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.
ISAIAH 51:3-4
3 For the LORD shall comfort Zion:(JERUSALEM) he will comfort all her waste places;(FROM NUCLEAR WAR) and he will make her wilderness like Eden,(I BELIEVE THE EZEKIEL-4TH TEMPLE WILL BE BUILT 25 MILES FROM THE CURRENT TEMPLE MOUNT AFTER JESUS RULE FOR THE 1,000 YRS FROM JERUSALEM) and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.(PRAISE TO JESUS IN THE DESERT-COULD BE THE NEW JERUSALEM-4TH TEMPLE BUILT 25 MILES INTO THE DESERT FROM THE CURRENT TEMPLE MOUNT.SINCE EZEKIELS TEMPLE IS WAY TO BIG FOR THE CURRENT TEMPLE MOUNT)
4 Hearken unto me, my people;(ISRAEL) and give ear unto me, O my nation:(ISRAEL) for a law shall proceed from me,(JESUS IN JERUSALEM) and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the people.(ISRAEL AND THE WORLD)
LUKE 21:28-29
28 And when these things begin to come to pass,(ALL THE PROPHECY SIGNS FROM THE BIBLE) then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption (RAPTURE) draweth nigh.
29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree,(ISRAEL) and all the trees;(ALL INDEPENDENT COUNTRIES)
30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.(ISRAEL LITERALLY BECAME AND INDEPENDENT COUNTRY JUST BEFORE SUMMER IN MAY 14,1948.)
And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.
12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND IN THE FUTURE
If talks fail, Abbas said to be weighing dissolution of Oslo, PA-Dramatic move would create security and diplomatic fallout for Israel; Bennett: ‘We won’t stop him’-By Times of Israel staff and AFP April 20, 2014, 9:28 am-The Times of Israel
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has reportedly threatened to dissolve the PA and disband Palestinian security forces operating in the West Bank if peace negotiations with Israel fail, a move which would create huge security and diplomatic problems for Israel.According to Palestinian sources cited by Yedioth Ahronoth on Sunday, Abbas and top PA officials are considering the drastic move, which would involve cancelling the 1993 Oslo Accords and announcing that the Palestinian Authority is a “government under occupation” without full sovereignty, which would technically move full responsibility for the Palestinians, in the West Bank at least, to Israel.The threat, which has reportedly been passed on to Israel, would also disband and abolish PA security forces operating in the West Bank, theoretically opening the way for expanded Palestinian unrest against Israeli forces. The move could also prompt a surge in international legal and diplomatic action against Israel.Yedioth said a vote on the move is scheduled for a PLO meeting on Saturday, three days before the peace talks are currently scheduled to end.The prospect of the PA’s dissolution was greeted with derision on Sunday by Economics Minister and Jewish Home party leader Naftali Bennett, who has been a vocal critic of the negotiations. As PA head, Abbas is “encouraging terrorism against Israel” with his threat, Bennett told Maariv.“If he wants to go, we won’t stop him. Israel won’t conduct negotiations with a gun to our head,” he said.The current round of US-sponsored Israeli-Palestinian peace talks are scheduled to end on April 29 after a nine-month negotiating period, and the two sides have been unable to come to an agreement to extend the talks. State Department spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki said last week that Israeli and Palestinian negotiators are striving to reach an agreement to extend their peace talks beyond the deadline.However, officials in Jerusalem said Friday that no progress had been made in emergency talks that took place between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators the night before, and that the two sides would meet again this week after the Passover holiday.Washington is pushing for an extension, but the negotiations hit an impasse two weeks ago when Israel refused to release a group of Palestinian prisoners as agreed at last year’s launch of the talks.Under the agreement, Israel had committed to a four-phase release of 104 prisoners held since before the 1993 Oslo autonomy accords, but it cancelled the release of the last group of 26 at the end of March. Among them are 14 Israeli Arabs who the Jewish state is refusing to free. It also wanted a prior commitment from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to extend the peace negotiations, which Abbas refused to make.According to Israel Radio, the Palestinians are adamant in their demand that all 26 prisoners be released, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to concede on the issue of releasing the Israeli Arab terrorists. The head of the Shin Bet security service advised Netanyahu to release the 14 Israeli Arab prisoners in question and deport them to the Gaza Strip or abroad, the report said, but Netanyahu said he would not act in a way that may endanger Israeli citizens. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told a group of Israeli MKs last week that he opposed any such deportation.The Palestinians retaliated for the delay in the prisoner releases by seeking accession to several international treaties, a move Israel described as a “major breach” of understandings.Abbas told the Israeli opposition MPs visiting him in the West Bank city of Ramallah last Wednesday that if talks were extended, he would want the first three months “devoted to a serious discussion of borders,” Haaretz reported.The Palestinians want a state based on the lines that existed before Israel captured the West Bank and Gaza in the 1967 Six-Day War.
Palestinians mull handing territory 'keys' back to Israel
APR 20,14-YahooNews
Jerusalem (AFP) - Palestinian negotiators have warned they may pass responsiblity for their territory back to occupying power Israel if peace talks remain stalled, a senior Palestinian official said Sunday.The official said the Palestinians told US peace envoy Martin Indyk on Friday that unless Israel releases Palestinian prisoners as agreed and freezes settlement building, they could dismantle the Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA) of president Mahmud Abbas."The Palestinians informed Indyk that if this Israeli intransigence continues, they have several options to resort to," the Palestinian official told AFP on condition of anonymity."First, handing the keys of the PA to the UN so it will become in charge of the Palestinian people and the state of Palestine, which is under occupation, or that the (Israeli) occupation assumes again full responsibility for everything."Under the 1993 Oslo accords which were to have led to an independent Palestinian state, the Palestinians received some autonomy in managing their day-to-day affairs.The PA is in a constant budgetary crisis and only manages to pay its civil servants and provide essential services thanks to generous funding from foreign donors.But Israel still retains overall control of the occupied West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem while the militant Islamist Hamas threw off PA rule in the Gaza Strip in 2007 and has since run its own administration.US Secretary of State John Kerry nudged Israel and the Palestinians to reopen peace talks in July for a nine-month period.The United States is striving to broker an agreement to extend those talks beyond their April 29 deadline, but so far without success.At Friday's meeting with the Palestinian negotiators, Indyk "had no new ideas to save the negotiations," the Palestinian official said on Sunday.Israeli commentator Nahum Barnea, writing in top-selling Yediot Aharonot daily on Sunday, said the Palestinian gambit was a desperate one."The Palestinians are playing their last card," he wrote. "Cancelling... all their achievements and all the obligations they made under the Oslo accords."If the Palestinians carry out their threat it will have dramatic results. The PA will be dismantled, all its security apparatus will be dispersed." That would oblige Israel to fill the vacuum at tremendous financial cost, Barnea added."The (military) will have to find a way to take the PA's place: to set up a police force, to take care of education, health services, water, sewage."
REBUILT 3RD TEMPLE
REVELATION 11:1-2
1 And there was given me a(MEASURING) 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,(TO THE WORLD NATIONS) and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.(JERUSALEM DIVIDED BUT THE 3RD TEMPLE ALLOWED TO BE REBUILT)
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.
Sixteen arrested after clashes at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa
APR 20,14-YahooNews
Jerusalem (AFP) - Israeli police arrested 16 Palestinians Sunday as they clashed with demonstrators at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem, a sensitive holy site that is frequently the scene of tensions."This morning, after the site was opened for visitors and tourists, the suspects threw rocks at the police, wounding two of them," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP.After police dispersed the crowd with sound grenades the demonstrators took shelter in the Al-Aqsa mosque, which police are not allowed to enter, he said.A police statement later said 16 "Arab rioters" had been arrested.The mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City -- built on the holiest site in Judaism and considered the third holiest in Islam -- has over the past week seen clashes between Muslim protesters and Israeli police.Dozens of Palestinians were wounded Wednesday in clashes with police after Jewish visitors were allowed onto the compound, which is known to Jews as the Temple Mount -- the site where the biblical first and second temples stood.Palestinians have long feared that Israel would take over the site, which is under Jordanian custodianship, amid calls from Jewish extremists for the temple to be rebuilt.Non-Muslims are allowed to visit the site but Jews are barred from praying there. Hardline Jews frequently try to defy the ban, often igniting clashes between rock-throwing Palestinians and police.Sunday's clashes came as tens of thousands of pilgrims and tourists flocked to Jerusalem for the Christian Easter holiday and the week-long Jewish Passover.Fearing unrest, Israeli police tightened restrictions on access to the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, limiting entrance to men over the age of 50 and women.On Saturday UN Middle East peace envoy Robert Serry said he and other diplomats had joined an Easter procession at the invitation of Jerusalem's Palestinian Christian community but were stopped at a security checkpoint.He said Israeli police refused to allow the group to proceed despite earlier assurances of unhindered access, leading to a "precarious standoff" in which an angry crowd pushed their way through.Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor defended the police, calling Serry's statement "an odd communique on a non-event" and "a display of poor judgement".Official Palestinian news agency Wafa on Sunday quoted the Palestinian foreign ministry lambasting the Israeli actions as contrary to international conventions on freedom of worship."The Palestinian foreign ministry on condemned on Sunday Israeli authorities forbidding Christian and Muslim worshippers from reaching their holy places which is a violation of the Geneva conventions," it said."These (Israeli) regulations can be only be described as fascist and racist."At Sunday's Easter mass in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Christians believe that Christ was crucified and then rose from the dead, Latin Patriarch Fuad Twal spoke of "hardship and persecution" suffered by Christians."Nevertheless," said Twal, the Holy Land's senior Roman Catholic prelate, "We can be sure of the success of our mission, even here, however difficult that may be in this strife-torn Holy Land."
ISRAEL SATAN COMES AGAINST
1 CHRONICLES 21:1
1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
ISRAELS TROUBLE
JEREMIAH 30:7
7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble;(ISRAEL) but he shall be saved out of it.
DANIEL 12:1,4
1 And at that time shall Michael(ISRAELS WAR ANGEL) stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people:(ISRAEL) and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation(May 14,48) even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro,(WORLD TRAVEL,IMMIGRATION) and knowledge shall be increased.(COMPUTERS,CHIP IMPLANTS ETC)
Source: Ukraine synagogue firebombed-Chabad site says main shul in Nikolayev attacked, no casualties reported-By JTA April 20, 2014, 9:12 pm-The Times of Israel
The main synagogue in the Ukrainian city of Nikolayev reportedly was firebombed.The synagogue was empty of worshippers when it was firebombed early Saturday morning, according to the Chabad-affiliated Shturem.org website.Two Molotov cocktails were thrown at the door and window, the report said, citing Yisroel Gotlieb, son of the city’s chief rabbi, Sholom Gotlieb.A passer-by put out the fires with a fire extinguisher, according to the report.The attack was recorded by the synagogue’s closed circuit television security camera and uploaded to YouTube.Nikolayev, a Black Sea port city of approximately 500,000, is located in southeastern Ukraine about 70 miles from Odessa.The Giymat Rosa Synagogue in Zaporizhia, located 250 miles southeast of Kiev, in eastern Ukraine, was firebombed in late February.Last week in eastern Ukraine, fliers calling on Jews to register withpro-Russian separatists and pay special taxes were distributed in Donetsk.
KC shooting suspect said world should be rid of Jews-Frazier Glenn Miller told rabbi on March 30 that Jews are root of global problems-By JTA April 20, 2014, 10:20 pm-The Times of Israel
The Missouri white supremacist charged in the Kansas City-area killings told a Manhattan rabbi that “we have to get rid” of every Jew.Frazier Glenn Miller, who also goes by Frazier Glenn Cross, called the American Friends of Kiev hotline on March 30 and spoke with Rabbi Menachem Siegal, director of the United Jewish Communities of Eastern Europe and Asia, the New York Post reported Saturday.Miller attacked Siegal for raising money for Jews who he said “cause all of the problems” and “destroyed the whole economy in the United States and the world,” Siegal told the Post. He also said, according to Siegal, that “Hitler should have finished off the job in Europe by coming to the United States and getting rid of every Jew.”He did not indicate that he planned to actually attack and kill Jews.Siegal provided a copy of the call log and caller ID of the 10-minute conversation for the US Justice Department.Miller was indicted for the April 13 shooting spree that killed three people at Jewish community buildings in suburban Kansas City, Kan. The victims, none of whom were Jewish, were a man and his 14-year-old grandson outside the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City in Overland Park and a woman outside the nearby Village Shalom retirement community.
Thousands celebrate Easter in Holy Land-Easter Mass held in Holy Sepulchre, Bethlehem, and Gaza; Pope Francis issues prayer for peace in Syria, Ukraine-By AP and AFP April 20, 2014, 2:01 pm-The Times of Israel
Thousands of pilgrims from around the world celebrated Easter in the Holy Land, commemorating the day when according to Christian tradition Jesus was resurrected in Jerusalem two millennia ago.Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal led Mass at the Holy Sepulchre church in Jerusalem on Sunday. The site is where Christians believe Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected.In the West Bank town of Bethlehem, worshipers prayed and lit candles at the Church of the Nativity, traditionally believed to be the birthplace of Jesus.Easter was also celebrated in Gaza where less than three thousand Christians live among about 1.7 million Muslims. Christian communities in the Holy Land, as well as elsewhere in the Middle East, have been declining in recent years due to regional turmoil.Pope Francis prayed for peace in Ukraine and Syria in an Easter Sunday address before 150,000 faithful in which he also condemned the “neglect and dire poverty” behind the spread of the deadly Ebola virus in Africa.“We ask you to enlighten and inspire the initiatives that promote peace in Ukraine,” the Catholic leader said in his prayer for the holiday, which this year coincides with Easter in the Orthodox calendar.
Pope Francis, huge crowd joyously celebrate Easter
By FRANCES D'EMILIO -APR 20,14-YahooNews
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Marking Christianity's most hopeful day, Pope Francis made an Easter Sunday plea for peace and dialogue in Ukraine and Syria, for an end to terrorist attacks against Christians in Nigeria and for more attention to the hungry and neediest close to home.Well over 150,000 tourists — Romans and pilgrims, young and old — turned out for the Mass that Francis celebrated at an altar set up under a canopy on the steps of St. Peter's Basilica.So great were their numbers that they overflowed from sprawling St. Peter's Square, which was bedecked with row after row of potted daffodils, sprays of blue hyacinths and bunches of white roses. Waving flags from the pope's native Argentina as well as from Brazil, Mexico, Britain, Poland and many other countries, they also filled the broad boulevard leading from the square to the Tiber River.Easter is the culmination of Holy Week and marks Christian belief that Jesus rose from the dead after his crucifixion.Francis noted that this year the Catholic church's celebration of Easter coincided with that of Orthodox churches, which have many followers in Ukraine.Francis prayed that God would "enlighten and inspire the initiatives that promote peace in Ukraine, so that all those involved, with the support of the international community, will make every effort to prevent violence."In eastern Ukraine, the holiday was marred by a deadly shooting Sunday fueled by tensions between pro-Russian supporters in the east and those loyal to an interim government in Kiev. The clash appeared to defy an international agreement reached last week in hopes of ending months of unrest.Francis also prayed that all sides in Syria will be moved to "boldly negotiate the peace long awaited and long overdue." Syria has been wracked by a three-year civil war that has cost 150,000 lives and forced millions to flee the country.Christians make up about 5 percent of Syria's population. In comments to mark Easter there, the Greek Orthodox patriarch vowed that Christians there "will not submit" to extremists who attack "our people and holy places."Francis makes a pilgrimage to Jordan, the Palestinian territories and Israel next month, so on Easter he prayed that hopes sparked by the resumption of Mideast peace negotiations will be sustained.Thousands of pilgrims from around the world flocked to the celebrate Easter in the Holy Land, where Christian communities, as well as elsewhere in the Middle East, have been declining as the faithful flee regional turmoil.Francis also spoke of those suffering in Africa from an epidemic of deadly Ebola and urged a halt to "brutal terrorist attacks" in parts of Nigeria. Nigerians marked Easter with heightened security against a spreading Islamic uprising, mourning the deaths of 75 bomb blast victims and fearful of the fate of 85 abducted schoolgirls. The homegrown terror network Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for last week's rush-hour explosion in the capital, Abuja, and threatened more attacks.In Venezuela, there have been hopes Vatican mediation can help end the country's violent political unrest, and Francis urged that "hearts be turned to reconciliation and fraternal concord" there.But Francis' Easter message also urged people to pay attention to the needy close to home. He said the "good news" of Easter's joy means "leaving ourselves behind and encountering others, being close to those crushed by life's troubles, sharing with the needy, standing at the side of the sick, elderly and the outcast."He denounced the "scourge of hunger," which he said was "aggravated by conflicts and by the immense wastefulness for which we are often responsible."Francis has set an austere tone in his papacy, forsaking an ornate apostolic palace apartment for a simple guesthouse on the Vatican grounds and rejecting limousines for regular cars.Cheering and applauding, the crowd tried to catch a glimpse of the pontiff as he circled around in his white popemobile before going to the basilica's balcony to deliver his commentary.Reflecting the worldwide reach of the Catholic church, faithful read aloud prayers and passages from the Bible in Hindi, French, Chinese, German, Korean, Spanish, Italian and English.___Writers Michelle Faul in Lagos, Nigeria; Ian Deitch in Jerusalem and Yuras Karmanau in Bybasivka, Ukraine, contributed to this story.Follow Frances D'Emilio on Twitter at www.twitter.com/fdemilio
04/20/2014 = VATICAN INSIDER-Pope, in Easter message, calls for “an end to all war, every conflict”-Pope Francis called for an end to conflicts and the scourge of hunger in the world, and reminded everyone that if Jesus were not risen from the dead, Christianity would lose its meaning-gerard o'connell
Rome-In a stirring Easter message to the world, Pope Francis prayed to the Risen Jesus, “to put an end to all war and every conflict, whether great or small, ancient or recent”, and “to the scourge of hunger”.He called for an end to the conflicts in Syria, the Central African Republic, and the violence in Nigeria, South Sudan and Iraq, and appealed for a negotiated settlement in Syria, the Ukraine and Venezuela and prayed for the success of the resumed negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. He delivered his message, focused on Jesus resurrection and its meaning for people today, from the central balcony of St Peter’s Basilica on Easter Sunday, April 20. His immediate audience was some 250,000 people gathered in St Peter’s Square from all continents, but he also had a global audience thanks to TV, Radio and the news means of social communication, estimated at one to two billion people.He began by reminding people that “the Good News par excellence” is that “Jesus, who was crucified, is risen!” as the Gospels tell us. “This event is the basis of our faith and our hope”, he said, because “If Christ were not raised, Christianity would lose its very meaning; the whole mission of the Church would lose its impulse, for this is the point from which it first set out and continues to set out ever anew.”In Jesus, he said, “love has triumphed over hatred, mercy over sinfulness, goodness over evil, truth over falsehood, life over death” and that is why “In every human situation, marked by frailty, sin and death, the Good News is no mere matter of words, but a testimony to unconditional and faithful love: it is about leaving ourselves behind and encountering others, being close to those crushed by life’s troubles, sharing with the needy, standing at the side of the sick, elderly and the outcast…”In this context, Pope Francis turned his eyes to the many difficult situations and conflict hotspots in today’s world.He prayed to the Risen Jesus “to help us overcome the scourge of hunger, aggravated by conflicts and by the immense wastefulness for which we are often responsible”He asked that we be enabled “to protect the vulnerable, especially children, women and the elderly, who are at times exploited and abandoned.”He called for people to assist “our brothers and sisters struck by the Ebola epidemic in Guinea Conakry, Sierra Leone and Liberia”, and to care for “those suffering from so many other diseases which are also spread through neglect and dire poverty.”He implored the Risen Lord to comfort “those who cannot celebrate this Easter with their loved ones” because “they have been unjustly torn from their affections, like the many persons, priests and laity, who have been kidnapped” in different parts of the world.He remembered the millions of immigrants too, “who have left their own lands to migrate to places offering hope for a better future and the possibility of living their lives in dignity and, not infrequently, of freely professing their faith”. He asked the Risen Jesus to comfort them.Pope Francis then issued a resounding call, asking the Risen Jesus, “to put an end to all war and every conflict, whether great or small, ancient or recent.”He prayed in a particular way for Syria, “that all those suffering the effects of the conflict can receive needed humanitarian aid and that neither side will again use deadly force, especially against the defenseless civil population, but instead boldly negotiate the peace long awaited and long overdue!”He called for an end to “the fratricidal acts of violence in Iraq”, and prayed that “the hopes raised by the resumption of negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians” be sustained.He appealed for an end to the conflicts in the Central African Republic, the brutal terrorist attacks in parts of Nigeria, and the violence in South SudanAnd, he prayed that in Venezuela “hearts be turned to reconciliation and fraternal concord”.This year the Christians of the East and the West celebrate the feast of Easter on the same day, April 20. For this reason, at the mass celebrated by Pope Francis in St Peter’s Square before he spoke to the world, the joyful Easter hymn of the Byzantine liturgy “Stichi –Stichira”, was sung by an Oriental choir in Greek.In his message the Pope recalled this common celebration of the resurrection of Jesus and prayed that it may “enlighten and inspire” peace initiatives in the Ukraine “so that all those involved, with the support of the international community, will make every effort to prevent violence and, in a spirit of unity and dialogue, chart a path for the country’s future.”As he spoke, Saint Peter’s Square looked like a beautiful garden thanks to the display of flowers provided by flower-growers from the Netherlands. Francis thanked them for their generosity too.He concluded by praying that the Risen Lord may give peace to the world, and then he imparted his blessing and wished everyone “Buona Pasqua!”, Happy Easter!
04/18/2014 - VATICAN INSIDER-The Church collects for the Holy Land-The Christian community in the Middle East-Parish offerings will go towards helping Christians in the Middle East and Syria-vatican insider staff
Rome-Today the Church is collecting for the Collection for the Holy Land, traditionally held every Good Friday. Its purpose is to maintain strong ties between Christians across the world, including the holy places. The money collected from the various parishes is sent to the Custody of the Holy Land which uses it for the upkeep of the holy sites and to help local Christians. The Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, sent a letter to pastors of the universal Church, highlighting that the Collection “is still today the principal source which sustains the life and works of the region’s Christians I n response to the ardent desire of the Supreme Pontiffs, who, especially on the occasion of Good Friday, have always recommended concrete acts of authentic fraternal charity.”Speaking to Vatican radio, the Custodian of the Holy Land, Fr. Pierbattista Pizzaballa, explained the significance of the Collection further, in light of Pope Francis’ upcoming visit to Jordan, the Palestinian Territories and Israel. He said the Collection is “reinforced by the Pope’s visit” and is important for two reasons: one because it shows support for Christian presence in the Holy Land, this presence being marked by Christian places of worship and the holy sites which are a testimony of the history of Revelation; and secondly it is important for the Christian presence in the region, a presence the Pope will be supporting and encouraging also physically with his visit.Fr. Pizzaballa said a third of the Collection would go towards maintaining the holy places. Most of the money – two thirds of it – will go to projects which support the Christian presence there by creating jobs, restoring old Christian houses, especially in Jerusalem and schools, particularly in the Bethlehem and Jericho area. Part of the Collection will also go to Syria’s Christians. One of the things that is depleting the Christian population in the Middle East and especially in the Holy Land, is immigration. Christians prefer to go elsewhere, particularly the West, in search of a better life. The Collection aims to foster more dignified living conditions in order to encourage Christians to stay. Part of the offerings will also go to Christian parishes in war-torn Syria - to Damascus, Aleppo, Latakia and some villages near Turkey - in order to help them through these difficult times. hristians’ lives are at risk here and they cannot even immigrate, the Custodian said.
EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW)and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:TOBOLSK)
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE RUSSIA-MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY) of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.(AFRICAN MUSLIMS,SUDAN,TUNESIA ETC)
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages;(ISRAEL) I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil,(OIL IS IN SPOIL) and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
EZEKIEL 39:1-8,11-21
1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal: (TUBOLSK)
2 And I will turn thee back,(RUSSIA-ARAB MUSLIM ISRAEL HATERS) and leave but the sixth part of thee,(5/6TH OR 300 MILLION DEAD RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIMS I BELIEVE) and will cause thee to come up from the north parts,(RUSSIA) and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,( ARABS) and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog,(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMB) and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.
11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog (RUSSIA/ARAB/MUSLIMS) a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers (EAST OF THE DEAD SEA IN JORDAN VALLEY) on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog (RUSSIAN) and all his multitude:(ARAB/MUSLIM HORDE) and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog.(BURIEL SITE OF THE 300 MILLION,RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIMS)
12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.(OF ISRAEL)
13 Yea, all the people of the land (OF ISRAEL) shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I (GOD-JESUS) shall be glorified, saith the Lord GOD.
14 And they shall sever out men of continual employment,(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMB EXPERTS) passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search.
15 And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man’s bone, then shall he set up a sign by it,(WON'T TOUCH IT) till the buriers have buried it (PROPERLY) in the valley of Hamongog.(RUSSIA/ARAB/MUSLIMS NEW BURIEL SITE)(EAST OF THE DEAD SEA IN THE JORDAN VALLEY)
16 And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land.(OF THE ISRAEL-GOD HATERS)
17 And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl,(500 MILLION MIGRATING BIRDS THREW ISRAEL EVERY SPRING,FALL) and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.(OF THE RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIM ARMIES)
18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
19 And ye (MIGRATING BIRDS IN ISRAEL) shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.(RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIM ISRAEL HATERS)
20 Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.
21 And I (GOD-JESUS) will set my glory among the heathen,(WORLD NATIONS) and all the heathen (WORLD NATIONS) shall see my judgment that I have executed,(AGAINST ISRAELS ENEMIES) and my (GODS) hand that I have laid upon them.(ISRAELS HATER ENEMIES)
JEREMEIAH 49:35-37 (IN IRAN AT THE BUSHEHR OR ARAK NUKE SITE SOME BELIEVE)
35 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will break the bow of Elam,(IRAN/BUSHEHR NUCLEAR SITE) the chief of their might.(MOST DANGEROUS NUKE SITE IN IRAN)
36 And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven,(IRANIANS SCATTERED OR MASS IMIGARATION) and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come.(WORLD IMMIGRATION)
37 For I will cause Elam (IRAN-BUSHEHR NUKE SITE) to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life: and I will bring evil upon them, even my fierce anger,(ISRAELS NUKES POSSIBLY) saith the LORD; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them:(IRAN AND ITS NUKE SITES DESTROYED)
EZEKIEL 35:3-6,11-15
3 And say unto it, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O mount Seir,(ARABS) I am against thee, and I will stretch out mine hand against thee, and I will make thee most desolate.
4 I will lay thy cities waste, and thou shalt be desolate, and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.
5 Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred,(AGAINST ISRAEL) and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end:
6 Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will prepare thee unto blood, and blood shall pursue thee: sith thou hast not hated blood, even blood shall pursue thee.
11 Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will even do according to thine anger, and according to thine envy which thou hast used out of thy hatred against them; and I will make myself known among them, when I have judged thee.
12 And thou shalt know that I am the LORD, and that I have heard all thy blasphemies which thou hast spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, They are laid desolate, they are given us to consume.
13 Thus with your mouth ye have boasted against me, and have multiplied your words against me: I have heard them.
14 Thus saith the Lord GOD; When the whole earth rejoiceth, I will make thee desolate.(ARAB,MUSLIMS)
15 As thou didst rejoice at the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto thee: thou shalt be desolate, O mount Seir,(ARABS) and all Idumea,(ARAB,MUSLIMS) even all of it: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
ISAIAH 17:1,11-14
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
11 In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish: but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.
12 Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations,(USELESS U.N) that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
13 The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
14 And behold at evening tide trouble; and before the morning he is not.(ASSAD KILLED IN OVERNIGHT RAID) This is the portion of them that spoil us,(ISRAEL) and the lot of them that rob us.
AMOS 1:5
5 I will break also the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the plain of Aven, and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of Eden:(IRAQ) and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir,(JORDAN) saith the LORD.
JEREMEIAH 49:23-27
23 Concerning Damascus.(SYRIA) Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they have heard evil tidings: they are fainthearted; there is sorrow on the sea;(WAR SHIPS WITH NUKES COMING ON SYRIA) it cannot be quiet.
24 Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth herself to flee, and fear hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail.
25 How is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy!
26 Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD of hosts.
27 And I will kindle a fire (NUKES OR BOMBS) in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Benhadad.(ASSADS PALACES POSSIBLY IN DAMASCUS)
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they (MUSLIMS) have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,(JORDAN) and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, PALESTINIANS,JORDAN) and the Hagarenes;(EGYPT)
7 Gebal,(HEZZBALLOH,LEBANON) and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA,ARABS,SINAI) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
JEREMIAH 47:1-7
1 The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines,(PALESTINIAN/ARABS) before that Pharaoh smote Gaza.
2 Thus saith the LORD; Behold, waters rise up out of the north,(NORTHERN TSUNAMI POSSIBLY) and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the land, and all that is therein; the city, and them that dwell therein: then the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall howl.
3 At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong horses,(ISRAELS ARMY) at the rushing of his chariots, and at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers shall not look back to their children for feebleness of hands;(ISRAEL POSSIBLY NUKES GAZA)
4 Because of the day that cometh to spoil all the Philistines,(PALESTINIAN FAKE ARABS) and to cut off from Tyrus and Zidon every helper that remaineth: for the LORD will spoil the Philistines, the remnant of the country of Caphtor.
5 Baldness is come upon Gaza;(NUKED POSSIBLY) Ashkelon is cut off with the remnant of their valley: how long wilt thou cut thyself?
6 O thou sword of the LORD, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still.
7 How can it be quiet, seeing the LORD hath given it a charge against Ashkelon, and against the sea shore? (MEDITTERANEAN SEA) there hath he appointed it.
EGYPT
ISAIAH 19:1-5
1 The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.
2 And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.
3 And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.
4 And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts.
5 And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up.
DANIEL 11:40-43
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.
JOEL 2:3,20,30-31
3 A fire(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMB) devoureth before them;(RUSSIA-ARABS-MUSLIMS) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them,(BEFORE THE NUKE GOES OFF) and behind them a desolate wilderness;(AFTER THE ATOMIC BOMB GOES OFF) yea, and nothing shall escape them.(EVERYTHING NUKED)
20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army,(RUSSIA,ARAB,MUSLIMS) and will drive him into a land barren and desolate,(SIBERIAN DESERT) 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.(FOR COMING AGAINST ISRAEL)
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.
JEREMIAH 8:7
7 Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times;(MIGRATION TIME) and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming;(IN MIGRATION SEASON) but my people know not the judgment of the LORD.(WW3 MIGRATING BIRDS EAT ISRAELS ENEMIES FLESH AND BLOOD)
Hollande: We have ‘information’ Assad using chemical weapons-French president, foreign minister indicate Assad has recently used ‘very deadly’ non-conventional weapons-By AFP April 20, 2014, 1:36 pm 8-The Times of Israel
France has “information” but no firm proof that Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime is still using chemical weapons, President Francois Hollande said Sunday.“We have a few elements of information but I do not have the proof,” Hollande said in a radio interview after he was asked about reports that Assad was currently using chemical weapons.“What I do know is what we have seen from this regime is the horrific methods it is capable of using and the rejection of any political transition,” he told the Europe 1 radio station.French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told the same radio station there were “indications, which have yet to be verified, that there have been recent chemical attacks.”He said they were “much less significant than those in Damascus a few months ago but very deadly”, and had taken place in the northwest of the country, near the Lebanese border.Under the terms of the US-Russia brokered deal reached last year, Syria has until the end of June to destroy its chemical weapons if it wants to ward off the threat of US air strikes.The agreement was reached after deadly chemical attacks outside Damascus last August that the West blamed on Assad’s regime.Last week the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the global chemical watchdog, said Syria had surrendered almost two-thirds of its chemical weapons.
Deadly gun attack in eastern Ukraine shakes fragile Geneva accord
By Aleksandar Vasovic - APR 20,14-YahooNews
SLAVIANSK, Ukraine (Reuters) - At least three people were killed in a gunfight in the early hours of Sunday near a Ukrainian city controlled by pro-Russian separatists, shaking an already fragile international accord that was designed to avert a wider conflict.The incident triggered a war of words between Moscow and Ukraine's western-backed government with each questioning the other's compliance with the agreement, brokered last week in Geneva, to end a crisis that has made Russia's ties with the West more fraught than at any time since the Cold War.The separatists said armed men from Ukraine's Right Sector nationalist group had attacked them. The Right Sector denied any role, saying Russian special forces were behind the clash.Failure of the Geneva agreement could bring more bloodshed in eastern Ukraine, but may also prompt the United States to impose tougher sanctions on the Kremlin - with far-reaching consequences for many economies and importers of Russian energy.The deal signed in Geneva last week by the European Union, Russia, Ukraine and the United States agreed that illegal armed groups would go home in a process to be overseen by Europe's OSCE security watchdog.So far, the pro-Russian militants have shown little sign of budging from public buildings in the east, though there was some hope of progress after Kiev said it would not move against the separatists over Easter, and international mediators headed to eastern Ukraine to try to persuade them to disarm.Local media reports that one occupied town hall near the city of Donetsk had been vacated and was again flying a Ukrainian flag prompted the U.S. ambassador to Kiev to speak of progress. But OSCE monitors cautioned that it would take time.And the shootings near Slaviansk - already a flashpoint for tensions between Ukraine's rival camps - are likely to make that task even harder, hardening the view of the many Russian-speakers in eastern Ukraine that they cannot trust Kiev."The Easter truce has been violated," the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement. "This provocation ... testifies to the lack of will on the part of the Kiev authorities to rein in and disarm nationalists and extremists."The town's self-appointed pro-Russia mayor placed a curfew on the town and appealed directly to Russia's Vladimir Putin to consider sending in peacekeeping troops - an outcome Ukraine tried to avoid by holding back its poorly resourced forces.Ukraine's SBU security service accused Moscow agents of a faking a "cynical provocation" at Slaviansk and the foreign ministry hit back, reproaching Russia for rushing to judgment and failing to meet its part of the deal struck in Geneva:"The Russian side must be reminded about their obligations under the Geneva agreement to bring all necessary influence to bear on separatists to clear illegally held buildings, unblock roads, lay down arms and prevent any bloodshed," it said.Right Sector spokesman Artem Skoropadsky said it was a "blasphemous provocation from Russia: blasphemous because it took place on a holy night for Christians, on Easter night. This was clearly carried out by Russian special forces."Separatist militiamen near the eastern Ukrainian city of Slaviansk told Reuters four vehicles had approached their checkpoint at around 2:00 a.m. (7.00 p.m. EDT) and opened fire."We had three dead, four wounded," one of the separatist fighters, called Vladimir, told Reuters at the checkpoint, where there were two burned-out jeeps.He said the separatists returned fire and killed two of the attackers, who he said were members of the nationalist movement which has its power base in the Ukrainian-speaking west of the country and is reviled by many in the Russian-speaking east. Police in Kiev said three men among the separatists were killed and three wounded.A Reuters cameraman at the scene said he saw the bodies of two people, one with what appeared to be gunshot wounds to the head and face, lying in the back of a truck.One of the dead was dressed in camouflage fatigues, the other, identified by several bystanders as a local man, was in civilian clothes.The deaths were the first in armed clashes in eastern Ukraine since the Geneva accord was signed on Thursday.
NO WILL TO MOVE
The crisis in Ukraine began late last year when President Viktor Yanukovich turned his back on closer ties with Europe, prompting protests in the capital. They led to him fleeing Kiev, and a pro-Western interim administration taking over.Soon after, Moscow used its military to back separatists in Ukraine's Crimea, before Putin signed a document annexing the peninsula. The United States and European Union responded by slapping sanctions on Russian officials.In Yenakievo, Yanukovich's home town outside Donetsk, local media showed images of the Ukrainian flag flying over municipal offices taken over by separatists a week ago. Reporters said there was no sign of activists who had been there on Saturday.U.S. ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt welcomed that: "There are obviously some real challenges at this point including some new violence this morning in Slaviansk," he told CNN."But we also believe that there has been some progress." Russia, which has deployed extra troops on the border with Ukraine, says it is not interfering but has an obligation to protect the Russian-speaking community in the east from the rulers in Kiev, who it says are illegitimate, have ties to the far-right, and discriminate against ethnic Russians.Senior officials from the OSCE, in Donetsk to mediate an end to the crisis, cautioned against expecting rapid results."This will take time," German diplomat Klaus Zillikens told Russia's Ekho Moskvy radio station. "Of course, the ideal outcome for everyone would be if all sides agreed and straight away said 'OK, let's implement the agreement'. But it won't be like that. And we can see that already."
GOODWILL GESTURE
The Ukrainian foreign ministry had promised that, as a gesture of goodwill for the Easter holiday, it would suspend the "active phase" of an operation it had launched to re-assert its authority in the east of the country - though in truth there had been little sign of its limited forces making much impression.In another sign of reconciliation, the Interior Ministry issued an Easter message which asked members of the ministry's disbanded Berkut unit to help defend Ukraine's unity.In the days when Yanukovich was clinging to power in Kiev, Berkut members are alleged to have been responsible for shooting dead dozens of protesters. Their unit was disbanded, and some of them have joined the pro-Russian separatists.The separatists say they will not leave the buildings they have occupied until the pro-Kiev protest groups occupying Independence Square - scene of the months-long protests against Yanukovich, also go home. Moscow has support that point of view.The eastern activists want guarantees that they will be given a large degree of autonomy from Kiev and that protections of Russian language rights will be enshrined in a new constitution. Acting president Oleksander Turchinov repeated his assurances on Sunday that power could be devolved within months. Interviewed in Russian on a channel focused on the Russian-speaking east, he said he was ready to listen to local leaders and immediately appoint regional governors of their choosing.Accusing Putin of destabilizing Ukraine in order to control it, he said the Kremlin leader was afraid of the example Ukraine's uprising set for Russia and other ex-Soviet states.At Easter church services in Kiev and in Moscow, senior clergy issued sharply contrasting appeals for peace."In these Easter days our prayers to God are for the people of Ukraine, for a reconciliation of enmity, for an end of violence, for people's love for each other, so that they should not be divided," Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, said in a recorded video message.In his Easter message, Patriarch Filaret, head of Ukraine's Orthodox Church, condemned what he described as Russia's aggression against his country: "God cannot be on the side of evil, so the enemy of the Ukrainian people is condemned to defeat," he said. "Lord, help us resurrect Ukraine."(Additional reporting by Richard Balmforth, Natalia Zinets and Alastair Macdonald in Kiev, Dmitry Madorsky in Slaviansk, Alissa de Carbonnel in Donetsk and Conor Humphries and Christian Lowe in Moscow; Writing by Christian Lowe and Richard Balmforth; Editing by Philippa Fletcher)
Syria's Assad pays Easter visit to recaptured Christian town
By Firas Makdesi -APR 20,14-YahooNews
MAALOULA, Syria (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday visited an ancient Christian town recaptured from rebels last week, state media said, as he seeks to persuade minorities that the government is their best protection against hardline Islamists.Assad's Easter visit to Maaloula - a rare appearance outside central Damascus - also highlighted growing government confidence in recent gains against insurgents around the capital and along the Lebanese border.Islamist fighters, including some from the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, had taken over part of Maaloula in December and held several nuns captive until releasing them in March in a prisoner-exchange deal.On Monday, government forces retook the town, which is roughly 60 km (40 miles) north of Damascus and has changed hands multiple times, the latest in a series of advances against rebels in the Qalamoun mountains region.During his visit, Assad inspected Mar Sarkis - a Greek Orthodox monastery dating to the fourth century - and damage caused "at the hands of terrorists," state news agency SANA said, using the government's customary term for the rebels.The agency said he also visited the Mar Thecla monastery, which also suffered damage during fighting for the town.Images published by SANA showed Assad, dressed in a beige blazer, waving and examining antiquities as he toured the area with church officials.A Reuters reporter in Maaloula on a state-organized tour said Syrian soldiers and members of the loyalist National Defense Force militia were stationed throughout the town, where homes and buildings were burned and damaged by the fighting."The display of hatred was clear - the houses are totally destroyed, the whole village was destroyed. I can't describe the amount of damage to the village," said Lorain, a Maaloula resident in her 20s who was returning on Sunday after fleeing the fighting several months ago.Rita, another resident, said she hoped to return to live in the village but that electricity and water were not ready yet."Still, we're happy - and we'll be even happier when those who are being held captive are released," she said, referring to residents who are still missing.
THEFT AND DAMAGE
Maaloula's churches and monasteries attracted both Christian and Muslim pilgrims before the conflict. Some of its inhabitants still speak Aramaic, the language of Christ, and the monastery of Mar Thecla has a reputation among believers for miraculous cures.Syrian Tourism Minister Bishr Yazigi told Reuters that damage and theft to antiquities during the fighting amounted to "billions of Syrian pounds" in losses.Assad's government has consistently tried to portray itself as the protector of the country's minorities, including the Christians who account for about 10 percent of the population.Assad is a member of the Alawite minority, an off-shoot of Shi'ite Islam, while the rebels fighting to overthrow him are overwhelmingly Sunni.Hardline Islamists, many of whom view Alawites as heretics, have been among the most determined rebel fighters trying to overthrow Assad, and have attracted support from opponents of Assad including from Sunni Gulf Arab countries.Shi'ite power Iran is one of Assad's main backers.The three-year-old conflict, which started as a peaceful protest movement against four decades of Assad family rule, has killed over 150,000 people and forced millions from their homes.(Writing by Alexander Dziadosz; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
EARTHQUAKES
ISAIAH 42:15
15 I will make waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs; and I will make the rivers islands, and I will dry up the pools.
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,(DIFFERNT PLACES AT THE SAME TIME) and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
1 Day, Magnitude 2.5+ Worldwide
56 earthquakes - DownloadUpdated: 2014-04-20 14:36:18 UTC-04:00Showing event times using Local System Time (UTC-04:00)56 earthquakes in map area
2.7 4km N of Coalinga, California 2014-04-20 12:10:50 UTC-04:00 12.9 km
2.8 46km NNW of Anchor Point, Alaska 2014-04-20 12:01:45 UTC-04:00 99.5 km
3.1 16km ENE of Hawthorne, Nevada 2014-04-20 11:35:40 UTC-04:00 6.4 km
2.6 40km NW of Willow, Alaska 2014-04-20 11:29:35 UTC-04:00 49.2 km
2.9 37km WNW of Denio Junction, Nevada 2014-04-20 10:39:20 UTC-04:00 13.2 km
4.7 Northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge 2014-04-20 10:15:34 UTC-04:00 10.0 km
5.3 292km E of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, Russia 2014-04-20 09:50:41 UTC-04:00 37.3 km
3.3 101km ESE of King Salmon, Alaska 2014-04-20 09:36:50 UTC-04:00 100.0 km
5.1 108km WSW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea 2014-04-20 09:28:42 UTC-04:00 57.1 km
4.8 28km NNE of San Jeronimito, Mexico 2014-04-20 08:40:39 UTC-04:00 43.5 km
4.6 91km WSW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea 2014-04-20 08:14:37 UTC-04:00 33.6 km
3.2 4km SSW of Anchor Point, Alaska 2014-04-20 06:03:41 UTC-04:00 87.4 km
3.2 69km SE of King Salmon, Alaska 2014-04-20 05:40:31 UTC-04:00 100.0 km
4.9 63km WNW of Kandrian, Papua New Guinea 2014-04-20 04:56:40 UTC-04:00 62.4 km
5.4 124km SW of Padangsidempuan, Indonesia 2014-04-20 04:43:53 UTC-04:00 48.2 km
5.0 88km WSW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea 2014-04-20 04:24:29 UTC-04:00 34.9 km
4.6 106km SW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea 2014-04-20 04:10:20 UTC-04:00 79.7 km
4.5 95km WNW of Iquique, Chile 2014-04-20 03:54:55 UTC-04:00 10.0 km
5.0 71km SSW of Kirakira, Solomon Islands 2014-04-20 03:45:45 UTC-04:00 18.6 km
3.1 64km WSW of Anchor Point, Alaska 2014-04-20 02:02:32 UTC-04:00 93.2 km
3.9 46km SE of Road Town, British Virgin Islands 2014-04-20 01:59:31 UTC-04:00 137.0 km
3.0 49km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico 2014-04-20 01:57:23 UTC-04:00 44.0 km
3.2 13km S of Bodfish, California 2014-04-20 01:12:17 UTC-04:00 0.8 km
3.0 24km NE of Noatak, Alaska 2014-04-20 00:50:32 UTC-04:00 15.5 km
5.1 126km SW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea 2014-04-20 00:23:13 UTC-04:00 35.1 km
5.7 117km WSW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea 2014-04-20 00:17:34 UTC-04:00 28.2 km
3.2 8km NE of Tooele, Utah 2014-04-19 23:22:51 UTC-04:00 6.9 km
2.5 7km SSE of Ridgely, Tennessee 2014-04-19 23:13:06 UTC-04:00 9.2 km
2.8 49km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico 2014-04-19 23:05:33 UTC-04:00 42.0 km
4.4 33km E of Calama, Chile 2014-04-19 22:30:33 UTC-04:00 117.8 km
4.6 113km WSW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea 2014-04-19 22:26:48 UTC-04:00 25.1 km
5.4 Easter Island region 2014-04-19 21:54:12 UTC-04:00 10.0 km
2.7 53km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico 2014-04-19 21:45:55 UTC-04:00 29.0 km
2.5 13km S of Bodfish, California 2014-04-19 21:27:54 UTC-04:00 0.2 km
4.8 66km W of Panguna, Papua New Guinea 2014-04-19 21:02:14 UTC-04:00 35.0 km
6.1 96km SSW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea 2014-04-19 20:15:58 UTC-04:00 18.1 km
5.2 81km SSW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea 2014-04-19 20:10:44 UTC-04:00 17.3 km
2.5 26km SSW of Ferndale, California 2014-04-19 19:45:06 UTC-04:00 15.9 km
4.0 23km NNE of Goecek, Turkey 2014-04-19 19:40:01 UTC-04:00 14.6 km
5.1 88km SW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea 2014-04-19 19:06:16 UTC-04:00 35.0 km
2.5 88km NNW of Larsen Bay, Alaska 2014-04-19 18:40:51 UTC-04:00 0.1 km
4.7 95km WSW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea 2014-04-19 18:33:26 UTC-04:00 35.8 km
3.6 26km ENE of Noatak, Alaska 2014-04-19 18:12:59 UTC-04:00 9.5 km
3.6 23km ENE of Noatak, Alaska 2014-04-19 18:12:08 UTC-04:00 5.1 km
4.4 70km SW of San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua 2014-04-19 17:47:33 UTC-04:00 51.5 km
4.8 92km SW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea 2014-04-19 17:31:38 UTC-04:00 35.0 km
4.6 98km WNW of Iquique, Chile 2014-04-19 17:30:30 UTC-04:00 9.3 km
2.6 55km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico 2014-04-19 17:15:55 UTC-04:00 11.0 km
2.7 52km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico 2014-04-19 16:57:25 UTC-04:00 28.0 km
5.8 83km WNW of Iquique, Chile 2014-04-19 16:54:42 UTC-04:00 9.0 km
2.5 46km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico 2014-04-19 16:52:01 UTC-04:00 38.0 km
2.7 49km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico 2014-04-19 16:32:21 UTC-04:00 32.0 km
2.7 50km N of Hatillo, Puerto Rico 2014-04-19 16:25:49 UTC-04:00 27.0 km
4.8 100km W of Panguna, Papua New Guinea 2014-04-19 16:00:13 UTC-04:00 35.0 km
5.0 53km E of Stoney Ground, Anguilla 2014-04-19 15:31:34 UTC-04:00 52.1 km
4.9 127km SW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea 2014-04-19 15:16:18 UTC-04:00 9.4 km
Two Kassam rockets head toward Israel shortly after they are fired by Palestinians in Gaza. (file photo: Edi Israel/Flash90)
-JACC