Where Is God?

Where Is God?by John Piper

This [article was written on the] weekend of the first anniversary of 9/11 that has occurred on the Lord's day, Sunday. Therefore it seemed good to us to step back and pose the question again about the meaning of the supremacy of Christ in an age of terror.
The Supremacy of God in All Things—No Exceptions
One of the truths of the Bible that we embrace with trembling joy is the truth of God's supremacy in all things. The mission of our church is that we exist to spread a passion of the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ. When we say that, we do not mean: "except in calamities," "except in war," "except when Al Qaeda blows up a building or a train," "except when cancer takes a mom or a child is born with profound disabilities." There are no "except" clauses in our mission statement.
We did not formulate our mission in a rosy world—and then get surprised and embarrassed by the reality of suffering. We did not have our head in the sand. We formulated our mission in the real world of pain and suffering and evil and death. We have seen even among our own people, some very peaceful, but also some very terrible deaths. We exist to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things—all things—for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ—all the time. A passion for God's supremacy—Christ's supremacy (for he is God incarnate)—in all things, all the time.
Sorrowful, Yet Always Rejoicing
None of us who has lived a few decades—for me that means almost six—has embraced this mission without trembling. And none of us has lived this mission for long without tears. We have said it dozens of times here at Bethlehem, and we will say it till we die, that the joy we pursue and the joy we embrace in Jesus Christ is always—always in this world—interwoven with sorrow. There is no unadulterated joy in this world for people who care about others. The Bible describes Christ's servants like this: "[We are] sorrowful, yet always rejoicing." (2 Corinthians 6:10).
"Sorrowful yet always rejoicing." How can that be? It can be because Christ is supreme over all things forever, but suffering and death remain for a while. Life is not simple. There is pleasure, and there is pain. There is sweetness, and there is bitter suffering. There is joy, and there is misery. There is life and health, and there is disease and death. And therefore emotions are not simple. For those who love others, and not just their own comforts, this complexity means that we will rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep (Romans 12:15). And there is always someone we know who is weeping, and someone we know who is rejoicing. And therefore we will learn the secret of "sorrowful yet always rejoicing"—and joyful yet always sorrowing. Those amazing words that describe the Christian soul—"sorrowful yet always rejoicing"—mean that suffering remains for a while in this world, but Christ is supreme now and forever.
9/11, Hurricane Katrina, and the Constant Suffering in This World
The first plane that hit the World Trade Towers, Flight 11, immediately killed 92 people on board that flight. Flight 175 that hit the second tower a few minutes later killed 65 people on board. In the Towers themselves it appears now that 2,595 people perished when the Towers fell, including those who worked there or visited there, and those who were entering to save them.
Flight 77 carried 64 people when it hit the Pentagon within an hour after the first attack. Inside the Pentagon 125 people died in addition to these 64. Flight 93 with 45 people aboard turned around over Pennsylvania and was headed . . . where? The White House? The Congress? Todd Beamer and others wrestled control from the hijackers, it seems, and the plane crashed with no survivors near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. All 45 people died. The total fatalities in these terrorist events was about 2,986.
We thought that would be the calamity for this message to focus on. But God had other plans. Who can pose the question of God's sovereignty and Christ's supremacy today and leave Hurricane Katrina out of account. What happened in the last week in New Orleans and surrounding areas is different than almost anything this country has ever seen. The September 8, 1900 Galveston Hurricane may have killed more—up to 12,000, we don't know—but it did not displace hundreds of thousands and leave a major city virtually empty and paralyzed with several surrounding smaller towns even more devastated. Who can speak of the supremacy of Christ in an age of terror without considering the terror of 140-mile-an-hour winds and broken levees and floodwaters covering 80% of a great city and who knows how many people dead in their attics?
And lest we think naively in response to these calamities, as though the cost of lives was something unusual, let's remind ourselves of the obvious and the almost overwhelming fact that over 50,000,000 people die every year in this world. Over 6,000 ever hour. Over 100 every minute. And most of them do not die in ripe old age by sleeping peacefully away into eternity. Most die young. Most die after long struggles with pain. And millions die because of the evil of man against man.
Sudden calamities shock us only to make more plain what is happening every hour of every day of your entire life. Thousands perish in pain and misery every day. Probably seven or eight thousand people will have died during this worship service. Some of them are screaming out in pain just now as I am speaking and as you sit there in relative comfort. If there is to be any Christian joy in this world, along with love, it will be sorrowful joy, broken-hearted joy. What person in this room, who has lived long enough, does not know that the sweetest joys, the deepest joys, are marked with tears, not laughter?
Evil and Pain as a Pointer to the Need and Evidence for God
So even in our own experience—in our own souls—believers or unbelievers, there is a kind of witness that the world of evil and pain and misery and death is not a meaningless place. It is not a place without a good and purposeful God. Some people—not all—have found in the greatest evil—the time of greatest sorrow—the greatest need for God and the greatest evidence of God.
It happens like this. A great evil happens—say the holocaust with 6,000,000 murders. Or the Stalinist Soviet gulag with many more than that sent to their deaths. In the midst of these horrors, the human soul, that had been blithely pursuing its worldly pleasures with scarcely a thought about God and with no serious belief in any absolutes like evil and good, or right and wrong—happily living in the dream-world of relativism—suddenly is confronted with an evil so horrible and so great as to make the soul scream out with ultimate moral indignation: No! This is wrong! This is evil!
And for the first time in their life they hear themselves speaking with absolute conviction. They have a conviction of absolute reality. They know now beyond the shadow of a doubt that such a thing as evil exists. They admit that all their life up till then was a game. And now they are confronted with the stark question: If there is such a thing as absolute evil—if there is a moral reality that is above and different from the mere physical processes of evolutionary energy plus time plus matter—then where does it come from, and what is it based on?
And many people discover in this moment of greatest evil that there is only one satisfactory answer: There is a God above the universe who sets the standards of good and evil and writes them on the human heart. They are not purposeless chemical reactions in our brains. They have reality outside of us, above us, in God. Paradoxically, therefore, the times of greatest human evil have often proved for many to be times when God is most needed and most self-evidently real. Without him evil and good are simply different electro-chemical impulses in the brain of mammal primates called homo sapiens. We know—you know—that is not true.
Why Does Such a World Exist?
So we ask: Why, Lord? Why is the world you made like this? If you are God—if you are the Christ the Son of the living God—why is this world so full of terror and trouble?
Here is what I believe the Bible teaches in answer to this question. I will give two answers that are not the reason such a world exists, and then four answers that are the reasons such world exists. I deal with each very briefly and point you to the Scriptures where you can search God's word for yourself.
1. The reason this terrorized and troubled world exists is not because God is not in total control.
The Bible is overwhelmingly clear that God governs everything in the universe from the smallest bird to the largest storm. "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father" (Matthew 10:29). "Even winds and sea obey him" (Matthew 8:27). "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord" (Proverbs 16:33). "The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will" (Proverbs 21:1). "Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it?" (Lamentations 3:37). "Does disaster come to a city, unless the Lord has done it?" (Amos 3:6). "He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him" (Mark 1:27). "I am God, and there is none like me . . . saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose'" (Isaiah 46:9-10).
There is no person or being in the universe that can thwart the sovereign will of God. Satan is his most powerful enemy and does much evil in the world, but he must first get God's permission, and none of his actions is outside God's governance. He never breaks free from his leash (Luke 22:31; Job 2:6-7; 42:11).
2. The reason this terrorized and troubled world exists is not because God is evil or unjust.
"This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5). "Good and upright is the Lord" (Psalm 25:8) The angels cry before God day and night, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!" (Isaiah 6:3). And when he does things that seem evil to us, the Bible teaches us to speak to man like this: "As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good" (Genesis 50:20). God is not evil, even when he wills that evil come to pass. There are good and holy and just purposes in all he does. For those who love him he "works all things together for good" (Romans 8:28). Now and forever.
Now the four positive reasons why this world exists.
1.The reason this terrorized and troubled world exists is because God planned the history of redemption and then permitted sin to enter the world through our first parents, Adam and Eve.
In 2 Timothy 1:9 the apostle Paul said, "[God] saved us and called us toa holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began." In other words, before there was any world or any sin in the world, God planned saving grace through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That means that God knew Adam would sin. He was already planning how he would save us.
Therefore Adam's sin was part of God's plan so that God could reveal his mercy and grace and justice and wrath and patience and wisdom in ways that could have never been revealed, if there were no sin and no Savior and no history of salvation. God's aim for this fallen world is that he be known more fully, because knowing God most fully is what it means for us to be most fully loved. If you turn to Christ, you will discover in God more wonders in this fallen world than could be imagined in any other world.
2.The reason this terrorized and troubled world exists is because God subjected the natural world to futility. That is, God put the natural world under a curse so that the physical horrors we see around us in diseases and calamities would become a vivid picture of how horrible sin is. In other words, natural evil is a signpost pointing to the horrors of moral evil.
Before I say another word, hear this word of clarification: some of the sweetest, most humble, godly, Christ-exalting, heaven-bound people carry some of those signs. Listen to Romans 8:18-21:
The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
In other words, God subjected the creation to futility and bondage to decay and misery and death. He disordered the natural world because of the disorder of the moral and spiritual world—that is because of sin. In our present condition blinded by sin and dishonoring God every day, we cannot see how repugnant sin is. Hardly anyone in the world feels the horror that our sin is. Physical pain we feel! And so it becomes God's trumpet blast to tell us that something is dreadfully wrong in the world. Diseases and deformities are God's portraits of what sin is like in the spiritual realm. That is true even though some of the most godly people bear those deformities. Calamities are God's previews of what sin deserves and will one day receive in judgment a thousand times worse. They are warnings. And that is true even when they sweep away Christ-followers and Christ-rejectors.
Oh, that we could all see and feel how repugnant, how offensive, how abominable it is to blackball our Maker, to ignore him and distrust him and demean him and give him less attention in our hearts than we do the carpet on our living room floor. We must see this, or we will not turn to Christ for salvation from sin. Therefore, God mercifully shouts to us in our sicknesses and pain and calamities: Wake up! Sin is like this! Sin leads to things like this. (See Revelation 9:20; 16:9, 11.) The natural world is shot through with horrors to wake us from the dreamworld of thinking sin is no big deal. It is a horrifically big deal.
3. The reason this terrorized and troubled world exists is so that followers of Christ can experience and display that no pleasure and no treasure compares to knowing Christ. That is, the loss of every good thing in this world is meant to reveal that Christ himself more than compensates for all losses.
We see it in the New Testament and the Old Testament. The apostle Paul says, "I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ" (Philippians 3:8). The superior worth of Christ is magnified because in all Paul's losses, he experiences Christ as all-satisfying.
The prophet Habakkuk said it with amazing and painful beauty:
Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, 18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. (Habakkuk 3:17-18)
Famines, pestilence, persecution—these happen so that the world might see in the followers of Jesus and discover for themselves that God made us for himself and that he is our "exceeding joy" (Psalm 43:4) and at his right hand are pleasures for every more (Psalm 16:11). The losses of life are meant to wean us off the poisonous pleasures of the world and lure us to Christ our everlasting joy.
4. Finally, the reason this terrorized and troubled world exists is to make a place for Jesus Christ the Son of God to suffer and die for our sins. The reason there is terror is so that Christ would be terrorized. The reason there is trouble is so that Christ could be troubled. The reason there is pain is so that Christ could feel pain. This is the world God prepared for the suffering and death of his Son. This is the world where God made the best display of his love in the suffering of his Son.
Romans 5:8, "God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." All his suffering was the plan of God to reveal redeeming love to us. The sovereignty of God, the evil of the world, and the love of God meet at the cross of Christ. Listen to this amazing statement from Acts 4:27-28 about God's plan for the suffering of his Son—for you! "Truly in this city [Jerusalem] there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place." All the scheming, all the flogging, all the spitting, all the beating with rods, all the mockery, all the abandonment by his friends, all the thorns in his head, all the nails in his hands and feet, the sword in his side, weight of the sins of the world—all of it according to God's plan. For you to see God's love more graphically.
God's deepest answer to terrorism and calamity is the suffering and death of his Son. He entered into our fallen world of sin and misery and death. He bore in himself the cause of it all—sin. And he bought by his death the cure for it all—forgiveness and everlasting joy in the age to come.
On his behalf I invite—I urge—you to receive him as your Savior and Lord and the supreme Treasure of your life.

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Only With the Precious Blood of Jesus

Only With the Precious Blood of Jesus - by Pastor Mike Taylor - http://pastormiketaylor.blogspot.com/2019/05/only-with-precious-blood-of-jesus.html

 

18 "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;

19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,

21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God."(1st Peter 1:18-21)

 

"What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."(1st Corinthians 6:19-20)

 

16, "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are."(1st Corinthians 3:16-17)

 

Man was created in the image of God was is recorded in the book of Genesis.

 

1:26 "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."(Genesis 1:26-27)

 

But down through the ages, man has thought that he knew better than God, the lawgiver, the creator of all things. God instituted certain principles, laws of nature, and of Himself to guide men into His ways and to instruct them in righteous living. But the bible is full of stories of men who would not listen to the Words of God, but deviated according the sins of their flesh and their sinful nature, following instead according to the prince and power of the air and temporary ruler of this world, Lucifer....Satan the devil.

 

Man is made of flesh, but has a spiritual component that when deviating from the Law of God, is defined as sin. What is sin? Words such as Crime, Error, Foul, Wrong, and Vice come to mind. Each of these words name behavior that fail to reach an accepted standard. Any group of people joining to accomplish a goal will establish a set of rules, laws, guidelines or principles to regulate proper conduct. When such a code is abused or ignored, a penalty is usually imposed.

 

It is no different when you speak of our Heavenly Father. God established a code of conduct called His Law, as defined by the Ten Commandments. It defined His perfect nature and His desire that man follow His way of living. Man has rejected God's way of living down through the ages and the penalty of not following God's perfect law, is death. Romans, chapter 6,

 

23, "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."(Romans 6:23)

 

In God's love for His creation, He gave us His only Son, knowing that we could not keep the Laws of God, as we are sold under sin. To transgress one aspect of the law is to transgress the whole law, as there is no difference when it comes to sin in God's eyes. The law was our school master to lead us to repentance, knowing that we were incapable of keeping the letter of the law. It was God's plan all along to redeem His creation to all that would look to His Son for payment of the sins past, present and future. God covered them all with one perfect sacrifice, His only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ. But that does not stop man from thinking they have a better way....It's called "religion". The word is man's attempt to get to God and think they know what God desires, but God's attempt to get to man is His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. As the old saying goes, it is all about Jesus. It's not about religion, it's about relationship with the only way to God and that is through our Lord Jesus.

 

BATTLE FOR MAN'S SALVATION AND GNOSTICISM

 

In man's "attempt" to characterize what God wants, various attempts at "religion" were formed. In the very beginning of the early church, a heresy developed that men knew better than God. It was called Gnosticism, or secret knowledge, called Gnosis. These heretics believed in dualism, or the battle between matter and spirit, good and evil, and light and darkness as defined by the body being bad, and the spirit being good. These early infiltrators of the early church professed that it didn't matter what you did within your body, as the spirit is what mattered. They believed that Jesus was not God in the flesh, as His flesh was corrupt and could not be our redeemer, but that salvation comes from in one of two ways:

 

» That the only way to attain true spirituality is to deny their flesh (matter) of anything that might tempt them to sin. Those who thought this way became ascetic or afflictions of their flesh.» The opposite extreme, that the things done in the body are inconsequential because only the spirit counts. These Gnostics often fell into licentiousness.

 

Bible shows that Paul battled this heresy in his epistles, especially in 1st Corinthians, Galatians and Colossians . The Apostle John battled it in all his writings. 1st John chapter 3, is one of those examples:is.

 

3:3 "And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

3:5 And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.

3:6 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.

3:7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.

3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil."(1st John 3:3-8)

 

John argues against this heresy. Some in John's area of ministry seem to have believed that they could not sin in their flesh. Since their flesh, matter, was ultimately evil anyway, it could not be redeemed and was worthless. Thus, they concluded, anything done in the flesh had no bearing on one's salvation. I see that abounding even today in this cesspool we call the world. It surrounds us on every side. New Age Emergent churches are promoting a new gospel, a new way of following Jesus. And without mentioning the formal religious order by name, there is another "religion" that has, I believe, sprang from the heresies of Gnosticism, or "secret knowledge" of extra biblical traditions that have no root at all in the pages of your Bible. Thus each promote "secret knowledge" by creating traditions that they think defines the God of the Bible. Sadly, they do not.

 

I had the displeasure of reading an article by a supposedly Christian pastor who proclaimed that we must repackage the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to reach the people of today. Say what? So we must doll up the message to make it more palatable for the young people today? What's wrong with preaching the truth of Jesus Christ and Him crucified? Is there another way to enter into God's Kingdom other than the blood and body of Jesus Christ? NO!! Does that mean rock music in the church? Does that mean creating a mall type atmosphere that rivals any shopping outlet? Does that mean we must have tattoo parlors in the church? Yes, I said tattoo parlors. I had a dear lady write and report churches in her area are promoting tattoos right in the building of these churches. Some misled people of these new "enlightened" churches think they have the right to adorn their bodies with different colored inks that show they follow a "christian" message. I categorically reject this pseudo form of Christianity, as it glorifies the flesh, not the Savior. When would you paint graffiti with a spray can on the building you worship in? Would you paint a cross on the sides of the building and adorn the sanctuary with man-made symbols that deface the structure in various colored inks? Is it any different when you tattoo a cross or a crown of thorns across your back and say you are proclaiming Jesus? How can we reach the world that is dying, if we ourselves are identifying with them by our actions?

 

Then another "Gnostic" church believes in all kinds of extra biblical hogwash that they think will get them to heaven. (Even the atheist will reach heaven, only do good) When I heard that I almost lost my lunch. They think there are many ways to get to God when Jesus proclaimed the Truth that HE is the only way to God.

 

6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him." (John 14:6-7)

 

Again, it's all about Jesus, not your traditions and extra biblical teachings that are no where to be found in the bible, but conjured up in the minds of those who thought they knew better than the Words of God.

 

OUR DUTY BEFORE THE LIVING GOD

 

As a Christian, or one who professes knowing Jesus Christ, what is our duty when trying to live the Christian life? There is only One example that we are to live by and follow and that is our perfect example, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Would Jesus allow a tattoo being placed on His righteous body? Would he follow the sins of this world by doing what I see happening in today's emergent "enlightened" churches? Would Jesus allow prayer to anyone, save through Him to God our Father...you say no, you would be right. It smacks of Gnosticism.

 

2:4 "He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

2:5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.

2:6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked."(1st John 2:4-6)

 

The apostle Peter reinforced that argument when he wrote:

 

2:21 " For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:

2:22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:

2:23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:

2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

2:25 For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls."(1st Peter 2:21-25)

 

Jesus is our perfect example and the personage we must emulate. God told us in His Word that we must separate ourselves from the sins of the flesh and the ways of this world:

 

6:16 "And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.

6:18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. "(2nd Corinthians 6:16-18)

 

Again, it is all about Jesus, the God of the Bible, our Kinsman Redeemer and our Savior, if we humble ourselves and repent of our sins and follow His ways. It is not about traditions, or extra biblical rhetoric that has no foundation save the thoughts and desires of evil men.

 

THROW THE WORLD A LIFELINE

 

THE WORLD IS DYING. I am reminded daily when I see the amount of people in our hospitals that abuse their bodies with all form of addictions. I see people ravaged by alcohol addiction and drink heavily daily. I see people who get high on whatever their drug of choice is and there are many forms of chemical abuse that are legal. I saw a young person who damaged his body with a substance called K2, which is abusing bath salts by injecting it, smoking it, or inhaling it to get high. It destroys their brain, their internal organs, and respiratory systems. I see people who are grossly obese, who find comfort in food and gluttony and are diabetic and with failing organs. Or how about 1-2 pack a day smoker who destroys their lungs, heart, and open the door for cancers to invade? If the lost and dying world is suffering this type of destruction, should we not separate ourselves from this type of behavior with it's addictions and not even look like the rest of the world? If they can't see any difference in us, why would they choose this man, called Jesus Christ? If they can't see Jesus in you, then will they listen to your message? Probably not, but they will take your entertainment in the churches, but live like the devil the rest of the week.

 

I talk to young people who call themselves Christians, but are living with their boyfriend or girlfriend without the sanctity of marriage. How can one profess knowing Jesus Christ, when they live opposite of what He commanded and lived? Are they confused or do they just know better? Hey, everyone is doing it, right? So it must be OK? I see children being born out of wedlock into new types of families, or being raised by same sex couples and it's OK? Again, how can you reach a world that is dying from being lost in sin, when you indulge in sin yourself, and think it's alright? God plainly condemns this kind of behavior and the abuse of our bodies and our mode of living to the detriment of our very existence. How about Gnostic religions that propose traditions that fly in the face of what Jesus said of "being the only Way back to God". Will your church save you? Will eating a "wafer" on Sundays purify you in the eyes of God? Will you follow the recipes of religion found in your church and will they get you to heaven? The Apostle Peter wrote according to the leading of God's Holy Spirit,

 

1:14 "As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:

1:15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;

1:16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

1:17 And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:

1:18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;

1:19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

1:20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,

1:21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God."(1st Peter 1:14-21)

 

WE ARE LIVING IN THE LAST OF THE LAST DAYS

 

It is quite clear for all that are awake and see the events around us, that we ARE in the last days of this world's existence. Suddenly, without warning, your world will be turned upside down and you will either be found in Jesus Christ, or being bamboozled by the god of this world, you have followed another Gnostic gospel, and that is not of Jesus Christ. You will have been living your life according to what you think is best, not according to the clear commands of Jesus Christ or having His sacrifice applied to your life. I have tried to hammer home the message that this world is fast approaching the cliff of tribulation and all of us need to be getting our houses in order. If you profess Jesus Christ, as your Savior, then live like it. If you a playing a fool's game of following another gospel, or a false messiah, and abusing your bodies in ways that are in direct conflict with the clear teachings of the One who died for the entire world, Jesus Christ, then you may have a sad day approaching. When Jesus banishes you from His presence during the sheep and goat judgment at the Bema Judgment Seat of our Lord, you will have no one to blame, but yourself: Matthew chapter 25,

 

25:33 "And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. ...

25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, (ye who practice lawlessness) into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: ....

25:46 "These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."(Matthew 25:33, 41-46)

 

Those verses are spoken of what will happen after the Tribulation is finished and Jesus is back on earth, ruling with a rod of iron and sitting on the Throne of His descendant in the flesh, King David. But what has happened up to this time, is the most horrendous period in all the earth, that will wipe out all rebellion on earth and very few will be alive to enter the Millennium. Even then some will be judged for their actions during this time period and be cast out.

 

21 'For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened." (Matthew 24-21-22)

 

WHAT MUST YOU DO IF YOU PROFESS JESUS?

 

Christian, look at yourself. Do you follow the clear message of the Bible? Do you continue to make mistakes? Of course you do, but not according to the rest of the world, if you profess our Lord and Savior, but you do not live as the rest of the world does. You separate yourself from anything and everything that speaks of the lust of the flesh and follow the Holy Spirit, guiding your own spirit in righteous living. A Christian will not willfully sin according to the lust of his flesh, but seeks after righteousness. The truly converted man or woman is a new creature in Christ Jesus. We don't follow the commands of any so called "religion" on this earth, as we follow Jesus Christ and the clear instructions in your Bible.

 

5:17 "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

5:18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;

5:19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation."(2nd Corinthians 5:17-19)

 

To emphasize the obvious, it's not about "religion" (any religion) as it is about your relationship with the "author and finisher of our faith" the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not about anything in this world, as this world is passing away and eternity fast approaches, but the coming Tribulation is coming faster and we are on the cusp of the coming judgments of King of the Universe, God our Father, and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Romans

8:19 "For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

8:20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,

8:21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

8:22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body."(Romans 8:19-23)

 

Men are dying because they are abusing the body made in the image of God. They follow the god of this world and fall into every unclean practices that leads to death. They die prematurely and experience painful deaths. I know, because I've seen it, up close and personal. Or they follow a "Gnostic" religion thinking by doing certain practices and traditions, that somehow that will save them. I hope by now that you are thinking in your mind, it will not.

 

How more should we who have been converted to follow the ways of God, abstain from anything that would look like the world? God will hold each of accountable for things done in our body, meaning he will reward, or withhold reward for each of His children who are truly converted, but never quite learned the lessons of righteous living. See the opening verses that started this sermon. He will sorely judge the haphazard Christian who abuses the body He resides in . He will also, judge those who follow a pseudo form of Christianity, but deny the power thereof as noted in the sheep and goat parable. To mouth the words of being a Christian, does not make it so. It is an inward change of the heart. You will look odd to the world, but Jesus warned each of us of that very fact,

 

15:18 "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.

15:19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

15:20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

15:21 But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me."(John 15:18-21)

 

TO ALL WHO ARE SEARCHING FOR THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL

 

To the lost and dying, that do not have the payment of their sins paid for by the blood sacrifice and broken body of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, time is growing short. Jesus is right at the door waiting to gather His church unto Himself. Jesus said that the time would be as in the days of Noah. Look around you, does this world seem to be going mad? Is it not as Jesus said it would be? Truly, it is.

 

"And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.

 

17:27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.

17:28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;

17:29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all."(Luke 17:26-29)

 

Do not look at others who proclaim they are Christians, as some may be deceived. Don't look to your parish priest, your local pastor, or traditions that try and sell you on a work's based religion. It won't get you anything, but a one way ticket to eternal torment.

 

You might look to others for the way they live and use it as confirmation that you do not want this free gift of grace paid for nearly 2000 years ago. You will then make that choice independent of those you hold up as the reason you have not committed your life and heart to the Lord Jesus Christ. You will be solely responsible for the banishment into outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. Each of us are destined to be either in glory and in the presence of God Almighty, or be banished from His presence for all eternity.

 

2:9 "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:

2:10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;

2:11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling."(Philippians 2:9-12)

 

Each of us have been formed in the image of God. Those who have accepted Jesus Christ as personal Savior, must realize that their body is the Temple of God and we were bought with a very high price, hence my opening scriptures concerning this very fact. Those who have not accepted the free gift of salvation, do so at their own eternal peril. I extend an open invitation to all who will listen to that still, small voice inside your heart that draws you to the God who created you,

 

Invite the Spirit of God into your heart to make Jesus Lord and Savior of your life. Be saved by the covering of the Lord's perfect sacrifice completed in His own precious blood. Become the Temple of God's Holy Spirit and flee from anything and everything that imitates anything found in this world that the rest of the world revels in to their own destruction.

 

Remember the phrase, "it is all about Jesus and your relationship with Him". Not anything found on this earth save through Him will get you worshiping Him as we bow before Him in eternity. \

 

16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."(John 3:16-18)

 

8 "But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;

9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.

13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Romans 10:8-13)

 

Those two last passages found in your Bible are the key to salvation through Jesus Christ, our Lord. It is so simple, a child can do it, but you must come to Him in child like faith, believing what He said, and embracing Him and being covered "with the precious blood of Jesus"

 

 

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WORLD AT WAR: 6.1.19 - Iran's Options and the Destructive Defiance

Iran's Options and the Destructive Defiance - by Amir Taheri - https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14269/iran-options-defiance

 

According to an old adage, every crisis also contains an opportunity. And the current crisis between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States may be no exception. Intense saber-rattling on both sides, combined with what one might call "diplomacy of gesticulations," have reignited interest in what was a half-dormant conflict. That renewed interest could be used for persuading both sides, and others interested in the "Iran problem", to re-visit the root causes of the conflict. And, having done so, try to find realistic ways of defusing the situation.

 

But before that could be done, a number of steps must be taken.

 

To start with, we must realize that the crisis in question isn't caused by any of the traditional causes of conflict between nation-states. Iran and the US do not have a border problem, they are not fighting over access to natural resources and do not seek to snatch market share from one another. Nor are they in conflict over the oppression of one side's kith-and-kin by the other. The two are not fighting over water resources, access to open seas or calculations about national security.

 

In other words, the conflict isn't a classical international one. The reason is that Iran no longer behaves as a nation-state but as a vehicle for an ideology. One might suggest that ideological aspect is also present on the American side, as shown by all the talk about democracy and human rights. However, as decades of Cold War with the Soviet Union -- as ideological adversary -- showed, the US was mostly successful in fitting the ideological aspect of the conflict into a frame of nation-state behavior.

 

In the case of the current conflict with the Islamic Republic, the US has on several occasions indicated that it could do the same, provided the ruling mullahs pursued their ideological fight against "American values" as a nation-state and through generally accepted standards of international behavior. The US never shared, let alone approved of, the Soviet Union's Communist ideology, but was capable of factoring it in as one element among many in a complex relationship. From Nikita Khrushchev onwards, Soviet leaders were ready to reciprocate that approach. They still said they wanted to "bury capitalism" and made ample use of black-arts and other shenanigans to advance their cause. However, all that was done within the parameters of "cold monster" behavior. In other words, the USSR was pursuing its ideological goals, which over time became less and less defined, by non-ideological methods. Where raison d'état demanded, ideology was ditched with few qualms.

 

In 1970, when Iran decided to establish diplomatic relations with "Red China" it did not demand that China cease to be Communist or even stop hosting dozens of anti-Shah Iranians who had traveled to Mao-istan to train as guerrillas. What Tehran demanded was for Beijing to stop arming Omani insurgents operating from South Yemen, then under Communist control, and to conclude a trade agreement with Iran. Two years later, the success of Iran's Chinese experiment encouraged the Nixon administration in Washington also to launch a process of normalization with Beijing, eventually leading to full diplomatic relations.

 

However, historic precedents may not always be applicable to every conflict situation.

 

And, on balance at this moment, I find it hard to imagine the Islamic Republic, under Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's weird leadership, ever sacrificing its ideological pretensions in order to advance the interest of Iran as a state.

 

Yet, although it is hard to imagine, provided the current level of pressure is maintained both by internal opposition and from the outside by its many enemies and adversaries, Iran may be forced to ponder other options besides destructive defiance.

 

The Second Imam has made a spectacular comeback within the Khomeinist establishment. Last month, a biography of him, written by an Arab author and translated by Khamenei, with a preface, was re-published and used as an excuse for extensive debates in the official media and intellectual circles. Last Tuesday, the Islamic Security Minister, Ayatollah Mahmud Alawi praised Imam Hassan's strategy as "divinely inspired". "The Imam of Ummah need not always rise," the minister said. "There are times when the Imam's kneeling is a source of inspiration for their followers."

 

There are other signs that Khamenei may be contemplating what he has called "heroic flexibility". The official propaganda machine is already geared up to claim victory for the Islamic Republic. The official news agency reported on May 21 that "the world is already hearing the sound of breaking of America's bones."

 

Another sign is that the date fixed by the "Supreme Guide" for Israel to disappear from the face of the earth has been extended to 2050. More importantly, we are now told that Israel's "disappearance" will come at the same time as "the end of America".

 

"Islamic Iran shall witness the fall of the Satanic and earth devouring America and the usurper Israel in 2050," General Hamid Abazari, one of Islamic Revolutionary Guard's strategists, assured an audience last week.

 

Should one regard all that as good news?

 

Not necessarily. The madness that is Khomeinism has always had its method, which includes abject surrender when pressed too hard and brazen aggression when pressure is eased. The challenge facing Iran is to get rid of that madness altogether as every episode of cheat-and-retreat makes the eventual cure that much more difficult. Contrary to claims by the pro-mullah lobby in Washington, the choice isn't between surrender to Khomeinist madness and full-scale invasion of Iran. Only when the threshold of tolerable pain is reached the "Supreme Guide" may well reconsider his options. We are not there yet.

 

 

Israel's not-so-subtle message to Iran that it is watching and poised to strike - By Yaakov Lappin -

https://www.jns.org/israels-not-so-subtle-message-to-iran-that-it-is-watching-and-poised-to-strike/

 

Recently release satellite photographs of Iranian construction along Iraqi-Syrian border indicate Israel is closely watching Iran's efforts to build a land bridge from Tehran to the Mediterranean.

 

The Israeli satellite imagery company, ImageSat International (ISI), released photographs in recent days showing what it described as "Iran's land bridge from Tehran to the Mediterranean."

 

The images show Iranian construction work on a new crossing on the Syrian-Iraqi border, which, according to ISI, would allow Iran to transfer weapons, armed personnel and oil into Syria.

The images are from an area that has been in the headlines in the past. An older border crossing in the same area, known as Albukamal, was destroyed in airstrikes attributed to Israel by international media reports a little more than a year ago.

 

The 2018 strikes were unusual not only because they demolished an Iranian-run border crossing, but also because they destroyed a building that served as a headquarters for Iranian-backed Shi'ite Iraqi militias-just the kind of forces that Iran wants to inject into Syria, along with weapons and oil to bypass U.S. sanctions.

 

According to reports from last year, dozens of Iraqi militia operatives, most of whom were members of an organization called "Hezbollah Battalions," were killed in the attack.

 

Now, it seems, Iran's Islamic Republican Guards Corps (IRGC) is trying again. It is building a new land corridor in the very same area. The satellite imagery can be interpreted as an Israeli warning to Iran to cease its activities or face additional strikes.

 

This state of affairs reflects the fact that Iran remains committed to its long-term objective of turning Syria into an Iranian military zone and a future base of attack against Israel.

 

A Fox News report from last week quoting "Western sources" said that "Iran increased its presence in the area last summer, adding that after the 2018 airstrikes on the old Albukamal crossing, the Iranians have put a lot of effort and resources into building the new one."

 

Iran has been involved in a stubborn and patient effort to turn Syria into a base of operations. But it has run into a brick wall, in the form of an even more determined Israeli effort to disrupt this threatening process.

 

Hundreds of Israeli airstrikes in the past few years alone have put a major dent in Iran's plans, destroying missile bases, weapons production sites, military bases and weapons' transfer stations. This mission, of preventing Iran from taking over Syria, has become a top objective in the Israeli Air Force. The campaign, known as the "War Between Wars," is continuous, and requires 24-7 intelligence-gathering, precision strikes and calculated risks.

 

But the latest satellite imagery suggests that Iran's leadership is far from giving up. Iran has two central objectives in Syria: The first is to turn the country into an Iranian-controlled war machine against Israel and the second is to use it as a weapons trafficking zone for supplying Hezbollah in neighboring Lebanon.

 

Israel watches activity in the Persian Gulf

 

Despite being under major American economic pressure and facing bruising Israeli strikes on its assets in Syria, the Iranians are not walking away. They are merely tweaking the "volume" of their activities, turning the dial up and down in line with conditions, but never switching their Syria project off.

 

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the IRGC remain committed to building capabilities in Syria, so that they can fire missiles and rockets at Israel, create terrorist cells and send armed formations to the Syrian-Israeli border. Tehran wants to create a "second Lebanon" on Syrian territory.

 

In order to achieve that aim, its leaders cannot rely on cargo flights to deliver weapons and fighters alone. Those flights are under close Israeli surveillance. Repeated strikes on Iran's weapons depots at Damascus International Airport are proof of that. Iran, in response, reportedly moved its air-smuggling operations earlier this year to the T-4 Syrian air-force base in the central Syrian desert. But that base is also vulnerable to reported Israeli strikes, as an attack on it in July 2018 has demonstrated.

 

A land corridor would enable Iran to keep building its bases in Syria, to nourish Hezbollah, and to expand its destabilizing influence.

 

The question then arises as to why Israel appears to have chosen to warn Iran to stop building the crossing via media reports that show that Israeli intelligence is on to Iran's activities, rather than directly striking it.

 

One reason seems to center on the effectiveness of "information campaigns" in the use of intelligence to disrupt enemy activity via media warnings, as a complimentary tactic alongside kinetic airstrikes.

 

This provides Israel with some flexibility, allowing it to try and diffuse a threatening situation without the associated risk of fire strikes, which can snowball into larger conflicts.

 

Israel may have opted for this tactic due to the rising American-Iranian tensions in the Persian Gulf. Israel may wish to lower its profile during this time to see how the tensions play out and to avoid taking action that can further inflame the region.

 

As the White House mobilizes additional troops to the region, as well as naval ships and missile defenses, Israel appears to be turning down the volume on its own preemptive strikes in Syria. But only up to a point.

 

This month alone, media reports claimed that Israel conducted a missile strike on a target south of Damascus. In April, Israel reportedly struck a major Iranian weapons' facility in the northwestern Syrian city of Masyaf.

 

Such strikes presumably occur in response to urgent and critical intelligence of threatening Iranian activities, which, if left, unchecked, will expose Israel to the risk of guided missile attacks from Syria.

 

Another risk stems from Syrian President Bashar Assad's repeated and reckless attempt to attack Israeli Air Force aircraft from surface firing stations. The latest example of this occurred on Monday, when a Syrian anti-aircraft system fired on IAF jets that were on a routine flight in northern Israeli airspace. The IDF in response struck the launcher, reportedly killing one Syrian soldier and injuring another.

 

The Assad regime's policy of firing on Israeli jets risks dragging it into any future Israeli-Iranian escalation.

 

 

 

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TRUMP WATCH: 6.1.19 - Mideast peace plan 'when the timing is right'

The 'Deal Of The Century' Is Splitting The Arab World - By Itzhak Levanon - http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=3229

 

The fissures are already visible. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, two important, influential Persian Gulf counties, announced they will attend the U.S.-led economic conference in Bahrain scheduled for June 25-26.

 

The Palestinian Authority and Hamas have already said separately that they will boycott the summit.

 

Egypt and Jordan are still undecided. The rest of the Arab world is licking its wounds. Iran, for its part, is looking on, grinning from ear to ear.

 

Jordan's King Abdullah was able to weather the Arab Spring uprising by adopting some of the demands put forth by the masses and changing Jordan's election system.

 

His problems didn't end there, however, and his kingdom is still unstable. At this stage, he'd rather the Mideast peace plan known as "the deal of the century" was put on hold, while the uncertainty surrounding the plan's details is exacerbating his concerns that his country will have to pay a steep price.

 

Unlike Jordan, Egypt is projecting an aura of self-confidence. It is ignoring the P.A. in its talks with Hamas over a ceasefire understanding with Israel and has tempered its efforts to mediate inter-Palestinian reconciliation.

 

Egypt supports the Palestinian demands regarding a final-status agreement with Israel, but is not backing P.A. leader Mahmoud Abbas's rejectionist approach to U.S. peace deal.

 

Cairo feels comfortable enough to speak with Washington honestly and is calling on the Palestinians to return to the negotiating table and to learn from Egypt's experience with Israel.

 

Abbas has worked tirelessly to create an Arab front to foil the deal, seemingly without success. The White House hasn't backtracked on its intention to present the plan after the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

 

Even in Israel, voices have emerged in support of postponing the plan, which likely won't be received with unanimity across the Arab world either. To be sure, since the establishment of the Arab League in 1954, the Arab world has never been this divided.

 

The Palestinian rejection of the plan, without knowing what it entails, can be viewed as strategic, but the refusal to attend the Bahrain conference is a tactical misstep. The Palestinians are gambling for the entire pot, and it's reasonable to predict they will lose.

 

Jordan needs to plot a new course, and quickly. The king's vacillation is destabilizing the country, and he needs to take a history lesson from the courage displayed by his father, Hussein.

 

He must openly improve relations with Israel, reinstate clauses in the peace agreement that allow Israel to lease two small areas comprising 1,000 acres of agricultural land, and stop shunning the Israeli prime minister.

 

Israel, for its part, will help ensure that the "deal of the century" doesn't harm Jordanian interests.

 

Cairo is expected to adopt the role of mediator, and its overt cooperation with Israel will give Egypt prestige and improve its position.

 

The ball is therefore in the Palestinians' court. If they remain intransigent, it will reinforce the sense that their rejectionism is chronic, and that they aren't truly interested in a final-status agreement.

 

It's quite possible they prefer their current situation to resolving their problems. It has already been observed that the only type of logic in the Middle East is illogic.

 

Trump administration to release Mideast peace plan 'when the timing is right' - By Jackson Richman -

https://www.jns.org/trump-administration-to-release-post-bahrain-mideast-peace-plan-when-the-timing-is-right/

 

As Israel heads to the polls on Sept. 17, the fate of the release of the Trump administration's entire Mideast peace plan for the Israelis and the Palestinians remains to be seen, an administration official told JNS on Thursday.

 

"The Bahrain workshop will go on as scheduled, June 25-26," said the official in an email. "As far as the rest of the plan/rollout, we've long said that we will release the plan when the timing is right."

The White House declined to note exactly when that time may be.

 

Kushner said in April that the so-called "deal of the century" would be released after Ramadan, which concludes on June 4.

 

The Bahrain workshop is the first part of the peace proposal rollout and is expected to deal with revitalizing the Palestinian economy.

 

The second part is expected to deal with the political issues surrounding the conflict, including geographic boundaries.

 

Nonetheless, the Palestinian Authority believes that Israel's unprecedented election status will delay the remaining part of the rollout, reported Haaretz on Thursday.

 

The failure of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to form a coalition largely came as a result of an impasse between former defense minister and Yisrael Beiteinu leader Avigdor Lieberman and the ultra-Orthodox parties-Shas and United Torah Judaism-over a military draft bill for ultra-Orthodox men.

 

"It's too bad what happened in Israel," U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters on Thursday. "More likely they'll have to go back into election mode."

 

On Thursday, Netanyahu met in Israel with White House senior adviser and presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner and U.S. special envoy to the Middle East Jason Greenblatt.

 

Also in attendance were U.S. Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook and Israeli Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer.

 

"It's always a great pleasure to welcome Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt to Israel, to Jerusalem, and to discuss our common efforts for prosperity, security and peace," said Netanyahu. "I'm tremendously encouraged by how the United States, under [U.S.] President [Donald] Trump, is working to bring allies together in this region against common challenges, but also to seize common opportunities."

 

Kushner said "the security of Israel is something that's critical to the relations between America and Israel, and also very important to the president, and we appreciate all your efforts to strengthen the relationship between our two countries. It's never been stronger, and we're very excited about all the potential that lies ahead for Israel, for the relationship and for the future."

 

At the TIME 100 Summit in April, Kushner said "the two-state solution failed. New and different ways to reach peace must be tried."

 

He also stated that the strategy focuses on "how do we make life for Palestinians better?" and "how do we make Israel safer?"

 

JNS reported in February that the peace plan is expected to consist of the United States recognizing a Palestinian state with its capital in remote parts of eastern Jerusalem, according to an informed source hearing from top Trump administration officials.

 

The Palestinians have claimed that sector of the city as the capital of a future state, a position supported by most countries. But Israel considers the entire city, including its eastern part, to be the Jewish state's undivided capital.

 

The Trump administration officially recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital in December 2017, in addition to relocating the U.S. embassy there from Tel Aviv the following May. However, the move by Trump did not recognize any boundaries of Jerusalem, which the president said would be resolved through negotiations. It also maintained the status quo for the holy sites in the city.

 

Finally, the peace plan includes official U.S. recognition of large Israeli towns in Judea and Samaria, according to the source, though did not specify which ones.

 

 

 

 

 

The Palestinian War on the Trump Peace Plan - by Khaled Abu Toameh - https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14298/palestinians-vs-trump-peace-plan

 

The Palestinians seem to be moving on two fronts to thwart US President Donald Trump's plan for peace in the Middle East, also known as the "Deal of the Century."

 

The Palestinian Authority and its political allies in the West Bank have launched a diplomatic and media campaign to rally worldwide support for their rejection of Trump's upcoming plan. Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other Palestinian extremist groups, for their part, are already hinting that they will resort to violence in an effort to thwart the "Deal of the Century."

 

Last week, Hamas called on Bahrain not to allow the "Zionist enemy to defile its lands" by attending the economic conference.

 

Recently, the Palestinians intensified their attacks on the upcoming peace plan, particularly after the US administration announced that it will unveil the economic portions of the "Deal of the Century" at an economic workshop in Bahrain in late June. The Palestinians have voiced strong opposition to the workshop and said they will boycott it, despite its goal of improving the living conditions of the residents of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

 

In a rare show of unity, President Mahmoud Abbas's ruling Fatah faction and its rivals in Hamas and Islamic Jihad are saying that the Palestinians will not only boycott the Bahrain conference, but that all the countries invited should also reject the invitation to attend the workshop.

 

The Palestinians are particularly focusing their effort on trying to persuade the Arab states to boycott the Bahrain workshop. They are terrified that the Arab countries will surrender to US pressure and attend the conference, thus, as they see it, abandoning their Palestinian brothers and leaving them isolated in the international arena.

 

In addition to Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have announced that they will send delegates to the US-led economic workshop. Jordan, Egypt, and Qatar are also expected to participate in the conference, notwithstanding fierce Palestinian opposition.

 

Abbas last week visited Qatar and Jordan in a bid to persuade the two countries to join the Palestinian boycott of the Bahrain workshop. The most Abbas managed to get from Qatar and Jordan were the usual laconic statements of support for the Palestinian cause and rights. His hope that Qatar and Jordan would publicly endorse the Palestinian boycott has failed to materialize.

 

Even Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, the country hosting the conference, have made similar statements expressing full political support for the Palestinians, while ignoring their call for boycotting the economic workshop. The Arabs have always excelled in paying lip-service to the Palestinians, at the same time offering them precious little in real support.

 

Echoing fears of being abandoned by their Arab brethren, Palestinian officials are now publicly appealing to the Arab states to boycott the Bahrain economic workshop. They have even gone as far as warning that participation in the workshop would be considered an act of treason against Palestinians and Arabs. Several Palestinian factions, including Fatah, have made it clear that any Arab who attends the economic conference will be denounced as a traitor.

 

The Palestinians, in other words, are directly threatening the Arab heads of state that they would be labelled traitors for "colluding" with US President Donald Trump's administration and Israel to liquidate the Palestinian cause and national rights. This unprecedented threat is an indication of the Palestinians' growing predicament and sense of isolation as the Arab states appear to be turning their back on them.

 

Moreover, the threat is a sign of mounting tensions between the Palestinian leadership and Arab heads of state, who are apparently fed up with Palestinian intransigence and refusal to adjust to the new reality in the Middle East, particularly Iran's continued meddling in the internal affairs of Arab countries.

 

PLO leaders who met in the West Bank city of Ramallah this week called on the Arabs to heed the Palestinian call for boycotting the Bahrain workshop. "The PLO Executive Committee calls on all the Arab countries that agreed to attend the conference to reconsider their decision," the PLO leaders said in a statement. They also warned that no Arab country was authorized to speak or negotiate on behalf of the Palestinians at the conference of any other international forum.

 

PLO Secretary-General Saeb Erekat also called on Arab states that have committed to attend the Bahrain conference to revisit their plans. "We call on the countries that have agreed to attend the Bahrain workshop to reevaluate their decision," he said.

 

Praising several Palestinian businessmen who announced that they turned down invitations from the US to attend the conference, Abbas's Fatah said it will not hesitate to "expose" anyone who dares to violate the Palestinian boycott or thinks of "conspiring" against the Palestinian cause. "Our patience won't last for long as we follow attempts by some suspicious people to open channels with the US administration," Fatah cautioned.

 

In the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, representatives of the private sector said that mere participation in the Bahrain conference was a "betrayal of the blood of Palestinian martyrs, the suffering of the prisoners and the pain of the wounded. The Palestinian cause is not for sale."

 

In light of these threats, it is hard to see how any Palestinian businessman living under the rule of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Hamas in the Gaza Strip would dare to take the dangerous step of participating in a US-led conference that is being denounced by Palestinian leaders as a "conspiracy" to eliminate the Palestinian cause and rights.

 

The Palestinian threats, however, are directed not only towards Palestinian businessmen, but also against entire Arab states and their leaders. For now, it seems that the Arabs are unfazed by these Palestinian threats.

 

Yet while Abbas and his officials have resorted to political pressure to persuade the Arabs to boycott the conference, other Palestinian groups, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, seem to be preparing for a violent response to Trump's "Deal of the Century." In the past few days, the Gaza-based groups have issued several statements hinting that they would use all means, including terrorism, to foil the US peace plan.

 

Islamic Jihad Secretary-General Ziad al-Nakhalah said last week that the Palestinian "resistance has enough power cards that would enable it to thwart the Deal of the Century." Although he did not provide details about the "power cards," al-Nakhalah was apparently referring to the possibility that his Iran-backed Islamic Jihad would resort to violence.

 

Islamic Jihad and Hamas say they are now cooperating with Hezbollah, Iran's proxy terrorist group in Lebanon, to foil the Bahrain conference and Trump's "Deal of the Century." Last week, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah expressed strong opposition to the "Deal of the Century," and drew praise from Hamas, Islamic Jihad and even the Palestinian Authority.

 

This is the message that the Palestinians are sending to the Arab world: "Either boycott the US administration, or we will incite the Arabs and Muslims against you." What is perhaps most worrying for the Arab leaders are the threats coming from Iran's puppets -- Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah. It now remains to be seen whether the Arab heads of state will be deterred by these threats or ignore them at the risk of becoming the Palestinians' terror targets.

 

Clearly, the very Palestinians who are boycotting a conference -- whose aim is to help them move beyond their leadership-imposed economic devastation -- will wind up the big losers in this spiteful scenario of hate. This time, however, it also seems that the Palestinians will not only deprive themselves of billions of dollars, but will also damage -- perhaps irrevocably -- their relations with influential Arab countries. By all accounts, the Palestinians appear to be heading toward another "nakba" (catastrophe).

 

 Mueller and the seven wicked spirits - Bill Wilson - www.dailyjot.com

 

The news media and coup-makers are in a frenzy interpreting the remarks of Special Counsel Robert Mueller before the nation in closing his office and summarizing his report to Congress. Just to summarize: Mueller said the Russians tried to influence the 2016 Presidential elections, but President Trump was not part of any coordination with that effort. Mueller said that there was no decision whether the President obstructed the investigation. He said, "As set forth in our report, after that investigation, if we had confidence that the President clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said that. We did not, however, make a determination as to whether the President did commit a crime."

 

Mueller justified a "no decision" because "a President cannot be charged with a federal crime while he is in office. That is unconstitutional." Mueller gave three reasons: "First, the opinion explicitly permits the investigation of a sitting President because it is important to preserve evidence while memories are fresh and documents are available. Among other things, that evidence could be used if there were co-conspirators who could now be charged. And second, the opinion says that the Constitution requires a process other than the criminal justice system to formally accuse a sitting President of wrongdoing. And beyond Department policy, we were guided by principles of fairness. It would be unfair to potentially accuse somebody of a crime when there can be no court resolution of an actual charge."

 

Those are Mueller's exact words. How they are interpreted is the real story. AP, in it's news story covering the statement said, "Shortly after Mueller concluded, the president, who has repeatedly and falsely claimed that the report cleared him of obstruction of justice, tweeted a subdued yet still somewhat inaccurate reaction: "Nothing changes from the Mueller Report. There was insufficient evidence and therefore, in our Country, a person is innocent. The case is closed! Thank you." You can see that AP editorialized by using the words "repeatedly and falsely claimed" and by characterizing the President's tweet as a "somewhat inaccurate reaction." The neo-communist coup-makers are now convinced that the President is guilty.

 

Because Mueller did not specifically clear the President of a crime, The coup-makers say that the President committed the crime-in this case, obstruction. The President's supporters say that Mueller did not have enough evidence to even recommend further action. After all is said and done and millions of our tax money spent, Mueller left without conclusion, further fueling the flames of impeachment by the coup-makers and their lapdog media propagandists. So while Mueller swept clean his office and vacated, more demons have entered in. It's like what Christ said in Luke 11:26 about an unclean spirit who is cast out of a man returning to the house from whence he came and finding it swept clean, he reenters the house "and takes to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself." And so the coup continues.

 

 

 

 

 

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