Israel indicts American over plot to bomb Muslim holy sites

Reblogged from

FoxNews.com

Oct. 5, 2014: Palestinians from Gaza pray in front of the Dome of the Rock during their visit at the compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount in Jerusalem's Old City. (Reuters)

An American Christian is facing charges in Israel of plotting to blow up Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem, Israeli authorities said Tuesday.

Adam Everett Livix, 30, was identified by the Israeli Police and the Justice Ministry. Livix faces drug charges in the U.S. and that he once turned down an offer from a Palestinian to assassinate President Obama during a visit to Israel in 2013.

The Justice Ministry said the man they identified as Livix underwent a psychiatric evaluation Tuesday after his indictment Monday on charges of illegal weapon possession and overstaying his visa by more than a year. Operating in cooperation with Israel's Shin Bet security service, police went to arrest Livix last month at his 7th-floor apartment, the ministry said, but he initially tried to escape by leaping down to a patio on the floor below.

Livix, posing as an ex-Navy SEAL, was asked by a Palestinian to assassinate Obama with a sniper rifle in March 2013 when Obama was making a trip to the region, Israeli police spokesman Mickey Rosenfield said. Livix did not go through with it and the FBI ended up investigating the matter.
 
Later that year, Livix entered Israel, the Justice Ministry said, and told Israeli friends he had strong anti-Arab sentiments. The ministry said Livix later cooperated with his roommate, a serving soldier in the Israeli military, to obtain 3 pounds of explosive material to blow up the unidentified Jerusalem holy sites. The ministry said police discovered the plot in October.
Livix's indictment comes at a time of rising tensions in Jerusalem, mostly over a disputed holy site known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and Jews as the Temple Mount. It is the third holiest site in Islam and the holiest in Judaism.

As members of the Israeli government demand that Jews be allowed to pray at the Muslim-run site, Palestinians fear it is a pretext to a Jewish takeover.

This isn't the first time there have been allegations of a foreigner threatening a holy site in Jerusalem. In 1969, an Australian Christian started a fire at the complex's Al-Aqsa Mosque in hopes that it would hasten the second coming of Jesus Christ. The man, Denis Michael Rohan, was subsequently committed to a mental institution.

Why fossil fuels are morally good

HEAT OF THE MOMENT 

John Stossel: Deaths due to climate plummet as industry grows

Published: 21 hours ago

John Stossel 

John Stossel is a longtime award-winning broadcast journalist who hosts "Stossel" on the Fox Business Network. His newest book is "No, They Can't: Why Government Fails, but Individuals Succeed." To find out more about John Stossel, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage.

People argue about whether the “consensus” of scientists is that we face disaster because of global warming. Instead of debating whether man’s greenhouse gasses will raise temperatures, we should argue about how we gauge disasters.

If you take most environmentalists and climate scientists at their word, the Earth heated up about 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit over the past century, not much more than it heated up the century before that. Warming may increase, but no one can be certain of that.

Let’s agree for the sake of argument that this recent warming was partly caused by humanity. Let’s also agree that there are some negative effects, including more frequent coastal flooding or longer droughts. 

If we agree that those are costs, shouldn’t we also look at the benefits? Much of modern civilization owes its existence to our use of the fossil fuels that produce the greenhouse gasses.

I don’t see that civilization as misfortune. I wish climate alarmists would weigh its accomplishments against the relatively small downsides of climate change. One of industry’s biggest accomplishments is creating a world where far fewer of us are likely to die because of weather.

Alex Epstein’s book “The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels” documents the rapidly shrinking number of human beings killed by storms, floods and other climate events thanks largely to ever-growing industry, fueled mainly by oil, natural gas and coal. 

On my show this week, he argues that if we compare conditions a century ago to conditions last year, we shouldn’t obsess about how much carbon dioxide is in the air – or whether Earth is warming – we should look at how much safer life became.

In 2013, “Climate-related deaths were at a record low – in supposedly the worst climate in history – under 30,000,” says Epstein. In 1931, bad weather killed 3 million people.
You can argue that we get some things wrong as a civilization, but thanks to our use of fossil fuels, we get something very right.

Epstein points out that humanity owes its current ability to survive harsh winters, arid deserts and other naturally dangerous environments to the same fuels activists now condemn: “We have the luxury of being able to absorb a certain amount of climate-related damage so we can live in all of these cool places.”
His argument is unusual because environmentalists spread the idea that, without human interference, the planet is perfect. 

But by what standard?

“If you went to someone 300 years ago and asked them, do you have a perfect climate?” they would think you were crazy, says Epstein. “They were terrified of climate, because climate doesn’t give you the resources that you need. It doesn’t give you water when you need it. It doesn’t give you the temperature when you need it.” 

It was once common to say that humans change their environment. That shouldn’t offend people today, says Epstein. We should be thrilled that humans “create technology to master climate. … That’s why so few people today die from climate.” 

Epstein correctly says that instead of talking about “climate change” – of which there will always be some, with or without human influence – we should focus on “climate catastrophe,” weather that actually kills people. Those catastrophes, measured in lost lives, are getting rarer. 

Most of the changes humans make to our environment are desirable changes that help us live longer and more comfortably. “The dogma that man is ruining the planet rather than improving it is a religion, a source of prestige and a career for too many people.”
If we regard nature as pristine and think it must never be altered, we will have big problems. We will die young and lead miserable, difficult lives.

I think of industry as something that is mostly very good for us, with a few minor side effects that aren’t. Fossil fuels are a little like antibiotics, says Epstein. It’s good to draw attention to minor side effects, but it would be crazy to abandon all treatment because of them.
Fossil fuels are no catastrophe. They contribute to health and a better life.

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2014/12/why-fossil-fuels-are-morally-good/#Hc2cjbXiJ21pUYio.99

Israel indicts American over plot to bomb Muslim holy sites

Reblogged from ynetnews.com
Ñote form the blog author: If Israel really wanted to provoke its enemies into a retaliatory reaction, what a better opportunity than this. The opposite happened which show the good will of a people who want to live in peace with their neighbors and will do everything to promote and protect human beings. That is why I support Israel.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Texas native Adam Everett Livix attempted to purchase 1.4 kilos of stolen explosives from IDF soldiers; Palestinian operative tried to convince him to assassinate President Obama. Eli Senyor, Itay Blumental

An American Christian was indicted Monday for plotting to blow up Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem, the Justice Ministry said Tuesday, after the court cleared the case for publication at the request of the state.

The man, Adam Everett Livix, 30, a Texas native, is wanted in the United States for drugs-related offenses. In Israel, he was indicted for three offenses.

According to the indictment, Livix passed himself on as a member of the elite American unit the Navy SEALS. He told friends he had strong anti-Arab sentiments and wished to target Muslim sites.

In October, Livix asked his roommate, a serving soldier in the IDF, to help him obtain weaponry, including 1.4 kilograms (3 pounds) of explosive material, to use to blow up the unidentified Jerusalem holy sites. Livix went as far as paying a part of the sum agreed upon for the explosives.

Livix was also indicted for negotiating, with the help of his acquaintance the soldier, the purchase of two IDF demolition blocks stolen by a friend of that acquaintance. When Livix asked for time to come up with the money for the deal, the acquaintance's friend sold them to a military police agent.

The third offense concerned the attempt to purchase another demolition block from another soldier.

Livix's crimes were being investigated by the Netanya Police, the Police Central Unit, military police and the Shin Bet.
Continue reading ynetnews.com

Iran developed 2.000 kms range missiles and equipped Hezbollahwith 300 kms range missiles.

Middle East Media Reasearch Institute

Inquiry & Analysis Series Report

 

December 4, 2014 Inquiry & Analysis Series Report No.1135 Iranian IRGC Missile Unit Commanders: We've Developed 2,000-km Range Missiles And Equipped Hizbullah With 300-km Range Missiles; Fars News Agency: Israel's Illusions About Its Natural Gas Fields Will Be Buried In The Mediterranean By: U. Kafash, Y. Mansharof, and A. Savyon* Introduction Two weeks before November 24, 2014, the end date of the Joint Plan of Action between Iran and the P5+1, websites close to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) began reporting about the capabilities of the IRGC missile unit, and in particular about this unit's capability to strike and destroy Israel. At the same time, there has been a marked increase in threats by IRGC officials on behalf of Hizbullah about the latter's readiness to strike any point in Israel. Furthermore, the IRGC-affiliated Fars news agency is touting the capability of Hizbullah's Iranian missiles to damage Israel's natural gas fields in the Mediterranean Sea, as well as Israeli naval vessels.  On November 24, IRGC commander Ali Jafari said at a conference at Shahid Modares University: "Today, the entire area of the occupied territories [Israel] is within range of the missiles of the resistance – meaning the fall of the Zionist regime. Of course, the matter does not end here, and certainly the final liberation [of Palestine] will come about."[1] Also in November, the Iranian news agency Fars published statements by IRGC Aerospace Force and missile unit commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh and his deputy Majid Mousavi, both of whom claimed that the missile unit had been established in order to attack Israel. They said that Hizbullah is in possession of Iranian missiles with a range of 300 km, covering Israeli territory as far south as Dimona. Hajizadeh added that the IRGC and Hizbullah were a single apparatus.  Hajizadeh explained in detail the history of the establishment of the missile unit, which originally copied Libyan missile systems and was based on knowhow provided by North Korea, and that training for it had been carried out in Syria. He noted that it was Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei who had demanded that Iranian missiles be precise to within 10 meters. He also underlined the IRGC's advanced missile capability against naval vessels.  In addition, just prior to the November 24 deadline, on November 17, the IRGC-affiliated Tasnimnews.com posted a diagram showing the ranges of several Iranian missiles, up to 2,000 km, covering Greece, southern Italy, southeast Europe, Turkey, the Caucasus, Central Asia and Russia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the Gulf states. The diagram emphasized the Iranian missile threat to Israel and to U.S. military bases in the region.  On November 26, two days after Iran and the P5+1 agreed to extend the Joint Plan of Action to June 2015, Tasnimnews posted links to video clips of the launch of 2000-km range Sejil ballistic missiles (download the clip from MEMRI.org here); of 1,350-km range Qadr F and Qadr H missiles (here) and of 1,350-km range Shahab 3 missiles; of 300-km range Hormuz 1 and 2 missiles (here), of 300-km range Zelzal missiles (here and here), of 300-km range Zelzal Raad 307 missiles (here); and of the simultaneous launch of several ballistic missiles (here).  This paper will review at length statements by IRGC officials on Iran's missiles, on the missile unit, on the missile threat to Israel and to U.S. military bases in the region, and on the missile capabilities of Hizbullah and the Palestinian resistance, which are now armed with Iranian missile technology. It will also review statements by Hizbullah deputy secretary general Naim Qassem on Iran's aid to Hizbullah to arm itself with missiles against Israel. Part I: Tasnim's Diagram Of Iranian Missiles' Striking Range Up To 2,000 Km, Including U.S. Military Bases Source: Multimedia.tasnimnews.com/Media/Gallery/560065. The translation of the diagram is as follows:  Continue reading: Middle East Media Research Institute

Muslims proselityzing in front of Brazilan church in São Paulo

More than meets the eye!

Post by Hakan Mengüç.

By Riyadh Mohammed,

The Fiscal Times

December 4, 2014

In its most recent gruesome video, ISIS made 22 of its members behead what they claimed was a group of Syrian army officers and pilots. But this time, with the notable exception of British leader Jihad John, the executioners showed their faces. At least one of them was Asian. Some others were white. Two French citizens are thought to be in that video, among other nationalities.
The message was clear: ISIS has an army of global fighters who will threaten every country in the world. Since ISIS captured Mosul in June, most of the world governments have raised alarms over the threat those fighters can cause to their countries when they return home. In the Middle East, ISIS established active branches in Algeria, Libya, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia.
The threat has already become a reality. In Algeria, ISIS followers beheaded a French citizen in September 2014. In Libya, they control the town of Derna. In Egypt, they are engaged in a guerrilla war with the Egyptian state in Sinai that has claimed the lives of hundreds of security forces, insurgents, and civilians. In Saudi Arabia, they attacked Saudi Shiites and a Danish citizen in November.

- See more at: http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2014/12/04/ISIS-Growing-Its-Terror-Army-Global-Jihadists#sthash.w3OWRotY.dpuf

Naftali Bennett

Jesu joy of men´s desiring - Johann Sebastian Bach

Our Pope, Rick Warren?

The sin problem and the schism

Reblogged from Serve Him in the Waiting

By STLloyd December 5, 2014 Ferguson Police Brutality racism salvation
 
In my post “Conversations that need to be had“, I talked about the fact that Benjamin Watson had got it right when he said the issue in Ferguson is not a race problem but a sin problem.  There was a reader/commenter who expressed his resentment of any insinuation that as a black man anyone could tell him to act a certain way in order to ensure his safety from being targeted by police.  Granted I mentioned and linked-to two other videos wherein black men expressed opinions that blacks need to stop blaming whites, and start taking a look at themselves and behaving better, but those were not the point of my post, yet they were the only message the Christian black male commenter seemed to hear. 
Ok.  I get that this is a volatile issue and that as a white female I can’t possibly know what that feels like.  He quoted someone who had said “you have the complexion that ensures protection”.

I want to be clear, and I realize that my mind is often going in so many directions at once, and write in such a stream-of-consciousness way, that I sometimes don’t do a good job of making my point.  And of course, I write as if to those who have been with this blog all along and know a little about me, that I do care.  As I responded to his comment, I think that everything that happened in Ferguson is a tragedy.  It is a tragedy that a young black man is dead.  It is also a tragedy that a police officer who never had to fire his weapon in the line of duty before, did so and is going to live with that knowledge the rest of his life.  It is a compound tragedy that so many black business owners now have had their livelihood wiped out, and that those who participated in this travesty have made those of the Ferguson community look bad.  Especially when a lot of the looters were not locals, and there were provocateurs fanning the flames.

This writer was a nurse.  I worked in hospice.  I am no stranger to death and the signs of impending death.  America as a Constitutional Republic, is on her deathbed.  Obama and others have over-played their hand with the race card this time around.  Many more Americans are still waking up.  But those who would rather not take personal responsibility, will always eagerly and readily project that blame onto someone else.  The politicians know this, and they use it to their advantage.  With a media that is complicit, the narrative gets broadcast and incessantly reinforced.

I don’t hate black people.  There is one race.  The human race.  There are different ethnicities in each of our heritages, but we are all just people.  We all have a sinful nature, though, and that is what is at the root of all of it.

Police brutality is also a major issue.  But all of the evidence presented to the Grand Jury in Brown’s case says he was a real and immediate threat to Officer Wilson.  l of the black individuals think that this brutality is aimed only at blacks,  I can tell you that it isn’t.  It seems pretty equal-opportunity, actually.  In a world where “right and wrong” have purposely been made fuzzy and vague, I would imagine a police officer, who is supposed to enforce the law, might have a pretty high level of frustration.  The law used to mean something, and as an officer of the law, the authority of the law was behind them in their job.  These days, though, they can risk their lives to get a real bad guy off the street, only to see him released with little or no repercussions whatsoever.

Sometimes people get mad and do foolish things, and sometimes people do really stupid and foolish things because they are already angry.  I don’t doubt there are a lot of angry cops out there.  The really angry and bitter ones who see criminals get away with murder, sometimes decide, “why not me?”

I don’t doubt that a lot of the folks who took to the streets of Ferguson were angry.  But I don’t think it was about Brown.  Kind of like the “Occupy” movement.  What were the protesters protesting?  Anything and Everything, each his own thing.  Mad, and determined a whole lot of some bodies are going to know about it!

The political manipulators know this about an angry person.  They are so easily manipulated because they don’t care to exercise self-control or restraint.  They are “bloodthirsty” for chaos, mayhem, destruction, and actual blood.

That is demonic.  Demons know this about an angry person too.  And will use it.
This blog doesn’t focus only on America, and yet lately, with all that is going on, you’d think that was the focus.  I guess that is because America has always been a sort of  “world hero”, and no one enjoys watching a hero fall.  Cosby is like America’s Dad in a symbolic way, and it’s almost like watching a ritual sacrifice. Who can anyone look up to anymore?
God deals with people and He deals with nations.

If you are looking for answers and truth, to make sense of all that is happening in this world, you won’t find it in elected officials.  If you are looking for true justice, you won’t find it in courts.  If you are troubled by the direction things are going in this nation, it won’t be fixed via politics or activism, or protests.  If we could get every person in America to hold hands and come together, we still could not achieve the peace we seek.  Because of sin.
Sin is an unpopular word.  It has fallen way out of favor.  But you know what, in a world where we so value “expression” and so “struggle” to achieve it, the fact is, we can’t express anything if we don’t have some universality to the meanings of words.  We can’t have peace if we don’t have laws that say and mean exactly what they say and mean.  It’s like the Tower of Babel all over again.  Don’t you see it?

We have thrown off all restraint and denied all absolutes, and now the very building blocks of communication, civility, and an orderly society are no more.  We are tearing them down brick by brick.  We are throwing away with both hands, all the blessings God has so graciously given America.  I say we, because all of us are guilty to one degree or another,  if only in taking it all for granted.

But what is happening is not just happening to America.  There is something much bigger going on, across the entire globe. This is going somewhere.  And the one place to figure out where this world is headed, is in the Bible. Yes, that old book.  Some say it is outdated.  But those who read it know better. The explanation is all there.  People don’t reject the Bible because it is irrelevant or because it contradicts itself.  They reject it because it contradicts their behaviors and their evil hearts.  They don’t like what it says.  But no matter.  That doesn’t make it any less true.

People caught up in the welfare state, are stuck there because they choose to believe lies.  The Bible says those who love not the truth will be given over to delusion.  When you look around doesn’t it seem like a lot of people are delusional?  Starting with the man in the Oval office and the other heads of state, and right on down.

There is a split that has always existed.  Jesus said you are either reconciled to God by His blood (if you are willing) and adopted as a son into God’s family or you are “of your father the devil”.  Hal Lindsey talks about a split in his report today.  It is a split in the church, but this church he refers to is the biblical “Harlot” of Revelation.  It is the church of those who practice a form of godliness and yet deny the power thereof (of God Himself, who is able not only to kill the body but cast the soul into hell).  The world’s religions are very much in the front pages of the news these days, have you noticed?  Islam, the Pope, Jews, Satan-worshipers, Christians being tortured and killed in many places, and harassed by atheists, the gays, government officials.  Seems like in the last 20 years the few holdouts who didn’t want anything to do with spiritual things, suddenly took interest in spirituality, and started a trend (with Oprah leading the way) of cafeteria-style religion.

When you mix red and blue, you get purple. When you mix red and blue, and yellow and green and pink and brown and orange and purple, you get a murky, muddy black mess, no “color” at all.  Nothing is distinct after that.  This “universal religion” will be a mixture.  It will mix complementary beliefs, and then embrace opposing ones.  Ecumenical.
Followers of Christ know to come out of her, this harlot church.   She is doomed. She will unite the world and facilitate the rise of a world leader, who will then destroy her.  America has more churches than any other nation.  The harlot is alive and flourishing in most of them.

The wars that are “in the making” will change some dynamics.  Many of the radical Muslims will die.  Peaceful Muslims will then have no reason to fear and will go ahead in the quest to unite with other religions.

All throughout the Bible God speaks of chosen out a people, both from the Jews, and out of every kindred, tribe and nation.  Some day, true justice will be served. But when we face our Creator, we will not be there to lodge our case against others.  We will be there to be judged ourselves. On that day it will not matter how good a person you feel you are.  Because He will be the judge.   There is one defense, and one only.   The blood of infinitely sinless Jesus, shed for infinitely sinful sinners. Has that ransom been paid on you behalf by Jesus?  
Have you asked Him to save you from hell?

Call upon Him while there is still time.  Sudden destruction is going to befall this world soon. Everyone knows it.   As the lines are drawn, are you trying to figure out how to “weather it”?  Your only safety is in Jesus. He is the bridge that closes the gap between you and your Maker that is a great chasm, not just a schism.  When God withdraws His grace, and pours out His wrath, only those hidden in Christ will escape it. Lets quit pretending it is just a matter of my truth vs. your truth.  Lets stop pretending that just because we don’t like the truth sometimes, that actually nullifies it. 

Most blacks are killed by blacks.  Well guess what?  Most whites are killed by whites.    Most Muslims are killed by Muslims.  Murder is sin.  Along with lying, stealing, and adultery. The gays didn’t destroy marriage, heterosexual self-professing Christians did.   If we are going to talk about a slippery slope, then let’s go all the way back.  God gave His law to the Jews and to the Christians. Where we fail to uphold it, the unbelievers can hardly be held to account.  He gave the gospel to a small group of Jews who He chose to be the first Christians,  revealing Himself as Messiah, and extending His grace to all people. We live in that age of grace now, but it is coming quickly to an end.

Rick Warren´s capitulation to Rome

The Coming Kingdom (Part 25)

Reblogged from www.bibleprophecyblog.com

The Coming Kingdom (Part 25)

Dr. Andy Woods Sugar Land Bible Church

Today's evangelical world largely believes that the church is experiencing the Messianic kingdom. To address this type of confusion, we began a study chronicling what the Bible teaches about the kingdom. In this series, the biblical teaching on the kingdom has been surveyed from Genesis to Revelation. We have noted thus far that what the Old Testament predicts concerning an earthly kingdom was offered to Israel during Christ's First Advent. Yet, the nation rejected this kingdom offer leading to the kingdom's postponement. In the interim, the kingdom is future as God now pursues an interim program that includes the church.

In addition, we began scrutinizing a series of texts that "kingdom now" theologians routinely employ in order to argue that the kingdom is a present reality in order to show that none of these passages, when rightly understood, teach a present, spiritual form of the kingdom. We began with the use of alleged "kingdom now" texts in the earthly ministry of Christ, such as "the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matt. 3:2; 4:17; 10:5-7), "seek first His kingdom" (Matt. 6:33), "until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence" (Matt. 11:12), "the kingdom of God has come upon you" (Matt. 12:28), "the kingdom of God is in your midst" (Luke 17:21), "unless one is born again he cannot...enter into the kingdom of God" (John 3:3-5), "some...who are standing here...will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom" (Matt. 16:28), "the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it" (Matt. 21:43), and "My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36).

All Authority Has Been Given to Me in Heaven and on Earth

A final statement by Christ that is used by "kingdom now" theologians is found in Matthew 28:18-20. These famous verses, typically known as the Great Commission, say, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." 

Those who teach that the Davidic Kingdom is a present reality often utilize these verses to substantiate their theology. These verses seem prominent in the thinking of Progressive Dispensationalists, who maintain that the Davidic Kingdom is present in spiritual form as Jesus now reigns from David's Throne from heaven over the church. While still holding to a future or "not yet" earthly reign of Christ following Christ's Second Advent, Progressive 

Dispensationalists still argue that the Davidic Kingdom is "already" here in spiritual form. Progressive Dispensationalists lean heavily on Christ's remark, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth" (Matt. 28:18). Of this verse, leading Progressive Dispensationalist Darrell Bock says:

The point made here is like that of Matthew 28:18, where all authority resides with Jesus, who has formed a community through which He provides spiritual blessing. This is the first stage of the kingdom program. Nonetheless, the demonstration of full authority awaits his return. [1]

Elsewhere Bock similarly observes:

...the biblical terminology and conceptual field (even the name Christ) show that the authority of Jesus is received now (Matthew 28:18-20...) and involves the exercise of that authority at certain key soteriological points. Jesus' executive authority in a variety of areas as shown in this listing indicates that His activity is messianic, and thus regal, not merely high priestly...If it is messianic and Davidic, then it is regal and indicates initial manifestations of Jesus' rule. [2]

However, for at least five reasons, there does not seem to be enough in this passage to construct a theology entailing a present, spiritual form of the Davidic Kingdom. First, the word "kingdom" (basileia) is absent from the context. The Gospels employ this word many times when speaking of the kingdom's nearness or its ultimate establishment (Matt. 3:2; 4:17; 10:7; 24:14; 25:34; 26:29; Luke 10:9). Thus, we might expect the use of this important term somewhere in the immediate context had it been Christ's intention to here clearly convey a present, spiritual establishment of the Davidic Kingdom.

Second, the present age has little in common with the prophesied Davidic Kingdom. The prophesied Davidic Kingdom will be an age when Christ will rule in perfect justice with a rod of iron (Rev. 12:5). In that day, all rebellion will be instantaneously judged (Zech. 14:16-18; Rev. 20:7-9). By contrast, what is predicted for the present Church Age is ever increasing apostasy. Second Timothy 3:1 says, "But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come." Second Timothy 3:13 explains, "But evil men and imposters will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived." Thus, Paul in this final letter anticipates an increasing drifting away from truth throughout the Church Age. Paul also predicted this coming apostasy in the presence of the Ephesian elders (Acts 20:29-31).

If we are now in the Davidic Kingdom, then the deplorable spiritual condition of the churches in Revelation 2-3 is inexplicable. Five of these seven churches in Asia Minor are in an apostate condition. Some may question whether it is possible that Christ's church could so depart from truth that she is no longer governed by Him. Yet this very scenario was what was transpiring within the Laodicean church (Rev. 3:14-22). Here, Christ is depicted as standing outside the door of the church, knocking on the door, and seeking re-entry (Rev. 3:20). Evangelists often explain this verse as Christ standing outside the heart of the unbeliever, knocking on the heart, and inviting the unbeliever to become a Christian. This is not a correct representation of the verse's context. Rather, it represents a church that has so apostatized from truth that Christ has been dethroned as the church's governing authority. Consequently, Christ is portrayed as standing outside the door of His own church seeking re-admittance as ruler of His own people. 

In fact, "Laodicea" means "ruled by the people." Newell observes, "The name comes from laos, people, and dikao, to rule: the rule of the people: 'democracy,' in other words." [3] Do these sad realities epitomize an "already" phase of the Davidic kingdom? Is what was happening in Corinth representative of the Davidic reign? Is the carnality and immaturity that is so prevalent in the typical local church (1 Cor. 3:1-3; Heb. 5:11-14) Christ's Davidic reign? These present realities do not correspond with what David was promised concerning the Messiah ruling with a rod of iron in perfect justice (Ps. 2:9). A proper understanding of the biblical predictions concerning Church Age apostasy represents a worldview that is diametrically opposed to "kingdom now" theology. The only way "kingdom-now" theology can be defended is to ignore what the New Testament predicts and describes concerning the church's apostasy.

Third, as noted throughout this series, a terrestrial, geo-political element involving national Israel is always included in the Old Testament's kingdom presentation. Such an abrupt change from understanding the kingdom as encompassing this physical reality to solely a spiritual reality of Jesus reigning in the church is tantamount to hermeneutically changing horses in midstream. Why would Christ introduce such a radical transition without any in-depth commentary explaining that such a transition was underway?

Fourth, the mere fact that Jesus was granted all authority just prior to His Ascension does not mean that He was exercising this authority in a regal sense. In other words, receiving authority (Matt. 28:18) and exercising authority are two completely different things. The author of the Book of Hebrews indicates that Christ in His present session following His Ascension was not yet exercising authority in His Davidic reign when he observes, "but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet" (Heb. 10:12-13). By here citing Psalm 110:1 with its inclusion of the word "until" (heos), the writer communicates that Christ had not yet entered the time in history when He will exercise authority over His enemies, which will be accomplished in His Davidic reign. Another commentary notes, "All authority has been given to Jesus, although He is not yet exercising all of it (Phil. 2:9-11; Heb. 2:5-9; 10:12, 13; Rev. 3:21). He will manifest this power when He returns in all His glory (Matt. 19:28; 1 Cor. 15:27, 28; Eph. 1:10)." [4]

Fifth, in context, Christ is exercising limited authority, not in His Davidic reign but rather in energizing the church to fulfill the Great Commission. Matthew 28:18 cannot be divorced from verses 19-20, which say, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." In fact, the word "therefore" (oun) at the beginning of verse 19 connects verses 19-20 back to verse 18.

 Because Christ had been granted all authority following His Resurrection, He used that authority in a limited sense only, not to establish His Davidic Kingdom in spiritual form but rather to empower the church to fulfill the Great Commission. The Great Commission is not to be confused with the Davidic Kingdom through Israel because "Instead of sending His disciples back to the house of Israel, they were sent into all the world." [5]
(To Be Continued...) 

Endnotes 

[1] Darrell Bock, "The Reign of the Lord Christ," in Dispensationalism, Israel, and the Church, ed. Craig Blaising and Darrell Bock (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1992), 61

.[2] Darrell Bock, "Covenants in Progressive Dispensationalism," in Three Central Issues in Contemporary Dispensationalism, ed. Hebert Bateman (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1999), 223.[3] William Newell, The Book of the Revelation (Chicago: Moody, 1935), 75. See also Robert Thomas, Revelation 1–7 (Chicago: Moody, 1992), 296.[4] Earl Radmacher, Ronald Allen, and H. Wayne House, eds., Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Commentary (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1999), 1202.[5] Tim LaHaye, ed. Tim LaHaye Prophecy Study Bible (Chattanooga: AMG, 2001), 1163.

'J'accuse': Israeli ambassador smacks Europe at U.N.

WND EXCLUSIVE

Hurls 'hypocrisy' charge over unilateral recognition of 'Palestine'

Curtis Ellis

Israeli Ambassador to
the U.N. Ron Prosor

UNITED NATIONS – 

Diplomats from around the world got an earful when they gathered to mark a day of international solidarity with the Palestinian people at U.N. headquarters in New York.

Israel’s ambassador to the august body dropped the diplomatic niceties as he stepped to the rostrum and accused the international community of hypocrisy and duplicity, and denounced Europeans for playing cynical political games with terrorists.

Monday’s special session of the General Assembly was part of the U.N.’s 2014 Year of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. The yearlong event has seen any number of photo exhibits, receptions and concerts funded by the emir of Qatar, one of the world’s leading financiers of al-Qaida, ISIS, Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.

While the U.N. passes resolution after resolution accusing Israel of mistreating Palestinian civilians, “Yazidis, Bahai, Kurds, Christians and Muslims are being executed and expelled by radical extremists at a rate of 1,000 people per month” across the Middle East, Ambassador Ron Prosor said, pointing out the U.N. has not passed a single resolution addressing these crises.

The Israeli ambassador went on to blast the U.N. for ignoring the plight of the Palestinian refugees in Arab nations.
“In most of the Arab world, Palestinians are denied citizenship and are aggressively discriminated against” and “barred from owning land and prevented from entering certain professions,” he explained to the stone-faced diplomats.
The U.N., in fact, has done far more than refuse to condemn Arab states for persecuting Palestinian people. It has actively helped perpetuate the persecution, he charged.

Since 1949, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA, has provided “assistance” exclusively to Palestinians in refugee camps in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. In doing so, it has acted like the international version of a welfare agency that fosters dependency, allowing “refugee status” to be passed down from generation to generation rather than encouraging host countries to integrate the refugees into society.

By the U.N.’s own numbers, about 700,000 Palestinians were displaced from Israel in 1948. UNRWA now serves some 5 million “official” Palestinian refugees.
“If you were so truly concerned about the Palestinians there would be at least one resolution to denounce the treatment of Palestinians in Lebanese refugee camps,” Prosor said.

But the Europeans came under the most scorching attack.
“The European nations claim to stand for Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité – freedom, equality and brotherhood – but nothing could be farther from the truth,” the ambassador said.
Prosor recounted the European nations’ refusal to allow American cargo planes to refuel as they carried weapons and ammunition to Israel in the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
“The Jewish people have a long memory. We will never ever forget that you failed us in the 1940s. You failed us in 1973. And you are failing us again today.”

Prosor turned his ire on Swedish Secretary of State Annika Soder, whose government recognized Palestine as an independent state and was seated among the delegates in the room.
“The Swedish government may host the Nobel Prize ceremony, but there is nothing noble about their cynical political campaign to appease the Arabs in order to get a seat on the Security Council,” he said. “Nations on the Security Council should have sense, sensitivity and sensibility. Well, the Swedish government has shown no sense, no sensitivity and no sensibility. Just nonsense.”

He reaffirmed Israel’s commitment to guarantee people of all faiths and nationalities will have access to Jerusalem’s holy sites.
“You don’t have to be Catholic to visit the Vatican, you don’t have to be Jewish to visit the Western Wall, but some Palestinians would like to see the day when only Muslims can visit the Temple Mount. … We will make sure that the holy places remain open to all people of all faiths for all time.”

After cataloguing terrorist attacks and their celebration by Palestinian authorities, he said the battle the world is witnessing is not between Jews and Arabs, but “a battle between those who sanctify life and those who celebrate death.”
As the delegates sat silently, Prosor summed up: “To the nations that continue to allow prejudice to prevail over truth, I say ‘J’accuse.’ I accuse you of hypocrisy. I accuse you of duplicity.”

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2014/11/jaccuse-israeli-ambassador-smacks-europe-at-u-n/#1OyDDbhH0j2p5CI5.99

Op-Ed: Israel is the Crucial Border of Western Civilization

Reblogged from: Israel National News

Europe's moral equivalence between terrorists and Israel.Why hasn’t the European Parliament ever convened to condemn the killing of Jews at the hands of an Arab terrorist?

Published: Monday, November 24, 2014 9:43 AM

Giulio Meotti

Israel is to blame by its very being, for everything. Even for its own blood, spilled by barbarians.The European chancelleries have already pulled the form letter they dispatch when Jews are murdered by various Arab terrorists from their files, and have expressed their condolences.

But in Europe, there was no real grief for the pogrom in Har Nof, but manifestations of moral and political equivalence between the Israeli civilians and the Arab terrorists. Like the Jews, the Jewish State is a pain in the neck, and the world would feel relieved without it.
Sweden, UK, France and Spain are all voting these days to recognize the “Palestinian State”. The same entity which holds major responsibility for the massacre in Jerusalem.
Meanwhile, the European Union's new foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini just visited Gaza and Ramallah, where she embraced the Har Nof terrorist goal: the division of Jerusalem and the establishment of a Palestinian State.
Of course, for Europe, Israel is to blame by its very being, for everything. Even for its own blood, spilled by barbarians.

The European Union will not stop funding the Palestinian Arabs media: radios, tv, newspapers and educational programs which are publicly inciting to slaughter the Jews.
Why hasn’t the European Parliament ever convened to condemn the killing of a single Jew at the hands of an Arab terrorist?

In Rome, these days, I saw posters asking for the liberation of the Palestinian terrorist Ahmed Saadat, the maths teacher currently held in an Israeli prison. Saadat is the current leader of the Popular Front of Liberation of Palestine, the group which took responsibility for the killings in Har Nof. 

In the French city of Valenton, France, a street has just been named after Marwan Barghouti, the terrorist leader who recently called to spill Israeli blood in Jerusalem. In Palermo, the souther Italian city, Barghouti has just been named an “honorary citizen”.
The former UK foreign minister, Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, just tweeted a message that implied equivalence between the Har Nof terrorists and Jews protesting over Temple Mount.
In Turin, Italy, there is a museum hosting a UNWRA exposition saying that the Sabra and Shatila massacre was committed by the Israeli army and demonizing the Israeli fence which helped stop the suicide bombers.

During the Six Day War in 1967, then Italy’s senator Giovanni Spadolini, one of the very few pro Israeli figures, wrote that was “a census of consciences”. Most of Europe stood with Egypt’s Nasser and the Arab dream to throw the Jews into the Mediterranean. Today there is another census of consciences, where most of the Europeans stay supporting the Palestinian Arab cousins who shouted “Allah Akbar” and exterminated four wonderful rabbis praying to the God of Israel, prayer which is stronger than lies and hatred.

Open any European daily newspaper these days: you will not find a single commentator writing that what happened in Har Nof has nothing to do with “occupation” (the killers had Israeli ID cards and did not have to pass checkpoints).

But it is armed Nazi-like anti-Semitism which the world must condemn, stating that Jews have the right to keep Jerusalem united under their control and that the State of Israel is the most important border of Western civilization.