Situation From Gaza Strip

So often we get the news from sources that may be lopsided and chose to play up one side of the story and ignore the other. I found this account interesting and I know it will open up our eyes to look for wholesome reporting of events.

From a perspective not seen too much in the "regular" news.
Shalom,
Betty

Shalom from the war zone! Our friend, Avner Boskey, an Israeli Messianic Jew here in Israel has written an accurate account of what is going on in Israel in the Gaza Strip and what led up to the attack. He has given us permission to forward his letter. Lura & Eddie Beckford, Arad, Israel - Dec. 2008

War With Hamas – The First 40 Hours
This is a brief analysis of the war, followed by a report of details of today's fighting, and then specific prayer requests.

The war with Hamas began at 11:30 am Israel time on Shabbat (Saturday) December 27 – the sixth day of Hanukkah (the Feast of Dedication). The Operation was given the military name 'Cast Lead' or Opheret yetzuka in Hebrew, referring to the leaden dreidels (sevivon or spinning tops) played with on Hanukkah. These festive tops were once made of molten lead poured into a metal mold, and a popular Hanukkah children's song refers to a dreidl made of "cast lead". As God would have it, this war will be identified in the annals of Israeli history as the Hanukkah war.
Israelis have a lot of experience with war, and many significant wars are connected with certain Jewish holidays. The Yom Kippur War of October 1973 began on the Day of Atonement. The First Gulf War ended in 1991 on the first day of Purim, the Feast of Esther. The Second Intifada broke out on The Feast of Trumpets in 2000. On the Ninth of Av (Tisha b'Av) in 586 BC and 70 AD, both Jewish Temples were destroyed in Jerusalem. God is still speaking to Israel and the nations by using His prophetic calendar and His feast days (see Leviticus 23:2, 4), and this includes minor feasts like Hanukkah (see Daniel 11:29-35 and Hebrews 11:34-38).

Background to this war
After Israel withdrew or retreated from the Gaza Strip in August 2005, that region was taken over by the Islamist group Hamas ('The Islamic Resistance Movement'; for deeper background see newsletters February 2006, June 2007 at www.davidstent.org). This group is linked with the Muslim Brotherhood, a world jihadi group ideologically connected to Osama Bin Laden.
Hamas refuses to recognize the state of Israel. Hamas calls and plans for Israel's military destruction. Over the past three years it has fired more than 10,000 Qassam or Grad rockets and mortars against civilians only – towns, farms and cities within Israel. And over the past week it fired between 36 and 80 rockets per day into kibbutzim, small villages and large towns. Last Saturday I went to visit some believers on a kibbutz bordering on Gaza, and during my 30-minute visit five rockets fell close by.
The government of Israel has strangely tolerated a buildup of these rocket attacks over the past three years. Though originally then-Prime-Minister Ariel Sharon soothingly promised Israelis that the disengagement from Gaza would bring peace, and if even "one rocket were fired" Israel would reconquer the Gaza Strip, the 10,000 rockets fired starkly contradict the soundness and wisdom of his policies. Part of the recent tolerance is due to the fact that the Kadima party Sharon founded is still in office, and these officials owe their political positions to these failed policies.
Over the past few weeks Israel has repeatedly warned Hamas and surrounding countries that if the rocket attacks continue, it will decisively and powerfully respond. These Israeli warnings have gone unnoticed by the world's media, as have the rocket attacks. No country that is worthy of the name would allow terrorists to rocket their civilian populations for so long without an overwhelming response. For both Israel and Hamas, that day of response has come.

The surprise attack
As Palestinian rocket attacks have increased, Israel has spent the past year culling intelligence in preparation for a decisive counter-attack. Hamas command and control (CC) centers, arms depots, senior residences, training camps, rocket launcher sites and Qassam factories – all were located and charted.
On Saturday at 11:30 am 64 Israeli fighter jets and attack helicopters attacked and destroyed 50 strategic Hamas sites in 3 minutes and 45 seconds. A half hour later, another sortie of 20 plans hit 50 more sites, including underground launchers and bunkers. 95% of the hits were 'alpha', meaning exact strikes with no collateral damage.

Strategic targets
Over 240 strategic sites have been hit in the past 40 hours. One site hit was the Hamas police compound, where 80 gunmen were gathered. At other ammo dumps and command centers at least another 50 terrorists were killed. At other smaller CCs a total of 92 terrorists were killed.
On Sunday Israeli jets struck and destroyed 40 underground tunnels used by Hamas to smuggle in significant amounts of weapons, explosives and anti-tank/anti-aircraft missiles in a 3 minute 20 second sortie. This area is called the Philadelphi Corridor, and was surrendered to Hamas by Israel due to significant U.S. State Department pressure in 2005. Over 700 tunnels have been dug, and most are still operative.
Up to this point Hamas rocket squads have managed to fire more than 70 rockets at Israel, and Israel's Military Intelligence believes that Hamas has the ability and reserves to fire up to 200 rockets daily for quite some time.
On Sunday one Hamas rocket traveled 37 kilometers, hitting Gan Yavne a bedroom community east of Ashdod. This means that other towns including Gedera and Beersheva (where we live) are in possible range of Hamas rockets. The Home Front Command has ordered public bomb shelters to be opened in these twons beginning Monday morning. Pray for the Israeli civilians in rocket range of Hamas mortars and rockets (Qassams and Grad rockets, capable of reaching Ashkelon, Ashdod, Kiryat Gat and Beersheva).

The question of casulaties
The casualty rate in Gaza has now reached 300 (most of these terrorists), with over 1,000 wounded.
The IDF takes great pains to avoid civilian casualties, while Hamas deliberately locates its centers and fires its rockets from within civilian centers. Hamas rockets only target civilians, while the IDF tries very hard to only target terrorists. Due to the immediate proximity of civilians to rocket launchers and Hamas headquarters, there have certainly been some civilian casualties.
Israeli army intelligence has warned and even done mass telephoning of Gazan civilians, urging them to stay away from potential target areas. Though civilian casualties are deeply regretted, they are known in military parlance as collateral damage. General William Tecumseh Sherman once remarked (based on his American military experiences) that "war is hell". We agree, even though it is sometimes necessary.
The Palestinian terror groups unfortunately see these casualties in a positive light – as helpful grist in their propaganda mills. They immediately tell the world media that Israel is targeting civilians and causing massacres.
One prime example of this tactic was during Operation Defensive Shield (March 2002), triggered by Hamas terrorists who killed 30 Jews (including Holocaust survivors) and injured 140 at a public Passover meal in Netanya Israel. IDF troops retook control of major West Bank cities which had become suicide bomber havens. The army took great pains to avoid civilian casualties, suffering many fatalities in this process. Nevertheless, the Palestinian media accused Israel of a bloodthirsty massacre of over 500 civilians in Jenin. That number was eventually dropped to approximately 56 terrorists, most in uniform, and 7 or 8 civilians (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Defensive_Shield).
One 58 year old Jewish man was killed this Saturday in his apartment by a Hamas rocket, and 10 Israelis have been wounded. We thank God for the protection He has granted so far to Israelis, and we strongly encourage you to pray for continued safety!

Prayer requests
∅ Pray for the leadership of Israel – that the God of Israel will give them clarity, strategy, courage and discernment (2 Kings 6:8-12)
∅ Pray for Gaza's leadership – that God would frustrate their plans, operations and strategies (Psalm 83:4, 9-15)
∅ Pray for the civilian population of Gaza, many who support the terror – that God in His mercy would reveal Himself to many as their Savior and Prince of peace (Jonah 3:8-9)
∅ Pray for the peace of Jerusalem and the salvation of the Jewish people (Psalm 122:6; Romans 10:1)
∅ Pray for the struggling tiny community of believers in Gaza, some who have been tortured or martyred by Islamists in recent days
∅ Pray for the Jewish believers in the Negev area bordering on Gaza, some who contend with daily rocket attacks

In Messiah Yeshua,
Avner Boskey

What Will 2009 Bring Us?

Every year we tend to spend a couple of moments to reflect on what the year that will be ending soon had been like and also give some thought to what we hope to see in the next year. And that is where most people will be making their new year resolutions which they will then struggle like crazy to keep knowing fully well that the resolutions can never be kept since mankind is fallible.

Well, interestingly enough, the Lord does give us declarations on what He wants us to believe Him for. Without fail, He had given New Creation Church the following proclamations which many of us had taken Him for and held on to them and eventually saw the proclamations come to pass. The following were prophesied in the church on the last Sunday of the year or at times on the first Sunday of the new year.

2005 – Year Full of the Favor of the Lord
2006 – Year of Acceleration
2007 – Year of New Beginnings
2008 – Year of Manifested Blessings

And for 2009, the proclamation is that it will be the "Acceptable Year of the Lord – A Year of Special Favor". Believe it or not but i will declare it aloud over my situations every day when I wake up because I saw His hand in the past and without fail, all my blessings were put into my hands as I put my faith in Him.

Which would you rather have? to believe the 'experts' who do not even know what was happening but are now suddenly saying that we are in the Second Depression (bigger scale than that of the 1930s)? or would you prefer to take the Expert Manufacturer at His word and trust that the situation will turn out favorably for you? I definitely choose the latter.

Faith is believing and speaking

So often we tend to think of hebrews 11:1 whenever we are asked the question of 'what is faith' but that is not the completely correct answer. Hebrews 11:1, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" tells us what faith does for us but not the real meaning.

So one may ask, "What is faith?"
2 Corinthians 4:13 tells us "And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, "I believed and therefore I spoke,"* we also believe and therefore speak." So from this verse we have a clearer picture what faith is - that it is 'I believed and therefore I spoke'.

In fact Mark 11:23-24 gives us what Jesus meant when He talked about faith: -

v23 - For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.
v24 - Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

So, if faith is believing in our hearts what we want to see happening and then declaring it aloud, then we really have to watch what we say for in Proverbs 18:21 we also read, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit."

What do you want to see happen to you in 2009? If you have the faith of God that 2009 will be a good year for you, then you need to believe deep down in your heart (without wavering) and then declaring aloud what you want to see - a good year ahead. What you declare is what you will get. Jesus Himself tells us that it is not what goes into a person that defiles him/her but what comes out.

So often we do not receive what we really want deep down because we are so confused. We want to receive our blessings but with our lips we declare with doubtful tones and this confuses the angels who are sent from God with our blessings. I don't blame these angels for being confused. It is like they see our hearts wanting these blessings but with our mouths we cast doubts that maybe we do not get these; they will be at a loss whether it is alright to give you those blessings as the twain do not synchronize.

So for year 2009, believe in your heart and declare your blessings over your life and see the Lord despatching His blessings your way.

The Devil Is Angry That Time Is Running Out For Him

Ever wondered why things don't seem to be going right in many situations lately? There are now more earthquakes taking place around the world in the past ten years compared to the cumulative total of a whole century in the 1900s. Also there are various diseases breaking out over wide areas of the earth and some of these are so complex that the medical profession is now struggling to understand the causes and to discover cures for them.

One recent observation I had was that there are now more cases of children being born with physical and mental challenges and in Singapore I noticed that there are now more boys born with disturbing symptoms than girls. In fact the ratio is rather alarming; for every one girl affected, there would be close to four boys in the same category.

Certainly the devil is hitting back and inflicting maximum damage to the male species. By disrupting the priestly functions of the household, he wants to turn mankind against the Creator.

The devil knows that the sand in the hour-glass is running out and that his final judgement is drawing to a close soon and this really drives him mad. He is now on an all-out witch-hunt to avenge for himself. So how can one escape from his clutches?

Certainly there is an answer and this is found in the Person of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. When Jesus paid the ultimate price on the cross, He redeemed for the Father everyone who would believe on His finished work at Calvary. And as long as we have Jesus in our hearts, the devil cannot touch us - there is a bloodline drawn around us that the devil cannot cross over to harm us. So have you believed on Jesus as the Savior who paid the price and redeemed you?

Sense of Humor to prove a point

Ever faced a situation where you are lost with words on how to make a delicate point without putting people off? Well, a friend sent me this short illustration to prove a point...

Israeli Sense of Humour at UN
An ingenious example of speech and politics occurred recently in the United Nations Assembly and made the world community smile.

The representative from Israel began:
'Before beginning my talk I want to tell you something about Moses. When he struck the rock and it brought forth water, he thought, 'What a good opportunity to have a bath!' He removed his clothes, put them aside on the rock and entered the water. When he got out and wanted to dress, his clothes had vanished. A Palestinian had stolen them.'

The Palestinian representative to the UN jumped up furiously and shouted, 'What are you talking about? The Palestinians weren't even there then.'

The Israeli representative smiled and said 'And now that we have made that clear, I will begin my speech.'

I am learning..

Keeping Myself Busy

I just finished a 4-1/2 day certification training workshop for four special students last week and then this week I had just two participants for a banking BCM course. Someone asked me whether I should continue with the classes knowing that I only have two students but my response is that I would. I have to keep myself occupied and also keep my promises that I will deliver the courses.

The last time I taught one class with just three participants was indeed a blessing to me because there were may follow-on classes after that session and these are still keeping me busy. Guess the Lord has His unique way of blessing me.

Well, my next project is in December and then something in January and based on my calculations, this project will allow me to complete earlier than scheduled which is another of the Lord's blessing. Wow! Praise the Lord.

America had chosen

Yes, it is official now. Come January 20, 2009 Barack Obama will be sworn in as the 44th President of the USA. He has only slightly more than two months to sort out his team (cabinet) and have them testify before Senate Committees to assess their suitability for their respective roles.

Well, at least we can expect less resistance now that the Democratic National Party has the majority in all the legislative arms of the US Government - the Presidency, the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Republican Party is now left with scraps after their scathing defeat at the polls yesterday.

Already I can sense that Obama is being tested. The Russian president has already launched his first salvo and asked USA to review all its policies; the glove had been thrown down and lets see how Obama addresses that. Another hotbed is the Middle East - the Palestinian issue and the Iranian nuclear challenge will keep Obama busy for at least the next six months and this is not even addressing the Iraq and Afghanistan issues.

Well, I don't know about you but I feel that with his election, we are indeed nearer to The Rapture of the Church (refer to my post of October 9th where I shared about the four horses and their modern day significance).

The USA Presidential Elections 2

You will notice that I have titled this post so as to continue with what I wrote 2 posts ago.

America has been going to the polls over the past week or so and today will be the big day as everyone else who did not participate in the absentee vote will get to do so in person at the booths. So after two years of campaigning, who will emerge the winner?

Ultimately a lot more hangs on to this election compared to what happened in previous elections. After 8 years of the Bush Administration, Americans want a change and for sure they will get what they want because both McCain and Obama had expressly said so; McCain is not George Bush and therefore his policies will definitely be different but are Americans prepared to test him? or are they so set to have an African American as their Commander-in-chief and immediately get thrown into the deep end with an international crisis which I am not sure whether he can handle it well?

Tomorrow will be the day of reckoning and I do believe it will be a rather explosive day - if McCain wins because voters are not prepared to have a black president, there might be emotional turmoil and bloodletting; if Obama wins, the Republicans will be thoroughly dejected and they will have lost a valuable voice in government - already the Democrats control the Senate and the House of Congress - and the next four years will be rather turbulent years not just for USA but the world at large. Terrorism and rogue state actions will rear their ugly heads again.

So what would I be doing in the light of these developments? Life goes on regardless of whoever the new President of USA will be and we will be one day nearer to the Lord's Return for the Church (referred to by Christians as The Rapture). The wheels had already been set to motion and nothing can turn it back. Are you ready for that Day of the Lord? I know I am.

Nuclear Iran

Last week, Governor Sarah Palin quoted an excerpt of what Sen Joe Biden said will happen if Obama became President of USA that within six months of coming into office, there will be at least one international crisis to test him. Well, do we really need that long?

The situation in the world today is so fluid that situations do develop so very quickly we do not need to wait to see if that prediction would come true. Just yesterday there is this article in Israel Today stating that Iran did some underground nuclear tests over one weekend and the tremor was felt by the USGS monitoring stations and everyone thought it was an earthquake in South Iran.

Thursday, October 30, 2008 Israel Today Staff
Iran says it tested nuclear bomb

An senior Iranian source has told Israel Insider that a weekend earthquake in Iran measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale was actually an underground nuclear bomb test.

The source, who claims he is a scientist aiding Iran's uranium enrichment efforts, also said that the tremor was the second in a series of nuclear tests. He said the first was recorded as a 4.8 earthquake on October 21 with its epicenter just three miles from the center of the more recent seismic event.

He said that China and North Korea have helped Iran accelerate its nuclear program far beyond where Western powers believe it stands. The source went on to reveal that Iran now has two nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles ready for use against Israel, possibly in the coming months.

Well, you interprete for yourselves whether you want to believe the article or not. The truth of the matter is that the world is pushing towards a confrontation and are we prepared for the outcomes?

The USA Presidential Elections

You might be wondering why I am commenting on the outcome of the USA Presidential Elections when I am a Singapore; what is the connection? This coming elections (happening in 13 days) on November 04, 2008 will be a watershed in more ways than one.

If Obama wins, he will be the first non-white US president and his leanings towards many issues will impact the world economies at large.

If McCain wins, he will be the oldest elected sitting president and with his maverick style, the world will also go through many unprecedented changes - for good or for bad.

So who would I prefer to be in the White House? Without prejudice, I honestly prefer John McCain, not because his policies are better but because I want a man who seeks after the heart of God to lead especially in these turbulent times.

For one, he will be more forthright in his dealings with the Israelis compared with Obama. His experiences as a veteran would be put to better use than one who has seen neither war nor had experience negotiating with another country. After watching rounds 1 & 3 of the presidential debates, I came away with the perception that he will not support Israel the way best for them and I dread to think of the consequences of his actions.

So will I be gluing my ears to the radio or watching the count on CNA on November 5th afternoon to hear the results? You can say that I am interested but not that crazy as to lose sleep over it. Yes, the opinion polls have been totting for Obama and giving him good margins over McCain but then again, one must not forget that the Lord is more Sovereign than one would like to admit. Ultimately the outcome will be determined by the Lord's hand and we can then know where the world will be heading.

Jewish Feast of Tabernacles

Monday (Oct 13) was the start of the eight important days of the Feast of Tabernacles which starts on Tisri 14 until Tisri 21. During this festival, the Jews were encouraged to build 'booths' or tents and stay in there as a reminder of their forefathers' journey from Egypt into the Promised Land.

The Feast was to remind the Hebrews of the Lord dwelling in their midst as they journeyed through a harsh land before they reached the Promised Land and how appropriate that our Lord Jesus Christ could have been born during this feast and not during Christmas on Dec 25. More research had been done and more and more people are coming to the conclusion that our Lord could not have been born in December during winter as it would have been too cold for the shepherds to be out in the fields looking after their sheep; a more likely time would have been autumn (as is now). Also it would be so like God to fit everything according to what He had already spoken beforehand in the written word of the Bible.

So what would the Jews be doing during this time while living in their tents? Lets look at Deuteronomy 31:9-13

9 So Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel.
10 Then Moses commanded them: "At the end of every seven years, in the year for canceling debts, during the Feast of Tabernacles,
11 when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God at the place he will choose, you shall read this law before them in their hearing.
12 Assemble the people--men, women and children, and the aliens living in your towns--so they can listen and learn to fear the Lord your God and follow carefully all the words of this law.
13 Their children, who do not know this law, must hear it and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess."

So the whole week of the feast days were to be dedicated to the Lord in the reading of the word of God. And how appropriate that we read in John 7:37-38,

37 On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.
38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him."

Isn't it so like Jesus to pick the exact timings and make the most profound of all statements for the occasion? What is my point? Jesus referred to the streams of living water flowing from within as the Holy Spirit Who indwells all the children of the Lord and He will guide us as we go about our daily lives and He will remind us of our position in Christ - sons and daughters of the Heavenly Father and joint-heirs with Christ in His kingdom.

Now I do not know about you but I am certainly excited knowing my inheritance in the Lord and no amount of turmoil in this world can shake that super-abounding inheritance we have in Christ.

The Current Climate - Doom or Hope?

Talk about what is happening around us and many would give you that exasperated look and turn away to look at something else. Many are at a loss as to what exactly is happening around them and some think that avoidance is the best answer to the current situations; but is it really?

Burying one's head in the sand like an ostrich does not make the problems blow away. They are still there whether you want to acknowledge it or not. What is my solution? Well, allow me to confess that there is only one solution out of these mess - our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The sooner we all realized that and bring Him into the picture, the faster the answers will come. I don't have the answers by He certainly does.

Remember He multiplied the 5 loaves of bread and the 2 fish when placed in His hands; He raised two dead men back to life - Lazarus who had been dead for four days and the widow's sons in the village of Nain who had been dead for about 24 hours (the funeral party was on its way out to bury the young man). To humans like you and I, these acts were not possible but to our Lord, these miracles are easy stuff and He is more than willing to repeat them for us if only we allowed Him to do so.

So the choice is really yours to make - doom? or hope?
- When you refuse to seek His help and do it alone, hey, that's a ticket to doom as we are all fully aware it is way over our heads to resolve - even the 'experts' are saying they have never seen anything close to what is the current situation to even make headway out of them.
- As for me, I have decided to enlist the Expert on this. Who is better equipped to resolve everything than the Manufacturer Himself.

The Four Horses mentioned in the Book of Revelations

In Revelations 6:1-8, the Lord gave a description of what will be happening to the Earth before His return. There will be four beasts sitting on four different colored horses and each horse represents different calamities and horrors. And when one compares what is written in Revelations with Jesus' own words in Matthew 24:4-8, one cannot help but realize that we are indeed living in those times.

The white horse of Rev 6:2 warns us of the work of the Deceiver who goes around teaching false doctrines about Christ (he held in his left hand a bow). Some even give him the name of anti-Christ. Jesus called him the false christ (Matthew 24:4-5) since he goes around claiming that he is the one whom the world is waiting for.

The red horse of Rev 6:4 warns us of wars and bloodshed as the beast held in his right hand a drawn sword. Jesus prophesied in Matt 24:6-7 that there will be wars and rumors of wars before His return and indeed there have been more wars in the last century compared to the combined period since modern history records were kept. Every day we will hear of violence some where in the world and it is not letting up.

The beast on the black horse of Rev 6:5 had a pair of scales in his hands and his assigned task was to measure up the grains and the wine and the oil in the world - he represented famine and Jesus warned us in Matt 24:7(a) of the coming famine. I suppose we need not look far to realize that in the world there are many places where acute famine had crept in and with the current political and economic turmoil, this will not be hard to recognize.

The beast on the pale horse was called specifically Death in Rev 6:7-8. Jesus warned us in Matt 24:7(b) that there will be pestilences and earthquakes in many places before His return. Pestilences in this instance also encompassed plagues and diseases. I would also want to point out that there had been more earthquakes occurring over the past ten years than the sum total of all earthquakes taken together since records were kept and it should also be noted that the magnitudes of all the quakes have intensified - no longer are we experiencing the minor quakes of 3 and below on the Richter scale but tremors of 5.0 and above are common day occurrences.

And it should be noted that the order of occurrences of the four beasts had been revealed in that order as recorded for us in the Scriptures. And Jesus ended His prophesy in Matt 24:8 when He said that the signs were there only to signify the beginning of sorrows. So what am I alluding to? that all these signs were to take place to point to the end; it is still not the End yet but these will take place to warn us of His imminent return.

Will we all have to experience the period of sorrows? I believe in the interpretation that this is the period called the Tribulation in the Bible and that Christians will not go through this trying period as the Lord will come and take His Church away to be with Him and then Tribulation will set in. It will only be after the seven years are up will our Lord return as the reigning King of kings over the Earth and He will commence His millennial reign here on a new Jerusalem.

So until our rapture, brothers and sisters in Christ, we will just have to enjoy our time here sharing the love of our Savior with those around us and to point them to the Savior Himself so that they will also join us during the Rapture and not be left behind to endure the Tribulation.

Deciding Israel's Future Without Involving Them

I find the recent actions of some of the world's leaders rather unsettling and a point in question has to involve the fate of the West Bank that Israel legitimately won during the Six-Day War in 1967. To say that their arrogance is revolting is mild and to describe their decisions in harsher terms would bother on vulgarity. I really find their actions bothering on big-bully tactics and yet they have the audacity to tell China that what it did in Tibet was way out of line - talk about having a good look at yourselves in the mirror and grow up Quartet.

Israel Today Monday, September 29, 2008 Ryan Jones
Int'l community tries to remove Israelis from peace process

With Israel's democratic process getting in the way of securing a final status Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement, the international community has issued a statement that it hopes will take the troublesome Israeli electorate out of the equation. Responding to Arab pressure to reverse the establishment of the State of Israel, the international community hoisted the land-for-peace process on the Jewish state. But Israel's vibrant democracy has proven to be a wrench in the gears, prone to electing leaders not in tune with the international community's plans when it feels its own security and national interests are being harmed. And the 15-year-old land-for-peace process has done anything but maintain Israel's security and protect its long-term national interests.

The results at the ballot box have largely stalled the peace process, and even the purported progress over the past year is likely to be erased when, as polls predict, Israelis elect a right-wing government opposed to recklessly dividing the land in the next general election. It was this trend that the Middle East Quartet comprised of the US, UN, European Union and Russia hoped to obstruct last weekend in what amounted to blatant interference in Israel's democratic process.

Quartet leaders meeting in New York at the opening of the UN General Assembly insisted that it is vitally important to the very integrity of the peace process that Israelis be kept in the dark about what their leaders are offering to the Palestinians. In a statement released via the US State Department, the Quartet "noted the significance of this process and the importance of confidentiality in order to preserve its integrity."

Referring in the next line to the "irreversibility of the negotiations," the Quartet also took it upon itself to determine that the current formula whereby Israel can test different offers to the Palestinians without actually committing to future concessions will no longer fly.

Israel's core position since direct high-level peace talks started in 1993 has been that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. This principle underlined the ill-fated 2000 Camp David talks where former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak made far-reaching offers to try to entice Yasser Arafat into a peace deal, but insisted that all offers were off the table the moment the summit ended. That position was supported and even echoed by their host, former US President Bill Clinton. But the international community is starting to understand that the Palestinians will settle for nothing less than 100 percent of their demands being met. The only way to achieve that is to make all Israeli offers binding, no matter how tentative, and then stockpile those offers over a period of time until the Palestinians are satisfied.

The Quartet's goal appears to be to change the rules of the game, even to the point of denying Israeli voters the ability to participate in the peace process in any meaningful way. With a public kept in the dark and an opposition unable to campaign on a platform of alternative approaches to peace because all past offers are binding, the current leadership is far more likely to remain in power. From Ariel Sharon to Ehud Olmert to Tzipi Livni, Israel's recent and current leaders all once strongly opposed the policies they now champion. But of late these leaders have been only too happy to acquiesce to the new anti-democratic rules as they seek to forge a positive legacy as "peacemakers" and win the praise of the international community. Sharon relished in this praise after he forcibly uprooted 8,000 Jews from the Gaza Strip, while his successors have conveniently ignored the fact that accolades quickly reverted to criticism as the Palestinians up the ante.

If the international community succeeds in eliminating the last vestiges of electoral pressure and political accountability in Israel, then the convergence of increasing recklessness by the nation's leaders and overbearingness by Western power brokers will be complete. The Land of Israel is today on the verge of being divided, if only the Israelis could be removed from the process.

I believe that they will get their just reward for what they are trying to dish out to one of the most ancient of races - that of the physical descendants of Father Abraham. Sometimes I wish that the leaders of the Quartet take out their Bibles, wipe the dust off the covers and start reading what the Holy Spirit had so meticulously penned in there for all to see that the whole land belonged to the descendants of Abraham.

The US Presidential Candidate Debate

Next week will be an interesting week in the USA. There will be one round of debate between the VP candidates for the Democratic (Sen. Joe Biden) and the Republican (Gov. Sarah Pailin) parties and then there will be another between Barak Obama and John McCain. In both debates, we will probably get some ideas of what each candidate as well as the respective parties want to do over the next four years and the way these pan out will indirectly affect world events.

Yes, granted that Governor Pailin of Alaska does not have much experience in foreign relations as compared to Joe Biden but I strongly believe that the experience can be cultivated. What is the use of someone who has a lot of experience but is stubborn to change and persistently stick to his/her own ground that his/her ideas are always right when it has so clearly shown that they are bullying ideas and not well accepted by other countries? I would rather have someone who is opened to Godly wisdom and apply the wisdom of the Lord in all his/her decisions. i would rather have a God-worshipping leader of the country than one who may be super rich and hence worldly powerful but is unscrupulous in his handling of national and international affairs.

So going by what is before us, I would prefer the McCain-Pailin ticket to win the November 04, 2008 Presidential elections.

Will Ehud Olmert Get His Chance To Inflict Damage?

This short news report is an extract of the Israel Today, a publication from Israel summarizing some of the major news items in the country.

Monday, September 15, 2008 Israel Today Staff
Olmert offers Palestinians 98% of 'West Bank'

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will offer Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas 98 percent of Judea and Samaria when the two meet later this week, Israel's Channel 2 News reported on Sunday.

The report came just hours after Olmert told his cabinet that "the vision of Greater Israel no longer exists," and blasted anyone who clings to Israel's biblical and historical right to the area known as the "West Bank" as "delusional."

Olmert wants to pay Jewish settlers living in the territories he plans to surrender one million shekels each to voluntarily relocate. Those who refuse his offer would be forcibly uprooted after the signing of a peace deal.

Olmert is scheduled to resign as prime minister in two days, but insists that despite his "lame duck" status, fervent land-for-peace efforts must continue.

The prime minister on Monday explained his mad rush to conclude a peace deal in the coming days by telling the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee: "Every day that passes without coming to an agreement with the Palestinians is one more day that, in the future, we'll be sorry for."

For someone who is about to be forced out of office because of corruption, one would wonder what he is trying to do and I dread to think of the consequences of his action. Will this turn out to be just another piece of 'noise' and will blow away? I certainly believe so.

Three Hurricanes In Three Weeks

On my Sept01 post I wrote about Hurricane Gustav heading for Louisiana which incidentally simmered down to only a Force 3 hurricane at the last minute. Shortly after that, Hurricane Hanna came and went.

And towards the end of last week Hurricane Ike blasted Houston after creating havoc on Galveston Island. So far the death toll had been placed at 13 dead with hundreds still to be located. So what happened here? Did the people not evacuate to safety? Why did so many choose to stay behind? Were they not warned about the dangers?

I guess one of the reason for so many opting to stay put was because they saw Gustav and Hanna and because the twain were subdued, they had the impression that Ike would be similar. Didn't the weather bureau report that this hurricane would be a Force 3 hurricane as well? I have not experienced one myself (praise the Lord that I do not have to) but I believe one cannot be too sure about the fury of a storm and it would be generally better to be safe than sorry later.

Wouldn't one be worried if one were to see 15-foot waves charging towards the shore? I know I would because I had seen such waves before when I was growing up on Christmas Island. Every year we would experience the 'gales' (as we would call them there because of the strong winds and the waves) but we knew we would be relatively safe because of the cliffs surrounding the island and we just have to stay away from the beaches on those days.

So is there a message for us through the storms/hurricanes? I believe there is... for one thing we need to recognize the fury of nature and be better prepared and that is why I would not trade anything for my safe haven of sunny Singapore. I know I am greatly blessed to make this place my home.

World War III

It is interesting that there are two articles in yesterday's edition of Israel Today newspaper that referred to potential trouble with the Galilee Arabs and another of potential war that is looming in the Middle East as World War III.

Article 1 - Monday, September 01, 2008 Israel Today Staff
Galilee Arabs could break away from Israel, warns former ambassador

Former Israeli ambassador to the US, Danny Ayalon warned on Sunday that the current Arab majority in Israel's northern Galilee region could one day break away from the Jewish state and demand international recognition. Ayalon said the Galilee Arabs would act on the precedents being set by Kosovo and the Georgian breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

The solution, urged Ayalon, is for the government of Israel to immediately implement policies that will encourage more Jews to move to the Galilee. If his words are not heeded, Ayalon cautioned, the coming demand by Galilee Arabs for independence will be the "last piece in the puzzle" of the total dismantling of the Jewish state. Ayalon made his remarks during a mayoral campaign rally in the northern town of Carmiel during which he officially announced he is joining the right-wing Israel Beiteinu Party. Israel Beiteinu supports the creation of a Palestinian Arab state in Judea and Samaria, but advocates swapping large Israeli-Arab towns bordering those areas for large Jewish settlements.

Article 2 - Monday, September 01, 2008 Israel Today Staff
Report: US about to strike Iran; Tehran warns of World War III

A major Dutch newspaper reported on Monday that the Dutch intelligence agency AIVD recently pulled all of its operatives out of Iran after learning that an American air strike on Iranian nuclear and missile production facilities is imminent. Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reported that AIVD had previously been conducting a very successful sabotage operation against Iran's production of medium and long-range missiles. According to the report, AIVD pulled out of Iran after being warned that the country's missile factories would be among the targets hit by unmanned American bombers "within weeks."

While the report did not mention any potential Israeli involvement in the impending US military strike, Israel's Ma'ariv daily newspaper reported on Friday that Jerusalem had reached a strategic decision to deny Iran nuclear weapons at all costs and by any means. The Ma'ariv report stated that independent of other efforts by Western powers, Israel had begun preparations for its own possible strike on Iranian nuclear facilities.

Responding to the latest reports, the deputy chief of staff of the Iranian military, General Masoud Jazayeri, said on Saturday that any attack on his nation would result in World War III. Speaking to Iran's IRNA news agency, Jazayeri warned that in the event of an attack on Iran, Israel and the US "will be eliminated before anything."

Well, these have been going on for a while and the question we should be asking is not, "will it happen as predicted?" Rather, one should be asking, "When will all these take place?" I believe we are not that far away and when all these materialize, I and a host of others who believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior will not be physically around to witness it; we will be with our Lord as He had promised that He will return to take us away and we will not be victims of the aftermath.

And I believe this coming US Presidential elections on November 4, 2008 will be a watershed one as the outcome will become an important piece of the jigsaw puzzle.

When Will The Politicians Learn From Their Earlier Errors In Judgement?

When one looks at political events around the world, one often wonders whether all the politicians even pay attention to the history lessons created in the past and draw conclusions from them and therefore avoid making the same mistakes twice.

Hurricane Gustav is expected to hit Louisiana today Sept 01 and cause widespread damage across the same areas as Hurricane Katrina exactly three years ago on August 29, 2005. Katrina was a Category Three hurricane and Gustav will be a minimum Category Three hurricane as well. Initially it was believed to be a Category Five hurricane but since it hit Cuba, some of the force had been dissipated.

Now what am I saying here? what is the cause of Gustav? I believe that Hurricane Gustav came about because some two weeks ago, Secretary of State Condeleza Rice told the Israeli government that Jerusalem will have to be divided back to its East and West Jerusalem status in order for the ongoing peace negotiation between the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli Government can proceed. Now that is drawing on a very delicate line as the Jews believe emphatically that Jerusalem should never be divided and that it belongs to the Jews as their ancient capital (that is why the seat of the Israeli government, the Knesset, is sited in Jerusalem and not Tel Aviv as UN still believes).

I believe that whoever touches the apple of God's eye (the Jews) will have its consequences; if any nation were to bless Israel (the physical descendants of Abraham), that nation will be blessed but if it does not bless them (as in actually cursing them), the nation will suffer a fate that will be worse off that before. This is what was prophesied to Abraham in Genesis 12:3, (Amplified Bible)

"And I will bless those who bless you [who confer prosperity or happiness upon you] and curse him who curses or uses insolent language toward you; in you will all the families and kindred of the earth be blessed [and by you they will bless themselves]

I believe that USA would have been better off if they had not insisted on having the peace agreement signed the way they wanted it to go but should have sat down and really studied the Scriptures and sought the Lord for directions rather than what they had dished out. I am disappointed to say that the politicians are only interested in scoring political points and ignoring the heartbeat of our Lord.

Going Soft?

After my last post on Monday, someone asked me whether I had gone soft? or have I decided to change tack and go the healthy route and promote fruits and vegetable or have I gone astronomical and look at stars and galaxies? Neither!

I am still very much in love with our Lord Jesus Christ. In fact by looking at the wonder of the banana and its numerous properties, I cannot help but admire the wisdom of our Lord when He created the fruit. Besides all those great properties of the fruit, do you know how useful the banana tree is? I can tell you all about that as I have a mini banana farm in my garden and recently I transferred some sampling over to my backyard to start another clump of trees. The trunk makes excellent fertilizer for the young trees (for seven years, I did not have to put any growth hormones or pellets to the trees as the nutrients from the decaying trunks become fodder for the rest). The leaves make good wrappers and also add flavor to cooking.

And then the galaxies speak volumes of the Creator. Who else do you think place the galaxies in their exact locations? too near and they will tend to collide and too far they will not be able to stay in their orbits. How wise our Creator God is.

So, every time I need good encouragement, I just have to behold the wonders of nature and my heart will well up with worship of Him Who made all these for our enjoyment.

"Going Bananas"

A professor at CCNY for a physiological psych class once explained the expression 'going bananas' and enumerated the effects bananas have on the brain.
Never, put your banana in the refrigerator!!!
This is interesting. After reading this, you'll never look at a banana in the same way again. Bananas contain three natural sugars - sucrose, fructose and glucose combined with fiber. A banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy. Research has proven that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world's leading athletes.
But energy isn't the only way a banana can help us keep fit. It can also help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and conditions, making it a must to add to our daily diet.
1. Depression: According to a recent survey undertaken by MIND amongst people suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating a banana. This is because bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.
2. PMS: Forget the pills - eat a banana. The vitamin B6 it contains regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood.
3. Anemia: High in iron, bananas can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anemia.
4. Blood Pressure: This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it perfect to beat blood pressure. So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the banana industry to make official claims for the fruit's ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke.
5. Brain Power: 200 students at a Twickenham (Middlesex) school ( England ) were helped through their exams this year by eating bananas at breakfast, break, and lunch in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert.
6. Constipation: High in fiber, including bananas in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives.
7. Hangovers: One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a banana milkshake, sweetened with honey. The banana calms the stomach and, with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels, while the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system.
8. Heartburn: Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.
9. Morning Sickness: Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness.
10. Mosquito bites: Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.
11. Nerves: Bananas are high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system.
12. Overweight and at work? Studies at the Institute of Psychology in Austria found pressure at work leads to gorging on comfort food like chocolate and chips. Looking at 5,000 hospital patients, researchers found the most obese were more likely to be in high-pressure jobs. The report concluded that, to avoid panic-induced food cravings, we need to control our blood sugar levels by snacking on high carbohydrate foods every two hours to keep levels steady.
13. Ulcers: The banana is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chronicler cases. It also neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.
14. Temperature control: Many other cultures see bananas as a 'cooling' fruit that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. In Thailand , for example, pregnant women eat bananas to ensure their baby is born with a cool temperature.
15. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD): Bananas can help SAD sufferers because they contain the natural mood enhancer tryptophan.
16. Smoking &Tobacco Use: Bananas can also help people trying to give up smoking. The B6, B12 they contain, as well as the potassium and magnesium found in them, help the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal.
17. Stress: Potassium is a vital mineral, which helps normalize the heartbeat, sends oxygen to the brain and regulates your body's water balance. When we are stressed, our metabolic rate rises, thereby reducing our potassium levels. These can be rebalanced with the help of a high-potassium banana snack.
18. Strokes: According to research in The New England Journal of Medicine, eating bananas as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40%!
19. Warts: Those keen on natural alternatives swear that if you want to kill off a wart, take a piece of banana skin and place it on the wart, with the yellow side out. Carefully hold the skin in place with a plaster or surgical tape!

So, a banana really is a natural remedy for many ills. When you compare it to an apple, it has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrate, three times the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals. It is also rich in potassium and is one of the best value foods around So maybe its time to change that well-known phrase so that we say, 'A banana a day keeps the doctor away!'

Two Moons - Special Phenomenon

Two moons can be seen in the night sky on 27 August, a day the Whole World is waiting for......... ....

Planet Mars will be the brightest in the night sky starting August. It will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. This will
cultivate on Aug. 27 when Mars comes within 34.65M miles off planet Earth.

Be Sure to watch the sky on Aug. 27 12:30 AM It will look like the earth has 2 moons.

The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287.

Why doesn't the Lord grant us everything we prayed for?

Someone once posed this question to me 'why doesn't the Lord grant us everything we prayed for?' some years ago and I tried to explain but the answers given were not accepted. The argument was centered on this - that since the Father did not spare His Son but sent Jesus to die for us, how can He not give us everything? if He had already spared His most precious possession, how difficult is it for Him to grant mere men's requests?

Obvious, the confusion lies in Romans 8:26-27 and recently I read an excellent explanation of these two verses from "The Letter to the Romans - The NEW Daily Study Bible" by the late William Barclay. On page 131, he said. "Paul is saying that, because of our weakness, we do not know what to pray for, but the prayers we ought to offer are offered for us by the Hly Spirit. The New Testament scholar C.H. Dodd defines prayer in this way: 'Prayer is the divine in us appealing to the Divine above us.'"

In his book, he explained that there are two very obvious reasons why we cannot pray as we ought. We cannot pray aright because
1. we cannot foresee the future. We cannot see a year or even an hour ahead; and we may well pray, therefore, to be saved from things which are for our good, and we may pray for things which would be to our ultimate harm.
2. in any given situation we do not know what is best for us. We are often in the position of children who want something which would be bound only to hurt them; and God is often in the position of parents who have to refuse their children's requests or compel them to do something they do not want to do, because the parents know what is good for them far better than the children themselves.

Wow, when I read that I was relieved because that is exactly how things should be. To his readers who argued with him, Paul wrote in Romans 9:20-21,
v20 But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? "Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?'"
v21 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?

So the moral of the story - the Lord wants us to have the best and He will not short-change His children. So go ahead and give thanks for whatever He gives us.

Blood-Slurping Bacteria - Klebseilla

I met up with an old friend on Tuesday afternoon August 5 for afternoon coffee and she shared an amazing testimony that happened in her life.

Back in 2005 when the property market was taking a nosedive because of economic conditions, she found herself working doubly hard to keep pace with her expenses because prices fell to half what they were previously. She ended up working almost round the clock trying on her own strength to make ends meet. One day towards the end of that year (or was it in early 2006?), she fell very sick and had to be warded in the ICU. The doctors found that her liver was being attacked by a type of bacteria that simply loves to drink up all the blood that they could find and when they found the source in the liver, they stayed there and had a feast. According to her doctor, the name of that particular bacteria is "Klebseilla" and is actually in each and every one of our bodies; the difference is that they may be dormant in some but active in other persons like cancer cells are present in everyone's body. I have added the short description of this bacteria which I found in the on-line encyclopedia.
Klebsiella is a genus of non-motile , Gram-negative , Oxidase-negative bacteria with a prominent polysaccharide-based capsule. Frequent human pathogens , Klebsiella organisms can lead to a wide range of disease states, notably pneumonia , urinary tract infections , septicemia , Ankylosing ...

My friend was 'living in the hospital for seven months struggling for her life and even momentarily lost it. She described how she felt herself floating towards the ceiling and she could see her lifeless body on the bed with her husband bent over and feeling sad and there was a man dressed in white (which she later found out was her doctor) standing at her bedside and discussing something with her husband. She said that she kept calling her husband by name but he did not hear her (obviously). And then she did something abnormal - she actually told the Lord that she was not ready to die but that should she be granted another opportunity, she will spend more time in His Word.

And no sooner had the words left her lips that she came back into her body and the recovery started at that moment. She later asked her husband what the doctor was telling him at that precise moment when she was trying to call him and he replied that the doctor advised that the team had done everything that they knew of and that he had to prepare for the worst. But praise be to the Lord she did not die but now lives and she is a changed person. Her outlook for life had indeed changed for the better and now she is actively immersed in the Word absorbing all that she can.

Now the most important question that needs to be answer - Klebseilla is present in everyone's body but is not active in many. Why? Because the trigger for this bacteria is actually STRESS. When a person is full of stress, his body's defence line is affected as the bacteria are awakened and they will then search out the weakest point(s) and lodge there. This was exactly what took place in my friend's life.

So my friend, leave all your worries to the Lord and do not be discouraged for discouragement is one form of stress. Put all your faith and hope in the unchanging love of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who not only came to be one of us in the human race but He also came to die for our sins (our diseases and our sicknesses) and in exchange we will then rightfully inherit His divine health.

Try that today and learn to 'take no thought for tomorrow'.

Our Blood Pressure

A few days ago, a friend of mine who emigrated with his family of five from Singapore to Perth wrote and said that he noticed his blood pressure had gone up recently and that it was not rational to him. The reason he emigrated there was so as to adopt a slower pace of life and in the process, enjoy a fuller lifestyle with improved blood pressure. But it was not the case for him.

You see, many people had the impression that in a society where the system had been in place, there is wide spaces to roam and people generally adopt a strict nine-to-five work habit, the pace of life should be simpler. Unfortunately they cannot be more incorrect in their reasoning.

Pressure on oneself is not dictated by the external environment but directed by one's attitude. There can be a storm outside but when we are secure in my hearts that we are not going to succumb to the external pressures, we will be able to withstand the pressure and excel. Peace can only come from within and cannot be dictated from the external.

That is why our Lord Jesus Christ emphasized to us time and again the need to "do not worry", "let not your heart be troubled", "peace", "take no thought for tomorrow, what you shall eat, what you shall wear.." In fact if you care to count all of them (in the four books of the Gospel), you will notice that those phrases and other similar ones appear 365 times so that we are reminded once each day not to worry but to trust Him to win our battles for us and we just need to rest in His finished work on the Cross. AMEN.

The Rapture - What Will Happen In The End?

Recent events around the world had led many to start asking what is happening and whether what we are experiencing will get worst. Even the experts have no explanation as they are equally stumped with what to say; usually they would endeavor to venture some educated guestimate on the severity and when they think the smoke will clear but not this time. Notice that none of them would want to put his/her foot in the mouth.

Well, the Bible does have something to say about the future and I would encourage you to start going back to the Scripture and search for the answers to your many questions.

At this time, many Christians are turning to God and are looking for this phenomenon called The Rapture or as the Apostle Paul would describe it as the 'catching away of the saints' at the sound of the trumpet (read 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18) and then all Christians will be 'snatched away' and those left behind will see them no more.

I am providing two URLs here for you to copy and paste onto your toolbar.
1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVWwucp20OM
2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXATog6WJFo&feature=related

I pray that you will be better informed after viewing the two videos.

The Bible Code

Recent arguments for and against the origins of the Bible Codes are still ongoing. Did the codes come from some alien time traveller or from God? Certainly the research points to God as it is quite impossible for some being to know infinite details about individuals and events with stark accuracy.

View the discussion on the Bible Codes for yourself. I am enclosing the URLs for the whole video (in 4 parts).
Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1WJ6BQLFA8&feature=related
Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCVZle_7K0U&feature=related
Part 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdgZpenVlUI&feature=related
Part 4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvMiN1-dZYY&NR=1

So far the research had shown that the significant events that HAD taken place are found in the Codes and in some cases in great details - e.g. US Presidential elections on Nov 97, 2004 between Al Gore and President Bush were recorded in the Codes. Now the important question on many researchers' minds is, "Could the same Bible Codes be used to predict future events?"

I am very sure they are but the problem there is to be able to ask the correct questions before they happen. In fact many of them are now trying to predict when the next holocaust will be and also who the anti-Christ is. Now is that a futile exercise? you can put in a thousand names and look for the needle in a hay-stack. Yes, someone actually tried to put in the name Obama and tried to link him with the end times and they claimed that they had found something...

Understanding World Events...

Last week I was sharing with a friend about some of the events/challenges the world is now facing and how they all relate back to what nations do with their attitudes toward God's chosen people - the Jews.

Often we look at catastrophes and we say that they were 'punishments' from God because the country(ies) had sinned. How very wrong we have been. Yes, the events did take place but we should not be so quick as to judge the nation(s) and pass judgement. Remember what the Lord told Abraham in Genesis 12:2-3.
v2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great;
v3 I will bless those who bless you and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

Look around you and see what each of the governments had done in their relationships with the nation of Israel. Those who literally bless Israel are enjoying immeasurable blessings but those who do not have been saddled with one challenge after another. Also see what happened to them specifically as a result of their handling situations that take place in Israel.

Almost immediately after the USA government pressurized Israel to give up the Gaza Strip in August 2005, Hurricane Katrina lashed the New Orleans area and the comments from those who lost their homes in both the Gaza Strip and the New Orleans situations were exactly the same words, "Now I have nothing! All that I had is gone!"

So what will be in store looking ahead? The rise and fall of nations will rest on how they react to events arising out of Israel.
1. The current rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip into Southern Israel had continued even after the peace treaty had been signed between the Palestinian Authority (that governs both Gaza Strip and the West Bank in Israel) and the Israeli government and so far, Israel had not retaliated. I wonder what would the other nations say when Israel gets tired of being shelled one too often and sends its troops in to quell the perpetrators? How they react (for or against Israel's action) will determine what would happen to them on their home turf.
2. How would nations react if Israel, out of necessity to survive as a nation, sends its air force to destroy all those nukes in Iran? I know that Iran had been trying to spin up world support by threatening all kinds of stuff; the latest being that they will block the sea lanes into the Persian Gulf and constrict world oil supplies. By the way, if you think US$146 is astronomically hugh, you ain't seen higher yet especially when Iran carries out its threats!

So one thing I have learnt over the years and especially recent ones is to first read the events in the Holy Land before i read the rest of the news around the world because focusing my attention there had taught me to better prepare myself.

The Exodus and the Crossing of the Red Sea

For a long time we have been led to believe that the Israelites cross the Red Sea literally between Egypt and the Sinai Peninsula (Gulf of Suez) and that Mount Sinai was in the Sinai Peninsular. Well, recent discoveries have revealed that the exact crossing point was not where it was but in the Gulf of Aqaba between Saudi Arabia and the Sinai Peninsular. The late Ronn Wyatt made this fascinating discovery in 1978 when his excavations for the lost Noah's Ark could not proceed as planned and he decided to divert his attention to the finding of the Crossing Site of Moses and the Israelites as recorded for us in the Book of Exodus and as was his practice documented all his findings with photos and videos.

There are a total of 4 videos that had been prepared to share all his findings.
As in the previous posts, you will need to copy the URL and paste them onto the toolbar to activate the video.

Part 1 - http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=xJXUv_btg60&feature=related

Part 2 - http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=WH9Q4Z-gwig&feature=related

Part 3 - http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=GfPL7OeFYq4&feature=related

Part 4 - http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=WzAFR3AmZRs&feature=related

I pray that you will be richly blessed as you watch the evidences presented. AMEN.

Signs of the End Times

While the outward signs in the natural are pointing us to tough times ahead, those of us who read the Bible would, by now, be able to associate these events to the Earth coming to a climax and setting itself up to the Return of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the spiritual, events are also taking place that are now pointing very clearly to the fact that what had been recorded for us in the Bible are not fairy tales as some would believe but realities and important history.

Mankind, in his finite mind, had tried to rationalize away the events recorded in the Bible as the imagination of some crazy Jewish followers of Christ who, being disillusioned with the loss of their leader (Christ Jesus), conjured up stories about His death and resurrection.

And with the latest discoveries, boy, are they so very mistaken. The physical evidences are now coming into play and all indications are that what had been written are not fiction but realities. So far the three items that mankind had disputed the most about have now been discovered and placed on record.
1. Noah's Ark was indeed discovered on the high mountain range of Ararat in eastern Turkey
2. Mount Sinai is now clearly in Saudi Arabia and not in the Sinai Peninsula as what had been shown on topographical maps we now possess. The Arabic name for Mount Sinai is actually Jabal Al'Lutz and the top of the entire mountain is charred and this is consistent with the records in the Book of Exodus where Moses recorded for us that God descended on the mountain to commune with the 70 leaders and with Moses alone.
3. The Ark of the Covenant below the Skull Hill in Jerusalem.

And so you are now presented with the evidences and as a member of the jury, you have to weigh the facts and make a decision to believe that Jesus is the Christ (the Anointed One from God) and Savior or you choose not to believe. It is your call. However, whatever your decision, that will not change the facts as they stand that He IS the Lord and Savior of the entire Earth.

Our Blood Tells A Story!

Ever wondered what the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews meant in Hebrews 12:24, "to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel."?

Indeed, scientists have found that a person's identity is captured in his blood and through DNA testing, even the dead blood can tell a story of the deceased. Forensic scientists are using this discovery to solve mysteries surrounding unsolved crimes, etc. This same method was used recently (by that I mean about 15 years ago) in Israel to test samples of the dried blood found on the cracks of the large box containing the Ark of the Covenant beneath the place called Skull Hill as well as within the cracks on the ceiling from below the large depression in the ground above.

All human blood carries in it 47 chromosomes - 23 from the mother and 23 from the father and another either X or Y chromosome to determine the sex of the person. So when the test results came in from the Israeli laboratory, many eyebrows were raised. All the blood samples showed only 24 chromosomes; 23 from the mother and the Y chromosome for the male specie. The 23 chromosomes from the father are missing thus signifying that what the Bible said about a male child being borne out of a virgin birth is true! And one more important discovery - the scientists declared that the Blood is still alive!

One would have thought that the blood stream would have clotted long ago to become a cake of blood but not this sample. They said that they could still see the life in the Blood under the microscope. Imagine the reaction of these Israeli scientists who performed the test? - yes, I believe they are now in the family of Messianic Believers, gloriously saved! Hallelujah.

The Discovery of the Ark of the Covenant

Ever wondered why the three items that were talked so much about in the Old Testament could not be found until recently? The three items I am referring to are the following: -
1. Noah's Ark
2. The exact site of Mount Sinai
3. The Ark of the Covenant
Well, recently there were a flurry of surprising discoveries and interestingly enough, the discoveries were found in that chronological order as well - Noah's Ark was unearthed in the late 70's, correct spot of Mount Sinai in early 80's and now the Ark of the Covenant was uncovered in the late 80's.

I watched the complete series of 27 videos (they had to break up the original video into 27 smaller portions in order to be able to fit them into YouTube) yesterday and I am encouraged. Here is the URL, and again I apologize for not being able to link you directly there at the click of your mouse but you will need to copy the whole string and paste it on the website toolbar. Once you have viewed the first video, there will be prompts on your screen leading you to the next and so on and that is the way it goes until you reach the last video.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=D5tgHwo5tRI&feature=related

Of course many of us are wondering, why only now? there are many reasons for it but I believe the main one is that we are in the last days and the Lord is doing a mighty work to dispel all doubts about His logos (written word) the Bible and also to convince His people the Israelites that He is not only their God but He is also their Messiah and to exact their response, "Baruch Hashem Adonai, Yeshua Ha'Mashiah" (Blessed is the Name of the Lord, Jesus the Savior).
Well, like it or not, events are accelerating in Israel and the number of believing Jews or Messianic Jews are on the increase to the glory of our Lord.

The Crucifixion Site of Christ

The late archeologist, Ron Wyatt, made a number of interesting finds in the Land of the Bible. Back in the early 80's he actually found a cave beneath Mount Moriah (Skull Hill) after being led to the site by the Holy Spirit to examine the vicinity and he stumbled on a fairly large cave where he found an interesting looking object. Upon closer examination, he realized that he might have stumbled upon an object that was made out of solid gold and on which he found hardened bloodstains.

He then traced these stains up a crack in the ceiling of the cave and discovered above that stood a depression in the ground on top of the mountain. He further found the depression to be on a raised slope above two others and which he believed was the place where the cross on which Christ was crucified stood.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=dXU9LMQbJM8&feature=related

I will leave you to examine this video of one scientist who spoke with the late archeologist at first hand as he explained what the discovery was all about. My apologies that I cannot link the video directly here, so you will need to copy the URL as I have given it and paste it to enable you to watch the video.

Interesting Discoveries.

It has been a month since my last post. A lot of things had taken place and I am excited especially since I came across this article a friend shared with my on my Facebook. The sharing of information is related to a rather interesting discovery way back in the late Eighties but not many people took notice of it until recently. In this post, I want to set the stage for the next couple more posts when I will give you links to some videos posted on YouTube.

The sharing begins... (Ron Wyatt is a fortune hunter but turned into an amateur archeologist)

Henry Gruver tells about Ron Wyatt
by Jim Bramlett
May 29 2008 10:20AM

Dear friends:

The other day I promised to share what Henry Gruver says about the late Ron Wyatt's claimed discovery of the Ark of the Covenant hidden beneath Golgotha. It is in Gruver's book, "The Rebirth of Judah and the Glorious Church." You can order a copy by calling 712-647-3104.

By way of review, Ron Wyatt claimed that he found the Ark while digging beneath the hillside where Jesus was crucified. Below the location of the cross, he claimed, is a crack in the rock structure through which Jesus' blood seeped, and blood was found on the Mercy Seat of the Ark below, where it had dripped. Blood tests reportedly show the blood to be a person without a human father, which of course would have been the virgin-born Jesus, the Lamb of God.

The below is from Henry Gruver's book, pages 31-34:

Gruver tells about meeting Wyatt in 1989, when Wyatt said, "Henry, the Lord has told me I am allowed to tell you something."

He proceeded to share about how he first discovered the location when looking for gold coins with a detector. "The detector suddenly peaked out. He realized there was a tremendous presence of gold down there and foretold much more than coins…. Sometime later he broke into a chamber where he found, among other related things, a golden table, a seven-tiered candlestick made of one beaten piece of gold, and a sarcophagus (a stone burial cask) with a crack in the top of it. Right above the cask was what appeared to be a crack that proved to be the continuation of the crack to the left of the center cross-hole. (He had previously described this hole found where Jesus' cross had sat.) As straight as a plumb line, he found the crack continued down until it positioned directly above the crack in the sarcophagus. (He has on video the samples that appeared to be blood that he had scraped from above and scraped from the top of the sarcophagus by the crack).

"He submitted the discolored material to six different laboratories, the first one being in Jerusalem. It came back testing as human blood. However, it also came back as blood that had never been seen before. It had chromosomes that gave proof of an earthly mother, and that the blood was the blood of a son; but no chromosome giving proof of an earthly father."

Gruver goes on to explain, "Ron Wyatt and I were with Demon Shakarian, founder of the Full Gospel Businessman's Fellowship, Int'l. in Phoenix, Arizona. I sat right next to a document specialist who had been called by the organization, from Los Angeles, California, to prove the validity of Ron's laboratory test certificates -- including the document concerning the blood. The documents all included the seals of the laboratories that did the testing. After careful examination, the specialist verified that the documents were indeed authentic….. "

Ron further explained that he found the blood directly under the center cross-hole in the archeological dig. He also found it to be on top of the sarcophagus, which held the Ark of the Covenant.

(Skipping 2-3 paragraphs…)

Henry Gruver continues:

"In 1997, Israeli officials sent in six men to go into the chamber with flashlights and two-way radios, in order to be able to move the Ark of the Covenant and the Table of Shewbread and the rest of the furnishings within the chamber. All six of them were stricken dead. All six of them died instantly of a massive stroke. It was reported in brief news items in newspapers all across America. They simply reported that outside the old city walls of Jerusalem, six men died in a chamber containing artifacts of great antiquity. The Jerusalem officials were afraid to go into the chamber after they lost radio contact with the men. They called Ron, in America, asking him to come over and check it out. He agreed and they made immediate arrangements for him to fly in to Israel.

"He told me later that that when he came out of the tunnel to the chamber to tell the officials that all six of the men were dead in one heap inside the tunnel, some of the officials were trembling so badly that they had to sit down. I think they were fearful that Almighty God was going to strike them with lightning. They had wanted to move those furnishings. God said, 'No, you're not! You may have paid the soldiers off once to say that someone stole Jesus' body, but you are not going to get by with this one.'

End of quote.

Life Goes On - Have a Confident Expectation of Good

Some people have been going about trying to read every event as further proof of the End of the World and I am not disputing any of them. These events are indeed signs of the End and I do not believe anyone in their right mind would deny that.

However, to interpret everything on a specific timeline and try to fix a date would not be the right path. The scriptures tell us that the Lord IS coming back for His own and further cautions us that only the Father knows the exact timing even though there are positive hints in His modus operandi. But then again, we must remember that God, being the Creator, has His own timetable and He does not need to work on specific modes like humans. Bear in mind, He is the one who created time and He Himself lives OUTSIDE of time and so I would encourage you not to place too much emphasis on a specific day or hour and place all your eggs into one basket, stake your reputation and efforts solely on that chosen day and time and then when it does not happen as expected by you, you will become disillusioned.

God created each one of us unique and yet in our collective nature, we are all programmed to live under the regime of expectations - do good and you will be blessed but do bad and you will be beaten! So here I am saying that we live our lives with our expectations and when things do not turn out the way we expect them to turn out, we get disappointed. Who started all these in the first instance? is it not we ourselves for setting those expectations?

So what am I saying? Simply that we should all live our daily lives with the expectation that the Lord is coming back for His own but in the meantime, we continue to live in the confident expectation of good because of what Jesus our Lord and Savior had already accomplished for us on the cross. He paid the ultimate price so that we need not face the judgment and wrath of God. Those who have not believed in what Jesus had accomplished for him on the Cross and received Him into their hearts will always go around with the fearful expectation of judgment but not for the Believers for all the judgment had already fallen on the Body of Jesus on the Cross; what is left for us now is a life of blessings and favor because we are the righteousness of God in Christ.

Where Will You Be After All These?

An acquaintance once asked me what would happen at the End of the World, when everything comes to an end and life as we know it is no more.

Certainly it is an interesting question because it all depends on what we do in this one life that God gives each one of us and everyone knows that is the ONLY criterion that will determine our destiny. So what do you say about your own life? What have you done? In the minds of many, that would warrant lots of charitable works that they do now to earn their way into God's good books and hence they would be quick to jump on the charity bandwagon each time there is a disaster or donation drive. But by doing charity or charitable works alone will not get you into Heaven.

Certainly not by the teachings of Jesus Christ the Son of God Who came down from Heaven to live as one of us so that He can die as one of us to save us from eternal separation from God. Jesus pointed out that the ONLY way to the Father is through Him who is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6) and He actually paid the price that was required of each one of us so that we can rightfully enter into His Kingdom simply through faith in Him. The ONLY Way to the Father is through Jesus the Son and that is by believing and accepting the fact that He paid it all by His death on the Cross and that His one Death settled the price required once and for all.

Don't get me wrong about charity. Certainly charity has its part in society and I am all for it. But charity on its own will not get us into Heaven. Charity after the Cross (that is after we have a saving knowledge of whose we are) will do wonders and strengthen our faith in God the Father.

And so my friend, where will you be after all these have passed away and you stand before God the Judge? Will He say to you, "good and faithful Child, enter into the Father's pleasure" or will He say to you, "who are you? I don't know you! Depart from my presence!" and you will be banished into Hell, the place of eternal separation from the Source of Life.

The choice is really yours to make. Choose life by believing Christ Jesus and receiving Him into your heart as your personal Lord and Savior. Time is short and running out...

The End IS very near!

I don't know whether you have been following events according to Jewish calendars as they unfold before our eyes because something spectacular is about to break out in Israel and may impact us, Believers in Christ.

A few days ago I shared a post on "Phenomena in the Cosmos" and said that there will be a number of sun eclipses as well as moon eclipses taking place in 2014 and 2015. Well, to be exact, there will be two solar eclipses and four lunar eclipses and all will take place on Jewish holidays; coincidence? no way because these are signs that the Lord uses to tell us what He is doing for His chosen people. It was said that the last time such a phenomenon happened was on June 7, 1967 and that day the City of Jerusalem came under the Israeli army. And here are the lists of eclipses -
Solar Eclipses
1. Adar 29/Nisan 1, March 20, 2015
2. Tishri 1, The Feast of Trumpets, September 13, 2015
Lunar Eclipses
1. Passover, April 15, 2014
2. The Feast of Tabernacles, October 8, 2014
3. Passover, April 4, 2015 and
4. The Feast of Tabernacles, September 28, 2015

Well, you are going to ask me what on earth I am talking about...I believe that these are the time when we will see a 'red moon' or blood moon as the Scriptures called it and these will be signs that our Lord Jesus mentioned in Matthew 24:29-31 of His Return.

And so if we take seven years off for the Tribulation, we will be left with 2008! Are we going to experience the Rapture this year? And when will this be? Are there any telltale signs that points us to 2008? At least one pastor who had been studying this for some time now had made some very interesting discoveries. Please read his findings for yourselves. http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/may2008/fmriley510.htm

What do we do if it does not happen? How are we to react? My advice to all is that we need to be prepared but that does not mean we sit idly by and wait for that day doing nothing; we are to continue to do His work (whatever He had given us to do) but with a renewed vigor knowing that the End is indeed very near!

What is Laminin?

A good friend of mine sent me an article way back in January this year sharing what she heard about this term "Laminin" and I was like, 'huh? what is that'. Well, look no further because I have included some pictures of Laminin here so that, as the saying goes, 'seeing is believing' and please don't just take it from me.


The apostle Paul wrote in Colossians 1:15-17 about our Lord Jesus christ.
v15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
v16 For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible an dinvisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were createdby Him and for Him.
v17 He is before all things, and in Him ALL THINGS HOLD TOGETHER! (emphasis are mine).

And of course, you want to see more right? Well, after seeing what the molecular structure of our cells look like, I began to understand why the apostle Paul was so convinced that the world actually has no excuse not to believe in Who Jesus is and what He had accomplished for us on the Cross. You can read all about his arguments in Romans chapter 1.

And to think that some people still cling on to the hypothesis of evolution? to say that humans are evolved from primates is really an insult to our Lord and Savior.

Go on, show them the pictures of the Laminin's and let them be bowled over.

World Events - Israel vs the world

On Sunday May 11, 2008 Pastor Prince shared a powerful message from Genesis 12:1-2. God promised Abraham that He will bless those who blessed Israel (the descendants of Abraham) and those who curse him will be cursed. And over the years, this had been seen to be true. The Romans conquered Israel and subjugated it and now they are no more; the Ottoman Empire is no more; likewise the Crusaders and Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler had all disappeared and there are no more traces of them.

And in recent events, we see something spectacular happening too. In year 2004-2005 the US government was adding pressure on Israel to give up the Gaza Strip and to allow the Palestinians to resettle there. Initially the Israeli government resisted but under mounting pressure they had no choice but to send in the IDF to assist the Jewish settlers to evacuate.

The evacuation took place from August 18-25, 2005 and there were clear signs of much unhappiness. Some of the settlers were so upset as they had lost everything they had worked so hard over the years and left without anything more than the clothes on their bodies plus a few miserable personal belongings. And then something completely unrelated took place in USA almost immediately; well, I said unrelated or at least that was how I thought initially but now have changed my mind. Hurricane Katrina, the worst hurricane to hit USA and the most expensive in terms of damage, swept through New Orleans and completely devastated the city on August 29 and 30 - just days after the Gaza withdrawal. And some of those affected by the hurricane echoed the words of the settlers of the Gaza in that they also lost everything in one day. coincidence? I don't think so.

And just when you think the major powers have learnt their lesson, they did something similar again last year. The USA and EU are now pressuring the Israeli government to give up the West Bank to the Palestinians. They mounted pressure last year and threatened to withdraw aid to Israel if the government does not oblige. And guess what, the sub-prime fiasco came on and many of the US and major European banks were affected by the CDO debacle. You may ask, when will the CDO saga come to an end? my answer would be, 'ask the politicians to stop pressurizing Israel to give up the West Bank'. In fact I was listening to some of the videos on-line of interviews with the average man on the street in Israel and they will tell you that they believe both Jews and Palestinians can live side by side and that there is no necessity of any political solution - only the politicians want to have a political solution so as to win votes.

Sorry I believe very strongly that those who tamper with the apple of eye of the Lord will have to pay the price for the consequences.

What is next then to watch in the Israel radar screen? Tomorrow is the 60th anniversary celebration of the birth of modern Israel and many world leaders (including President Bush) will be in Jerusalem for the celebrations and you can expect some behind the scene lobbying among the politicians. It will be interesting to watch what develops out of those lobbying sessions and you can almost guess where the impacts will be. So focus your eyes and ears on Israel folks to catch a glimpse of what will happen in the world around you.