OLD NATION STATES BREAK DOWN

Story 1-Monsoon, flooding in India. 2-Old Nation states break down into component parts.3-Christ promises to return.

GENESIS 6:13
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

Monsoon leads to flooding, rough seas in south India Tue May 30, 1:49 PM ET MUMBAI (AFP)

- Three people died and two were missing at sea as annual monsoon rains caused floods in India's south that saw parts of Kerala state flooded and fishing in the Arabian Sea curtailed, reports said. Two women were killed after a coconut trees uprooted by the heavy rains fell on them and a man was killed when a tree landed on a passenger bus in Kerala, Press Trust of India reported. Elsewhere in the state, hundreds of families were moved to relief camps as villages in low-lying districts were flooded after the monsoon hit Friday, a week earlier than expected PTI said.

The heavy rains and rough winds also saw several boats capsize off India's western coast, leading a local weather department to warn fishermen not to go to sea. Gusty winds and heavy rains will continue for the next 24 hours and we have sent a warning to fishermen asking them not to venture out to sea, weather official K.V. Singh said from the western coastal state of Goa where five trawlers capsized Tuesday. One sailor was reported missing.Early Tuesday morning, a merchant vessel with 21 people aboard ran aground because of the strong winds and current, the Indian Coast Guard said.

Twenty were rescued and handed over to port authorities,Commandant M. Prasad told AFP, adding that one person remained missing.The advance of the rains upwards from the south is keenly watched as two-thirds of the country's billion-plus population earn their livelihood from agriculture, but poor infrastructure often means heavy flooding and loss of life.Last year 400 people died in the financial hub Mumbai, in western Maharashtra state, after nearly 100 centimetres (40 inches) of rain fell in 24 hours.The state's top official however promised that there would be no repeat of that disaster. A project to desilt the river that runs through the city, to prevent this year's rains from overrunning badly neglected drainage facilities, has almost been completed, he said. I assure Mumbai's citizens that there won't be a repeat of last year during the monsoons, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh was quoted as saying by the Hindustan Times Tuesday.

LUKE 21:27-33
27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees;
30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.
31 So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.
32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.
33 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.

EUROPE Old nation-states break down into component parts BY CARLOS ALBERTO MONTANER,www.firmaspress.com

It appeared to be an unconsequential event. The small republic of Montenegro, by means of a referendum, withdrew peacefully from the federation it had formed with Serbia.With a view of the Mediterranean, Montenegro occupies little more than 13,000 square kilometers -- the size of Connecticut -- and has barely 620,000 people. Most of them are of Slav origin, nominally Orthodox Christians, although there is a noticeable Islamic minority, the product of the old and very reduced Turkish influence in the Balkans.

Of course, there are historical reasons that explain the breakaway, but probably one of the elements that encouraged the Montenegrins to set up tents elsewhere was the currency. A few years ago, they took the happy initiative to renounce the Yugoslav dinar -- the Serbian currency -- and adopt the euro. Contrary to what was happening in Serbia, that move gave economic solidity to Montenegro, controlled inflation and stimulated foreign investment. The conclusion was simple: Standing under Brussels umbrella granted stability to Montenegrin society and
increased its chances of development. The choice between a troubled and poor partner like Serbia and a powerful and organized partner like the European Union was a no-brainer.

Besides, the European Union meant something else: It was a source of political legitimacy and security. When EU authorities established that if only 55 percent of all Montenegrins asked for independence Brussels would give them its blessing, that simple rule served as a stimulus to the separatists. The Serbs -- who were not asked for their opinion -- did not dare challenge the European Union, mostly because in the 1990s they had a taste of NATO's very persuasive bombardments. Taking their tents elsewhere, then, was relatively easy for the people of Montenegro.The Montenegro episode had an immediate repercussion in Spain. Basque and Catalonian separatists watched it with eyes filled with hope. If the European Union permitted the breakup of Serbia-Montenegro by means of a referendum where more than 55 percent voted in favor, would it dare apply a different standard to Spain?

If more than 55 percent of all Catalonians or Basques requested independence, they would likely get it, even though the rest of the Spaniards could voice no opinion about the secession of two territories that for centuries have formed an essential part of the complex national mosaic.
The great paradox is that the European Union, which emerged to strengthen nations within a grand design, has ended up weakening them for the benefit of ethnic regions and groups that speak different languages. If the euro is an international currency and European laws and judicial authorities prevail over local justice, what use is the national state?

If the European Parliament gains increasing competence and the seeds of a grand pan-European Army germinate and grow, what real attributes are left for the national state. What we're witnessing is the beginning of the end of a very long historical process that began in the Middle Ages five or six centuries ago, when the modern states were built with the fragments of the feudal world that emerged from the collapse of the Roman Empire.

England, Germany, Spain, France, Portugal, Italy, the great nations that were forged then and dominated the planet for centuries (although some, like Italy and Germany, were slow to coalesce into unitarian states), are beginning to dilute into a benevolent bureaucracy, faithful to the values of the Enlightenment, ruled by a social-democratic view of the economy, and fortunately organized by democratic methods that respect human rights. Is that good for the Europeans and for the world.

Maybe. Yes as grounds for peaceful coexistence, but probably No as a center for scientific, technical and economic initiatives. The enormous effort to coordinate the interests and peculiarities of 100 ethnic groups and 40 languages, plus the bureaucratic tendency
to regulate and unify usages and customs, people and activities, surely will slow down the creative processes, gradually distancing the European Union from more dynamic and efficient foci of action, such as the United States, Japan and China.

In any case, it doesn't appear that the steps taken by the European Union can be reversed. If throughout the centuries the modern states assimilated strange components that seemed indigestible (who today can remember the glory of the Burgundians or the Prussians?), now we face a contrary process, a process of disunion that liquidates or erodes states as it integrates them into a supranational unit that functions by means of very effective administrative structures but has no emotional handles.

Where will this gigantic experiment in political engineering end? No one can tell. What does seem obvious, however, is that no one can stop it.

I must say at this last story I disagree with the author that 1967 recapture of Jerusalem was not the end of the times of the Gentiles. I myself think it was, The gentiles at the end of the 7 yr treaty only capture Jerusalem for a day or week at the most, then Jesus comes back to earth and rules and reigns for 1000 yrs and forever.

This week's promise: Christ will return No clever story

We were not making up clever stories when we told you about the power of the Lord Jesus Christ and his coming again. We have seen his majestic splendor with our own eyes.
2 Peter 1:16 NLT ,Fulfillment of prophecy?

On June 7, 1967, a date clear to the heart of every patriotic Israeli, the army of Israel captured the Old City of Jerusalem. The previous month the Egyptians had decided to attempt once more to conquer Israel. Israel felt its only hope was to launch a preemptive strike, which it did on June 5. Two days later the Israelis captured the Old City of Jerusalem, which had been part of
Jordan. As a result of this military victory in what is known as the Six-Day War, Israel once again possessed her ancient capital.

From the beginning of Jesus' ministry he warned the Jews of God's coming wrath unless they repented (Matthew 3:8). The Roman army, under general Titus, completely destroyed the city and temple in A.D. 70. Jesus had also prophesied that following its defeat "Jerusalem will be…trampled down by the Gentiles until the age of the Gentiles comes to an end" (Luke 21:24). Does this mean that the "age of the Gentiles" came to end on June 7, 1967?

Revelation 11:2 seems to answer no. It states that the Gentiles "will trample the holy city for forty-two months," apparently the three and a half years period to the second coming of Christ, implying that the Jews will not be in control of Jerusalem at this time. June 7, 1967 was an
extremely significant event in Jewish history, but it was not the fulfillment of prophecy.

Reflection

When you read the unfulfilled prophecies of the Bible, do you believe that they will be literally fulfilled? The first coming of Jesus Christ fulfilled many prophecies, and his second coming will fulfill many more. Adapted from The One Year® Book of Christian History by E. Michael and Sharon Rusten (Tyndale, 2003), entry for June 7.