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.
ISRAELI ANALYSIS: AS TRUMP PREPARES TO TAKE OFFICE, OBAMA PREPARES ACTIVE OPPOSITION, WITH ISRAEL AND THE MIDDLE EAST IN THE CROSSHAIRS ...by Brian Schrauger
Why is there such heated difference between America's intelligence community and President-elect Trump - about Russia? According to an Israeli intelligence news service, the brouhaha is being orchestrated by President Obama who plans to actively oppose Trump after he takes office on 20 January. The implications for fighting terror in the Middle East, and their attending risks for igniting a world war, are profound. READ MORE...
✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡
THOUSANDS OF CHINESE COMING TO WORK IN ISRAEL: IS THERE A RISK OF ESPIONAGE?
Before the end of June, Israel is expecting approximately six thousand Chinese nationals to arrive in the Jewish State. The purpose: build labor force for housing construction The unaddressed risk: spies from a country that has aligned itself with Russia and Iran. READ MORE...
✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡
ISRAEL ON ALERT: MORE UN RESOLUTIONS?
Are more UN Security Council resolutions condemning Israel, and attempting to constrain its sovereignty, in the making? Could one or more pass before Trump takes office two weeks from today? Netanyahu thinks so and has put Israel's ambassadors on alert. READ MORE...
✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡
D O N A T E ! E N D O W ! Around the world, news agencies are finding it increasingly difficult to fund their operations. As a result, the quality of news, especially written news, is suffering. If you do not want to see this happen to news about Israel, from Israel, we need your help.
If you have a passion for the news, especially news about Israel and from Israeli perspectives, help us. Donate a monthly amount, endow us for the present and coming crucial years. CLICK HERE
Our primary financial need is to pay those who write for us. Many do so at no charge. Even so, every laborer deserves to be paid. Inasmuch as we pay our reporters, we facilitate their lives in Israel, encourage them and insure more and better stories in the future.
There is also a need to go on location where stories are happening stories. Because we are already in the Middle East, we do not have to go far. Still, there is a cost in sending reporters to places "on the ground" where stories are happening. Partner with us in this work through your monthly donation.
The Jerusalem Journal is a USA 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. As such donations may have tax benefits. Please, check with an accounting professional to see if a gift has a beneficial impact on your income taxes.
Posted: 08 Jan 2017 Michael Snyder THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE BLOG
It has only been two weeks since Christmas, and already we are witnessing a stunning bloodbath of store closings. Macy’s shocked the retail industry by announcing that they will be closing about 100 stores. The downward spiral of Sears hit another landmark when it was announced that another 150 Sears and Kmart stores would be shutting down. And we have just learned that The Limited is immediately closing all stores nationwide.
If the U.S. economy is doing just fine, then why are we experiencing such a retail apocalypse? All over America, vast shopping malls that were once buzzing with eager consumers now resemble mausoleums. We have never seen anything quite like this in our entire history, and nobody is quite sure what is going to happen next.
Not too long ago I walked into a Macy’s, and it was eerily quiet. I stumbled around the men’s department looking for something to buy, but I was deeply disappointed in what was being offered. After some time had passed, an employee finally noticed me and came over to help, but they didn’t have anything that I was looking for.
And it is a sad thing, because over the past several years when I have gone into Macy’s looking to spend money, most of the time I have come out of there without spending a penny. Macy’s has made some very bad decisions recently, and I am hoping that they can still turn things around. But for the moment, they are closing stores and cutting jobs. The following comes from the New York Times…
Struggling with sagging sales over another crucial holiday shopping season, Macy’s announced on Wednesday that it was eliminating more than 10,000 jobs as part of a continuing plan to cut costs and close 100 stores.
Macy’s, the country’s largest department store chain, said sales at its stores had fallen 2.1 percent in November and December compared with the same period in 2015. Terry J. Lundgren, the company’s chairman and chief executive, said in a statement that while the trend was “consistent with the lower end of our guidance, we had anticipated sales would be stronger.”
Another legendary retailer that really does not have any hope left is Sears. Every year they just keep closing even more stores, and because they are losing so much money they don’t have anything to invest in the stores that remain. As a result, the state of many Sears locations is downright embarrassing at this point…
But the retailer, famous for selling everything from shoes to vacuum cleaners to whole houses, is facing its biggest crisis ever. It’s closing hundreds of stores. Others are in shambles, with leaking ceilings and broken escalators. In some, employees hang bedsheets to shield shoppers from sections that stand empty.
Since the early portion of 2013, sales are down an astounding 37 percent for the company. Sears is currently more than 1.6 billion dollars in debt, and they are losing more than a billion dollars a year.
They keep closing stores in a desperate attempt to stop the bleeding, but it hasn’t worked.
In 2010, Sears had 3,555 stores. Last year, Sears had 1,503 stores, and now a whole bunch more are being shut down.
But everyone can see where this is going. As I have stated repeatedly, Sears is going to zero, and many of the experts completely agree with me…
“They are going out of business,” said Van Conway, an expert in bankruptcy and debt restructuring and CEO of Van Conway & Partners. “This snowball is 90% of the way to the bottom of the hill.”
Of course Sears is still surviving for the moment, and that is more than can be said for The Limited.
Back in the old days, it seemed like every mall had one of their stores. I remember passing it on my way to Orange Julius and Herman’s World of Sporting Goods.
But now they are shutting down every single location and will be online only…
American malls just got emptier.
The Limited, a once-popular women’s clothing brand that offers casual attire and workwear, no longer has any storefronts. On Saturday, a message on the store’s website read, “We’re sad to say that all The Limited stores nationwide have officially closed their doors. But this isn’t goodbye.” The website will still be up and running and will continue to ship nationwide, the company said.
In addition to Macy’s, Sears and The Limited, other huge names in the retail industry have also fallen on hard times and have had to shut stores over the past 12 months. The following comes from the Washington Post…
The retail environment has proved challenging for a variety of stores: Sports Authority went out of business in 2016, shuttering more than 460 locations in U.S. malls and strip malls. PacSun, Aeropostale and American Apparel each have filed for bankruptcy protection in the past year and are aiming to reorganize and revive their businesses.
So why is this happening?
Without a doubt, our shopping habits have changed. And in the online world, many of these retailers are being absolutely crushed by competition from Amazon and other tech companies that developed online infrastructure before they did. I know that my wife and I actually prefer to shop online for many things when possible, and I anticipate that the share of retailing done online will only continue to grow in this country.
But let us also not underestimate the impact that the stagnating economy is having on ordinary consumers. Thanks to the last eight years, approximately two-thirds of all Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. More than a third of all Americans have a debt that is at least 180 days past due, and the rate of homeownership has been hovering near the lowest level that we have seen in about 50 years.
As you read this article, more than 95 million Americans are not in the labor force, and that number has grown by 18 percent under Barack Obama. Homelessness in New York City and other major cities is at a record high, and as a nation we have accumulated the largest mountain of debt in the history of the world.
Let us hope that things can be turned around, but if current trends continue the retail apocalypse is just going to go from bad to worse, and we will continue to see lots of headlines about more stores closing down.
Fr. Mike Scanlan (Courtesy/Franciscan University of Steubenville)
Catholic Charismatic Leader Mike Scanlan Dies at 85
Join us on our podcast each weekday for an interesting story, well told, from Charisma News. Listen at charismapodcastnetwork.com.
Fr. Mike Scanlan, a major leader in the Catholic charismatic renewal, died Saturday. He was 85.
"He had this gut intuition, supernatural in its origin," theologian and Franciscan professor Scott Hahn said. "He fathered more than 12 tribes like Jacob—students, faculty, being accessible for spiritual direction and confession, and laying hands on anyone who desired it. ... He was a man of prayer, and this was a spillover."
Scanlan presided over Franciscan University of Steubenville from 1974-2000.
"During his tenure as president from 1974-2000, his ideas, guided by the Holy Spirit, turned things around at the struggling College of Steubenville and led to its prominence as Franciscan University of Steubenville," the university's current president, Fr. Sean O. Sheridan, said.
George Weigel, the distinguished senior fellow and William E. Simon Chair in Catholic Studies at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, called Father Scanlan "a dynamo of evangelical energy who knew that the renewal of Catholic higher education was a critical component of the new evangelization."
"His personal witness, exuberant manner of life, and ability to communicate the Gospel in a joyful way made major contributions, not only to Franciscan University, but to the entire Catholic Church in the United States—indeed, to the World Church," Weigel continued in the university's release.
In 2000, Scanlan was named the university's first chancellor. In 2011, he was named president-emeritus.
"The Lord has given me countless blessings through my years of service at Franciscan University," Scanlan said upon his retirement, according to the university release. "It has been a remarkable privilege and deep joy to work with so many committed Christian faculty, staff, administrators and donors in the vitally important ministry of Catholic higher education."
3 Reasons Why you should read Life in the Spirit. 1) Get to know the Holy Spirit. 2) Learn to enter God's presence 3) Hear God's voice clearly! Go deeper!
Has God called you to be a leader? Ministry Today magazine is the source that Christian leaders who want to serve with passion and purpose turn to. Subscribe now and receive a free leadership book.
Shiri, debri eeti dachouf… chaim sheli, debri eeti - “Shiri, speak to me urgently… My love, speak to me”
Those were the frantic final Whatsapp messages sent to IDF Lt. Shir Hajaj by her mother, Meirav. They will forever remain unanswered, for Shir Hajaj was among the four young Israeli soldiers run down and killed by a Palestinian terrorist on Sunday.
Meirav Hajaj later said that when she first heard about the truck ramming attack at the Haas Promenade in Jerusalem, she feared that foreign tourists had been targeted.
She later realized that her daughter’s army unit had gone there for an educational outing.
Meirav frantically sent Whatsapp messages and called to make sure Shir was OK.
As the family prepared to bury Shir Hajaj on Monday, her mother described her as a “flower, a crown jewel.”
Her distraught father later told Israel’s Ynet news portal: “These are our children, we send them to the army knowing they may not come back. Did I ever think this would happen to me? Never.”
The other three soldiers killed in the attack were also named late Sunday night: Lt. Yael Yakutiel (20), 2nd Lt. Shira Tzur (20) and Cadet Erez Orbach (20).
All were honored with heart-wrenching messages from family and friends published by the Israeli media on Monday as the nation mourned. By the end of the day, all four would be buried.
Seventeen more young soldiers were wounded in the attack. Two of them remain in serious condition, fighting for their lives.
PHOTO: Compilation from Flash90 and IDF Handout Photos
Want more news from Israel? Click Here to sign up for our FREE daily email updates
"But to the wicked God says, 'What right have you to declare My statutes, or take My covenant in your mouth? You hate instruction, and cast My words behind you'" (Ps. 50:16-17).
Financial breakthrough is coming in 2017!"
"This is the year of fulfilled promises!"
"No more delay! Prosperity is yours in the new year!"
"This is the year of promotion!"
Sound familiar?
Prophecies like these or any variety of others are shouted from rooftops online and in other venues every year at about this time. Many of these such words are being given by those God is addressing in Psalm 50. What right do they have to recite God's statutes? They are undisciplined, and God's true words are cast off.
It's time for the fear of the Lord to hit the prophetic movement in full force.
"Surely the Lord God does nothing without revealing His purpose to His servants the prophets. The lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken; who can but prophesy?" (Amos 3:7-8).
Lest you misunderstand my intention, I'll make it clear: Prophecy is critical in this late season. We must see an increase in clear, true prophetic revelation now more than ever. I believe God is hand-picking key voices who will not shrink back and who refuse to carelessly play with this supernatural gift as if they were some Disney-level wizard.
It's time for the lion to roar with such force that these prophetic messengers are blown back as if standing behind a jet engine at full thrust.
The Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary notes: "As when 'the lion roars' none can help but 'fear,' so when Jehovah communicates His awful message, the prophet cannot but prophesy. Find not fault with me for prophesying; I must obey God."
What a striking contrast to so much of today's fortune-telling promises of wealth, health and happiness.
I read a "prophetic" word for the new year earlier today that promised miraculous wealth in the early part of 2017. My initial question was, "Is this word true for every Christian in the world?" Of course that is absurd, but this prophecy follows the pattern of so many that we hear at the first of the year. Big promises, freedom from anything negative and extreme satisfaction for all who hear. Yes, the fear of the Lord must return to the prophetic movement. The lion must roar.
I propose we embrace a prophetic protocol that has Jesus as the central figure. It's found in Isaiah chapter 11:
"And there shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. He shall delight in the fear of the Lord, and he shall not judge by what his eyes see, nor reprove by what his ears hear" (Is. 11:1-3).
The shoot from the stump of Jesse and the roaring lion are Jesus, and the prophetic role He plays is worthy of our alignment. As we endeavor to reveal accurate prophetic words, it would do us well to pray according to this passage in Isaiah:
1. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him (and us): There is too much divination in today's prophetic culture. The spirit of Balaam is strong. Instead of the Spirit of the Lord, we are experiencing too much revelation from the realm of the soul or the demonic.
2. The Spirit of wisdom and understanding: Godly prophecy is the result of revelation received in the place of prayer. Why is this? Human wisdom and human understanding are all too eager to share their soulish revelation. It's only when we pray and live in the Spirit that we can truly adopt supernatural wisdom. The mysteries of God will be revealed, and human logic will be confounded. It's sadly rare to hear prophetic words today that shock our senses instead of satiating them.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil" (Prov. 3:5-7, MEV).
3. The Spirit of counsel and might: The Hebrew translation of the word "might" is "power" or "force." When the lion roars, you can be sure that immeasurable power and force will be felt. Instead of turning our stomachs like too many softball prophetic words do today, God's prophetic force will knock us to our knees. There will be clear direction, counsel, as to how we are to respond to the revelation. Cover to cover in Scripture, we read prophetic directives that are intense and dependent on the right response of the hearer.
To the angel of the church in Sardis write: "He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars says these things: I know your works, that you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain but are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfected before God.Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you. You have a few names even in Sardis who have not soiled their garments. They shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments. I will not blot his name out of the Book of Life, but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches" (Rev. 3:1-6).
You can be sure John felt the force of those words, and the counsel was clear and urgent. I yearn for prophetic unction like this today.
4. His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord: Words that don't contain enough weight to cause the fear of the Lord to strike us are suspect. Even true, positive messages that would cause us to rejoice should still bear the marks of the fear of a most holy God. Instead of avoiding such sharp messages, the next generation of prophetic warriors will delight in the safety, the plumb line, that is the fear of the Lord.
"Now it will be, if you will diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I am commanding you today, then the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth" (Deut. 28:1).
"But it will happen, if you will not listen to the voice of the Lord your God, by being careful to do all His commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you" (Deut. 28:15).
God is ready to bless us beyond measure, and that blessing is even brighter in contrast to what will come to the disobedient. This is the delight that the fear of the Lord produces—the realization that God is full of love and mercy and we can be free from his wrath.
5. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear: It's all too easy to gaze upon the landscape of our world and produce supposed prophetic revelation that will capture people's attention. We can't have any more tabloid-style prophecies that capitalize on the current events of our day. Proclaimers are much different than reporters. We need those who will hear God's voice in secret and proclaim it to the people much more than we need to hear opinion on what is going on in society.
"Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy out of their own hearts, "Hear the word of the Lord!" Thus says the Lord God: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing!" (Ezek. 13:2-3).
My Prophetic Word for 2017
I don't mean this to be a snarky or creative way to end this article. I feel something burning very strongly in my spirit; something extremely simple.
While timely rhema revelation must be received, the church must return to confidence in the logos. The infallible written truth. The Bible.
When timely prophetic words are given to me, I value them highly. However, I don't seek after them. I don't crave them. I only need them when God knows I do. What I do long for is the Word of God, the Bible. I deeply desire for it to explode in my Spirit in fresh new ways. I want God's eternal Word to capture me!
"The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God shall stand forever" (Is. 40:8).
"Forever, O Lord, Your word is established in heaven" (Ps. 119:89).
"Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away" (Matt. 24:35).
I exhort you to dive into the Word of God. The wealth it contains will transform your new year much more powerfully than a low level prophetic word ever will.
Consider some of the following and begin your quest to encountering God through his Word. Take note of the promises and also of the conditions associated with them. Let the Lion roar. May the fear of the Lord delight you. May your new year be marked by the force of the very breath of our mighty God.
"Now consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver: Whoever sacrifices a thank offering glorifies Me and makes a way; I will show him the salvation of God" (Ps. 50:22-23).
"The Lord will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you; they will come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways" (Deut. 28:7).
"Sacrifice a thank offering to God, and pay your vows to the Most High, and call on Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will glorify Me" (Ps. 50:14-15).
"Jesus answered them, 'Truly, truly I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. Now a slave does not remain in the house forever, but a son remains forever. Therefore if the Son sets you free, you shall be free indeed'" (John 8:34-36).
"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit" (Rom. 8:1).
"Therefore submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you" (James 4:7).
That's a start. Now go ahead and receive the remaining promises in the Bible that are waiting for you in the New Year. There are thousands.
John Burtonhas been developing and leading ministries for over 20 years and is a sought-out teacher, prophetic messenger and revivalist. John has authored nine books, has appeared on Christian television and radio and directed one of the primary internships at the International House of Prayer (IHOP) in Kansas City. Additionally, he has planted two churches, has initiated two city prayer movements and is currently directing a prayer- and revival-focused ministry school in Detroit called the School of Prayer. John's mandate is to call the church in the nations to repentance from casual Christianity and to burn in a manner worthy of the King of kings. He is equipping people to confront the enemies of God (established religion, Jezebel and so on) that hinder an extreme, sold-out level of true worship.
4 Soldiers Killed, 15 Wounded in Jerusalem Terrorist Ramming Attack
Sunday, January 08, 2017 | Israel Today Staff
Four young Israeli soldiers were killed and another 15 were wounded on Sunday when a terrorist rammed his truck into them in the southern Jerusalem neighborhood of Armon Hanatziv.
The soldiers had just gotten off a bus when the utility vehicle plowed into them.
Bus driver Moshe Aharon recounted the harrowing moments on Army Radio:
“A group of soldiers was standing with their bags near the bus. I had just let them off. The truck drove into the group of soldiers, ran over them and kept going. The soldiers shot at the driver. He reversed and ran over them again.”
Police confirmed that the incident was indeed a terrorist attack, and not a traffic accident, as evidenced by the fact the driver reversed and ran over the bodies several times.
A number of soldiers were trapped under the vehicle and had to be rescued.
The driver of the truck was shot and killed. He will no doubt be honored as a “martyr” by the Palestinian Authority and Israel’s other antagonists.
PHOTO: Illustration (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Want more news from Israel? Click Here to sign up for our FREE daily email updates
