What the Bible says about Jesus

The True Light "In him, (the Lord Jesus) was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world,…the world didn’t recognize him." John 1:4,9.
The Good Seed and the Weeds The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seeds in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. Matthew 13:24,25.

Thursday, March 5, 2015

Critical Calendars Affecting Netanyahu's Speech to Congress

Critical Calendars Affecting Netanyahu's Speech to Congress

End time encouragement from a long-past prophet: Habakkuk

Reblogged from Elizabeth Prata the-end-time.blogspot.com  

My friend, Pastor Phil Andrukaitis of the First Baptist Church of South Portland Maine, preached on Habakkuk 3 recently. I am on the email list for the sermon notes, and I was struck by how encouraging the notes were. Because:


  • it is always good to be energized by the profound truths of God's word
  • it is always wonderful to remember that prophecy points to the sovereignty of God
  • it is comforting to see there are faithful pastors laboring in all parts of this country and the world, serving and ministering to our Lord

I asked Pastor Phil to reprint the notes. They include a thoughtful and discerning introduction. Please be encouraged with either or both, the introduction or the sermon notes themselves. I added the photos and artwork. They are not original to the sermon.

Please continue to pray for pastors all over the world who preach the Gospel faithfully and discerningly. There are 4,500 pastors meeting in Sun Valley CA right now at the annual Grace Community Church/Masters College Shepherds' Conference. There are thousands of other pastors right now working out sermon notes, praying in tears for their sheep, visiting the sick, building a new church, or doing any of the myriad and seemingly impossible things God calls His under-shepherds to do.

Pastor Phil Andrukaitis
It is only by the Holy Spirit that these men are able to lift themselves up each day under the workload, to have the word of God illuminated to them, to have kindness and comfort to offer the grieving or sin-stricken, to have strength to have the difficult conservations and uncomfortable confrontations.

And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. (1 Corinthians 2:1-2)

Good pastors are a gift from God.

And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. (Jeremiah 3:15)

The introduction and sermon are long. Print it out, mull it over, return to it when you have time. These are God's words, delivered through a pastor's heart, and offered in love and truth to comfort you.

SERMON INTRODUCTION

Phil Andrukaitis
Good afternoon my family and friends,

As a pastor, I have a divine responsibility to shepherd my flock [and to encourage other Christians] by strengthening their faith with the Bible and by preparing them for future trials and tribulations, which lie ahead for all of us. Knowing my own weaknesses and failings, I still press on to model my faith with my life, as this is part of the process of making disciples.

Question: My family and friends, are we ready to experience the difficult times that are coming to our country? As I read the Book of Habakkuk, this prophet of God was told what was in store for his nation. This news was so disturbing for Habakkuk, it caused him to tremble. I believe God is allowing discerning Christians, along with many American citizens, to see ominous signs for our nation. And some folks are trembling.

The concept of the Rapture is embraced as an escape plan among many Christians. While I believe Scripture promises the church to escape the "Great Tribulation," the church may very well experience smaller tribulations [e.g., the collapse of our economic system, martial law, restricted freedoms, fear in the streets, etc.] before the actual rapture of the church.

My brothers and sisters, I urge you in the name of the Lord not to dismiss current events or to become discouraged by them. Rather, we are to embrace God and His Word, as did Habakkuk. Therefore, let each Christian embrace his God-given assignment and enable the church to fulfill the Great Commission, making disciples of Jesus Christ.

I pray that Habakkuk's message will strengthen your faith and prepare you to stand firm on the Rock of our salvation, Jesus Christ.

Your servant in Christ,
Pastor Phil


SERMON TRANSCRIPT

This morning, I begin this sermon not with a story to illustrate the passage; rather, with the text itself. It is one of the most magnificent pieces of Hebrew poetry [comparable to Psalm 23]; the closing verses in the Book of Habakkuk (3:17-19 – NASB):

Though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines; though the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food; though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls; yet, I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord GOD is my strength, and He has made my feet like hinds’ feet, and makes me walk on my high places.

Gustav Dore: Habakkuk crying out in prayer
Did you hear Habakkuk’s words with your soul? But wait: Unless we understand these words in the context of the chapter, in the context of the book, and in the context of its setting, Habakkuk’s words of praise would be wrongly interpreted and misapplied to our lives. Therefore, let us begin with the fact that Habakkuk is a devout servant of God who...
  • grieved over his nation’s wickedness,
  • wrestled with theological perplexities,
  • and shook with fear when God told him what was coming to the nation.
God was bringing judgment to His people. Yet, Habakkuk declared his faith and expressed praise to the Lord GOD, in spite of the news he learned (Habakkuk 3). How is that possible?

So as not to get ahead of myself, permit me to ask you two questions: First, what was the most gut-wrenching, painful experience you have ever had? Second, how long did it last and what were the consequences? Perhaps some of you have experienced one or more of the following:

• The death of a parent, spouse, child, or friend
• An act of violence committed against you [rape, beaten, robbed, etc.]
• News that your health is failing – you have only three months to live
• The rejection of your spouse [divorce]; the betrayal of a friend; the discipline of a church
• The consequences of a sinful decision that brought overwhelming guilt and shame

Okay, now that you are in the moment for just a moment, what were your thoughts towards God when you were in that time of trouble? Were you praying? Were you crying? Were you afraid? Were you angry? Did you doubt God’s love? Were you filled with despair? How did you get through this painful experience?

Transitional Sentences

Having jolted your memory, you are now ready to connect with the prophet’s words and emotions; but just for a little bit. I do not want to offend anyone by minimizing your gut-wrenching painful experience, but when God told Habakkuk what was coming to the nation, within the prophet’s lifetime, Habakkuk wrote,

I heard and my inward parts trembled, at the sound, my lips quivered. Decay enters my bones, and in my place I tremble. Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress, for the people to arise who will invade us (Habakkuk 3:16 – NASB).

Yet, immediately following these words,

• Habakkuk did not stare at the horrific news he just received.
• Habakkuk did not become paralyzed in his walk with God.
• Habakkuk did not run away from God; rather,
• Habakkuk grounded himself in what he knew to be true about God and praised the Lord.

Historical Setting

Okay, before we proceed further, you might be asking, who is Habakkuk? There is nothing known about the prophet’s personal life. While students of Scripture have speculated that Habakkuk was of a priestly family, the Scripture is silent on this issue.

Habakkuk’s name means, “to embrace.” Based on the prophet’s words, it appears that Habakkuk embraced God [God’s glory, will, purity, heart, people, and suffering]. While all the other prophets spoke for God to the people, Habakkuk speaks openly to God about people.

Habakkuk wrote this book approximately 2 years before the first of three deportations to Babylon [B.C. 605, 597, 586]; 20 years before king Nebuchadnezzar eventually destroyed Jerusalem with a great slaughter. Habakkuk was a contemporary of Jeremiah. Moreover, there is a sense in the text that Habakkuk is also living in Jerusalem.

• We know that Jeremiah lived through the two-year siege of Jerusalem. Jeremiah describes God’s wrath against Jerusalem (Lamentations 2), whereby the Babylonian military forces first starved the people into submission and then broke through Jerusalem’s wall, slaughtering, plundering, and destroying the people and the city.

• However, as for Habakkuk, we do not know if he perished in the two-year siege or died by the sword when the Babylonian forces ransacked the city. However, when the prophet heard the news from God, what was to come, it is no wonder the prophet shook with fear.

I heard and my inward parts trembled, at the sound, my lips quivered. Decay enters my bones, and in my place I tremble. Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress, for the people to arise who will invade us (Habakkuk 3:16 – NASB).

In order to understand more fully Habakkuk’s prayer of praise in Chapter 3, let us review quickly a summary of the Chapters 1 and 2.

Summary Points in Chapter 1

Habakkuk’s 1st Complaint (1:2-4)

• God, why do You seem so indifferent to my prayers?
• God, why did You allow Israel to go so far with their sins?
• God, why do You not bring justice to the land?

Evidently, the time for divine judgment was now. From the Book of 2nd Chronicles, the godly reforms King Josiah instituted were reversed by his wicked sons, especially by king Jehoiakim. Consequently, Israel was rife with the following sins:

The people were idolatrous, especially as they sacrificed children upon the altars of demons, for financial and agricultural prosperity.
  • Corruption in the highest political and religious offices were the norm [Observation: perhaps that is why the nobility were first to be carried off in the first of three deportations to Babylon].
  • Jerusalem’s officials abused their authority and power, bringing injustice to the widows and the poor.
  • Bloodshed and crime were rampant throughout the land.
  • The Word of God was rejected; so were the prophets, as they were persecuted.
  • Consequently, the people of the land refused to repent of their sins.
God’s Reply to Habakkuk’s 1st Complaint (1:5-11)

God said, I am bringing the Chaldeans [Babylonians] to judge My people [Israel].

Habakkuk’s 2nd Complaint (1:12-2:1)

• But God, the sinfulness of the Chaldeans is worse than the sinfulness of the Jews!
• God, how can You endorse evil people to do Your divine work?
• God, You are too holy to look upon sin.
• God, the cruelty of the Chaldeans is known worldwide! They will destroy us!

To feel the horror that filled Habakkuk’s soul, imagine ISIS forces overwhelming this nation, as they are overwhelming the nations of Iraq and Syria.

Summary Points in Chapter 2

God’s Reply to Habakkuk’s 2nd Complaint (2:2-20)

• God declares: The just shall live by faith [present the gospel]
• God declares: I will judge the Chaldeans for their sins [5 woes]

--greed and aggression (5-8)
--exploitation and extortion (9-11)
--violence (12-14)
--immorality (15-17)
--idolatry (18-20)

Summary Points in Chapter 3

Even though Habakkuk did not understand everything about God and the course of action He was taking against Israel, the prophet offers a powerful prayer of praise.

First, Habakkuk makes a request of God (2).

--Revive Your work.
--Make Your work known.
--Be merciful when You express Your wrath.

Observations about Habakkuk’s request

1. Habakkuk knows what is coming and expressed his fear, along with his faith in God.

2. Understanding that God is holy, Habakkuk knew that God must judge sin. Habakkuk does not ask for personal deliverance, ease of suffering, defeat over the Chaldeans, or for Israel’s deliverance.

3. Rather, Habakkuk asked for God’s will to be done. Hmmm, this is reminiscent of the Lord’s Prayer. Consider the following questions: Are we more concerned about...

...our personal welfare or God’s will in our lives?
...which political party will win next year’s election or purity of the church?
...becoming more like Christ or securing material possessions?
...our comforts in this life or the kingdom of God?

Do you seek the shadow of the Jesus’ cross looming over this passage? Habakkuk asks, “in wrath remember mercy.” Habakkuk knew that God could no longer tolerate Israel’s sin. God’s righteous character demands that He judge sin.

God is still the same God today. He does not change. He cannot look upon our sin without judging us. That is why God sacrificed His Son on the cross for our sins. When Jesus hung on the cross, He alone bore the wrath of God so that you and me could escape God’s wrath. Indeed, God did remember His mercy while pouring out His wrath on His Son. We do not deserve to be saved. God held back the judgment we deserve [mercy] and gave to every sinner who has believes, eternal life [grace].

Listen, my friends, there is no sin in your life beyond the cross. Even though no one else knows about your sin, God knows. Come to Him in faith, believing that the blood of Jesus cleanses you from all your unrighteousness.

And to my brothers and sisters in Christ, God continues to bestow mercy and grace on our lives. Forsake the sin that so easily cripples your walk with God by calling out to Him to revive your heart for Him.

Second, Habakkuk remembers the deeds of God (3:3-15).

God displayed His majesty to the world.
God displayed His power over the nations [the Exodus and the plagues].
God displayed His presence among His people [Mount Sinai].
God displayed His glory, causing the nations to fear Him [Joshua 10].

What was God’s purpose in all of His deeds? The answer is clear: To demonstrate to His salvation for a people He loved.

Applications from Habakkuk’s remembrance

1. Read Scripture and understand how God has demonstrated His faithfulness in the past. A good place to begin would be at the cross. Think through how God took steps to bring Jesus into this sin-cursed world. In your mind, imagine yourself among the fickle crowds that called for the death of Jesus. See with your mind’s eye how Jesus carried His cross for you; the soldiers who nailed Him to the cross. Listen to His last words from the cross. These actions on our part have a way of strengthening our faith and making more intimate our personal relationship with Jesus.

2. Think back how God has delivered you in the distant and recent past. Be sure to tell others about His faithfulness.

3. Parents and grandparents, how are we demonstrating our faith and what values are we setting before our children? It is true that many young people are leaving the church. Might the problem lie in our homes and the manner in which we live out our faith?

Third, Habakkuk confesses his fear because he knows what lies ahead of him (16).

Habakkuk knew what was coming. If the Spirit of God told us of our future, I do not think we would be able to handle it, as God permits a measure of intense suffering for many of us. Read Peter’s first letter as suffering is a major theme he addresses (1st Peter 2:20-25; 3:13-17; 4:12-19).

Is it any wonder then, that we often times design our lives to avoid future suffering? God’s Word says, “Many are the plans in the heart of man, but the answer comes from the Lord.” God desires that we learn to walk by faith and not by sight or to solely lean on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6). Therefore, as Habakkuk’s heart melted in fear, his faith did not paralyze his walk with God.

Applications from Habakkuk’s confession

I do not read tea-leaves. I do not listen to Glenn Beck. I am not a pessimist. However, you do not have to be a rocket scientist to see that difficult days lie ahead for this nation.

God has not spoken to me, as He did to the prophet Habakkuk; however, His Word speaks to all of us. And our country, like ancient Israel, is rife with the same sins. God is going to judge America for her many sins. The question is, when will this judgment fall?

As your pastor, I have a divine responsibility to strengthen your faith with the Word of God and by modeling my life before you; making disciples of Christ.

My brothers and sisters, are our souls ready to experience what is coming to our country? God told Habakkuk what was coming and the news caused him to tremble. God is allowing us to see the signs in our country and across the world and I sense that people are beginning to tremble.

I believe many of us think that the Rapture is the church’s escape plan. Yes, I believe Scripture promises the church to escape the Great Tribulation; however, there will be many smaller tribulations, [like the collapse of our economic system, martial law, restricted freedoms, fear in the streets, etc.] that impact the church.

My brothers and sisters, I urge you in the name of the Lord not to dismiss current events or to become discouraged. Rather, we are to embrace God, as did Habakkuk, seek to fulfill our mission as a church, bringing Jesus into the lives of others.

With that being said, let us look at the final portion of Habakkuk’s prayer of praise.

Fourth, Habakkuk praises God because... (17-20)

--God’s sovereignty never changes (17).
--God’s salvation is sure (18).
--God’s strength will help us walk with Him (19)

Though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines;
though the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food;
though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls;
yet, I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.
The Lord GOD is my strength, and He has made my feet like hinds’ feet,
and makes me walk on my high places.

Applications from Habakkuk’s praise

When the Chaldeans ransack the nations, they wiped out the permanent crops [figs, grapes, olives], the basic food and the flocks. In other words, God oversaw the destruction of Israel’s economy. What did that mean for the people of Israel? There was no food in the land. The absence of social services, like those of today, guaranteed that the young, the old, and the sick would most likely die of starvation.

What do we say today, when any of us lose our job and become unemployed; when the insurance runs out; when social security check is denied? Even worse, what might be our reaction should Wall Street collapse, wiping out all of our savings?

A word to the wise and prudent: Our country is on the verge of economic collapse. Even now, America is financially bankrupt, not to mention morally and spiritually bankrupt. Even though many people may lose everything, God remains in control. After all, He is responsible for removing those things in our lives.

Conclusion

This is Communion Sunday. Someone has said that God tries our faith so that we may try God. When God gives His people unwanted burdens, God also provides His undeserved blessings. Therefore, thankfulness comes from what is in our hearts, not what is in our hands.

Even though I have lost everything [consider Job], I will rejoice in the Lord for He has guided my steps into this experience. May each of us cultivate a heart like that of Habakkuk, of Job, and of Jesus. Amen.

----------------------------------------------------------------

First Baptist Church 879 Sawyer Street ~ South Portland, Maine 04106
Office: (207) 799-4565 Fax: (207) 799-5922
Website: www.spfbc.com Email: southportland.fbc@gmail.com

Only Trust Him - Commentary by Sandra Lloyd

 Reblogged from servehiminthewaiting.com

I’ve been hard-pressed, this week, to dip into the polluted stream of “news” and come up with much of anything that seemed worth featuring here.  Obviously, the most significant thing that happened this week, was when the esteemed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the world from the congressional chamber, with such eloquence.
Putting aside the crucial nature of the topic he addressed, I was struck most deeply in my heart and in my spirit, with the way that it felt, as a citizen of America, to once again witness a man of integrity standing in that relatively hallowed spot, addressing we-the-people, and make no mistake, that is whom Bibi came here to address.

From day-to-day and week to week, people like myself are documenting the decline and demise of this nation as we previously have known it.  God likes an established record, it seems, not for His own sake, for His mind keeps track without having to mark things down, but for “the record” which He will show back to the guilty.  Sometimes we wonder when we know that we have been treated unjustly, why God allows it.  I believe that is why. 

The scriptures say that God is angry with the wicked every day, and that evil-doers store up wrath against themselves.  Every good investigator or lawyer knows that to have an airtight case, you have to collect evidence.  I really think that sometimes when God looks down here and sees just how wicked some are, that He will allow His own to suffer for the sake of eventually giving those the maximum sentence, so to speak, as He was doing when He allowed Satan to “test” Job.  Satan smirked, I’m sure, in his arrogance, somehow believing he had actually duped God into letting him torment that righteous man, when all he really accomplished was to store up a greater measure of condemnation against himself.

There has been much praise for Mr. Netanyahu’s bearing as he made this historic address, much analysis of his command and presence, his oratorical skill, and such.  But there was something much deeper and more solemn at work that morning. I will never forget Charles Krauthammer’s observation that it was the “first standing-O Queen Esther will have gotten in over two thousand years”.

It’s dangerous assigning hero status to mere mortals, but I believe that Benjamin Netanyahu may come pretty close, when all of history is established and weighed in the Sovereign scales of God Almighty, as a leader of the Jewish people, who will be numbered among those who, if not worshipfully, then at least respectfully regarded Abraham’s God.  He is no anointed king, but most certainly it was ordained by God that he is in the position he is in “for just such a time as this”.

There comes a moment in every unfolding conflict, when astute witnesses fully recognize and acknowledge the gravity of what they are watching take place.  In a world where even most ordained ministers are failing to heed or address what is at stake and “in play” in this existential chess match in the Middle East, Netanyahu acted in the same initiative common to the brand of man along the lines of which include Joshua, and Moses.  You see, while most pundits made comparisons to figures such as Reagan and Churchill, I believe what Bibi did that day, surpasses the examples of those other great men, by virtue of the fact that Mr. Netanyahu has been entrusted with the wellbeing of the one nation which is the very “Apple of God’s Eye”, and unlike most leaders, he seems to fully appreciate the “sacred trust” aspects of the honor and privilege he has been given.  This is significant far beyond the scope of Western interests.

Benjamin Netanyahu is always kind and generous in his acknowledgement of Barack Obama, and in so being, he proves the scriptural truth of heaping hot coals upon Mr. Obama’s head, in repaying kindness for evil. In contrast, Obama looks every bit the epitome of the indulged and ruined child that he is.  Obama is the Frankenstein who emerged from the laboratory of  humanism which is nothing other than blatant delusional rebellion against unquestionable, inevitable Sovereign Authority.

Netanyahu is prepared for Israel to stand alone, but Israel will never stand alone. Netanyahu and the IDF stand ready to defend Israel to the death, and don’t think that just because Netanyahu no longer wears the IDF uniform, that he sits safely removed from that particular risk himself.

It strikes me that this was Netanyahu’s third address from the congressional podium.  There is a scriptural standard of establishing a matter by two or three witnesses.  And “Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets”.  (Amos 3:7) It’s not that Netanyahu’s address itself is prophetic, but that it falls into lock-step with what the scripture has already proclaimed.  So, setting aside the accolades, criticisms, and analysis of the various media, yes this was an historical event, but much more so and on a different level than most of them realize.

I think it may just have been a heavenly bugle call of sorts.  Marking a moment in time when a pre-ordained and long-anticipated conflict truly commenced.  The literal beginning of the ultimate end of an age dividing time in much the same way that only a  profoundly life-altering event can do, into clearly delineated “before” and “after”.

Christian, stagger not at the promises of God in the days ahead.  Whatever your work is for the Lord, do it, but remember that it is not your works which reckon you righteous, but your faith.  Don’t make the mistake of mentally tying your security to your “job performance” as Satan will work to drain your joy and break your spirit and we cannot afford to falter in so late an hour.  The strategy of the enemy depends upon distraction, discouragement, disappointment, and disillusionment. 

If you are still wasting time and energy in diversionary skirmishes thrown into your path like supernatural tire spikes, you have not entered into your rest which comes from abiding in the yoke with Christ.  False yokes are generated in myriad ways, even inside the church.  

Our God has already won this war.  Just keep sowing, watering, cultivating, call out the enemy’s deceptions for what they are, speak to the obstacles and tell them “be thou removed” and keep on walking, though the Earth shake, though the stars begin to fall, only trust Him.    Fear only the Lord, and you to whom Salvation is given, will have nothing to fear.  To God be all Glory!
 


Come, every soul
by sin oppressed,
there’s mercy with the Lord;
and he will surely give you rest,
by trusting in his Word.


Only trust him, only trust him,
only trust him now.
He will save you, he will save you,
he will save you now.

For Jesus shed his precious blood
rich blessings to bestow;
plunge now into the crimson flood
that washes bright as snow.
(Refrain)


Yes, Jesus is the truth the way
that leads you into rest;
believe in him without delay,
and you are fully blest.


(Refrain)

Come then and join this holy band,
and on to glory go,
to dwell in that celestial land
where joys immortal flow.
(Refrain)

John H. Stockholm

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

J.D. Farag - Mid-East Update


"Atomic Iran" foretold Netanyahu´s warning

image: http://www.wnd.com/files/2015/03/iran-missile.jpg
iran-missile
WASHINGTON – Ten years ago, Jerome R. Corsi, Ph.D., published his first WND bestselling book, “Atomic Iran: How the Terrorist Regime Bought the Bomb and American Politicians,” in which he predicted events unfolding now. 
atomic_iran-jeromeCORSI “In 2005, when publishers for whom I had written top-selling books turned down my proposal to write a book warning of the dangers Iran’s nuclear program posed, only Joseph Farah and WND had the foresight and courage to publish a book considered at the time to be enormously controversial,” Corsi said.
image: http://www.wnd.com/files/2015/03/atomic_iran-jeromeCORSI.jpg
“Few people 10 years ago wanted to believe Iran’s nuclear program could be a threat not only to Israel, but to the region and the world.” In “Atomic Iran,” Corsi predicted the following:
  • Iran would game all nuclear negotiations to gain time, while secretly pursuing a nuclear weapons program, calculating Iranian negotiators were sufficiently skillful to fool the Western nations, including the United States and the United Nations’ International Atomic Agency into believing the lie that the advanced enrichment of uranium was for peaceful purposes that could be monitored successfully amid an agreed-upon schedule of IAEA sanctions.
  • Then-Sen. John F. Kerry would lead Democratic Party politicians lured by campaign contributions to enter into a “grand bargain” negotiated with Iran, similar to the nuclear-fuel-for-peaceful-purposes gambit North Korea induced President Jimmy Carter to enter. Corsi predicted the same result, that like North Korea, Iran would utilize all negotiated concessions to advance its clandestine nuclear weapons program.
  • Ultimately, the United States would abandon Israel, leaving the Jewish state no alternative but to launch a military attack on Iran’s nuclear program. The Iranian nuclear program would bring nuclear war to the Middle East, either because Iran would develop and use a nuclear weapon against Israel, or because Israel in defending itself would trigger a regional war escalating into a nuclear conflict with nuclear-armed defenders of Iran, including Russia.
“I hope and pray my prediction on nuclear war is wrong,” Corsi said. “But my other predictions have played out over the last 10 years with a degree of accuracy that frightens me.”
Get Jerome Corsi’s “Atomic Iran” for the special discounted price of just $4.95.
Corsi noted that 10 years ago, there was no thought Kerry would one day be secretary of state.
“But I was right, down to naming Iranian-American Hassan Nemazee as an agent of the mullahs who served in campaign finance positions both for Kerry’s presidential campaign in 2004 and for Hillary Clinton in 2008 and is today in federal prison for having violated federal banking laws.”

Corsi said Netanyahu is correct, that despite the Obama administration’s resolve that the cornerstone of its foreign policy would be a negotiated solution to Iran’s nuclear program, Kerry is no closer to such a deal today than the administration was when Obama took office in 2009.
Corsi pointed out many passages from “Atomic Iran” mirrored points Netanyahu made in his historic speech to Congress Tuesday morning.
“The mullahs [in Iran] have pursued nuclear weapons clandestinely with a clear intent to ignore their obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty and deceive the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency,” Corsi wrote on page 26. “Iran continues to display the characteristics of a rogue regime actively pursuing nuclear weapons, willing to both defy and deceive attempts at international control. Clearly stated, Iran has been playing the world for a fool.”

Netanyahu said: “The U.N.’s nuclear watchdog agency, the IAEA, said again yesterday that Iran still refuses to come clean about its military nuclear program. Iran was also caught – caught twice, not once, twice – operating secret nuclear facilities in Natanz and Qom, facilities that inspectors didn’t even know existed.”
image: http://www.wnd.com/files/2015/03/netanyahu-2.jpg
netanyahu-2
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressing Congress March 3.

He continued: “Right now, Iran could be hiding nuclear facilities that we don’t know about, the U.S. and Israel. As the former head of inspections for the IAEA said in 2013, he said, ‘If there’s no undeclared installation today in Iran, it will be the first time in 20 years that it doesn’t have one.’”
Netanyahu emphasized Iran “has proven time and again that it cannot be trusted.”
Corsi wrote of Hitler in describing the hatred the radical Islamic mullahs and their sympathizers in Iran have toward the Jews.
“Hitler revealed in ‘Mein Kampf’ that he intended to commit genocide on the Jews of Germany,” Corsi wrote on pages 40-41. “Many did not take him seriously; the thought was simply too extreme, too mad. Yet he communicated his true intentions, even if only those who knew how to listen to disturbed personalities believed him at the time.
“So, too, the mad mullahs who rule Iran have been clearly telling the world that they intend to use their missiles, and when they have them, their nuclear weapons,” Corsi continued.
“Iran’s President Muhammad Khatami speaks in radical terms. ‘Haven’t the Jews and Christians achieved their progress by means of toughness and repression?’ he asks. Take him seriously, for he has a strategy drawn to destroy Jewish and Christian civilization, regardless how fourteenth century the whole discussion seems. ‘Our missiles are now ready to strike at their civilization, and as soon as the instructions arrive from the Leader Ali Khamenei, we will launch our missiles at their cities and installations.’”
Similarly, Nethanyahu pointed to the statements of Hezbollah’s leader in Lebanon.
“For those who believe that Iran threatens the Jewish state, but not the Jewish people, listen to Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, Iran’s chief terrorist proxy,” Netanyahu warned. “He said: If all the Jews gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of chasing them down around the world.”
But Iran’s regime, he said, is “not merely a Jewish problem, any more than the Nazi regime was merely a Jewish problem.”

“The 6 million Jews murdered by the Nazis were but a fraction of the 60 million people killed in World War II. So, too, Iran’s regime poses a grave threat, not only to Israel, but also the peace of the entire world. To understand just how dangerous Iran would be with nuclear weapons, we must fully understand the nature of the regime.”


Netanyahu also showed understanding of the oppression the Iranian people have suffered.
“The people of Iran are very talented people,” Netanyahu distinguished. “They’re heirs to one of the world’s great civilizations. But in 1979, they were hijacked by religious zealots – religious zealots who imposed on them immediately a dark and brutal dictatorship.
“That year, the zealots drafted a constitution, a new one for Iran,” Netanyahu continued. “It directed the revolutionary guards not only to protect Iran’s borders, but also to fulfill the ideological mission of jihad. The regime’s founder, Ayatollah Khomeini, exhorted his followers to ‘export the revolution throughout the world.’

“I’m standing here in Washington, D.C., and the difference is so stark,” Netanyahu concluded. “America’s founding document promises life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Iran’s founding document pledges death, tyranny and the pursuit of jihad. And as states are collapsing across the Middle East, Iran is charging into the void to do just that.”
Corsi and Netanyahu both invoked the theme “never again” in describing Israel’s resolve to defend itself.

“Israel has sworn ‘Never Again!’ Corsi wrote on page 218. “Reasoning that the Holocaust occurred in part because European Jews did not resist, the Israelis have determined that never again will Israel be passive in the face of its enemies.
“Since the 1940s, first strikes have characterized Israel’s foreign policy,” Corsi continued. “The highly effective Israeli first-strike air assault on June 5, 1967, destroyed the entire Egyptian air force on the ground at the start of the Six-Day War. But more parallel to the urgency surrounding the situation of Iran’s having nuclear weapons is the June 1981 air attack that took out Iraq’s Osirak nuclear reactor.”

Speaking to Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel in the House gallery Tuesday, Netanyahu said, “Elie, your life and work inspires to give meaning to the words, ‘never again.’
“And I wish I could promise you, Elie, that the lessons of history have been learned. I can only urge the leaders of the world not to repeat the mistakes of the past,” he continued. “Not to sacrifice the future for the present; not to ignore aggression in the hopes of gaining an illusory peace.
“But I can guarantee you this, the days when the Jewish people remained passive in the face of genocidal enemies, those days are over,” he asserted.
“We are no longer scattered among the nations, powerless to defend ourselves. We restored our sovereignty in our ancient home. And the soldiers who defend our home have boundless courage. For the first time in 100 generations, we, the Jewish people, can defend ourselves.

“That is why, as prime minister of Israel, I can promise you one more thing,” he stressed. “Even if Israel has to stand alone, Israel will stand.”
Corsi warned against making deals with Iran, writing on page 83, “There is ample proof that the mullahs are not to be trusted, no matter how many times they give their word.”
Netanyahu was equally skeptical.

Just as Corsi concluded in his book, Netanyahu declared restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program should not be lifted unless Tehran stops its threats to annihilate the Jewish state, its aggression against its neighbors in the Middle East and its support of terrorism around the world.

Monday, March 2, 2015

ROB BELL SAYS “THE CHURCH” IS ONLY MOMENTS AWAY FROM ACCEPTING “GAY MARRIAGE”

Reblogged from www.wayoflife.org

friday_church_news_0217 copy
 (Friday Church News Notes, February 20, 2015, , fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143 FREE) - 

Rob Bell, former pastor of the emerging Mars Hill Bible Church of Grand Rapids, Michigan, said recently about “gay marriage” that “we think it’s inevitable and we are moments away from the church accepting it” (“Former Megachurch Pastor Rob Bell,” Christian Post, Feb. 17, 2015). Bell made the comment when he and his wife Kristen appeared on Oprah Winfrey’s Super Soul Sunday television program to discuss their new book The ZimZum of Love: A New Way of Understanding Marriage

Having rejected the Bible as the infallible Word of God, the Bells have lurched from one heresy to another. Their final authority is their own thinking and the pop culture of which they have deeply partaken in their zeal to be “relevant.” Bell said, “I think culture is already there and the church will continue to be even more irrelevant when it quotes letters from 2,000 years ago as their best defense...”
We would say, first, that “the church” that Bell is talking about is a hodgepodge of professing Christians that is no church at all in a Scriptural sense.

As for being irrelevant, the churches that stand on the testimony of Scripture are the most relevant institutions on earth. They alone are standing on the rock of God’s eternal Word rather than the shifting sand of human thinking and feeling. They alone are giving a prophetic voice into the darkness of this present world.

Bell is right about one thing, though. He is right that many churches will accept “gay marriage” and that we are on the cusp of a great turning point in church history. Many “churches” have already accepted homosexual marriage, and others are caving on the issue daily.

The apostle John had a different message from Bell’s: “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. ... And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness” (1 John 2:15-17; 5:19). 

More on Rob Bell and Yoga, Meditation:  http://lightnseed.blogspot.com.br/2014/04/about-mr-rob-bell-kriya-kundalini-yoga.html

Bibi showdown with Iran a ‘replay of Bible story’

Bibi showdown with Iran a ‘replay of Bible story’

Netanyahu´s speech at AIPAC


A Short Single Sentence that Saved my Life

Finish What you Started - Part 3

  Written and published by Jean-Louis Mondon This is my testimony of one of the experiences with my Heavenly Father´s provisions that he pr...

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