The military action that we are watching in the Middle East right now is just a preview of coming attractions.  Tensions in the region are rising with each passing day, and all sides have been anticipating future conflicts and preparing for war for decades.  It would be wonderful if everyone could sit down, forgive each other and agree to quit fighting, but that is not going to happen, at least not yet.  Most of us that live in the western world have a very difficult time understanding the mindset of those immersed in these conflicts.  In the Middle East, there are vendettas and grudges that go back literally thousands of years.  Children are raised in schools where they are taught to bitterly hate their enemies from the time that they are first able to speak.  As Americans, we have forgiven former enemies such as Germany and Japan and we just expect that everyone else should be able to forgive as well.  But that is simply not the way that it works over there, and there is no long-term solution in the Middle East that is going to be acceptable to all sides.  

Right now, Israel, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Muslim Brotherhood, Syria and Iran are all preparing for war.  Hopefully cooler heads will prevail in this current crisis, but that will only delay the inevitable.  There will be war in the Middle East.  Yes, politicians such as Barack Obama will do their best to broker more “peace agreements”, but even the declaration of a “Palestinian state” will never stop the fighting.  In fact, it would just set the stage for more war.  I don’t mean to sound pessimistic about the region, but the truth is that there will be more war until it is not possible to fight any longer.  Any “peace plan” will just be a pause in the warfare.  We are anxiously awaiting Barack Obama to initiate, sign, and fully implement a 7 year peace plan.

But hopefully the current crisis in the Middle East will not immediately erupt into a full-blown regional war.  That would not be good for the global economy.  In fact, that would not be good for anyone at all.

Here are some of the most recent developments…

-Hamas has launched dozens of rockets into Israel since Saturday.  At one point, the IDF estimated that at least 130 rockets had been fired from Gaza.  Other estimates have put the number of rocket attacks much higher.

-In response, the IDF launched a military operation in Gaza on Wednesday.  This involved the killing of the head of the military wing of Hamas, Ahmed Jabari, in an airstrike that was captured on video.  You can see video of the airstrikeright here.

-The IDF also attacked more than 20 underground rocket launchers in Gaza.  The goal was to stop them from launching more rockets into Israel.  Apparently those rocket launchers were capable of hitting targets 25 miles over the border into Israel.

-In response to the Wednesday attacks by the IDF, a substantial number of rockets were fired from Gaza toward Israel.  The IDF says that the Iron Dome missile defense system was able to intercept 13 of the rockets.

-The IDF says that the military operations they conducted on Wednesday were part of a “major offensive” and that a ground attack may also be coming.

-”Operation Pillar of Defense” is the code name that has been given to this campaign.

-The IDF is not taking any options off the table.  The following is from a message posted on the IDF Twitter account…

“All options are on the table. If necessary, the IDF is ready to initiate a ground operation in Gaza.”

-In particular, the IDF is being very open about the fact that top Hamas leaders will be targeted.  The following is from another message posted on the IDF Twitter account…

“We recommend that no Hamas operatives, whether low level or senior leaders, show their faces above ground in the days ahead.”

-The U.S. State Department has denounced Hamas for the rocket attacks against Israel and is saying that Israel has the right to self-defense.

-The military wing of Hamas says that Israel “has opened the gates of hell.”

-One top Hamas official, Khalil al-Haya, is very clear about what his goal is…

“The battle between us and the occupation is open and it will end only with the liberation of Palestine and Jerusalem”

-Islamic Jihad has released a statement that is very critical of the IDF attack on Wednesday…

“Israel has declared war on Gaza and they will bear the responsibility for the consequences.”

In Egypt, the head of the most important political party is warning that Egypt may have to get involved if the fighting continues.  The following is from a Breitbart report…

Today, Egypt’s Freedom and Justice Party, the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood – a party formerly headed by current President Mohammed Morsi – announced that Egypt would get involved if Israel continued to kill terrorists in the Gaza Strip. Such Israeli action, said the party, would prompt “swift Arab and international action to stop the massacres.” The party also warned that Israel “must take into account the changes in the Arab region and especially Egypt … [Egypt] will not allow the Palestinians to be subjected to Israeli aggression, as in the past.”

-Things also continue to get more tense with Syria.  Israel has fired tank shells into Syria twice since Sunday.  They did this in response to Syrian shells which struck the Golan Heights.  This marked the first time that Israel had fired tank shells into Syria since the Yom Kippur War in 1973.

-Syrian rebels are receiving a massive influx of arms and assistance.  The following is from a recent article in the Washington Post…

Syrian rebels battling the regime of President Bashar al-Assad have begun receiving significantly more and better weapons in recent weeks, an effort paid for by Persian Gulf nations and coordinated in part by the United States, according to opposition activists and U.S. and foreign officials.

Obama administration officials emphasized that the United States is neither supplying nor funding the lethal material, which includes antitank weaponry. Instead, they said, the administration has expanded contacts with opposition military forces to provide the gulf nations with assessments of rebel credibility and command-and-control infrastructure.

-It is being reported that UK troops may soon be deployed to areas near the border with Syria.

-NATO has announced that it is prepared to defend Turkey if necessary…

NATO will defend alliance member Turkey, which struck back after mortar rounds fired from Syria landed inside its border, the alliance’s Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said at a meeting in Prague on Monday.

“NATO as an organization will do what it takes to protect and defend Turkey, our ally. We have more plans in place to make sure that we can protect and defend Turkey and hopefully that way also deter so that attacks on Turkey will not take place,” he said.

Once again, hopefully all of this will settle down in a few days.

BUT, NOW EGYPT is threatening ISRAEL as well. Egypt's Islamist Freedom and Justice Party, the political wing of the terrorist group of the Muslim Brotherhood, has vowed a response to Israel's attack Wednesday on Palestinians in Gaza City..  

WHAT HAPPENED?  An Israeli airstrike killed the operational commander of Hamas’s military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. Israel accused Ahmed al-Jaabari of capturing the IDF soldier Gilad Shalit in 2006. Shalit was released on October 18, 2011, as part of a prisoner exchange deal.

A Muslim Brotherhood statement said Egypt “will not allow the Palestinians to be subjected to Israeli aggression, as in the past.” It also demanded a “swift Arab and international action to stop the massacres” in Gaza and said Israel “must take into account the changes in the Arab region and especially Egypt.”

In June, the OBAMA supported and funded Muslim Brotherhood won the Egyptian election and Mohamed Morsi became the first president-elect of Egypt following the 2011 Egyptian revolution.  Tensions are already VERY HIGH between Israel and Iran, and it wouldn't surprise me to see Tehran's "OTHER JIHADIST SUPPORTED terrorist group Hezb'allah to launch some rockets of their own.

An IDF spokesman has indicated that this is only the beginning of the operation. A ground assault into Gaza is possible, but apparently not imminent.

We shall see what the next 48 hours brings...

JESUS IS COMING! JESUS IS COMING! SOONER THAN YOU THINK! ARE **YOU** READY??? Your ETERNAL destiny is at stake here.

Source: couldbetoday.blogspot.com

JESUS IS COMING! JESUS IS COMING! AND VERY SOON, so are YOU ready?

The "Second Coming of Jesus Christ" has been talked about in print, radio, TV, and it has been preached about, movies made about it, broadcast on youtube.com, and many people still talk about it to this day.  However, it seems that in spite of all of the media talk, and internet websites that discuss it, not a lot of people know what the Rapture is and exactly what it means.  Just because you may have read the entire Left Behind series doesn't mean that you understand what is going to happen in the days ahead.  I hope to help explain this to you and to give you a glimpse of what is "yet to come..."

Check out this awesome video that will give you a glimpse of what might actually happen when Jesus returns to the Earth to take up His church (or those who have accepted Jesus as Lord), and take them to dwell with Him forever in Heaven.  Keep in mind though, it is written in the Bible that no one knows the day nor the hour (or the time that Jesus will come back to take up His True Church). BUT Jesus DOES SAY that you will KNOW when HIS coming is NEAR, EVEN WHEN HE IS RIGHT THERE AT THE DOOR!!!

Now, you cannot "plan" when it is time to give up your earthly desires and surrender your soul to God. Many people do not live a true Christian lifestyle.  And many others live with the thoughts that "God will always be there" and "I will get to making my life good with God, you know, when the time is right"...But what if you don't get that chance?  What happens if you die tomorrow?  Do you know where you are going? Do you think Jesus will take you with Him when He returns? Have you surrendered your life to Him so that He will take you too?  

SO...Are you ashamed of JESUS CHRIST? Why?

First of all let me state here... I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

What is truth? That is a good question and one that I have asked myself years ago. I really, really searched and found that Jesus is the only way. But, you need to ask yourself some questions to find out who you are, where you are going in this life, and where you think you will go in the afterlife.

Ask yourself this question. Have you sinned? In other words, have you done wrong? You know what the Ten Commandments are right? Thou shall not steal, lie, commit adultery, etc… Well every single person has broken at least these 3 commandments and sinned. Let me explain.

1) We have all stolen something, whether it is a pen at work, a pack of mints from the grocery, or a stick of gum from a friend’s house without asking for it.
2) We have all lied at some point in our lives, which includes telling a “white lie” of fabrication of the truth.
3) We have all looked at someone with lust in eyes and Jesus said in the book of Matthew to look at someone with lust is the same as committing adultery.

So do you see that you have sinned, just like me, just like everyone else on this planet? Let me show you the Ten Commandments too in reference to these.
1) Exodus 20:15 says “You shall not steal.”
2) Exodus 20:16 says “You shall not give false testimony”
3) Exodus 20:14 says “You shall not commit adultery”
Have you broken these commandments? I have broken all 3 of these commandments myself, and remember, this is only 3 out of 10. Any honest person with themselves will say yes. And you want to be honest with yourself? Right? Well on the Day of Judgment, God will judge according to His commandments. Now will you be innocent or guilty? You will be guilty. Everyone will!

Let me ask you this. Does that scare you? Look at what it says about number (1-stealing) in I Corinthians 6:9-10 “Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders, nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” This is what God Himself said about number (2-liars) in the book of Revelation 21:8 “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolatersand all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” This is what Jesus Himself said in Matthew 5:27-28 regarding number (3-adultery), “You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman (or man) lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

What about now? Does any of this scare you? It should. Remember, we are talking about eternity here. These verses tell us that all liars will burn in the Lake of Fire and no adulterer or thief will enter the Kingdom of Heaven! Think of it like this. We are in a court room. We have done all these things and are “on trial” on Judgment Day. God declares that we are guilty as charged, and cannot pay the fine (or get out of it). This is where JESUS steps in and pays (the fine or penalty) for us. We need His righteousness! Only HE can get us out of this, or pay our fine! Jesus is the only way!

If you have never sinned, then you have no need for Jesus. No sin=no need for Jesus (or no need for a savior)

Let me challenge you with these steps.

1)Repent or ask God for forgiveness and turn from your sinful ways. 2 Corinthians 2:7 says “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.” Matthew 3:2 says “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” Acts 3:19 says “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.”

2)Trust in God. Romans 10:9 says “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” John 3:16-21 says “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. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.” And Acts 16:30-31 shows Paul and Silas responding to the jailor by answering his question on how to be saved here “Sirs, what must I do to be saved? They replied, Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved…”

3)Follow Jesus and obey Him! You can expect to be ridiculed at times for your belief. Matthew 10:22 says “All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.” Luke 21:19 reiterates this by saying “By standing firm you will gain life.” Philipians 1:6 says “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” This is the Judgment Day and the day that we enter into eternity into HEAVEN!

I hope I haven’t lost you yet, but I hope that I have kept your interest! Let me challenge you today to pray about this and to turn from your sin today! Ask God for forgiveness for your sins, place your complete trust in Jesus Christ and what He did on the cross, and follow and obey Him by what He says in the Bible!

Listen, I don’t care what you have done, or how many times you have done it. God will change your life! He changed mine! Glory to God!

So now what are you going to do? I want to know!