Once upon a time, the vast majority of all Americans believed that the Bible was the Word of God, but now things have fundamentally changed.  With each passing year, the Bible is becoming less important to most Americans.  The results of the most recent State of the Bible survey are absolutely shocking.  The survey was conducted by the Barna Group on behalf of the American Bible Society, and it clearly shows that the Bible is becoming less important in the daily lives of Americans.  Sadly, young people are rejecting the Bible and rejecting Christianity in higher percentages than anyone else.  The Bible tells us that there will be a great apostasy in the last days, but to see it start to happen is incredibly sad.  The following are some of the most noteworthy results of the survey....

• In 2011, 54% of American adults said that the Bible has too little influence in society today.  In 2012, that number was only 47%.
• The survey found that 55% of all American adults read the Bible to be closer to God.  That was a 9% decline from 2011.
• In 2011, 53% of American adults believed that "the Bible contains everything a person needs to know to live a meaningful life".  In the 2012 survey, that percentage fell to 48%.
• Last year, 67% of all American adults said that they want to read the Bible more.  This year, only 60% of all American adults said that they want to read the Bible more.
• 54% of all respondents to the survey this year were not able to correctly identify the first five books of the Bible.
• 46% of all American adults believe that the Bible, the Quran and the Book of Mormon "are different expressions of the same spiritual truths".
• 36% of all American adults read the Bible less than once a year.
• According to the survey, younger Americans consider the Bible to be less important than older Americans do. Only 34% of Americans in the 18-27 age bracket believe that "the Bible contains everything a person needs to know to live a meaningful life".  In the 66 and older age bracket, 62% believe that "the Bible contains everything a person needs to know to live a meaningful life".

As the Bible becomes less important to most Americans, they are also increasingly coming to believe that all major religions are acceptable paths to God.

In fact, a movement known as "Chrislam" that is attempting to draw together Christianity and Islam is making inroads in churches all over America.  For example, last year dozens of churches publicly read from the Quran during their worship services one Sunday as part of an interfaith project promoted by the Interfaith Alliance and Human Rights First.

Most Americans simply do not believe that there is a single way to God anymore.  One survey that was conducted a while back discovered that 52 percent of all American Christians believe that "at least some non-Christian faiths can lead to eternal life".

For many other Americans, religion is simply not important at all.  A survey that was conducted by LifeWay Research found that 46 percent of all Americans never even think about whether they will go to heaven or hell at all.

Without a doubt, Christianity is losing its dominant role in American life.  Most Americans still consider themselves to be "Christian" in one sense or another, but the percentage of Christians in the United States is falling fast.  Back in 1990, 86 percent of all Americans considered themselves to be Christians.  In 2008, that number had plummeted to 76 percent.

So where are all of those people going?

Well, certainly a number of other religions have grown rapidly, but so has atheism.  In fact, according to the U.S. Census Bureau the number of Americans with "no religion" more than doubled between 1990 and 2008.

This is particularly true among young Americans.  According to one survey, 25 percent of all Americans in the 18 to 29 age bracket say that they have no religion.

Survey after survey has found that the younger a person is, the less likely they are going to be Christian.

Young adults in America today are far less likely to be engaged in religious activities than their parents or grandparents.  The following are some of the results of a survey of young adults that was conducted by LifeWay Christian Resources....

•65% rarely or never pray with others, and 38% almost never pray by themselves either.

•65% rarely or never attend worship services of any kind.

•67% don't read the Bible or any other religious texts on a regular basis.

There appears to be a huge drop off in church attendance during the transition from the teen years to the young adult years.  The following comes from a CNN article....

David Kinnaman, the 38-year-old president of the Barna Group, an evangelical research firm, is the latest to sound the alarm. In his new book, "You Lost Me: Why Young Christians Are Leaving Church and Rethinking Faith," he says that 18- to 29-year-olds have fallen down a "black hole" of church attendance. There is a 43% drop in Christian church attendance between the teen and early adult years, he says.

But that doesn't mean that young adults in America are fully rejecting spirituality.

In fact, spirituality and the supernatural have been at the very heart of some of the biggest entertainment phenomenons that we have seen in recent years.  Harry Potter and Twilight both captured the imaginations of millions upon millions of young Americans.

Our young people seem to have a craving for the supernatural, but they do not seem to have much of a desire for Christianity.

In fact, many music superstars have found great success by using dark imagery that fully rejects Christianity.  Satanic imagery seems to have a great allure for many young Americans today.  The following comes from a recent Fox News article....

Lady Gaga, for example, frequently uses satanic imagery in her music videos. A simple Google search of Gaga’s name yields results that suggests everything from her being a servant of the dark lord, which she does little to dispel, to her involvement with the Illuminati, an alleged secret society of powerful musicians, CEOs and politicians rumored to worship the devil.

Similarly, Kanye West has garnered attention with controversial satanic images in his music videos and joking that he is involved with the Illuminati. West's frequent collaborators Jay Z and Beyonce are rumored to be involved with the group as well.

Rapper Tyler Okonma, better known by the stage name Tyler the Creator, has even branded himself the son of Satan in his song “Bastard.”

And with Satan’s imagery arguably translating to remarkable success for these stars, who have Grammys and gold records under their belts, experts don’t see it going away any time soon.

We need to reach these young people with the truth while there is still time.

Large portions of the church are sleeping and this generation of young people is rapidly slipping away.

We desperately need a true spiritual awakening in this country.

So what do you think about the things that you have just read above?  Please feel free to leave a comment with your opinion below....

If you want to know if a war is coming, don't listen to what the politicians are saying.  Instead, keep an eye on where ships, troops and equipment are headed.  Right now, there are quite a few signs that intense military preparations are being made for war in the Middle East.  By April, there will be multiple aircraft carrier groups in the Persian Gulf.  Large numbers of U.S. troops are being massed within striking distance of Iran, and it is being reported that U.S. aircraft are heading to the Middle East in numbers not seen for years.  So does all of this mean that war is coming?  Not necessarily.  Perhaps the Obama administration is just trying to scare Iran into giving up its nuclear program.  Perhaps the Obama administration is just trying to convince Syrian President Bashar Assad that it is time to step down.  But the fact that such intense military preparations are being made right now is certainly very, very interesting.  Usually wars are planned long in advance.  The truth is that military planning does not begin when the politicians stop talking.  In just about every major military conflict in modern times, forces have been moved into position long ahead of time.

So will we see a war in the Middle East in 2012?

Only time will tell.

But things certainly are starting to heat up.

The following are 7 signs that intense military preparations are being made for war in the Middle East....

#1 France is sending a nuclear aircraft carrier into the Persian Gulf, and it is expected that the U.S. will have three aircraft carrier groups operating in the Persian Gulf by April.

#2 It is being reported that large numbers of U.S. troops are being positioned on two strategic islands within easy reach of Iran.  The following comes from a recent Debka article....

Debkafile's military sources report a steady flow of many thousands of US troops for some weeks to two strategic islands within reach of Iran, Oman's Masirah just south of the Strait of Hormuz and Socotra, between Yemen and the Horn of Africa.

#3 A major amphibious landing exercise known as "Bold Alligator" is currently being conducted along the Virginia and North Carolina coasts.  Eight other nations are also participating in this drill, and many analysts believe that this drill is in preparation for an Iranian operation.  The following comes from a recent Arutz Sheva article....

The Bold Alligator drill includes 20,000 U.S. forces, plus hundreds of British, Dutch and French troops – as well as liaison officers from Italy, Spain, New Zealand and Australia.

The drill includes a beach landing and air assault supported by 25 warships, and is intended to  “to revitalize, refine, and strengthen fundamental amphibious capabilities and reinforce the Navy and Marine Corps role as ‘fighters from the sea.’”

U.S. Marines have spent a decade out of their native element in the deserts of Iraq and mountains of Afghanistan, but with the Pentagon's restructuring and forward-focus on Asia, the Marines are returning to their roots.

Admiral John Harvey, head of U.S. Fleet Forces Command, described Bold Alligator as “the largest amphibious exercise conducted by the fleet in the last 10 years.”

#4 There have been reports of huge numbers of U.S. aircraft moving into position in the Persian Gulf region.  The following comes from a recent Debka report....

Debkafile's military sources report that flight after flight of US warplanes and transports were to be seen this week cutting eastward through the skies of Sinai on their way to Gulf destinations, presumably Saudi Arabia, at a frequency not seen in the Middle East for many years.

#5 A helicopter carrier (the USS Ponce) that was supposed to have been decommissioned after duty in Libya is now being upgraded and is scheduled to be able to be available for service in the Persian Gulf by June.

#6 The Saudis appear to be really preparing for something.  Just check out what Debka says has been going on in Saudi Arabia....

Our military sources report that the Saudis this week wound up their own intensive preparations for war. Large forces are now deployed around Saudi oil fields, pipelines and export facilities in the eastern provinces opposite the Persian Gulf, backed by anti-missile Patriot PAC-3 batteries. American, British and French fighter-bombers have been landing at Saudi air bases to safeguard the capital, Riyadh.

#7 Someone has been moving huge numbers of tanks around by train in California.  Just check out this video.

So what do you think?

Do you believe that these military preparations are a sign that we will see a war in the Middle East in 2012?

Feel free to leave a comment with your opinion below....

God really does work in mysterious ways.  This season Tim Tebow has led the Denver Broncos to last minute victory after last minute victory, but none was more dramatic than the 29-23 overtime win in a playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.  On the first play of overtime, Tebow dropped back and threw an 80 yard touchdown pass to win the game.  It is estimated that an astounding 45 million people watched Tebow throw that pass.  It is being called "Tebow 3:16" (for reasons that will be explained below) and it is already one of the most famous plays in NFL history.  For many hours afterwards, the victory by Tebow and the Broncos was the number one news story in America.  But what makes all of this even more amazing are some of the incredible numbers from the game.

Back during his college career at the University of Florida, Tim Tebow would often write "John 3:16" on the eye black under his eyes.  But in the NFL they do not allow players to write messages on the eye black under their eyes.

So God found another way to get the message out....

-During the victory over the Steelers, Tim Tebow passed for exactly 316 yards.

-Tebow also set an all-time NFL playoff record with 31.6 yards per completion.

-According to John Ourand of the Sports Business Journal, the final quarter-hour television rating for the Broncos-Steelers game was 31.6.

In addition, the first name of his head coach is John (John Fox) and the first name of his general manager is John (John Elway).

In the past, Tebow has said that John 3:16 is his favorite verse.  For those not familiar with it, John 3:16 says the following....

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life"

After the Broncos won, John 3:16 quickly became the most searched term on Google.  The following comes from an article in the Washington Post....

When he wore the Scripture verse on his eye black during the National Championship Game in 2009, the term “John 3:16” was reportedly Googled more than 90 million times.

The Bible verse quickly became the most searched Google term Monday.

God certainly does have a flair for the dramatic.

If you have not seen "Tebow 3:16" yet, video of it is posted below.  As mentioned above, this is already one of the most famous plays in NFL history....

So what is Tebow saying about all of this?

The following comes from a CNN article....

“As I was running around the field I just wanted to thank my lord and savior,” he said in a post-game interview. “And then I jumped in the stands which is something I’ve never done, but I was pretty excited, then got back on one knee to thank the Lord again, and tried to celebrate with my teammates,” he said.

After the win, Tebow posted the following on his Facebook page....

Praise the Lord! Thanks to all my teammates, coaches and fans...This win was for Bronco Nation! We couldn't have done it without all of us working together as one. And yeah, Demaryius Thomas is a beast!

Needless to say, the social media universe absolutely exploded after the game was over.  According to Twitter, an almost unbelievable 9,420 sports tweets per second were sent in the moments immediately following Tebow's touchdown pass.

That set a brand new all-time record.

By the way, if you would like to follow Tim Tebow on Twitter, you can follow him here.

As we get even deeper into the last days, a lot more things like this are going to happen.

As the darkness gets darker, the light is going to shine even brighter.

The world is going to become incredibly unstable and times are going to get really tough.

A lot of people are going to take the cowardly route and will totally give in to fear.

But others will stand up for the Lord Jesus Christ no matter what the cost and will boldly testify for Him.

Thank God that we have heroes out there like Tim Tebow that are willing to share the simple truth that we find in John 3:16....

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life"

There will never be peace in the Middle East until Jesus comes back.  All of the politicians that are relentlessly pursuing peace plans in the Middle East are fighting a hopeless battle.  From the time that they are able to speak, children all over the Islamic world are taught to obsessively hate Jews and the nation of Israel.  They are taught that "Zionists" are their greatest enemies and that they are behind a lot of the major problems that we see in the world today.  Even when Hitler was at the height of his power, there was never the kind of relentless anti-Semitic indoctrination that we now see throughout the Islamic world.  Over the past decade, immense pressure has been put on the Palestinians and the Saudis to clean up their textbooks, and yet they still contain calls to kill the Jews.  In fact, you will probably find it hard to believe some of the quotes from Palestinian textbooks and Saudi Arabian textbooks that are posted below.  We live in very crazy times, and unfortunately the anti-Semitism in the Islamic world is likely to grow even worse as we get even deeper into the last days.

A couple of days ago, the Daily Mail published an article that contained some absolutely shocking details about what is currently in Saudi Arabian textbooks for 9th and 10th-graders.

According to the Daily Mail, one textbook for 9th graders actually contains the following statement....

"The hour (of judgment) will not come until the Muslims fight the Jews and kill them. There is a Jew behind me come and kill him."

Unfortunately, it is not just in school where children are being taught these things.

Islam is not just a religion in nations such as Saudi Arabia.  It is a way of life.

Today, millions upon millions of children are immersed in the ways of jihad from the moment that they are taken from the cradle.  It would be hard to overstate how much of a danger this is for the rest of the world.

Palestinian textbooks also contain a lot of really horrible things.  Several contenders for the Republican presidential nomination have even mentioned these Palestinian textbooks in recent debates.

Over the past decade, there has been a relentless campaign to clean Palestinian textbooks up.  Yet they still contain a lot of anti-Semitic language.

For example, one Palestinian textbook for 8th graders used in religious schools includes the following statement....

"Muslim fighters must get rid of the usurping Jews from the usurped lands in Palestine and in the Levant."

Jihad seems to be a constant and never ending theme in Palestinian textbooks.  Back in 2007, Palestinian Media Watch released a report entitled "From Nationalist Battle to Religious Conflict: New 12th Grade Palestinian Textbooks Present a World Without Israel" which discussed the radical anti-Semitism found in Palestinian textbooks for 12th grade students.  The following is an excerpt from that report....

The teachings repeatedly reject Israel's right to exist, present the conflict as a religious battle for Islam, teach Israel's founding as imperialism, and actively portray a picture of the Middle East, both verbally and visually, in which Israel does not exist at all. The following description of Israel's founding represents the dominant dogma about Israel in Palestinian schoolbooks: Defining Israel's founding as a "catastrophe unprecedented in history," "a theft perpetrated by "Zionist gangs," together with numerous other hateful descriptions of Israel as "colonial imperialist" and "racist", compounded by the presentation of the conflict as a religious war, leaves no latitude for students to have positive or even neutral attitudes towards Israel. This negative imagery and religious packaging are compounded by hateful presentations of Israeli policy. The young students are imbued with a Palestinian identity as "victims" just by virtue of Israel's existence. The well-meaning student is left with no logical justification or religious option to accept Israel as a neighbor or to seek coexistence. Given the total rejection of Israel's right to exist, on nationalistic and religious grounds, Palestinian terror against Israel since Israel's founding in 1948 is defined as: "resistance … acts of most glorious heroism." PA educators teach that fighting Israel is not merely a territorial conflict, but also a religious battle for Islam. The schoolbooks define the conflict with Israel as "Ribat for Allah" – "one of the actions related to Jihad for Allah, and it means: Being found in areas where there is a struggle between Muslims and their enemies".

The following are two quotes from Palestinian textbooks that were heavily featured in the report....

*"Palestine’s war ended with a catastrophe that is unprecedented in history, when the Zionist gangs stole Palestine and expelled its people from their cities, their villages, their lands and their houses, and established the State of Israel."

*"The Ribat for Allah is one of the actions related to Jihad for Allah, it means: Being found in areas where there is a struggle between Muslims and their enemies... the endurance of Palestine’s people on their land … is one of the greatest of the Ribat and they are worthy of a great reward from Allah."

When you relentlessly ram anti-Semitic propaganda down the throats of children for years and years, it is really hard to get them to accept the idea of peace with Israel later on when they become adults.

This was clearly demonstrated by the results of a recent poll by The Israel Project.  The poll asked Palestinians living in Judea, Samaria and Gaza a variety of questions about Israel and about the peace process.  The following are some of the results.....

*60 percent were in favor of direct negotiations with Israel that would result in a "two state" solution.

*Approximately two-thirds of the respondents agreed that "over time, Palestinians must work to get back all the land for a Palestinian state."

*Only 23 percent of the respondents believed that  "Israel has a permanent right to exist as a homeland for the Jewish people."

*58 percent of those surveyed preferred "armed struggle" over "engagement with Israel."

*Just 12 percent of the respondents said that official maps, documents and school textbooks should show the name "Israel".

So if only 23 percent of Palestinians believe that Israel has a permanent right to exist, and if two-thirds believe that Palestinians must eventually capture all of the land, then how is lasting peace going to be possible?

No "Palestinian state" is going to bring lasting peace to the region.

But it is not just the Palestinians and the Saudis that are the problem.

A new U.S. government commission report says the following about school textbooks in Pakistan....

"Religious minorities are often portrayed as inferior or second-class citizens who have been granted limited rights and privileges by generous Pakistani Muslims, for which they should be grateful"

Those of us that live in the west simply have a hard time grasping how deep all of this indoctrination really goes.

Most Americans are used to thinking of "religion" as a very small part of life.

In Islamic countries, Islam is life.

Of course the most important book of all in Islamic countries is the Quran.  Children in Islamic countries may read a textbook one or two times, but the Quran will be part of their daily lives for as long as they live.

The following are quotes from the Quran about Jews....

"And thou wilt find them [the Jews] the greediest of mankind" [Surah 11, v. 96]

"They [the Jews] are the heirs of Hell.... They will spare no pains to corrupt you. They desire nothing but your ruin. Their hatred is clear from what they say ... When evil befalls you they rejoice." [Surah 111, v. 117-120]

"Allah hath cursed them [the Jews] for their disbelief." [Surah IV, v. 46]

"They [the Jews] will spare no pains to corrupt you. They desire nothing but your ruin. Their hatred is clear from what they say, but more violent is the hatred which their breasts conceal." [Surah III, v. 117-120]

"O ye who believe! Take not the Jews and Christians for friends." [Surah V, v. 51]

"Allah fighteth against them [the Jews]. How perverse they are!" [Surah IX, v. 30]

The following is found in the Hadith (a record of the deeds and sayings of Muhammad)....

"The Day of Resurrection will not arrive until the Moslems make war against the Jews and kill them, and until a Jew hiding behind a rock and tree, and the rock and tree will say: 'Oh Moslem, oh servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him!"

Are you starting to understand?

Muslims commit violent acts against Christians and Jews because that is what they have been taught to do all of their lives.

All over the world we see radical Muslims doing some of the most horrible things imaginable to Christians and Jews.  The following two examples come from an article by frontpagemag.com.

This first example is from Ethiopia....

More than 500 Muslim students assisted by Muslim police burned down a church, while screaming “Allahu Akbar” (and thus clearly positing their attack in an Islamic framework); the church was built on land used by Christians for more than 60 years, but now a court has ruled that it was built “without a permit.”

This next example comes from Kenya....

A gang of Muslims stabbed and beat with iron rods a 25-year-old Somali refugee, breaking his teeth; he was then stripped naked, covered with dirt, and left unconscious near a church. Although he was raised Christian since age 7, he was attacked on the “assumption that as a Somali he was born into Islam and was therefore an apostate deserving of death.”

Wherever you find radical Islam, you will find violence.

For example, back in 2010 a Christian man in Pakistan's Punjab province was burned alive by radical Islamic leaders for refusing to convert to Islam while his wife was raped by police officers.

Another very shocking incident took place down in Egypt.  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.  Later, an Egyptian court acquitted the four Muslim men accused of committing the crime.

Sadly, hundreds more very shocking examples could be included in this article.

There is a reason why so many people are so deeply concerned about the hateful things that Palestinian textbooks and Saudi Arabian textbooks say.

When children have it pounded into their heads over and over that a certain group of people is the enemy and should be killed, then that is what a lot of them will end up believing as adults.

Anti-Semitism continues to grow and has reached a fever pitch in the Middle East.

In such an environment, lasting peace is impossible.

It is just a matter of time before the next major war in the Middle East comes.

So what do all of you think?  Please feel free to leave a comment with your opinion below....

What in the world is happening over in Iran?  All of a sudden we are hearing of a lot of "mysterious explosions" at nuclear facilities and at important missile sites.  Also, in recent months quite a few Iranian nuclear scientists have been mysteriously killed.  Is someone conducting a covert campaign to take out Iran's nuclear program?  Without a doubt, open warfare with Iran would have very serious consequences and could even end up sparking World War III.  If war can be avoided, that would seem to be preferable.  So is someone secretly bombing key installations in Iran in attempt to delay or even derail their nuclear program?  Unfortunately we will not get answers to those questions any time soon, but it does appear that something really strange is going on.

One of the most recent incidents happened near the Iranian city of Malard.  A photo has been released that clearly shows that a key Iranian missile base near Malard has been essentially destroyed.

This was detailed in a recent article in the Washington Post....

Two weeks after a mysterious explosion at an Iranian missile base, a Washington-based research group has released a satellite image showing extensive damage to the site.

The image of the compound, near the city of Malard, doesn’t provide any clues as to what caused the Nov. 12 explosion, which Iranian authorities described as an “accident” involving the transport of ammunition. But it does make clear that the facility has been effectively destroyed.

Could an "ammunition accident" really cause the kind of extensive damage shown in the photo?

That seems very, very far-fetched.

Just recently, another strange explosion happened somewhere around the Iranian city of Isfahan.  It turns out that a key Iranian nuclear facility is located in Isfahan.  The following description of this incident comes from an article in Haaretz....

An explosion rocked the western Iranian city of Isfahan on Monday, the semi-official Fars news agency reported, adding that the blast was heard in several parts of the city.

According to reports, frightened residents called the fire department after the blast, forcing the city authorities to admit there had been an explosion. Residents reported that their windows shook from the explosion's force.

Authorities in Iran are blaming that blast on a "military drill".

You never know, the authorities in Iran might be telling the truth.

But lately there has been a pattern developing in Iran that has become very hard to deny.

Over the past few years, quite a few Iranian nuclear scientists have been mysteriously killed.

The following comes from an ABC News article entitled "Who Is Killing Iran's Nuclear Scientists?"....

Regardless of who is killing Iran's nuclear scientists -- the Israelis, the Americans or the Iranians themselves -- there's no question that researchers and officials linked to Iran's alleged nuclear weapons program keep turning up dead.

Since 2007, four different scientists allegedly associated with the nation's nuclear weapons program have died via bomb, gunshot or poisoning, while a fifth barely survived a car bombing.

The most recent victim, 35-year-old Darioush Rezaeinejad, was shot in the neck outside his daughter's Tehran kindergarten on Saturday by two gunmen on a motorcycle. According to an unconfirmed report in an Israeli intelligence publication, Rezaeinejad was working on a nuclear detonator, and was seen daily at a nuclear lab in northern Tehran.

If you believe that all of the events detailed above are just "bizarre coincidences", then you are being quite naive.

Someone is taking aggressive action inside Iran, but it might not be enough to avert a war.

The truth is that tensions between Iran and western powers are rapidly escalating.  On Tuesday, Iranian students stormed two British Embassy compounds in Tehran.  The following description of this event comes from a Reuters article....

Iranian protesters stormed two British Embassy compounds in Tehran Tuesday, smashing windows, hurling petrol bombs and burning the British flag during a rally to protest against sanctions imposed by Britain, live Iranian television showed.

The attacks followed the rapid approval by Iran’s Guardian Council of a parliamentary bill compelling the government to expel the British ambassador in retaliation for the sanctions, and warnings from a lawmaker that angry Iranians could storm the British embassy as they did to the U.S. mission in 1979.

Does this remind you of anything?

The truth is that this is chillingly similar to what happened to the U.S. Embassy back in 1979.

A video news report about the storming of the British Embassy is posted below....

Needless to say, the British government is quite alarmed about all of this.  UK Foreign Secretary William Hague is promising that there will be "serious consequences" stemming from this incident.  The following is a short excerpt from a recent article in the Guardian....

Hundreds of protesters surged onto two compounds this afternoon, putting the safety of staff at risk and causing "extensive damage" to property, the foreign secretary said.

"Clearly there will be other, further, and serious consequences. I will make a statement updating parliament on this tomorrow [Wednesday]."

Hopefully cooler heads will prevail, but what seems very clear is that the region is closer to war than it has been in a long time.

On Sunday, Iranian Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi promised that Iran would launch 150,000 missiles at Israel if a military attack on Iran happens.

As tensions have risen over the past few years, Iran has armed itself to the teeth.

Any military conflict with Iran would not be pretty.

But peace will not last forever.  Israel simply will not allow Iran to develop a nuclear program and Iran is absolutely determined to proceed with developing one.

And as I have written about previously, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad actually believes that a war with Israel is necessary before the Mahdi will return.

We live in very unusual times.

As we get even deeper into the times that the Bible refers to as "the last days", it is inevitable that there will be more war in the Middle East.

In the years ahead, there will be some incredibly bloody conflicts and the loss of life will be staggering.

Let us pray for peace, and let us pray that as many people as possible can be exposed to the gospel while there is still time.

Giving the Palestinians a state is a really, really bad idea.  But the world seems obsessed with giving them one anyway.  The sad truth is that a Palestinian state is not going to bring peace to the region.  It is not going to bring an end to the conflict between the Jewish people and the Palestinians.  Rather, it is just going to embolden those that desire to see Israel wiped off the map.  As you will see below, poll after poll has demonstrated that the Palestinians overwhelmingly believe that a "two state solution" is only an intermediate step toward the eventual goal of taking all of the land away from Israel, and the vast majority of Palestinians still support committing terrorist acts against the Jewish people.  You cannot pacify radical jihadists that are obsessed with genocide by giving them land.  In addition, if global leaders do try to carve up the land of Israel, that is going to very much upset the Lord God Almighty.  But we live in the last days, and we know that these kinds of things are going to happen.

The Palestinians have now submitted their formal request for statehood to the United Nations.  The U.S. and the EU are blocking that bid at the moment and they are trying to encourage the Palestinians to renew negotiations with Israel, but that does not mean that they don't want to give the Palestinians a state.

In fact, the U.S. and the EU have both publicly stated that the Palestinians should be given a state based on pre-1967 borders.

It is just that the U.S. and the EU want a Palestinian state to come about through direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

But what kind of negotiating position does that put Israel in?  The U.S. and the EU have already basically promised the Palestinians a state based on pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as the capital.

Unless Israel plans to give up East Jerusalem, negotiations are never going to work.  The Palestinians will just keep insisting on East Jerusalem until the rest of the world finally gives it to them.

Not that the Palestinians should ever be given one inch of land.  God gave all of that land to the people of Israel forever.

But unfortunately, most of the politicians around the world think that they know better than God does.

The following are 10 reasons why a Palestinian state is a really, really bad idea....

#1 The "Palestinian territories" are currently ruled by two separate governments.  One of them is a terrorist organization.  Right now, Hamas rules Gaza and Fatah rules the West Bank.  So how can Mahmoud Abbas speak for all of them?  And how will they suddenly become "one people" once they have been given a state?

#2 A large number of Palestinians do not agree with the statehood request that Abbas has submitted.  You would think that this fact would be reported by the mainstream media, but they have been largely silent about this.

The reality, however, is that a number of key Palestinian organizations are very much against what Abbas is doing.  For example, WorldNetDaily recently reported that Hamas has loudly denounced this statehood request....

Major Palestinian factions, including terrorist organizations, reject Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' United Nations statehood request, arguing Abbas does not represent the Palestinian people.

Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri said Abbas' U.N. petition "lacks any legitimacy."

#3 The vast majority of Palestinians do not believe that creating a Palestinian state will resolve the conflict with Israel.

So if that is the case, then what in the world is creating a Palestinian state actually going to accomplish?

According to one recent survey, only 34 percent of Palestinians consider the
"two state solution" to be the answer to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

But you don't hear numbers like that in the mainstream media, do you?

#4 Giving the Palestinians a state would create a brand new state sponsor of terror in the heart of the Middle East.

Right now, the Palestinians continually commit acts of terrorism against the Jewish people.  The Palestinian Authority is either unwilling or unable to stop this violence.

So why would giving the Palestinians a state change anything?

The truth is that the poll numbers reveal what is really going on....

*According to one recent poll, 58 percent of all Palestinians prefer “armed struggle” over “engagement with Israel”.

*According to another recent poll, 73 percent of all Palestinians agree with the hadith quoted in the Hamas Charter that talks about killing Jews.

*The same poll found that 62 percent of all Palestinians support kidnapping Israeli soldiers and holding them hostage.

Why in the world would the U.S. and the EU support the creation of another terrorist state?

#5 The Palestinians still refuse to recognize that Israel has the right to exist.

The Palestinians want the rest of the world to give them huge chunks of the land of Israel without the Palestinians having to give up anything in return.  In fact, they don't even plan to recognize that the nation of Israel has a right to exist.

So what kind of neighbor do you think they will be for Israel?

This refusal to recognize Israel is deeply rooted in the Palestinian psyche.  For example, one recent poll found that only 12 percent of all Palestinians agree that official maps, documents and school textbooks should show the name "Israel".

#6 The Palestinian people are still very much dedicated to the destruction of Israel.

According to one recent poll, two-thirds of all Palestinians believe that the eventual goal of the Palestinians must be "to get back all the land for a Palestinian state."

The primary goal of the Palestinians has never changed.  For example, Abu Mujaheed, a spokesperson for the Popular Resistance Committees, recently told WorldNetDaily the following....

"For Palestinians, the borders are based on 1948 (all of Israel) and this is not negotiable."

So how are you supposed to "negotiate" with someone like that?

If the world wants to give big chunks of land to the Palestinians for free, they will gladly take it.

But it will do nothing to dissuade them from their ultimate goal.

In fact, the Hamas charter still calls for the destruction of Israel.  That has not changed.

So why should the rest of the world reward such behavior?

#7 You cannot pacify people that are committed to genocide by giving them land.

It did not work with Hitler and it will not work with the Palestinians.

Hatred for the Jews is growing to a fever pitch all over the Middle East.  Just check out the following example from a recent article in The Blaze....

While perhaps not shocking, it is profoundly disturbing that in the purportedly more “moderate” Egypt of 2011, demonstrators took to the streets outside the Israeli embassy in Cairo with signs bearing swastikas and a message that read: “the gas chambers are ready.”

How in the world are you going to make "peace" with people who think like that?

#8 The pre-1967 borders would make Israel indefensible.

At the narrowest point, Israel would only be 8 miles wide if they were forced to go back to those borders.

The nation would basically become impossible to defend.

In fact, former Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Abba Eban referred to them as “Auschwitz borders”.

#9 In the Bible, the Lord God Almighty warns against dividing the land of Israel.

The book of Joel is all about the return of Jesus Christ to this earth at the end of the Great Tribulation.  In Joel 3:2 it tells us that one of the things that Jesus will judge the nations for is dividing up the land of Israel....

"...There I will put them on trial for what they did to my inheritance, my people Israel, because they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land."

In case you haven't noticed, whenever the United States gets involved in trying to divide up the land of Israel we seem to get hit by a major disaster of some sort.

In a previous article, I detailed some of the disasters that have happened when the U.S. government has tried to mess around with the land of Israel....

#1) On April 30, 2003, America was positioned to be the catalyst for the so-called "solution" to the Middle East crisis. As Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas was sworn in, the "Road Map" peace plan was set in motion.

The very next day began the worst month of tornadoes in United States history - more than 500 in a single month. Under normal conditions, 1,000 tornadoes hit the United States each year, but in just eight days that May, 375 twisters ripped across the heartland of America.

#2) May 9, 2003, President Bush addressed students at the University of South Carolina. Bush called on the Palestinians to embrace the roadmap to peace, and Bush expressed his desire to see the flag of Palestine raised over a free nation.

Hours later, tornadoes returned and Oklahoma City again became the target for deadly twisters, reducing many businesses and homes to splinters and bricks. The tornadoes of May devastated the Midwest with the third worst property damage in American history.

#3) On October 30, 1991, in a meeting scheduled by George H.W. Bush, Israelis and Palestinians discussed ways to achieve peace in the Middle East. Opening talks focused on trading parts of Israel for a peace agreement.

That same day, thousands of miles away, a powerful storm was brewing off of the coast of Nova Scotia. On October 31st, what would be known as "The Perfect Storm" smashed into New England, pummeling the President's Kennebunkport, Maine home with waves 30 feet high. It was a storm so rare that the weather patterns required to create it only happen about once every 100 years.

#4) On August 23rd, 1992, Middle East peace talks resumed in Washington, D.C. with hope that there would be a great breakthrough. These talks focused on surrendering the biblical lands of Judea and Samaria in exchange for peace. Hundreds of miles south of there at the same time, Florida was the target for one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history. Hurricane Andrew ripped through the state with an eye more than 30 miles wide and winds up to 178 miles per hour leaving behind a 32 billion dollar disaster.

#5) Between August 16th and 30th, 2005, Ariel Sharon expelled 9,480 Jewish settlers from 21 settlements in Gaza and four settlements in the northern West Bank.

On January 4th, 2006, Sharon had a stroke, and he fell into a coma and is now in a persistent vegetative state.

#6) The U.S. had strongly pressured Sharon to evacuate those settlers from Gaza.

On August 29th, 2005 the storm that would become Hurricane Katrina formed, and it devastated New Orleans and the surrounding areas to such an extent that they still have not recovered. That devastating storm caused at least 200 billion dollars in damage.

#7) In June of 2001, George W. Bush sent CIA director George Tenet to Israel in an attempt to implement the Mitchell Plan. The Mitchell plan called for, among other things, the cessation of new building in the Jewish settlements.

On the same day that Tenet met with Israeli and Palestinian officials, tropical storm Allison formed in the Gulf of Mexico and moved over Texas, the President's home state, and dropped over 28 inches of rain over the Houston area alone, causing over $4 billion dollars in damage. The storm then moved to Florida and up the east coast causing damage as far as Pennsylvania. The meteorologists called Allison the "worst tropical storm in history".

There are many more examples of this phenomenon right here.

Could many of the bizarre natural disasters that we have seen this year also be linked to what Obama has been trying to do to the land of Israel?

In the Scriptures, it tells us that God gave the land to the people of Israel.  We should not be trying to mess around with that.  Psalm 105:8-11 says the following....

He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations. Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac; And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant: Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance

#10 The Palestinians are going to insist on East Jerusalem as their capital, but that city belongs to the Lord.

In Zechariah 12:3, we are warned that the city of Jerusalem will one day become a huge stumbling stone for the nations....

"On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves."

Is that not what has happened?

Jerusalem seems to be the "problem" that has no answer.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised to never, ever let Jerusalem become divided.

But the Palestinians have said that they will never accept a state that does not include East Jerusalem.

The Palestinian people are incredibly united on this issue.  One recent survey found that 92 percent of Palestinians believe that Jerusalem should be the capital of the future Palestinian state.

So will they get East Jerusalem?

Well, it certainly does not help when United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is running around saying stuff like this....

"...a way must be found for Jerusalem to emerge as a capital of two States, Israel and Palestine, with arrangements for holy sites acceptable for all."

Not only that, but Barack Obama and many top EU leaders have already essentially promised East Jerusalem to the Palestinians.

So what we have is a huge mess.

Eventually we are probably going to see a Palestinian state.

And then after that we are probably going to see a major war.

A Palestinian state is not going to bring peace.

Instead, it is just going to make war much more likely.

These are the last days, and Bible prophecy is going to be fulfilled.

Let us pray for the peace of Israel and let us pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

Today we have an excellent guest post from Alisha Venetis.  Alisha Venetis is co-founder of www.thePrepRoom.net; an online store specializing in emergency preparedness supplies.  She writes for Smart Girl Nation, as well as other conservative blogs, where she reports on world politics, domestic and global economics and the potentially negative ramifications they may have on America.

The Birth of a Nation

On May 14, 1948, the nation of Israel was born out of the ashes of the Holocaust. A day later, they were attacked by Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq. Having had very little time, weaponry and man-power, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) quickly trained their civilian men and women for combat, something still done today.   Miraculously, Israel managed to survive with some last minute aid by the U.S. This was the first time Israel was attacked as a Nation but certainly not their last.

I mean really, what’s the appeal for these other Middle Eastern countries? Israel is the size of Rhode Island compared to the whole United States. It is the 100th smallest country, with less than 1/1000th of the world's population and  80% of Israel’s land is desert. Golda Meir, the former Israeli prime minister, used to joke that Israel was the only place in the Middle East without oil.  So what could this country possibly bring to the table?

Why Size Doesn’t Matter

What this small country has accomplished in sixty-four short years is nothing short of a miracle. This tiny county, which has been called a technological power house by Bill Gates, leads the rest of the globe in many areas.  Consider the following;

Technology

• Motorola developed the first cell phone in Israel.

• A coding for a chip that allows laptop computers to function, voicemail and technology for AOL Instant Messenger was developed in Israel.

• Israel has the highest concentration of hi-tech companies in the world, apart from Silicon Valley in California.

• Israel has designed the airlines industry’s most impressive flight security system. Their security is so strict the US consults with Israel often on how to handle its security threats. Israel has been linked to the “ground breaking” cyber attack on Iran’s nuclear reactor. This cyber attack is believed to set back Iran’s nuclear capabilities by about three years.

• Israel has one if the best trained and powerful military’s in the world.

• It is rumored that U.S. military experts don’t even study Israel’s wars because Israel’s winning outcomes are too improbable. Let’s keep in mind they are also spending more per capita on her protection than any other country on earth.

• When Golda Meir was elected Prime Minister of Israel in 1969; she became the world's second elected female leader in modern times (even as Israel is surrounded by some countries who consider women lower than animals).

• Israel has the third highest rate of entrepreneurship, and the highest rate among people over 55 and among women. Israelis invented a hydrogen car that uses just a tank of water.

• Israel is one of the largest exporters of fresh produce and flowers in the world, despite the fact that about 80% of Israel’s land is desert.  Israel has defied agricultural odds.

• The USA would not be as medically advanced if it were not for Israeli advancements.  Israeli scientists developed the first non-radiation computerized test for breast cancer.

• An Israeli company developed a computerized system for ensuring proper administration of medications, thus removing human error from the dipension of medicine and potentially saving thousands of lives per year.

• An Israeli company developed the first ingestible video camera. This camera is so small it fits inside a pill and helps doctors diagnose cancer and other digestive disorders.

• Israeli stem-cell technology is being used in the U.S. to regenerate heart tissue.

• Teva is one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies and a major producer of generic drugs.

• When the U. S. Embassy in Kenya was bombed in 1998, Israeli rescue teams were on the scene within a day to help save some of the victims. Israel was the first nation in the world to adopt the Kimberly process, an international standard that certifies diamonds as "conflict free."

• Hebrew (the official language of Israel) is the only dead language that has been revived after 2,000 years.

Alisha Venetis is co-founder of www.thePrepRoom.net; an online store specializing in emergency preparedness supplies.  She writes for Smart Girl Nation, as well as other conservative blogs, where she reports on world politics, domestic and global economics and the potentially negative ramifications they may have on America.

Are the Palestinians going to unilaterally declare independence and ask the UN to formally recognize an independent Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders this September?  That is what many in the Israeli government now fear.  At this point the Palestinians have pretty much given up on negotiations with Israel and they have initiated an all-out effort to get the international community behind their effort to achieve statehood in 2011.  The Scriptures warn over and over again about dividing the land of Israel, and many believe that those warnings were put into the Bible for the last days.  So could we actually see the UN establish a formal Palestinian state without the approval of Israel by the end of 2011?  Unfortunately, a whole lot of signs are pointing in that direction.

A recent article in The New York Times noted the intense pressure that Israel is under right now.  Basically the global community is telling them to give away the farm to the Palestinians or else the UN is just going to go ahead and do it anyway....

With revolutionary fervor sweeping the Middle East, Israel is under mounting pressure to make a far-reaching offer to the Palestinians or face a United Nations vote welcoming the State of Palestine as a member whose territory includes all of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.

So where is the incentive for the Palestinians to negotiate in all of this?  If the Israelis don't give them a Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as the capital they will just wait for the UN to hand it to them.

Yes, it could really happen.

The following are 10 alarming signs that momentum is building for the UN to formally recognize an independent Palestinian state in 2011....

#1 The World Bank has publicly endorsed the formation of an independent Palestinian state.

#2 The IMF is formally backing the establishment of a Palestinian state in the near future.

#3 A recent United Nations report made the following statement about the Palestinian Authority: "In six areas where the UN is most engaged, governmental functions are now sufficient for a functioning government of a state."

#4 The Ad-hoc Liaison Committee on Palestine, composed of the EU, the United States, Canada, Norway, Russia, four Arab countries, the UN, the World Bank and the IMF, has endorsed the UN report and says that the Palestinians are ready for an independent state.

#5 U.S. and EU officials are warning that if Israel does not agree to a Palestinian state within the next few months, "the Quartet may be compelled to recognize a Palestinian State in the 1967 borders, with east Jerusalem as its capital".

#6 It is being reported in the international media that the following 4 points form the core of Obama's strategy for bringing about a Palestinian state: "Israel's acceptance of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders; Palestinian acceptance that there would be no right to return to Israeli land; Jerusalem as the capital of both states; and the protection of Israel's security needs."

#7 Earlier this year, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made the following statement about the situation in Israel: "The status quo between Palestinians and Israelis is no more sustainable than the political systems that have crumbled in recent months."

#8 New Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil al-Arabi is now asking the United States to formally recognize a Palestinian state.

#9 The Palestinian Authority has set September 2011 as the deadline to be ready for statehood.

#10 Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas sounds convinced that Barack Obama is going to make good on his promise to deliver an independent state into the hands of the Palestinians by the end of the year: "We are counting on the words of U.S. President Barack Obama who said his vision is to see a Palestinian state this coming September according to a deadline set by the Quartet."

Sadly, an independent Palestinian state would probably only make war more likely.

The following is how author Joel C. Rosenberg recently explained it....

If the Palestinians make a unilateral declaration of what they want, what will stop Israel from unilaterally declaring what they want? What if the Palestinians try to forcibly evict the Jews living in the West Bank? Those Jews would certainly fight back. Would the Israeli military move to defend the Jewish settlers? Would Palestinian security forces then fire upon the Israeli forces? Would the U.N. move into to condemn and isolate Israel, and even impose draconian economic sanctions on the Jewish state? Events could spiral out of control. Indeed, the likelihood is that far more violence — not peace — would result by such a Palestinian declaration of statehood outside the context of negotiations with Israel.

Unfortunately, even if the Palestinians get a state, there is going to be a massive war in the Middle East.

In Lebanon, Hezbollah is arming to the teeth and they are absolutely obsessed with driving Israel into the sea.

Syria had been getting ready for war for decades, and it is almost certainly just a matter of time before Israel and Syria go head to head.

Iran continues to develop their nuclear program and it is seemingly inevitable that at some point the Israelis will strike them in order to stop that.

Egypt has just taken a hard turn towards radical Islam and a recent poll found that the majority of the Egyptian people are in favor of ending the peace treaty with Israel.

So, no, the Middle East is not getting closer to peace.

In fact, it is getting much closer to war.

We live in very unstable times.  Please pray for peace in the Middle East.

So exactly just who is NATO "helping" in Libya?  Are we actually making it possible for radical Islamic jihadists to take control of Libya?  Are we now providing air cover for some of the exact same terrorists that were shooting at our soldiers in Iraq?  You might not like the answers to those questions.  Nobody is claiming that Gadhafi is not a horrible dictator and tyrant.  However, is it really in our interest to have al-Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood replace him?  The Scriptures tell us in the book of Ezekiel that in the last days the nation of Libya will come against Israel.  Are we making this possible by injecting ourselves into the middle of this civil war?

The mainstream media has been pushing this war really hard, and it is really easy for most Americans to simply trust the judgment of the news channels, but there are some really hard questions that we need to ask about our involvement in Libya.

For example, what in the world is Libya going to look like after all this is over?

Is it going to take a hard turn towards radical Islam and end up being ruled by the Muslim Brotherhood and/or al-Qaeda?

According to The Telegraph, the leader of the Libyan rebels is even admitting that his "troops" include jihadists that were firing bullets at U.S. troops in Iraq....

Abdel-Hakim al-Hasidi, the Libyan rebel leader, has said jihadists who fought against allied troops in Iraq are on the front lines of the battle against Muammar Gaddafi's regime.

What type of government do you think they are going to set up once this is over?

The American people need to start demanding some answers.

Why are we on the side of al-Qaeda in Libya but against them in Iraq and Afghanistan?

CBS News recently quoted former CIA officer Bruce Riedel as saying the following....

"There is no question that al Qaeda's Libyan franchise, Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, is a part of the opposition. It has always been Qaddafi's biggest enemy and its stronghold is Benghazi. What is unclear is how much of the opposition is al Qaeda/Libyan Islamic Fighting Group - 2 percent or 80 percent."

Shouldn't we have learned more about who we are supporting before we jumped in?

Are we actually using our military to support the spread of radical Islam in north Africa?

According to Webster Tarpley, a study conducted at West Point found that Libya has one of the highest concentrations of jihadists on the planet....

The most striking finding which emerges from the West Point study is that the corridor which goes from Benghazi to Tobruk, passing through the city of Darnah (also transliterated as Derna) them represents one of the greatest concentrations of jihadi terrorists to be found anywhere in the world, and by some measures can be regarded as the leading source of suicide bombers anywhere on the planet. Darnah, with one terrorist fighter sent into Iraq to kill Americans for every 1,000 to 1,500 persons of population, emerges as suicide bomber heaven, easily surpassing the closest competitor, which was Riyad, Saudi Arabia.

The more one examines the situation in Libya, the better Gadhafi looks.  The truth is that these "rebels" are not fighting Gadhafi because they want a western-style democracy.  Rather, they are fighting him because they want to set up a radical Islamic jihadist state.

The truth is that NATO knows precisely who they are arming and who they are helping take power in Libya.  As Steve Watson recently noted, there are reports that there are 1000 (or more) al-Qaeda fighters among the rebels in Libya....

A former leader of an al Qaeda linked group in Libya claims that there are around 1000 fundamentalist Islamic fighters in the country that have joined the uprising against Col. Moammar Gaddafi’s forces, a number that jives with intelligence reports and independent estimates.

How in the world is America going to be better off with al-Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood in control of Libya?

None of this makes any sense.

We are told that we have to have our soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq for years and years in order to "fight al-Qaeda" and then we are helping them take power in Libya?

What in the world is going on out there?

We are living in the last days and weird things are going to happen.

So what do all of you think about what is happening in Libya?  Please feel free to leave a comment with your opinion below....

A question that a lot of people are wondering about right now is whether or not the Japan earthquake is mentioned in the Bible.  In particular, many are asking if the earthquake in Japan has anything to do with Bible prophecy.  So is the Japan earthquake in the Bible?

Well, no, the massive earthquake that recently hit Japan is not in the Bible.

However, the Scriptures do tell us that earthquakes will be one of the signs of the last days.

That does not mean that God caused the earthquake in Japan.  That does not mean that God is going to be causing the major earthquakes that are to come.  What it does mean is that an increase in the size and frequency of earthquakes should be a sign to us that the return of Jesus Christ is getting closer.

So where in the Bible does it talk about earthquakes in the last days?

In Matthew 24:7, Jesus declared the following about the last days....

"For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places."

In Mark 13:8 we see a similar warning by the Messiah....

Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.

In Luke 21:11, Jesus mentioned earthquakes as a sign of the last days along with famines, pestilences and "great signs" from heaven....

There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.

In the book of Revelation, it tells us that the greatest earthquake of all time will occur just before the end of the Great Tribulation.  Revelation 16:18 says the following....

Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since mankind has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake.

So what does all of this mean?

It means that we should expect more very powerful earthquakes as we get deeper into the last days.

Considering what just happened in Japan, that is a very sobering thought.  Many of us will never forget the footage of the massive tsunami in Japan washing cars and homes and people across the countryside as if they were toys for children....

As bad as the earthquake and tsunami in Japan were, the truth is that a lot of stuff much worse than that is eventually headed our way.

In Matthew 24:21, Jesus tells us that the Great Tribulation will be the worst time in all of human history....

For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.

When Jesus said that, He was not messing around.  We are rapidly approaching a time that will be the most horrible that the world has ever seen.

Are you ready for that?

Those that don't know Jesus are not going to have any hope in the days ahead.

But that does not have to be you.  The truth is that Jesus came to this earth and died for your sins.  He rose from the dead and now the time of His return from heaven is drawing near.

If you will repent of your sins and give your life to Him, He will forgive your sins and will give you eternal life.

For much more on how to become a follower of Jesus Christ, we urge you to read an article that we posted on another one of our websites entitled "What Does The Bible Say About Salvation?"

The times ahead are going to be absolutely horrible.  By the time all is said and done, billions are going to die.  The earth is going to be an absolute wasteland.  There is going to be more suffering and more agony than during any other period of human history.

But it can be a time of great victory and adventure for you - if you know Jesus.

So what do all of you think about the recent earthquake in Japan?  Please feel free to leave a comment with your opinion below....

So much for Muslims and Christians coming together in brotherly love in Egypt.  In the aftermath of the revolution in Egypt, the persecution of Christians in that nation has escalated dramatically.  In our last post, we warned that Egypt was about to take a hard turn toward radical Islam, and we were right.  Churches are being bombed, Christians are being attacked and there have even been reports of government forces opening fire on church buildings.  As radical Islam gets an even stronger hold on Egyptian society, the horrific persecution of Christians in Egypt is only going to increase.  Let us pray for our brothers and sisters in Egypt because they are living in the middle of a nightmare right now.  Unfortunately, the Scriptures tell us that in the last days persecution is going to increase for all Christians.

At this point there are almost daily stories in the international news about the persecution of Christians in Egypt.

For example, check out the following excerpt from a story today in the Jerusalem Post....

The Health Ministry said the 13 people were killed and 140 wounded in violence on Tuesday night ignited by tensions built up since an arson attack on a church south of Cairo on Saturday.

This recent violence was sparked by an attack over the weekend during which an estimated 4,000 Muslims violently assaulted Christian homes and burned a church in the Egyptian town of Soul which is about 18 miles from Cairo.

The Assyrian International News Agency noted that witnesses of the church burning said that the radical Muslims involved were chanting "Allahu Akbar" as they destroyed the church....

Witnesses said the mob chanted "Allahu Akbar" and vowed to conduct their morning prayers on the church plot after razing it.

Unfortunately, violence against Christians in Egypt is not new.  Back on New Year's Eve 21 people were killed and 43 people were injured when a massive bomb went off outside a Coptic church in the city Alexandria, Egypt.

Another example of the persecution of Christians in Egypt prior to the recent revolution was recently noted by Family Security Matters....

Despite wallowing in money from America, Mubarak had made no attempt to improve the plight of Egypt’s Christians. As noted by Raymond Ibrahim, in November 2010, Egyptian security forces opened fire upon Christians who had not followed discriminatory building regulations. The Copts had constructed the St. Mary and St. Michael churches in the district of Giza. Three unarmed Christians died from gunfire, and a small girl was suffocated by tear gas. Wounded demonstrators were handcuffed to hospital beds before being sent to detention camps.

Many of our political leaders and many in the mainstream media have been praising the recent Egyptian revolution, but the truth is that it was not about freedom and liberty.

Instead, what the Egyptian revolution really represented was a hard turn toward radical Islam.

Egypt is becoming a radical Islamist state.  10 percent of the population of Egypt is Christian, and they are no longer going to be able to feel safe.  More churches are likely to be burned and more Christians are likely to die.

Please pray for the Christians in Egypt.  Someday we all may be facing the kind of persecution that they are going through right now.

Many Christians have believed for a long time that Egypt would take a hard turn towards radical Islam in the last days.  Well, it looks like that might be starting to happen.  This week tens of thousands of radical Islamic protesters have been violently clashing with police and security forces in some of Egypt's biggest cities.  So far, at least 4 people have died and dozens have been injured during the Egypt protests.  The level of violence that we are witnessing during these protests is absolutely stunning.  One of America's biggest allies in the Middle East is rapidly becoming destabilized.

There are reports that police have been forced to use water cannons and tear gas on the protesters.  But this has just seemed to make the Islamic radicals even more determined.

So what are they protesting about?

Well, supposedly this is all about "economic conditions" and the rising cost of living, but the protesters are also demanding the ouster of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Mubarak has been in power for three decades, and hardline Muslims in Egypt see him as way too friendly with Israel and the United States.

So while most mainstream media news reports will continue to characterize these as "economic protests", let there be no mistake - the vast majority of these protesters desire to see radical Islam take power in Egypt.

If that happens, it will be extremely bad news for the United States and Israel.

Organizers are promising that even bigger protests are planned.  It does not look like things are going to cool down in Egypt any time soon.

So could this be the beginning of an Islamic revolution in Egypt?

Let's pray that it is not.

The following is incredibly shocking raw video from the recent protest in Egypt.  As you can see, things are rapidly becoming very, very serious....

There has been a major discovery of natural gas just off the coast of Israel.  At this point it has now been officially confirmed that one gigantic offshore gas field alone contains 16 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.  That is the largest deepwater natural gas find in a decade, and it is being projected that it could supply Israel's gas needs for 100 years.

Wow!

God provides, eh?

The following is an excerpt from a recent Wall Street Journal article about this amazing discovery....

On Wednesday, the frenzy got fresh fuel: Noble confirmed its earlier estimates that the field contains 16 trillion cubic feet of gas—making it the world's biggest deepwater gas find in a decade, with enough reserves to supply Israel's gas needs for 100 years.

Getting all of that natural gas out of the ground is not going to be easy, but there is already talk that Israel could actually become a net exporter of energy.

Wouldn't that be something?

But the truth is that we all knew that Israel would be abundantly blessed in the last days, didn't we?

The other nations in the region are already expressing envy.  Lebanon has announced that it wants to start looking for gas off its own shores, and the Palestinians are less than pleased that Israel has found all this gas and they are not going to get any of it.

But it isn't just natural gas that has been found by Israel.

As I have written about previously, one Israeli oil prospecting and production firm has formally announced the discovery of a "commercially sized" oil field in central Israel.

A recent article in Haaretz provided some intriguing details on this new discovery....

Givot Olam Oil Ltd notified the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange of the find in its "Megev Five" drill near the town of Rosh Ha’ayin, saying it can produce 470 barrels of oil a day.

Isn't all of this exciting?

God is doing something amazing in the land of Israel.

For years, there have been some Bible teachers that have pointed to scriptures such as Deuteronomy 33:24 as evidence that Israel would someday be blessed with oil....

"And of Asher he said, Let Asher be blessed with children; let him be acceptable to his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil."

Well, we have witnessed some incredible oil and natural gas discoveries in Israel this year and many believe that there will be even larger discoveries of oil in Israel over the next several years.

But as Israel keep making these discoveries the Palestinians are going to get jealous and it is going to change the political equation in the Middle East.

Even as you read this, Hamas, Hezbollah and Syria are feverishly preparing for war.  The next war in the Middle East could break out at any time.

So all of this oil and natural gas is not going to provide Israel with any kind of lasting peace and security.  In fact, Israel will not truly experience lasting peace and security until Yahshua the Messiah returns.

What in the world has happened to the church in America?  Today most "Christians" do not still even hold to the most basic Christian beliefs.  For example, some new data has come out that reveals that the majority of evangelicals do not believe that Jesus is the only way to God anymore.  Yes, you read that correctly.  David Campbell, the author of the new book American Grace, How Religion Divides and Unites Us, surveyed 3,000 Americans and he found that 54 percent of "evangelical Protestants" said that people from religions other than Christianity can get into heaven.

Unfortunately, this is not the only survey in recent years that has shown that a majority of evangelical Christians now believe that "Jesus is not required" to get to heaven.

For example, last year USA Today reported on a stunning survey that found that 52 percent of Christians in the United States believe that eternal life is not exclusively for those who accept Jesus Christ as their savior.

Another example of this phenomenon is a poll that was conducted by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life that found that 57 percent of evangelical Christians in America believe that "many religions can lead to eternal life".

So what in the world is going on here?

There seems to be a growing consensus among evangelical Christians that all "good people" will go to heaven.

Unfortunately, this directly contradicts the Scriptures.

The Bible tells us that all have sinned and that all of us stand guilty before God.

The Bible tells us that none of us are "good" enough to make it into heaven on our own.

That is why Jesus had to come and die on the cross.

If we could just be "good people" and there were lots of ways to get to heaven, then Jesus did not need to die.  Jesus could have just pointed out a bunch of other ways to be "good enough" and then could have gone back to heaven.

But that is not what happened.

Jesus died on the cross for our sins because that was the only way our sins were going to be forgiven.

There is no way that any of us can ever be "good" enough to make it on our own.

As I wrote about in an article on another website entitled "What Does The Bible Say About Judgment?", we will all face the judgment of God one day....

The truth is that God is a God of perfect love AND of perfect justice, and according to the Bible the judgment of God is very real.

In 2 Timothy 4:1, the apostle Paul tells us that God will indeed judge us all....

In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead

In 1 Peter 4:5, the apostle Peter also tells us that we will have to give an account of what we have done to God....

But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.

Romans 14:10 tells us that we will all stand before the judgment seat of God one day....

You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat.

Hebrews 13:4 explains that God will judge all those who have sinned sexually....

Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.

In Revelation 11:18 we are told that God will judge and destroy those who destroy the earth....

The nations were angry; and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and great— and for destroying those who destroy the earth.

In Hebrews 9:27 we are instructed that we only get one life (no reincarnation) and after this life we will face the judgment of God....

Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment

But perhaps you think you are "good" enough to get into heaven on your own.

Perhaps you think that God would never send you to hell.

Well, the truth is that if any of us took an honest look at how guilty we truly are we would be horrified.

Take a moment and imagine this - one of the biggest television networks wants to do a huge 2 hour prime time special starring you.

Doesn't that sound great?

But instead of a two hour documentary about how wonderful you are, the network has discovered all of the most evil and horrible things that you have ever thought, said or did and they are going to broadcast them to millions of people all over the world for two hours during prime time.

What would you do if that happened?

That reality is that whoever that happened to would want to run away and never show their face to anyone ever again.

Why?

Because we have all done, said and thought things that are unspeakably evil.

We are sinners in the eyes of God, just as the Scriptures tell us.....

"All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).

Are you ready for the day when you will stand before God and be held accountable for your sins?

In John 3:36 it tells us this....

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him.

Without Jesus, you will be facing the judgment of God by yourself.

In 1 John 5:11-13, we read that whoever receives Jesus as Savior and Lord will not face an eternity away from God.  God wants to give us eternal life, and it is free for whoever has the Son....

And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.  I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins, but now the majority of Christian evangelicals believe that the death of Jesus on the cross was not even necessary.

So where did all of this nonsense come from?

Well, all over the media Christians are told to be "tolerant" of other religions and that it is "bigotry" to say that your religion is the only way to God.

For example, Oprah Winfrey is teaching her millions of viewers that Jesus did not come to earth to die on the cross and that Jesus could not possibly be the only way to a relationship with God....

For much more on the emerging "Church of Oprah", please see this article: "Is Oprah A Christian?"

Any Christian that doubts that a relationship with God is only possible through Jesus should read John 14:6 where Jesus says the following....

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

But not only are Christians denying salvation through Jesus Christ, they are also denying creation in record numbers.

A new Gallup poll has found that only 40 percent of Americans believe in creationism.  Gallup says that number is the lowest it has ever been since they began asking that question back in 1982.

Sadly, the truth is that America as a whole is becoming less Christian.

According to the American Religious Identification Survey by the Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society & Culture at Trinity College, the number of Americans that have "no religion" is exploding.

According to that survey, 15% of Americans now say they have "no religion" which is up from just 8% in 1990.

That would be bad enough news for evangelical Christianity.

But there is some more news from that survey that is much worse.

In that same survey, 46% of Americans between the ages of 18 to 34 indicated that they had no religion.

Just think about that.

46 percent of our young adults now say that they have no religion.

The church in America is not just in a little bit of trouble.  The truth is that the church in America is coming apart at the seams.

Those under 40 years of age are leaving the established church in droves.  The younger generations are looking for something "real" and they are not finding it in our houses of worship.  They are not finding real love, they are not finding real holiness, they are not finding real integrity, they are not finding real passion, they are not finding the power of God and they are not finding people who really live out what they believe.

The watered-down, lukewarm nonsense that passes for "evangelical Christianity" in most of our churches today is not going to get it done.  We are losing an entire generation and those running our churches are asleep at the switch.

We would all do well to heed the words of Jesus to the church of Laodicea in Revelation chapter 3....

These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent.

The politicians that are working so hard toward a "two state solution" are completely and totally deluded if they actually believe that it will bring lasting peace to the region.  The truth is that according to Islamic law, any lands that have once belonged to Muslims belong to them forever.  Radical Muslims will never recognize the right of the Jews to live on even one inch of the land of Israel.  It simply is not going to happen.  Any "peace agreement" that gives the Palestinians control over more land is only going to be viewed as an "intermediate step" toward the eventual goal of completely eliminating the nation of Israel.  Anyone who doubts this should check out the results of a recent poll by The Israel Project.

The poll asked Palestinians living in Judea, Samaria and Gaza a variety of questions about Israel and about the peace process.  The following are some of the results.....

*60 percent were in favor of direct negotiations with Israel that would result in a "two state" solution.

*Approximately two-thirds of the respondents agreed that "over time, Palestinians must work to get back all the land for a Palestinian state."

*Only 23 percent of the respondents believed that  "Israel has a permanent right to exist as a homeland for the Jewish people."

*58 percent of those surveyed preferred "armed struggle" over "engagement with Israel."

*Just 12 percent of the respondents said that official maps, documents and school textbooks should show the name "Israel".

Are you starting to get the message?

In Islam, it is taught that you can negotiate with an enemy, lie to an enemy and even make peace agreements with an enemy if it will put you in a better position to achieve eventual victory.

That is what the Palestinians are doing.  They have no intention of living peacefully alongside Israel forever.  Instead, they are just going to grab land however they can grab it.

If Israel will give them some of the land now peacefully, then so be it.  Later on they will take the rest by force if necessary.

Any attempt at a "two state solution" is absolutely foolish and just puts Israel in even more danger.

Radical Islam does not compromise.  Radical Islam does not forget what the eventual goal is.  Radical Islam will not honor any peace treaty for long.

For years, the top Palestinian leaders have said "peace, peace" to the rest of the world and then have turned right around and have told their constituents that of course they would never give up the eternal struggle to take back "the land of Palestine" for the Palestinians.

But world politicians have been totally fooled.  They keep wanting to believe that if the Palestinians are given more land and more control that they will eventually be satisfied.

But they will never, ever be satisfied.  Not until the entire state of Israel has been wiped off the map.

There will never be lasting peace in the Middle East until Yeshua the Messiah (the Lord Jesus Christ) returns to this earth.  Unfortunately, our politicians are never going to understand that.

On Monday night, a "mystery missile" streaked across the sky just off the Southern California coast, and at this point the U.S. military still has no official explanation for it.  The "mystery missile" was caught on video by a local television station's helicopter camera, and the images are absolutely stunning.  The trail left behind by the missile was visible from the city of Los Angeles, and the helicopter crew that took the video estimated that the missile's location was approximately 35 miles out to sea north of Catalina Island.  So where in the world did this mystery missile off the Southern California coast come from?

At this point, nobody seems to know.  The Pentagon says that the U.S. military did not have any missile tests planned and that they do not know who fired the missile at this point.  Some are speculating that it could be the work of an amateur.  Others are claiming that it could just be an optical illusion.

Still others think that it might have been the work of a foreign nation.  For example, Robert Ellsworth, a former deputy secretary of defense and ambassador to NATO, is speculating that perhaps an Asian power is responsible....

"It could be a test firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile from a submarine to demonstrate, mainly to Asia, that we can do that."

A video news report about this mystery missile is posted below....

Eventually, the U.S. military will either tell us what this mystery missile over Southern California really was or they will make up a really good cover story.

In any event, all of this is rather unsettling.

The truth is that many believe that this is exactly the type of attack that is going to take down the United States in the last days.

Many, many, many people have had visions of Russian subs just off the coast striking U.S. cities with nuclear missiles in the future.

So is such a thing possible?

Yes, very much so.

Once Russia and/or China decide that war with the United States is inevitable, they will want to get in as devastating a first strike as possible before we can respond.

The very best way to do this is with submarines.

The reality is that Russia's next generation subs are so incredibly quiet that they can creep all the way up to U.S. coastlines without even being detected most of the time.

For example, the U.S. military was very surprised a while back to learn that two Russian nuclear submarines had been patrolling off the east coast of the United States.  According to news reports, two Akula class nuclear-powered submarines were lurking in international waters just 200 miles of the U.S. coast.

So did a sub from a foreign power test how close it could get to the coast of California and fire off a missile without being detected?

Maybe.

Maybe not.

In any event, this is something that a lot of people are convinced is coming in the future.

If Russian subs did sneak up to 30 miles off the California coast, they could literally be raining down nuclear missiles on U.S. cities in as little as five minutes.

That would not leave us a whole lot of time to respond at all.

So what do you think about this "mystery missile" off the California coast?

Do you think that this type of thing is a real danger?

Do you think that someday submarines could pop up off the coast and rain down nukes on all of us?

Please feel free to leave a comment with your opinion....

Today, an increasing number of people in the world believe in the theory of Darwinian evolution.  In particular, the vast majority of institutions of higher learning in most of the nations of the world only teach that all life on earth "evolved" from a single cell which somehow popped into existence.  So is this theory actually true?  Of course not.  In fact, this article is going to teach you how to disprove evolution very easily.  The truth is that no species has ever been observed changing into another one.  Neither are there any transitional fossils which show one species "evolving" into another species.  Rather, what we see in the fossil record is the very sudden appearance of fully-formed complex life.  This is much more consistent with a creationist paradigm than it is with a Darwinian paradigm, but the scientific community doesn't seem to care.  In fact, if you believe that we were created by God, you will be automatically blackballed by the academic community in both the United States and in Europe.  The truth is that if you want to be accepted in the academic world today you must have complete and total blind faith in Darwinian evolution.

But what else should we expect?  The Scriptures told us that men would choose to deliberately forget that God created the world in the last days.  2 Peter 3:3-7 says the following....

First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, "Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation." But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

Isn't that so true?  The scientific community has chosen to "deliberately forget" that God created the world, and instead they have manufactured an incredibly elaborate cover story to explain how we all got here.

But God says that we are all without excuse.  The Scriptures tell us that all men should know that there is a God simply by looking at the created things around them.  In Romans 1:18-20 it says the following....

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

But isn't there a ton of evidence for the theory of evolution?

No, there is not.

A while back, Jerry A. Coyne, a professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolution at The University of Chicago, authored an article in USA Today entitled "Science And Religion Aren't Friends".  In his article, Coyne repeatedly rips all forms of religion, making such statements as: "science is no more compatible with religion than with other superstitions, such as leprechauns."

So being the curious sort that I am, I ventured over to his website, Why Evolution Is True, hoping to find some decent arguments for Darwinian evolution.  Well, it turns out that the site is mostly just one big advertisement for his book, so I was disappointed once again.

You see, for years I have pleaded with evolutionists to please tell me what the best pieces of evidence for the theory of evolution are.  I have challenged them to lay out for me a basic outline of the facts that "prove" that Darwinism is true. 

Perhaps you think you can do it.

I'll even get you started.....

A)

#1

#2

#3

B)

#1

#2

#3

C)

#1

#2

#3

With so many billions of people around the world now believing in evolution you would think that this would be an easy exercise.

But it is not.

Why?

Because evolution is simply not true.

The reality is that science, logic and reason all favor creationism.

And shouldn't science, logic and reason trump any personal agenda that anyone is trying to push?

You would think so.

The truth is that once you learn the truth, you are ashamed that you ever believed in the hoax of Darwinian evolution....

"I myself am convinced that the theory of evolution, especially the extent to which it's been applied, will be one of the great jokes in the history books of the future. Posterity will marvel that so very flimsy and dubious an hypothesis could be accepted with the incredible credulity that it has."

-Malcolm Muggeridge (world famous journalist and philosopher), Pascal Lectures, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

The evidence is just not there for Darwinism.  It has been manufactured out of whole cloth in most cases. 

In fact, Dr. Lyall Watson once stated the following....

"The fossils that decorate our family tree are so scarce that there are still more scientists than specimens. The remarkable fact is that all of the physical evidence we have for human evolution can still be placed, with room to spare, inside a single coffin!"

Even some of our most prominent magazines have admitted that there is very little evidence to back up the theory of evolution.  For example, a 1994 article in Time Magazine (which is radically pro-evolution) made the following stunning statement....

"Yet despite more than a century of digging, the fossil record remains maddeningly sparse. With so few clues, even a single bone that doesn't fit into the picture can upset everything. Virtually every major discovery has put deep cracks in the conventional wisdom and forced scientists to concoct new theories, amid furious debate."

So with such a flimsy foundation, shouldn't evolutionary scientists at least call Darwinism a "theory" rather than a fact?

No, they keep insisting it is "fact" and that any scientist who disagrees must be blackballed by the rest of the scientific community.

But what does the science really say?

Well, the following are three key points which you can use to disprove evolution.

#1 If the theory of evolution was true, we should have discovered millions upon millions of transitional fossils by now.

So do we have millions of transitional fossils?

No.

In fact, we do not have any.

The following is how one very prominent evolutionist once described what we have actually found in the fossil record....

"I fully agree with your comments on the lack of direct illustration of evolutionary transitions in my book. If I knew of any, fossil or living, I would certainly have included them. You suggest that an artist should be used to visualise such transformations, but where would he get the information from? I could not, honestly, provide it, and if I were to leave it to artistic license, would that not mislead the reader?"

-Dr. Colin Patterson, senior paleontologist at the British Museum of Natural History (and a hardcore evolutionist), in a letter to Luther Sunderland, April 10, 1979.

Wow.

Let that sink in for a moment.

The senior paleontologist at the British Museum of Natural History did not know of a single transitional fossil to include in his book about evolution.

In fact, there are a large number of evolutionists that are noticing this little "problem"....

"The absence of fossil evidence for intermediary stages between major transitions in organic design, indeed our inability, even in our imagination, to construct functional intermediates in many cases, has been a persistent and nagging problem for gradualistic accounts of evolution."

Stephen Jay Gould (Professor of Geology and Paleontology, Harvard University), "Is a new and general theory of evolution emerging?" Paleobiology, vol. 6(1), January 1980, p. 127

Did you get what Professor Gould is saying there?

He actually admitted that they even have trouble imagining transitional forms.

How bizarre is that?

Remember, these are quotes from big time evolutionists.

Here is another one....

"Contrary to what most scientists write, the fossil record does not support the Darwinian theory of evolution because it is this theory (there are several) which we use to interpret the fossil record. By doing so we are guilty of circular reasoning if we then say the fossil record supports this theory."

Ronald R. West, PhD (paleoecology and geology) (Assistant Professor of Paleobiology at Kansas State University), "Paleoecology and uniformitarianism". Compass, vol. 45, May 1968, p. 216

Circular reasoning?

Isn't that what atheists usually accuse Christians of doing?

At this point, many Darwinists will usually trot out the same handful of incredibly weak, totally laughable examples of "transitional forms" that have been debunked and discredited time after time.

For example "Archaeopteryx" has been used as "proof" of evolution for years, mostly because scientists can't find anything better to support their case.  Fortunately, it is very easy to debunk....

http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v1/i1/archaeopteryx.asp

The cold, hard truth of the matter is that if Darwinian evolution was true there would be millions and millions and millions of very clear transitional fossils in the fossil record.

But their "theory" has a huge problem.

The fossils are simply not there.

"Lastly, looking not to any one time, but to all time, if my theory be true, numberless intermediate varieties, linking closely together all the species of the same group, must assuredly have existed. But, as by this theory, innumerable transitional forms must have existed, why do we not find them embedded in countless numbers in the crust of the earth?"

-Charles Darwin

There are millions and millions of fossilized creatures out there.  So why can't we find tons of transitional forms among all of those fossils?

Well, as one prominent evolutionist once explained, it is because they simply are not there....

"In fact, the fossil record does not convincingly document a single transition from one species to another."

-Evolutionist Stephen M. Stanley, Johns Hopkins University

So, in the final analysis, what the science actually reveals is that the "missing links" have always been missing and they always will be missing because they were never there in the first place.

#2 If the theory of evolution was true, then we should see an "evolutionary tree" in the fossil record, with complex life developing very slowly from earlier, less complex forms. Instead, what we do see in the fossil record is the very sudden appearance of fully-formed and fully-functional complex life.

If you examine the fossil record, you see all kinds of complex life suddenly jumping into existence during a period that evolutionists refer to as the "Cambrian explosion".

None of the fossilized life forms found in the "Cambrian period" have any predecessors prior to that time.  In essence, the "Cambrian period" represents a "sudden explosion of life" in geological terms.

So how do evolutionists get around this?

Well, by using one of their favorite tricks.  When something seems unbelievable they just stretch it over a long period of time.

Many evolutionists say that while it may "appear" that complex life suddenly appeared on earth, in reality the Cambrian explosion was about 50 million years long.

Of course this is a bunch of nonsense, and they still can't produce any transitional fossils from before that time period or from during that time period, but nevertheless they persist in their delusions.

For much more on how complex life seemingly appeared on earth very suddenly and out of nowhere, please watch this YouTube video.

The truth is that complex life first appeared on the earth in a very sudden, explosive manner.

"The earliest and most primitive members of every order already have the basic ordinal characters, and in no case is an approximately continuous series from one order to another known. In most cases the break is so sharp and the gap so large that the origin of the order is speculative and much disputed"

-Paleontologist George Gaylord

The reality is that complex life appears in the fossil record fully-formed and fully-functional....

A major problem in proving the theory has been the fossil record; the imprints of vanished species preserved in the Earth's geological formations. This record has never revealed traces of Darwin's hypothetical intermediate variants - instead species appear and disappear abruptly, and this anomaly has fueled the creationist argument that each species was created by God.

-Paleontologist Mark Czarnecki (an evolutionist)

There is no denying it.

There is no getting around it.

Even renowned atheist Richard Dawkins has really struggled with how to explain this phenomenon....

"It is as though they [fossils] were just planted there, without any evolutionary history. Needless to say this appearance of sudden planting has delighted creationists. Both schools of thought (Punctuationists and Gradualists) despise so-called scientific creationists equally, and both agree that the major gaps are real, that they are true imperfections in the fossil record. The only alternative explanation of the sudden appearance of so many complex animal types in the Cambrian era is divine creation and both reject this alternative."

-Richard Dawkins, 'The Blind Watchmaker', W.W. Norton & Company, New York, 1996, pp. 229-230

Now which worldview does the sudden appearance of fully-formed, fully-functional complex life in the fossil record support?

It is all so clear if you are willing to use even an ounce of common sense.

#3 Evolutionists are at a complete and total loss when it comes to trying to explain the creation of new information that is required for one animal to turn into another animal.

Evolutionists cannot show us a single example of functional new information being added to any creature ever.

One creation scientist explains it this way....

"The key issue is the type of change required — to change microbes into men requires changes that increase the genetic information content, from over half a million DNA ‘letters’ of even the ‘simplest’ self-reproducing organism to three billion ‘letters’ (stored in each human cell nucleus)."

The truth is that species just don't change.  Future generations of dogs may have more hair or less hair, they may be a bit bigger or a bit smaller, they may be a little nicer or a little meaner, but they will never, ever sprout jet engines out of their behinds and learn to fly.  It just is not going to happen.

Dogs are always going to be dogs.

Cats are always going to be cats.

People are always going to be people.

Evolutionist Stephen J. Gould of Harvard University put it this way during a lecture at Hobart & William Smith College....

"Every paleontologist knows that most species don't change. That's bothersome....brings terrible distress. ....They may get a little bigger or bumpier but they remain the same species and that's not due to imperfection and gaps but stasis. And yet this remarkable stasis has generally been ignored as no data. If they don't change, its not evolution so you don't talk about it."

The evidence for evolution simply is not there.

If you ever find yourself in a debate with an evolutionist, lay the following question on them and see what happens....

"Do you have enough blind faith to believe that life just popped into existence from nonlife, and that such life just happened to have the ability to take in the nourishment it needed, to expel waste, and to reproduce itself, all the while having everything it needed to survive in the environment in which it suddenly found itself?"

The truth is that evolutionists do not have a good answer for that question.

And here are four more questions that evolutionists do not have answers for:

1) Which evolved first: blood, the heart, or the blood vessels for the blood to travel through?

2) Which evolved first: the mouth, the stomach, the digestive fluids, or the ability to poop?

3) Which evolved first: the windpipe, the lungs, or the ability of the body to use oxygen?

4) Which evolved first: the bones, ligaments, tendons, blood supply, or the muscles to move the bones?

Conceivably, you could continue this exercise forever. The reality is that the body has a huge variety of incredibly complex systems which completely rely on other incredibly complex systems in order to function. Evolutionists just tend to completely ignore this bit of common sense.

There are so many examples of irreducible complexity that you could write a whole series of books on the topic and just scratch the surface.  For example, there are a whole host of extremely complicated chemical reactions which must occur in just the right order for blood clotting to take place.  If one of these steps is missing, blood clotting simply will not work.

But without blood clotting, how did the first animals survive? 

The following excerpt is from an article by Robert Harsh that describes the almost unbelievable intricacy of blood clotting....

*****

1. A cut occurs and Hageman Factor sticks to the surface of cells near the wound. Bound Hageman Factor reacts with another enzyme called HMK to produce Activated Hageman.

2. Pre Kallikrein reacts with Activated Hageman to produce Kallikrein.

3. Hageman Factor also reacts with HMK and Kallikrein to form Activated Hageman.

4. PTA reacts with Activated Hageman and HMK to produce Activated PTA.

5. Christmas Factor reacts with Activated PTA and Convertin to produce Activated Christmas Factor.

6. Antihemophilic Factor is activated by Thrombin to produce Activated Antihemophilic Factor.

7. Stuart Factor reacts with Activated Christmas Factor and Activated Antihemophilic Factor to produce Activated Stuart Factor.

8. Proconvertin is activated by Activated Hageman Factor to produce Convertin.

9. When a cut occurs, Tissue Factor (which is only found outside of cells) is brought in near the wound where it reacts with Convertin and Stuart Factor to produce Activated Stuart Factor. (Note that step 9 involves an extrinsic process whereas step 7 is an intrinsic process.)

10. Proaccelerin is activated by Thrombin to produce Accelerin.

11a. GLU-Prothrombin reacts with Prothrombin Enzyme and Vitamin K to produce GLA-Prothrombin. (Note that Prothrombin cannot be activated in the GLU form so it must be formed into the GLA form. In this process ten amino acids must be changed from glutamate to gama carboxy glutamate.)

11b. GLS-Prothrombin is then able to bind to Calcium. This allows GLA-Prothrombin to stick to surfaces of cells. Only intact modified Calcium-Prothrombin Complex can bind to the cell membrane and be cleaved by Activated Stuart and Accerlerin to produce Thrombin.

12. Prothrombin-Ca (bound to cell surface) is activated by Activated Stuart to produce Thrombin.

13.Prothrombin also reacts with Activated Stuart and Accelerin to produce Thrombin. (Step 13 is much faster than step 12.)

14. Fibrinogin is activated by Thrombin to produce Fibrin. Threads of Fibrin are the final clot. However, it would be more effective if the Fibrin threads could form more cross links with each other.

15. FSF (Fibrin Stabilizing Factor) is activated by Thrombin to form Activated FSF.

16. When Fibrin reacts with Activated FSF many more cross ties are made with other Fibrin filaments to form a more effective clot.

Well now, I am wondering to myself whether you are experiencing frustration or intrigue, weariness, or excitement. There are a lot of details but let me ask you a leading question. Is this intricate system something that man developed or is it something that man has discovered? Blood clotting is not an invention of man. It is the invention of either God or "Mother Nature" (i.e., it invented itself). Regardless of how you believe the clotting cascade came to be, the fact remains that blood clotting is a clear example of irreducible complexity.

Let us next consider that this irreducibly complex system of blood clotting must have a way to remove the clot once the wound has healed. How is this done?

17a. A blood protein, Plasminogin is activated by + - Pa to produce Plasmin. This acts like tiny chemical scissors which cuts up the Fibrin filaments of the clot.

17b. The rate at which the clot is broken up is controlled by yet another blood protein named Alpha 2 Antiplasm, which in turn inactivates Plasmin. One of the most important parts of this whole blood clotting machine is the ability it has to keep the clotting localized to the area of the wound and to stop the clotting cascade. What is the biggest killer of human beings? That's right, blood clots. Most heart attacks and strokes are caused by blood clots lodging. I believe the way your body shuts down the clotting cascade is as fascinating as the clotting process itself.

18. Antithrombin inactivates Activated Christmas, Activated Stuart and Thrombin.

19. Protein C is activated by Thrombin to produce Activated Protein C.

20. Activated Protein C inactivates Accelerin and Activated Antihemophilic.

21. Finally, Thrombomodulin which lines the inside of your blood vessels prevents Thrombin from activating Fibrinogin.

*****

Are you starting to get the picture?

So how did blood clotting possibly evolve?

Which of the steps evolved first?

How did "evolution" know that all the rest of the steps were needed?

And there are literally thousands of other examples just like this.

When you really get down to analyzing it, it is just not too difficult to disprove evolution.

In addition, if evolution is true, then where in the world are all the bones?  If the theory of Darwinism is even remotely accurate, we should be absolutely swimming in bones....

Today the population grows at 2% per year. If we set the population growth rate at just 0.5% per year, then total population reduces to zero at about 4500 years ago. If the first humans lived 1,000,000 years ago, then at this 0.5% growth rate, we would have 10^2100 (ten with 2100 zeroes following it) people right now. If the present population was a result of 1,000,000 years of human history, then several trillion people must have lived and died since the emergence of our species. Where are all the bones? And finally, if the population was sufficiently small until only recently, then how could a correspondingly infinitesimally small number of mutations have evolved the human race?

So where did all the bones go?

Can you answer that question?

In addition, I have issued a standing challenge to all evolutionists, skeptics and atheists to go and try to debunk these videos....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYLHxcqJmoM&feature=PlayList&p=C805D4953D9DEC66&index=0&playnext=1

If you can actually debunk those videos then you are better than any evolutionist I have ever met.

The truth is that the more you investigate it, the more you discover that the science actually backs up creationism.

"Scientists who go about teaching that evolution is a fact of life are great con-men, and the story they are telling may be the greatest hoax ever. In explaining evolution, we do not have one iota of fact."

-Dr. T. N. Tahmisian (Atomic Energy Commission, USA) in "The Fresno Bee", August 20, 1959. As quoted by N. J. Mitchell, Evolution and the Emperor's New Clothes, Roydon Publications, UK, 1983, title page.

"Evolutionism is a fairy tale for grown-ups. This theory has helped nothing in the progress of science. It is useless."

-Professor Louis Bounoure, past president of the Biological Society of Strassbourg, Director of the Strassbourg Zoological Museum and Director of Research at the French National Center of Scientific Research.

The truth is that even world famous atheist Richard Dawkins admits that it is "possible" that we were intelligently designed.  He is just convinced that it was definitely not God that did the designing....

So after reading all of this do you still believe in the theory of evolution?

Do you actually still believe that the science supports Darwinism?

Are you starting to see that things may not be as clear cut as you have been taught in the past?

Are you beginning to understand how easy it is to disprove evolution?

In the end, what all of us should want is the truth.  Perhaps we can all learn from each other.  Please feel free to post a comment below with your contribution to the creation/evolution debate....

Yet another survey has been released that reveals how shockingly little Americans know about religion in general and Christianity in particular.  It is called the "U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey" and it was conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.  According to the survey, 86% of Americans believe in God or at least in some form of "higher power", but when it comes to the specifics of what various religions actually believe, most Americans are blindingly ignorant.  Perhaps this should be no surprise considering the rate at which our society is becoming secularized, but you would think that the American people would still have a little basic knowledge about Christianity and some of the other major religions around the world.  But they do not.  On average, respondents of the survey answered half of the questions wrong.  Only 2% of those surveyed were able to answer at least 29 of the 32 questions correctly.  And the sad thing is that these were not difficult questions.  They were the kind of questions that any half-educated numbskull should be able to answer with ease.

But today most Americans do not care about religion or about God.

In fact, while most Americans still identify themselves as "Christians", the truth is that most Americans are seemingly complete dunces when it comes to even the most basic facts about the Christian faith.

In fact, do you want to know what group scored the highest on the survey?       

Atheists and agnostics.

Not that they did incredibly well - it is just that everyone else was just shockingly ignorant.

The following is a sampling of what the survey found....

*Only 19% of all U.S. Protestants knew the basic Christian tenet that salvation is through faith in Christ alone.

*Just 55% of respondents knew that the Golden Rule is not one of the Ten Commandments.

*Only 45% of those responding to the survey could name all four of the gospels.  The correct answer: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

*45% of all Roman Catholics did not know that, according to Catholic doctrine, the bread and wine used during the Mass is not just a symbol, but rather literally becomes the body and blood of Jesus.

*Over half of all Protestants could not identify Martin Luther as the individual that inspired the Protestant Reformation.

*Only 8% of all respondents knew that Maimonides, one of the most famous rabbis in history, was Jewish.

*Just 54% of the respondents could identify the Quran as Islam's holy book.

*Fewer than half of the respondents correctly knew that the Dalai Lama is Buddhist.

How disturbing is that?

Most Americans know all about American Idol, Dancing with the Stars and their favorite sports teams, but they can't correctly answer even the most basic factual questions about faith and religion.

We have a major, major problem.

So was there any question that almost all respondents got right?

Yes, 89% of those surveyed knew that public school teachers cannot lead their classes in prayer.

Isn't that sad?

If there is one thing that Americans know about religion it is that it must be kept out of the classroom at all costs.

That is how far we have fallen as a society.

And the truth is that we are losing younger Americans at a staggering pace.

According to a survey by America's Research Group, 95 percent of 20 to 29 year old evangelicals attended church regularly during their elementary and middle school years. However, only 55 percent of them attended church regularly during high school, and only 11 percent of them were still regularly attending church when they got to college.

Yes, you read the correctly.

11 percent.

When young evangelicals finally have the opportunity to decide things for themselves, they are deciding to leave our churches in droves.

In fact, young Americans are abandoning all religions in unprecedented numbers.

According to the American Religious Identification Survey by the Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society & Culture at Trinity College, 46% of Americans between the ages of 18 to 34 say that they have no religion.

46 percent.

Overall, only 15 percent of Americans say that they have no religion.

So for 46 percent of Americans between the ages of 18 to 34 to say that they have no religion is extremely troubling.

We are losing an entire generation.

The Christian faith is in a state of deep, deep decline in the United States and it is time to stop denying it.

So what do you think about all of this?  Feel free to leave a comment below with your opinion....

Has the Israeli government already decided that they will be giving away East Jerusalem to the Palestinians in peace talks? Unfortunately, there is every indication that is exactly what is going to happen and that Israel plans to give up control over the holy sites in Jerusalem as well.

In an absolutely shocking interview with Israel's Haaretz newspaper on the eve of the peace talks in Washington, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak made the following statement....

"West Jerusalem and 12 Jewish neighborhoods that are home to 200,000 residents will be ours. The Arab neighborhoods in which close to a quarter million Palestinians live will be theirs. There will be a special regime in place along with agreed upon arrangements in the Old City, the Mount of Olives and the City of David."

It is important to note that this is not some minor official in the Israeli government talking here.  This is Ehud Barak - the Israeli Defense Minister.

He seems to have a very clear understanding that the Israeli government is fully prepared to give up East Jerusalem.

And the truth is that the Palestinians will absolutely not accept a "peace agreement" that does not include East Jerusalem, and both the EU and the United States both assume that a peace agreement will include handing over East Jerusalem to the Palestinians.

Not only that, but Barak said that he believes that the holy sites in Jerusalem will be administered by a "special regime" after a peace agreement is reached.

Now what in the world does that mean?  There have been rumors for quite some time that the holy sites would be turned over to international control of some sort or another, and it now seems that the Israeli government is more than willing to give them away.

And for what?

A promise of peace by the Palestinians?

When have they ever kept their promises before?

The stunning concessions that Barak believes the Israeli government is prepared to agree to are absolutely mind blowing.  The following is a brief excerpt from the interview with Barak in Haaretz....

What are the principles of a peace deal that you believe can be agreed upon by the conclusion of the talks?

"Two states for two nations; an end to the conflict and the end of all future demands; the demarcation of a border that will run inside the Land of Israel, and within that border will lie a solid Jewish majority for generations and on the other side will be a demilitarized Palestinian state but one that will be viable politically, economically, and territorially; keeping the settlement blocs in our hands; retrieving and relocating the isolated settlements into the settlement blocs or within Israel; a solution to the refugee problem [whereby refugees return to] the Palestinian state or are rehabilitated by international aid; comprehensive security arrangements and a solution to the Jerusalem problem."

So that's it?

The Palestinians get a Palestinian state?

The Palestinians get East Jerusalem?

Israel gives up control of the holy sites?

And Israel gets a promise of peace that is not worth the paper it is written on?

Already it seems as though progress is being made in the negotiations that are taking place in Washington.  The Israelis and Palestinians have agreed to work towards a "framework agreement" over the next few months as a "first step" to a full peace treaty.

According to U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell, the purpose of the framework is to establish the compromises which will be made by both sides....

"The purpose of a framework agreement will be to establish the fundamental compromises necessary to enable them to flesh out and complete a comprehensive treaty that will end the conflict and establish a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians."

Or in other words, the "framework agreement" will set forth the very deep concessions that Israel is making and only require the Palestinians to offer a vague promise of peace.

At this point, Benjamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas have agreed to hold another round of meetings on September 14th and 15th.  It is believed that these meetings will be held in Egypt.

Isn't that fitting?

Israel always seems to want to go back to Egypt.

Israel always seems to want to give away parts of the promised land.

The upcoming September talks are also going to include U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell.  The United States is playing a central role in this "peace process" and that is a very bad thing.

For example, has anyone noticed that Hurricane Earl has been raging just off the east coast of the United States as these negotiations have been taking place?

Oh, you think that this is just a coincidence?

Well, the reality is that whenever the U.S. government has been involved in negotiations to carve up the land of Israel bad things have happened.  If you doubt this, just please see all of the other examples of this phenomenon that we detailed in a previous article entitled "Did The Oil Spill In The Gulf Of Mexico Happen Because Barack Obama Is Trying To Divide The Land Of Israel?"

The truth is that God gave the land of Israel to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob forever.

No man has the right to ever give it away.

Anyone who tries to give it away is coming directly against God.

Psalm 105:8-11 says the following....

He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations. Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac; And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant: Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance

The land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel.

Any effort to give it away is foolish and will only bring the wrath of God.

In the end, the people of Israel will have all of the land that God has promised.

But in the meanwhile, Jerusalem will continue to be a "burdensome stone" and the land of Israel will continue to be carved up by world leaders.

Please pray for the land of Israel and for the peace of Jerusalem in these last days.

Many times Christians in America speak of the persecution that is coming someday.  But the truth is that intense persecution of Christians is already here.  According to a new report from the Pew Research Center, two out of every three people in the world now live in countries where religion is highly restricted.  Governments around the globe are regularly killing Christians, torturing Christians and imprisoning Christians in absolutely horrific conditions.  But it isn't just governments that are persecuting Christians.  Jihadist groups throughout the Islamic world have taken it upon themselves to slaughter those who commit "blasphemy" by preaching the gospel.  The truth is that it is a very dangerous time to be a Christian, and things are only going to get even more intense as we get deeper into the last days.

Things are really getting frightening out there.  Just consider a few of the recent reports of Christian persecution from around the globe....

*Christian organizations around the world are expressing outrage over the killing of ten Christian medical workers who were serving the poor in the northeastern province of Badakhshan in Afghanistan.  According to reports, the Christian medical workers were killed by jihadists for "spying for the Americans" and for "preaching Christianity".

*An out of control Muslim mob in Jhelum, Pakistan slaughtered the wife and four children of a prominent Christian a number of weeks ago, but local authorities were too intimidated by the local Muslim leader to file charges.

*Two brothers were recently shot dead by Islamic extremists outside a courtroom in the Pakistani's Punjab province.  The brothers were facing blasphemy charges after allegedly distributing gospel pamphlets.

*Jihadist organizations in Indonesia have declared their intention to establish paramilitary units in local mosques to fight "ongoing attempts to convert people to Christianity".

*A Christian pastor in the Russian republic of Dagestan known for founding the biggest Protestant church in the region and for successfully sharing the gospel with Muslims was recently shot and killed by unidentified gunmen.

*Christians in Bhutan were disheartened to learn that the government there has proposed the kind of "anti-conversion law" that other nations have used as a pretext for persecuting Christians and shutting down the sharing of the gospel.

*In North Korea, you are likely to get thrown into prison for the rest of your life or tortured to death just for trying to bring a Bible into the country.

But it just isn't in other areas of the world where Christianity is being persecuted.  The truth is that Christians are now being heavily persecuted inside the United States itself.... 

*A federal judge recently recently ruled in favor of a counseling program at Eastern Michigan University that kicked out a master's student who refused to affirm the morality of homosexuality.

*A newly filed lawsuit against Augusta State University in Georgia alleges that university officials essentially gave a graduate student in counseling the choice of either giving up her Christian beliefs or being expelled from the program.

*Pastor Ronnie Wallace was recently placed under arrest in Charlotte, North Carolina for preaching the gospel in front of an abortion clinic.

*Two other Christians were arrested recently for sharing the gospel and singing hymns on a public sidewalk outside an Islamic mosque in the city of Philadelphia.

*One North Carolina pastor is demanding an apology from lawmakers in his state after he was dismissed from his chaplain duties for praying in the name of Jesus.

*Four Christians face fines of up to $500 each and up to 93 days in jail for sharing the gospel with Muslims on a public sidewalk outside of an Islamic street festival in Dearborn, Michigan.

So would you continue preaching the gospel if it meant that you would be put in jail?

That is something to think about.

The sad thing is that most American Christians don't preach the gospel anyway.

In fact, for most Americans, God is not a very important part of their lives at all.  According to a brand new study by the Barna Group, only 12 percent of American adults say that faith is a top priority in their lives.

Only 12 percent?

Unfortunately, even many of those Americans that do consider faith to be important have been completely lulled to sleep by their "shepherds".

All over the United States, Christians are being taught by their "life coaches" to "live their best lives now" while millions of other Christians throughout the world are literally risking their lives to advance the gospel.

Christians across America better start waking up.  The last days are upon us and a time is coming when Christians are going to be killed in staggering numbers.  We all need to decide right now what we are willing to give up for the sake of Christ. 

You better get ready.

Hard times are coming.

An event has just occurred that the rest of the world has not taken much notice of yet, but it is one that will soon have Bible prophecy students buzzing with anticipation.  There has been a major discovery of oil in Israel.  An Israeli oil prospecting and production firm has formally announced the discovery of a "commercially sized" oil field in central Israel.  Ever since it became a nation again in 1948, Israel has been importing all of the oil that it needs, so needless to say this is potentially an incredibly exciting development.  For years, many Bible prophecy teachers have believed that oil would be discovered in Israel in the last days, but up until now there hasn't been much to report.

Now there is. 

A recent article in Haaretz provided some more details on this new discovery.... 

Givot Olam Oil Ltd notified the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange of the find in its "Megev Five" drill near the town of Rosh Ha’ayin, saying it can produce 470 barrels of oil a day.

But this has not been the only major discovery in Israel in recent years.  In January 2009, Nobel Drilling announced that they had found a massive natural gas field approximately 60 to 90 miles offshore from Israel.  The firm says that the field contains enough natural gas to supply everything that Israel needs for the next 10 or 20 years.

Things are changing.

So will these new discoveries fundamentally change the politics of the Middle East?

Are we seeing Bible prophecy being fulfilled right before our eyes?

For years, there have been some Bible teachers that have pointed to scriptures such as Deuteronomy 33:24 as evidence that Israel would someday be blessed with oil....

"And of Asher he said, Let Asher be blessed with children; let him be acceptable to his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil."

The truth is that there is a lot of debate about the "oil" passages throughout the Bible, but these new discoveries are certainly strengthening the case of those who strongly believe there is a lot of oil in Israel.

So could the discovery of oil in Israel end up being one of the things that sparks the next war in the Middle East?

Only time will tell.

But one thing is for sure - we certainly do live in extraordinary times.

The Scriptures tell us that in the last days there will be wars and rumors of wars, and that is certainly true of the times that we are living in today.  Iran's nuclear program continues to advance, and world leaders around the globe are becoming increasingly alarmed.  In fact, even Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is now warning that Iran is close to having the potential to build a nuclear weapon.  For years, Russia has been one of Iran's most vigorous defenders on the world scene, but now even the Russian government is expressing reservations about what is going on in that country.  That should set off alarm bells for all of us.

Not only that, but now even Arab nations are expressing concern about Iran's nuclear program.  For example, the United Arab Emirates ambassador to the United States recently said that it would be extremely difficult for his nation to coexist with a nuclear Iran and that it would support any actions the U.S. took to prevent such a possibility.

The UAE would support a U.S. military strike on Iran?

Yes, you read that correctly.

It is even being reported that both Egypt and Jordan are growing increasingly concerned with Iran's nuclear program.

It looks like Iran is running out of friends.

But Iran continues to recklessly push forward with their nuclear ambitions.

Just this past week, Iran announced that the Bushehr nuclear power plant would be ready for operation in just two months.

But does being able to produce nuclear power mean that Iran is also planning to develop nuclear weapons?

The truth is that we all know the answer to that question.

In fact, a former of Iran's Revolutionary Guard who relayed its secret operations to the CIA for 10 years says that Iran will commit the "most horrendous suicide bombing in human history" if it is not stopped from developing nuclear weapons.

So who is going to stop them?

The United States?

That seems quite likely as long as Barack Obama is running things.

Israel?

Perhaps.

For now, Israel has been trying to talk peace with the Palestinians, but they are also preparing for war.

The world has certainly been trying to push Israel and the Palestinians to the negotiating table, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has expressed interest in sitting down with them.  Netanyahu says that he believes that direct talks with the Palestinians will begin very soon and he recently predicted that they will be "very, very tough".

But on another occasion recently, Netanyahu said that he does not envision actually reaching a negotiated Middle East peace settlement within the next two years, despite his Palestinian counterpart's declared intentions to set up infrastructure for a state by 2011.

So it looks like Netanyahu expects peace talks with the Palestinians to begin soon, but he is not anticipating that they will bear any fruit in the foreseeable future.

Not that any of the other "peace agreements" with the Palestinians have ever worked out.

In the end, war always ends up breaking out again.

And war tensions are certainly on the rise in the region once again.

Debka is reporting that 20,000 Hezbollah troops have advanced and are dug into 160 new positions in South Lebanon.  Israel is believed to be "preparing something" for Lebanon and Hezbollah is on high alert to prevent it, unnamed sources in the group were quoted by London-based newspaper Al-Sharq Al-Awsat as saying recently.

In addition, according to the Palestinian Authority daily newspaper Al-Hayat al-Jadida, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas recently told Arab leaders that the PA is ready to wage war on Israel if the rest of the Arab world does.  The following is what Abbas reportedly told them....

"If you want war, and if all of you will fight Israel, we are in favor.  But the Palestinians will not fight alone because they don't have the ability to do it."

To the world media, Abbas talks about peace, peace, peace, but to his fellow Arab leaders he says that the Palestinian Authority is ready for war with Israel.

What a hypocrite.

The truth is that even if a "peace agreement" is reached, and even if a "Palestinian state" is created, more wars in the Middle East are inevitable.

These are the last days, and wars are going to continue until the end.  The only time that there is going to be true peace is after the King of Kings, the Messiah, returns to this earth and sets up His kingdom in Jerusalem.

Right away it is important to warn you that the premise of this article is highly controversial.  Throughout history, God has always dealt very harshly with anyone who has turned their backs on Israel.  In fact, as we will document below, God has dealt very harshly with the United States on a number of occasions when the U.S. has been involved in the dividing of the land of Israel.  God gave the promised land to the people of Israel forever, and nobody has the right to give one inch of that land away.  But the Scriptures tell us that in the last days that is exactly what is going to happen.  The truth is that world leaders never learn.  They are still messing with the land of Israel just like they always have throughout history.  However, those nations who do mess with Israel have often found themselves cursed.  So is the Gulf of Mexico oil spill a curse that has been brought upon us because Barack Obama is trying to divide the land of Israel?

The truth is that we don't have a definitive answer for that question.  Only God can tell us exactly why something happens.  But below we will detail the evidence for why these two things may be connected.

Barack Obama And The Division Of The Land Of Israel

Barack Obama has rapidly become the most anti-Israel president in U.S. history.  In fact, it was reported in the international media on April 30th that Barack Obama had already decided that if Israel and the Palestinians have not agreed to a peace agreement by the end of the year, the Middle East peace process will be handed over to the international community and a final solution will be imposed on both parties.

In fact, Haaretz reported on April 30th that Barack Obama had already conferred with "several European leaders" at that point and that it had been decided that the "international peace conference" would be run by the Quartet of Middle East peacemakers - the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia - and the goal would be to forge a united global front for creating a Palestinian state.

So if this was being reported on April 30th, and Barack Obama had already spent a good amount of time talking with European leaders about this plan prior to that date, then it seems quite likely that Obama had started implementing this new Middle East strategy at least a week or two earlier.

Coincidentally, BP's Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico exploded on April 20th, 2010.

Before you convince yourself that the two events are unrelated, keep reading the rest of the article.

The truth is that God does not like it when anyone tries to take the land of Israel and give to to someone else.

And that is exactly what Barack Obama's plan would do.

If Obama's plan is implemented, the international community will almost certainly come up with the "final solution" that the UN, the EU and Barack Obama have been seeking all along - a Palestinian state along pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.

So now the Palestinians have absolutely no incentive to negotiate with Israel at all.

The reality is that the Palestinians can just sit back, allow the negotiations to fail, and still get a Palestinian state with a capital in East Jerusalem just like they always wanted anyway.

The truth is that Obama's grand scheme undermines the entire peace process as one Israeli official recently explained....

"If you enforce a time limit and then introduce an imposed solution if they don't succeed after a period, then it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy: you're going to guarantee the talks won't succeed."

Not that Israel should be considering giving away one single inch of the promised land anyway.

But now the Palestinians will just sit back and wait for the international community to give them the state that they have been promised along with a capital in East Jerusalem.

The sad truth is that Barack Obama has been promising them a Palestinian state for a long time. According to WorldNetDaily, Barack Obama told the Palestinian leadership all the way back in 2008 that he supports a Palestinian state with a Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem.

So why in the world would the Palestinians be willing to accept anything less from Israel?

Meanwhile, Barack Obama and his administration are bringing a curse on to the United States of America.

Examples Of Horrific Disasters That Have Occurred At Times The U.S. Has Been Involved In Dividing Up The Land Of Israel

In a previous article, we detailed what has happened before when the U.S. government has tried to divide the land of Israel....

----

In the Scriptures, we are warned that the city of Jerusalem would one day become a huge stumbling stone for the nations in Zechariah 12:3.....

"On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves."

Is that not what has happened?

The truth is that God gave that land to Israel long ago, and now that He has started to bring His people back to the land, anyone who tries to give it away is going to be under a curse.

So is there any evidence of a curse on those who try to divide the land of Israel today?

Yes.

Consider these examples.....

#1) On April 30, 2003, America was positioned to be the catalyst for the so-called "solution" to the Middle East crisis. As Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas was sworn in, the "Road Map" peace plan was set in motion.

The very next day began the worst month of tornadoes in United States history - more than 500 in a single month. Under normal conditions, 1,000 tornadoes hit the United States each year, but in just eight days that May, 375 twisters ripped across the heartland of America.

#2) May 9, 2003, President Bush addressed students at the University of South Carolina. Bush called on the Palestinians to embrace the roadmap to peace, and Bush expressed his desire to see the flag of Palestine raised over a free nation.

Hours later, tornadoes returned and Oklahoma City again became the target for deadly twisters, reducing many businesses and homes to splinters and bricks. The tornadoes of May devastated the Midwest with the third worst property damage in American history.

#3) On October 30, 1991, in a meeting scheduled by George H.W. Bush, Israelis and Palestinians discussed ways to achieve peace in the Middle East. Opening talks focused on trading parts of Israel for a peace agreement.

That same day, thousands of miles away, a powerful storm was brewing off of the coast of Nova Scotia. On October 31st, what would be known as "The Perfect Storm" smashed into New England, pummeling the President's Kennebunkport, Maine home with waves 30 feet high. It was a storm so rare that the weather patterns required to create it only happen about once every 100 years.

#4) On August 23rd, 1992, Middle East peace talks resumed in Washington, D.C. with hope that there would be a great breakthrough. These talks focused on surrendering the biblical lands of Judea and Samaria in exchange for peace. Hundreds of miles south of there at the same time, Florida was the target for one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history. Hurricane Andrew ripped through the state with an eye more than 30 miles wide and winds up to 178 miles per hour leaving behind a 32 billion dollar disaster.

#5) Between August 16th and 30th, 2005, Ariel Sharon expelled 9,480 Jewish settlers from 21 settlements in Gaza and four settlements in the northern West Bank.

On January 4th, 2006, Sharon had a stroke, and he fell into a coma and is now in a persistent vegetative state.

#6) The U.S. had strongly pressured Sharon to evacuate those settlers from Gaza.

On August 29th, 2005 the storm that would become Hurricane Katrina formed, and it devastated New Orleans and the surrounding areas to such an extent that they still have not recovered. That devastating storm caused at least 200 billion dollars in damage.

#7) In June of 2001, George W. Bush sent CIA director George Tenet to Israel in an attempt to implement the Mitchell Plan. The Mitchell plan called for, among other things, the cessation of new building in the Jewish settlements.

On the same day that Tenet met with Israeli and Palestinian officials, tropical storm Allison formed in the Gulf of Mexico and moved over Texas, the President's home state, and dropped over 28 inches of rain over the Houston area alone, causing over $4 billion dollars in damage. The storm then moved to Florida and up the east coast causing damage as far as Pennsylvania. The meteorologists called Allison the "worst tropical storm in history".

There are many more examples of this phenomenon here:

http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/1055/1055_01.asp?wpc=1055_01.asp&wpp=b

----

In the book of Joel, God warns specifically against dividing the land of Israel.

Joel 3:1-2 states, "...I will enter into judgment with them there on behalf of my people and my inheritance, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; and they have divided up my land."

You just cannot go against the Word of God and win.

So is the Gulf of Mexico oil spill a curse on the United States for trying to divide up the land of Israel?

Or could it just be a coincidence?

Could all of the examples cited above just be a string of coincidences?

You make the call.

****UPDATE****

A YouTube video has been posted by Carl Gallups of Hickory Hammock Baptist Church in Milton, Florida that examines this same idea.  A copy of the video is posted below.  In the video, Gallups points to April 19th as being the key date, which is very interesting.  

"April the 19th, Israel celebrates its independence in 2010," Gallups explains in the video. "On April the 19th, Fox News reports that the U.S. will no longer automatically support Israel in the United Nations. The next day, on April the 20th, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explodes. Coincidence? Or the hand and judgment of God?"

So is this even more evidence that our treatment of Israel is linked to the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico?  Watch the video for yourself and decide....

God is doing amazing things in these last days!  The Scriptures tell us that the gospel of Yahshua (Jesus) will literally be preached to the ends of the earth, and that is happening right in front of our eyes.  Some time ago, the Lord laid a tremendous burden for the African pygmies on Dr. Bree Keyton's heart while she was in prayer.  She did some research and she discovered that the indigenous pygmies of the Democratic Republic of the Congo are literally being eaten out of existence.  Yes, it is actually happening.  Anti-government rebel forces that hide in the jungle, particularly the Movement for the Liberation of Congo, consider the pygmies to be animals and they hunt them for food.  In fact, they have been using them for food so much that the pygmies are threatened with extinction.

Unfortunately, cannibalism is alive and well in 2010.

The Lord God has always had a heart for "the least of these", and in Africa, the pygmies are really treated as the lowest of the low.

The truth is that the pygmies are hated by even their fellow Africans throughout much of Africa. Many Africans actually consider the pygmies to be directly related to monkeys, and most of the time the pygmies are treated little better than animals.  In fact, in some areas of Africa, pygmies are actually openly owned as slaves.

In Congo, the pygmies are caught in the middle of a brutal civil war, and they are being systematically wiped out.  Both sides in the conflict consider the pygmies to be subhuman and as noted above, the anti-government rebels regularly eat them.

Other Africans actually believe that the flesh of the pygmies can confer magical powers, and so sometimes pygmies are being killed for that reason as well.

So needless to say, something urgent needs to be done to save these precious pygmies.

That is where Dr. Bree Keyton comes in.

Bree Keyton is an on-fire Christian evangelist who is waging a one woman crusade to rescue these pygmies.

She has already made a couple of trips into the areas where the pygmies live and she has been able to rescue some of the pygmy tribes and bring them to a location where they will be safe.  It is incredibly dangerous work, but God has kept her and her team safe.

The truth is that God loves the pygmies as much as he loves anyone else.  Dr. Bree Keyton is doing  wonderful thing.  More pygmy tribes have learned about what Bree Keyton is doing and now they want to be saved as well.

To learn how you can get involved in this outreach, please visit Dr. Bree Keyton's official website:

http://www.breekeytonministries.com/

The most wonderful thing in all of this is that as a result of Dr. Bree Keyton's rescue missions, entire tribes of pygmies are receiving Yahshua (Jesus) as Savior and Lord.  These are now our brothers and sisters in Christ and we will see them in heaven someday. 

For more on Dr. Bree Keyton's outreach to the pygmies, check out the video posted below.... 

At a time when the U.S. economy is dying and the U.S. national debt is exploding at an unprecedented rate, Barack Obama has announced a brand new 400 million dollar "aid package" for the Palestinians.  Considering the fact that some cities American cities such as Detroit are such an economic mess that they literally look like war zones, and considering the fact that the U.S. government is literally drowning in debt, it seems inconceivable that Barack Obama would even consider sending 400 million U.S. taxpayer dollars to terrorists that have sworn to destroy Israel.  But that is exactly what Barack Obama plans to do.   

A White House statement said that the new 400 million dollar gift is "a down payment on the United States' commitment to Palestinians in Gaza, who deserve a better life and expanded opportunities, and the chance to take part in building a viable, independent state of Palestine, together with those who live in the West Bank".

And do you know who runs Gaza?

Hamas.

The same Hamas that is obsessively committed to wiping Israel off the face of the earth.

That is who we are sending 400 million dollars to.

It is utter insanity, but God warned us that things were going to get really strange in the last days.

But the reality is that the U.S. should not be sending 400 million dollars to anyone.

The truth is that the United States is flat broke.

According to the U.S. Treasury Department, on June 1st the U.S. National Debt was $13,050,826,460,886.97.

In case you aren't used to reading such large numbers, that is over 13 trillion dollars.

In fact, according to a recent U.S. Treasury Department report to Congress, the U.S. national debt will top $13.6 trillion this year and climb to an estimated $19.6 trillion by 2015.

19 trillion dollars in debt by 2015?

Do you have any idea how much money that is?

If you were alive 2000 years ago and you started spending one million dollars every single day when Jesus was born, you still would not have spent one trillion dollars by now.

And yet somehow the U.S. government has gotten all of us 13 trillion dollars in debt.

As bad as the debt already is, it is rapidly getting even worse.

Based on data from the International Monetary Fund, it is now being projected that the national debt will exceed the gross domestic product of the United States in 2012.

We have piled up the biggest mountain of debt in the history of the world, and yet the U.S. government continues to spend our money as if there is an endless supply of it.

But it is not just U.S. government debt that is the problem.

In fact, the total of all government, corporate and consumer debt in the United States is now equal to 360 percent of GDP.  That is a far greater level than the U.S. ever approached during the Great Depression.

Are you starting to get the picture?

The United States is a complete and total economic disaster.  A financial collapse is only a matter of time.

But you can help out.

Okay, try not to laugh.

The U.S. government is now actually taking online donations that will go towards paying off the national debt.

So are you feeling generous today?

Perhaps the U.S. government will send your donation to the Palestinians as well.

The truth is that any nation that comes against Israel is not going to be blessed.  Hamas has never renounced their goal of wiping Israel off the map, and yet the United States is giving them hundreds of millions of dollars.  We are cursing ourselves by giving them this money.

What we should be doing is taking care of our own.  Already, 40 million Americans are on food stamps.  1 in 5 U.S. children now live in poverty.  The U.S. economy is coming apart at the seams.

But Barack Obama feels it is much more important to send hundreds of millions of dollars to the sworn enemies of Israel. 

We all knew that things like this were going to happen in the last days, but to see what the United States is becoming is incredibly sad.

The Scriptures tell us that "the love of most will grow cold" in the last days and that wickedness will greatly increase.  But still, the complete lack of respect for life around the world that we are now witnessing is absolutely stunning.  An increasing number of governments around the globe seem to have no problem killing "unwanted" babies and killing elderly people once their "usefulness" has ended.  The truth is that the world is becoming a cold, cruel place where human life is not valued. 

Most Americans know that China only allows couples to have one child, but what most Americans do not know is that China conducts a ton of forced abortions to make sure that extra children are not brought into the world.

How many forced abortions? 

The truth is that every 2.4 seconds, a woman in China undergoes a forced abortion because of the one child policy.

The following is a brief excerpt from a recent newspaper article about this horrific policy....

"Over 400 million children are not living in China because of the one-child policy," said Reggie Littlejohn, president of Women's Rights Without Borders. "That's more than the population of the United States."

Can you imagine?

400 million dead babies?

Not that the 40 million plus babies that the U.S. has killed since 1973 is small potatoes either.

The truth is that there are real, legitimate reasons why the wrath of God is coming to this world.

But not only are we killing tens of millions of babies, the reality is that governments all over the world have become increasingly comfortable with killing off old people.

"Non-voluntary" euthanasia is becoming increasingly common in European nations such as Belgium and the Netherlands.

So exactly what is "non-voluntary" euthanasia?

It is killing an old person off without their permission.

Once upon a time that would have been unthinkable.

But that is the direction that the world is moving in.

And that is the direction that the United States is moving in as well.

A newly produced document from the Clinton archives has revealed that Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan defended ex-President Bill Clinton's veto of a bill to ban partial-birth abortions.

If Elena Kagan is confirmed, the truth is that she might just be the most radical anti-life justice that has ever been on the Supreme Court. 

The reality is that Kagan would move the Supreme Court radically to the left, and that would have huge implications for issues such as abortion, euthanasia and gay marriage.

Not that anything is going to stop America's slide into the moral toilet anyway.

But for those in a position to do so, please speak out against Elena Kagan.  She would be a total disaster for the pro-life movement if she is confirmed.

What is with all of the giant pagan idols that are suddenly popping up all over the United States?  The latest example of this is a seven ton, 26 foot tall concrete sculpture of an Egyptian god that is being installed at Denver International Airport.  The giant statue being constructed at the south end of the DIA terminal is of Anubis - the Egyptian god of death and the afterlife.  So why is this being done?  Well, it is apparently being put there to advertise the Denver Art Museum's King Tut exhibit that is about to open up.  That exhibit will go from June 29th through January 9th, 2011.  The plan is for "Anubis" to remain in place at Denver International Airport the entire duration of the exhibit. 

But this is not just an isolated incident.  Suddenly it has become "trendy" to set up giant statues of pagan gods.  We recently reported on a 26 foot tall Buddha weighing almost fifteen tons that has been installed across the street from the city hall of San Francisco and that will remain there through 2011.

Most people would say that these statues are just "art" and that they are perfectly harmless.

In fact, most Christians would insist that there is nothing wrong with these statues.

But what does God think about all of this?

The truth is that idolatry is loudly denounced by God throughout the Scriptures.  In fact, according to the Bible, it does not matter what "significance" one places on an idol.  What matters is that God wants no idols to ever be set up.

In fact, we are told in Revelation 9:20 that there will still be widespread idolatry in the last days....

The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk.

We just can't resist setting up idols, can we?

After all of God's warnings we just have got to tempt fate.

So now the hundreds of thousands of people who visit Denver International Airport will have one more thing to creep them out.

The weirdest airport in America just got a little weirder.

Those who have studied the Biblical festivals in the Torah understand that God has always had all of His most important events fall on those days.  Many students of Bible prophecy are beginning to understand that this is going to be true during the last days just as it has been throughout history.  For example, Yahshua (Jesus) was crucified on the eve of Passover at the same time that the Passover lambs were being slaughtered in Jerusalem in preparation for the festival.  In fact, during the original Passover the people of Israel were instructed to place the blood of their lambs on the doorposts of their home.  Why?  It was to foreshadow the Messiah.  The vast majority of doorposts, even today, are made of wood.  Wood comes from trees.  So by putting the blood on the doorposts, the message to the people of Israel was that the blood of the lamb on the tree covers them from the wrath of God.  That was prophetic of what the Messiah would do for all of us one day.

Not only that, but if you do a careful study you will find that so many of the important events in the Scriptures fell on these festival days.  The 10 Commandments were given to Moses on Shavuot (Pentecost) and on that exact same day the Holy Spirit was poured out on the early believers in Yahshua (Jesus).  In the gospel of John it tells us that the Word became flesh and "tabernacled" among us, and that is exactly what happened when Yahshua (Jesus) was born during Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles).  In fact, for over a thousand years before Messiah came, God had his people live in humble temporary structures during that time of the year to wonderfully foreshadow the way that His Son would come into the world.

So how do some of these festivals pertain to the last days?

Well, in Christian circles a lot of speculation has centered on Rosh Hashanah (the Feast of Trumpets), but in this article we are going to focus on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). 

God instructed the people of Israel to observe Yom Kippur on the 10th day of the 7th month of the Israelite calendar.  Even today it is regarded by the Jews as the most solemn day of the year.  On that day the people of Israel were instructed to "afflict their souls" (humble themselves and fast) and it was the only day of the entire year in which the High Priest could enter into the Holy of Holies.

In Leviticus 23:26-32, we read what the people of Israel were instructed to do on that day....

And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD. And ye shall do no work in the same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God. For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people. And whatsover soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people. Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.

In Leviticus 16, the Scriptures describe for us the duties of the High Priest during the time of Yom Kippur, and in Hebrews 9:24-28 we are told how Yahshua (Jesus) is now our High Priest and how He fulfilled what Yom Kippur had foreshadowed for so many generations.... 

For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence. Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

In verse 28, it talks about how the Messiah will appear a second time to bring salvation for those who are waiting for Him.

So are there legitimate reasons to believe that the moment when the feet of Yahshua will touch down on the Mount of Olives (Zechariah 14) will be on Yom Kippur?

Well, we believe that there is.

In Zechariah 14:1-4, this moment is referred to as the "day of the Lord"....

A day of the LORD is coming when your plunder will be divided among you.  I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city.  Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights in the day of battle.  On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south.

So do we have any clues as to when the "day of the Lord" will be?

Yes.

In Joel chapter 2 there is a lengthy description of the "day of the Lord", including this notable portion of Scripture in Joel 2:15-16....

Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly.  Gather the people, consecrate the assembly; bring together the elders, gather the children, those nursing at the breast.  Let the bridegroom leave his room and the bride her chamber.

We are told by Joel that it is a time when the bridegroom and the bride will leave their chambers.

So why is that significant?

Well, in Revelation 19:7-9, we are told that the marriage of the Lamb occurs just before the glorious return of Yahshua (Jesus) to this earth later in the same chapter.... 

Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.  And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

Please take special note of the "fine linen, clean and white" mentioned in the passage.

On Yom Kippur even today, many married men wear a kittel, a white robe-like garment on Yom Kippur.  In fact, this garment is used by some Orthodox males on their wedding day.

Not only that, but when the Temple was still standing, on Yom Kippur the High Priest would change into special linen garments at one point during the ceremonies of the day.

In addition, even today it is customary for all Jewish people to wear white on Yom Kippur.

So the fact that the saints are given "fine linen, clean and white" to wear on that day may be a little more prophetic than we may have realized.

In fact, in Revelation 19:14, this fine linen is mentioned once again....

And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.

Another detail from Revelation 19 to take note of is found in verse 13....

And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.

Blood was a key feature of the celebration of Yom Kippur.  It was the one day during the year when the High Priest could enter into the Holy Of Holies.  The High Priest would take the blood from the bull that had been sacrificed and would sprinkle it on the mercy seat. 

In Revelation 19, Yahshua returns in a robe that has been dipped in blood, signifying that He was the true atonement for our sins.

So can we 100 percent prove that Yom Kippur will be the day when Messiah returns to the city of Jerusalem?

No, but as with so many other things in the Scriptures about the last days, we can try to put the pieces of the puzzle together.  And the pieces of the puzzle seem to indicate that Yom Kippur could very well be the day when Yahshua returns to the Mount of Olives.

Not only that, but many believe that there are other references to Yom Kippur in the book of Revelation as well.

For example, many scholars believe that there is a Yom Kippur service going on in Revelation chapters 5 and 6.

For now, we just wanted to point out that almost all of the key events throughout Scripture took place on one of the festival days, and that Yom Kippur seems to be a likely choice for the day on which Messiah will return to Jerusalem at the end of the Tribulation period.

In addition, it is important to note that we are NOT setting dates.

The truth is that nobody knows when Messiah will return.

However, considering the Biblical pattern, it seems virtually certain that He will return to Jerusalem on one of the festival days.

We believe that it will be on Yom Kippur in some year in the future.

So are we right?

We will just have to wait and see.

It is becoming increasingly obvious that the world community will accept no peace plan for Israel that does not include a Palestinian state.  In fact, at this point the creation of a Palestinian state is a foregone conclusion in most diplomatic circles.  The only question seems to be what the exact dimensions of that state are going to be.  The Scriptures have long foretold the division of the land of Israel in the last days, but to see it play out in front of our eyes is absolutely stunning.  Virtually the entire world is united behind the idea that a Palestinian state is a great idea, and the pressure for Israel to accept one will continue to grow in the coming days.   

Robert Serry, the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, was recently asked if there is an alternative to a Palestinian state during an appearance at the Hebrew University's Truman Institute. 

His response? 

"No." 

In fact, he made it clear that the UN is not even considering any other alternatives when he made this statement....

"I don't know of any alternatives."

So that is what Israel is faced with.

Accept a Palestinian state or nothing.

In essence, a Palestinian state is Plan A and there is no Plan B.

Meanwhile, it is being reported that the Obama administration's plan for Israel includes stationing international troops along Israel's border with a future Palestinian state.

Apparently the idea is that by deploying international soldiers along the Palestinian side of a future border with Israel, there would be a "buffer" that would keep peace between the two sides.

Of course we have all seen how well UN troops "keep the peace" in other areas of the world.

So what is the main obstacle to a Palestinian state at this point?

Well, it is the fact that the Palestinians want East Jerusalem for their capital.

Benjamin Netanyahu and the current Israeli government are not about to accept that.

But we were warned in Zechariah 12:3 that the city of Jerusalem would one day become a huge stumbling block for the nations.....

"On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves."

So how will all of this play out?

We will just have to wait and see.

Meanwhile, the entire region continues to prepare for war.

*The president of Syria is openly accusing Israel of trying to start a war.

*According to one new report, Syria has approximately 1,000 ballistic missiles zeroed in on Israeli targets.

*Egyptian military forces recently concluded maneuvers in the Sinai Peninsula that simulated an invasion of southern Israel.

*The National News Agency reported this week that the Lebanese Armed Forces fired anti-aircraft artillery from the town of Shebaa in South Lebanon at Israeli warplanes flying over Lebanese territory around 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday.

*A top IDF Home Front Command officer said on Tuesday that Israel is not sufficiently prepared for a chemical missile attack.

*Israel recently kicked off a five-day nationwide defense drill with the goal of preparing civilians for rocket attacks.

*It is being widely reported that teams of American special forces have been authorized to conduct spying missions intended to pave the way for a military strike on Iran in case Barack Obama orders one.

The truth is that tensions continue to rise in the Middle East and war could break out at any time.

So will a Palestinian state come before or after the next war?

There is quite a bit of debate about that among Bible prophecy scholars.

The truth is that we will just have to wait and see.

But let us pray that the division of Israel and of Jerusalem does not happen, because if the U.S. has a hand in that, God will not be pleased at all.

An umbrella organization in Pakistan that includes more that two dozen fundamentalist Islamic groups plans to formally ask the United Nations to enact a global law against blasphemy that would include the death penalty for anyone who blasphemes the Prophet Muhammad.   Yes, unfortunately this is actually true.  The formal name of the umbrella organization is Jama'at-ud-Dawa (JuD) and according to IndianExpress.com, the leadership of the JuD has decided to contact the UN and ask them to implement a global law "against blasphemy of prophets and awarding death penalty to violators." 

So what types of things would be considered blasphemy?

Well, according to Wikipedia, the following are just some of the things that are considered blasphemy in Islam....

-to speak ill of Allah.
-to find fault with Prophet Muhammad.
-to slight any prophet who is mentioned in the Quran, any member of Prophet Muhammad's family, or any cleric.
-to speculate about how Prophet Muhammad would behave if he were alive.
-to draw a picture to represent Prophet Muhammad or any other prophet, or to make a film which features a prophet.
-to write Prophet Muhammad's name on the walls of a toilet.
-to name a teddy bear Muhammad.
-to state facts such as: Prophet Muhammad's parents were not Muslims.

So is there any chance that the UN will grant their request?

Well, there are over 40 Islamic countries in the UN, but there is no chance at all that the other members of the United Nations are going to go for something like this.

But what this does demonstrate is the dangerous mindset of radical Islamic organizations around the globe.  They are determined to impose their radical agenda on us however they can.

In this case, these radical Muslims in Pakistan are trying to make it sound like it is all about their hurt feelings....

The following is an official statement from the JuD that followed the meeting where it was decided to go to the UN on this issue....

"The ambassadors of Muslim and non-Muslim states will be told that blasphemy against prophets not only hurts the feelings of one religion but also sows a seed of hatred against the people of other religions."

So because someone hurt their feelings that person deserves the death penalty?

No, this is not about hurt feelings.

This is about the desire to use force and violence to advance the cause of radical Islam.

But we have seen this pattern repeated over and over for centuries.

The followers of radical Islam are just not pulling this stuff out of thin air.  They are getting it right out of the Quran.  In Sura 9:29-31 it says the following....

"Fight those who believe not in God nor the last day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by God and His Apostle, nor acknowledge the religion of truth, (even if they are) of the people of the Book, until they pay the jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued."

The reality is that the vast majority of radical Muslims have no problem using violence to get their way.  Just check out a few examples of violence commited by radical Muslims recently all over the globe....

*A Christian man in Pakistan's Punjab province was literally fighting for his life after radical Muslim leaders, backed by police, burned him alive for refusing to convert to Islam while his wife was raped by police officers.

*A horde of radical Muslims recently stormed into a central Nigerian town and slaughtered about 500 Christian villagers - most of which were women and children.

*A World Vision mission office in Pakistan was recently assaulted by Islamic gunmen, leaving at least five of the staff members dead.

*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.  Later, an Egyptian court acquitted the four Muslim men accused of committing the crime.

*Two Islamic suicide bombers in Lahore, Pakistan killed at least 43 people and injured at least 100 others in a high-security area with a dense military presence.

The truth is that wherever radical Islam encounters any other kind of culture all over the world there is violence.

But it is not going to just be Islam that becomes very violent in the last days.

In Matthew 24:9, Yahshua (Jesus) told us that the entire world will hate Christians and will want to kill them in the last days....

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

So the truth is that hate is going to continue to grow and massive persecution of Christians is coming.

The world is rapidly changing, and we are all going to have to get much closer to God in order to be able to handle the days that are ahead.