Israel is making it very clear that the next war with Hezbollah will also be a war against Syria.  For years it has been an open secret that Syria was funneling arms and sophistical weapons systems to Hezbollah in Lebanon, but now Israel is on the record as saying that they consider Hezbollah to be a division of the Syrian army.  So what does this mean?  It means that war between Israel and Syria is now closer than it has been in decades.  Just recently, Israel delivered a secret warning to Syrian President Bashar Assad that it will respond to missile attacks from Hezbollah by launching immediate retaliation against Syria itself.

No longer will Syria be able to use Hezbollah to fight proxy wars against Israel.  If a repeat of the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah happens, this time Israel says that it will directly strike Damascus. 

In fact, a major U.K. newspaper recently published the following "off-the-record" comment from an Israeli minister....

"We’ll return Syria to the Stone Age by crippling its power stations, ports, fuel storage and every bit of strategic infrastructure if Hezbollah dare to launch ballistic missiles against us."

What is raising tensions even further in the region are reports that Syria has been arming Hezbollah to the teeth in preparation for the coming war.

Just consider the following description by Debka of the kinds of advanced weaponry that Syria has been supplying to the terrorist organization....

"Surface-to-surface missiles able to reach as far as the Dimona reactor in southern Israel: They include Fajr-5, which has a range of 33 km, and the M-600, developed by Syria from the Fateh-110, whose range is 250 km. Both are precise, propelled by solid fuel and carry 500-kilo warheads of conventional explosives, as well as being able to deliver chemical, biological and radioactive materials.  This dangerous new arsenal which tops up the 40,000 rockets Hizballah was allowed to pile up since the 2006 Lebanon war."

The reality is that Syria and Hezbollah between them now have the capability of striking every single inch of Israeli territory with missiles.

No target is out of range anymore.

With all sides on edge in the region, even King Abdullah of Jordan is warning that the next war in the Middle East could break out as soon as this summer.

Meanwhile, there are increasing calls from world leaders for Israel to join the NPT and quit producing nuclear weapons.  In fact, Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid Al-Muallem is calling on all NPT member countries to sever their diplomatic relations with Israel unless it joins the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Of course Syria would love not to have to worry about Israel's nukes during the coming war, but that is not going to happen.

But even Barack Obama is pushing Israel on this issue.  Last week Barack Obama publicly declared that he is calling upon all the nations of the world to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, including Israel.

But what Barack Obama should be really concerned about is trying to figure out what to do about Iran.

It is being reported that Robert Gates, the U.S. Secretary of Defense, warned President Barack Obama in a secret "wake-up call" memo that the White House has no effective policy for dealing with a nuclear Iran.

But at the same time, the Pentagon itself does not seem to have a sense of urgency when it comes to Iran's nuclear program.  Top U.S. military officials told Congress last week that it would take Iran at least a year to produce enough highly enriched uranium for a nuclear bomb.  Not only that, but Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recently said that that a U.S. strike against Iran would go "a long way" to delaying its nuclear program but that he considered doing so his "last option" right now.

Meanwhile, top Iranian officials are running around making declarations about how advanced Iran's nuclear program is.

Needless to say, Israel is not going to let Iran go down this path indefinitely.

But even before things with Iran come to a crisis point, war could break out between Israel and Syria.

Is the time soon coming when "Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins" (Isaiah 17:1)?

We will just have to wait and see.  Certainly all sides are preparing for a devastating regional war.  So let us pray for the peace of Israel and let us trust that God knows what He is doing.

Much of western civilization is still in complete denial about how incredibly dangerous radical Islam is.  The truth is that those who are committed to "jihad" have a mindset that is totally and completely different from you and I.  There is no compromise, no negotiating and no lasting peace with radical Islam.  Yes, radical Muslims may make a temporary treaty in order to improve their strategic position, but it will never result in lasting peace.  To them, there are really only two alternatives for "infidels" like us - either submission to Islam or death. 

Another huge misconception about radical Islam is that it is a "Middle Eastern" thing.  As we have seen in Africa, Indonesia, the Phillipines and India, wherever radical Islam encounters modern civilization violence is likely to erupt.  This violence against Christians is likely only going to get worse as we get even deeper into the last days.

The truth is that radical Islam would be more than glad to take over the entire world.  Christians are regularly being tortured and killed by Islamic militants all over the globe, and yet these incidents get very little attention in the U.S. media.  The following are ten examples from just this past week that show how dangerous radical Islam truly is....   

#1) Thousands of Nigerian Christian women dressed in black and carrying Bibles, wooden crosses and pictures of victims marched in a central Nigerian state on Thursday to protest the slaughter of about 500 Christian villagers (mostly women and children) by Islamic radicals.

#2) A World Vision office in Pakistan was attacked by Islamic gunmen on Wednesday, leaving at least five staff members dead.

#3) Two Muslim suicide bombers in Lahore, Pakistan killed at least 43 people and injured at least 100 others on Friday in a high-security area with a dense military presence.

#4) Some time ago there was an incident in Egypt that was extremely disturbing.  In broad daylight and in full view of witnesses, a group of 4 Islamic radicals in the southern Egyptian city of Attaleen fired 31 bullets into the head of a Coptic Christian before beheading him.  The dead body was then dragged through the streets accompanied by shouts of victory.  But now an Egyptian court has acquitted the four Muslim men accused of committing the crime.

#5) The government of Morocco is attempting to fend off criticism regarding its decision to expel 20 foreign Christian aid workers it accuses of trying to convert Muslims.

#6) A Pennsylvania woman known as "Jihad Jane" has been indicted for conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and of attempting to kill a person in a foreign country.

#7) On Thursday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad promised that the state of Israel "will be annihilated" before too much longer.

#8) It is being reported that Iran is constructing a new rocket launch facility that could eventually accommodate an intercontinental ballistic missile carrying a nuclear warhead.

#9) In an almost unbelievable story, the opening prayer at the opening session of the Virginia General Assembly was delivered by a radical imam.

#10) A Christian couple in Pakistan has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for touching the Quran without properly washing their hands first.

The story of Mosab Hassan Yousef has been making headlines all over the world in recent weeks.  He was literally born into the deadly terrorist group Hamas.  His father is Sheikh Hassan Yousef - a founding member of Hamas and one of its most prominent leaders.  Mosab was raised to hate Israel and everything that it stands for.  He was groomed to become his father's successor from an early age.  He was deeply trusted by the Hamas hierarchy and participated in the Intifada.  He was even held captive deep inside Israel's most feared prison facility.  But something happened.

God got a hold of Mosab Hassan Yousef.

Mosab became one of the most important spies that Israel ever had.  For years he risked his life by spying for the Israelis while pretending to be on the side of the Palestinians.  If he had been caught he would have surely been killed.

But that is only part of his extraordinary story.

You see, Mosab eventually found the true meaning and purpose that he had been searching for all of his life.

He found Jesus Christ.

So how does a son of one of the key leaders of one of the most radical Islamic terror groups of all time become a Christian?

We encourage you to get Mosab's new book and read all the details.  His story is truly amazing: Son of Hamas: A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue, and Unthinkable Choices

Meanwhile, check out the recent video interview with Mosab posted below....