B-1 BOMBER BURNS IN MIDEAST

INVENTION OF THE ATOMIC BOMB.

2 PETER 3:10-11
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,

NUCLEAR WEAPONS WILL BE USED.

REVELATION 14:18-20
18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
20 And the winepress was trodden without the city,(JERUSALEM) and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.(200 MILES) (THE SIZE OF ISRAEL)

ISAIAH 66:15-18
15 For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.
16 For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.
17 They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.
18 For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.

ISAIAH 26:21
21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.(WW3,1/2 earths population die).

ISAIAH 13:6-13 KJV
6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:(FROM FRIGHT)
8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.

ISAIAH 24:17-23 KJV
17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.

2 TIMOTHY 3:1
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous (DANGEROUS) times shall come.

JOEL 2:20,30
20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army,(RUSSIA,MUSLIMS) and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.(SIBERIAN DESERT)
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(NUCLEAR BOMB)
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.

ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.

EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.

ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.

MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

REVELATION 9:18
18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.

HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)

LUKE 17:34-37
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten by the birds).

MATTHEW 24:37-51
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

WW3 THE 3 WAVES THAT MARCH TO ISRAEL

DANIEL 11:40-45
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south( EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) and the king of the north (RUSSIA AND MUSLIM HORDES OF EZEK 38+39) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
41 He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.(JORDAN)
42 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
43 But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA 2ND WAVE OF WW3) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)
45 And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.

REVELATION 14:18-20
18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
20 And the winepress was trodden without the city,(JERUSALEM) and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.(200 MILES) (THE SIZE OF ISRAEL)

The Third and Final Wave of WW3 is when all Nations march to Jerusalem, but JESUS bodily returns to earth and destroys them,sets up his KINGDOM OF RULE FOR 1000 YEARS THEN FOREVER.

2ND WAVE CHINA AND KINGS OF THE EAST MARCH TO ISRAEL

REVELATION 16:12
12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.(THIS IS THE ATATURK DAM IN TURKEY,THEY CROSS OVER).

DANIEL 11:44 (2ND WAVE OF WW3)
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)

REVELATION 9:12-18
12 One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.
13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.(IRAQ-SYRIA)
15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.(1/3 Earths Population die in WW 3 2ND WAVE)
16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand:(200 MILLION MAN ARMY FROM CHINA AND THE KINGS OF THE EAST) and I heard the number of them.
17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)
18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)

WARS AND RUMURS OF WARS.

MATTHEW 24:6
6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

MARK 13:7
7 And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet.

U.S. B-1 bomber burns at Middle East base
Four crew members evacuated safely; bomber went down in Qatar
MSNBC News Services updated 5:56 p.m. ET, Fri., April. 4, 2008

WASHINGTON - The U.S. military says all four crew members safely evacuated from a B-1 bomber that caught fire after landing at an Air Force base in Qatar. The Air Force says the bomber was taxiing after landing at al-Udeid Air Base and caught fire. The crew evacuated the aircraft and is safe. The fire was contained, the Air Force said in a statement.A board of inquiry has been appointed to investigate.Al-Udeid is the headquarters of all American air operations in the Middle East. U.S. defense officials said they did not know what mission the bomber was conducting. The B-1 is a long-range bomber aircraft capable of flying intercontinental missions without refueling and is able to penetrate sophisticated defensive networks.

POLAND 7TH TO RATIFY LISBON TREATY

EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH

GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

EARTHQUAKES

MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

04/03/08 11:39 Bengkulu again hit by 5.0-magnitude earthquake on Thursday

Bengkulu, Sumatra (ANTARA News) - Bengkulu was again shaken by an earthquake measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale on Thursday at 9.58 am Western Indonesian Time (WIB), after it was hit by a powerful 6.1-magnitude earthquake on Wednesday (April 2).The quake`s epicenter was located at 04.19 degrees southern latitude and 102.22 degrees estearn longitude, at a depth of 20 km, around 44 km southwest of Bengkulu, according to Sujud SP, a staff member of the Bengkulu meteorological and geophysics office, here on Thursday.The earthquake caused local residents to be panic-stricken but there was no immediate report of casualties or material damage.A magnitude 7.9 quake rocked the province on Sept 12 last year, killing dozens of people and destroying thousands of houses.Since then, earthquakes, most of them measuring less than 4 on the Richter scale, jolted the province almost everyday.

Tokyo Earthquake Survivors Risk Being Crushed, Simulation Shows By Stuart Biggs

April 3 (Bloomberg) -- Millions of workers in Tokyo face being crushed on streets resembling a crowded commuter train should a strong earthquake hit Japan's capital, according to a government report. With public transport disabled, commuters would have to walk home and may be crammed in areas of up to 6 people per square meter (11 square feet), with as many as 2 million facing such conditions for more than three hours, the Central Disaster Prevention Council said in the report. Simulations of earthquakes as strong as magnitude 7.3 found it may take 15 hours, three times longer than under normal conditions, to walk from central Tokyo to homes in Wako, a town in Saitama prefecture 20 kilometers to the north, according to the report. Walking to Yokohama, 30 kilometers south of Tokyo, would take 15 hours, or twice as long, the report said. Congestion may reach a peak three hours after an earthquake as people from different areas of Tokyo converge, the report said.

The government panel will recommend measures including the temporary use of schools and public buildings as shelters to prevent large groups of people fleeing the city at the same time, the report said. The simulations found that if groups of workers staggered their departures by six hours, the risk of being crushed in confined areas would decline by as much as two thirds, the report said. Central Tokyo has a daytime population of 15 million, according to the latest metropolitan government statistics. About a fifth of the daytime population is made up of commuters from Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba prefectures adjacent to Tokyo. Japan is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries and is located in a zone where the Eurasian, Pacific, Philippine and North American tectonic plates meet and occasionally shift. A magnitude 6.9 quake killed about 5,500 people in Kobe, western Japan, in 1995. To contact the reporter on this story: Stuart Biggs in Tokyo at sbiggs3@bloomberg.net.

STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES

LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

Quebec watching 25 rivers for potential flooding
Thu Apr 3, 1:19 PM

MONTREAL (CBC) - Spring flooding could cause problems for homeowners along the banks of 25 different rivers in Quebec, according to Marc Lavall?e, of the province's Civil Security Department.The potential is there this year for heavy floods, but that doesn't mean we're [going to] have it, [because] it's the weather conditions that make the real difference, he said.

Specifically, he said, it would take four consecutive days and nights of warm weather to cause problems.Barbara Eimer's home in Rivi?re-des-Prairies is just steps from the river, where it separates Montreal from Laval.There was still ice along the banks of parts of the river Wednesday morning. Other sections were flowing freely.Eimer hopes the river behaves this year.So far, it's been good. I cannot complain. Mind you, the water rises up and, shouldn't go higher, she said.The cooler than normal March has kept a lot of the snow and ice on the ground across the province.Lavalle said the water flow on the rivers is up, but there is nothing alarming right now.He said people should be ready if they live in a flood-risk area.Be prepared to have their essential goods to the higher level in the house, instead of leaving them in the basement.
He also said people should be ready to leave their homes in case the flooding gets really bad.

Flooding and tornadoes Tom Moore
Thu Apr 3, 8:26 PM ET

A storm system will produce widespread heavy rain and severe weather from the southern plains to the eastern Seaboard. Severe weather has already erupted and will affect the south-central states from Texas to northern Arkansas then expanding to northern Louisiana, western Tennessee, southern Missouri, western Kentucky and northern Mississippi. Tornadoes, very large hail, and damaging winds will be possible. Repeated heavy downpours will also bring the threat for flash flooding. This severe weather threat will shift eastward to Mississippi and northern Alabama on Friday. Damaging winds hail, and isolated tornadoes will be possible. Heavy downpours will also be likely. Overall, the heavy rain will spread from eastern Oklahoma to the Ohio/Tennessee Valleys where 3 to 4 inches of rain will be possible and some locations could be doused with up to 6 inches. Areas of heavy rain will spread across the Mid-Atlantic, southeast New York and southern New England Friday and Saturday, where 1 to 3 inches of rain will be possible and a few locations just south of the Mason-Dixon Line could see over 4 inches. All of these areas will be at risk for flash flooding, especially where thunderstorms with heavy downpours move repeatedly over the same areas. Flooding of rivers and streams in ongoing through parts of the Lower Ohio and Lower Mississippi River Valleys, and this flooding will likely continue and worsen into the weekend.

OZONE DEPLETION

ISAIAH 30:26-27
26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:

MATTHEW 24:21-22,29
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened (Daylight hours shortened)
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

REVELATION 16:7-9
7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.

Weakening La Nina points to mild Midwest summer
Thu Apr 3, 10:34 AMBy Christine Stebbins

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Forecasts for a weakening La Nina weather anomaly this spring and summer point toward a mild summer for most of the U.S. Corn Belt, meteorologists said at an agricultural conference late Wednesday.That would be good news for U.S. farmers who are hoping for bumper crops of corn and soybeans this year after soaring global demand for grains drove prices to historic highs.La Nina refers to an abnormal cooling of sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, while its counterpart El Nino refers to a warming of surface temperatures.The resulting effects on global atmosphere affect climate in many countries, including key wheat, grain and oilseed regions of the U.S. Midwest, Great Plains and Southeast.Meteorologists said one of the strongest La Ninas in years occurred over this past autumn and winter, contributing to exceptionally wet winter weather in the Midwest.We have been seeing it weakening recently. If we see that continue it will be like the year 2000 and ... a cooler summer overall, said Joel Widenor, meteorologist with MDA EarthSat Weather/Cropcast.

But several meteorologists said that in years when La Nina weakens during the spring, but stabilizes by summer, there's a tendency for the Midwest to see a warmer-than-normal summer.The U.S. government's Climate Prediction Center said in its latest La Nina update on March 6 that the current La Nina is expected to weaken through June after moderate to strong conditions in March.CPC will issue its next La Nina forecast on April 10.While the heart of the Corn Belt will see a mild summer if La Nina weakens as predicted, some regions will be drier than normal, meteorologists predicted.

More heat and dryness than usual this summer will tend to favor spring wheat country, they said -- the northern U.S. Plains, the Canadian Prairies and some areas of the northwestern Midwest Corn Belt like Minnesota.The northwest Midwest is the area with the most serious threat to corn and soybean with reduced yield potential, Widenor said. The southern and eastern Midwest on the other hand will likely be at or above trend yields.Greg Soulje, chief meteorologist with This Week in Agribusiness & Brownfield Network, agreed. But he also expected a bigger area of the Midwest to see heat stress by late summer.If there's going to be heat and drought, it's going to be biased toward the last half of the summer, he said.

As for hard red winter wheat now coming out of dormancy in the southern Plains, meteorologists said early spring rains could ease the drier areas. But a threat remains for more dryness when the crop is forming heads on the stems in May, a critical stage for determining yields.In the heart of the Corn Belt -- Iowa and Illinois alone produce about a third of total U.S. production of corn and soybeans -- farmers are now facing their first hurdle: too much rain, delaying spring fieldwork and early corn planting.

Meteorologists said there was still plenty of time to get this year's crop planted. But corn yields can drop about 1 to 1.5 bushels per acre per day in Illinois and Iowa for every day fields are planted after mid-May, crop specialists say.Planting delays will ease a little as April progresses in the southern belt, but we'll see some delays shift up further north and west, Widenor said.
Soulje said: From our vantage point, we're two to three weeks behind schedule. Those delays will likely move northward into mid-May to early June.(Reporting by Christine Stebbins; Editing by John Picinich)

NATO confronting new threats By WILLIAM J. KOLE, Associated Press Writer Wed Apr 2, 11:41 PM ET

BUCHAREST, Romania - NATO's latest security worries go far beyond Taliban fighters or al-Qaida extremists: They include computer hackers, threats to global energy supplies and climate change profiteers. World leaders gathered in Bucharest for this week's NATO summit are debating what role the trans-Atlantic alliance can play in containing cyberterrorists, hacktivists and other emerging menaces that experts concede are untraditional, but still potentially lethal.NATO needs to gear up for iWar — systematic attacks on the Web that could disrupt commerce worldwide by using crippling computer worms to shut down consumer online services such as Internet banking — warns Johnny Ryan, a researcher with the Institute of International and European Affairs.iWar will proliferate quickly and can be waged by anyone with an Internet connection, Ryan cautioned in an analysis for NATO.In the short term, iWar poses a gathering threat to NATO members, he said. NATO must approach the problem as an immediate threat and strive to develop practical defensive cooperation.NATO member Estonia suffered a series of paralyzing and economically devastating cybercrime attacks last year that it blamed on Russia, which has denied involvement.

The attacks raise questions about the alliance's ability to protect its newest members, said Stanley Kober, a research fellow at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank.Securing vulnerable energy infrastructure may be an even more pressing concern, NATO officials said Wednesday as the summit got under way.NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has been pushing for a new strategic concept that would define the alliance's role in dealing with the threat.

Many of these challenges will not trigger a classical military response. But they will require allies to support each other — politically, economically, and perhaps also militarily, de Hoop Scheffer told a security forum in Brussels, Belgium, last month.

His spokesman, James Appathurai, told reporters Wednesday that the 26 NATO allies hoped this week to lay the groundwork for a new blueprint on how to tackle evolving security challenges.Energy has also become a worry for NATO as Russia tightens control of its most important natural gas fields. Gazprom, Russia's state-controlled energy monopoly, controls key pipelines that supply gas to Western Europe.The U.S. is prodding NATO to take a larger role in energy security — something Washington considers a major post-Cold War menace.I think there's an increasing recognition in the United States that these are growing issues, said Stephen Larrabee, a senior security analyst for the RAND Corp. think tank.Climate change — already a major concern on a wide range of fronts — is starting to preoccupy NATO as well.De Hoop Scheffer says the alliance may have to be ready to protect food and water supplies if global warming makes them scarce and tensions create enough economic or political instability to nudge nations to the brink of war.EU foreign affairs chief Javier Solana gave a bleak assessment in a March 3 report warning that climate change threatens to undermine international security.It is important to recognize that the risks are not just of a humanitarian nature — they also include political and security risks that directly affect European interests, the report says, warning: Unmitigated climate change ... will lead to unprecedented security scenarios. But any attempt to push the new threats to the forefront likely will run into resistance from allies pressing NATO to get back to basics, said Julianne Smith, Europe program director for the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Many countries would like to see NATO return to its core mission, she said. I just find it hard to believe that NATO is going to be able to reach consensus on any of these issues.NATO's core function is defined in its 1949 founding treaty, which states that all members will come to each others' aid if any are attacked by an outside power. On the Net: http://www.nato.int

METEORS HIT THE EARTH

REVELATION 6:12-17
12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

REVELATION 8:12-13
12 And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.
13 And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels,which are yet to sound!

SIGNS IN THE SUN, MOON AND STARS

LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

Shooting Star Shower Spotted on Mars
By Dave Mosher Staff Writer posted: 1 April 2008 7:01 p.m. ET

A shower of shooting stars has been recorded by instruments on Mars for the first time, astronomers say. Meteors have been spotted before by the Mars rovers, but no device has ever detected a full shower until now. United Kingdom astronomers predicted the event by tracking a comet's path near Mars, then comparing their forecast with Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) satellite data of the red planet's ionosphere — the upper reaches of atmosphere teeming with charged particles.Just as we can predict meteor outbursts at Earth, such as the Leonids [shower that occurs every November], we can also predict when meteor showers are going to occur at Mars and Venus, said Apostolos Christou, an astronomer at the U.K.'s Armagh Observatory who helped predict the martian meteoric event.Christou is set to present findings about the meteor-showering pass of comet 79P/du Toit-Hartley at the Royal Astronomical Society's National Astronomy Meeting in Belfast on April 2.

Meteor central

Just as on Earth, meteor showers on Mars can occur when a planet passes through the dusty trail of a comet.There are no conventional photos of the meteors in the new findings, but studying the brightness and length of meteor streaks in optical and radio data, Christou said, can help determine the age, size and composition of a comet's core.Scientists think four times as many comets dust Mars with their tails compared to our home planet, as a high proportion of comets hang out near Jupiter — the red planet's next-closest neighbor. So there could be many more meteor showers visible from Mars than from Earth.Some even blame such frequent comet dusting of Mars for the puzzling course change of Mariner 4, the first spacecraft to visit Mars, in the 1960s.

Fuzzy details

Christou said detecting the distant meteor shower wasn't easy. We believe that shooting stars should appear at Venus and Mars with a similar brightness to those we see at Earth, he said. However, as we are not in a position to watch them in the martian sky directly, we have to sift through satellite data to look for evidence of particles burning up in the upper atmosphere.Christou and his colleagues predicted six meteor showers caused by the intersection of Mars with dust trails from comet 79P/du Toit-Hartley since 1997, which was when the MGS satellite entered orbit.The team pinpointed meteor streaks indirectly by measuring disturbances in electrical density of Mars' atmosphere with the spacecraft's radio communication system.Out of the two showers MGS could have recorded — in 2003 or 2005 — Christou and his colleagues found hints of a shower only in data of the 2003 event.We don't see anything in the 2005 data because the meteors burned up deeper in the atmosphere, he said, adding that the depth would cover up an electrical signature. If we are going to get a clear picture of what is going on, we need more optical and ionospheric observations of meteor showers at both the Earth and Mars so we can establish a definitive link between cause and effect.

EU DICTATOR (WORLD LEADER)

REVELATION 17:12-13
12 And the ten horns (NATIONS) which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.

REVELATION 6:1-2
1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
2 And I saw, and behold a white horse:(PEACE) and he that sat on him had a bow;(EU DICTATOR) and a crown was given unto him:(PRESIDENT OF THE EU) and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.(MILITARY GENIUS)

REVELATION 13:1-10
1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.(THE EU AND ITS DICTATOR IS GODLESS)
2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.(DICTATOR COMES FROM NEW AGE OR OCCULT)
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death;(MURDERERD) and his deadly wound was healed:(COMES BACK TO LIFE) and all the world wondered after the beast.(THE WORLD THINKS ITS GOD IN THE FLESH, MESSIAH TO ISRAEL)
4 And they worshipped the dragon (SATAN) which gave power unto the beast:(JEWISH EU DICTATOR) and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?(FALSE RESURRECTION,SATAN BRINGS HIM TO LIFE)
5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.(GIVEN WORLD CONTROL FOR 3 1/2YRS)
6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God,(HES A GOD HATER) to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.(HES A LIBERAL OR DEMOCRAT,WILL PUT ANYTHING ABOUT GOD DOWN)
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints,(BEHEAD THEM) and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.(WORLD DOMINATION)
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.(WORLD DICTATOR)
9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.(SAVED CHRISTIANS AND JEWS DIE FOR THEIR FAITH AT THIS TIME,NOW WE ARE SAVED BY GRACE BUT DURING THE 7 YEARS OF HELL ON EARTH, PEOPLE WILL BE PUT TO DEATH (BEHEADINGS) FOR THEIR BELIEF IN GOD (JESUS) OR THE BIBLE.

DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come (ROMANS IN AD 70) shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMANS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 And he( EU ROMAN, JEWISH DICTATOR) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:( 7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,( 3 1/2 YRS) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

Polish parliament approves EU treaty
01.04.2008 - 18:53 CET | By Elitsa Vucheva

The lower house of the Polish parliament approved the European Union's new treaty on Tuesday (1 April).The document, which EU leaders signed in December in Lisbon and which aims to revitalise the bloc's institutions and boost its efficiency, was approved by 384 deputies from the 460-seat lower house, the Sejm.Fifty-six parliamentarians out of the 452 present voted against the bill, which enables the president to officially ratify the treaty, while 12 abstained - all of them hardliners within the conservative Law and Justice Party.The Sejm's special session was convened after Liberal Prime Minister Donald Tusk (Civic Platform party) and conservative opposition leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski of the Law and Justice Party struck a deal on Tuesday (31 March), lifting the threat of a block by the opposition.

Mr Kaczynski had been threatening since mid-March to obstruct ratification of the Lisbon treaty unless Warsaw won more guarantees on sovereignty, and on the Polish constitution remaining the highest law in the country.Supported by his twin brother, Polish President Lech Kaczynski, the former premier had evoked anti-German and homophobic arguments, fearing for instance that gay marriages could be imposed on Poland, should the Lisbon treaty be ratified in its current form.His party voted in favour of the treaty on Tuesday, however, after reaching an agreement with Prime Minister Tusk to have a parliamentary resolution adopted that would contain references to Poland's sovereignty in the face of EU legislation.

Poland's President, present at the session, also told parliamentarians that the adoption of the treaty would be good news for both Poland and the EU, according to German news agency DPA. The ratification bill is now expected to be approved by the Polish Senate on Wednesday (2 April). The process will then be finalised with a signature by the country's president.So far, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia, Malta, Romania, France and Bulgaria have approved the document.Ratification of the Lisbon treaty is expected to be finalised by the end of this year, in order that the treaty can come into force in 2009.So far, only Ireland is to hold a referendum on the treaty, expected in June.

EU top envoy in Kosovo approves draft constitution
www.chinaview.cn 2008-04-03 06:29:53

PRISTINA, April 2 (Xinhua) -- The European Union Special Representative in Kosovo, Pieter Feith, on Wednesday approved the draft constitution for Kosovo, which unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in February. Kosovo will have a modern Constitution guaranteeing full respect of individual and community rights, including those of Kosovo Serbs, under the rule of law. The right to local self-government is firmly anchored in the Draft Constitution, Feith said in a statement. Feith, who also acts as the International Civilian Representative for Kosovo, is responsible for overseeing the implementation of the Kosovo status settlement proposal drafted by UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari.

The proposal of Ahtisaari is the framework for the draft constitution. According to Ahtisaari's proposal, Kosovo should be a state but under international supervision, to ensure the protection of minority rights and respect for the rule of law. Feith said in the statement that the constitution provides comprehensive rights for members of communities as well as effective guarantees for the protection of the national, linguistic and religious identity of all communities. On this basis, I believe the government and all the citizens of Kosovo can move ahead to build a sustainable, multi-ethnic society that is a home for all, said Feith. Feith's approval opens the door for the 120-seat Kosovo parliament to formally approve the constitution by mid April. The constitution is expected to come into effect on June 15 this year, when the EU Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX) of some 2,000 policemen, judges and advisers is scheduled to take over authority from the UN mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) that has been in charge since the end of the war in 1999.

However, without a new UN Security Council resolution in sight, it is far from certain there will be smooth transition from the UNMIK to EULEX. Russia opposes Ahtisaari's proposal and threatens to block it at the UN Security Council. But the United States and most EU member countries recognized Kosovo as a state and agreed to deploy the EULEX to implement Ahtisaari's proposal under EU leadership. The EU mission has veto power over decisions of the Kosovo authorities that affect the implementation of the Ahtisaari settlement. Serbia has rejected Ahtisaari's proposal and Kosovo's independence, calling on Kosovo Serbs for a boycott of the EU mission in areas of Kosovo where they live. Editor: Mu Xuequan

Belgium against Blair for EU presidency
Web posted at: 4/2/2008 8:22:56 Source ::: AFP

BRUSSELS - Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht indicated yesterday he was against former British prime minister Tony Blair being the European Union's first president, without explicitly naming him. In my opinion, the person who will finally be designated for this task should not come from a member state that is benefiting from a structural opt out from several core European endeavours, he said in a speech in Lisbon but released in Brussels.

Although De Gucht did not specifically name Blair, he clearly targetted him by citing British opt-outs from key EU projects such as the Schengen passport-free travel area, the euro currency and the Charter of Fundamental Rights. It seems natural that the member state from which the future figurehead of Europe emanates, should be part of the entire acquis communautaire, De Gucht said, in reference to the body of law underpinning the EU. De Gucht's conditions would also rule out Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who has also been mentioned as a possible candidate, because his country does not use the euro, although Rasmussen has called for a referendum on the issue. Denmark has had other opt-outs from EU projects on joint defence matters, justice cooperation and European citizenship since its 1992 rejection of the Maastricht treaty in a referendum. A more permanent president is one of the main features foreseen by the bloc's so-called Lisbon Treaty, which EU leaders adopted in the Portuguese capital in December. The treaty, which replaces the EU's scrapped constitution, is in the process of being ratified by the Union's 27 member states so that it can come into effect some time next year.

EUROPEAN UNION ARMY

DANIEL 7:23-25
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast (EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADING BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings(10 NATIONS) that shall arise: and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.( BE HEAD OF 3 NATIONS)
25 And he (EU PRESIDENT) shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.(3 1/2 YRS)

DANIEL 8:23-25
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king (EU DICTATOR) of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences,(FROM THE OCCULT) shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power:(SATANS POWER) and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes;(JESUS) but he shall be broken without hand.

DANIEL 11:36-39
36 And the king (EU DICTATOR) shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers,(THIS EU DICTATOR IS JEWISH) nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.(CLAIM TO BE GOD)
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(WAR) and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god,(DESTROY TERROR GROUPS) whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many,(HIS ARMY LEADERS) and shall divide the land for gain.

REVELATION 19:19
19 And I saw the beast,(EU LEADER) and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse,(JESUS) and against his army.(THE RAPTURED CHRISTIANS)

NATO to enlarge to two Balkan countries
03.04.2008 - 09:21 CET | By Elitsa Vucheva

NATO leaders gathered in Bucharest on Wednesday (2 April) agreed to admit two Balkan countries – Croatia and Albania – to the organisation, but an unsolved dispute between Skopje and Athens has delayed Macedonia's invitation.During a dinner on Wednesday evening, all 26 NATO members agreed Zagreb and Tirana should be invited to join the Alliance, NATO spokesman James Appathurai said at a press briefing after the meal.But the Greek delegation made it very clear that until the name issue is resolved, offering NATO membership to Macedonia would not be possible, he added according to German news agency DPA.No solution [of the Macedonia name issue] means no invitation, Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis had told reporters when leaving for Bucharest.Greece and Macedonia have been deadlocked in a fight over the former Yugoslav country's name for 17 years now. Greece refuses to recognise its constitutional name - Republic of Macedonia - because a northern Greek region is also called Macedonia and it fears possible territorial claims.

EU implications?

Meanwhile, Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency, said before the dinner that if Macedonia did not get an invitation to join NATO, it would be a bad sign for EU enlargement as well, according to Macedonian news agency Makfax.Croatia and Albania also link NATO membership to their EU integration.Membership in NATO will be a stimulus to our partners on the other side of the table to accept Croatia as a full member of the European Union, Croatian premier Ivo Sanader was quoted as saying by daily Javno on Thursday (3 April).For his part, Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha told the Associated Press that joining NATO would represent for his country the most important development since independence.According to Mr Berisha, admitting Albania into NATO will also offer credentials for fast integration into the European Union.But he also stressed the importance of Macedonia being invited as well: I am afraid that radicals from all ethnic groups could be encouraged by a delay.A final decision on the enlargement of the Alliance is to be taken today (3 April).

Ukraine and Georgia

Ukraine and Georgia's ambitions to join the military alliance have been thwarted by a camp of EU states including Germany and France who are afraid of antagonising Russia, who is strongly against their membership.We are convinced that it is too early to grant both states the [pre-membership] status, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said at her arrival in Bucharest, BBC reported.French Prime Minister Francois Fillon also expressed his country's opposition to Georgia and Ukraine's NATO entry at this stage, because we think that it is not a good answer to the balance of power within Europe and between Europe and Russia.NATO leaders did however agree that both Kiev and Tbilisi were entitled to apply to join the organisation and that it was not a matter of whether but of when, Mr Appathurai said.But for the moment I do not expect membership action plans for Georgia or Ukraine here, he added.

DECIEVERS WAXING WORSE AND WORSE.

2 TIMOTHY 3:13
13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

Brussels in new drive to seduce EU citizens
02.04.2008 - 17:27 CET | By Elitsa Vucheva

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – The European Commission on Wednesday (2 April) presented a new plan aimed at increasing EU citizens' involvement in the decision-making process of the 27-nation bloc, as well as making it more popular.Dubbed Debate Europe, the initiative is part of the commission's so-called Plan D – a concept put forward in 2005 to boost the EU's public image after the No votes to the EU constitution in France and the Netherlands.

Presenting an update of the plan, communications commissioner Margot Wallstrom said the context now, three years later, was very different from 2005.It is not anymore about the failed constitution or the reflection period [that followed], as now the objective is more to effectively involve the citizens into EU decision-making, she said.We must consult citizens [because] when we do, we have a better political agenda and a better political result.Debate Europe will have a budget of €7.2 million which will be used to fund a number of civil society projects.It will, among other things, establish 'European public spaces', where exhibitions, debates, seminars and training sessions on EU matters will take place and involve EU officials in activities at regional and local levels in the different member states.The commission will also try and boost its Debate Europe website. Launched at the end of January, it has gathered some 12,000 posts by EU citizens so far – something Ms Wallstrom called a big success.

But in addition to its goal to involve citizens in decision-making, the EU is also still aiming to make itself more popular.Referring to next year's European Parliament elections, an event regularly marked by low voter turnout, the commission said: We try to change the perception that EU matters are too abstract and disconnected from the national public debate to be of interest to the citizens, and we want to overcome the divide between national and European issues.She also underlined that launching the new initiative did not mean that one of Plan D's principal objectives – to make the EU more democratic – would be abandoned.It's ironic, isn't it, that 50 years after the foundation of the European Union, we are still discussing democracy and how can we become more democratic, she said.A lot more could indeed be done to improve democracy within the EU, as decisions have moved up to the European level, but the political debates, the media reporting and so on, are still mainly national, Ms Wallstrom noted.

REBUILT 3RD TEMPLE (THE EU DICTATORS TEMPLE)

REVELATION 11:1-2
1 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.

DANIEL 9:27
27 And he( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

REBUILT 4TH TEMPLE (THE TRUE MESSIAHS TEMPLE)

ZECHARIAH 6:12-13
12 And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD:
13 Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.

ISAIAH 60:9-10
9 Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the LORD thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee.
10 And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour have I had mercy on thee.

ISAIAH 2:1-5
1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
5 O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.

MARK 11:9-10,15-17
9 And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord:
10 Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.
15 And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves;
16 And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple.
17 And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.

EZEKIEL 40 TO 48 IS THIS 4TH TEMPLE TO BIG FOR THE MOUNT I BELIEVE TO BE BUILT 25 MILES FROM JERUSALEM.

Archeologist finds artifacts from time of Solomon’s Temple
By RHONDA SPIVAK, Special to The CJN Thursday, 03 April 2008

WINNIPEG — Yuval Baruch, left, made archeological history in October 2007 when he uncovered pottery artifacts on the site of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount. They are considered to be the first physical evidence of human activity during the time of King Solomon’s Temple (the First Jewish Temple). Baruch, who is Jerusalem’s district archeologist at the Israel Antiquities Authority, speaking at the Berney Theatre here, outlined his world-famous discovery as part of a lecture series put on by the Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University. The Temple Mount, Judaism’s holiest site, is where Jews believe Abraham almost sacrificed Isaac at God’s behest. It is now covered by Islam’s Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque. Baruch says the artifacts he found have shed new light on what is hidden beneath the Muslim mosques. Pottery shards that Yuval Baruch uncovered on the site of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount were taken by the Israel Antiquities Authority.

The Muslim Waqf [the Muslim religious authority that controls the internal administration of the Temple Mount] does not allow Israeli archeologists to conduct any excavations on the site. But I got access to a small tunnel where electrical cables run under the site when there was an electrical shortage and the Waqf had to get the electricity fixed… I was not supposed to be left there alone, as the Waqf always has someone present when Israeli archeologists are on the site. It was in the evening after 8 p.m., and by chance the Arab electrical workers left me and a member of my staff for about 15 minutes while they went to pray. When I was alone in that brief time, I found the pottery shards among dust near the bedrock level, he says. The tunnel to which Baruch got access, was a sealed archeological level – about 400 metres long, he says – that was exposed during the inspection in the area close to the southeastern corner of the raised platform surrounding the Dome of the Rock.

Baruch’s findings include animal bones; ceramic bowl rims, bases and body shards; the base of a juglet used to pour oil; the handle of a small juglet; and the rim of a storage jar. In addition, a piece of a whitewashed, handmade object was found. It may have been used to decorate a larger object or may have been the leg of an animal figurine. The finds are dated from eight-to six-century BCE.

Baruch said that the artifacts have been dated to the First Temple Period because of their shape, materials, colours, and the technique for making the pottery. In particular, the bowl shards were decorated with wheel burnishing lines characteristic of the First Temple Period. Baruch and Sy Gitin, director of the W. F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem; Ronny Reich of Haifa University; and Israel Finkelstein of Tel Aviv University have concluded that the finds might help reconstruct the dimensions and boundaries of the Temple Mount during the First Temple Period.Baruch says the archeological finds indicate the presence of people on the site of the Temple Mount during late eighth-century and seventh-century B.C., which is consistent with Jewish biblical claims. This is the first time that archeologists have found artifacts that have not been disturbed in later periods.

The reaction of the Muslim authority [the Waqf] was to ignore the finds, he adds, which he says was not surprising since over the years the Waqf has tried to undermine Jewish historical ties to the site. The Waqf’s official position is that there was never a Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount, he says.He notes that Muslims believe the Temple Mount is where Abraham almost sacrificed Ishmael, not Isaac, at God’s behest.Since 1967, Israel has left internal administration of the compound to the Waqf, while Israeli police have taken responsibility for overall security.Baruch also says that the reports circulated by the Waqf last month that the Temple Mount was damaged when an earthquake shook Israel are not true. There was an earthquake [measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale] but it’s not true that there was any damage from it on the site, he says.

JERUSALEM DIVIDED

ZECHARIAH 12:1-5 King James Bible
1 The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.
2 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.
3 And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.
4 In that day, saith the LORD, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness.
5 And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the LORD of hosts their God.

JOEL 3:2
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.

ZECHARIAH 14:1-9 King James Bible
1 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
3 Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. 5 And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
6 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark:
7 But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.
8 And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.
9 And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.

Rally And Concert Draws 5,000 In Support Of ISRAEL APR 2,08

Over 5,000 people attended Jerusalem United, an uplifting rally and concert in support of an undivided eternal Jewish capital. The historic event, held on Sunday, March 23, 2008, at The Armory in the Washington Heights section of New York City, was presented by the National Council of Young Israel, the Jerusalem Reclamation Project, and the Israel Solidarity Fund of America. All proceeds from the event will benefit victims of terror in Israel, displaced families of Gush Katif, and future projects in Jerusalem’s Old City.

The capacity crowd joined in unison to voice its opposition to the division of Jerusalem, and served as a tribute to the eight young students who were brutally murdered on March 6, 2008, when an Arab gunman opened fire inside Yeshiva Merkaz Harav Kook in Jerusalem.

The program featured musical presentations by Jewish musical sensations, Yaakov Shwekey, and Shalsheles, and an up-and-coming band, Yaakov Chesed. Inspirational guest speakers included former Member of Knesset Natan Sharansky, Rabbi Benny Eisner of Yeshiva Merkaz Harav Kook, National Council of Young Israel President Shlomo Mostofsky, and Daniel Luria, executive director of Ateret Cohanim in Israel.

Yaakov Shwekey

The program opened with National Council of Young Israel Executive Vice President Rabbi Pesach Lerner leading the crowd in the recitation of a chapter from Psalms, followed by a tefillah on behalf of the Israeli MIA’s – Ehud Goldwasser, Eldad Regev, Gilad Schalit, Yehuda Katz, Tzvi Feldman, Guy Hever, Ron Arad, and Zachary Baumel. Rabbi Lerner also led the crowd in a special prayer, composed by the Chief Rabbi of Israel, on behalf of Jonathan Pollard.Rabbi Benny Eisner, a teacher at Yeshiva Merkaz Harav Kook, whose students included the eight who were murdered by a terrorist while they studied, told the audience how just two weeks ago he had been learning with the boys, and never would have imagined that he would be speaking at a rally and concert in New York City held in their memory. He also spoke about the inconceivable notion of dividing Jerusalem.Jerusalem does not belong to the Israeli government; it belongs to the Jewish nation – to Am Yisrael.

Rabbi Benny Eisner

Following the rally and concert, Yudi Zuller of the Israel Solidarity Fund of America noted how heartwarming it was to see the tremendous number of young people in attendance for such an important event. The inspiration behind the rally and concert came from Yudi (Jay) Zuller and his wife Aviva, who run the Israel Solidarity Fund of America (ISFA). Established in 2002 after a rash of terror bombings in Israel, the ISFA is a private tzedaka organization based in the Willowbrook section of Staten Island, New York and is unique in that virtually every dollar that is raised through its efforts gets distributed directly to Israeli victims of Arab terror and/or their families. These families, which have to first endure unimaginable loss and pain after an attack, often later find themselves in dire financial situations due to the loss of income and additional medical expenses. They need continuing financial support to help them with their long-term recoveries.

The main source of the funds distributed by ISFA has been the Shirei Shalom Concert Series. Staged at the Center for the Performing Arts at the College of Staten Island for four consecutive years and at the Colden Center at Queens College in 2007, these sold-out concerts that feature Jewish music’s most popular performers have raised close to $1,000,000 for victims of terror in Israel. Zuller discussed the importance of having people involved in causes that are vital to the survival of the Jewish nation, and thanked the many students from numerous Jewish high schools throughout the New York metropolitan area who volunteered to help make the Jerusalem United event a tremendous success. Some of the area schools represented included Shulamith High School for Girls in Brooklyn, Yeshiva University High School for Girls in Queens, and Bruriah High School for Girls in Elizabeth, New Jersey.Zuller also spoke about the importance of speaking out to make sure that Jerusalem remains united and the dangers of dividing Jerusalem. You cannot divide the indivisible, Zuller said.

REVELATION 3:15-19
15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue (VOMIT) thee out of my mouth.
17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

Methodist Church Targets Israel
April 4, 2008 Dear Friend of Israel,

I've spoken before about anti-Israel sentiment in mainline Protestant denominations like the Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA), the United Church of Christ (UCC), the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), and others. In recent years these groups have considered, and in some cases approved, measures that seek to punish Israel economically through divestment and condemn Israel's attempts to defend itself through construction of a security fence.

All of these measures follow basically the same strategy. Responsibility for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is laid at Israel's feet, while Palestinians are portrayed as innocent victims. The vicious campaign of Palestinian and Islamist terrorism against Israel, when it is mentioned at all, is justified as a legitimate response to Israeli oppression and occupation. Much is said about Palestinian suffering, while little if anything is said about the thousands of Israelis who have lost their lives or loved ones to terrorism.

Recently the anti-Israel movement in the mainline churches, which perhaps reached its peak a few years ago, seemed to be on the wane. In 2007 the UCC, which has adopted some of the harshest anti-Israel measures, even took a positive step by approving a resolution that condemned the incitement of hatred against Israel ingrained in Palestinian culture and recognized the ongoing terror campaign against the Jewish state. If it wasn't the resounding statement of support for Israel and disavowal of previous anti-Israel stances that some wanted, it was at least an attempt to point things in a different direction - a small victory in the battle for fair treatment for Israel.

But apparently the anti-Israel camp in the mainline churches hasn't given up. In recent months, we've learned that the 8 million-member United Methodist Church (UMC) will be considering divestment resolutions and other anti-Israel measures at its General Conference that takes place in Texas April 23-May 2.

The resolutions are just part of an overall campaign by some in UMC leadership to spread misinformation and outright lies about Israel. A recent mission study published by the Methodist General Board of Global Ministries is vehemently anti-Israel, characterizing the founding of the Jewish state as Israel's original sin, and saying that maltreatment of Palestinians has made Israelis become monsters. A children's book published in 2006 by the United Methodist Church and intended for use in Sunday schools presents a view of the Middle East conflict that is deeply biased against Israel and will undoubtedly turn young minds against the Jewish state.

There is every reason to believe that the opinions expressed by Methodist church leadership are not shared by the average church member. A survey taken at the height of the PCUSA's divestment movement confirmed that 61 percent of Presbyterians did not even know about their denomination's decision to divest. One observer who has followed the divestment issue for years, Dexter Van Zile, Christian Media Analyst for the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, predicts a serious backlash against Methodist leadership from men and women in the pews. Once the lay members of the United Methodist Church detect the anti-Jewish polemic in the narrative put forth by the activists and leaders of their denomination about the Arab-Israeli conflict, they will be outraged, he says.

As the time for the Methodist conference grows closer we will be keeping you informed about the situation in the United Methodist Church and telling you how you can fight these blatant examples of anti-Israel prejudice. In the meantime, I encourage you to learn more background on this important issue by reading the white paper on the mainline church divestment issue I prepared several years ago. And please take a moment to fill out a one-minute survey that will help us make our pro-Israel advocacy efforts more effective.

Thank you, my friends, for your bold willingness to take a stand for Israel - and you continued prayers for the peace of Jerusalem.

With prayers for shalom, peace,
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
PRESIDENT INTERNATIONAL FELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIANS AND JEWS.

PASSOVER - THE MESSIANIC PROPHECY OF ISAIAH 53
THE SUFFERING SERVANT APR 4,08

FOR HE GREW UP before Him like a tender shoot,
And like a root out of parched ground;
He had no stately form or majesty
That we should look upon Him,
Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.
He was despised and forsaken of men,
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
And like one from whom men hide their face
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

SURELY OUR GRIEFS He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.

ALL OF US LIKE SHEEP have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him.
He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He did not open His mouth;
Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,
And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
So He did not open His mouth.
By oppression and judgment He was taken away;
And as for His generation, who considered
That He was cut off out of the land of the living
For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?
His grave was assigned with wicked men,
Yet He was with a rich man in His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.

BUT THE LORD WAS PLEASED

To crush Him, putting Him to grief;
If He would render Himself as a guilt offering,
He will see His offspring,
He will prolong His days,
And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.
As a result of the anguish of His soul,
He will see it and be satisfied;
By His knowledge the Righteous One,
My Servant, will justify the many,
As He will bear their iniquities.

THEREFORE, I will allot Him a portion with the great,
And He will divide the booty with the strong;
Because He poured out Himself to death,
And was numbered with the transgressors;
Yet He Himself bore the sin of many,
And interceded for the transgressors.

Passover Greetings from all of our ministry staff
MESSIANIC BIBLE PROJECT. PROPHECY BIBLES FOR ISRAEL.

A MESSAGE OF HOPE FROM DR. JACK VAN IMPE APR 4,08

We want to continue our study on Alcohol: The Beloved Enemy this week. We are laying the groundwork out in these next few weeks and then dealing with wine in the Old Testament, Jesus and wine, and then wine in the church.

THE LOVE AFFAIR

Entering the front door of his plush suburban home, the well-dressed businessman drops his briefcase at the foot of the stairs that wind elegantly up from the foyer. Graying at the temples, he appears handsomely distinguished and successful. The strain of a heavy day lines his face.I'm home, he calls.Instantly the perfect mate for Mr. Success appears and is lovingly welcomed into his waiting arms.You're tired, darling, she sympathizes, gently slipping out of his embrace. I’ll fix you a drink.The usual, he sighs, making the most of his fatigue.Moving easily to the liquor cabinet, she prepares two drinks. Her almost rhythmic movement at the bar reveals that she is going through a familiar ritual. It all seems so natural . . . the thing to do.

Millions of admirers of these beautiful people have vicariously lived this homey scene . With a few variations, it will be enacted again and again through-out the year on afternoon soap operas, supposedly portraying the fulfillment of the American dream.Liquor flows freely on television, as it does in most of the entertainment media. In American drama, alcohol has a starring role: entertaining at social functions of the elite; soothing the nerves of those going through crises; dulling pain for cowboys so that bullets and arrows can be removed; supplying liquid courage to men in battle; lifting the spirits of the depressed, preventing suicides; providing steady hands for doctors, enabling them to perform surgery in the most trying of circumstances; gracing the tables of lovers who rendezvous in dimly lit restaurants, adding romance and intrigue; rewarding heroes who have carried out feats of daring to save lives and protect the innocent.Alcohol mixes readily with writer's ink. And from Archie Bunker's can of beer to the whiskey flask of the Old West's hired gunman, the message is clear: Booze belongs.In America, alcohol is big business. The sale of alcoholic beverages in the U.S. in 2006 brought in revenues of $148 billion1. But the profit thirst of the liquor sellers is never quenched. In 2004 the industry spent $1.9 billion in advertising2, employing the latest in sophisticated marketing techniques.

Booze beckons on every hand.

Billboards dot major highways, hawking one brand of alcoholic beverage over others. Sex symbols, entertainers, athletes, and outdoor sportsmen are recruited in advertisers' efforts to get the public to drink more.The strategy, though polished, is elementary: identification.

Drink and be successful.
Drink and be desirable.
Drink and be sensuous.
Drink and be lucky in love.
Drink and be athletic.
Drink and be popular.
Drink and be wealthy.
Drink and be a winner.
Drink and feel relaxed.
Drink . .. it's the way to get back to nature.
Is the strategy working? Consider the results.

In the 2005 study, the Office of Applied Studies in their survey on drug usage and health showed the following statistics:

Ages 12 - 13 - 4.2 % were current alcohol users
Ages 15 - 15 - 15.1 %
Ages 16 - 17 - 30.1 %
Ages 18 - 20 - 51.1 %
Ages 21 - 25 - 67.4 %
Ages 26 - 29 - 63.7 %
Ages 30 - 49 - 63 %
Ages 50 - 54 - 59 %
Ages 55 - 59 - 51.1 %
Ages 60 - 64 - 47.5 %
Ages 65 and up - 40%3

Whatever the reasons for drinking among both young and old, one thing is certain: Drinking in America is on the increase with annual consumption now at 32.5 gallons of beer, wine, and spirits for every person over fifteen. Alcohol is capturing the hearts of people of all ages and positions in life, laying claim to being one of the ingredients of success and happiness.

But alcohol is an enemy ... a destroyer.

Historian Sir Arnold Toynbee has identified alcohol as a major force in the destruction of nineteen civilizations preceding our own. And evidence of alcohol's destructiveness is all around us. Nevertheless, our love affair with this enemy continues,4 Two people stand before a minister or public official and speak their marriage vows. Later, at a reception, they hold two champagne glasses high, toasting their future. Alcohol has been invited to their wedding. And few things on earth are as likely to destroy their marriage as the one they lift for luck.An anxious father paces nervously outside a hospital delivery room, awaiting word concerning his wife and their first child.A nurse appears with good news, and he is on top of the world. Within a few hours, the proud father is on his way to a bar where he will celebrate with friends. A new life has entered the world and the announcement is accompanied by free rounds of the drink that speaks of good times and prosperity. Glasses will be filled again and again as a send-off to the newborn child and as a confirmation of the father's manhood. But alcohol's destructive effect can drive a lifelong wedge between a father and his child.

A group of men prepare for their annual hunting or fishing expedition. The camping gear, sporting equipment, and other provisions are carefully packed into the van ... including an ample supply of alcohol. How can anyone get back to nature without the natural brew? Alcohol and enjoyment of nature are inseparable companions; six-packs and whiskey bottles are made to blend with trees, mountains, and fast flowing streams. The advertising team has made this clear. Never mind the fact that some of the men are less likely to return from this trip because booze is going along.

A man relaxes in his favorite easy chair to watch a ball game on television. The can of beer in his hand imparts the feel of the old ball park. As he sips and watches, periodic commercials portraying beer at its cold and foamy best remind him that he's indebted to these benevolent brewers for bringing his favorite sport into his home.Alcohol and athletics-a strange combination.Baseball manager Connie Mack has said: All the umpires put together have not put as many ball players out of the game as old man booze.5 The advertisers have made the wedding of beverage alcohol and ball games seem so right. But the athlete who loves alcohol courts disaster, and television viewers will soon be watching a new hero who has taken his position. In the athlete-and-alcohol affair, to love is to lose.

Alcohol has become a beloved companion of many Americans, sharing their most intimate experiences and being party to decisions that affect our nation and the world. Bars have become standard furnishings for thousands of homes.Liquor lubricates the wheels of business, with millions of dollars changing hands while executives linger over drinks.Cocktail parties have become the most common social gathering for the affluent and are considered important occasions for making business and political contacts.Holidays are drinking days, when Americans consume huge amounts of alcohol, seemingly admitting they are unable to relax or enjoy recreation without this friendly fluid.

Christmas has become less spiritual and more spirited.

Hilarity has replaced meditation on the eternal message of Christ's birth. Office parties during this season are often drinking marathons, degrading those who attend.Drinking the old year out and the New Year in is indicative of the craving for one more fling with alcohol while time remains. Like lovers lingering over a fond farewell, drinking Americans try to squeeze out one last high before the final tick of the clock ends the old year. Then, as if flying to the arms of a new love, they embrace the New Year by toasting its arrival.Taverns and retail liquor stores far outnumber churches in the land. And Billy Sunday's evaluation of the tavern's influence is still timely.

If all the combined forces of hell should assemble in conclave and with them all the men on earth who hate and despise God, purity and virtue-if all the scum of the earth could mingle with the denizens of hell to try to think of the deadliest institution to home, church, and state, I tell you, sir, the combined forces of hell could not conceive of or bring an institution that could touch the hem of the garment of the tavern to damn the home, mankind, womanhood, business, and every other good thing on earth,6 Alcohol is a drink for all seasons. Users depend on it to warm them up, to cool them down, to build their courage, to kill their pain, to pump up their enthusiasm, to calm them down, to chase away their blues, to forget, to enable them to love more fervently or to strike out more viciously.It is not surprising, then, that the young also fall in love with this product that equips its friends for so many occasions. As a result, the age of those who drink alcohol creeps downward year after year.Once initiated, young drinkers take to the love affair with gusto, deeming alcohol necessary for all important occasions. It becomes a close friend and confidant in times of crisis.Perhaps alcohol's most dangerous potential for destruction is its power to influence decisions in government. What is the impact of alcohol in the day-by day legislative , judicial, and executive processes?

How many laws are passed because of politicking at drinking affairs?

How many committee compromises are worked out by key people over cocktails? How many votes in state legislatures and in Congress are in some way influenced by the alcohol in the blood of elected officials? How many votes are missed because of hangovers?

How many judicial decisions are tainted by alcohol?

Is a drinking judge competent to hand down decisions affecting the lives of individual Americans for years to come? Can judges who abuse the product that is the nation's number one drug problem correctly evaluate cases involving other harmful substances? What part has alcohol played in foreign policymaking during this century?

If .06 percent alcohol in a person's bloodstream (about three drinks) makes a driver twice as likely to cause a traffic accident, what might the same quantity do to a negotiator dealing with problems concerning nuclear weapons? How much alcohol in the blood would be required to cause a chief executive to make a misjudgment that would bring about a nuclear holocaust? Long ago, the writer of Proverbs advised:It is not for kings, 0 Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink: Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted (Proverbs 31:4,5).

Thomas Jefferson wrote:

The habit of using ardent spirits by men in public office has often produced more injury to the public service, and more trouble to me, than any other circumstance that has occurred in the internal concerns of the country during my administration. And were I to commence my administration again, with the knowledge which from experience I have acquired, the first question that I would ask with regard to every candidate for office would be, Is he addicted to the use of ardent spirits?7 If all public officials were called upon to pass Jefferson's test, how many would retain their jobs? How would the love of country fare in contest with this age-old love affair with alcohol? Man's affection for alcohol spans the centuries. In his book Almost All You Ever Wanted To Know About Alcohol but didn't know who to ask! Robert L. Hammond writes:

Ancient warriors danced around their tribal campfires as they drank beer and wine. Because of its peculiar effect on thinking and behavior, alcohol took on a mystical nature. Some regarded it as a magical potion, and the use of wine became common in various religious ceremonies.8 The first biblical account of making and drinking wine follows the record of the Genesis flood: And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: And he drank of the wine, and was drunken ...(Genesis 9:20,21) .

Noah's drinking ended in tragedy. And beverage alcohol is more potent now than it was then. To quote Hammond again:The wines and beers of early man were relatively weak by today's standards for alcoholic beverages. Through the process of natural fermentation , when the beer or wine reached an alcoholic content of about 14 percent alcohol, the yeast cells would die and fermentation ceased.

Although natural fermentation can produce beverages with an alcoholic content up to nearly 15 percent, most beers and wines used by ancient tribes were much milder, usually less than half that strength.It was not until around A.D. 800 that human ingenuity developed the process of distillation which made stronger alcoholic beverages possible. 9 Today, civilized people imbibe powerful potions unknown around the campfires of the ancients and then become savages in their homes and on the streets.We shake our heads and wonder why.

Observing this drama of destruction, Shakespeare lamented:

Oh! That men should put an enemy into their mouths to steal away their brains! O God, that we should with joy, pleasure, revel , and applause transform ourselves into beasts!10 Was Shakespeare an alarmist? Is beverage alcohol really that destructive? Should we meddle with this longstanding love affair of man?

NOTES:

Reuters News Service
The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2006 - pg 281

Office of Applied Studies - http://oas.samhsa.gov/

Robert L. Hammond, Almost All You Ever Wanted to Know· About Alcohol but didn't know who to ask! (Lansing, Mich. : Michigan Alcohol and Drug Information Foundation, 1978) pg 6

Walter B. Knight, Knight's Treasury of Illustrations (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub . Co., 1963), p. 390.

Ibid

John Kobler, Ardent Spirits (New York: G. P. Putnam & Sons, 1973), p. 33.

Hammond, All You Ever Wanted to Know, p.8.

Ibid

William Shakespeare Othello Act 2 Scene 3 [293]

FROM THE HEART OF DR. REXELLA VAN IMPE

Ashes

I've always felt that ashes were so worthless. If you've ever looked into a fireplace after the fire has gone out and the last embers are cold, what you see is so empty and useless.Many years ago when a disastrous fire struck the company where the videotape masters of all the past Jack Van Impe television programs were stored, I felt so helpless. It was devastating to think that so many months and years of hard work had gone up in smoke -- at least 2.8 million dollars' worth of production value was lost forever.

All that was left was... ashes!

But no -- suddenly the Lord let me see that the value of those TV programs was not encased in a few reels of videotape. Their real worth is measured in the number of souls won to Christ -- the decisions and rededications... those comforted and edified.The work God wanted those tapes to accomplish was done, and no fire could destroy their eternal value. Satan might reduce their physical form to ashes, but he can never erase the impact of their gospel message on the hearts and minds of millions of people around the world.

Mark Video Enterprises was one of the most modern facilities in the world. Its vaults were supposed to be among the safest, most fireproof storage centers available. But they failed.And the only thing that will last out of the ash pile that was left is what was done for the Lord.

Tried by fire

I am reminded of what the Bible teaches about that day when we all stand before the Lord. The Apostle Paul wrote, and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is (1 Corinthians 3:13).If our lives have been invested for God, our works will withstand the fire as if made of gold, silver, or precious stones. But if our treasures have been material things, they will burn up like wood, hay, or stubble, leaving only ashes!Oh, I want my works to have eternal value on that day when I stand before the Master, don't you?

That's why we must put God's work first in our lives and devote our time and energy to winning souls to Christ. That's why Dr. Van Impe and I implore you to help us carry out the Great Commission and produce fruit that remains.Perhaps you feel that the fires of adversity have already swept across your life and everything you've worked for has gone up in smoke. It may be that all you can see are the ashes of what might have been.Well, I have good news for you.

Jesus came to restore you, to bind up your broken heart, to free you from bondage, to give you beauty for ashes! (see Isaiah 61:1-3).
Let His love heal you. Let His Spirit strengthen and empower you.
Let His forgiveness make you over and give you a new life. Rise up from the ashes of every failure and disappointment that has marred your life and begin anew.Stand firm upon the foundation of the Lord Jesus Christ and begin building a work that will endure.

OBAMA COULD BE A MUSLIM

ELECTION 2008 Obama was quite religious in Islam Contemporaries, records dispute campaign claim that he was never practicing Muslim April 03, 2008 12:40 am Eastern By Aaron Klein 2008 WorldNetDaily

JERUSALEM – Was Sen. Barack Obama a Muslim? Did he ever practice Islam? The presidential candidate officially rejects the claims, but the issue of Obama's personal faith has re-emerged amid conflicting accounts of his enrollment as a Muslim during elementary school in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation.Widely distributed reports have noted in January 1968, Obama was registered as a Muslim at Jakarta's Roman Catholic Franciscus Assisi Primary School under the name Barry Soetoro. He was listed as an Indonesian citizen whose stepfather, listed on school documents as L Soetoro Ma, worked for the topography department of the Indonesian Army.Catholic schools in Indonesia routinely accept non-Catholic students, but exempt them from studying religion. Obama's school documents, though, wrongly list him as being Indonesian.After attending the Assisi Primary School, Obama was enrolled – also as a Muslim, according to documents – in the Besuki Primary School, a public school in Jakarta.

The Loatze blog run by an American expatriate in Southeast Asia who visited the Besuki school, noted, All Indonesian students are required to study religion at school and a young Barry Soetoro being a Muslim would have been required to study Islam daily in school. He would have been taught to read and write Arabic, to recite his prayers properly, to read and recite from the Quran and to study the laws of Islam.Indeed, the Israel Insider online magazine points out in Obama's autobiography, Dreams From My Father, he acknowledges studying the Quran and describes the public school as a Muslim school.In the Muslim school, the teacher wrote to tell mother I made faces during Quranic studies, wrote Obama.The Indonesian media have been flooded with accounts of Obama's childhood Islamic studies, some describing him as a religious Muslim.Speaking to the country's Kaltim Post, Tine Hahiyary, who was principal of Obama's school while he was enrolled there, said she recalls he studied the Quran in Arabic.At that time, I was not Barry's teacher but he is still in my memory claimed Tine, who is 80years old.

The Kaltim Post says Obama's teacher, named Hendri, died.I remember that he studied mengaji (recitation of the Quran), Tine said, according to an English translation by Loatze.Mengaji, or the act of reading the Quran with its correct Arabic punctuation, is usually taught to more religious pupils and is not known as a secular study.Also, Loatze documented the Indonesian daily Banjarmasin Post caught up with Rony Amir, an Obama classmate and Muslim, who describe Obama as previously quite religious in Islam.We previously often asked him to the prayer room close to the house. If he was wearing a sarong (waist fabric worn for religious or casual occasions) he looked funny, Amir said.The Los Angeles Times, which sent a reporter to Jakarta, quoted Zulfin Adi, who identified himself as among Obama's closest childhood friends, stating the presidential candidate prayed in a mosque, something Obama's campaign claimed he never did.We prayed but not really seriously, just following actions done by older people in the mosque. But as kids, we loved to meet our friends and went to the mosque together and played, said Adi.Obama's official campaign site has a page titled Obama has never been a Muslim, and is a committed Christian. The page states, Obama never prayed in a mosque. He has never been a Muslim, was not raised a Muslim, and is a committed Christian who attends the United Church of Christ.But the campaign changed its tune when it issued a slightly different statement to the Times stating Obama has never been a practicing Muslim.An article last month by the Chicago Tribune seems to dispute Adi's statements to the L.A. Times. The Tribune catches up with Obama's declared childhood friend, who now describes himself as only knowing Obama for a few months in 1970 when his family moved to the neighborhood. Adi said he was unsure about his recollections of Obama

But the Tribune found Obama did attend mosque.

Interviews with dozens of former classmates, teachers, neighbors and friends show that Obama was not a regular practicing Muslim when he was in Indonesia, states the Tribune article.It quotes the presidential candidate's former neighbors and 3rd grade teacher recalling Obama occasionally followed his stepfather to the mosque for Friday prayers.Daniel Pipes, director of the Middle East Forum, notes the Tribune article – cited by liberal blogs as refuting claims Obama is Muslim – actually implies Obama was an irregularly practicing Muslim and twice confirms Obama attended mosque services.
In a free-ranging interview with the New York Times, Obama described the Muslim call to prayer as one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset.The Times' Nicholos Kristof wrote Obama recited, with a first-class [Arabic] accent, the opening lines of the Muslim call to prayer.

Israel Insider's Reuven Koret notes the first few lines state:

Allah is Supreme! Allah is Supreme!
Allah is Supreme! Allah is Supreme!
I witness that there is no god but Allah
I witness that there is no god but Allah
I witness that Muhammad is his prophet...
Some attention also has been paid to Obama's paternal side of the family. His father, described in some reports as an atheist, polygamist and alcoholic, was buried in Kenya as a Muslim. Obama Sr., also named Barack Obama, had three sons with another woman who reportedly all are Muslim.

Obama's brother Roy is described as a practicing Muslim.

Writing in a chapter of his book describing his 1992 wedding, the presidential candidate stated: The person who made me proudest of all was Roy. Actually, now we call him Abongo, his Luo name, for two years ago he decided to reassert his African heritage. He converted to Islam, and has sworn off pork and tobacco and alcohol.

Still, Obama says he was raised by his Christian mother and repeatedly has labeled as smears several reports attempting to paint him as a Muslim.Let's make clear what the facts are: I am a Christian. I have been sworn in with a Bible. I pledge allegiance [to the American flag] and lead the pledge of allegiance sometimes in the United States Senate when I'm presiding, he told the UK's Times Online earlier this year.