Sadly, the killing continues in Syria. So does the persecution of the Body of Messiah in diverse places. The stories are becoming almost routine. So the red flag and warning shout that should snap many of us out of our stupor is the news that human embryos have been successfully cloned. Add to this that they were promptly destroyed to harvest stem cells.
The writer of Hebrews exhorts us: Remember those in prison and being mistreated, as if you were in prison with them and undergoing their torture yourselves. Also, Yeshua lists an increase in frequency and intensity of persecution as a sign of the His coming. So let us pray for our brothers in Messiah even as we continue looking for Messiah’s coming that will make all things right and new.
Syria continues to dominate the international news. The world got a lot more focused on it when Israeli aircraft twice bombed locations near Damascus. The question is how will the other Middle East nations react. Syria and Iran both threatened to retaliate, with Iran encouraging neighbors to stand up to Israel.
In March of 2008, an Israeli teen found a holiday package on his door step. It was Purim, the day Jews celebrate their deliverance from Haman’s plot to rid Persia of the Jews. The boy took the package inside. When he opened it, it exploded, shrapnel ripping his body. Ami Ortiz is a pastor’s son. The family’s offense: believing and proclaiming that Yeshua (Jesus) is the promised Messiah of Israel.
The big news of the week was Syria. President Obama and his cabinet members have consistently said the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian conflict constitute a red line. The implication by the United States and some European nations is that crossing the red line would invite international military action in Syria, where more [...]
What a week! Boston was attacked then on lockdown for most of the week. West, a small town in central Texas, suffered a massive explosion in which 14 died and as many as 80 homes were destroyed. My spirit reaction at the end of week, was “All flesh is grass.” There was other news. U.S. [...]
In Britain, some political critics of Thatcher cheered her death, going so far as writing celebratory graffiti and having a death party in London. In the United States, an outcry over the lack of coverage of the abortionist’s murder trial slowly crescendoed so that this week, more news organizations are pledging to cover the trial. These stories highlight one of Jesus’ sign of the end of the age: love growing cold.
The major headlines this week — beside the continuing belligerence from North Korea — involved the persecuted church. Tension between Christians and Muslims worsens in Egypt. A good story from weeks ago — the saving of Christian children from a Muslim kidnapper — has taken a bad turn, as the children have disappeared.
Polls continue to show that his visit changed Israelis’ perception of his position on the Palestinian question. Still, while many in the general public have been swayed, the No. 3 in Israel’s government gave a word of warning on his Facebook page. President Barak Obama’s trip to Israel was a success if his goal was to gain the Israeli people’s trust. TV news poll showed that 39 percent of Israelis had a positive change of mind about Obama. He said all the right things, most importantly acknowledging the thousands of years of Jewish history in the Land. That was to correct his statement in Cairo four years ago that Israel was created because of the Holocaust. The Palestinian people greet Obama with protests, though Obama’s meetings with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was deemed positive.