WORLD AT WAR: 4.2.22 - US Credibility Plummets

Crimes Against Humanity That You Will Never HearAbout From The Mainstream Media - by Michael Snyder - http://endoftheamericandream.com/crimes-against-humanity-that-you-will-never-hear-about-from-the-mainstream-media/ Over the past month, we have heard about a lot of horrible things that are happening on the other side of the globe. In particular, I have been greatly distressed to hearaccounts of prisoners of war being shot in the knees or tortured in other ways in Ukraine. Mistreatment of prisoners of war definitely deserves news coverage, but there are many other crimes against humanity that happen on a daily basis that never receiveany news coverage at all. Globally, there is one minority group that is oppressed, persecuted and violently attacked far more than any other. But the mainstream media never talks about it, because the minority group that I am referring to is Christians. There are approximately 7.8 billion people living on our planet, and approximately 2.3 billion of them are Christians. And in recent years, we have seen an alarming rise in Christian persecution all over the planet. For example, here is one story that you will never hear about from the mainstreammedia in the western world� Radical Muslims in eastern Uganda sprayed acid on their family members during an argument over their conversion from Islam to Christianity and were told, �You deserve death.� The family survived but remain in the hospital where they�re being treated for burns. Reports surfaced last week that Muslim relatives had sprayed acid on three new converts � Juma Waiswa, 38, his 32-year-old wife, Nasimu Naigaga, and their 13-year-old daughter,Amina Nagudi � in Intonko village of Namutumba District, to punish them for putting their faith in Christ, according to Morning Star News. Sadly, this sort of thing has become way too common. Acid has become a weapon of choice for many religious zealots in the Middle East, and those that have chosen to convert to Christianity are often the targets. In this particular case, the three new converts were brutally assaulted by members of their own family� �During the meeting, we were asked about our salvation, and we affirmed to them that we had believed in Jesus and converted to Christianity,� Waiswa was quoted as saying. �They told us to renounce Jesus, but we stood by the newly founded faith in Jesus.� He continued: �When we refused to recant our faith in Jesus, my father, Arajabu, recited some Quranic verses, and after that they forcefully started beating us with sticksas prescribed in the Quran, claiming that we were apostates. As this was not enough, my father went inside the room and picked up a bottle of acid and began spraying it on us while the group started shouting, �Allah Akbar [Allah is greater], you deserve death,� and then disowned us.� Christian persecution has risen to extremely alarming levels in Asia as well. For example, a Christian pastor in India was recently tied to a post at a very busy intersection and beaten mercilessly in front of a huge crowd of onlookers� Hindu extremists in the National Capital Territory of Delhi last month tied a pastor to a post at a busy intersection and beat him before hundreds of people, but policehave yet to make arrests, sources said. Accusing Pastor Kelom Kalyan Tete of forcible conversion as they beat him, Hindu extremists on Feb. 25 then abducted the bleeding pastor, bound his hands and tied him toan iron rod that divides a road into two at Fatehpur Beri Chowk crossroad in South Delhi, Pastor Tete said. Even though there were so many eyewitnesses, not a single arrest has been made so far. And that is because this sort of thing is largely condoned in that part of the world. Things are even worse in China. The mainstream media in the western world loves to make a really big deal about how the Chinese are persecuting the Uyghurs, and that is certainly true, but Chinese persecutionof Christians is actually far more pervasive. You will never hear about this on CNN or MSNBC, but the truth is that house churches are regularly raided all over the nation and those identified as leaders are often takento secret �transformation facilities�� Authorities in China are detaining Christians in secretive, mobile �transformation� facilities to make them renounce their faith, RFA has learned. A member of a Christian �house church� in the southwestern province of Sichuan who asked to be identified by a pseudonym Li Yuese said he was held in a facility run by theruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP)�s United Front Work Department, working in tandem with the state security police, for 10 months after a raid on his church in 2018. �It was a mobile facility, that could just set up in some basement somewhere,� Li said. �It was staffed by people from several different government departments.� When we talk about how horrible the communist Chinese government is, why doesn�t anyone ever bring this up? The reason it is never brought up is because the vast majority of the U.S. population has no idea that this is going on, and that is because the mainstream media never reportson it. The liberal media in the western world doesn�t like to share any stories that will put Bible-believing Christians in a positive light. Instead, there is a relentless effort to demonize and marginalize those that have a Biblical worldview, and that will inevitably lead to full-blown government persecution. In some western nations we are already seeing things that would have once been absolutely unthinkable. For example, in Finland a Christian member of parliament and a prominentbishop were arrested and charged with hate speech crimes for sharing their faith-based views on sexuality� A Finnish court has thrown out the charges against a Christian MP and bishop who publicly shared their Bible-based beliefs on marriage and sexuality. P�ivi R�s�nen, a former Minister of the Interior, and Bishop Juhana Pohjola stood trial last month on hate speech charges. The good news is that the court ruled in their favor. But they should have never been arrested in the first place. If you can believe it, the prosecution attempted to argue that using the word �sin� is actually a hate crime� During the trial, the prosecution argued that using the word �sin� could be �derogatory� and �harmful�, and claimed that it was not challenging religious views but �theexpression of these views�. �The Bible isn�t on trial here, but R�s�nen�s words are � The apostle Paul isn�t on trial here, but R�s�nen is,� the prosecution said. We should be thankful for a victory in this case, but the forces of political correctness in the western world are relentless and they will never stop trying to push theenvelope. Here in the United States, I have never seen more hatred for Christians than I am seeing right now. I wish that I could tell you that this is just temporary, but I am entirelyconvinced that what we have witnessed so far is just the tip of the iceberg. The U.S. is one of the last relatively free nations on the planet, and under the U.S. Constitution we are supposed to be able to freely practice our faith. Unfortunately, times have dramatically changed, and those that hate us are never going to stop. --------------------------------- US Credibility Plummets in The Arab World as Biden Looks to New Terrorist Allies – Khaled Abu Toameh - https://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=5272 Unlike the Biden administration, many Arabs do not distinguish between one terrorist group and another. That is why news about the possibility that the Biden administrationis considering removing the Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) from the terrorism blacklist has been received by many Arabs with disbelief and shock. The Arabs hold the mullahs and the IRGC responsible for various war crimes and atrocities against several countries and people around the world. Just last week, the IRGCclaimed credit for a missile attack on an alleged "Zionist base" in the city of Erbil in northern Iraq. Days later, the IRGC issued a threat to launch missiles at the Gulf states. The Gulf states, in particular Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), are already under attack by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia in Yemen. The Biden administrationremoved the Houthis from the list of foreign terrorist organizations and has since refused to reclassify it as a terrorist organization, despite the missile and drone attacks on Washington's Arab allies and friends as recently as this week. After the recent drone and missile attacks by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia in Yemen, Saudi Arabia statement that said: "The Kingdom stresses the importance of the international community realizing the gravity of Iran's continued behavior of equipping the terrorist Houthi militia with thetechnology of the ballistic missiles and advanced UAVs with which they target the Kingdom's production sites of oil, gas and refined products." When the Saudis and other Arabs in the Gulf talk about the international community, they are specifically referring to the US administration, which continues to ignore theirdemand to redesignate the Houthi militia as a terrorist organization. Instead of listening to its Arab allies, the Biden administration is now reportedly studying the possibility of removing Iran's IRGC -- an even more dangerous organization-- from the list of foreign terrorists. The news has come as a shock to the Arabs, especially those in the Gulf who say that the appeasement policies of the Biden administration towards Iran pose a real threatto security and stability in the Middle East. "Removing the Revolutionary Guard from the blacklist of foreign terrorist organizations would be tantamount to the shameful US withdrawal from Afghanistan last year," wroteSaudi journalist Tarik Al-Hamid, former editor-in-chief of the pan-Arab Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper. "We will remember two historical events that had -- and will have -- the biggest impact on destabilizing the security and stability of our region. First, when AyatollahKhomeini boarded a plane and flew from France to Tehran Airport; second, when the Biden administration removes the Iranian Revolutionary Guard from the list of foreign terrorist organizations." Al-Hamid warned that if the Biden administration removes the IRGC from the terrorism list, "we will be faced with a real American absurdity, not less than the absurdityof the invasion of Iraq and the absurdity of the withdrawal from Afghanistan." "It is true that the United States wants to withdraw from the region, but Washington will then have given China, Russia and Iran unprecedented strength. If this is not politicalabsurdity, what can it be called? By removing the Revolutionary Guards from the list of terrorist organizations, Washington will grant Iran the freedom to move and act in the region in the context of a Russian-Chinese-Iranian alliance." The prominent Saudi journalist warned that the policies of the Biden administration would "strengthen the axis of resistance to the US once again." "By lifting the sanctions against the Revolutionary Guards, the US administration will fulfill the aspirations of former President Barack Obama when he spoke in his famousinterview with The Atlantic magazine under the title 'Obama Doctrine' about sharing the region with Iran. At the time, Obama said: 'The Saudis need to share the Middle East with their Iranian opponents.'" Al-Hamid reminded the Biden administration that Saudi Arabia "is the exact opposite of Iran, as it does not want control, but rather the stability and independence of countries." "Therefore, removing the Iranian Revolutionary Guards from the sanctions list is nothing but a conspiracy against the region as a whole, especially after the RevolutionaryGuard took credit for the recent firing of 12 ballistic missiles on Iraq. Lifting the sanctions while Hezbollah revels in Lebanon and Syria, and Iranian militias wreak havoc in Iraq amid Iran's continued support for the Houthis in Yemen, is nothing but a crimeagainst our region." Abdullah bin Bejad Al-Otaibi, a Saudi political analyst and researcher of Islamic groups, wrote that the US during the Biden era "is very similar to Obama's America in termsof vision, policies, and directions." The Biden administration's appeasement of Iran and its plans to remove the IRGC from the list of foreign terrorist organizations represents political absurdity, Al-Otaibiargued. "The signing of the (2015) nuclear agreement with the Iranian regime took place during the Obama era without any consideration for the interests of the Gulf states and Arabcountries, and it was just a postponement, not a cancellation, of Iran's military nuclear project. The administration of President Biden has been eager to revive the ominous agreement. It has also been attacking the Arab countries not only with blatant statements,but also through its regional and international policies and positions. Arab and Gulf countries have not changed their stance toward America, but the opposite is what happened. America's positions have become more extreme and less concernedabout partnership and support for allies. The problem with this American change is that it came while Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are leading internal and regional efforts to bring stability and moderation. Bahrain and the UAE have normalizedrelations with Israel. The Saudi crown prince stated that Saudi Arabia does not view Israel as an enemy, but rather as a potential ally." Al-Otaibi reminded the Biden administration that the IRGC and the mullahs are "the head of regional and international terrorism, from Al-Qaeda to ISIS, and from the LebaneseHezbollah to the Shiite terror militias all over the world." Referring to the possibility that the IRGC may be removed from the list of terrorism, the Saudi analyst said: "This would be a direct threat and danger not only to the Arab countries, but to the whole world, and an unprecedented support for terrorism and its groups and organizations.The Arab countries and Israel will be the first victims. There is an American and Western policy that cannot be condoned, which is the insistence on making Saudi Arabia and the UAE militarily exposed to the attacks of the Iranian Houthi militia in Yemen, ballisticmissiles and drones, and imposing illogical requirements on the export of arms to confront these serious threats. The hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan, which enabled the Taliban to seize control of the country, removing the Houthi militia from the terrorism list, seeking to removethe Iranian Revolutionary Guard from the list of terrorism, silence about Iranian bombing of Iraqi Kurdistan -- these are very dangerous policies for the world and the Arab countries that support stability and peace... "A new approach is knocking on the doors of the world with force and an unprecedented need to close ranks, strengthen alliances and build partnerships, and any neutral observerwill find a blatant contradiction in the Biden administration's policies towards Iran and Saudi Arabia, as it courts Iran in an unprecedented way and does not behave in the same way with Saudi Arabia." Syrian writer Dr. Mahmoud Al-Shami expressed astonishment over the Biden administration's weak and hypocritical attitude towards Iran and its terrorist proxies: "America condemns the Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and says they must stop, while it has since removed Houthis from the list of terrorism, and will also remove the IranianRevolutionary Guard from the terrorism list as well. [The condemnation came] while America was claiming that Saudi Arabia is its ally and that it will defend it if it is subjected to any aggression. Have you seen bigger liars?" Dr. Mohamed El-Sherif, an Egyptian, also took to social media to express disgust with the policies of the Biden administration towards the mullahs and their terrorist organizations. "What did the Revolutionary Guard offer America as a price for the reward of being removed from the list of terrorist organizations and making billions of dollars availableto it by lifting sanctions on Iran so that it could finance its terrorist activities at the expense of threatening the security of the Gulf and the stability of the Middle East?" Kuwaiti university lecturer Professor Abdullah Al-Shayji noted that the US was continuing to lose its credibility among the Arabs: "Will Biden re-designate the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization after President Trump classified them as terrorists during his presidency?... Will Biden, in thenuclear negotiations with Iran, cancel the designation of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization in order to succeed with the nuclear deal?! We are witnessing a decline in trust in America." Saudi writer Abdul Hadi Al-Shehri warned the Biden administration that it would be making a grave mistake by removing the IRGC from the terrorism list: "I think that when you remove the Iranian Revolutionary Guard from the list of terrorist organizations, you will make a big mistake, and this will lead to the spread ofIranian terrorism and this will affect the region and allies, and America and Europe will be vulnerable to direct Iranian terrorism." Bahraini journalist and political analyst Abdul Majed Jalal accused the Biden administration of "betraying" its Arab allies. "The Biden administration is considering canceling the decision to designate the Iranian Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization as part of its efforts to revivethe nuclear deal with Iran. The mere idea is a clear American betrayal of its allies in the Gulf! The Gulf no longer has much trust in America." Dr. Fahad bin Jumah, former member of the Economy and Energy Committee in Saudi Arabia, commented: "Supporting Iran, returning to the nuclear agreement, and trying to remove the Revolutionary Guard from the list of terrorism, as he did previously with the Houthis, areamong the unforgivable mistakes of Mr. Biden." Masood A. R., an Iranian opponent of the mullahs, Addressing US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, wrote: "Mr. Blinken, it will be a true holiday for Iranians when they get rid of the murderous [Iranian] regime to which you are making terrible concessions. Mr. Blinken, the Iranianpeople will not forgive the US if the Revolutionary Guard, the largest terrorist organization backed by an official government, is removed from the list of terrorism." Iraqi social media user Kirar Al-Atiyya added his voice to that of an increasing number of Arabs who were shocked by the news concerning the IRGC: "If this news is true about the Biden administration's intention to remove the Revolutionary Guard militia from the list of terrorism, this would be the mother of all disasters.The Revolutionary Guard gangs have committed many crimes. They also contributed to the recruitment of children into the ranks of the terrorist Houthi militia." Judging from the severe consternation in the Arab countries over Biden's mistaken and disastrous policies towards Iran and its terrorist proxies, it's safe to assume thatUS credibility has plummeted in the Arab world. From the Arab point of view, it seems as though the US has chosen to side with the world's largest terrorist organization -- the IRGC -- a move that poses an imminent threatto Arab security and the stability of the entire region. The question arises: If the Biden administration believes that the Houthi militia and the IRGC are not terrorist organizations, then why not also remove Al-Qaeda, ISIS,Hamas, Hezbollah and Palestinian Islamic Jihad from the blacklist? Indeed, if the US administration believes that it can do business with these terrorists and their sponsors in Tehran, then why not own up to its policies and straightforwardlydeclare all these terrorist groups as America's newest allies? ------------------------- No More Putin - By Daymond Duck - https://www.raptureready.com/2022/03/28/no-more-putin-by-daymond-duck/ On Mar. 15, 2022, U.S. Sec. of State Antony Blinken said (on CNN�s Situation Room), �I am confident of, first of all, there will be an independent Ukraine a lot longer thana Vladimir Putin. One way or the other, Ukraine will be there, and at some point, Putin won�t. The real question is how much death and destruction are brought by Russia�s aggression in the meantime.� Blinken is right; the day will come when there will be no more Putin, and if he is Gog (as in Ezek. 38), it could be sooner than anyone thinks (pray for his salvation). Here are some stories that made the news in recent days. One, concerning the New World Order (NWO; world government):on Mar. 16, 2022 (the day after Blinken predicted the end of Putin), it was reported that Putin said, Western �attempts to have global dominance is coming to an end.� As I understand the Bible, the Antichrist will rise in the EU (Revived Roman Empire of Iron; Dan. 9:26b), have opposition (Dan. 7:8, 20), and go forth conquering and toconquer (Rev. 6:2). It is my opinion that Russia�s invasion of Ukraine is partly (not totally) a struggle over the structure of the New World Order (whether Ukraine will be in the EU region,in the Russian region, etc.). Putin�s attempt to break the West�s global dominance will fail, and the Antichrist will ultimately come out of the EU. I was recently asked if Putin is Gog. We don�t know the identity of Gog, but we can express an opinion. It is my opinion that Putin might be Gog. God can take Putin�s life and replace him with someone else anytime God wants, but if we are as close to the Rapture and Tribulation Period as I think, Putin could be Gog. He could lead his army and allies in an attack on Israel and die during that battle (Ezek. 39:1-5). Two, on Mar. 21, 2022, Pres. Biden spoke at the Business Roundtable�sCEO Quarterly Meeting. Biden made some comments about the New World Order (world government), and several websites have posted links to a video containing what he said. Concerning the New World Order, Biden said, �We are at an inflection point in the world economy, not just the world economy, in the world, and that occurs every three orfour generations. One of the top military people said in a secure meeting the other day [that] 60 million people died between 1900 and 1946. Since then, we have established a liberal world order, and that hasn�t happened in a long time, a lot of people dying,but nowhere near the chaos. And now is the time when things are shifting. There is going to be a New World Order out there, and we�ve got to lead it. We�ve got to unite the rest of the free world in doing it.� It was the Pres. of the U.S. (not a Bible prophecy teacher) that said the New World Order (world government) is coming. The UN intends to have it up and running by 2030 or sooner. Pres. Biden is trying to unite the world to meet that goal. According to the Bible, the coming world government will be: •Preceded by the Rapture. •Dominated by the EU, not the U.S., not Russia, not China, or any other nation or group of nations. (FYI:Notice from point one above that Putin and the West are struggling with each other over who will dominate the New World Order.) Three, concerning a global economic collapse and famine earlyin the Tribulation Period: on Mar. 17, 2022, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the war in Ukraine is undermining the global economy because it is: •Causing inflation, food, and energy prices to surge. •Lowering the value of family income. •Making the supply chain crisis worse. •Damaging the economies of Ukraine and Russia. •Likely to alter the geopolitical order (New World Order). •Damaging the dollar�s status as the global currency of choice. (More:On Mar. 18, 2022, a coordinator at the UN World Food Program (WFP) said bombed roads, bridges and trains in Ukraine are collapsing Ukraine�s food supply chain. It was also reported that an official at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said thewar may cause a global surge in malnutrition and famine.) Four, concerning the decline of America: on Mar. 20, 2022, SalvadoranPres. Bukele expressed the opinion that Joe Biden and his handlers are destroying America, and it is likely on purpose. Bukele posted this on Twitter: �Something so big and powerful (America) can�t be destroyed so quickly unless the enemy comes from within.� (FYI:On Mar. 22, 2022, concerning Biden�s economic strategy and inflation causing gasoline, food, housing, utilities, etc., to surge: Pres. Biden said, �Our strategy is working.� The NWO he supports is for everyone to own nothing, and it looks like it is working.) Five, also concerning the decline of America: on Mar. 21, 2022,it was reported that U.S. Sec. of State Blinken requested a meeting with Saudi Arabia and the UAE to discuss energy prices, and both governments refused to receive him. Six, on Mar. 20, 2022, it was reported that the InternationalEnergy Agency (IEA) wants world leaders to ban the use of cars in cities on Sundays, limit the kinds of vehicles that can be driven on certain days, impose a tax on SUV�s, reduce speed limits, and more to achieve climate change goals. If the climate change fanatics get their way, everyone will be poor, most will have to walk, and the population of the earth will be greatly reduced. Seven, concerning the division of Israel and the Battle of Armageddon(Joel 3:2): on Mar. 15, 2022, the U.S. Ambassador to Israel said Israel�s construction of homes in Judea and Samaria is �infuriating� and �stupid.� He said he tried to stop some recent construction that would connect Maale Adumim to Jerusalem but could not. He said, �We can�t have the Israelis doing settlement growth in East Jerusalem or the West Bank.� For whatever it is worth, God made an everlasting covenant to give East Jerusalem and the West Bank to the Jews (Gen. 17:7-8). God also promised to bless those that bless Israel and to curse those that curse Israel (Gen. 12:2-3). Putin is not the only thing that is coming to an end; the U.S., the NWO, and the end of efforts to divide Israel will come too. Eight, concerning earthquakes increasing in frequency and intensityat the end of the age: on Mar. 16, 2022, a 7.3 earthquake struck near the same location as the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that damaged the nuclear reactors at Fukushima, Japan. The quake caused power outages, cracks and broken windows in a few buildings, and the derailment of a high-speed bullet train. But for the most part, the injuries and damagewere light. Nine, concerning the ability to track everyone on earth: onMar. 16, 2022, two computer scientists wrote an article saying, �Billions of digital devices (inside your TV, home, office, vehicles, refrigerator, etc.) are scanning and sensing your movements every day.� According to these men, in 2018 (about 4 years ago), there were about 22 billion internet-connected devices in the world, and by 2030 there will be more than 50 billioninternet-connected devices in the world. The ability to track everyone is now a fact. Ten, also concerning the ability to track everyone: on Mar.9, 2022, Pres. Biden signed an executive order giving government agencies six months to consider the establishment of a digital currency (some officials say it is already a done deal). A digital currency can be tracked, used to monitor what people buy and sell, and turned into a weapon to control what people buy and sell. Economist Steve Forbes called it �an ugly power grab by Big Government.� Simply put, it is a surveillance scheme that will likely lead to the Mark of the Beast, and about half the world appears ready to get on board now. Eleven, concerning corruption and deceit: on Mar. 16, 2022,after 17 months of lies, denials and censorship by the Democrats, mainstream media, social media, etc., The New York Times finally confirmed that the Laptop from Hell belongs to Hunter Biden and the incriminating e-mails are authentic. Some believe the corruption and deceit were deliberately carried out to impact the 2020 election, and the wrong man, the head of the Biden crime family, was declared thewinner. A big question is, �Why is The New York Times admitting the Biden family�s criminal activities now?� Are some Democrats thinking about replacing Pres. Biden? Twelve, concerning the Battle of Gog and Magog: in late Feb.2022, Russia�s deputy ambassador to the UN told the UN Security Council that Russia does not agree with Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem, including West Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. On Mar. 16. 2022, it was reported that a Russian military patrol was spotted near the Golan Heights in Syria. Finally, are you Rapture Ready? If you want to be rapture ready and go to heaven, you must be born again (John 3:3). God loves you, and if you have not done so, sincerely admit that you are a sinner; believethat Jesus is the virgin-born, sinless Son of God who died for the sins of the world, was buried, and raised from the dead; ask Him to forgive your sins, cleanse you, come into your heart and be your Saviour; then tell someone that you have done this. ------------------------------- New World Order End-times Catalyst - by Terry James - https://terryjamesprophecyline.com/2022/03/28/new-world-order-end-times-catalyst/ Recently, while working on the third novel, MESSIAH, following the first, REVELATIONS, and the second, MICHAEL, I was caught up in thinking how near the Rapture must be.I tried to get my mind around how near we might be to the time Israel will fall for the False Messiah, Antichrist. The words of Winston Churchill came to mind in his 1942 speech at Mansion House in London. England had just survived Hitler�s Blitz and the horrific bombing. Rommel�s tankonslaught in Egypt had just been routed by the forces of Great Britain and others at Alamein. People wanted to know how near they were to the end of the world war they were agonizingly enduring. Churchill was greatly encouraged because of the turn of the conflict�sdirection. He said the following in his typical eloquent mastery of the moment and of the English language. Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning. People are constantly asking about when all of this will end and when the Lord will take us home. Thinking on the writing, as I say, and studying the deluge of events andissues of prophetic significance bombarding us, I was impressed that we are now not at the end. Prophecy is not yet in a state of fulfillment, as far the final prophecies. It isn�t even the beginning of the end�i.e., Jesus said, �there will be wars and rumorsof wars, but the end is not yet.� But we are, maybe, bumping up against the very end of this pre-Trib time of the beginning of fulfillment of end-times prophecy. So, like Churchill said about World War II, we are, perhaps, at the end of this age and at the beginning of fulfillment of the last of end-times prophecy about to unfold. I mean, of course, that it is the Rapture of the Church that will bring that beginning of end-time prophecies. There is no prophetic fulfillment given to precede the Rapture.The caveat is that Israel being once again a nation�and one at the center of controversies involving all nations�is a prophecy at least partially fulfilled at this point. And that�s what we�re looking at here: the matter of Israel being at the center of things involving the world�s nation-states. We all know the awful things transpiring in Ukraine, such as the loss of life and the carnage inflicted by Russia�s invasion. Alternate news sites are telling the full storythat the mainstream media most often will not. For example, these alternate sources have reported that the Russian soldiers are sometimes laying down their weapons, defecting, and returning home to Russia. For some reason, such facts don�t fit the narrativeof the traditional news media. Also, I�ve noticed a tremendous difference between reports of the majority of Russian people being against the invasion and the mainstream news reporting that polls taken in Russia show the Russian people are wholeheartedly infavor of the invasion. It is almost impossible to get the full story. However, one thing becoming clear is the powers that constitute the New World Order�the globalists elite�have become exceedinglyconcerned about Vladimir Putin�s strategy to reconstruct the way business is done with regard to how and to whom oil and gas are bought and sold. It seems that NATO, Biden, the European Union, and most every Western Hemisphere globalist principality are now chomping at the bit to do battle with Russia. All it tookto begin talk of moving troops near the battle was for Mr. Putin to say he intends to make all who want Russian oil and gas to deal in rubles, the Russian currency unit. That did it. Putin�s obvious strategy to diminish or even destroy the petrodollar as the chief exchange system in petroleum transactions made guys like Sen. Lindsey Grahamwant to go to war�even if nuclear�with the Russkis. The hawks have their feathers ruffled. Putin garnering most of the oil and gas business is too much to bear, as it is said. It is quite interesting to see how Putin, whom many in the diplomatic circles are calling a madman, has completely out-strategized them all. Even America, after shuttingdown the pipelines, has to now look to Russia, as does Europe. It�s either deal with Russia and with rubles, or go without. Biden has even begged Venezuela to release more oil for sale. But the dictator Nicol�s Maduro, like the oil sheiks of Saudi, has refusedto even talk with the president of the United States. Instead, they are more and more joining the Russian/Chinese economic model and are weaning from the American/European petrodollar conglomerate that has ruled the petroleumindustry worldwide for so long. Here�s where I hope to go with this. It is postulation, to be certain, but it is an interesting direction of thought, in considering the nation Israel and its strategicpositioning�His chosen nation put there by the Lord Himself. Europe is now at the mercy of Vladimir Putin and the Russian consortium that includes China and now other petroleum powers like Saudi Arabia. The oil and gas crisis willnot only involve Europe freezing in the winter, but will inflict collateral damage to food production. The US is now, as I see it, almost supernaturally paralyzed because of this administration being run by the green insanity that shut down the gas and oil pipelines. I�mnot sure the Lord will even allow such thinking to come to a rational decision to reopen these conduits, so reprobate they are because of turning their backs on Him. Now here is my thinking involving Israel. Israel now has, it has been determined, tremendous oil and gas reserves, including in the Golan area, which Vlad has said is no longer Israel�s sovereign territory. Thereare vast such reserves, as I understand, beneath Israel�s territorial waters of the Mediterranean. It is possible, without too much stretch of imagination�to suggest that the Western alliance�Europe and America�will pour whatever money and resources necessary into fundingthe swift development of Israel�s petroleum industry to enhance their capability of beginning to provide the West with the Jewish State�s newly acquired oil and gas assets. This would: 1) make sure Europe doesn�t starve or freeze; and 2) make sure the Americanand European financial masters in the petrodollar system of sales and distribution continue to make their billions. This, the way I see it, could be why President Biden recently read the line that a New World Order must develop. He followed that up by saying �America must lead in this� (the New World Order). If this eventuates, with the harshest possible sanctions imposed by the New World Order at the same time driving Russia�s economic plight into ruin, such a development couldstart Putin or a future Russian leader thinking the �evil thought� Ezekiel foretold. As we�ve mentioned, Putin has already told the world he considers the Golan (the mountains of Israel) to be no longer the nation�s sovereign territory. The New World Order is already in place and raring to go to war. These economic globalists elite oligarchs are the humanist part of the Ephesians 6:12 wrestling match inwhich we as Christians are engaged. They could well be the end-times catalyst in bringing about the Gog-Magog fulfillment, the appearance of Antichrist, and the start of the prophesied seven years of hell on earth. To avoid being here when God unleashes His wrath and judgment on the evil corruption every direction we look, the following is God�s way to soul-saving grace. 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. For with the heartman believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10: 9�10) ------------------------------- Assessing Prospects for WW III � TerryJames - https://www.raptureready.com/category/nearing-midnight/ It was a time when the Cold War continued with fresh memories of the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. Filmmakers stimulated the theater-going public with offerings of darkhumor steeped in fears of thermonuclear war. The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming! was the title of a 1960s movie�a comedy�in which there was panic in a New England village on the Atlantic Coast. A Sovietsubmarine had run aground because of its commander sightseeing the American coastline. The crew was sent from the sub to find a boat that could dislodge the sub and free it to continue its cruise. There was great angst for a time, as the New Englanders thought they were being invaded by the Russkis. The movie was hilarious, with the people and the sub occupants comingclose to conflict. But there was a meeting of two young people�the woman an American, the man a Russian submariner. I took a year or so of Russian in college, but viewing this movie was where I learned to say �I love you� in Russian. The story ended just right, as any good love story should, with the Russian sub threatened for destruction by US Air Force fighter jets flying overhead, but the pilots,seeing the New Englanders all around the sub, didn�t attack. The people were protecting the Russians, and soon the sub slipped back into the Atlantic deep. I can�t remember what happened to the two young folks who were in love, but I presume all, too, was well in that department. At this moment, the Ukrainian people find nothing funny about their experience. Yet there is a love story within its unfolding that can be discerned. While reports thathundreds, even thousands, on both sides of Putin�s aggression are being killed or maimed, there are reports of human interaction that unveils compassion of biblical proportion. The Ukrainian people have, it is said, taken wounded Russian soldiers into their homes or to facilities and cared for them, even as the Russian forces continue their assault.On the other side, there are reports of Russian troops laying down their weapons and returning to their homes, because they haven�t the heart to continue killing people who are basically the same as the people they left back home. I don�t know the degree of veracity of these stories, but give some credence to them because they are being reported across the entire spectrum of news forums�mainstreamand alternative. One wonders the fate of the troops who defect in this manner. Vladimir Putin is reported to be, like one-time dictator Joseph Stalin, executing generals who fail to accomplishtheir missions. Thus the four or five generals are reported to have been killed, with their deaths blamed on Ukrainian resistance fighters. What is the truth? Who knows? Well, only our God. The troops who have a change of heart surely are meeting fates at least as bad as the generals rumored to have felt Putin�s wrath. And it is Putin�s unknowns that have pundits and ordinary people worrying alike. Will there be World War III? As a matter of fact, has World War III already begun�has Putinnow set out on a course that will end up involving all of Europe and eventually the entire world in a global conflict? Is Putin another Hitler, whose trajectory the Russian dictator seems to be following? Some within Bible prophecy circles are wondering the same things. Is the world now seeing the beginning of the earth�s third global conflict? Are we about to get into nuclearcombat one on one with the Russkis, as Slim Pickens, who played the captain of a hydrogen bomb-armed B-52 in the movie Dr. Strangelove, once said? One acknowledged �expert� weighed in with the following assessment. Author and former DIA intelligence officer Rebekah Koffler told Fox News Digital Thursday that a no-fly zone presents the most risk among known scenarios, but currently-unknownactions could inadvertently cause an escalation during the �fog of war.� �Usually the path of the escalation is difficult to predict, it can come out of nowhere in the fog of war,� Koffler said. Koffler argued that the current conflict in Ukraine is a �proxy war� between the U.S. and Russia that could easily escalate into a �shooting war.� (�The largest risk toan escalation of the conflict would be a no-fly zone enforced by NATO, experts say,� by Michael Lee, Fox News) Diplomatic sources believe some within the US and Europe are poking the Russian bear by embracing the idea of no-fly zones over Ukraine�and by the introduction of Mig-29fighter jets to the Ukrainian military to enforce that no-fly zone. Such action, they believe, would bring about the shoot-down of Russian planes. A no-fly zone, plus such US-approved introduction of weaponry, would, Vladimir Putin has said,be considered an act of war. The Russian tyrant has instructed his forces to fire a hypersonic missile into a Ukrainian underground military facility. The missile wasn�t nuclear-tipped, but the plainmessage analysts are saying Putin wanted to send is that Russia can, with the new, Mach 5 missile technology, reach not only the near points of Ukrainian territory, but all of Europe. The hypersonic missiles have a vastly larger range than the mid-range missilesheretofore used by the Russians. Putin has said he is not averse to using tactical nukes to accomplish the Russian military mission of subduing parts of that nation the dictator believes belong to Russia. All of this has the world of diplomats and even Christian prophecy pundits wondering whether there is about to be World War III, which will end in nuclear exchanges thatwill completely disrupt the world carrying on as we have known. Well, we can interject that, with the way things have been carried on as of late, a heavenly disruption might be warranted. We�ve seen wickedness arise at levels that, asRuth Graham might have concluded, rival the evil of the days of Sodom and Gomorrah. Only God�s divine patience and mercy can explain why nuclear combat, one on one with the Russkis, hasn�t already broken out into WW III. Diplomats of the world, many of whom are Christians and even Bible prophecy students, would adamantly disagree with my assessment about the prospects for World War III andnuclear annihilation. I say without reservation that I have no fear of an all-out, global war at this juncture in human history. And that is the salient point�the words, �at this juncture inhuman history.� For the current war waged upon Ukraine�or any other war�to explode or even gradually grow to all-out World War III would be contrary to what the Word of God foretells. Asa matter of fact, Jesus Christ Himself, who is the very Word of God who holds together even the elements of the atom, foretold the following. (Again, remember that �the day when the Son of man is revealed� refers to the Rapture of the Church.) Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom itrained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. (Luke 17:27�30) It would not be business as usual if the planet had just been ravished by nuclear devastation, just as it wouldn�t be business as usual if Christ was �revealed� at the endof the most horrific time imaginable�the end of the Tribulation. There will be World War III, and there will be nuclear devastation, I have absolutely no doubt. But it will be after the Rapture, when all believers are in the only safeharbor there is�in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ when He calls us to Himself. There is only one way to go to this assurance and safe harbor. 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. For with the heartman believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:9�10) �Terry -------------------------------- Russia and Iran: The New Axis of Evil - Why Is the US Bankrolling Them?- by Con Coughlin - https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18385/russia-iran-axis-of-evil Thanks to the Biden administration's ill-judged obsession with reviving the flawed nuclear deal with Iran, the world can soon look forward to the creation of a new "axisof evil" between Russia and Iran. In recent months, as negotiations over reviving the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the deal's official title, have continued in Vienna, Western negotiatorshave expressed concern about the negative support Iran is receiving from Russia in the talks. Instead of concentrating on key issues, such as Iran's enrichment activities that Western intelligence officials believe are part of Tehran's attempts to develop nuclearweapons, the Russians have encouraged the Iranian negotiating team to focus on relatively minor issues, such as the location of monitoring cameras at key Iranian nuclear installations, which are vital for monitoring their enrichment facilities. Now Western security officials believe that Iran and Russia have struck a cooperation deal to work together to evade Western sanctions once a new nuclear deal has been agreedby the Biden administration. Iran is known to have established a clandestine banking and finance system to handle tens of billions of dollars in annual trade banned under U.S.-led sanctions. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Iranian system comprises accounts in foreign commercial banks, proxy companies registered outside the country, firms that coordinatethe banned trade, and a transaction clearinghouse within Iran. The Kremlin is desperate to find ways to circumvent Western sanctions that have been imposed in retaliation for Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to launch anunprovoked invasion of Ukraine. The sanctions have had a devastating impact on the Russian economy, with the rouble losing half its value since the start of the year. To mitigate the impact of the sanctions, which are likely to remain in place for as long as Mr Putin remains in power, the Kremlin is desperately looking for new sanctions-bustingopportunities. In secret negotiations conducted between Russian and Iranian officials in recent weeks, Iran, according to Western security officials, has offered to provide Russia with access to its illegal sanctions-busting network in return for Moscow'ssupport in getting a new nuclear deal in place. Iran is desperate to sign a new agreement in return for the Biden administration agreeing to lift the crippling economic sanctions against Iran which, despite its effortsto evade the measures, has still had a negative impact on the country's economy, prompting widespread anti-regime protests. Last month, EU officials involved in the talks said that an agreement was "essentially ready and on the table," but the talks stalled after Russia demanded that its existingtrading ties with Iran would not be affected as a result of the Western sanctions imposed against Moscow over Ukraine. Russia and Iran are in the process of negotiating a multi-billion dollar arms deal, including the purchase of Russian warplanes and submarines, and Moscow is keen that thedeal will not be scuppered as a result of Western sanctions. Consequently, Russia is looking to Iran for support in circumventing Western sanctions. Following a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Chinathis week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov confirmed that Moscow would work with Tehran to take steps to evade Western sanctions, the RIA news agency reported. Western security officials believe the outline of a sanctions-busting deal between Moscow and Tehran is already in place, with Iran promising not to enforce Western sanctionsagainst Russia. As part of the deal, Iran has offered to use its existing evasion network to help Russia sell its oil on international markets once the nuclear deal is signed, and sanctions have been lifted against Tehran. Plans by Russia and Iran to cooperate on evading international sanctions certainly provide a strong argument in favour of the Biden administration ending its obsession withconcluding a new nuclear deal with Iran. The White House has already attracted bitter criticism following Iran's latest demand at the Vienna talks that the US agrees to remove Iran's Islamic Revolutionary GuardCorps (IRGC) from its list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs). The prospects of Washington agreeing to that demand may have altered slightly, but not nearly enough, after the US this week imposed new sanctions against Iran and an IRGCunit in response to recent missile attacks launched against Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels and Shia militias. The imposition of these measures is certainly a long overdue recognition by the Biden administration that Iran is simply exploiting the nuclear negotiations to further itsown regional ambitions. And the fact that Iran and Russia are now actively colluding to evade Western sanctions, thereby forming a new "axis of evil", should finally persuade the White House to end once and for all its involvement in this gross act of diplomaticfolly. ----------------------------------------