JEWISH KING JESUS IS COMING AT THE RAPTURE FOR US IN THE CLOUDS-DON'T MISS IT FOR THE WORLD.THE BIBLE TAKEN LITERALLY- WHEN THE PLAIN SENSE MAKES GOOD SENSE-SEEK NO OTHER SENSE-LEST YOU END UP IN NONSENSE.GET SAVED NOW- CALL ON JESUS TODAY.THE ONLY SAVIOR OF THE WHOLE EARTH - NO OTHER.
1 COR 15:23-JESUS THE FIRST FRUITS-CHRISTIANS RAPTURED TO JESUS-FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT-23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.ROMANS 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.(THE PRE-TRIB RAPTURE)
STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun,(HEATING UP-SOLAR ECLIPSES) and in the moon,(MAN ON MOON-LUNAR ECLIPSES) and in the stars;(ASTEROIDS ETC) 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,(TORNADOES,HURRICANES,STORMS) and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth:(DESTRUCTION) for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.(FROM QUAKES,NUKES ETC)
Widespread flooding hits Missouri, Illinois with rivers still rising-Reuters By Mary Wisniewski- dec 30,15-yahoonews
(Reuters) - Rain-swollen rivers rose across Missouri and Illinois on Wednesday, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of people, closing parts of a major interstate highway and putting scores of buildings underwater after days of unusual winter flooding that has killed 22 people.Several major rivers, including the vital Mississippi, were poised to crest at record levels as the floodwaters gushed toward the Gulf of Mexico, the National Weather Service said, but parts of the area already are inundated.News video showed homes and business with water almost up to their roofs in Missouri - and one cabin floating away - while crews in other areas put up sand bag barriers in hopes of keeping out water. Missouri Governor Jay Nixon called the flooding in his state "very historic and dangerous" and brought out the National Guard to help.At least 13 people have died in Missouri since the weekend, when days of downpours from a massive winter storm system triggered the state's worst flooding in two decades. Seven people have died from flooding in Illinois and two in Oklahoma, officials said.Almost all of the deaths in Missouri and Illinois have been caused by people driving into flooded areas and Nixon urged motorists not to drive into moving water.As much as 12 inches (30 cm) of rain fell over three to five days in parts of the region.Past historic floods on the Mississippi in 1993, 1995 and 2011 all happened during warm weather, after snow melts up north. AccuWeather senior meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said it is highly unusual to have this kind of flooding in winter and more trouble could come in the spring."The gun may be loaded again for another major flooding event," said Sosnowski, who cited the El Nino weather pattern as the source of recent heavy rains. "You're not supposed to get this kind of heavy rainfall during the wintertime."Agriculture experts said the floodwaters and heightened disease risk that they bring were a threat to the soft red winter wheat crop in the southern part of the Midwest. Export premiums for corn and soybeans were at their highest levels in weeks because barge traffic on the swollen rivers has been tangled.The U.S. flooding comes at the same time as historic flooding across northern England, including York and Leeds.Several major rivers, including the Mississippi, and tributaries in Missouri and Illinois were poised to crest at record levels, the National Weather Service said, but parts of the region already are inundated.-COLD CLEANUP LOOMS-Flood warnings stretch from eastern Oklahoma into southeastern Kansas, southern Missouri, central Illinois and parts of Arkansas, Tennessee, and the Florida panhandle, the NWS said. A total of 46 locations are experiencing major flooding.While the rains have stopped for now, colder weather is setting in, which will make the cleanup more miserable, Sosnowski said.At the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, about 20 miles (32 km) north of St. Louis, residents of the towns West Alton and Arnold were told to evacuate on Tuesday. About 400 residents and businesses in the town of Pacific also have evacuated, said emergency manager Dian Becker."It will be the worst on record - that's what they tell us for later this evening," Becker said.The U.S. Coast Guard closed a 5-mile (8 km) stretch of the Mississippi near St. Louis on Tuesday to all vessel traffic due to hazardous conditions.The National Weather Service forecast the Mississippi River at the Chester, Illinois, river gauge about 60 miles (100 km) south of St. Louis would crest at 49.7 feet (15.1 meters) on Friday - matching the 1993 record.The floodwaters have forced the closure of roadways and highways, including multiple sections of Interstate 44, a major highway that runs from western Texas to St. Louis, the Missouri Department of Transportation said on Wednesday.Sewage has been flowing into the fast-rising Meramec River near St. Louis since Monday, when floodwater disabled a sewer treatment plant, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.In Illinois, some inmates were moved out of the Menard Correctional Center, a maximum-security prison on the banks of the Mississippi River, and sandbags and drinking water were prepared in anticipation of flooding in lower level cell blocks, Illinois officials said in a statement.(Reporting by Victoria Cavaliere in Los Angeles, Heide Brandes in Oklahoma City and Mary Wisniewski in Chicago; Editing by Bill Trott)
Several levees monitored in Missouri; death toll rises to 20-Associated Press By JIM SALTER and ALAN SCHER ZAGIER-dec 30,15-yahoonews
ST. LOUIS (AP) — A rare winter flood threatened nearly two dozen federal levees in Missouri and Illinois on Wednesday as rivers rose, prompting evacuations in several places.The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has deemed 19 levees highly vulnerable to flooding; by midday, those levees, all under close scrutiny, were holding up.But people were moving out just in case, including the St. Louis suburb of Valley Park, where Mayor Michael Pennise ordered mandatory evacuations for 350 to 400 homes and dozens of businesses in the section of town near the fast-rising Meramec River.Swollen rivers and streams have been pushed to heights not seen since the massive 1993 floods in some places. At least 20 deaths over several days in Missouri and Illinois were blamed on flooding, mostly involving vehicles that drove onto swamped roadways, and at least two people were still missing Wednesday. And in northern Oklahoma, which also has seen flooding, search teams went out for a third day in hopes of finding a country music singer from Arkansas who disappeared while duck hunting.Some parts of interstates in Missouri reopened Wednesday, while others — including Interstate 44 near Valley Park — were still covered by water. Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has activated the National Guard to assist with security in evacuated areas and to help keep road closure sites clear.Valley Park City Attorney Tim Engelmeyer called the governor's office to send troops to help in the evacuated area of the about 7,000-person town. He was also watching computer projections of the crest — expected to be about 3 feet higher than the record of 40 feet on Thursday — knowing that an unexpected upgrade could be enough to send water over the levee."We're so close," he said. "We're talking about a potential 6-inch difference."Pennise said the corps is confident the levee, built in 2007, is safe, but ordered evacuations as a precaution."You don't want to think negative, but we'd rather save a life than a couch," Pennise said.Becky Bode, a 54-year-old postal carrier whose route includes lower Valley Park, said the area used to flood so frequently that residents mostly had flood insurance. With the levee, many don't.Still, she's not worried about the residents."They've been through it before," Bode said. "If it floods, they'll pop back up and get going again."In the southwestern Missouri tourist mecca of Branson, residents of about 150 duplexes and homes had to evacuate Wednesday due to flooding from a manmade lake. But the shopping district along the lake was still open, Fire Chief Ted Martin said, adding, "it has been packed with people, and I don't know where all of them have come from."Sixty miles to the north in Pleasant Hope, the emergency management director said crews are looking for a missing motorist."Nobody that is living has ever seen anything like this," Rick Davis said.Record flooding was projected in some Mississippi River towns after several days of torrential rain that also caused sewage to flow unfiltered into waterways. The Mississippi River is expected to reach nearly 13 feet above flood stage on Thursday at St. Louis, which would be the second-worst flood on record, behind only the devastating 1993 flood.In Granite City, Illinois, about 30 residents of a flooded trailer park idled Tuesday in a Red Cross emergency shelter in a church basement. The park's property manager told Shirley Clark, 56, and other displaced residents that it could be another 10 to 12 days before they're able to return to their homes."We need help over here," said Clark, a diabetic who said she left behind her insulin supply. "We're just holding on."___Scher Zagier reported from Granite City, Illinois. Associated Press writers Jim Suhr and Heather Hollingsworth in Kansas City, Missouri, contributed to this report.
How strongly do Americans support religious rights? Depends on the religion-Some 8 in 10 Americans say it's important for religious freedom to be protected for Christians, a new poll finds. That number drops to 6 in 10 when it comes to protecting the religious rights of Muslims.-Christian Science Monitor By Stacy Teicher Khadaroo-DEC 30,15-YAHOONEWS
Religious liberty is a key principle of American democracy, but public support for individuals’ right to exercise that freedom still varies by which religion they practice.In a new poll, 82 percent of Americans say it’s very or extremely important for Christians to be allowed to practice freely, compared with 61 percent who say the same for Muslims. (For Jews, the figure is 72 percent; for Mormons, 67 percent; and for people with no religion, 63 percent.) The gaps in part reflect the fact that the United States has always struggled to live up to the ideals in its Constitution. But they also raise the question of whether the relative success of America’s experiment with religious diversity can survive for future generations when 4 out of 10 don’t believe strongly in protecting the rights of all.Recommended: Are you smarter than an atheist? A religious quiz-“On one hand, it’s heartening that a majority of American people understand that religious liberty is for everyone…, [but] the goal is to have enough in support of this arrangement that it actually works,” says Charles Haynes, director of the Religious Freedom Center of the Newseum Institute in Washington.“If we lose the hearts and minds … on religious liberty, we lose what’s enabled us to live with these differences” and maintain peace better than most, if not all, other nations facing religious divides, he says.The results may have been influenced by the timing of the poll, conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research between Dec. 10 and Dec. 13, not long after attacks in Paris and San Bernardino sparked rising anxiety about Islamic State terrorism. The same poll shows an increase over time in Americans’ concern that they will be the victim of a terrorist attack.“These numbers seem to be part of a growing climate of anti-Muslim sentiment in the United States,” Madihha Ahussain, an attorney for Muslim Advocates, a California-based civil rights group, told the Associated Press. “This climate of hatred has contributed to dozens of incidents of anti-Muslim violence in recent weeks.”The poll’s new question on religious liberty yields “important data, but it’s also important to ask it in calmer times … to establish a trend,” says Jennifer Benz, deputy director of the AP-NORC Center.The poll of 1,042 adults was conducted online and by phone using a sample designed to represent the US population. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.A slight majority of Americans – 55 percent – say the government is doing a somewhat or very good job at protecting the freedom of religion.Ever since the Puritans arrived in the name of religious freedom, there’s been a selective application of that idea in practice.“Liberty for me but not for thee is a very longstanding and widespread fallacy,” writes Douglas Laycock, a scholar of religious liberty at the University of Virginia School of Law, in an e-mail to the Monitor. “The Puritans came to America for religious liberty, but immediately decided that they meant religious liberty only for themselves…. There were huge fights between Catholics and Protestants in the nineteenth century, and outright persecution of Mormons. Now Jews are clearly inside the circle of religious liberty, and Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and nonbelievers are on the perimeter, protected in law but not so much in public opinion.”Conservative Christians also believe their rights are being infringed upon, by being forced, for instance, to offer wedding-related services to same-sex couples.But some conservative Christians, as well as some politicians, are capitalizing on fears of terrorism to push a longstanding agenda opposing Islam as what they believe to be an inherently threatening religion, Mr. Haynes says.The poll finding that nearly 40 percent of Americans don’t think it’s important to protect Muslims’ religious freedom doesn’t come out of thin air, Haynes says. “Many in America have been educated about Islam as a dangerous, violent religion,” and those spreading that message have spent tens of millions of dollars to do so in various churches and tea party conventions, he says.The poll indicates some differences by political affiliation.Independents are the least likely to say protecting religious freedoms is extremely or very important (69 percent of them say it is regarding Christians, and 49 percent say so regarding Muslims).Among Republicans, 88 percent place high importance on protecting religious freedoms of Christians, compared with 60 percent regarding Muslims – a 28-point gap. Among Democrats, the figures are 83 percent and 67 percent respectively – a 16-point gap.Overall, 8 out of 10 Americans said it was important or extremely important for people like themselves to be able to exercise religion freely.But for religious liberty to work in practice, Haynes says, it would be more encouraging to see high poll numbers reflecting the idea that “I am in favor of religious liberty for others, including those groups I don’t like, including those groups I disagree with.”
FALSE POPE FROM THE VATICAN
ISAIAH 23:15-17
15 And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot.
16 Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered.
17 And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.(COULD THIS BE 70 YEARS AFTER ISRAEL BECAME A NATION IN 1948)(IF SO THIS SATANIC ONE WORLD WHORE CHURCH WILL MINGLE TOGETHER BY 2018)(AND NOW ISLAM AND CHRISTIANITY AND ALL RELIGIONS ARE MINGLING AS ONE PEACE-LOVE-JOY-GET ALONG RELIGION LEAD BY THE VATICAN RIGHT NOW 4 YEARS FROM THE 70 YEAR TIME WHEN ISRAEL BECAME A NATION).AND IN CONTROL OF JERUSALEM.
REVELATION 13:11-13
11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth;(FALSE VATICAN POPE) and he had two horns like a lamb,(JESUS IS THE LAMB OF GOD) and he spake as a dragon.(HES SATANICALLY INSPIRED,HES A CHRISTIAN DEFECTOR FROM THE FAITH)
12 And he (FALSE RELIGIOUS LEADER) exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him,(WORLD DICTATOR) and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.(THE WORLD DICTATOR CREATES A FALSE RESURRECTION AND IS CROWNED LEADER OF THE NEW WORLD ORDER).
13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
REVELATION 17:1-5,9,15-18
1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication,(VATICAN IN POLITICS) and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
4 And the woman (FALSE CHURCH) was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour,(VATICAN COLOURS)(ANOTHER REASON WE KNOW THE FALSE POPE COMES FROM THE VATICAN) and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.(THE VATICAN IS BUILT ON 7 HILLS OR MOUNTAINS)
10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen,(1-ASSYRIA,2-EGYPT,3-BABYLON,4-MEDO-PERSIA,5-GREECE) and one is,(IN POWER IN JOHNS AND JESUS DAY-6-ROME) and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.(7TH-REVIVED ROMAN EMPIRE OR THE EUROPEAN UNION TODAY AND THE SHORT SPACE IS-THE EUROPEAN UNION WILL HAVE WORLD CONTROL FOR THE LAST 3 1/2 YEARS.BUT WILL HAVE ITS MIGHTY WORLD POWER FOR THE FULL 7 YEARS OF THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION PERIOD.AND THE WORLD DICTATOR WILL BE THE BEAST FROM THE EU.AND THE VATICAN POPE WILL BE THE WHORE THAT RIDES THE EUROPEAN UNION TO POWER.AND THE 2 EUROPEAN UNION POWER FREAKS WILL CONTROL AND DECIEVE THE WHOLE EARTH INTO THEIR DESTRUCTION.IF YOU ARE NOT SAVED BY THE BLOOD OF JESUS.YOU WILL BE DECIEVED BY THESE TWO.THE WORLD POLITICIAN-THE EUROPEAN UNION DICTATOR.AND THE FALSE PROPHET THAT DEFECTS CHRISTIANITY-THE FALSE VATICAN POPE.
15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.(VATICAN-CATHOLICS ALL AROUND THE WORLD OVER 1 BILLION)
16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast,(WORLD DICTATOR) these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.(BOMB OR NUKE THE VATICAN)
17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city,(VATICAN) which reigneth over the kings of the earth.
New Year brings fresh challenges for Pope Francis-AFP By Jean-Louis de la Vaissiere-DEC 30, 15-YAHOONEWS
The 79-year-old pontiff, who eschews holidays and has appeared worn out at times during the last year, has already scheduled major trips to Mexico (February) and Poland (July).Visits to Kosovo and Armenia (to mark the 100th anniversary of the World War I mass killings) are expected to be added to his diary while France and his native Argentina are also seen as possible destinations in the next 12 months.Laid low by the flu over Christmas, Francis nevertheless had the energy to insist that his wave-making shake-up of Vatican governance would be pursued in the New Year."The reform of the Curia (the Vatican bureacracy) will progress with determination, clarity and resolve," he said in his end-of-year message to the faithful.Top of the agenda for 2016 is the creation of two new ministries within the Vatican, one responsible for Laity, Family and Life, the other for Justice, Peace and Migration.The Vatican's media operations are also earmarked for reform alongside a continuing clean-up of the Holy See's finances.The reform process has encountered resistance amongst sections of the cossetted Vatican hierarchy.Although there have been no redundancies, many clerics have been sent back to their dioceses and the wings of those who have stayed in Rome have been clipped by spending cutbacks.- Tricky trial and Saint Theresa -Francis's regular public attacks on extravagance and greed in the upper echelons of the Church, his gift for cutting soundbites and his quick-to-anger temperament have not endeared him to many within the Vatican machine.This has helped to create a paradoxical situation where Francis's popularity with both believers and non-believers around the world is mirrored by an unusually high level of grumbling about him within the Vatican.The scale of the internal opposition was underlined in October when an apparently erroneous Italian media report that the pontiff had been treated for a benign brain tumour was immediately attributed to hostile elements seeking to undermine the Argentinian pope.The work still to be done on the Vatican's murky finances was underlined on December 15 when a Council of Europe body that combats money laundering and terror financing urged the Holy See authorities to accelerate indictments and prosecutions of officials involved in large-scale irregularities in the Church's scandal-hit bank and asset management body.The report from the Moneyval body was embarrassing as it came as the Vatican faces criticism for pursuing the prosecution of three former officials and two journalists over the leaking of classified documents which detail irregularities, extravagance and mismanagement in Church spending.That trial is due to resume early in the New Year and handling its eventual outcome will be one of the many tricky tasks Francis will have to deal with during a Jubilee Year dedicated to the theme of mercy.The pope also faces a delicate balancing act in relation to Church teaching on issues related to the family, including the vexed subjects of homosexuality and divorce.Deep divisions over these questions were exposed at a meeting of senior clerics in October with conservatives rallying strongly to make it clear they oppose any moves to make the Church more welcoming to gay believers or to allow the divorced to remarry and still take communion.Francis now has to decide if he takes such views on board when he outlines his own thinking in a keenly awaited letter, or 'Apostolic Exhortation', to the 1.2 billion Catholics around the world.The Jubilee year will add to Francis's workload, notably with the scheduling of an extra weekly audience on Saturdays, in addition to his existing Wednesday and Sunday appearances before the public. One of the highlights of the Jubilee year is expected to come in early September with the expected canonisation of Mother Theresa, the late nun celebrated for her work with the poor in Kolkata.
STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun,(HEATING UP-SOLAR ECLIPSES) and in the moon,(MAN ON MOON-LUNAR ECLIPSES) and in the stars;(ASTEROIDS ETC) 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,(TORNADOES,HURRICANES,STORMS) and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth:(DESTRUCTION) for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.(FROM QUAKES,NUKES ETC)
UPDATE-DECEMBER 31,2015-12:00AM
IN MISSOURI ON TUESDAY THERE WAS 433 RIVERS IN OVERFLOW DANGER.ON WEDNESDAY THERE WAS STILL 388 RIVERS IN OVERFLOW DANGER.RECORD WATER LEVELS ARE BREAKING ALL OVER MISSOURI WITH THESE FLOOD WATERS. BREAKING RECORDS FROM 1993 AND ALSO 1982.NEAR ST LOUIS A TOWN OF 7,000 PEOPLE ARE COMPLETELY CUT OFF FROM THE REST OF ST LOUIS AS THE FLOOD WATERS ARE SO HIGH.
I AM STILL LUCKY WERE I LIVE.WE HAVE ONLY HAD A QUARTER INCH OF SNOW OR SO IN THE LAST 2 DAYS.IN FACT A ROBIN CAME UP TO MY BACK YARD.ON DEC 29,15.AND MY LITTLE PAL THE GREY SQUARREL WITH WHITE FUR BETWEEN HIS EARS IS STILL FEASTING ON MY SMALL BREAD CHUNKS.THE ISRAELI BLUE JAYS HAVE LEFT FOR ISRAEL I GUESS.I NEVER SEEN THEM EATING MY BREAD FOR ABOUT A MONTH NOW.THE CHIP MUNKS I HAVE NOT SEEN FOR AT LEAST 3 MONTHS. AND THE 2 RABBITS I STILL SEE ONCE AND A WHILE ON A GRASS EAT HOP FEAST.WE HAVE ONLY HAD 2 SNOWY DAYS WERE I LIVE.AND I AM SOME HAPPY ABOUT THAT.I WISH IT WAS SUMMER ALL YEAR ROUND HERE.
I AM STILL LUCKY WERE I LIVE.WE HAVE ONLY HAD A QUARTER INCH OF SNOW OR SO IN THE LAST 2 DAYS.IN FACT A ROBIN CAME UP TO MY BACK YARD.ON DEC 29,15.AND MY LITTLE PAL THE GREY SQUARREL WITH WHITE FUR BETWEEN HIS EARS IS STILL FEASTING ON MY SMALL BREAD CHUNKS.THE ISRAELI BLUE JAYS HAVE LEFT FOR ISRAEL I GUESS.I NEVER SEEN THEM EATING MY BREAD FOR ABOUT A MONTH NOW.THE CHIP MUNKS I HAVE NOT SEEN FOR AT LEAST 3 MONTHS. AND THE 2 RABBITS I STILL SEE ONCE AND A WHILE ON A GRASS EAT HOP FEAST.WE HAVE ONLY HAD 2 SNOWY DAYS WERE I LIVE.AND I AM SOME HAPPY ABOUT THAT.I WISH IT WAS SUMMER ALL YEAR ROUND HERE.
(Reuters) - Rain-swollen rivers rose across Missouri and Illinois on Wednesday, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of people, closing parts of a major interstate highway and putting scores of buildings underwater after days of unusual winter flooding that has killed 22 people.Several major rivers, including the vital Mississippi, were poised to crest at record levels as the floodwaters gushed toward the Gulf of Mexico, the National Weather Service said, but parts of the area already are inundated.News video showed homes and business with water almost up to their roofs in Missouri - and one cabin floating away - while crews in other areas put up sand bag barriers in hopes of keeping out water. Missouri Governor Jay Nixon called the flooding in his state "very historic and dangerous" and brought out the National Guard to help.At least 13 people have died in Missouri since the weekend, when days of downpours from a massive winter storm system triggered the state's worst flooding in two decades. Seven people have died from flooding in Illinois and two in Oklahoma, officials said.Almost all of the deaths in Missouri and Illinois have been caused by people driving into flooded areas and Nixon urged motorists not to drive into moving water.As much as 12 inches (30 cm) of rain fell over three to five days in parts of the region.Past historic floods on the Mississippi in 1993, 1995 and 2011 all happened during warm weather, after snow melts up north. AccuWeather senior meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said it is highly unusual to have this kind of flooding in winter and more trouble could come in the spring."The gun may be loaded again for another major flooding event," said Sosnowski, who cited the El Nino weather pattern as the source of recent heavy rains. "You're not supposed to get this kind of heavy rainfall during the wintertime."Agriculture experts said the floodwaters and heightened disease risk that they bring were a threat to the soft red winter wheat crop in the southern part of the Midwest. Export premiums for corn and soybeans were at their highest levels in weeks because barge traffic on the swollen rivers has been tangled.The U.S. flooding comes at the same time as historic flooding across northern England, including York and Leeds.Several major rivers, including the Mississippi, and tributaries in Missouri and Illinois were poised to crest at record levels, the National Weather Service said, but parts of the region already are inundated.-COLD CLEANUP LOOMS-Flood warnings stretch from eastern Oklahoma into southeastern Kansas, southern Missouri, central Illinois and parts of Arkansas, Tennessee, and the Florida panhandle, the NWS said. A total of 46 locations are experiencing major flooding.While the rains have stopped for now, colder weather is setting in, which will make the cleanup more miserable, Sosnowski said.At the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, about 20 miles (32 km) north of St. Louis, residents of the towns West Alton and Arnold were told to evacuate on Tuesday. About 400 residents and businesses in the town of Pacific also have evacuated, said emergency manager Dian Becker."It will be the worst on record - that's what they tell us for later this evening," Becker said.The U.S. Coast Guard closed a 5-mile (8 km) stretch of the Mississippi near St. Louis on Tuesday to all vessel traffic due to hazardous conditions.The National Weather Service forecast the Mississippi River at the Chester, Illinois, river gauge about 60 miles (100 km) south of St. Louis would crest at 49.7 feet (15.1 meters) on Friday - matching the 1993 record.The floodwaters have forced the closure of roadways and highways, including multiple sections of Interstate 44, a major highway that runs from western Texas to St. Louis, the Missouri Department of Transportation said on Wednesday.Sewage has been flowing into the fast-rising Meramec River near St. Louis since Monday, when floodwater disabled a sewer treatment plant, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.In Illinois, some inmates were moved out of the Menard Correctional Center, a maximum-security prison on the banks of the Mississippi River, and sandbags and drinking water were prepared in anticipation of flooding in lower level cell blocks, Illinois officials said in a statement.(Reporting by Victoria Cavaliere in Los Angeles, Heide Brandes in Oklahoma City and Mary Wisniewski in Chicago; Editing by Bill Trott)
Several levees monitored in Missouri; death toll rises to 20-Associated Press By JIM SALTER and ALAN SCHER ZAGIER-dec 30,15-yahoonews
ST. LOUIS (AP) — A rare winter flood threatened nearly two dozen federal levees in Missouri and Illinois on Wednesday as rivers rose, prompting evacuations in several places.The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has deemed 19 levees highly vulnerable to flooding; by midday, those levees, all under close scrutiny, were holding up.But people were moving out just in case, including the St. Louis suburb of Valley Park, where Mayor Michael Pennise ordered mandatory evacuations for 350 to 400 homes and dozens of businesses in the section of town near the fast-rising Meramec River.Swollen rivers and streams have been pushed to heights not seen since the massive 1993 floods in some places. At least 20 deaths over several days in Missouri and Illinois were blamed on flooding, mostly involving vehicles that drove onto swamped roadways, and at least two people were still missing Wednesday. And in northern Oklahoma, which also has seen flooding, search teams went out for a third day in hopes of finding a country music singer from Arkansas who disappeared while duck hunting.Some parts of interstates in Missouri reopened Wednesday, while others — including Interstate 44 near Valley Park — were still covered by water. Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has activated the National Guard to assist with security in evacuated areas and to help keep road closure sites clear.Valley Park City Attorney Tim Engelmeyer called the governor's office to send troops to help in the evacuated area of the about 7,000-person town. He was also watching computer projections of the crest — expected to be about 3 feet higher than the record of 40 feet on Thursday — knowing that an unexpected upgrade could be enough to send water over the levee."We're so close," he said. "We're talking about a potential 6-inch difference."Pennise said the corps is confident the levee, built in 2007, is safe, but ordered evacuations as a precaution."You don't want to think negative, but we'd rather save a life than a couch," Pennise said.Becky Bode, a 54-year-old postal carrier whose route includes lower Valley Park, said the area used to flood so frequently that residents mostly had flood insurance. With the levee, many don't.Still, she's not worried about the residents."They've been through it before," Bode said. "If it floods, they'll pop back up and get going again."In the southwestern Missouri tourist mecca of Branson, residents of about 150 duplexes and homes had to evacuate Wednesday due to flooding from a manmade lake. But the shopping district along the lake was still open, Fire Chief Ted Martin said, adding, "it has been packed with people, and I don't know where all of them have come from."Sixty miles to the north in Pleasant Hope, the emergency management director said crews are looking for a missing motorist."Nobody that is living has ever seen anything like this," Rick Davis said.Record flooding was projected in some Mississippi River towns after several days of torrential rain that also caused sewage to flow unfiltered into waterways. The Mississippi River is expected to reach nearly 13 feet above flood stage on Thursday at St. Louis, which would be the second-worst flood on record, behind only the devastating 1993 flood.In Granite City, Illinois, about 30 residents of a flooded trailer park idled Tuesday in a Red Cross emergency shelter in a church basement. The park's property manager told Shirley Clark, 56, and other displaced residents that it could be another 10 to 12 days before they're able to return to their homes."We need help over here," said Clark, a diabetic who said she left behind her insulin supply. "We're just holding on."___Scher Zagier reported from Granite City, Illinois. Associated Press writers Jim Suhr and Heather Hollingsworth in Kansas City, Missouri, contributed to this report.
How strongly do Americans support religious rights? Depends on the religion-Some 8 in 10 Americans say it's important for religious freedom to be protected for Christians, a new poll finds. That number drops to 6 in 10 when it comes to protecting the religious rights of Muslims.-Christian Science Monitor By Stacy Teicher Khadaroo-DEC 30,15-YAHOONEWS
Religious liberty is a key principle of American democracy, but public support for individuals’ right to exercise that freedom still varies by which religion they practice.In a new poll, 82 percent of Americans say it’s very or extremely important for Christians to be allowed to practice freely, compared with 61 percent who say the same for Muslims. (For Jews, the figure is 72 percent; for Mormons, 67 percent; and for people with no religion, 63 percent.) The gaps in part reflect the fact that the United States has always struggled to live up to the ideals in its Constitution. But they also raise the question of whether the relative success of America’s experiment with religious diversity can survive for future generations when 4 out of 10 don’t believe strongly in protecting the rights of all.Recommended: Are you smarter than an atheist? A religious quiz-“On one hand, it’s heartening that a majority of American people understand that religious liberty is for everyone…, [but] the goal is to have enough in support of this arrangement that it actually works,” says Charles Haynes, director of the Religious Freedom Center of the Newseum Institute in Washington.“If we lose the hearts and minds … on religious liberty, we lose what’s enabled us to live with these differences” and maintain peace better than most, if not all, other nations facing religious divides, he says.The results may have been influenced by the timing of the poll, conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research between Dec. 10 and Dec. 13, not long after attacks in Paris and San Bernardino sparked rising anxiety about Islamic State terrorism. The same poll shows an increase over time in Americans’ concern that they will be the victim of a terrorist attack.“These numbers seem to be part of a growing climate of anti-Muslim sentiment in the United States,” Madihha Ahussain, an attorney for Muslim Advocates, a California-based civil rights group, told the Associated Press. “This climate of hatred has contributed to dozens of incidents of anti-Muslim violence in recent weeks.”The poll’s new question on religious liberty yields “important data, but it’s also important to ask it in calmer times … to establish a trend,” says Jennifer Benz, deputy director of the AP-NORC Center.The poll of 1,042 adults was conducted online and by phone using a sample designed to represent the US population. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.A slight majority of Americans – 55 percent – say the government is doing a somewhat or very good job at protecting the freedom of religion.Ever since the Puritans arrived in the name of religious freedom, there’s been a selective application of that idea in practice.“Liberty for me but not for thee is a very longstanding and widespread fallacy,” writes Douglas Laycock, a scholar of religious liberty at the University of Virginia School of Law, in an e-mail to the Monitor. “The Puritans came to America for religious liberty, but immediately decided that they meant religious liberty only for themselves…. There were huge fights between Catholics and Protestants in the nineteenth century, and outright persecution of Mormons. Now Jews are clearly inside the circle of religious liberty, and Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and nonbelievers are on the perimeter, protected in law but not so much in public opinion.”Conservative Christians also believe their rights are being infringed upon, by being forced, for instance, to offer wedding-related services to same-sex couples.But some conservative Christians, as well as some politicians, are capitalizing on fears of terrorism to push a longstanding agenda opposing Islam as what they believe to be an inherently threatening religion, Mr. Haynes says.The poll finding that nearly 40 percent of Americans don’t think it’s important to protect Muslims’ religious freedom doesn’t come out of thin air, Haynes says. “Many in America have been educated about Islam as a dangerous, violent religion,” and those spreading that message have spent tens of millions of dollars to do so in various churches and tea party conventions, he says.The poll indicates some differences by political affiliation.Independents are the least likely to say protecting religious freedoms is extremely or very important (69 percent of them say it is regarding Christians, and 49 percent say so regarding Muslims).Among Republicans, 88 percent place high importance on protecting religious freedoms of Christians, compared with 60 percent regarding Muslims – a 28-point gap. Among Democrats, the figures are 83 percent and 67 percent respectively – a 16-point gap.Overall, 8 out of 10 Americans said it was important or extremely important for people like themselves to be able to exercise religion freely.But for religious liberty to work in practice, Haynes says, it would be more encouraging to see high poll numbers reflecting the idea that “I am in favor of religious liberty for others, including those groups I don’t like, including those groups I disagree with.”
FALSE POPE FROM THE VATICAN
ISAIAH 23:15-17
15 And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot.
16 Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered.
17 And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.(COULD THIS BE 70 YEARS AFTER ISRAEL BECAME A NATION IN 1948)(IF SO THIS SATANIC ONE WORLD WHORE CHURCH WILL MINGLE TOGETHER BY 2018)(AND NOW ISLAM AND CHRISTIANITY AND ALL RELIGIONS ARE MINGLING AS ONE PEACE-LOVE-JOY-GET ALONG RELIGION LEAD BY THE VATICAN RIGHT NOW 4 YEARS FROM THE 70 YEAR TIME WHEN ISRAEL BECAME A NATION).AND IN CONTROL OF JERUSALEM.
REVELATION 13:11-13
11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth;(FALSE VATICAN POPE) and he had two horns like a lamb,(JESUS IS THE LAMB OF GOD) and he spake as a dragon.(HES SATANICALLY INSPIRED,HES A CHRISTIAN DEFECTOR FROM THE FAITH)
12 And he (FALSE RELIGIOUS LEADER) exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him,(WORLD DICTATOR) and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.(THE WORLD DICTATOR CREATES A FALSE RESURRECTION AND IS CROWNED LEADER OF THE NEW WORLD ORDER).
13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
REVELATION 17:1-5,9,15-18
1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication,(VATICAN IN POLITICS) and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
4 And the woman (FALSE CHURCH) was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour,(VATICAN COLOURS)(ANOTHER REASON WE KNOW THE FALSE POPE COMES FROM THE VATICAN) and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.(THE VATICAN IS BUILT ON 7 HILLS OR MOUNTAINS)
10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen,(1-ASSYRIA,2-EGYPT,3-BABYLON,4-MEDO-PERSIA,5-GREECE) and one is,(IN POWER IN JOHNS AND JESUS DAY-6-ROME) and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.(7TH-REVIVED ROMAN EMPIRE OR THE EUROPEAN UNION TODAY AND THE SHORT SPACE IS-THE EUROPEAN UNION WILL HAVE WORLD CONTROL FOR THE LAST 3 1/2 YEARS.BUT WILL HAVE ITS MIGHTY WORLD POWER FOR THE FULL 7 YEARS OF THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION PERIOD.AND THE WORLD DICTATOR WILL BE THE BEAST FROM THE EU.AND THE VATICAN POPE WILL BE THE WHORE THAT RIDES THE EUROPEAN UNION TO POWER.AND THE 2 EUROPEAN UNION POWER FREAKS WILL CONTROL AND DECIEVE THE WHOLE EARTH INTO THEIR DESTRUCTION.IF YOU ARE NOT SAVED BY THE BLOOD OF JESUS.YOU WILL BE DECIEVED BY THESE TWO.THE WORLD POLITICIAN-THE EUROPEAN UNION DICTATOR.AND THE FALSE PROPHET THAT DEFECTS CHRISTIANITY-THE FALSE VATICAN POPE.
15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.(VATICAN-CATHOLICS ALL AROUND THE WORLD OVER 1 BILLION)
16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast,(WORLD DICTATOR) these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.(BOMB OR NUKE THE VATICAN)
17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city,(VATICAN) which reigneth over the kings of the earth.
New Year brings fresh challenges for Pope Francis-AFP By Jean-Louis de la Vaissiere-DEC 30, 15-YAHOONEWS
The 79-year-old pontiff, who eschews holidays and has appeared worn out at times during the last year, has already scheduled major trips to Mexico (February) and Poland (July).Visits to Kosovo and Armenia (to mark the 100th anniversary of the World War I mass killings) are expected to be added to his diary while France and his native Argentina are also seen as possible destinations in the next 12 months.Laid low by the flu over Christmas, Francis nevertheless had the energy to insist that his wave-making shake-up of Vatican governance would be pursued in the New Year."The reform of the Curia (the Vatican bureacracy) will progress with determination, clarity and resolve," he said in his end-of-year message to the faithful.Top of the agenda for 2016 is the creation of two new ministries within the Vatican, one responsible for Laity, Family and Life, the other for Justice, Peace and Migration.The Vatican's media operations are also earmarked for reform alongside a continuing clean-up of the Holy See's finances.The reform process has encountered resistance amongst sections of the cossetted Vatican hierarchy.Although there have been no redundancies, many clerics have been sent back to their dioceses and the wings of those who have stayed in Rome have been clipped by spending cutbacks.- Tricky trial and Saint Theresa -Francis's regular public attacks on extravagance and greed in the upper echelons of the Church, his gift for cutting soundbites and his quick-to-anger temperament have not endeared him to many within the Vatican machine.This has helped to create a paradoxical situation where Francis's popularity with both believers and non-believers around the world is mirrored by an unusually high level of grumbling about him within the Vatican.The scale of the internal opposition was underlined in October when an apparently erroneous Italian media report that the pontiff had been treated for a benign brain tumour was immediately attributed to hostile elements seeking to undermine the Argentinian pope.The work still to be done on the Vatican's murky finances was underlined on December 15 when a Council of Europe body that combats money laundering and terror financing urged the Holy See authorities to accelerate indictments and prosecutions of officials involved in large-scale irregularities in the Church's scandal-hit bank and asset management body.The report from the Moneyval body was embarrassing as it came as the Vatican faces criticism for pursuing the prosecution of three former officials and two journalists over the leaking of classified documents which detail irregularities, extravagance and mismanagement in Church spending.That trial is due to resume early in the New Year and handling its eventual outcome will be one of the many tricky tasks Francis will have to deal with during a Jubilee Year dedicated to the theme of mercy.The pope also faces a delicate balancing act in relation to Church teaching on issues related to the family, including the vexed subjects of homosexuality and divorce.Deep divisions over these questions were exposed at a meeting of senior clerics in October with conservatives rallying strongly to make it clear they oppose any moves to make the Church more welcoming to gay believers or to allow the divorced to remarry and still take communion.Francis now has to decide if he takes such views on board when he outlines his own thinking in a keenly awaited letter, or 'Apostolic Exhortation', to the 1.2 billion Catholics around the world.The Jubilee year will add to Francis's workload, notably with the scheduling of an extra weekly audience on Saturdays, in addition to his existing Wednesday and Sunday appearances before the public. One of the highlights of the Jubilee year is expected to come in early September with the expected canonisation of Mother Theresa, the late nun celebrated for her work with the poor in Kolkata.
