite Muslims, but has grown to fill the political vacuum left behind by recent wars to extend its domination over the community. "Iran is deeply insinuated into Iraq's political and security apparatuses. It used the Islamic State invasion of Iraq as a pretext to establish an IRGC [Iran Revolutionary Guards Corp] military presence in the country and expand its funding, training and equipping of Iraq's major Shi'ite militias, which have since been incorporated into the Iraqi government as a direct conduit for Iranian influence over Iraq's security policy," Jonathan Ruhe, associate director of JINSA's Gemunder Center for Defense and Strategy, told JNS. As such, domination over Iraq is seen as one of the last pieces extend its "land bridge" of Shi'ite Muslim communities from Iran to Lebanon in order to directly threaten Israel. "Control of this land bridge would expand Tehran's ability to proliferate advanced weapons to Hezbollah, establish a second front against Israel in the Golan, and threaten U.S. and Israeli partner Jordan," said Ruhe. "More geostrategically, it would also bolster Iranian hegemony in the heart of the Middle East, which is critical to its objective of replacing the United States as the preeminent power in the region." Iranian build-up in Iraq Earlier this month, it was reported that Iran had transferred ballistic missile to its Shi'ite proxies in Iraq. According to three Iranian officials, two Iraqi intelligence sources and two Western intelligence sources, Iran has transferred short-range ballistic missiles to allies in Iraq over the last few months. Five of the officials said it was helping those groups to start making their own," Reuters reported. Among the missiles transferred include the Zelzal, Fateh-110 and Zolfaqar, which have ranges of about 200 kilometers (125 miles) to 700 kilometers (435 miles), putting both regional foes of Iran, Saudi Arabia and Israel within striking distance. "If these reports are indeed true, it represents the next logical step in Iran's efforts to replicate and expand the threat posed to Israel from Hezbollah's Iranian-made missile arsenal in Lebanon," said Ruhe. "Iran is pursuing a similar project in Syria, which has prompted Israeli airstrikes to prevent Syria becoming a second front for threatening Israel with precision missiles." "In putting new missiles in Iraq capable of reaching Israel, Iran would be presenting Israel with a dilemma: escalate its preventive campaign against Iranian proliferation of strategic weaponry by forcing Israel to expand its strikes to another country, or allow Tehran to establish yet another way to threaten Israel?" he asked. Will Israel attack Iraq? Already, Israel has signaled that it would not tolerate this new Iranian front in Iraq, as it has done with hundreds of airstrikes on Iranian military assets in Syria during its seven-year civil war. "We are certainly monitoring everything that is happening in Syria, and regarding Iranian threats, we are not limiting ourselves just to Syrian territory. This also needs to be clear," Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said in reference to Iran's buildup in Iraq earlier this month. "I am saying that we will contend with any Iranian threat, and it doesn't matter from where it comes ... Israel's freedom is total. We retain this freedom of action," he added. Israel, of course, is no stranger to carrying out an attack on Iraqi soil. In 1981 Israel's air force destroyed the Osirak Iraqi nuclear reaction near Baghdad. However, the United States, which has about 5,200 troops in Iraq as part of its mission to stabilize the country and defeat the Islamic State, reportedly warned Israel not to carry out any airstrikes in Iraq. American officials were reported to have told Israeli defense officials to "please leave Iraq to us," Israel public broadcaster KAN reported. Yet Ruhe remains unconvinced that America would target Iran or Iranian-backed militias in Iraq. "To date, the United States has demonstrated a desire to coexist, however uneasily, alongside Iranian-backed forces in Iraq as part of the overarching goal of restoring a semblance of political and military stability to Iraq, and minimizing risks and burdens to U.S. forces operating there," he said. For Smyth, an attack by Israel in Iraq would be a "major escalation" from how the Jewish state has targeted these groups in the past. "The farthest strike [likely launched by the Israelis] was near the Syrian-Iraq border some weeks ago. Of course, this may have been a signal by Israel to the militias that as soon as they enter Syria, they will be subject to Israeli attacks. "However, going directly into Iraq would be a move in the direction of saying that all of these targets on the table, and it could have much harsher repercussions for U.S. forces." As such, Ruhe sees any Israel attack on Iranian proxies in Iraq as part of a broader campaign. "It seems more realistic to envisions Israeli forces attacking Iranian proxies in Iraq--either as an expanded part of its counter-missile campaign against Iran in Syria, or as part of a major conflict between Israel on the one hand and Iran and it proxies [including Hezbollah] on the other," Ruhe said. "Indeed, Israel has made clear at least since Netanyahu's Munich speech in February that if attacked, it would address the Iranian threat in its totality--region wide, and not just from Syria." The Land Nobody Wanted - Jack Kinsella - www.omegaletter.com The land claimed by Israel is smaller than the state of Rhode Island. In comparison to the Arab Middle East, Israel is like a single piece of sod on a football field. Carrying the analogy further, imagine that one team has to defend that single piece of sod from an opposing team that outnumbers them 650 to 1. The other team, claiming unfair advantage, is demanding the single piece of sod be divided and half of it be awarded to them. The referees agree, and penalize the defending team for refusing to concede half of its 1/6th of one percent of the field to the opposition [that outnumbers them 650 to one]. The crowd loudly boos the defenders. That is roughly analogous to the rules of engagement under which the Middle East conflict is being played out. The Arab side makes two concurrent claims; 1) Israel has no historical right to the land; and 2) Israel, by its existence, has dispossessed the indigenous Palestinian people, leaving them with nowhere to go. Except for a few decades of Christian control during the Crusades era, the land claimed by Israel was under Islamic control for 1300 years. This is one of the principle arguments advanced in favor of the Palestinian claim that Israel has no historical right to the Land of Promise. That argument is bolstered by the existence of an Arab mosque atop what the Jews claim as Temple Mount, a mosque that has graced Mount Moriah for some 1,350 years. According to modern Islam, the mosque atop Mount Moriah is the third-holiest site in Islam. Recently Islamic tradition says the al Aqsa Mosque marks the place where Mohammed ascended into heaven aboard a winged horse. For that reason, it now ranks third in line behind Mecca and Medina as Islam's holiest cities. In ancient times, Israel sat atop the most strategic crossroads of the known world. One couldn't get from Babylon to Egypt by chariot without passing through it. Israel and Jerusalem have been fought over and conquered by the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Egyptians, Romans, Arabs, Turks, and finally, the British in 1917. In each of its conquests, Jerusalem was strategic because of its strategic value as Israel's God-given capital. From Nebuchadnezzar to Titus, each successive conqueror acknowledged Jerusalem as the capital of the Jews. When the region was conquered by Islam, taking Jerusalem was a strategic, rather than religious necessity. Whoever controlled the Jewish holy city controlled the remaining indigenous Jews. The reconquest of Jerusalem became a holy religious duty only after the Crusaders claimed the city for Christianity. Since the city was holy to Judaism and holy to Christianity, it became holy to Islam, as well. But 'holy' doesn't mean the same thing to Islam as it does to Christians and Jews. To Christians or Jews, 'holy' means worthy of reverence, whereas to Islam, 'holy' means worthy of possession. Under Islamic possession, Jerusalem was just another dusty city of the province of Southern Syria. In the four hundred years Jerusalem was under Ottoman rule until 1917, the city was never even a regional or provincial capital. After the Ottoman Empire fell to the Allies in the First World War, British foreign secretary Lord Balfour put into writing Britain's support for "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people." When the League of Nations made Palestine a British mandate after the war, Lord Balfour's declaration was assumed as part of the deal and the allied powers of the Great War all agreed. By 1935, there were more than 300,000 Jews in Palestine. Tel Aviv, founded in 1909, had 100,000 people. In 1947 Britain, which had been handed the Palestine problem by the now-defunct League of Nations passed it on, with relief, to the newly born United Nations. The UN agreed to partition Palestine into a Jewish state, an Arab state, and a neutral UN zone containing Jerusalem, a city sacred to three religions. The Jews were thrilled, the Arabs adamantly opposed. In late 1947 the plan was ratified by the UN, and the State of Israel proclaimed on May 14, 1948. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled the country. The the British pulled out completely, and most of the Arab world- Egypt, Transjordan (now Jordan), Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon, as well as Palestinians- immediately attacked in an attempt to destroy Israel. By the time of armistice in 1949 Israel held three quarters of Palestine- twice as much land as the UN had proposed- Jordan had taken the land on the West Bank of the Jordan River, and Egypt had taken the Gaza Strip. It is at this point in the story of the Middle East that history ends and the modern myth of the Middle East is born. Assessment: The modern myth is that at the end of the Israeli War of Independence, the indigenous 'Palestinian' people were dispossessed by Israel and left with nothing. The historical fact is that, until the mid 1930's, the term 'Palestinian' was a label applied to the Jews. Until 1950, the name of the Jerusalem Post was THE PALESTINE POST; the journal of the Zionist Organization of America was NEW PALESTINE; Bank Leumi was the ANGLO-PALESTINE BANK; the Israel Electric Company was the PALESTINE ELECTRIC COMPANY; there was the PALESTINE FOUNDATION FUND and the PALESTINE PHILHARMONIC. All these were Jewish organizations. In America, Zionist youngsters sang "PALESTINE, MY PALESTINE", "PALESTINE SCOUT SONG" and "PALESTINE SPRING SONG" In general, the terms 'Palestine' and 'Palestinian' referred to the region of Palestine as it was prior to 1948. Thus "Palestinian Jew" and "Palestinian Arab" are straightforward expressions. "Palestine Post" and "Palestine Philharmonic" refer to these bodies as they existed in a place then known as Palestine. The adoption of a Palestinian identity by the Arabs of Palestine is a recent phenomenon. Until the establishment of the State of Israel, and for another decade or so, the term 'Palestinian' applied exclusively to the Jews. The claims of the Arab 'Palestinians' to be a separate people is an utter fiction. There is no language known as Palestinian. There is no distinct Palestinian culture. There has never been a land known as Palestine governed by Arab Palestinians. Arab Palestinians are indistinguishable from Jordanians (recent British inventions all), Syrians, Lebanese, Iraqis, etc. Syria was created by the British and subsequently given to France as the French Mandate. The Syrians declared independence after the British left in 1946, two years before Israel did the same thing. Jordan was created by the British in 1921. The same British government that created the modern Arab world in 1920 at the San Remo Conference in Italy -- by decree -- also created a Jewish homeland the same way at the same conference. And the Jewish Palestine of the Balfour Declaration as confirmed at San Remo encompassed a much bigger chunk of ground than Israel claims today. Until the Jews renewed their claim to the land of Palestine, nobody else wanted it. The Jews petitioned for statehood on the principle that Palestine was "a land without a people" and that the Jews were "a people without a land." Arab revisionist historians say that claim was 'a myth.' History and mathematics tell a different story -- if anybody were interested in the facts, that is. In 1948, there were about 735,000 Muslim and Christian Arabs in Palestine. There were about 716,000 Jews. Since the same land now supports a population of more than 12 million combined Arabs and Jews, the argument that the Arabs were 'crowded out' by the Jews makes no sense. The 'Palestinian refugees' languishing in 'refugee camps' in Jordan, Lebanon and elsewhere, were not interned by Israel. They were interned by their own governments after those governments lost the war with Israel. Those Jordanian citizens that lived in Jordan's West Bank and the citizens of Egypt's Gaza Strip (who, on May 30, 1967 were still Egyptians), became instant 'Palestinians' on June 7, 1967. From the moment of its declaration of statehood, the Jews of Israel have lived under the constant threat of annihilation by the surrounding Arab states. As Golda Meir observed during the Yom Kippur War, "the Arabs can fight, and lose, and come back to fight another day. Israel can only lose once." What makes this significant is that NONE of this is a secret. Knowing this, the entire world prefers the fictional account advanced by the Islamic world; that the Palestinians pre-existed the Jews, that the Jews stole 'Palestinian land' dispossessed its inhabitants and locked them away in refugee camps. Remember the football field and the single square of sod analogy. To the world, dividing that single square of sod defended by a team outnumbered 650 to one that holds the rest of the football field is an example of 'leveling the playing field'. It is nothing short of madness. But it is a madness that seems to have infected the world at large. The Islamic version of the Arab-Israeli conflict is a monstrous lie being advanced in favor of a claim to land that nobody wanted until the Jews did. In the midst of a global war on terror, the world is prepared to countenance an openly terrorist government ruling over a 'people' that do not exist, (a people whose only goal is the ANNIHILATION of another people whose history is THE most documented record of ancient times) based on the argument that the Jewish claim to Jerusalem is historically invalid. That lie is so delusional that it boggles the mind. Yet it is the basic reason for a global war on terror that now threatens to spill over into an all-out war of civilizations. Israel, by its very existence, is a stench in the nostrils of the secular world. It is a constant reminder of the existence and reality of God, and therefore, man's accountability before Him. Paul explains it this way: "And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind. . ." (Romans 1:28) The secular world's war, blind anti-semitism so ingrained in its psyche it is blissfully unaware it even exists. Any critically-thinking person can see the truth, yet the UN consistently finds the 'anti-truth' when it involves Israel. It is almost supernatural in its scope and breadth. In fact, scratch 'almost' from that last sentence. It IS supernatural. Obedience Is More Important Than Worship - By Grant Phillips - https://www.raptureready.com/2018/09/18/obedience-important-worship-grant-phillips/ I encourage you to read 1 Samuel 15 first before continuing. By doing so, it will provide a better overall picture. Millions of Christians today worship God, but fail to obey Him. Which does God prefer? 1 Samuel Verse 3 "Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys." The time had come for the Amalekites to be judged. Therefore, God had given direct orders to Saul through Samuel to destroy ALL of the Amalekites, including men, women, children, infants, cattle and sheep. A good soldier knows that you don't question orders, you just obey them. Children will question the orders of their parents (Why? Why? Why?), but most of the time, they don't need to know. It doesn't matter why the order is given. What does matter is that we have been given our orders and we are to obey the order exactly as given. God wants our obedience. Verses 12-15 "Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he was told, "Saul has gone to Carmel. There he has set up a monument in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal." When Samuel reached him, Saul said, "The LORD bless you! I have carried out the LORD's instructions." But Samuel said, "What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?" Saul answered, "The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the LORD your God, but we totally destroyed the rest." Obviously, Saul did not do as he was told. He definitely disobeyed orders. Not only that, he "set up a monument for his own honor." What did God say to do? Look again at verse three (3). God said to destroy ALL of the Amalekites, including their four-legged property. Saul had a better idea though. He would bring back the best from the Amalekites for a "chilling, singing, shouting, warm-all-over, fuzzy feeling worship service. Praise the Lord!" That being the case, God must have told Saul, "Why Saul, that's a much better idea than mine, and it's more humane too. I like your idea. Please worship Me and have a good old heart-felt, singing and shouting, fellowship. Turn up the music!" We will see that is not what God said. Verse 19 "Why did you not obey the LORD? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the LORD?" Oops. What just happened? Samuel just told Saul he disobeyed the Lord, pounced on the plunder and did evil in the Lord's eyes. All was going so well. What happened? Saul was probably thinking, "I don't get it. I stayed up all night thinking of a way I could provide great sacrifices to You in our worship service. Surely, you're not upset over the monument to me. I AM the king you know." Verses 20-21 "But I did obey the LORD," Saul said. "I went on the mission the LORD assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal." Isn't that what I just said that Saul was probably thinking? Guess what? God isn't buying it. How can he possibly say that he obeyed God?! He even brings back Agag, the Amalekite king. This Saul is an ego-centered, obstinate narcissist, just like many today. Verses 22-23 "But Samuel replied: "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king." "To obey is better than sacrifice." "To heed is better than the fat of rams." God wants no part of our worship if it excludes our obedience and heeding His Word. How serious is God about obeying Him? Saul just lost his kingly crown because he refused to obey God. (So much for your monument Saul.) Also, recall that Moses was denied entrance to the Promised Land because he disobeyed God. Verses 24-25 "Then Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned. I violated the LORD's command and your instructions. I was afraid of the men and so I gave in to them. Now I beg you, forgive my sin and come back with me, so that I may worship the LORD." At this point Saul reminds me of Aaron, "They made me do it." Yeah right! Now he is lying through his teeth. Saul says he sinned and violated the Lord's command. Notice that he added "your instructions." Sounds to me like he is trying to blame this whole incident on Samuel. Get this. He still wants to go back and worship! He just doesn't get it, that to obey God is better than sacrifice! Verse 30 "Saul replied, "I have sinned. But please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel; come back with me, so that I may worship the LORD your God." All the way down here in verse thirty (30), he is still whining to Samuel that he wants to worship. He STILL doesn't get it. Did you notice that Saul was previously saying, "so that I may worship the Lord?" Notice in this verse that Saul changes that to, "so that I may worship the Lord your God." Did you get that? Now he is saying "YOUR God (emphasis mine)." Obviously, Saul has always worshiped Saul and not God. No wonder he "set up a monument for his own honor." Whether his god was Saul or God the fact remains he did not obey God. Isn't that like a lot of us today, if not most of us? How many go to church on Sunday thinking they're appeasing God, and don't give Him another thought until next Sunday? He doesn't want appeasement. He wants us to heed Him every day and obey Him every day. If we can't do that, then forget worship. Why? Because it means nothing without obedience. That's right. What good is any worship we may present to God, if we do not obey Him? Regardless of where, when or how we worship, it means absolutely nothing if we do not obey the one we direct our worship to; i.e. God. Please recall what God said through Samuel in verse 22. "But Samuel replied: "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams." Grant Phillips Email: [email protected] Pre-Rapture Commentary: http://grant-phillips.blogspot.com Rapture Ready: http://www.raptureready.com/featured/phillips/phillips.html ATTENTION! My email address has changed to [email protected] . Daily Jot: The Church in Busuafise Part I - Bill Wilson - www.dailyjot.com Christ Fellowship, a small church in a remote area outside of Accra, Ghana, began meeting in the year 2000 in a very small space built with two feet tall mud walls, roughly cut trees, a thatched roof, and a tightly ramped dirt floor. Here, less than a dozen poverty-stricken village folks, enslaved by paganism and stripped of all hope, started worshiping God, after receiving Christ. To get there, one must follow a narrow footpath of a road. These are the people of the bush that the large churches turn their backs on because it is too difficult and dangerous. But not The Daily Jot and our ministry partner William Agbeti. This is a story of a small part of our work in Ghana-a story of courage, perseverance and the Holy Spirit. William writes: "The Spirit of God began moving to attract evangelists to help spread the salvation message to individuals, families, households and other villages far and near, for the redemption of souls from fetish priests and shrines. This divine move also attracted opposing forces, notably Muslims, who began various "onslaughts" into the territory, offering loans, material things and invites to conversions to village folks; whilst targeting the nerve center of the local church. Some of the Islamic skirmishes included attacks on the village by notorious land guards who have been attempting to forcefully drive the villagers out of their own land to apparently kill the church and take over the land. Eventually they succeeded in winning a couple of members in the church to start a mosque a stone-throw away and to lay claim to tracts of land around. "Even though Islam might have existed nearby, the widespread success of the small church led to the rise and much bigger physical presence of Islam in the area, with the construction of another mosque elsewhere. These tactics are now daily occurrences, with Muslims riding motor bikes loaded high with personal items, coming into the village to sell items and enslave village folks through offers of credited material needs. Not satisfied with these moves, Muslims have bought large tracts of land surrounding the village to start real estate projects. As is well known, perhaps non-Muslims may not be allowed in such enclaves. It has always been an Islamic modus operandi to control people through the control of land." I know this church first hand. I have ministered there and encouraged the people to keep going. In 2012, for example, while preaching there, aggressive Muslims kept buzzing me on their motorcycles. While we didn't feel our lives were threatened, it was a threat. William's Redeemer Ministries and The Daily Jot have continued to stand with this church. Food, clothing, water, medical supplies are all part of what we do in this village. But the Muslim threat is constant and growing. Busuafise Christ Fellowship is an Ezekiel 22:30 church: "And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none." The Busuafise church is courageously standing in the gap that faces the gates of Islam's hell. But there is more to come...Tomorrow Part II. Daily Devotion: A Light for Life's Path - By Greg Laurie - www.harvest.org Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path. -Psalm 119:105 Everything we need to know about God is found in the Bible. There are no exceptions. To know God's will for our lives, we must recognize that He speaks primarily through His Word. On the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out, everyone was trying to understand what was happening. Peter stood up and said, "What you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel" (Acts 2:16 NLT). We need to have a biblical basis for everything we say and do. This doesn't mean taking Scripture out of context, which is something that often happens. People read the Bible with a hunt-and-peck approach, taking in a little of this and a little of that. Imagine if you were reading someone's letter to you. First you read the conclusion, then you read the middle, and then you read something from another letter they sent to you. Then you try to make sense of it. That won't work. You need to read the letter that's been sent to you contextually. Read the beginning, the middle, and the end. In the same way, when we're interpreting the Scriptures, we must understand who it was originally given to and what the original meaning of it actually was. A little understanding of the original language can be helpful as well. The Bible tells us that "all Scripture is inspired by God" (2 Timothy 3:16 NLT). Another way to translate this verse is, "All Scripture is breathed by God." If you want to know God's will, then you must be conversant with God's Word. The psalmist said, "Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path" (Psalm 119:105 NLT). We need to know the Word of God if we are going to know anything about God. FROM THE HEART
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