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Obama’s 1967 Borders Policy

 Israel & the MidEast, Prophecy and End Times  No Responses »
May 232011
 

by Todd Strandberg
Rapture Ready

President Obama has made a huge shift in U.S. foreign policy by calling for a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians that would be based on borders that existed prior to the Six-Day War of 1967. This is the first time a sitting American president has basically sided with the Muslim world on where the borders should be.

“The borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps so that secure and recognized borders are established for both states,” said Obama.

He is also against having Israeli troops stationed at borders that separate the Palestinians from Egypt and Jordan. If it wasn’t for a separation barrier between Gaza and Egypt, a vast amount of weapons would flow into the zone controlled by Hamas.

The international community is already going to extreme lengths to micromanage Israeli housing construction policy. This new shift will make the outside meddling all the more absurd.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quick to voice his displeasure with President Barack Obama’s new policy. Netanyahu told Obama that Israel was willing to make compromises for peace, but flatly rejected the idea of going back to 1967 borders, which he described as “indefensible.”

“Israel believes that for peace to endure between Israelis and Palestinians, the viability of a Palestinian state cannot come at the expense of the viability of the one and only Jewish state,” Netanyahu told Obama in the Oval Office.

Obama can only push Israel so hard without suffering major political damage. Jewish donors and fundraisers have already warned the Democratic Party that the president is at risk of losing financial support because of concerns about his handling of Israel. One can hardly imagine what Obama would do if he won a second term and didn’t have to worry about a reelection vote.

Even with the political limits placed on him, Obama has managed to open one of the deepest divides in relations between the United States and Israel. One Washington server noted that Obama has basically become the head negotiator for the Arab world.

I don’t think the Arabs deserve to be given any land concessions. Hamas has never stopped firing missiles into southern Israel. The same day Obama made his speech, Syrian forces were shooting at unarmed protesters. It would be insanity to give the Syrians access to the Golan Heights. It would be a perfect location to rain rockets down on northern Israel.

The city of Jerusalem was not mentioned in Obama’s speech. Since it was part of the land captured in the 1967 war, the new policy would have to call for the Israelis to surrender control of the old city. Of course, this is where Bible prophecy steps in. The Word of God says that Jerusalem will be the center of conflict in the last days.

“Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem . And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it” (Zechariah 12:2-3).

America is at great risk to suffer God’s wrath over how it deals with Israel. Great Britain was once Israel’s benefactor. The Balfour Declaration of 1917 made the creation of the modern nation possible. The Lord had given the British lands that spanned the globe. “The sun never sets on the British Empire” was their legitimate boast. But in 1938, when they suddenly changed their tune and began a period of open hostility toward Israel, things changed. Today, most of that empire is gone and Britain is no longer the dominant world power.

I don’t hold to the popular view that calls for an immediate judgment every time the U.S. does something that is negative for Israel. I do, however, believe there is a long-time cost that comes with standing against the apple of God’s eye. I would cite our past Middle East policy as the likely reason our nation is currently experiencing its worst year for natural disasters. I dread to imagine what the new change will mean for the future.

“I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:2-3).

– Todd

 Posted by anef3k8rf5 at 10:42 PM  Tagged with: , , , , ,

Awe Inspiring Majesty and Beauty of God’s Creation

 Misc.  No Responses »
May 212011
 

Time Lapse video taken in the Canary Islands

Scenes taken from Tenerife, more than 2,000 meters above sea level and over a year to capture all possible shades, clouds, stars, colors from a unique landscape and from one of the best skies on the planet. First in a series of videos nocturnal and crepuscular Time Lapse taken in the Canary Islands trying to capture the beauty of each island.

To capture the natural movement of the earth, stars, clouds, sun and moon TimeLapse technique was used, Dolly vertical and horizontal rails, spindles with horizontal and vertical movements. HDR data collection.

Some scenes from the video:
- “The Cathedral” in the plain of Ucanca, night shot with the planet Jupiter across the scene.
- El Arbol de Piedra (Roque Cinchado) with a Tajinaste pointing to Polaris.
- Tajinastes “night”, The Red Tajinaste, endemism Canario blooming in spring.
- The “hat” in the Teide. Formation of a cloud known as cap at the peak of Teide.
- “Waterfalls of clouds crossing the mountains and rivers of multicolored clouds.
- Sea of clouds crashing against the mountains as it did the sea.
- Large pool of water in the plain of Ucanca lenticular clouds where stars are reflected.
- Tajinastes night with the Milky Way taken out on the horizon with a dolly track.
- Video of the sun setting and a double green flash.
- Pleiades and the Andromeda galaxy between rocks in the mines of San Jose.
- Scenes spectacular sunset in the Teide National Park with clouds and moving dolly.
- ArcoIris from the Teide National Park.
- Multicolor Halos around the moon.
- Clouds remain stationary hours at the site are changing their colors as the sunset

 Posted by anef3k8rf5 at 11:51 PM  Tagged with: , ,

Israeli rebuke of Obama exposes divide on Mideast

 End Times Politics, Israel & the MidEast, Prophecy and End Times  No Responses »
May 212011
 

By Jeffrey Heller and Matt Spetalnick

WASHINGTON | Fri May 20, 2011 7:25pm EDT

(Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bluntly told President Barack Obama on Friday his vision of how to achieve Middle East peace was unrealistic, exposing a deep divide that could doom any U.S. bid to revive peace talks.

In an unusually sharp rebuke to Israel’s closest ally, Netanyahu insisted Israel would never pull back to its 1967 borders — which would mean big concessions of occupied land — that Obama had said should be the basis for negotiations on creating a Palestinian state.

“Peace based on illusions will crash eventually on the rocks of Middle East reality,” an unsmiling Netanyahu said as Obama listened intently beside him in the Oval Office after they met for talks.

Netanyahu insisted that Israel was willing to make compromises for peace, but made clear he had major differences with Washington over how to advance the long-stalled peace process.

Netanyahu’s resistance raises the question of how hard Obama will push for concessions he is unlikely to get, and whether the vision the U.S. leader laid out on Thursday to resolve the decades-old conflict will ever get off the ground.

Despite assurances of friendship by both leaders, this week’s events also appeared to herald tense months ahead for U.S.-Israeli relations, even as the Arab world goes through political tumult and Palestinians prepare a unilateral bid this fall to seek U.N. General Assembly recognition for statehood.

Read full article at Reuters

 Posted by anef3k8rf5 at 4:25 PM  Tagged with: , , , , ,

The Ant and the Contact Lens

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May 182011
 

I just love this story, and it was exactly what I needed to hear tonight!
“Lord, I don’t know why you want me to carry this load….”

The story’s original source is the 1995 book Keep a Quiet Heart, by Elisabeth Elliot, where it appeared in a chapter entitled “Lost and Found.” Ms. Elliot attributes the story to a first-person account sent to her by Brenda Foltz of Princeton, Minnesota, who maintained she wrote it based upon an event that occurred during her first rock-climbing experience.

Brenda was a young woman who was invited to go rock climbing. Although she was scared to death, she went with her group to a tremendous granite cliff. In spite of her fear, she put on the gear, took a hold on the rope, and started up the face of that rock. Well, she got to a ledge where she could take a breather. As she was hanging on there, the safety rope snapped against Brenda’s eye and knocked out her contact lens.

Well, here she is on a rock ledge, with hundreds of feet below her and hundreds of feet above her. Of course, she looked and looked and looked, hoping it had landed on the ledge, but it just wasn’t there.

Now far from home on a ledge, her sight blurry, she was feeling desperate and began to get upset. She prayed to the Lord to help her to find it. When she got to the top, a friend examined her eye and her clothing for the lens, but there was no contact lens to be found.

She sat down, despondent, with the rest of the party, waiting for the rest of them to make it up the face of the cliff. She looked out across range after range of mountains, thinking of that Bible verse that says,

“The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth.” She thought, “Lord, You can see all these mountains. You know every stone and leaf, and You know exactly where my contact lens is. Please help me.”

Finally, they walked down the trail to the bottom. At the bottom there was a new party climbers just starting up the face of the cliff. One of them shouted out, “Hey, you guys! Anybody lose a contact lens?” Well, that would be startling enough, but you know why the climber saw it? An ant was moving slowly across the face of the rock, carrying it!

Brenda told me that her father is a cartoonist. When she told him the incredible story of the ant, the prayer, and the contact lens, he drew a picture of an ant lugging that contact lens with the words, “Lord, I don’t know why You want me to carry this thing. I can’t eat it, and it’s awfully heavy. But if this is what You want me to do, I’ll carry it for You.”

At the risk of being accused of being fatalistic, I think it would probably do some of us good to occasionally say, “God, I don’t know why you want me to carry this load. I can see no good in it and it’s awfully heavy. But, if you want me to carry it, I will.”

“God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called.”

 Posted by anef3k8rf5 at 11:49 PM  Tagged with: ,

We Cannot Know “The Day or Hour”

 Prophecy and End Times  No Responses »
May 182011
 

Hal Lindsey

I want all of my friends to know that I AM AGAINST any form of predicting a specific day that the end of this age and the Rapture will occur.

I am well aware that a Christian teacher has predicted that the end of this age will occur on May 21st 2011. When this fails, it will be used by our enemies to discredit the expectation that the Rapture could take place at any-moment.

The Lord Jesus clearly commanded that we are to recognize the general time of the seven-year tribulation that will end with Christ’s personal return to the earth to end Armageddon and set up His 1000 year Kingdom on Earth.

After Jesus made many prophecies about His coming and the end of the age, He said, “Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but M y words will not pass away. But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.” (Matt. 24:32-36 NAS)

In this very important parable, Jesus applies the significance of the prophecies He had just spoken. Every one knew that when the fig tree puts forth its first leaves, the general time of summer was near. There was no specific date assigned to this phenomena, but everyone recognized that the general time of summer had arrived. Jesus then applied this to what He had predicted about the signs of His return and the end of the age. When the signs all appear in the same time period and begin to multiply like “ birth pains” , we are COMMANDED TO RECOGNIZE that the general time of their fulfillment was near– right at the door.

The Lord Jesus then warns that no one can know the specific day or hour, but He commands us to know the “ general time” and prepare.

This is why I do not believe anyone can know the specific day. Even the Angels of Heaven cannot know that. But I do believe we must recognize that we are in the general time of the end of this Age and Christ’ s return. Jesus said of this time, “…this generation will not pass away until all is fulfilled.” The generation that saw these signs begin to all appear and multiply in severity will not die until all is fulfilled. We are that generation! The question is – are you ready?

 Posted by anef3k8rf5 at 1:32 PM  Tagged with: , , , , ,

Epicenter Conference 2011

 Israel & the MidEast, Prophecy and End Times  No Responses »
May 162011
 
Jerusalem at sunset

Epicenter Conference 2011

The "2011 Epicenter Conference" in Jerusalem, features Joel C. Rosenberg, Kay Arthur, Anne Graham Lotz, Ray Bentley, and Skip Heitzig. For two days study God’s Word, pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and return to God with all of your heart. Participate with praise and worship, lifting up the Name of the Lord, seeking His face, interceding for His people, and seeking His blessings for Israel and the nations.

Return to your countries and congregations with a renewed commitment to bless Israel and her neighbors in the name of Jesus and mobilize more followers of Jesus to “learn, pray, give and go” to the work of the Lord in the epicenter.

You can get more information about the 2011 Epicenter Conference and view all of the videos from the conference  here.

 Posted by anef3k8rf5 at 9:21 PM  Tagged with: , , , ,
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