Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Summer of Hope ✡ "Hope for Your Future"

There is hope for your future, declares the Lord, and your children shall come back to their own borders.

JEREMIAH (31:16)

וְיֵשׁ תִּקְוָה לְאַחֲרִיתֵךְ נְאֻם יְ-הוָה וְשָׁבוּ בָנִים לִגְבוּלָם

יִרְמְיָהוּ לא:טז

v-yaysh tik-va l'-a-kha-ree taykh n'-um a-do-nai v'-sha-vu ba-neem  li-g'vu-lam

Today's Israel Inspiration

It is the way of the Jewish people to live with "hope for the future" as taught by the Prophets of Israel. A feeling of hope is so vital to living a spiritual and fulfilling life here in the Holy Land that one non-profit is focusing on giving a "summer of hope" to needy children. Going beyond its traditional food deliveries and soup kitchens, Meir Panim is running highly subsidized day camps to get needy children off the street and into safe and nurturing programs for the hot summer days.

Beautiful Song of Jewish Return to the Land

Israeli children sing for the redemption in this best 'cup' song ever!

A Summer of Hope in Israel

Find out why highly-subsidized day camp in Israel is so important for children of low-income families.

Israeli Flag

Wave your very own Israeli flag! Measures 2.5 foot by 3.5 foot, and composed of lightweight polyester with sharp colors. Made in Israel!

Today's Israel Photo

This adorable little boy is excited to be waving the Israeli flag that's bigger than he is!

Yesterday's Photo Trivia

Yesterday's photo by Rebecca Kowalsky featured fishing boats docked in Eilat. This is Israel's southernmost city, a busy port and popular resort located at the northern tip of the Red Sea.

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Shalom,
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Is God Regathering Jews to Israel for Necessary Failure? - Sandra Teplinsky

Is God Regathering Jews to Israel for Necessary Failure?




Must Israel be brought to failure to fulfill its destiny?
Must Israel be brought to failure to fulfill its destiny? (Wikimedia Commons)
Standing With Israel
Has God regathered the Jews to Israel merely for their necessary or inevitable failure, in order to bring them to Christ? That's what some Christians believe.
Israel, they reason, must be brought low, devastated and overrun to accept Jesus as Messiah.
But what does the Bible teach? Here are five important considerations:
1. Some prophetic verses about Israel do point to a time of great distress toward the end of this age. To be properly understood, however, they must be considered in light of other related passages and the broader teachings of Scripture. If we overemphasize these scattered prophetic verses and ignore other important passages, we can come to conclusions about Israel that contradict the overarching themes of Scripture. (More on this later.)
2. While the Bible describes a time of great trouble for Israel, it also describes such a time for the nations—and true followers of Yeshua are not necessarily exempt. If we interpret isolated verses to mean that Israel's existence today is a divine set-up for failure, then logically the same must be said of every nation—and of humanity altogether. 
3. The prophetic Scriptures describe Israel's end-time restoration as gradual and progressive, not instantaneous. It could be said she takes two steps forward, then one step backward. In the process there are failures on her part. But the overall trajectory is forward, toward God's complete restoration of Israel (and redemption of the nations).
4. A main reason God's Word tells us about future events, including great trouble, is so we will proactively pray concerning them. Through prayer, the severity of those events can be greatly diminished. We aren't called to be fatalists regarding Israel. We're called to intercede in love on her behalf. We're to pray for full salvation from her enemies (see Rom. 10:1).
5. The spirit in which the doctrine of Israel's inevitable or necessary failure is taught rarely conveys His love, mercy or compassion. Yet God grieves over the pain of His people. When they suffer He suffers too: "In all their affliction He was afflicted" (Is. 63:9). Sadly, through history, the church has focused much on the presumed, necessary failure of the Jewish people. That focus has rarely led to Jews coming to faith in Yeshua, but more often to atrocities committed against them.
Lastly, and going back to Point 1, the truth is that we all fail apart from surrender to God, and as a result, there is trouble ahead. Our view of Israel (or any nation or individual) should not neglect that truth. But we are to keep it in perspective with other biblical truths. God's loving grace, overarching redemption and certain victory in Messiah trump every trial.
"Notice, then, the kindness and severity of God" (Rom. 11:22).
Sandra Teplinsky has been in the Messianic Jewish ministry since 1979. She is president of Light of Zion, an outreach to Israel and the church based in Southern California and Jerusalem. She is an ordained minister and prophetic conference speaker, and has written several books and articles about Israel and the church.
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Obama Just Sided With the Folks Chanting "Death to America, Death to Israel"

Obama Just Sided With the Folks Chanting "Death to America, Death to Israel"






These Americans are imprisoned in Iran.
These Americans are imprisoned in Iran. (Fox)
Tuesday President Obama betrayed Israel and the American people.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it best. He called the deal a "bad mistake of historic proportions."
"Iran is going to receive a sure path to nuclear weapons. Many of the restrictions that were supposed to prevent it from getting there will be lifted," Netanyahu said. "Iran will get a jackpot, a cash bonanza of hundreds of billions of dollars, which will enable it to continue to pursue its aggression and terror in the region and in the world."
It was a deal made out of either sheer ignorance—or out of more nefarious reasons.
Who in their right mind would negotiate in good faith with an enemy who wants to wipe Israel off the face of the earth and whose citizens are marching in the streets shouting death to America?
Lost in this diplomatic debacle is the fate of four Americans held hostage by the Islamic Republic of Iran.
One of those men is Saeed Abedini—an Idaho pastor—thrown in prison because of his Christian faith. For nearly three years he has been tortured at the hands of his Muslim captors.
President Obama promised Pastor Saeed's family that his release would be a top priority—but his words were meaningless.
So now Pastor Abedini's wife is turning to Congress—pleading with our elected leaders to save her husband's life.
"I plead with Congress to ensure that my husband, an American citizen, is not left behind," Naghmeh Abedini said.
"Congress holds the key to bringing my husband home, to returning the father to my children," she said. "My children have desperately missed the loving embrace of their father for the last three years of their lives. They have grown up almost half of their lives without their father. Please help us ensure the remainder of their childhood includes both a mother and a father."
Jay Sekulow, the chief counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice, denounced the Obama Administration's deal with Iran and called it "unconscionable" that the agreement did not secure the freedom of Pastor Saeed.
"President Obama told the Abedini family face-to-face that he considered the release of Pastor Saeed a 'top priority,'" Sekulow said. "How could that be a 'top priority' when a deal is reached and Pastor Saeed is left behind?"
At the very least President Obama should pick up the telephone and call Mrs. Abedini and explain why he left her husband behind to be tortured by the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Todd Starnes is host of "Fox News & Commentary," heard on hundreds of radio stations. Sign up for his American Dispatch newsletter, be sure to join his Facebook page, and follow him on Twitter. His latest book is God Less America.
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Planned Parenthood Uses Partial-Birth Abortions to Sell Baby Parts

Planned Parenthood Uses Partial-Birth Abortions to Sell Baby Parts - Video interview






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New undercover footage shows Planned Parenthood Federation of America Senior Director of Medical Services Dr. Deborah Nucatola describing how Planned Parenthood sells the body parts of aborted fetuses, and admitting she uses partial-birth abortions to supply intact body parts.

In the video, Nucatola is at a business lunch with actors posing as buyers from a human biologics company. As head of PPFA's Medical Services department, Nucatola has overseen medical practice at all Planned Parenthood locations since 2009. She also trains new Planned Parenthood abortion doctors and performs abortions herself at Planned Parenthood Los Angeles up to 24 weeks.

The buyers ask Nucatola, "How much of a difference can that actually make, if you know kind of what's expected, or what we need?"

"It makes a huge difference," Nucatola replies. "I'd say a lot of people want liver. And for that reason, most providers will do this case under ultrasound guidance, so they'll know where they're putting their forceps. The kind of rate-limiting step of the procedure is calvarium. Calvarium—the head—is basically the biggest part."

Nucatola explains, "We've been very good at getting heart, lung, liver, because we know that, so I'm not gonna crush that part, I'm gonna basically crush below, I'm gonna crush above and I'm gonna see if I can get it all intact."

"And with the calvarium, in general, some people will actually try to change the presentation so that it's not vertex," she continues. "So if you do it starting from the breech presentation, there's dilation that happens as the case goes on, and often, the last step, you can evacuate an intact calvarium at the end."

Using ultrasound guidance to manipulate the fetus from vertex to breech orientation before intact extraction is the hallmark of the illegal partial-birth abortion procedure (18 U.S.C. 1531).

Nucatola also reveals that Planned Parenthood's national office is concerned about their liability for the sale of fetal parts: "At the national office, we have a Litigation and Law Department which just really doesn't want us to be the middle people for this issue right now," she says. "But I will tell you that behind closed doors these conversations are happening with the affiliates."

The sale or purchase of human fetal tissue is a federal felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $500,000 (42 U.S.C. 289g-2).

A separate clip shows Planned Parenthood President and CEO Cecile Richards praising Nucatola's work to facilitate connections for fetal tissue collection. "Oh good," Richards says when told about Nucatola's support for fetal tissue collection at Planned Parenthood, "Great. She's amazing."

The video is the first by The Center for Medical Progress in its "Human Capital" series, a nearly 3-year-long investigative journalism study of Planned Parenthood's illegal trafficking of aborted fetal parts. Project Lead David Daleiden notes: "Planned Parenthood's criminal conspiracy to make money off of aborted baby parts reaches to the very highest levels of their organization. Elected officials must listen to the public outcry for Planned Parenthood to be held accountable to the law and for our tax dollars to stop underwriting this barbaric abortion business."
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World strikes final “historic” nuclear deal with Iran. Will it bring peace, or war? - Joel Rosenberg

World strikes final “historic” nuclear deal with Iran. Will it bring peace, or war? Here are my initial thoughts.

by joelcrosenberg
Delegates from Iran and a group of six nations led by the United States in Vienna on Tuesday after reaching an accord.   Credit Carlos Barria/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images  (NYT)
Delegates from Iran and a group of six nations led by the United States in Vienna on Tuesday after reaching an accord.
Credit Carlos Barria/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images (NYT)
(Central Israel) -- Lynn and I flew back home to Israel today, and arrived just as the news was breaking that the international community has struck a final nuclear deal with Iran.
Will it bring peace, or war? I am still reading through the 100-page agreement and will have more analysis later. But here are a few initial comments and observations.
President Obama and his team are convinced they have cut off Iran's path to The Bomb and that the world will now enter a season of peace and stability. "Today after two years of negotiation the United States together with the international community has achieved something that decades of animosity has not: a comprehensive long-term deal with Iran that will prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon," the president said.
The Iranian leadership is euphoric -- they are calling the agreement "historic," and celebrating their victory over the West. No wonder. They got nearly everything they wanted and gave up no serious concessions. Under this deal, Iran can continue enriching uranium. They don't have to dismantle any nuclear facilities -- not a single one. They don't have to shut down their ballistic missile factories or dismantle any of their ballistic missiles. They don't have to promise to stop funding and supporting international terrorism. 
They don't have to release a single American citizen held in Iran -- not Pastor Saeed or the Washington Post reporter on trial for his life or any of the others. The list goes on and on.
The Israeli government is also calling the deal historic -- "a stunning historic mistake." In the car ride from the airport to our home, Lynn and I listened to a live radio broadcast of Prime Minister Netanyahu addressing the nation. Here are some of the highlights:
  • "Israel is not bound by this deal with Iran and Israel is not bound by this deal with Iran because Iran continues to seek our destruction."
  • "This deal repeats the mistakes made with North Korea. There too we were assured that inspections and verifications would prevent a rogue regime from developing nuclear weapons. And we all know how that ended."
  • "In the coming decade, the deal will reward Iran, the terrorist regime in Tehran, with hundreds of billions of dollars. This cash bonanza will fuel Iran’s terrorism worldwide, its aggression in the region and its efforts to destroy Israel, which are ongoing."
  • "Amazingly, this bad deal does not require Iran to cease its aggressive behavior in any way. And just last Friday, that aggression was on display for all to see. While the negotiators were closing the deal in Vienna, Iran’s supposedly moderate president chose to go to a rally in Tehran and at this rally, a frenzied mob burned American and Israeli flags and chanted ‘Death to America, Death to Israel!’ Now, this didn’t happen four years ago. It happened four days ago."
Does Netanyahu's remarks signal military action against Iran is coming, and/or coming soon? That's not clear. But it cannot be ruled out. Israeli leaders certainly want to find a way to neutralize the Iran nuclear threat without using force. But Israel has successfully used preemptive air strikes to destroy two foreign nuclear facilities over the years, in Iraq in 1981, and in Syria in 2007. The possibility of an Israeli preemptive strike against Iran has just gone up significantly.
Readers of this blog know that I wrote a trilogy of political thrillers several years ago -- The Twelfth ImamThe Tehran Initiative, and Damascus Countdown -- imagining what might happen if a foolish American President inadvertently allowed Iran to secretly build a small arsenal of nuclear weapons, and an Israeli Prime Minister decided he had no other option than to launch a massive preemptive strike against Iran
Still, that was fiction. I pray that nothing in those novels will come to pass. I certainly don't wish for a war with Iran, especially now that my family and I live in Israel. Indeed, I'm praying for a peaceful resolution to this mounting crisis, and I'm asking the Lord to move mightily to bring down this evil regime in Tehran and end the nuclear threat through any means other than war. But the Lord may allow a war to come. Leaders in this region -- both Israeli and Arab -- may conclude a preemptive war soon would be far preferable to a nuclear war with Iran later. 
So we must be ready for whatever comes next. I hope you will join me in praying for "the peace of Jerusalem," as the Psalmist commands us in Psalm 122:6. Pray, too, for wisdom for the leaders in this region to know how best to deal with this challenge. And pray that the people and leaders of the region turn to the Lord for His wisdom and His grace and salvation, not their own.
Again, I will post more analysis in the days ahead as I work my way through the agreement, and as we see how other leaders and nations react to the deal. For now, let me share with you what the former head of Israeli military intelligence noted in assessing the situation: "There are three likely scenarios for where the world goes from here," notes Amos Yadlin.
  1. Iran somehow transforms itself into a less malign state and constructively engages with the family of nations. Unfortunately, this is highly unlikely.
  2. Iran decides in a few years to renege on its commitments, as North Korea did in 2003. If Tehran calculates that the gains of this approach outweigh the retaliation it would provoke by the West, there is no doubt they will go for the bomb. Israel and the international community must maintain a credible military option at all times to stop Iran producing a nuclear weapon.
  3. Iran plays it safe, keeping to the letter if not the spirit of the agreement, while waiting for any restrictions on it to expire in a decade. While doing this, Iran improves its technological know-how, continues to sponsor terrorism, and calls for the destruction of Israel.
"The deal and the lifting of sanctions on Tehran will pour more than $100 billion into Iran," notes Yadlin. "Even a fraction of that sum will triple the budgets of terrorists such as Assad, Hizbullah and Hamas."
He adds: "Israel learned long ago that taking out a nuclear program doesn't equate to war."
Developing......
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joelcrosenberg | July 14, 2015 at 5:30 pm | Categories: Uncategorized | URL:http://wp.me/piWZ7-3jE

Has the agreement with Iran placed military options back on the table?

Has the agreement with Iran placed military options back on the table?

Wednesday, July 15, 2015 |  Israel Today Staff
The world has placed the fate of the Middle East in the hands of the regime in Tehran, which is not trustworthy. Most Israeli commentators are of this opinion and appalled by the agreement, which has been concluded with Tehran by the P5 + 1 world powers. The agreement does not keep Iran from attaining nuclear capability, neither does it reign in its nuclear infrastructure. While US President Barack Obama celebrates the biggest foreign policy success of his tenure, once again there is talk in Israel of a possible military strike against Iran.
"Israel should take the necessary precautions, if Iran violates the agreement," writes columnist Ron Ben-Yishai in the news portal Ynetnews. From Israel's perspective, the agreement has brought the military option back to the table. "The Israeli government will have to decide whether it wants to attack Iran or not, if the ayatollahs decide to build a nuclear bomb." According to experts, Iran currently needs about a year to build a nuclear weapon and use it. If Iran violates the agreement and secretly continues to enrich uranium, the regime could build a nuclear device much faster. We are talking about a matter of a few weeks.
In Tehran, people cheered and celebrated the imminent end of the sanctions with processions and motorcades. In Jerusalem Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emphasized again that the world's future is now more uncertain because of the Agreement, the international community has committed a mistake of historic proportions. Germany's Foreign Minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier rejected Israel's criticism and stated that any Iranian bid for an atom bomb will be excluded reliable and verifiable for the foreseeable future. "I can say with full conviction, that this is an agreement that brings security to the world, the region and even the neighbors of Iran," said Steinmeier.
In the mainstream media the agreement is being hailed as an historic breakthrough and are accusing Netanyahu of fomenting fear of Iran for domestic political reasons, having ensured Netanyahu three electoral victories. Emphasis has been placed on the substantive achievements of the agreement with Tehran: The number of centrifuges being reduced by two thirds, the International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors being granted access to all sites and the UN arms embargo remaining in force for another five years. In return, the sanctions will be gradually lifted, but can again take effect in the case of infringements of the agreement at any time.
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Jerusalem is Israel's Capital (and Other Inconvenient Truths)

Jerusalem is Israel's Capital (and Other Inconvenient Truths)

Wednesday, July 15, 2015 |  Bassem Eid  ISRAEL TODAY
It has long been said that neither Israelis nor Palestinians are sensitive to each other’s narrative, and that there cannot be a true peace process without the willingness to appreciate the other side’s history, pain, suffering, hopes and dreams.
In simpler terms, negotiations cannot go anywhere without a mutually agreed baseline of truth. Sadly, a shared truth has always been one of the missing ingredients between Israelis and Palestinians, and the U.S. as would-be mediator is not helping.
Take the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision supporting the right of the President to decide that Israel does not have sovereignty over Jerusalem. I have no issue with the constitutional matter of who gets to make those decisions; every President asserts his right to make foreign policy decisions without Congressional meddling.
The problem is that the U.S. position reeks of political correctness and a refusal to tell the truth. Under any final-status agreement, Jerusalem will remain Israel’s capital, even if one day East Jerusalem ends up being the capital of a new Palestinian state. U.S. unwillingness to state this forthrightly only serves to patronize Palestinians, to unnecessarily antagonize our Israeli neighbor, and to illustrate why U.S. mediation has not been particularly effective.
The U.S. administration’s position on Jerusalem is inconsistent and even contrary to its general policy towards Israel / Palestine. When Israel declared its independence following the 1947 U.N. partition plan that called for two states, Palestinians and the Arab world rejected the partition plan and attacked Israel with the intent to destroy it. 
Israel not only survived, but the war ended with Israel holding territories beyond those allocated to the Jewish state in the Partition Plan. Those 1949 Armistice lines are now referred to as the 1967 borders, or the “green line.”  If West Jerusalem, which has been inside the green line since 1949, is not recognized as part of Israel, then none of the territories beyond the U.N. plan can be recognized as present day Israeli territory; if that is U.S. policy, Washington should say so openly.
Of course, the U.S. is not about to change its general policy on Israel / Palestine, but its stated policy on Jerusalem is an unsavory mix of evasions and falsehoods that hurt U.S. credibility. Here in my opinion are the hard but necessary steps that the three main protagonists in this conflict should take:
  • Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas openly admitted that Palestinian rejection of the U.N. partition plan was a mistake, but then he asks why Palestinians have been punished by Israel ever since. Instead of finger-pointing, Abbas must acknowledge that Palestinians should have demanded that Jordan turn over the West Bank territories and East Jerusalem when it was under Amman’s control between 1949 and 1967. Abbas should add that the 1967 Six Day War also was a big mistake, just as the late King Hussein did. And Abbas should continue by saying that the two, deadly and years-long Intifadas that killed thousands of Palestinians and Israelis were also wrong, and that Palestinians should have taken seriously Israel’s peace offerings over the years. After all, he now bemoans the opportunity he squandered when former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert proposed what Abbas now calls a genuine peace plan.
  • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asserts that he supports a two-state solution. If that is true, he should say that while disposition of existing settlements will be left for negotiations, there will be no new settlements in the West Bank. He should state that he does not want Israel to have to choose between maintaining its Jewish character and its democratic ideals. To be a peacemaker, though, he must go further, saying that he understands the need for Palestinian dignity and freedom, which must come about in the context of assuring Israel’s security. In fact, he must tell the Israeli public that Palestinian statehood is in Israel’s security interest.
  • If President Barack Obama wants Israel to appreciate the purity of his motives as he delivers his messages of “tough love” to Israel regarding settlements, he should share similar expressions with Palestinian leaders by calling them out on their undiminished culture of hate that vilifies Israelis and Jews, extols terrorists and murderers, and refuses to prepare their people for peace and reconciliation. He must tell Abbas that Jews should have every right to live in a future Palestinian state, just as 20% of Israelis today are Palestinians. And he must end the fiction that Jerusalem – at least its western half – is not the capital of Israel, so that Palestinians have no doubt about the parameters of what the two-state solution can accomplish. 
This would be a good start towards a shared truth and therefore towards peace, though no doubt there are many other things that Obama, Netanyahu, and Abbas should tell each other and their people instead of following the advice of fearful political operatives. In addition to finding it liberating to speak so honestly, they might be surprised at how much good it can accomplish.
* Bassem Eid is a Palestinian human rights activist, political analyst and political commentator. He has agreed to write periodic commentaries for Israel Today Magazine. Don't miss out - SUBSCRIBE NOW >> 
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