Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Our God Shall Come - Psalm 50:3
Feb 19th, 2020
Morning MeditationF.B. Meyer
Categories: Meditation;Inspirational;Book Study

The years pass as snowflakes on the river; and as each drops into the mighty past, it cries, God will come! Each Advent season, with its cluster of services, herald-voices, reminiscences and anticipations, lifts the message clear above the turmoil and tumult of mankind, God will come! The disappointments of our fairest hopes, the overcasting of our sunrises, the failures of our politicians, statesmen and counsellors, to effect a permanent and radical improvement of man's nature, all take up the word, Our God shall come!

"Surely He cometh, and a thousand voices
Call to the saints and to the deaf and dumb;
Surely He cometh, and the earth rejoices,
Glad in his coming, who hath sworn, I come."

Dear heart, get thee often to thine oriel window, and look out for the breaking of the day. Did not the Master assure us that He would soon return? Hearken, He saith again to-day, "Surely I come quickly." The little while will soon be over, and He will come first to receive his saints to Himself, and afterwards to come with them to the earth. Why are we disconsolate and dismayed? The perplexities of the Eastern problem, the gradual return of the Jews to Palestine, the despair and lawlessness of men, the unrest of nations, the preparedness on the part of the Church - like so many minute guns at night - keep the heart awake. Oh, let your eyes flash with the glow of thanksgiving! Be glad and strong, confident and calm. Let your loins be girded, and your lamps burning. Through heaven's spaces you shall detect the advent of your God; and when He comes He will break the silence of the ages with words of majesty and might.

Let the Headlines Speak
Feb 19th, 2020
Daily NewsFrom the Internet
Categories: Today's Headlines

For The Full Story Click on the Individual News Item

Israel’s Top Rabbi: “I’m Currently in Discussions With the Messiah Himself”
Rabbi Zissholtz explained that he had been charged by these hidden righteous men to break his silence and to begin informing the public of the imminent arrival of the Messiah. “Getting the word out now that the Messiah is closer than ever is a matter of life and death,” Rabbi Zissholtz said. “Haven’t you heard of Gog and Magog? That is what is going to happen very soon. Right now, the situation is explosive more than you can possibly imagine. Everyone needs to know whether they are on the inside or if they are going to be left out.”

Rabbi Yehuda Glick Arrested on Temple Mount While Guiding U.S Congressmen
Rabbi Yehudah Glick, founder of the Shalom Jerusalem Foundation, was arrested on the Temple Mount on Tuesday for “walking too slowly.” The Israeli police put Rabbi Glick on the ground and handcuffed him as he was exiting the property. He was providing a tour to visiting congressmen Jim Jordan (R, OH) and Mike Johnson (R,LA) and their wives.

Convention of ‘Christian Witches’ to Gather In Salem on Easter Sunday
A group of self-professed “Christian witches” announced they will be holding their annual convention on Easter in Salem, Massachusetts. The gathering of “Witches, Sorcerers/Soceresses, Wizards, Warlocks, Necromancers, Readers” and “like-minded Magickal Beings” is being organized by Rev. Valerie Love

Saudi Arabia accuses Muslim Brotherhood of working with the Nazis
Saudi Arabia claimed on Tuesday that Muslim brotherhood founder Hassan Al-Bana has worked for the Nazis in the past, according to Washington D.C.-Based Middle East Media Research Institute, MEMRI. As a part of an ongoing escalation between Saudi Arabia and The Muslim brotherhood, the Saudi media has made several attempts to go against the organization.

Ancient Judean ritual baths fill with water following intense winter rains
At the time of the Temple, pilgrims would flock to Jerusalem at least three times a year to celebrate the holidays of Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot. Before entering the city, they would stop to immerse in a mikveh, a ritual bath, to purify themselves. Two thousand years later, two ritual baths located close to the very special spot where pilgrims were able to get the first glimpse of the holy city are overflowing with water again thanks to the abundant winter rains and for the joy of contemporary visitors.

10 ‘Plagues’ That Are Hitting Our Planet Simultaneously
All of a sudden, really crazy things are starting to happen all over the world. Giant swarms of locusts are absolutely devastating entire regions, extremely unusual storms are confounding meteorologists, earthquake and volcanic activity are both on the rise, and five very dangerous diseases are sweeping across the globe. So far in 2020, it has just been one thing after another, and many are speculating about what could be ahead if events continue to escalate. Can any of you remember a time when we have been hit by crisis after crisis like this all at once?

Cooperman Warns “Communist” Sanders Bigger Threat To Market Than Coronavirus
Cooperman is worrying about something else that he believes is a much bigger threat to the markets. “There are things that are very troubling to me.. No. 1 is Bernie Sanders.” “He is not a socialist. He is, rather, a communist… I just hope the country isn’t ready to elect a communist or a socialist. If we do, I think the market is in store for a big problem.”

Head of hospital dies in coronavirus epicenter; global economic impact spreads
The head of a leading hospital in China’s central city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, died of the disease on Tuesday as Apple Inc warned its sales would suffer because of the epidemic, casting a chill on global stock markets. Chinese state television said Liu Zhiming, the director of Wuhan Wuchang Hospital, died at 10:30 a.m, the seventh health worker to fall victim. The hospital was designated to solely treat virus-infected patients.

Gathering Clouds Over The Korean Peninsula – Analysis
North Korea is faced with the worst internal and external crisis since its inception. The US-led economic sanctions have almost dried up the regime’s financial resources; North Korea’s wintertime military drills came to a halt for lack of fuel; and closure of the entire border to stop the spreading of the deadly coronavirus from China has skyrocketed food prices in Pyongyang (by 60% just within days) and depleted the already struggling markets of supplies.

Saudi Arabia accuses Muslim Brotherhood of working with the Nazis
Saudi Arabia claimed on Tuesday that Muslim brotherhood founder Hassan Al-Bana has worked for the Nazis in the past, according to Washington D.C.-Based Middle East Media Research Institute, MEMRI. As a part of an ongoing escalation between Saudi Arabia and The Muslim brotherhood, the Saudi media has made several attempts to go against the organization.

Ancient Judean ritual baths fill with water following intense winter rains
At the time of the Temple, pilgrims would flock to Jerusalem at least three times a year to celebrate the holidays of Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot. Before entering the city, they would stop to immerse in a mikveh, a ritual bath, to purify themselves. Two thousand years later, two ritual baths…are overflowing with water again thanks to the abundant winter rains and for the joy of contemporary visitors.

10 Plagues That Are Hitting Our Planet Simultaneously
All of a sudden, really crazy things are starting to happen all over the world. Giant swarms of locusts are absolutely devastating entire regions, extremely unusual storms are confounding meteorologists, earthquake and volcanic activity are both on the rise, and five very dangerous diseases are sweeping across the globe.

Jerusalem: Jordan condemns Israeli Western Wall railway plan
Jordan has condemned a decision by Israel to advance a plan to build a railway line and station underneath the heart of Jerusalem’s Old City. The Israeli transport ministry said on Monday that a new route had been approved for an extension of the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem high-speed railway. A 3km (2-mile) tunnel will lead to the Western Wall – one of Judaism’s holiest sites – in the city’s occupied east.

Libya’s GNA suspending ceasefire talks after Tripoli port attack
Libya’s internationally recognised government has said it is suspending its participation in ceasefire negotiations hosted by the United Nations in Geneva, hours after an attack by renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar’s forces on the capital’s port. In a statement…the presidential council of the…Government of National Accord (GNA) said it would respond firmly to the attack at the appropriate time.

Israel plans new east Jerusalem settlement
Israel has developed plans to build 9,000 settler homes in annexed east Jerusalem, the first such project in the city in more than 20 years, watchdog Peace Now said Tuesday. Details of the plan emerged a day after Israel’s transport ministry approved a controversial proposal to extend a train line from Tel Aviv into Jerusalem’s flashpoint Old City.

Venezuela crisis: US blacklists Russian oil firm for helping Maduro
The US has sought to increase financial pressure on Venezuela by blacklisting a subsidiary of Russia’s state-controlled Rosneft oil giant. The move freezes any US-held assets of the Switzerland-based Rosneft Trading SA and its chairman, Didier Casimiro. The firm is accused of helping President Nicolás Maduro to evade US sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry.

Syria war: Turkish operation in Idlib ‘only a matter of time’
Turkey’s president says it is “only a matter of time” before it launches an operation to stop a Syrian army assault on opposition-held Idlib province. Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned in a speech that he was determined to transform the border area into a safe place for Syria and Turkey’s people “at any cost”. Syria’s government and its ally Russia have rejected his demand to pull back to ceasefire lines agreed in 2018.

‘Everyone wants to work here,’ say Gaza merchants allowed into Israel
The workers from Gaza who legally crossed the border on Wednesday morning, expressed their feelings of gratitude after Israel’s decision to issue a record number entry permits for Palestinian merchants living in the Hamas-controlled enclave. Israel announced Tuesday evening it’s set to extend the fishing zone…and issue an additional 2,000 entry permits…raising the total number to an unprecedented 7,000.

Mississippi under state of emergency after historic flooding, above-normal rain triggers inundation and landslides in Tennessee
Incessant heavy rains continued to drench portions of the southern U.S., causing several rivers and dams to overflow. Unprecedented flooding in Mississippi put the state under a state of emergency on February 15, 2020, as Pearl River reached its third-highest level on record at 11.2 m (36.7 feet). Meanwhile, a landslide in Tennessee destroyed several houses as rains in the area have been four times above normal for February.

Brutal cold, ice storms and snow worsen conditions for displaced in northern Syria, children freezing to death
Piercing cold, ice storms, and heavy snow have worsened the living conditions of over 80 000 Syrians sleeping in the open air after fleeing a government offensive in the country’s northern province of Idlib. Save the Children organization confirmed on Tuesday, February 18, 2020, that at least seven youngsters– including a seven-month-old baby– have died from freezing temperatures in camps.

The Many Intense Plagues, Famines And Earthquakes Now Hitting Our Planet Are Causing Some To Ask If We Are Seeing The Fulfillment Of Revelation Prophecy
Social media is blowing up at the moment, and perhaps rightly so, with people coming to the realization that our planet Earth is being absolutely bombarded by multiple plagues, famines, pestilence and earthquakes, along with really extreme weather. So much so that various articles are coming across the NTEB end times desk asking if we are witnessing the judgments mentioned in Revelation. I will say that I cannot recall another year in recent memory that had so much happening all at the same time as we see now in 2020.

Boy Scouts seek bankruptcy under wave of new sex abuse lawsuits
The Boy Scouts of America, one of the nation’s oldest and largest youth organizations, filed for bankruptcy protection late Monday as former Scouts’ legal claims of past sexual abuse continue to mount.

DEAD SEA BURN: Israel To Hold Burning Man Style Pagan Festival Near Where Sodom And Gomorrah Once Stood And Was Destroyed By God With Fire
The tragic irony of holding a Burning Man style pagan festival near where Sodom and Gomorrah once stood and were destroyed by God with fire cannot be ignored. Over the years, we have brought you multiple stories of Burning Manin Nevada, and showed you in graphic detail how it is nothing more than New Age paganism combined with Gaia worship. Now we see that lost Jews in Israel, wanting to experience that for themselves, want to hold a massive Dead Sea Burn pagan festival close to where Sodom and Gomorrah once stood. Smaller Burning Man events have been held in the Negev since 2015, but Dead Sea Burn wall take it to a whole new level.

Governments of the world just ramped up spying on reporters
ONE DAY LAST SUMMER, I noticed that one of our Middle East correspondents was visiting the Financial Timesnewsroom. I’m head of cyber security at the paper, and I have found that foreign correspondents are often at the tip of the spear for strange and interesting threats. So I stopped to chat.

Why are 712 people in Washington State being “monitored” for coronavirus infections, but NOT TESTED?
The coronavirus propaganda coming out of Washington State is starting to mirror the discredited lies of communist China. According to health “officials” in Washington, only one person has been confirmed infected with the coronavirus there, but 712 people are being monitored for possible infections.

Florida: 6yo Girl Taken From School by Police Without Parents’ Consent, Held in Facility for 48 Hours for Tantrum
Marina Falk received a horrifying call from school earlier this month in regard to her 6-year-old daughter Nadia. Officials from Love Grove Elementary School called Falk to tell her that police had taken her daughter because she’d been acting out. Without her consent, authorities essentially kidnapped a 6-year-old girl and held her in a facility for two days.

‘Historic seizure’: Costa Rica breaks record with five-ton cocaine bust
More than $130 million worth of cocaine was seized by authorities in Costa Rica, the country’s biggest drug bust yet.

Christian Pastor Faces Criminal Investigation for Booklet Opposing Homosexuality
Feb 19th, 2020
CommentaryEVANGELICAL FOCUS
Categories: Contemporary Issues

The leader of a confessional Lutheran denomination in Finland was questioned by the police on 12 February about his responsibility in the distribution of "Male and Female He Created Them", a 24-page booklet published back in 2004.

Juhana Pohjola, Dean of the Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese of Finland and head of the group of churches' publishing house, responded to police questions for five hours, as a part of a preliminary investigation of a case that also involves the author of the booklet, member of Parliament Päivi Räsänen.

"At the tactful and thorough interrogation, I said that I am, as the editor-in-chief, responsible for the publication and distribution of the booklet. I denied, however, being guilty of the crime of ethnic agitation" Pohjola said after the meeting with the police.

"In my view, Mrs Räsänen's text is not defamatory or insulting to homosexuals. In my answers, I showed that the booklet teaches in line with Christian anthropology that every person is precious as being created in the image of God, regardless of sexual orientation", he added.

"This does not mean, however, that people are not responsible before God for their way of life or moral choices. The homosexual lifestyle is contrary to God's order of creation and a transgression against His will. 

If one is not allowed to teach this publicly, the message of sin and grace will be left without a foundation, and freedom of religion will decline", concluded the Dean of the Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese of Finland.

PENAL CODE: "ETHNIC AGITATION"

Both Päivi Räsänen and Juhana Pohjola could be accused of "ethnic agitation" against homosexual people, a crime described in the Section 10 of the Penal Code. Sexual orientation was added in 2011 to a law that had been originally created to punish racism.

The State Prosecutor General, Raija Toiviainen, is leading the criminal investigation and has said the booklet, which is still available, "incites hatred".

The denomination, which holds to a traditional understanding of the Bible and to the 16th century Lutheran Confessions, had explained on its website that Juhana Pohjola "is under suspicion for distributing this material to the public and for keeping this material available online".

PUBLIC OPINIONS ON HOMOSEXUALITY NO LONGER ALLOWED?

In September 2019, the author of "Male and Female He created them" and former Finnish Minister of the Interior, Päivi Räsänen, responded to questions of the Helskinki Police for four hours. She later said: "It is difficult to understand what is now happening in my home country (...) the situation is really peculiar. But I am grateful that so many Christians have been woken to pray for our nation".

Räsänen was also denounced for a tweet in which she quoted the Bible on homosexuality in June 2019.

In an interview with Evangelical Focus, she said: "The more we keep silent about difficult and controversial topical themes, the narrower the space for freedom of speech and religion gets".

Other European countries have also recently included the discrimination against LGBT people in the Penal Code. The most recent case is Switzerland, where a majority voted "yes" to give sexual minorities a special protection. 

In the Central European country, political parties, lawyers and evangelical bodies, among others, are calling to protect freedom of speech and religious freedom and avoid the temptation on shutting down the conversation on issues such as sexuality and marriage.