Standing in support of Israel, Jews, and believers in all the nations, in the name of Jesus (Yeshua). Sharing biblical truth, encouragement, news and prophecy.
(Washington, D.C.) -- Over the course of the last month, as I've been traveling across the country on The First Hostage book tour, people have been consistently asking me a series of excellent questions:
How do we defeat ISIS?
What should the Obama administration be doing that it isn't?
If this administration can't or won't get the job done, what should the next President do?
Should we send a ground force into Syria?
What about the ancient Islamic prophecies that the West will get slaughtered in the Syrian town of Dabiq?
On Wednesday afternoon, I was interviewed by Hugh Hewitt on his nationally syndicated talk show host. I have grown to respect Hugh as a serious thinker as well as an excellent interviewer, both on radio and in his role helping to moderate the CNN presidential debates. Hugh, a devout Christian and a skilled lawyer, reads voraciously and has an insatiable hunger to learn. Often when I'm in Israel, I enjoy listening to the podcast of his interviews not only with the presidential candidates but with key experts on foreign policy and national security matters.
That said, here's a slightly more detailed explanation of my view on how to defeat ISIS:
Yes, a coalition of U.S., Iraqi, Kurdish, Jordanian, Egyptian, and other Sunni Arab military forces can and must crush the Islamic State. This is a winnable war, but not with the current strategy of half-measures, pinprick bombings, and political tough talk not backed up by a serious military approach to win.
What the Obama administration should be doing is pursuing a "Take Back Iraq First" approach. Since the first Gulf war in 1991, and then with the war to liberate Iraq in 2003, followed by the surge strategy in 2006-2008, the American people have identified Iraq has a strategically important country to us. Getting Iraq right matters. We have invested heavily in liberating Iraq from Saddam Hussein and from the clutches of al Qaeda and other Radical Islamic terror groups. Withdrawing all our forces in December 2011 was a terrible and foreseeable error. It created a vacuum that ISIS exploited. Now we're seeing genocide against Christians and Yazidis by the Islamic State, the wicked fruit of Apocalyptic Islam. Thus, the goal now must be to re-take Iraq -- and cut the Caliphate in half -- using decisive military force. We likely need 20,000 to 40,000 U.S. boots on the ground, primarily special forces. We need to heavily arm the Kurdish Peshmerga forces. We need to strengthen the Iraqi military. We need to increase arms (and humanitarian aid and other economic assistance) to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, our most faithful Sunni Arab ally in the region. We also need to work closely with Egypt, the Saudis and the Gulf States and get their active participation. The mission: to storm across northern Iraq, crush ISIS wherever they are found, liberate Mosul -- Iraq's second largest city -- set the captives free, crush ISIS once and for all, and drive whatever remains of the terror group back into Syria. This could likely be done by the end of 2016 if the U.S. took the lead and was fully committed to victory. By cutting the Caliphate in half, it would deal a serious blow to ISIS morale and their sense that they are invincible.
If President Obama won't pursue such a strategy, then we need to elect an American President who understands the threat of Radical and Apocalyptic Islam and has the courage and wisdom to fight to win, beginning with re-taking Iraq.
No, I don't believe we should send U.S. ground forces into Syria. That Arab nation is imploding. It's engaged in a Hellish civil war. Now the Russians and Iranians are fighting there on behalf of Bashar al-Assad and his evil regime. There are no good options. There are no rationale leaders that we can identify at this point who could truly govern the country in a civilized way, even if we could defeat ISIS, remove Assad, and pacify the civil war. Syria is a hornets' nest. My heart breaks for the people of Syria. The U.S. and other world powers need to help Jordan and Lebanon care for the millions of Syrian refugees that have flooded their borders. We should not take Syrian refugees into the U.S. because we cannot vet them and determine who is a terrorist and who is not. We should use air power to consistently degrade ISIS forces, infrastructure, oil reserves, and so forth. But we should not launch a ground force into a country that we have no plan -- or ability -- at this point to truly rescue.
While there are many reasons at this point not to launch a ground war into Syria, fear of ancient Islamic prophecies about an end of the world battle in Dabiq is not on the list. Those are false prophecies. ISIS is driven by them. But they are not Biblical prophecies. They are not based on truth. They are based on false teaching. We needn't fear false teaching and false prophecy. Since we can degrade ISIS in Dabiq (and Raqqa, and elsewhere) from the air, that's what we should do for now. Once we have worked with our Sunni Arab allies in the region to re-take Iraq, and degrade ISIS forces in Syria from the air, then we can re-evaluate and develop the next phase of our strategy. But while we need to understand how Apocalyptic, genocidal, Islamic eschatology motivates ISIS leaders, we need not hesitate confronting them because of their apocalypse-addled thinking.
Some of the 95 children who made Aliyah on a Nefesh B’Nefesh charter flight facilitated in cooperation with Israel’s Ministry of Aliyah & Immigrant Absorption, The Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Kayemeth Le’Israel, and JNF-USA. (Photo: Shahar Azran)
10,000 French Jews, 3,000 Americans expected to Make Aliyah in 2016 – Israel News
“Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the LORD swore unto your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them.'” (Deuteronomy 1:8)
The coming year is expected to see another increase in the number of Jews immigrating to Israel, this after more than 30,000 Jews made Aliyah last year, a record for the past 15 years. In 2016, some 10,000 Jews are expected to emigrate from France alone; 3,000 Jews are expected to arrive from the United States; 7,000 from Russia and an additional 7,000 from Ukraine.
“We are monitoring the intensifying anti-Semitism in Europe, while at the same time the government ministries are preparing to absorb the olim,” the head of the Committee for Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs, MK Avraham Naguisa, said Wednesday. “Their absorption is a national mission and a Zionist, social and economic window of opportunity for the Jewish nation, the State of Israel and Israeli society.”
Russian Jewish Congress President Yuri Kanner told the committee that the level of anti-Semitism in Russia is low and decreases continuously, but systematic anti-Semitism, or media-related anti-Semitism will increase immigration to Israel. According to Kanner, nationalistic parties have significant influence on the level of anti-Semitism in Russia. He recalled that some two years ago a yeshiva student in Moscow was beaten because he was Jewish, and noted that those who commit anti-Semitic acts in the various Russian provinces are punished.
Unlike in Europe, the relations between the Jewish and Muslim community in much of Russia are good, Kanner said, adding that Jewish-Muslim relations are not as good in Dagestan, Chechnya and the Caucasus regions.
Chief Rabbi of Moscow Pinchas Goldschmidt, who also serves as the president of the Conference of European Rabbis, said, “Europe’s Jews are like a person walking on train tracks; from one side there is the train of radical Islam, and from the other there is the anti-religious reaction of old Europe. Today, after the Islamic attack in Paris, Europe understands that Islamic terror is its problem as well, not only Israel’s.”
Goldschmidt said the expected immigration to Israel will weaken the French Jewish community, which he said should be strengthened with educational and social activities.
Yogev Karasenty, director of combating anti-Semitism at the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs, told the committee that last year had seen a record number of anti-Semitic attacks, carried out mainly by Muslims. Nearly all the attacks committed by Muslims were carried out by Muslims who were born and educated in Europe, and not by refugees, he said.
Karasenty criticized some European countries for their lack of deterrent punishment against anti-Semites, and mentioned that the denial of the Eastern European nations’ role in the Holocaust is becoming more widespread. Karasenty said 63 percent of French Jews have experienced anti-Semitism. According to him, the Israeli government allocates $50 million each year towards strengthening Jewish identity and education abroad, while the Jewish communities in the Diaspora spend a similar amount.
Former Minister of Immigration and Absorption Sofa Landver (Yisrael Beitenu) said the full potential of the immigration of Jews from France has yet to be realized. “We could have reached 15,000 [French] olim this year, not only 8,000,” she said. “The best response to the anti-Semitic attacks is improved absorption. There is no place for [a lagging] bureaucracy in this national mission.”
Imagine Christ's view from atop the mountain where He preached to the multitudes about the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, the merciful and the pure of heart. As He preached the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7), Jesus looked down on a sea of faces that hung on His every word because He didn't teach as the scribes did but as one with authority—and He was moved with compassion for their souls.
A new book, Multitudes, helps readers imagine what Christ saw as He taught about anger, adultery, oaths, revenge, loving your enemies and charitable giving, fasting and heaven. Steffi Geiser Rubin, an artist commissioned by Jews for Jesus to create original art for the Messianic Jewish evangelistic organization's new book, says its cover gives Jesus' eye view perspective from that mount in Galilee.
"The cover, which is made up of faces from the illustration of Matthew 5-7, is to show what Jesus saw when He looked out," Rubin says. "He was able to see beyond the exterior into the hearts and souls and needs of the people. This is an image of Jesus that Jewish people can understand because there has been a lot of suffering among Jewish people, and, therefore, a lot of compassion toward those who suffer."
Reaching Jewish Multitudes
The coffee table book—combining the Messianic Jewish Tree of Life version of the book of Matthew with 20 original, full-scale paintings—is part of an artistic outreach to share Yeshua's love for the "multitudes" with the Jewish people and, ultimately, the entire world.
"I love that verse and the way Matthew paints such a graphic picture to help us understand what Jesus was feeling," David Brickner, executive director of the San Francisco-based ministry, wrote in Multitudes. "If we are to care with the compassion of Messiah Yeshua, we need to see past the veneers to understand people and circumstances as He sees them. We need to see that the multitudes who are without Yeshua are lost and without hope because they are without God in this world."
Multitudes is not just a coffee table book; it's also a traveling exhibition. The paintings were displayed at recent art shows in San Francisco; Washington, D.C.; and New York City, an exhibit that drew 500 people its first night. More shows are planned this year in Paris, Tel Aviv and across Israel.
Susan Perlman, associate director at Jews for Jesus, says the shows attract the curious—just like Jesus did when He walked the earth. That curiosity opens the door for Jews for Jesus staff to introduce the curious to Yeshua.
"People are really taken by these art shows," Perlman says. "It does cause dissonance: 'Wait a minute, they're Jewish, but they believe in Jesus. But what we're experiencing is especially very Jewish and Christian at the same time.' The combination—it makes people do a double take."
Multitudes' Prophetic Inspiration
Inspiration for the project began when Marc Sternberg was teaching on Matthew and realized the apostle was a Jew writing to Jews who didn't yet believe in Yeshua as the Messiah. He thought: "Wouldn't Matthew be a great vehicle to reach Jewish people today."
Later, while driving home, Sternberg says the Lord inspired him in a "waking vision-dream" to begin work on the illustrated Gospel of Matthew book that is now Multitudes.
"I believe that the art of Multitudes is a non-threatening platform for sharing the gospel," says Sternberg, director of the Jews for Jesus Store. "Almost each of the paintings has a Messianic prophecy that Jesus is actually fulfilling in that passage of the Bible, or that He is quoting directly from the Old Testament Scripture."
Following the "vision-dream," Jews for Jesus commissioned Rubin, its first art director and a founding member, to create original artwork as a vehicle for communicating the Jewishness of the Gospel of Matthew. Rubin joined Jews for Jesus after encountering ministry Founder Moishe Rosen at a Bible study at University of California, Berkeley in 1971. He asked her, "What do you think God wants from you?" After reading the Gospels, she put her faith in Yeshua.
Rubin's paintings represent the major themes, events and messages within the book. The key verses, Old Testament references and image ideas were a collaborative effort between Rubin and Jews for Jesus.
Disrupting Jewish Thinking
"Multitudes is Jesus' perspective of the gospel," Rubin says. "(It's) what inspired Him when He delivered the Sermon on the Mount. The whole background, the whole history of Jews for Jesus, is one of disruption—changing what people think when they hear 'Jesus,' changing what people think when they hear 'Jews.' These paintings are all so disruptive."
Perlman hopes the project will not only touch hearts, but will expand the understanding Jews have of Yeshua.
"Most importantly, it will transform them in terms of their understanding of the Creator Himself, and how both visually and in the written word, we can find that He is the way, the truth and the life," Perlman says. "It's a gospel tool and also a validation of our faith."
Watch how Jews for Jesus can reach people for Christ through the Multitudes Art Project at multitudes.charismamag.com.
Troy Anderson is the executive editor of Charisma, a Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist and co-author of The Babylon Code. Follow him on Twitter(TroyMAnderson), Facebook (troyandersonwriter) or online attroyanderson.us.
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Rick Wiles greets trend economist and joint partner in Jim Sinclair’s Mineset, Bill Holter, to discuss the impending crash of the global credit markets. Rick will also be joined by Pastor Rafael Cruz, the father of GOP contender Ted Cruz, to make the case to America once more, why we as a nation must return to our Judeo-Christian values or face ruin.
“Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.” -Jeremiah 6:16
Edward is a US Army veteran who turned to Christ in 2012 & has a fire for bringing truth to the world of online and broadcast media. If you have any tips please email him at Edward.Szall@trunews.com / How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!” - Isaiah 52:7
Read more at https://www.trunews.com/trunews-020416-pastor-rafael-cruz-bring-america-back-to-god/#qsr3vaZIT7ypWjBa.99
Pope Francis met with the leader of Iran in a meeting Breaking Israel News dubbed the prophetic fulfillment of Esau and Ishmael uniting against Israel. (Reuters)
The Prophetic Meeting of Major World Leaders No One's Talking About
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Pope Francis met with the leader of Iran in a meeting Breaking Israel News dubbed the prophetic fulfillment of Esau and Ishmael uniting against Israel.
"For Bible believers, these and similar news items that reflect increasing cooperation between the Arab world and the West should be viewed as fulfillment of ancient Jewish prophecy," BNI's Rivkah Lambert Adler writes.
"Jewish tradition contains a 2,000-year-old prophecy that the children of Esau (today's Western nations) and the children of Ishmael (today's Arab nations) will unite against the Jewish people at the end of days," Adler continues.
According to the New York Times, Pope Francis met with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to encourage Rouhani to find political solutions for the various Middle Eastern conflicts.
Pope Francis also praised Iranian Nuclear negotiations.
"In hope we entrust to the merciful Lord the framework recently agreed to in Lausanne, that it may be a definitive step toward a more secure and fraternal world," the pope said, according to Bloomberg News.
Though Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu has virtually moved on from his vehement protests against the Iran Nuclear deal, he still voices many concerns.
"Let's block Iran's other aggression in the region, because they're doing everything. They're trying to encircle Israel with a noose of death," Netanyahu said, according to CNN. "They're sending weapons to the Houthis. They're in Iraq. They're in Afghanistan. They're all over the place. In Yemen, of course. Let's bolster those forces to stand up to Iran's aggression in the region, and none is stronger, none is more reliable than Israel."
Yet Iran continues to mock Israel, threatening to rain down 80,000 missiles on the Jewish nation.
But with the pope supporting Iran nuclear negotiations and the recognition of the Palestine State, people like Adler and end-time expert and author Rabbi Pinchas Winston believe it's traditional Jewish prophecies coming to pass. Adler says the alliance was forged in the book of Genesis.
Winston explains the modern application: "Many in the West, especially in Europe, have overlooked the 'sins' of the Arab world while ignoring the virtues of the Jewish state. They also either make up Israeli flaws or overexaggerate smaller ones.
"In short, they have confused David for Goliath and Goliath for David, with little or no remorse at all. For believers, this is nothing short of a miraculous but disturbing fulfillment of prophecy and a serious wake-up call," Winston says.
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The Pool of Siloam is proof the Gospel of John is true. (YouTube)
Pool Where Jesus Healed a Blind Man Discovered, Proves Gospel of John Is True
Join us on our podcast each weekday for an interesting story, well told, from Charisma News. Listen at charismapodcastnetwork.com.
Archaeological evidence now proves the Gospel of John is true.
Though discovered more than a decade ago, the pool of Siloam continues to make headlines, most recently in an analysis by author and speaker Eric Metaxas.
In John 9, Jesus spat in the dirt, rubbed the mud on a blind man's eyes and then commanded him to go wash in the Pool of Siloam.
Workers stumbled upon this very pool in 2005 while repairing sewage pipes.
"Scholars have said that there wasn't a Pool of Siloam and that John was using a religious conceit" to illustrate a point, New Testament scholar James H. Charlesworth told the Los Angeles Times. "Now we have found the Pool of Siloam ... exactly where John said it was."
The site of Jesus' miracle is just one of many in archaeological discoveries verifying the authenticity of the Bible.
The news isn't so much in the discovery, but in what the site stands for, Metaxas says.
"The point is that it's become increasingly clear that the default scholarly position of disbelieving the Bible because it is the Bible is untenable," Metaxas writes. "Of course, Christians should already know that. But it's still gratifying to see that other people are able to see it, as well. Even if they have to go to the Pool of Siloam to do it."
NEW from CHARISMA:Do you want to encounter the Holy Spirit and hear God speak to you? Increase your faith, discover freedom, and draw near to God! Click Here
You are Israeli. You are eating dinner with your family. Suddenly the floors start shaking. Your son ask you, “Dad, what is that? Why is the food moving on the table?” Do you tell him? “Avi, that is just Hamas rebuilding tunnels so they can attack us here in the kibbutz [i].”
Shaking Floors
That’s right. Residents of Israeli communities near the Gaza Strip “complained that tunnel digging into Israel from Hamas-run territory has come so close to their homes that it has caused their floors to shake.” (timesofisrael.com)
Stealing From Their Own People… Again
This came to light about a week ago on several television news shows and, until just a few days ago, our government had done little to stop it. Hamas is digging tunnels into Israel—by the way, using materials that are supposed to go to rebuilding the city—in order to carry out terror attacks and we are doing almost nothing to stop them. Hamas is taking the 3.5 million tons of building materials donated to the people of Gaza and instead of rebuilding homes (the intended purpose of the aid), they are building terror tunnels into Israel. The E.U., which often criticizes Israel when a Palestinian stubs his toe, has been largely silent in condemning Hamas.
Iran confirmed the resumption of tunnel digging by posting a video Sunday of a Hamas terrorist in one of the tunnels, boasting that it is 3.5 kilometers long and goes into Israel. The Iran report was clear, celebrating the intended goal of the tunnel—to carry out acts of terror.
The Israeli Left Demands Action
Only after massive criticism from the left-leaning opposition here in Israel, as well as a national outcry for the Netanyahu government to act, did the government begin to do something. Well, we assume it is the government—it may just be the hand of God.
Major General Yoav Mordechai warned Hamas today of consequences if the terror tunnel digging continues, “The tunnels that Hamas is digging will bring disaster to the Gaza Strip. They are tunnels of death.” (jpost.com)
IDF or the Hand of God?
This week three different tunnels collapsed on terrorists. Two terrorists have been confirmed dead and eight others missing. A week ago seven terrorists were crushed to death as a tunnel collapsed upon them. Ironically, as 250,000 Gazans came out to honor the dead terrorists at their funerals, a roof collapsed as several young men were standing on it, injuring many more.
It is unclear if these tunnels collapsed on their own, due to rains (as Hamas claims) or because of action from the IDF.
“When asked whether or not Israel has had a hand in the collapse of the terror tunnels in recent weeks, [General] Mordechai responded saying ‘God only knows.’” (jpost.com)
This is a serious escalation and despite the fact that the Islamic terror problem is growing globally, the E.U. still sees Hamas as a legitimate representative government of the Palestinians in Gaza. Instead they should be viewed just like ISIS. Silly western cowards believe the Hamas rhetoric and not their actions. Today Hamas denied that it has any interest in renewing the fight with Israel.
If that is true, then why is Avi’s kitchen table shaking?
[i] a communal settlement in Israel, typically a farm
Ron Cantor
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THE 15 MOST IMPORTANT FACTS ABOUT THE ISRAELI/PALESTINIAN CONFLICT!