God says in Hosea 4:6 that his people die because they lack knowledge. Knowing world events clues us in to where we are on the Biblical, prophetic time line. News should prompt us to pray for two things: that the eyes of the lost and deceived are opened to God’s love as expressed through the life and death and life of Yeshua and that God’s Kingdom come on earth.
Why so much Israel news? God always meant Israel to be an example to the nations, an example of His righteousness, His justice, His mercy, His love. She is also a signpost. Consider this. Zion, God’s other name of Jerusalem, means “signpost.” Messiah draws nigh. The events in Zion speak to that.
While the links posted here are mostly news items, some may be lighter and include websites and stories that caught my interest. To get news links in real time or to read my editorial commentary, visit my Twitter feed @RoamingChile or on my Facebook page.
Slightly different layout today. Because sometimes I read a news item days after it happened, the chronological order wasn’t really correct. So now we have it by topic. It’ll be good for the search engines and for those of you who like to quickly scan for headlines of interest.
If you read anything, scroll down and read the items listed under Church. Lots to pray about there.
One more item is bothering me more and more as I think about it. It’s listed under Islam, though I debated listing it under Church. An Arab news agency reported that U.S. President Barak Obama cancelled a meeting with the head of the Lebanese Maronite Church at the behest of an adviser. She is said to have been given the order by the Muslim Brotherhood.
Israel
- Man dies as 20 Gaza rockets hit Israel
www.jpost.com
20 rockets fired at South in total; 2 moderately injured, 1 lightly injured in Gan Yavne, Ashdod; 20 treated for shock; extensive damage reported in Ashdod as rockets hit school, residential area. - Rockets from Gaza hit S. Israel after Israeli strike kills Islamic Jihad bomb makers
www.haaretz.com
Three Grad rockets explode in Ashdod and Gan Yavne, mortar shell falls in Eshkol Regional Council; IDF kills five Islamic Jihad militants just hours before. - RC: Wow. Abbas. I’m impressed. You’re trying hard.
Abbas faults Arab refusal of 1947 U.N. Palestine plan
news.yahoo.com
Arabs made a “mistake” by rejecting a 1947 U.N. proposal that would have created a Palestinian state alongside the nascent Israel, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said in an interview aired on Friday. - RC: Israel can’t win, in the world’s eyes
The Guardian’s Anti-Semitic Explanation For Schalit Deal
honestreporting.com
Over the years, we’ve covered some vicious and despicable pieces in the media, many of them published in The Guardian. But amongst the many commentaries and analyses of the Gilad Schalit prisoner deal, one by Deborah Orr in The Guardian’s print edition really plumbs the depths. - RC: Even in apology, columnist shows she doesn’t understand Israel was given own Land back, not arbitrary country.
‘Guardian’ columnist apologizes for ‘anti-Semitic slur’
www.jpost.com
Deborah Orr: Hamas-Israel prisoner swap acknowledges acceptance of idea that Israeli life more important than Palestinian. - RC: Egyptian reporter who interview Gilad Schalit answers her critics in open letter. Worth the read.
‘Without dialogue we’ll always have barrier between us’
jpost.com
My motive was: I felt that at this time of high anti-Israeli sentiment in Egypt and the Arab world (especially after the killing of the Egyptian border guards) it was important to try and diffuse tensions by showing Arab viewers that people on both sides were paying the price for this conflict. I felt it would earn Schalit the compassion he deserves. - Israeli teens: Don’t exchange terrorists for our freedom
www.ynetnews.com
Ahead of their army enlistment, high school seniors circulate petition opposing prisoner swaps like Schalit deal. ‘Even if we’re abducted, don’t free terrorists for our sake,’ they say. - Israeli-American held in Egypt to be released, swapped for 22 prisoners
www.haaretz.com
The security cabinet unanimously approved an agreement Tuesday for the release of Israeli-American law student Ilan Grapel, who has been in jail in Egypt since June 12 on spying allegations that were later reduced to incitement. In exchange, Israel will release 22 Egyptian prisoners, most of them Bedouin from the Sinai jailed for smuggling drugs or weapons. No one being freed was convicted of killing Israelis; the maximum sentence was about 10 years. - Hamas boosting anti-aircraft arsenal with looted Libyan missiles
www.haaretz.com
Anti-aircraft missiles smuggled into Gaza at Iran’s initiative, but fall of Muammar Gadhafi regime provided Hamas with higher quality missiles; rocket hits south Israel Wednesday night after period of relative calm. - RC: Aging bridge only way for non-Muslims to visit Temple Mount/Dome of the Rock. Replacing it could start a war.
Jerusalem again vows to demolish temporary Mughrabi Gate bridge
www.jpost.com
Structure leading to the Temple Mount is dangerous, says the Jerusalem city engineer. - RC: More on Muslim objections to building a new bridge to Temple Mount/Dome of the Rock for non-Muslims
Waqf Rejects Demolition of Rambam Gate Bridge
www.israelnationalnews.com
The Waqf, which administers the Temple Mount, says the Rambam Gate Bridge must stay despite reports it is unstable. - Sbarro Bomber: “Why Should I Repent?”
www.israelnationalnews.com
Sbarro bombing co-conspirator and mass-murderess Ahlam Tamimi says she has no regrets and would do it again if given the opportunity. “It was a calculated act, performed with conviction and faith in Allah,” Tamini said in an interview posted on the Hamas website. “Jihad warriors are always ready to die as martyrs, to be arrested – or to succeed. I managed to overcome the barrier of prison and was released. Why should I repent?” - RC: Caroline Glick has quickly become one of my favorite commentators, and I try not to miss Latma’s weekly lampooning of the news.
‘We Want To Break The Leftist Monopoly On Public Discourse In Israel’
www.jewishpress.com
Laughter really is the best medicine. Caroline Glick, deputy managing editor of the Jerusalem Post and senior fellow for Middle Eastern Affairs at the Center for Security Policy in Washington, has found humor and satire to be valuable tools in making the case for a strong Israel. Her latest venture to that end is Latma, the Hebrew-language media satire website Glick created and edits. - RC: For historians of Arab-Israeli conflict that began 1947: Oft-quoted but poorly documented threat found.
Azzam’s Genocidal Threat
www.meforum.org
Of the countless threats of violence, made by Arab and Palestinian leaders in the run up to and in the wake of the November 29, 1947 partition resolution, none has resonated more widely than the warning by Abdul Rahman Azzam, the Arab League’s first secretary-general, that the establishment of a Jewish state would lead to “a war of extermination and momentous massacre which will be spoken of like the Mongolian massacre and the Crusades.” - RC: My biggest complaint about Jerusalemites is that they do not pick up after their dogs. Glad somebody finally said it.
Jerusalem of (tarnished) gold
www.jpost.com
Jerusalem needs to clean up its act. Literally.
It is likely to develop gradually and makes you incapable to satisfy viagra sale buy her in bed. One should not give this medicine to children and women, as it is not formulated for men with viagra on line serious heart, liver and kidney problems. Now, it depends cheap viagra on line on you that what flavor you desire to know the underlying causes. They do find it embarrassing to discuss but they should speak their hearts out. cialis generico canada
The Church
- Vatican calls for global authority on economy, raps “idolatry of the market”
www.reuters.com
The Vatican called on Monday for the establishment of a “global public authority” and a “central world bank” to rule over financial institutions that have become outdated and often ineffective in dealing fairly with crises. The document from the Vatican’s Justice and Peace department should please the “Occupy Wall Street” demonstrators and similar movements around the world who have protested against the economic downturn. Click for commentary on this item - Vicar of Baghdad tries to persuade Iraqi Jews to leave for own safety
www.ynetnews.com
Anglican priest working with US Embassy to persuade handful of Jews who still live in Iraqi capital to leave after their names appeared in WikiLeaks cables. ‘The older ones are refusing to leave. They say, ‘We’re Iraqis. If they kill us, we will die here.’ - RC: John Piper tweet shows how replacement theology still huge issue & that people aren’t reading ALL of Romans 9, 10, 11.
Jesus, Not Israel
judahgabriel.blogspot.com
When I saw this tweet, I was a bit uncomfortable. When I saw that it was retweeted by 97 other Christians, I squirmed. Then when I read the full blog post by Jonathan Parnell, I face-palmed. - The somewhat invisible Christians of Israel: How foreign workers, asylum seekers changing Church in Holy Land
news.yahoo.com
The schedules for Mass at the two Roman Catholic churches in Jaffa, on Israel’s Mediterranean coast, reveal a change that has dramatically, if quietly, altered the face of Christianity in the Holy Land. - US judge: Praying in Jesus’ name at gov’t mtgs does ‘violence’ to American values.
www.wnd.com
A board of county commissioners in North Carolina is asking the Supreme Court for help: Its members don’t believe they should have to forbid volunteers from mentioning the name of Jesus in prayers offered before their meetings. But the American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for Separation of Church and State are standing by their victory in a U.S. circuit court decision that states even “a solitary reference to Jesus Christ” in invocations before the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners’ meetings could do “violence to the pluralistic and inclusive values that are a defining feature of American public life.”
Natural disasters
- Turkey Quake Death Toll Rises to 534
www.time.com
Rain and snow on Thursday compounded difficulties for thousands rendered homeless in the powerful earthquake that hit eastern Turkey, and the government said the death toll has gone up to 534 . - Thousands displaced by flooding in Thailand
www.cnn.com
Floodwaters in Bangkok have reached Don Muang Airport, one of the Thai capital’s two main airports and home to the flood relief operation command.
War
- Kabul suicide bomb kills 13 U.S. troops
news.yahoo.com
A suicide car bomber killed 13 American troops in the Afghan capital Kabul on Saturday, the deadliest single ground attack against the NATO-led force in 10 years of war in Afghanistan. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying they packed a four-wheel-drive vehicle with 700 kg (1,500 lbs) of explosives. - 16,000 people flee from south Philippine clashes
news.yahoo.com
More than 16,000 people have fled from four southern Philippine towns where government troops have been battling Muslim guerrillas and outlaws in clashes that are endangering already-shaky peace talks and a years-long truce. Attempts by Philippine authorities to arrest several current and former commanders of the 11,000-strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front and allied gunmen accused of kidnappings for ransom and other crimes sparked separate deadly clashes. - RC: Intercessors: Must read.
Mexico’s drug war: 5 years. 40,000 dead. $150 billion in revenue
www.npr.org
Since 2006, 40,000 people have been murdered in Mexico as drug cartels battle each other and the Mexican military. Journalist Ioan Grillo traces how Mexico came to control drug trafficking in El Narco. - Online hackers threaten to expose cartel’s secrets
www.chron.com
An international group of online hackers is warning a Mexican drug cartel to release one of its members, kidnapped from a street protest, or it will publish the identities and addresses of the syndicate’s associates, from corrupt police to taxi drivers, as well as reveal the syndicates’ businesses.
Islam
- Report: Obama’s Muslim Advisers Block Middle Eastern Christians’ Access to the White House
bigpeace.com
Beirut Arab news agency al Nashra reported on Saturday October 22, that [White House Muslim envoy] Dalia Mogahed has succeeded in canceling a meeting between the Maronite Patriarch of Lebanon and President Barack Obama. - Sharia law declaration raises concerns in new Libya
news.yahoo.com
The announcement that Islamic sharia law will be the basis of legislation in newly liberated Libya has raised concerns, especially among women, despite Islamists insisting moderation will prevail. - Islam in Tripoli, Islam in Tunis
www.khouse.org
Islam has long pervaded the Middle East. The steady collapse of one dictatorship after another, however, has not shoved Islam into the background in many countries. On the contrary, the popular uprisings have allowed the freeing of some strict Islamists who were imprisoned and tortured for years under the tyranny of Western-backed dictators. Major hard-line Islamic parties now have the chance to vie for power in upcoming elections, and the West waits to see how the changes bode for regional stability.
Analysis & Commentary
- Gaddafi’s Dead – So What?
www.meforum.org
What a myopic view the Western media and its array of “experts” have concerning the so-called “Arab Spring” — a myopia that naturally metastasizes among the general public. Consider the Libyan crisis. As usual, the focus is entirely on the individual. In the Arab world — and in the United States — individual leaders are product, not cause, of what ails society. - RC: I clicked because of headline, but Archbishop of Sydney has a point.
Carbon credits like medieval indulgences
opinion.financialpost.com
As a bishop who regularly preaches to congregations of every age and at widely different levels of prosperity and education, I have some grasp of the challenges in presenting a point of view to the general public. This helps me to understand the propaganda achievements of the climate extremists, at least until their attempted elimination of the Medieval Warming and then Climategate. I was not surprised to learn that the IPCC used some of the world’s best advertising agencies to generate maximum effect among the public. - A statement of American values
www.jpost.com
Israeli diplomat explains difficulty of giving up US citizenship but that US values to stay with him.
Digest powered by RSS Digest