Shouldn’t We Pray For Them?

http://gracethrufaith.com/ask-a-bible-teacher

Q. I was rather taken by aback by the aggressive stance you took in your latest article concerning 2 Chronicles 7:14. You seem to suggest believers should not be praying for those who are misrepresenting the gospel yet leading churches, and for unsaved govt leaders who are taking the nation further down the wrong path. May I ask, when did the Lord tell you to stop praying for those in this nation?

A. You missed the point. Praying for our leaders, whether religious or secular, is encouraged in the Bible, and we should also be praying for everyone who is not saved regardless of their position (1 Tim. 2:1-4). What I object to is the American Church claiming 2 Chron. 7:14 as the basis for asking God to forgive our sins and heal our land.
This is a false teaching that appeals to our worldly nature as Americans, but is not consistent with our destiny as part of the world wide Church. In the first place, our sins were all forgiven at the cross (Colossians 2:13-14), and in the second place the Church has no national homeland on Earth. Our citizenship is in Heaven (Phil. 3:20) and our heart’s desire should be to go there.

False Prophets

False Prophets

This Week’s Feature Article by Jack Kelley

Then the Lord said to me, “Do not pray for the well-being of this people. Although they fast, I will not listen to their cry; though they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Instead, I will destroy them with the sword, famine and plague.”
But I said, “Ah, Sovereign Lord, the prophets keep telling them, ‘You will not see the sword or suffer famine. Indeed, I will give you lasting peace in this place.’”

Then the Lord said to me, “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries and the delusions of their own minds (Jeremiah 14:11-14).
I’ve been avoiding this topic for some time, but it won’t go away. It was brought back to mind this week after I read that a man bought copies of a currently popular book that compares ancient Israel with the USA and sent one to every member of his state’s government. I’m sure he was well intentioned, but from the article it appeared that he was using the book to call their attention to the promise God made to Israel in 2 Chronicles 7:14 as a remedy for their state.
“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

As you know, I have problems with Christians claiming that promise for the USA. People who live in the United States are not automatically God’s people, no version of our official name contains the name of God, and God’s people in the USA who are called by God’s name are part of the Christian Church which has no homeland in the USA or any other country on Earth. On the contrary, the Church has been called to reject the things of this world and be ready to re-locate to our real home in Heaven. That’s where our citizenship is (Phil. 3:20).

But those who try to invoke the promise of 2 Chron. 7:14 as the remedy for the US ignore this. They also ignore the fact that 2 Chron. 7:14 was first spoken by the Lord to King Solomon long before the destruction that came at the hands of the Assyrians, as noted in the book. Are we to believe there were no Israelites alive at the time who knew about this promise from God? Did no one think to remind Him of it? Because the Northern Kingdom was surely not spared the judgment.

But let’s say it is possible that no one remembered 2 Chron. 7:14 and that’s why the Northern Kingdom was destroyed. What about the Southern Kingdom? It was part of Israel when the promise was given. Wasn’t it also defeated? Consider what God had Jeremiah tell the people there who were praying for His protection as the Babylonians took up their positions outside the city walls.
Then the Lord said to me, “Do not pray for the well-being of this people. Although they fast, I will not listen to their cry; though they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Instead, I will destroy them with the sword, famine and plague.”(Jeremiah 14:11-12)

These were God’s people, their national name did contain the Name of God, and He had given them a land on Earth. 2 Chronicles 7:14 advocates say it would only take a sincere effort by the faithful to repent and pray our country out of judgment, but as Jeremiah 14 reveals, at least some of God’s people were repenting and praying. Why didn’t that save them?

Did God break His promise to them? Of course not. What happened was they officially broke the terms of their covenant and abandoned Him. And once they had done that, nothing else they did could prevent their destruction. They no longer had a right to His help.

Then the Lord said to me, “There is a conspiracy among the people of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem. They have returned to the sins of their forefathers, who refused to listen to my words. They have followed other gods to serve them. Both the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken the covenant I made with their forefathers. Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I will bring on them a disaster they cannot escape. Although they cry out to me, I will not listen to them. (Jeremiah 11:9-11)
But even though He’s not obligated to do so, at the appointed time God will keep His promise to Israel. He will forgive their sins and heal their land. And when He does, it won’t happen because of anything they’ve done.
“Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Sovereign Lord, when I show myself holy through you before their eyes” (Ezekiel 36:22-23).

The United States has never had an official covenant with God, but we’ve broken all His laws just the same. And we’ve done so with ever increasing audacity in spite of overwhelming blessing, as if daring Him to do something about it. If our leaders speak for us, as the book suggests, then Franklin Graham’s recent comment that our president “shook his fist in the face of God” was a warning for all of us to prepare for God’s response. Can anything prevent our judgment?

This means that for the United States the popular use of 2 Chronicles 7:14 as a cure for our problems is nothing more than a fulfillment of Paul’s “itching ears” prophecy.
For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear (2 Tim 4:3)

Whether they realize it or not those who advocate 2 Chronicles 7:14 as a remedy for the United States are just saying what our itching ears want to hear. It’s a false teaching that gives false hope to the Biblically uninformed, a repeat of the false promises of Jeremiah’s time.

On some level everybody knows things are not OK in the world, and our nature is to want to know things will get better. Having exhausted our human options, we’re finally thinking about turning to God, but claiming the promise of 2 Chronicles 7:14 is going about it the wrong way and it won’t work.

God has always intended to give us hope, but He has never promised to heal the United States, whose national heart is incurably wicked, because He doesn’t have a covenant with the United States. Nor has He promised the United States a future like He does for Israel. But He has promised to rescue the Church by taking us out of the way before He gives the go ahead for the End Times judgments, because He does have a covenant with the Church. And that covenant is not conditional upon our behavior, it’s based on our belief.

In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. (John 14:2-3)
Notice He didn’t promise to come here to be with us where we are. He promised to come back to take us there to be with him where He is, in His Father’s house.
Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth (Rev. 3:10).

The Greek word translated “from” in this verse means “out of the place, time, or cause” of the hour of trial. Like 1 Thes. 1:10 it’s a promise to rescue us from the wrath to come.
For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever (1 Thes. 4:16-17).
Again, this is not a promise to come to Earth to be with us here. Its a promise to draw us up into the sky and take us to be with Him forever.
If you want to have hope, you don’t have to dig through the Old Testament to misappropriate a conditional promise made to another people for another time, one that even those to whom it was given could not claim. You only have to look in the New Testament and receive an unconditional promise made to the Church for our time that all of us can claim.

As Christians we need to stop confusing our country with our religion. No matter how good our life is on Earth, God has a much better future in store for us in Heaven. On its very best day, no country could ever begin to compare with it. No amount of peace or prosperity could ever be a reasonable substitute.

The only reason we cling to our past is that we know so little about our future. So take a moment and think about it. Heavenly royalty. Mansions in the sky on streets of gold. Unbridled joy. No more death or mourning or crying or pain. The aging process reversed, our health restored, our abilities magnified, all our cares and concerns gone. Each day more exciting and fulfilling than the previous one. Where can you find that here? Where has anyone ever found that here?

Psalm 45 is a wedding song for the Messiah and His bride. When he wrote it, the Psalmist spoke these prophetic words to the Church of today.
Listen, O daughter, consider and give ear. Forget your people and your father’s house. The King is enthralled by your beauty. Honor Him for He is your Lord. (Psalm 45:10-11)
Forget about futile attempts to restore past glories. You’ve got a future ahead of you that’s beyond imagining. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal (2 Cor. 4:17-18).
Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face. And the things of Earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of his glory and grace. You can almost hear the footsteps of the Messiah. 06-02-12

Are we careful who we listen to?

Are we careful who we listen to?

Do we check the instruction of teachers comparatively against the Bible or do we just take someone’s word for scriptural accuracy? C’mon, we can’t allow ourselves to become so complacent that we cease to check out what we allow in our eyes and ears. Posted by W.c Whitaker on Facebook.

Living In His Name Ministries

Thank you Cameron for reminding us of this so important and crucial injunction especially in this time of  widespread, concerted and  unrelentless attacks of the enemy on the Bible, the truth and the meaning, nature and extent of the redemptive work of Christ and the church place in the Kingdom. Every idea, every suggestion, every so called prophecy or teaching is a seed being planted in the mind and heart of men. The identity of the sower is important but the storehouse where comes from is equally  important. Jesus and Paul warned about false teachers and false prophets. That ´s the WHO. In Mark 4:24 He warned : Be careful WHAT you hear. In Luc 8:18, he warned: Be careful HOW you hear, expanding the initial command: WHO has ears let him hear. Matthew 13:9.

In foreign language learning and acquisition, after the alphabet, the next things a student learns are the very important WHs  words. Who, what, which, where, why, and then related derivatives such as with whom, whose from where, since when?

Then come the HOWs: how much, how many?

As believers who want to grow in knowledge and communion with our Lord and have a desire to be taught by the Holy Spirit, it behooves us to ask ourselves these important questions since these commands are given in the context of the parable of the sower and the good seed planted in the heart of man, salvation, appearance of salvation and growth once a person is saved and the work of satan our enemy who plants bad seeds and tries to hinder the growth of the good ones.

We cannot ignore these commands without suffering the consequences of disregarding them or taking  them lightly. Right after the context of John chapter 15 on the need of the disciple to abide in Christ in order to bear fruit, good fruit and more fruit, chapter 16 begins with this ominous statement: “ All this I have told you so that you will not go astray”. So  going  back to the WHS question words we can see that their application is paramount in the disciple´s life and that our steadfast abiding and faithful abiding walk with Jesus will depend on heeding the warnings. As a good examination of our Christian walk  and of our progress or regress in our spiritual life, a simple yet powerful tool is to ask ourselves these questions and our honest answers will serve as a good gauge of where we are in the sanctifying work of the Holy spirit in our lives.

Jean-Louis.

Turkey ditches Syrian rebels. Will Israel attack Hizballah's Scuds?

Turkey ditches Syrian rebels. Will Israel attack Hizballah's Scuds?

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report June 2, 2012, 7:44 PM (GMT+02:00)

Scud D ground-to-ground missile

Two radical developments arising from the Syrian conflict are revealed by debkafile: In an astonishing about face, Turkey has just turned away from its 14-month support for the anti-Assad revolt alongside the West and made common cause with Russia, i.e. Bashar Assad. Further exacerbating fears of a “proxy war” involving Israel, Iran and Syria, the Lebanese Hizballah is getting ready to bring its Scud D missiles, which can reach any point in Israel, and other advanced weapons, including anti-air missiles, out of secret storage in Syria and transfer them across the border to Lebanon. Two years ago, Israel issued an ultimatum through Washington that the Scuds would be destroyed if they were moved over to Hizballah’s launching pads in Lebanon.
The Lebanese Shiite group has since kept its most advanced hardware stashed at the Syrian Al Hame and Al Zabadani military bases near Damascus.
Now that Syrian rebel attacks are closing in on Syrian military targets, Tehran and Hizballah leaders are working on plans to get them across into Lebanon without exposing them to Israeli attack.
One plan is to enlist the Palestinian Jihad Islami in the Gaza Strip and exploit a clash over the Scuds’ transfer as a trigger for an all round military offensive against Israel. It would be timed for the moment the Western-Arab intervention in Syria against President Assad crosses the line between covert and overt military action and begins an operation to establish safe zones as bases for rebel operation.
Washington, London and Paris began rushing forward contingency plans for this eventuality upon discovering that Ankara had secretly notified leaders of the rebel Free Syrian Army Thursday, May 31 that it had withdrawn permission for them to launch operations against the Assad regime from Turkish soil.
It was then realized that Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and his Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu had stabbed Western-Arab Syrian policy in the back and moved over to help prop Assad up at the very moment his regime was on the point of buckling under international after-shocks from the systematic massacres of his own people.
That day, Erdogan’s betrayal was confirmed when Davutoglu announced over Turkish NTV: “We have never advised either the Syrian National Council or the Syrian administration to conduct an armed fight, and we will never do so.” He added: “The Syrian people will be the driving force that eventually topples the Syrian regime. Assad will leave as a result of the people’s will.”
This was precisely the view voiced this week by Russian President Vladimir Putin, when he spoke out against violent rebellion, military intervention and sanctions to topple the Syrian ruler.
For the time being, the pro-Assad Moscow-Tehran front, bolstered now by Ankara, has got the better of Western and Arab policies for Syria. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Bashar Assad and Hassan Nasrallah have drawn encouragement for advancing to their next step: to confront the United States and Israel with another accomplished fact, the deployment of Scuds aimed at Israel from Lebanon.

Failing to curtail their transfer across the Syrian-Lebanese border in compliance with its 2010 ultimatum will seriously shake Israel’s deterrent capabilities and undercut its military credibility against its enemies, including Iran.
If on the other hand, the Obama administration again holds Israel back from military action, this time to destroy the long-range Scuds, Bashar Assad, Hizballah and Tehran will be awarded a winning hand – and not only in Syria.

Recent archaeological discoveries in Israel

This Week on 'The Hal Lindsey Report'

By Hal Lindsey The Hal Lindsey Report


Several recent archaeological discoveries in Israel have confirmed the veracity of the Scriptures.
The journal, "International Geology Review," recently reported on an investigation of earthquake activity around the Dead Sea, just a few miles east of Jerusalem. Geophysicists studied three core samples taken from the shores of the Dead Sea that offered evidence of at least two sizable earthquakes. Their investigation narrowed the dates of those earthquakes to 31 B.C. and sometime between 26 and 36 A.D., during the time when Pontius Pilate was procurator of Judea.

Scientists from California-based Super Sonic Geophysical believe the second quake probably occurred around 33 A.D. When considered with other data, both historical and astronomical, the best estimate is that it occurred sometime in April of 33 A.D. This would concur with the Jewish month of Nisan, which indicates it may confirm the earthquake described in Matthew 27:51. That scripture describes the quake that happened when Jesus, from the cross, cried out in a loud voice and gave up His Spirit.

Last year, archaeologists from Tel Aviv University announced the discovery of a limestone ossuary. An ossuary is a box used for the burial of human bones. This burial box bore an unusual and detailed inscription. In short, it was positively identified as the ossuary of Miriam, the granddaughter of Caiaphas, the High Priest who presided over the trial of Jesus.

Archeologist Says New Finds Support Bible's Accuracy

And this month, a professor from Hebrew University uncovered evidence confirming the existence of an Israelite kingdom centered in Jerusalem around the time of Kings David and Solomon. The same archaeologist also reported discovering the oldest Hebrew inscription ever found. On a shard of pottery, the inscription confirms the existence of a centralized, literate Hebrew kingdom more than 3,000 years ago. The professor announced that these discoveries prove that David was not a mythological figure or just the leader of a small tribe.

I think it's always exciting when archaeological and scientific discoveries confirm the historical record contained in the Bible. You see, Christianity is different from other world religions. Most of them can survive their sacred texts being found to contain conflicting details. What's most important to them are the broad generalities they teach, not the particulars of their founders' lives. But Christianity holds itself to such a high standard—100% accuracy (a standard established by God Himself)—that the details of the life and death of Jesus Christ are critical to the validity of Christianity's entire message. In fact, if a single historical fact regarding the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is not true, the entire structure of Christianity collapses.

But the sheer fact that the people who were eyewitnesses to the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ were happily willing to sacrifice their lives rather than deny even the tiniest detail, speaks volumes. And it still serves to encourage those of us who follow Him 2,000 years later.

But we don't have to depend on the miracles of modern scientific discovery to affirm our faith in Jesus Christ. Perhaps the most powerful confirmation of all comes from the Scriptures themselves. It is absolutely amazing to me how many ways the Bible confirms its own veracity. From the New Testament writers' indirect confirmations of each other, to the accuracy of the multiple, parallel accounts of events, to the eyewitness testimony, to the deathbed testimony, to the miraculous, exact fulfillment of centuries-old prophecies concerning Christ's crucifixion, to the lack of denials from leaders of the day, to the willingness of the witnesses to die for their testimony, the Bible is its own best witness.

No body of literature in all history has been as thoroughly studied, vetted, picked apart, and argued and debated over as the Bible. Religions have sprung up to disprove it. Entire doctrines depend on there being a Bible to reject. Most atheists, rationalists, and humanists can find at least some common ground with most of the other world religions, but it's the Bible alone that raises their hackles and fires up their evangelistic fervor.

Given the weight of all the evidence pointing to both the historical accuracy and Divine inspiration of the Scriptures, it seems to me that it would be much more amazing if it WEREN'T all true. The Bible has been under constant attack by the smartest guys in every generation since it was compiled. If a single thing in the Scripture were conclusively disproved—a named person who didn't live, a place that never existed, an event that didn't take place—then the Word of God is broken. Of all the thinkers and philosophers who have lived during the last two thousand years, not one has been able to claim the title of the man who proved the Bible wrong. Because it isn't.

Entire Mosques Coming to Christ in Sub-Saharan Africa, Says Former Church

Entire Mosques Coming to Christ in Sub-Saharan Africa, Says Former Church Planter

http://www.christianpost.com

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The idea of tens of thousands of former Muslims coming to Jesus Christ in North Africa within a few short years is mind-boggling. But entire mosques in Sub-Saharan Africa coming to faith? That news is even harder to wrap one's mind around, but it is in fact what is happening according to reports from a former church planter among Muslims in West Africa.

In the new book Miraculous Movements, Jerry Trousdale, now director of International Ministries for CityTeam International, records amazing and inspiring stories of faith among Muslim communities in Africa. The author opens up a new world to Western readers, taking them into the heart of the "miraculous movement" of God in Africa that is transforming the hearts of Muslims.

Trousdale writes that "unprecedented" events are happening among the Muslim populations that his ministry and its affiliates are working among, including:

• Multiple cases of entire mosques coming to faith

• Thousands of ordinary men and women being used by God to achieve seemingly impossible outcomes

• Tens of thousands of Muslim background Christians becoming dedicated intercessors who fast and pray for the gospel to penetrate the next community

• Muslim people groups that never had even one church among them now have more than fifty church planted, and in some cases more than one hundred churches – within two years of engagement

• Former sheikhs, imams and militant Islamists making up 20 percent or more of the new Christian leaders in Muslim regions

"We had seven years now in Africa. And of the people in Africa, 81 different people groups that have at least 50 percent Muslim have now significant movements among them. Of those 81, 45 are people groups with 99 or 100 percent Muslim," said Trousdale in an interview with CP. "So we are talking about fairly extreme areas of Islamic influence. These are people who have been Islamic for well over a hundred years, some hundreds of years."

"This is just good news that God is in the same business as He was in the book of Acts," said the missions leader. "Disciples are multiplying greatly and even priests, imams and sheikhs are becoming obedience to the faith. So I no longer doubt that we can finish the task in this generation."

Although there are many poignant stories based on interviews with former Muslims in the book, one narrative about a blind former businessman is particularly hard to forget. Zamil (names in the book have been changed for security reason) was a successful businessman and a respected leader at his mosque. One night he dreamed that Isa al Masih (Jesus the Messiah) appeared to him and said that he (Jesus) was the light of the world. After that dream, Zamil could no longer see.

He came across some Christians who took him to a prayer camp where despite the prayers, his sight did not return. He later met Mama Nadirah, who was the organizer of the prayer camp, and she took responsibility for him. Zamil's family, including his wife, abandoned him as soon as they found out he had become a Christian. He was blind, homeless and lost all his possessions after he became a Christian.

Under Mama Nadirah's care, Zamil attended Discovery Bible Studies and learned to be an obedient disciple of Jesus and that Jesus commanded his follower to go out and lead others to him. Despite being blind, Zamil told Mama Nadirah he intended to go to another village and become a disciple maker for Jesus. Everyone gently told him that he couldn't go because he was blind.

But then one morning Zamil got into a taxi and went to a Muslim community nearby. A few days later, Zamil called Mama Nadirah and told her where he was, and within a month he called to announce that a church had already been planted in the community and he was coming home before setting off for his next community.

"An unlettered widow (Mama Nadirah) discipling a successful businessman who had previously been a committed Muslim until he was blinded by the Light of the World, these are the kinds of miracles and turnabouts that are happening every day, launching movements of new Christ followers all over the world," Trousdale writes.

While Trousdale first and foremost credits God for the unexplainable phenomenon occurring among Muslims in Africa, he also points to a new disciple making program. The counterintuitive Disciple Making Movement approach consists of the following strategies:

• Go slow at first in order to go fast later – Jesus chose disciple making as his strategy to prepare people to launch a global movement

• Focus on a few to win many – Jesus spent almost all his attention on intentionally discipling just 12 men, focusing especially on four of them

• Engage an entire family or group, not just the individual – the New Testament records whole families coming to faith

• Share only when and where people are ready to hear – only invest time in people God has already prepared to bridge the gospel into their oikos, or family or community

• Start with creation, not with Christ – Muslims need to start in Genesis to see similarities and differences how the Quran and Bible describe God

• It's about discovering and obeying, not teaching and knowledge

• Disciple people to conversion, not vice versa – Jesus chose ordinary men and allowed them to walk with him as he revealed truths of God, then they came to a point where they decided to become a follower of Jesus. This discipleship model begins with discipleship and moves toward conversion. For Eve, it was knowledge instead of obedience that led to her fall into sin

• Coach lost people from the beginning to discover and obey biblical truth

• Prepare to spend a long time making strong disciples, but anticipate miraculous accelerations

• Expect the hardest places to yield the greatest results

"Too often, ministries focus on mass marketing the gospel, creating enough consumer impressions to drive demand, casting a wide net hoping to restrain a percentage of the fish from jumping out of our boat, reducing the gospel to the lowest common denominator of conversion rather than discipleship, with a hope (but not a plan) for eventual maturity," writes Trousdale. "Without intending to dilute the gospel, the traditional approach to evangelism sometimes settles for making converts, instead of Jesus' final command to 'make disciples … teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you' (Matthew 29:19-20)."

He continues, "The irony is that Muslims in scores of different people groups are submitting their lives to Jesus at rates that are much faster than most church growth in North America. And it is happening, not by making the gospel journey somehow easier to traverse, but by focusing from the first day on making obedient disciples who are daily seeking to follow Jesus and obey his will. That is the pathway over which hundreds of thousands of Muslims have come to Jesus."

Obama nixes French-Saudi plan to finish Assad by bombing his palace

Obama nixes French-Saudi plan to finish Assad by bombing his palace

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report May 30, 2012, 1:07 PM (GMT+02:00)

Bashar Assad's fortified palace atop Mt. Qassioun

US President Obama recently vetoed a detailed Franco-Saudi plan for ending President Bashar Assad’s rule by means of a massive air strike against his palace that would at one fell swoop wipe him, his family and top leadership circle out, debkafile’s military and intelligence sources report.

Their plan was for the presidential palace situated atop Mount Qassioun northeast of Damascus to be devastated by French warplanes taking off from the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier off Syria’s Mediterranean coast and Saudi and United Arab Emirates bombers flying in through Jordan.

They would bomb the palace for 12 hours in several sorties while at the same time American fighter jets launched from a US aircraft carrier cruising in the Mediterranean or Red Sea would shut down Syria’s air defenses, which are considered among the most sophisticated and densely-arrayed in the region.

US warplanes would also keep the Syrian Air Force grounded and prevented from repulsing the incoming bombers.
This plan was presented to President Obama separately by Nicolas Sarkozy before he was voted out of office and Saudi Defense Minister Prince Salman, who arrived at the White House on April 12 for a personal presentation. The prince maintained that there is no end in sight for the Syrian conflict; it would only spread and ignite the rest of the Middle East. The peril could only be rooted out at source by a single, sharp military strike that would remove Assad and his close clan for good. This would be the only acceptable kind of Western-Arab armed intervention in Syria and it had the added advantage of being effective without bringing foreign boots to Syrian soil.

In early May, Sarkozy was still trying to talk Obama around to the plan. He spent his last days in the Elysée Palace in long telephone conversations with the White House in which he drove home three points:

1. Because Assad has concentrated his family, top military command and intelligence chiefs at a single nerve center behind the fortified walls of the Qassioun Palace, the snake’s head can feasibly be cut off at one stroke.
The case of Libya’s Muammar Qaddafi was different because, unlike Assad, he never stayed long in one place and was constantly on the move.

2. Once that nerve center is destroyed, Syrian army and intelligence would be bereft of their sources of command. Their troops may remain in their bases and wait for news, while their officers may use the sudden political vacuum in Damascus to try and seize power. In either case, the Syrian military would be free of its orders to crush the anti-Assad revolt.
3. The French, Saudi and UAE air forces lack a central command center capable of coordinating a major combined air operation and therefore depend on the United States to provide this essential component. American military input is also vital for paralyzing Syria’s air defenses by applying its cyber warfare capabilities to disrupt the radar systems of Syria’s anti-air missile batteries.
Our Washington sources report that Obama consistently resisted repeated French and Saudi efforts to jump aboard their initiative.
The Saudi defense minister at one point in their conversation told the US president harshly that it was time for the Americans to stop talking and start acting. But Obama remained unmoved.
These events, revealed here by debkafile, provide the background for Presidents Barak Obama and Francois Hollande’s divergent responses Tuesday, May 29, to the al-Houla atrocity and its 108 brutally murdered victims.The White House repeated its objection to military intervention in Syria “at this time,” because it would only “increase the carnage.” A military option was left on the table.

That was standard Obama-speak for the crisis in Syria, behind which he remains determined to stay out of armed action for unseating President Assad and instead seek a deal with the Russians on the Syrian ruler’s fate as part and parcel of a comprehensive accord on Syria and Iran’s nuclear program.
President Hollande was at first quoted as saying he does not rule out armed intervention in Syria. Elysée sources later watered down this statement with the qualifier: …”only with UN Security Council approval.”
On top of the American hurdle, Moscow and Beijing rushed Wednesday, May 30, to reiterate that they would oppose (veto) any Security Council resolution authorizing military intervention in Syria, so effectively nipping the French intention in the bud.
Bashar Assad accordingly had no qualms about sending UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan off empty-handed from a final bid to salvage his peace mission: The world powers have left him sitting pretty in his palace, unconcerned about his future and free to pursue one of the most vicious anti-opposition campaigns of modern times.

Ecumenism never works, Interfaith is not what it seems

Ecumenism never works, Interfaith is not what it seems

Listen to this. This is a good story. From Ezra 4:1-5, a one act play in three parts, with application for today.

Pt 1: Question
"Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the LORD, the God of Israel, they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers’ houses and said to them, "Let us build with you, for we worship your God as you do, and we have been sacrificing to him ever since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria who brought us here."

Pt 2: Answer

"But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers’ houses in Israel said to them, "You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we alone will build to the LORD, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us."

Pt 3: Reaction

"Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build and bribed counselors against them to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia."

Note that the first verse states that these were enemies of Judah and Benjamin. Every translation uses the word enemies or adversaries. These people who showed up undoubtedly had heard the shouts of praise and weeping as recorded in the previous verse (Ezra 3:13). And no one could miss 50,000 or so people tramping back with all their families, servants and animals. Their arrival was noted. And not appreciated. What to do? What to do? Well, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!

"Let us help you!" they said. They were all nicey-nice. They asked politely. They said that they respected the Israelites' God. For gosh sakes, we worship Him, even sacrifice! We're like you!

The two tribes said ... drumroll please ... NO.

By today's standards, we'd say that the Israelites were being mean, impolite, "exclusive", "intolerant", and "haters" by refusing the offer. After all, weren't the would-be helpers seeking? Wouldn't it achieve a dual common goal by getting the temple finished earlier and offering the seekers the opportunity to dazzle them with their wonderful personalities before setting the bait-and-switch of ... ta-DA! ... sharing the knowledge of the LORD?

No it would not. First, the Jews knew that the LORD had placed it upon their hearts to do the work, He had not placed it upon the Gentiles's hearts and therefore they were respecting the decree of the LORD by working exclusively toward fulfilling His command. Second, they were respecting the decree of the King to be the ones who built it. And third, we knew then and we know now that there is never a common spiritual goal when pairing with Gentiles. They promote satan's goals, we promote Jesus's. There is between them a great gulf fixed.

Sure enough, their true colors came out. And right away too. They immediately began a multi-pronged approach to thwarting the goal of rebuilding the temple and thus of God's work. They were doing satan's work. It had only been a ruse in that first prong approach of joining them. When that didn't work, right away began to bribe the officials, appeal to the king, discourage the Jews, frustrate them, and bully them. They kept this up for fifteen years. Fifteen years. As we can see by their persistence, their goal was never to help get the temple built, it was only to prevent the temple from being built.

See? Ecumenism never works. The seeker's goals are not the same as ours, and their true colors will come out soon enough.

We can see by one of satan's methods that he sows tares among the wheat, something undoubtedly the pagans had wanted to do. The Jews would have naturally relaxed their guard by being in daily proximity to the pagans, and satan would have started sowing the tares. Intermarriage, friendliness, social mixing or melding their different religions, pollution would have begun. Just ask Solomon how that works out.

Note I'm talking about maintaining separateness when setting out to accomplish a purpose of God, or a consecrated thing, not that we never mix with unbelievers. The fact is, though, the bible is replete with warnings not to mix holy and profane:

"Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?" (2 Corinthians 6:14)

The Greek lexicon defines this unequal yoking as "used figuratively of Christians wrongly committed to a partner holding very different values (priorities), i.e. that run contrary to faith (the kingdom of God). Scripture uses symbols to teach about the importance of keeping spiritually pure. Along this line, Scripture prohibited partnering with the apistos, or the unfaithful, by evoking the picture of two different animals yoked together. Would the field get plowed if you yoked a bull and a goat together?.

"...but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away...(Matthew 13:25)

Félicien Rops, Satan Sowing Seeds, pencil, c. 1872.

I've used this pencil drawing before recently. I like it. Why? I'm amazed at the accuracy the drawing evokes of satan's activity and methods. It reminds me of so many different verses. The wheat and the tares is one. The verse where God asks satan where he has been and satan says he has been roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it. (Job 1:7). Another verse is good to remember here, satan is god of this world, (2 Corinthians 4:4) and he has been given power to deliver kingdoms to all he chooses (Matthew 4:8-9).

We must resist the world because satan is the god of it. "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." (1 Peter 2:9).

We should not combine with unbelievers, or even with those who say they worship the same God as we do but obviously do not. Let not the political, cultural, or social desires get in the way of the biblical desire to remain dedicated to being pure and bringing glory to Jesus. Ecumenism, or interfaith, is not what it seems. This is evidenced by the immediate reaction of the rejected pagans who had asked to "help" build the temple but only wanted to allow satan to go back and forth on it, sowing tares.

Strange sounds- Part II

Gary and Bob continue their discussion of the eerie sounds coming from the skies.

Will God Destroy Smokers? Follow Up

Will God Destroy Smokers? Follow Up
http://gracethrufaith.com/ask-a-bible-teacher

Q. Re: Will God Destroy Smokers. Are you saying that if a born again believer dies due to lung cancer caused by smoking, he will be included in the rapture as it has been written that the dead in Christ will rise first at the time of rapture? Will it be the same with those people who claimed to be born again dying because of being a drug addict? Will they be included in the rapture? How can those people who claimed to be truly born again believers still be included in the rapture despite the fact that the cause of their death are their vices, such as smoking, etc? Might they be continuing their vices because they are being encouraged by your view, even if they don’t quit? Please give a clearer explanation about the matter.

A. There’s not a single verse in the New Testament that when taken in context makes inclusion in the rapture conditional upon our behavior. You have singled out smokers and drug users, but you can’t condemn people for the vices you don’t like and ignore the others.
As I said , if your opinion is correct you would have to include drinkers, over eaters, people who can’t control their anger, or don’t exercise, or subject themselves to too much stress, or eat too much junk food, or intentionally work in hazardous conditions, or take unnecessary risks in their recreational pursuits, and all others who do things that can adversely affect their health. We’re either saved by grace or we’re not.

In a first, U.S. declares 5 million Palestinians to be refugees: report

In a first, U.S. declares 5 million Palestinians to be refugees: report

STRANGE SOUNDS

Gary and Bob discuss the strange sounds that have been heard coming from the skies all around the world.

Prophecy in the News - Christ at the checkpoint - Christian Palestinianism

The Parable Of The Wedding Banquet

Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.

“Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

“But they paid no attention and went off–one to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

“Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

“But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless.

“Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

“For many are invited, but few are chosen.” (Matt 22:1-14)

Why All The Parables?

The Greek word for parable literally means to set along side. A fictional earthly story is set alongside a heavenly truth to help convey its meaning. When the disciples asked Jesus why He spoke to the people in parables He said,

“The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.” (Matt. 13:11-12)

In effect this means a parable was meant to accomplish two things: 1) to instruct His followers, and 2) to confuse everyone else. These seemingly conflicting objectives can both be accomplished because it’s the Holy Spirit who gives us the understanding we need. Without the Holy Spirit no one can comprehend the things of God. Paul put it this way;

The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. (1 Cor. 2:14)

The parable of the wedding banquet is a good example. It’s either very instructive or very confusing depending on your understanding of the Bible. (A working knowledge of Jewish wedding customs during Biblical times can also be helpful but is not essential.)

The Wedding Planner

First century Jewish wedding customs held that the father of the groom was in charge of the event and bore all the expense associated with the wedding and the banquet that followed. I’ve been told that in case of royalty or the very wealthy this often included providing a specially made garment to be worn over a guest’s regular clothing. This wedding garment was presented to the guest upon arrival and donned immediately. Refusal to wear it was an insult to the Father of the groom and could get a guest ejected from the festivities. In case of large gatherings it also served as identification to discourage uninvited guests from crashing the party.

As I said, the Parables of our Lord Jesus are earthly stories meant to explain heavenly truths. Each person or object is symbolic of someone or something else. Understanding the symbolism is crucial to discovering the lesson of the Parable. In fact receiving the full theological impact of a parable requires such an understanding.

The King represents God the Father, His Son our Lord Jesus. Invited guests who declined His invitation symbolize Israel’s rejection of the Messiah and the servants He sent to invite them are the prophets. The city He destroyed is Jerusalem, and the wedding banquet is the Kingdom of Heaven. This puts the timing of the parable at the Second Coming.

Do You Know The Bride?

Some say the last group He sent His servants out to invite represents the Church, but the symbolism and timing are wrong. The Church is the Bride of Christ (Ephes. 5:25-27), not a group of last minute substitute guests. Since Israel had already declined His invitation, and the Church (being the bride) would not need an invitation, who could these guests be?

They have to come from a time after the Bride is chosen and prepared, because the wedding banquet is ready and only the guests are lacking for the festivities to begin. They’re from a group we call Tribulation believers, those who come to faith after the Rapture of the Church in Revelation 4 but before the Wedding Banquet of Revelation 19.

Here’s The Real Lesson Of The Parable

The wedding garment represents God’s righteousness. This is a concept explained on several occasions in both the Old and New Testaments. Isaiah described our righteousness as filthy rags (Isa 64:6) and God’s righteousness as “garments of salvation” and “robes of righteousness” (Isa 61:10) where the acquisition of these qualities is likened to clothing given us at a wedding.

I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels (Isa 61:10).

In Revelation 19 the church has been prepared as a bride having been clothed in white linen, representing our righteousness. But as in Isaiah 61:10, the righteousness symbolized by the clothing is given to the bride, not purchased or earned. Paul said that ours is a righteousness that comes to us through faith (Romans 3:21-22).

The fact that a guest is thrown out into the darkness for not wearing wedding clothes indicates these last minute guests are required to be clothed in “garments of salvation” as well. Rev. 16:15 tells us Tribulation believers will have to “keep their clothes with them.” In other words they’ll be responsible for maintaining the righteousness they will have been given by obeying God’s commandments and remaining faithful to Jesus (Rev. 14:12). Only the Church has been promised the gift of eternal security.

Therefore the guest who was escorted out had been a Tribulation believer who was now trying to gain entrance to the banquet in his own clothing, having lost or discarded the “garment of salvation” he’d been given. He was hoping to gain entrance to the kingdom in his own righteousness, which as Isaiah said, is like filthy rags in God’s sight.

This is another slant on the parable of the 10 bridesmaids (Matt. 25:1-13). The setting there is also the time of the 2nd Coming. And again, the Church is not a bridesmaid. The Church is the bride and could not be refused admittance to her own wedding banquet. The five who were excluded were tribulation believers who had lost their salvation either by not obeying God’s commandments or by not remaining faithful to Jesus or both. This is indicated by their lack of sufficient oil, which is symbolic of the Holy Spirit. Since the Holy Spirit is sealed within the Church as a deposit guaranteeing our salvation (Ephes 1:13-14), the bridesmaids who were excluded from the banquet have to represent a post rapture group from whom the Holy Spirit had departed for lack of faith.

Many are invited, but few are chosen (Matt 22:1-14). God doesn’t desire that any should perish, but that all would come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). But whether it’s the Bride or the wedding guests, the only righteousness that gains us admission into His presence is that which is given us as a gift and accepted in faith (Rom 3:21-22). All of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ (Gal 3:27). For God made Him Who had no sin to become sin for us, that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor 5:21). Selah.

Rolling through the bay