Thursday, March 31, 2016

5 Ways to Pray for the Muslim World - J. LEE GRADY CHARISMA NEWS

A group of Taliban terrorists in Pakistan
A group of Taliban terrorists in Pakistan (Google)
After I heard the news that Islamic terrorists had killed more than 72 people in a public park in Lahore, Pakistan, last Sunday, I called my friend "Faisal" (not his real name) to grieve with him. Faisal is a Pakistani Christian who has lived in the United States for several years. He has friends who live near the Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park, a normally cheerful place where an unidentified killer detonated a bomb with the specific goal of slaughtering Christians during the Easter holiday.
The March 27 attack was the work of Jamaat-e-Ahrar, a splinter group of the Pakistani Taliban. Some of the people killed were buying tickets to fair rides or playing with their children.
"Everybody is in shock. A woman lost both of her daughters," said Faisal, who has a wife and a daughter of his own. "I was crying while I was watching the news footage. It is so sad."
The attack did not grab as much media attention as the March 22 Brussels airport bombing, which has claimed 35 lives so far. The death toll continues to rise in the Pakistan massacre because more than 340 people were wounded, many severely. After the Sunday blast, the park was soaked in blood and strewn with body parts and shreds of clothing.
Many of the victims were Christians who had come to the park after church services to enjoy the holiday. Survivors are now planning funerals for their relatives. The attack came just days after Pakistan's National Assembly recognized Easter and two Hindu festivals as public holidays.
Apparently Muslim extremists don't want religious freedom for anyone but Muslims.
After I comforted Faisal, who has family near the bombing site, we prayed together for Pakistan. I prayed in English but I asked Faisal to pray in his native Pakistani language, Urdu. I love to hear people pray to Jesus Christ in the same language used by Taliban militants.
How can we pray in the aftermath of such a horrific tragedy? Here are five ways I am praying for the Muslim world these days:
1. Pray that cowardly acts of violence will backfire. The history of the church is written in the blood of its martyrs. But whenever Christians have been killed for their faith, their blood becomes a seed for the advancement of the gospel.
Many nominal or liberal Muslims are deeply troubled by the actions of Islamic militants who belong to groups like ISIS or the Taliban. In Pakistan, my friend Faisal says liberal Muslims are distancing themselves from extremists, and they are condemning these acts of terror. "They are even donating blood to help the Christians. They are embarrassed and they are getting tired of Islam," he says. Pray that millions of Muslims will see the brutality operating in these terrorists groups. Pray that they will reject Islamic jihad and the doctrines behind it.
2. Pray that Muslim governments will pursue justice. In a televised message last Sunday, Pakistan's prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, condemned the Taliban massacre and pledged to fight terrorism in Pakistan "until it is rooted out from our society." But the United States and other Western governments must continue to pressure Muslim nations to oppose extremist groups. Pray that God will plant Christians in strategic positions in these governments so they can work to protect believers from the inside.
3. Pray that terrorist groups will be exposed and stopped. We tend to be fearful of militant groups like ISIS because their tactics are so cruel and intimidating. (An ISIS faction in Yemen allegedly planned to crucify Catholic priest Thomas Uzhunnalil on Good Friday, but some reports say he is still alive.) But if we could see this situation through God's eyes, we would realize that these terrorist factions are fighting a losing battle. They are the ones who are afraid. Soon they will be defeated.
Psalm 37:35-36 says: "I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a luxuriant tree. Yet he passed away, and he was not; I sought him, but he could not be found." Pray that God will dry up their funds, confuse their communication, create disloyalty in their ranks and lay a trap for them.
4. Pray for a continued release of miracles in Islamic nations. Reports out of Iran, Pakistan and other Muslim nations indicate that God is displaying His power like never before in this dark region. Muslims are coming to Jesus secretly, often because they have dreams about the Son of God. Muslim women are attending underground meetings and hiding Bibles under their black burkas. "Many Muslims are coming to Jesus secretly in Pakistan," says my friend Faisal. "I have seen many Muslims come to Christ because they saw miracles or because He answered their prayers."
5. Pray that Christians will not be intimidated by persecution. It isn't easy for my friend Faisal to live in the United States while his family struggles in Pakistan. Two days before Easter, some Muslim thugs broke into his family's home—one hour from Lahore—and stole furniture after demanding that they stop spreading the gospel. Those who follow Christ in Muslim countries suffer job discrimination, social harassment and a lack of government protection. Pray that Christians in these countries will be empowered with supernatural boldness to defend their faith—even in the face of terror. 
J. Lee Grady is the former editor of Charisma. You can follow him on Twitter at leegrady. He is the author of several books including 10 Lies the Church Tells Women, 10 Lies Men Believe, Fearless Daughters of the Bible and The Holy Spirit Is Not for Sale. You can learn more about his ministry, The Mordecai Project, atthemordecaiproject.org.
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Why is Israel Cutting Power to Jericho? - Israel Today

Why is Israel Cutting Power to Jericho?

Thursday, March 31, 2016 |  Israel Today Staff
Israel will no doubt be condemned by those failing to take the whole situation into account, but it has been compelled to cut power to the ancient city of Jericho over a massive unpaid electric bill.
The Palestinian Authority currently owes the Israel Electric Company over 1.7 billion shekels ($450 million).
In yet another effort to force the Palestinian leadership to pay up, power will be cut intermittently to Jericho in the coming days.
An Electric Company official was quoted by Israel National News as saying the Jericho power outage would be “open-ended.”
But Israel has tried in the past to get the Palestinian Authority to honor its debts, only to roundly condemned by the US State Department.
The episode just confirms for many Israelis why the two-state solution as it stands will not lead to peace. A Palestinian state will remain wholly dependent on Israel for even basic needs like electricity, but will fail to pay for those services, confident that the international community would never allow Israel to demand recompense.
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Wednesday, March 30, 2016

The Looming Economic Collapse (Day 2) - Michael Snyder & Jim Rickards - The Jim Bakker Show


Watch here: The Looming Economic Collapse (Day 2) - Michael Snyder & Jim Rickards - The Jim Bakker Show

Jim & Lori Bakker with James Rickards



James Rickards, Michael Snyder

Jim Bakker Show 2016 | Show# 2964 | Aired on March 30, 2016

Jim Bakker Show © 2016 • Morningside Studios

Home » Video Archives » The Looming Economic Collapse (Day 2)

Israel and China Commit To Completing Free-Trade Agreement by Jonathan Benedek - BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Deputy Prime Minister of China, Liu Yandong, at the opening of the Isral China Innovation Conference in the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, on March 29, 2016. (Photo: Haim Zach/GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Deputy Prime Minister of China, Liu Yandong, at the opening of the Isral China Innovation Conference in the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, on March 29, 2016. (Photo: Haim Zach/GPO)

Israel and China Commit To Completing Free-Trade Agreement


“And ye shall dwell with us; and the land shall be before you; dwell and trade ye therein, and get you possessions therein.” Genesis 34:10 (The Israel Bible™)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed gratitude and appreciation to visiting Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong for her determination and commitment to complete a free trade agreement with Israel during a meeting at the Israeli Foreign Ministry on Tuesday, March 29.
“I was very glad to hear today from Vice Premier Liu that China is ready to start negotiating for free-trade with Israel,” Netanyahu remarked. “This is a significant development and we are ready to do it immediately.”
According to Netanyahu, a free-trade agreement would significantly improve bilateral cooperation in many different sectors.
“There is so much we could do together—in health, distance education, agriculture, aquaculture, information technology, in all fields,” said Netanyahu. “Cooperation with China could yield major results and we believe Israel can be the perfect partner.”
Vice Premier Liu fully concurred with Netanyahu’s assessment.  “We need to continue this cooperation for the benefit of both peoples,” Liu said. “Israel and China are moving in the direction of major joint projects.”
Read about one of the IDF's elite units in "Israel's Edge". Buy now!
A future free-trade agreement would cover a variety of issues including standardization, implementation of regulations, and the removal of existing trade barriers for imports and exports. It would also detail bilateral cooperation in the technological and economic sectors.
A free-trade agreement between Israel and China may not only increase the gross national product of both countries, but also would most likely double the total value of traded goods between both countries, which currently stands at $8 billion.
The meeting today between Netanyahu and Liu was the second to take place through the Innovation Committee that was founded during Liu’s 2014 visit to Israel. The committee, led by Israel’s Foreign Ministry and China’s Ministry of Science and Technology, first met in the Chinese capital of Beijing in January, 2015. It is the largest intergovernmental platform between Israel and China.
Other top Israeli officials present at the meeting were Health Minister Yaakov Litzman (United Torah Judaism), Technology Minister Ofir Akunis (Likud), Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely (Likud), Foreign Ministry Director General Dr. Dore Gold, and Israeli Ambassador to China Matan Vilnai. Vice Premier Liu was joined by other Chinese officials, including the ambassador to Israel, the minister of science and technology, the deputy foreign minister and the deputy health minister.
Michael Bachner contributed to this report.

America Is Dying One Weak-Willed Governor at a Time - BRYAN FISCHER/AMERICAN FAMILY RADIO CHARISMA NEWS

LGBT Celebration

America Is Dying One Weak-Willed Governor at a Time

(Reuters photo)

According to the Founders, government has been established, not to give us rights, but to secure the unalienable rights given to us by God. 
Among these rights are religious liberty. In fact, according to the First Amendment, the free exercise of religion is the very first right government is pledged to guarantee and protect. 
Somebody needs to send a copy of that amendment to Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal, a Republican and self-identified Southern Baptist, who evidently has forgotten all about it. In so doing, he has vetoed away what is left of religious liberty in the Peach State. 
Gov. Deal is the poster child for how we are losing America: one cowardly governor at a time. One after another, we have seen supposedly principled governors cravenly cave to the bullies and bigots of Big Gay. The Gay Gestapo has claimed another victim in Gov. Deal and every freedom loving Georgian will pay the price. 
Gov. Deal has vetoed a religious liberty bill that is about as mild a bill as you can imagine. It would have protected pastors from being forced to perform same-sex weddings, and churches and other faith-based organizations from being forced to rent out their facilities for wedding ceremonies which celebrate the infamous crime against nature.
Thus Gov. Deal is now on record declaring to one and all that he doesn't mind if a Southern Baptist pastor is compelled by government to officiate a gay wedding or get punished in the process. He's just fine with a church or a Christian school being ordered by government to rent its facility for a gay wedding or to a homosexual activist group, or else. 
In other words, Gov. Deal, as Indiana Gov. Mike Pence did before him, has abandoned any pretext of protecting Christians from discrimination in his state. As one lawmaker bluntly put it, "It's open season on people of faith" in Georgia. 
The bill had been virtually eviscerated before it even got to the governor's desk. Even if the governor had signed it, it would have provided no protection at all for Christian vendors who exercise their constitutionally guaranteed right to the free exercise of religion in the way they run their businesses. Christian bakers, florists, photographers, T-shirt makers and so forth are now officially left high and dry in Georgia, abandoned by the very official who has taken an oath before God to protect them. 
About all that was left in the bill was protection for what pastors and churches and faith-based organizations do inside the four walls of their own buildings. Now even that protection has vanished like a whiff of smoke and the governor has left them without a shred of legal protection. 
The governor piously claimed, "I do not respond well to insults or threats," and then vetoed the bill after Coca-Cola, Netflix, Apple, Time Warner, Marriott, Walt Disney and the NFL rattled their sabers.
The governor is right. He does not respond well to insults and threats. He folded like a cheap accordion at a Lawrence Welk concert. 
As Todd Starnes put it, he "was more interested in protecting the Almighty Dollar than he was protecting followers of the Almighty." 
If you want a three-word Snapchat to explain why we are losing America and why the Republican Party is being abandoned in droves by people of principle, here it is: Governor Nathan Deal.
Bryan Fischer is the host of the two-hour weekday radio program "Focal Point" on American Family Radio.
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"I Will Plant Them Upon Their Land" ✡ We'll Drink a L'Chaim to That! - Israel365

And I will plant them upon their Land, and they shall no more be plucked up out of their Land which I have given them, said the LORD thy God.

וּנְטַעְתִּים עַל אַדְמָתָם וְלֹא יִנָּתְשׁוּ עוֹד מֵעַל אַדְמָתָם אֲשֶׁר נָתַתִּי לָהֶם אָמַר יְ-הוָה אֱ-לֹהֶיךָ

עמוס ט:טו


un-ta-teem al ad-ma-tam v’-lo yi-na-t’-shu od may-al ad-ma-tam a-sher na-ta-tee la-hem a-mar a-do-nai e-lo-he-kha

Today's Israel Inspiration

Amos ends his prophecy with a message of hope, proclaiming that the day will come when the people will return to the Land of Israel, build houses, plant vineyards and trees, and enjoy their fruits. This is reminiscent of the idyllic times described by Micah when every man shall sit “under his vine and under his fig-tree; and none shall make them afraid” (4:4). Amos concludes by comparing the Jewish people to a sapling that is planted firmly in the ground. Their connection to the Land of Israel will never again be uprooted. Plant your roots in the eternal Holy Land with a spring tree, and receive a beautiful certificate.
 

Israel: 100 Years in a Flash

Enjoy this beautiful account of the return of the Nation of Israel to her borders.

Ancient Byzantine Church Uncovered

Fascinating artifacts and mosaics have recently been unearthed at the site of a Byzantine basilica in Gush Etzion, south of Jerusalem.
 

Matching Earring and Necklace Set: Sapphire Blue Crystals and Star Of David Charm

The deep sapphire blue crystal Star of David was designed by Judaic artist Diane Fuller. In addition to a beautiful Star of David charm, the necklace includes an eye catching lapis lazuli stone. The stone is surrounded by glass crystals, giving it a pretty sparkle. In addition to the necklace, there is also a matching set of earrings. This wonderful set will make an excellent gift for nearly every occasion. The necklace is 18″ long.

Today's Israel Photo

Drinks at a beachside kiosk in Tel Aviv by Rebecca Kowalsky. Tel Aviv boasts no less than 16 beautiful beaches on the Mediterranean!

Yesterday's Photo Trivia

Thanks to everyone who responded to yesterday's photo trivia! We featured the popular resort town of Eilat. Eilat is mentioned in Deuteronomy 2:8 as one of the locations the Jewish people passed through in their trek out of Egypt.
 

Thank You

Please help us continue to spread the beauty and significance of the Land of Israel!

“I Am Glad I Am Part of This”

It’s great to hear from so many of you - stay in touch and let us know where in the world you are enjoying Israel365!
 
I very much enjoy the pictures of Israel. God bless you all. Bill Fischer

Thank you for posting these inspiring quotes, I am glad I am part of this gospel sharing... Elvira Lanzaderas, Phillipines
Shalom,
Rabbi Tuly Weisz
RabbiTuly@Israel365.com
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The Looming Economic Collapse (Day 1) - Michael Snyder & James Rickards - The Jim Bakker Show


Watch here: The Looming Economic Collapse (Day 1) - Michael Snyder & James Rickards - The Jim Bakker Show


Jim & Lori Bakker with James Rickards



James Rickards, Michael Snyder

Jim Bakker Show 2016 | Show# 2963 | Aired on March 29, 2016

Jim Bakker Show © 2016 • Morningside Studios

Home » Video Archives » The Looming Economic Collapse (Day 1)

Depressing Survey Results Show How Extremely Stupid America Has Become - Michael Synder THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE BLOG

No Thinking - Public Domain

Posted: 29 Mar 2016  Michael Synder  THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE BLOG

Ten years ago, a major Hollywood film entitled “Idiocracy” was released, and it was an excellent metaphor for what would happen to America over the course of the next decade.  In the movie, an “average American” wakes up 500 years in the future only to discover that he is the most intelligent person by far in the “dumbed down” society that he suddenly finds himself in.  Sadly, I truly believe that if people of average intellect from the 1950s and 1960s were transported to 2016, they would likely be considered mental giants compared to the rest of us.  

We have a country where criminals are being paid $1000 a month not to shoot people, and the highest paid public employee in more than half the states is a football coach.  Hardly anyone takes time to read a book anymore, and yet the average American spends 302 minutes a day watching television.  75 percent of our young adults cannot find Israel on a map of the Middle East, but they sure know how to find smut on the Internet.  

It may be hard to believe, but there are more than 4 million adult websites on the Internet today, and they get more traffic than Netflix, Amazon and Twitter combined.

What in the world has happened to us?  How is it possible that we have become so stupid?  According to a brand new report that was recently released, almost 10 percent of our college graduates believe that Judge Judy is on the Supreme Court…
The American Council of Trustees and Alumni publishes occasional reports on what college students know.
Nearly 10 percent of the college graduates surveyed thought Judith Sheindlin, TV’s “Judge Judy,” is a member of the U.S. Supreme Court. Less than 20 percent of the college graduates knew the effect of the Emancipation Proclamation. More than a quarter of the college graduates did not know Franklin D. Roosevelt was president during World War II; one-third did not know he was the president who spearheaded the New Deal.
It can be tempting to laugh at numbers like these until you realize that survey after survey has come up with similar results.

Just consider what Newsweek found a few years ago…
When NEWSWEEK recently asked 1,000 U.S. citizens to take America’s official citizenship test, 29 percent couldn’t name the vice president. Seventy-three percent couldn’t correctly say why we fought the Cold War. Forty-four percent were unable to define the Bill of Rights. And 6 percent couldn’t even circle Independence Day on a calendar.
Even worse were the extremely depressing results of a study conducted a few years ago by Common Core…

*Only 43 percent of all U.S. high school students knew that the Civil War was fought some time between 1850 and 1900.

*More than a quarter of all U.S. high school students thought that Christopher Columbus made his famous voyage across the Atlantic Ocean after the year 1750.

*Approximately a third of all U.S. high school students did not know that the Bill of Rights guarantees freedom of speech and freedom of religion.

*Only 60 percent of all U.S. students knew that World War I was fought some time between 1900 and 1950.

Of course survey results can be skewed, and much hinges on how the questions are asked.
However, even studies that are scientifically conducted confirm how stupid America has become.  In fact, a report from the Educational Testing Service found that Americans are falling way behind much of the rest of the industrialized world.  The following comes from CBS News
Americans born after 1980 are lagging their peers in countries ranging from Australia to Estonia, according to a new report from researchers at the Educational Testing Service (ETS). The study looked at scores for literacy and numeracy from a test called the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies, which tested the abilities of people in 22 countries.
The results are sobering, with dire implications for America. It hints that students may be falling behind not only in their early educational years but at the college level. Even though more Americans between the ages of 20 to 34 are achieving higher levels of education, they’re still falling behind their cohorts in other countries. In Japan, Finland and the Netherlands, young adults with only a high school degree scored on par with American Millennials holding four-year college degrees, the report said.
Out of 22 countries that were part of the study, the Educational Testing Service found that Americans were dead last in tech proficiency, dead last in numeracy and only two countries performed worse than us when it came to literacy proficiency
Half of American Millennials score below the minimum standard of literacy proficiency. Only two countries scored worse by that measure: Italy (60 percent) and Spain (59 percent). The results were even worse for numeracy, with almost two-thirds of American Millennials failing to meet the minimum standard for understanding and working with numbers. That placed U.S. Millennials dead last for numeracy among the study’s 22 developed countries.
So why has this happened?

Why have we become such an extremely stupid nation?

Well, at least a portion of the blame must be directed at our system of education.  The following is an excerpt from an article written by reporter Mark Morford.  In this article, he shared how one of his friends which had served for a very long time as a high school teacher in Oakland, California was considering moving out of the country when he retired due to the relentless “dumb-ification of the American brain”
It’s gotten so bad that, as my friend nears retirement, he says he is very seriously considering moving out of the country so as to escape what he sees will be the surefire collapse of functioning American society in the next handful of years due to the absolutely irrefutable destruction, the shocking — and nearly hopeless — dumb-ification of the American brain. It is just that bad.
Now, you may think he’s merely a curmudgeon, a tired old teacher who stopped caring long ago. Not true. Teaching is his life. He says he loves his students, loves education and learning and watching young minds awaken. Problem is, he is seeing much less of it.
And of course things don’t get much better when it comes to our college students.  In a previous article, I shared some statistics from USA Today about the rapidly declining state of college education in the United States…

-“After two years in college, 45% of students showed no significant gains in learning; after four years, 36% showed little change.”

-“Students also spent 50% less time studying compared with students a few decades ago”

-“35% of students report spending five or fewer hours per week studying alone.”

-“50% said they never took a class in a typical semester where they wrote more than 20 pages”

-“32% never took a course in a typical semester where they read more than 40 pages per week.”

I spent eight years studying at some of the finest public universities in the country, and I can tell you from personal experience that even our most challenging college courses have been pathetically dumbed down.

And at our “less than finest” public universities, the level of education can be something of a bad joke.  In another previous article, I shared some examples of actual courses that have been taught at U.S. universities in recent years…

-“What If Harry Potter Is Real?
-“Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame
-“Philosophy And Star Trek
-“Learning From YouTube
-“How To Watch Television

Could you imagine getting actual college credit for a course entitled “What If Harry Potter Is Real?”

This is why many of our college graduates can barely put two sentences together.  They aren’t being challenged, and the quality of the education most of them are receiving is incredibly poor.

But even though they aren’t being challenged, students are taking longer to get through college than ever.  Federal statistics reveal that only 36 percent of all full-time students receive a bachelor’s degree within four years, and only 77 percent of all full-time students have earned a bachelor’s degree by the end of six years.

Of course our system of education is not entirely to blame.  The truth is that young Americans spend far more time consuming media than they do hitting the books, and what passes for “entertainment” these days is rapidly turning their brains to mush.

According to a report put out by Nielsen, this is how much time the average American spends consuming media on various devices each day…

Watching live television: 4 hours, 32 minutes

Watching time-shifted television: 30 minutes

Listening to the radio: 2 hours, 44 minutes

Using a smartphone: 1 hour, 33 minutes

Using Internet on a computer: 1 hour, 6 minutes

When you add it all up, the average American spends more than 10 hours a day plugged into some form of media.

And if you allow anyone to pump “programming” into your mind for 10 hours a day, it is going to have a dramatic impact.

In the end, I truly believe that we all greatly underestimate the influence that the mainstream media has on all of us.  We willingly plug into “the Matrix” for endless hours, but then somehow we still expect “to think for ourselves”.

There are very few of us that can say that we have not been exposed to thousands upon thousands of hours of conditioning.  And all of that garbage can make it very, very difficult to think clearly.

It is not because of a lack of input that we have become so stupid as a society.  The big problem is what we are putting into our minds.

If we continue to put garbage in, we are going to continue to get garbage out, and that is the cold, hard reality of the matter.