New Blogspot Will Be Launched on July 25, 2011

It is now official.
The replacement blogspot will happen on July 25, 2011 and this blog will cease to be updated and may even disappear in due course after I have terminated the email account.
I have held that email account for more than twenty years and I have to move on and terminate the account for economic and practical reasons.
And so you can view the new blogspot at this URL

http://andrew-lap-wai-lee.blogspot.com

New Blogspot To Be Launched Soon

To all the followers of my blogspot, thanks for the support and encouragement.
In fact, because of your encouragement, I am going to start a new site shortly and plan to shut this down soon as I will be terminating the email account with which I had used to create this blogspot.
You can reach me at the new URL - andrew-lap-wai-lee@blogspot.com
Once again, thanks for the support.

Israel-Lebanon tensions rise over natural gas rights - Israel Today

Israel and Lebanon have become embroiled in a legal and diplomatic battle over rights to undersea natural gas fields that could potentially turn violent.

Dispute over natural resources has long been a catalyst for war, and few would be surprised if Lebanon's dominant Hizballah terrorist militia used this latest quarrel as justification for a fresh attack on the Jewish state. "Lebanon has warned that it insists on protecting its borders and resources," a spokesman for Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri told Bloomberg. Berri and the Lebanese government were responding to an Israeli cabinet vote that defined the nation's maritime borders. Israel was keen to take that step after Lebanon began laying claim to offshore territories that encompass huge natural gas reserves discovered by Israel in recent years.

Last year, Lebanon submitted maps demarcating new maritime borders to the UN. But the lines differ greatly from those decided upon by Israel, and even from those Lebanon itself agreed to years ago. "The line that Lebanon submitted to the UN is significantly south of the Israeli line," said Netanyahu. "It contradicts the line Israel has agreed upon with Cyprus, and what is more significant to me is that it contradicts the line that Lebanon itself concluded with Cyprus in 2007." Israel will submit its own maps to the UN later this week.

The natural gas reserves discovered in the eastern Mediterranean in recent years are estimated to be the largest in the world, and could drastically alter Israel's economic and energy situation. But the new maritime border insisted upon by Lebanon would mean a loss of billion of dollars worth of gas rights to Israel.

Israeli firms working the Tamar and Leviathan undersea gas fields announced last year that in addition to the enormous amount of natural gas, there may also be rich oil reserves in the area. Hizballah, which effectively controls Lebanon's government, responded by accusing Israel of "stealing" Lebanon's natural resources, and threatening war. Hizballah has attacked and started war with Israel for less in the past.

66th UN General Assembly Meeting in September 2011

The next UN General Assembly (which is their 66th assembly) will open on September 13, 2011 with the debates taking place between 21-23 and 26-30. What should be of great significance is the question of statehood for the Palestinian people.

So far President Obama had tried to push the US stand of Israeli withdrawal from all land captured by the IDF in the 6-day war in 1967 but Israel had maintained that the borders prior to the 6-day war is not defensible. So far, President Obama had kept silent whether he would pursue the discussion line and support President Mahmoud Abbas in his resolution to the UN.

A Palestinian State would have to support the existence of Israel as a separate nation and this is going to be interesting, if not difficult, as the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and all Arabic states try not to recognize Israel as a nation and their intention has always been to drive Israel into the Sea (Mediterranean Sea).

Israel is willing to let the Palestinians have their own land but only where they are currently living (Gaza and Samaria (or West Bank)) but Jerusalem is not negotiable. Unfortunately the Arabs also want Jerusalem for themselves and that is where the entire debate will come to a grid-lock. As at this moment, Israel calls Jerusalem its capital city but the world only recognize Tel-Aviv as the capital and not Jerusalem and so, to reinforce Israel's position, it would help when all nations begin to move their embassies from Tel-Aviv to Jerusalem and in so doing, the sovereignty of Israel will be strengthened.

So, what would happen at this coming UN General Assembly debate will be an interesting watch and the future of Israel will be unfolded albeit through divine intervention.

Watch and Pray

So many things have happened over the past year two that makes one perk up and recognize that the time is REALLY, REALLY SHORT! and that the Lord's return for His Bride is at hand. The Rapture can take place any time now and I would not be surprised if this comes as early as this year itself.
I know I have put forward some hypothesis in the past as to the date and I know I was wrong on those. However, that does not mean that the trend is incorrect. Indeed, it is still on track; weird things are taking place:

• vast areas where rain had hardly fallen (in the dry plains in Pakistan) were flooded last year
• the massive unprecedented flooding of the Mississippi River in USA in May 2011
• vast areas in Russia experienced drought
• huge areas in China suffered drought while neighboring regions were flooded (unheard of before)
• the moon rotated 138 degrees between December 2010 and March 2011
• severe sun activities that could fry the communications systems (satellites included) of planet Earth
• massive earthquakes and tsunamis
• massive volcanic activities

I have attached a link to this post for you to watch a discussion between Dr Gary Stearman of "Prophecy In The News" and L.A. Marzulli on some of these phenomenon. http://vimeo.com/25405743
The video is about 28 minutes and so watch it right through and share with us your thoughts by posting comments to this post.

Israelis slam Obama's dangerous peace policies

This article appeared in Israel Today dated May 23, 2011

Quote

Israeli officials on Sunday had harsh criticism for US President Barack Obama a day after he sided with Arab "peace" demands and strongly suggested that Israel is the obstacle to peace in the region.

In a televised foreign policy speech last Thursday, Obama stated that "the borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines," and insisted that "the Palestinian people must have the right to govern themselves and reach their full potential."

A day later, Obama met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. During their joint press conference following the meeting, Netanyahu flat-out rejected Obama's premise that peace must be based on the 1967 borders.

"While Israel is prepared to make generous compromises for peace, it cannot go back to the 1967 lines because these lines are indefensible [and] because they don’t take into account certain changes that have taken place on the ground," explained Netanyahu.

Netanyahu went on to note that "before 1967, Israel was all of nine miles wide. ...And these were not the boundaries of peace; they were the boundaries of repeated wars, because the attack on Israel was so attractive." The Israeli leader warned that basing a future peace deal on the 1967 borders, as the Arabs insist, will result in "a peace based on illusions [that] will eventually crash on the rocks of Middle Eastern reality."

Writing for the leftist Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz, top political analyst Ari Shavit said that Obama's speech was good for Israel in that it opposed Palestinian efforts to unilaterally secure independence, slammed Mahmoud Abbas' unity deal with Hamas, and recognized Israel as the Jewish state, and called on the Palestinians to do the same.

But, Shavit said, Obama erred critically in his insistence on the 1967 borders. "Instead of presenting the 1967 borders as the end of the process, Obama made them its start. Instead of tying them to the end of demands and the end of the conflict, they were tied to greater demands and continued conflict," wrote Shavit.

He continued: "Without intending any harm, Obama presented Israel with a suicidal proposition: an interim agreement based on the 1967 borders. It's a proposal that runs along the same lines as the Hamas offer of a hudna - a long-term cease-fire."

Shavit warned that by setting the 1967 borders as the starting point for final status negotiations, Obama had allowed the Palestinians to make the "right" of millions of so-called "Palestinian refugees" to flood Israel the focal point of continued negotiations.

Israelis from across the political spectrum reject the Palestinian effort to demographically destroy the Jewish state by bringing in those millions of foreign-born Arabs. If the Palestinian "right of return" becomes the primary topic of discussion, there is little to no hope of concluding a peace deal.

Right-wing Israeli lawmaker Yaakov Katz (National Union) was less forgiving, cautioning in a letter to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC): "Don't fall for Obama's magical oratory. He put a gun to Israel's head and asked it to commit suicide."

According to some reports, Netanyahu recognized the danger of Obama's words, and the two leaders had a tense discussion during their White House meeting. Netanyahu dismissed reports of increased tension between himself and Obama, insisting that their disagreements on certain details of the peace process are "differences of opinion...among friends."

But many believe the writing is on the wall, and Obama will soon push Israel into a dangerous peace deal. His clear suggestion that Israel's repeated stalling, rather than Palestinian peace infractions, is the main reason for a lack of peace today is telling.

"The international community is tired of an endless process that never produces an outcome," said Obama in his Thursday foreign policy speech. "The dream of a Jewish and democratic state cannot be fulfilled with permanent occupation."

In his remarks following the White House summit, Obama said the current political changes across the Arab world offers an opportunity for his vision of peace to be realized. "There is a moment of opportunity that can be seized as a consequence of the Arab Spring," said Obama.

In an interview last month with Israel Today, Israeli political analyst Yoram Ettinger said the opposite is in fact true. The reality, said Ettiger, is that the "Arab Spring" demonstrates just how fragile the Arab world is, and how foolish it would be to trust Israel's security to a Palestinian regime that could be swept aside in a moment.

Obama's reiteration that without a state the Palestinians cannot reach their true potential and must live in humiliation also ignored realities on the ground.

In the upcoming issue of Israel Today, average Palestinians told us that they don't want an independent state ruled by Abbas and his thugs, and that they already live in peace and prosperity with the Jews around them.

Unquote

I cannot help but relate what is happening in USA over the weekend with this negotiation between PM Netanyahu and President Obama. A total of 46 tornados hit seven states in midwestern USA and close to 90 people had died as a result. Is this a coincidence?  No, I don't think so; you touch the Apple of God's eye and you incur His wrath.


Here is a quick report on the level of devastation left behind by one tornado in Joplin, Missouri.


Quote

(Reuters) - Search teams bathed in the harsh glow of floodlights early on Monday picked through rubble of neighborhoods and commercial districts demolished by a tornado that killed at least 30 people in the southwestern Missouri town of Joplin.

"We are recovering the dead," Joplin police Sergeant Bob Higginbotham said hours after the powerful twister struck Sunday afternoon, leaving much of the town of 50,000 residents in ruins and plunging the city into darkness once night fell.
Higginbotham was busy collecting the names of people reported missing. "(It's) devastating loss of life, horrible, and it goes on for miles," he said.
Newton County Coroner Mark Bridges put Joplin's death toll at 30 or more, on par with the loss of life from a twister that struck Tuscaloosa, Alabama, last month. More than 30 died in that storm.
"We know we are up into the 30 range," Bridges told Reuters, adding that 11 bodies were recovered from one location alone and that the known casualty count would likely climb. "People are just telling us where they have seen bodies and adding them up in their heads."

Unquote

Iceland's Most Active Volcano Erupts

Iceland's most active volcano has started erupting while experts say it is unlikely to disturb European air traffic. The Grimsvotn volcano, located under the uninhabited Vatnajokull glacier in Iceland's southeast, began erupting with a series of small earthquakes on Saturday, sending as much as 15 kilometres of white smoke into the air, Iceland's Meteorological Office said. "It can be a big eruption, but it is unlikely to be like last year," Hjorleifur Sveinbjornsson, a geologist at the Meteorological Office, told Reuters news agency, referring to the April 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano. Last year's Eyjafjallajokul eruption kept some 10 million air travelers in limbo worldwide for five days, after winds pushed the volcanic ash cloud toward some of the world's busiest airspace and led most northern European countries to ground all planes. The Grimsvotn's previous eruptions have lasted between a day and several weeks, it's last being in 2004. Scientists have been expecting a new eruption and have said that this volcano's eruption will likely be small and should not lead to air travel chaos. But whether widespread disruption occurs again will depend on how long the eruption lasts, how high the ash plume rises and which way the wind blows. Isavia, the company that operates and develops all airport facilities and air navigation services in Iceland, enforced a no-fly zone for 120 nautical miles (220 kilometres) in all directions from the eruption. An Isavia spokeswoman described this as standard procedure around eruptions. "The plume of smoke has reached jet flying altitude and plans have been made for planes flying through Icelandic air control space to fly southwardly tonight,'' Hjordis Gudmundsdottir, the spokeswoman, said. A plane from the Icelandic Coast Guard carrying experts from the University of Iceland will fly over the volcano and evaluate the situation.

Now the timing for this volcanic eruption is significant especially as USA and the EU are now trying to pressure Israel to give up land to the Palestinians and revert to the pre-1967 war borders which the Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu had flatly rejected. Will the EU continue with its pressures and if so, I believe the eruptions will intensify but if they relent and ease off, I believe we may see the activities simmer off.

Certainly we need to remember what the Lord had promised Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3: (English Standard Version)

v1  Now the Lord said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.

v2  And I will make of you a great nation. and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.

v3  I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

Sometimes I wonder why the world leaders never read those three verses and think through their actions before they start to come against Israel. As a friend once said, "you touch the apple of God's eye, you will pay the price for your actions."  So, lets watch the world stage and see the hand of God at work in our midst.

Is Israel's Water Crisis Over?

This article was taken from 'Israel Today' of Thursday May 19, 2011 by Ryan Jones.

Quote

The former head of Israel's Water Authority surprised many of his countrymen on Wednesday when he said in a Channel 2 News interview that Israel's water crisis is over.

Before leaving the Water Authority to become a professor at Hebrew University four months ago, Dr. Uri Shani had been warning Israelis that the six previous years of drought had created such a severe shortage of water that harsh measures would likely be required this summer.

Changing course in his Channel 2 appearance, Shani stated, "I can say with caution that the water crisis has ended."

Israel experienced a large increase in rainfall this spring, but Shani said the main reason Israel's crisis has ended is accelerated work on numerous desalination plants along the Mediterranean Coast.

"The main reason is not the rain of course, it is the desalinization facilities that Israel is building at perhaps the greatest speed in the world," said Shani. "Also, the recent water conservation practices of Israel."

But figures released by the Water Authority showed that Shani's optimism may be premature.

While Israel did experience a fairly average winter in terms of rainfall, after six years of serious drought, the country still has a deficit of about one billion cubic meters of water.

And Israel's annual water needs far outpace even a good winter's rainfall.

The new desalination plants are expected to turn the tide in the struggle for water, but they are not yet operational. And if the coming year is particularly dry, the new desalination plants will be working overtime just to help Israel play catch-up.

In the meantime, Water Authority spokesman Uri Schor told The Jerusalem Post that Israel's main water reservoirs - the Sea of Galilee and the mountain aquifers - remain critically depleted. "We will be under the red line this summer in all three main reserves," said Schor. Despite seeing what he believes is light at the end of the tunnel, Shani warned Israelis that water prices will remain high for the foreseeable future.

"Water is expensive," he noted, remdinding Israelis that "we live in the desert."

Unquote

So my friends, lets continue to pray for rain for Israel; rain to nourish the land and the latter rain to nourish their souls as the message of redemption love comes into their midst. Shalom Israel.

Israel's 63rd Independence Day

An AFP report on Sunday May 15, 2011

Israel gunfire kills two Syrians on Golan: medic

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - Israeli gunfire killed two protesters and wounded dozens more as civilians crossed from Syria onto the annexed Golan Heights on Sunday, sparking a war of worlds between Damascus and Jewish state.

Two people were killed and four critically hurt by Israeli gunfire after protesters from a Syrian-held part of the Golan entered the annexed territory, a Druze doctor who treated casualties told AFP.
Troops fired live rounds and tear gas at the protesters who suddenly burst through to Israeli-held territory rather than demonstrating alongside the border fence as they have in past years on the anniversary of Israel's 1948 creation.
The unrest came as Palestinians in the occupied territories, inside Israel and across the region marked the anniversary of the Jewish state's 1948 creation, known in Arabic as the "nakba" or "catastrophe."
"Syrian civilians breached the Israel-Syria border near the Israeli village of Majdal Shams," the Israeli military said. "Forces opened fire in order to prevent the violent rioters from illegally infiltrating Israeli territory. "From initial reports, there are dozens of injured," it said in a statement.
Media reported at least one dead and several wounded, but there was no immediate confirmation of the toll, in one of the worst incidents for decades along a ceasefire line that has been quiet since a 1974 truce accord.
Israeli medical officials said "between 10 and 20" of the protesters were wounded, with one feared dead, while three Israelis were said to have been lightly injured.
The army accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime of "organising" the violence as a means to divert international attention from pro-democracy protests sweeping his country. "Syrian authorities organised this violent incident in order to divert world opinion away from what is happening in their cities," army spokeswoman Avital Leibovitz told AFP.
Syria's foreign ministry, meanwhile, condemned Israel for opening fire on protesters on the Golan, in south Lebanon and Gaza, warning that the Jewish state would bear full responsibility.
"We firmly denounce the criminal Israeli actions against our people in the Golan Heights, Palestine and southern Lebanon that left several people dead and wounded," the foreign ministry said. "Israel will have to bear full responsibility for its actions."
But another Israeli official also pointed the finger at Assad's regime, which has been rocked by two months of pro-reform protests inspired by Arab revolts which have ousted strongmen in Tunisia and Egypt.
"This appears to be a cynical yet transparent act by the Syrian regime to create a crisis on the border in order to distract attention from the very real problems that regime faces at home," he said, on condition of anonymity. "Syria is a police state," the official added. "Demonstrators do not randomly approach the border without the prior approval of the central government."
Channel 1 television said its correspondent in Majdal Shams, a Druze town on the Golan, said he had come across 30-40 infiltrators in its main square, some of whom said they were Palestinians from Yarmuk refugee camp in Damascus. The army sealed off the town and its immediate surroundings and carried out house-to-house searches for infiltrators, defence sources said.

Jews, Muslims and Christians on Significance of Mideast Turmoil

Israel Today speaks to Jews, Muslim and Messianic believers in Israel regarding current Middle East turmoil; all agree that it is as much spiritual as physical, and that Messiah is coming soon. This is not only the opinion of Israel’s Orthodox rabbis, but also of Messianic Jews here in the Land and Christians abroad. Even Muslims are interpreting current events in the Middle East as “a sign from heaven.”
For Jews, Muslims and Christians alike, the uproar in the Arab world is not just a political issue; it is a spiritual one. 

Indeed, our Lord Jesus, before He went to the cross, prophesied that there will be turmoil in the gospel of Matthew 24: 3-14

3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. "Tell us," they said, "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"

4 Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you.

5 For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ, ' and will deceive many.

6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.

7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.

8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.

9 "Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.

10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other,

11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.

12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold,

13 but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.

14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Indeed, all that Jesus had prophesied have come to pass. With the global connectivity through the internet, the gospel has been preached to the entire world. Millions are watching webcasts of Christian messages on their cable channels in the comfort of their homes as well as getting the messages downloaded onto their computers and watching these programs and millions are being saved daily. The tide had started and is sweeping across all nations around the global and this includes those countries where Christianity is not welcomed.

So, the end is indeed very very near and will soon be upon us. Are you ready when Jesus comes back? In fact there will be a first warning - all the Christians disappear (we get raptured and taken back to Heaven) in the twinkling of an eye (atomic second) and all those who have yet to receive Jesus into their hearts as Lord and Savior will remain and trust me, the conditions of life will be worse than what it is now.  So you have been forewarned.

Poll: Egyptians Don't Want Peace With Israel

The results of a public opinion poll conducted in Egypt following the fall of dictator Hosni Mubarak show that the majority of Egyptians want to annul their nation's peace treaty with neighboring Israel.

Conducted by the Pew Research Center, the survey revealed that 54 percent of Egyptians don't want peace with Israel, and will support a candidate who advocates annulling the Camp David Accords.

That percentage was the same among both secular Egyptians and those affiliated with Islamic organizations.

The poll also found that Egyptians don't think too highly of America or US President Barack Obama. Eighty percent of respondents said they have an unfavorable view of the US in general, and 60 percent said they don't trust Obama. Only 22 percent of Egyptians said America has made a positive impact on recent political changes in their country.

The survey further showed that the Obama White House has been wrong about the direction in which Egypt is heading. Obama and his staff previously insisted that the participation of Islamic radicals like the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt's revolution was a fringe phenomenon that would have no bearing on the nation's future.

But the Pew poll shows that today the Muslim Brotherhood enjoys a 75 percent approval rating among all Egyptians, giving the group a very good chance of claiming control of the parliament in upcoming elections.
This article was taken from Israel Today - April 26, 2011

Christians Leaving Egypt

A growing number of Egypt’s 8-10 million Coptic Christians are looking for a way to get out as Islamists increasingly take advantage of the nationalist revolution that toppled long-standing dictator Hosni Mubarak in February.

Egypt Daily News reported on Tuesday that “lawyers who specialize in working with Coptic Egyptians…say that in the past few weeks they have received hundreds of calls from Copts wanting to leave Egypt.”

“They are insisting on leaving Egypt because the risks of staying here are too great,” Naguib Gabriel, a Coptic human rights lawyer, told Egypt Daily News. “Many Christians are afraid of the future because of the fanatics in the mosques.”

At least 20 Christians have been killed in sectarian violence with Muslims since Mubarak’s ouster. And groups like the Muslim Brotherhood have been taking an increasingly visible role in forming Egypt’s next government.

Coptic leaders have complained that they are being left out of the decision-making process, raising fears that the Egypt of tomorrow will be far less free and democratic than even the Egypt of Mubarak.

Hemmed In On All Sides

Israel is facing challenging times ahead. On its southern flanks, its long-time ally Egypt (through ex-President Hosni Mubarak) no longer respects its peace treaty signed in 1979; on its east, King Abdullah of Jordan faces protests from its citizens over a corrupt and inapt government; on its north, Lebanon is now controlled by Hesbollah (which is very closely linked to Iran) and Syria on its north-east has its own internal demonstrations.  The Palestinians in the Gaza Strip has been pounding south Israel and the city of Ashdod and even Tel Aviv with rockets thus provoking the Israel Defense Force to retaliate.

Faced with opposition on all sides, what can Israel do? Praise the Lord for His preparations long before all these troubles began. Noble Oil discovered a large reserve of natural gas and crude oil in the Eastern Mediterranean off the port city of Haifa in late 2009 and with this find, Israel is now self sufficient in terms of energy needs and looks set to even export some of the surplus to Europe to fund itself - remember Israel has its own nuclear-powered plants in the Negev for a long time now.

Our Lord has not abandoned His chosen people, Israel. He remembers His covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and will come to her rescue every time she is in trouble and this is one of those moments whether her neighbors realized it or not. So now, all eyes will once again be on Israel - watch and see the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ for He will deliver.

Weird Fish Catch Raises Tsunami Fears!

http://news.insing.com/feature/weird-fish-catch-raises-tsunami-fears/id-23483300

Indeed, we live in strange and dangerous times. As we are living literally in the End Times as what the Bible describes it, there will be more of such phenomenon taking places around us. Of course the question at the top of many minds would be - should be be intimidated by all these bad news? No, my friend, absolutely not. In fact, if we are watchful there are many warning signs ahead of the events and these could serve as warnings which we should not take likely.

If one were to panic and live life on the edge, then I am sorry the devil has won the battle - your fear and anxiety has just created high blood pressure which, when intense, can lead to heart failure. Looking at the signs and preparing for the crisis is a sure ticket out of the troubles that the devil intends for us if we are unprepared.

So, what would I do with THIS particular sign? Do I stop eating fish? No, I will continue to consume fish from Sumatra area. As a precaution, I would avoid going to Sumatra and avoid beach holidays in Phuket, Penang, Langkawi, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Mauritius, Perth-Freemantle, Broome in Western Australia, etc - anyway that is potentially in the path of a possible tsunami like the one that happened on Dec 26th, 2004.