1. Where is the United States in Prophecy? 2. Israel- G-D's Timepiece 3. A Revived Roman Empire? 4. The Gog/Magog War 5. Apostate Christianity 6. Increase in Knowledge/New Technologies 7. Christian Worldviews/Issues 8. Other World Events To Watch
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sample Excerpts From Stories Covered In Our Newsletter (Please note these excerpts are not updated regularly - you will need to subscribe to our newsletter to receive regular updates) See above link (Prophecy News Watch)
1. Where is the United States in Prophecy?
Pentagon Drills For Nuke Terror
When authorities tried to arrest a terrorist discovered unloading an improvised nuclear weapon in the port of Charleston, S.C., the bomb was detonated, killing 10,000, injuring 30,000 and exposing as many as 100,000 to high levels of radiation. That was the scenario at the center of a nuclear terrorism drill, completed this week, one involving thousands of civilians, military personnel and local and federal officials. "Sudden Respond 05" was designed to simulate a nuclear terrorist attack that the highest U.S. officials, including President Bush, have said is the No. 1 threat facing the nation. The drill, one of many like it scheduled around the country, was not designed to stop a nuclear terrorist attack but to deal with its devastating aftermath. Drills in other parts of the country will focus on 15 other scenarios involving the detonation of terrorist weapons of mass destruction. Pentagon to Increase Domestic Surveillance for Counterterrorism The Department of Defense has developed a new strategy in counterterrorism that would increase military activities on American soil, particularly in the area of intelligence gathering. The move is sparking concern among civil liberties advocates and those who fear an encroaching military role in domestic law enforcement. In an argument that eerily foreshadowed the July London terror attacks, the Pentagon in late June announced its "Strategy for Homeland Defense and Support," which would expand its reach domestically to prevent "enemy attacks aimed at Americans here at home." China stocks nukes as anti-U.S. tactic China is building up its nuclear forces as part of a secret strategy targeting the United States, according to a former Chinese diplomat. China's strategy calls for "proactive defense," and senior Chinese Communist Party leaders think that building nuclear arms is the key to countering U.S. power in Asia and other parts of the world, said Chen Yonglin, a diplomat who defected to Australia two months ago. A recent comment by a Chinese general shows that Beijing's leaders are prepared to launch "a pre-emptive attack on the country considered a huge threat to China," Mr. Chen said. Chinese Maj. Gen. Zhu Chenghu told reporters two weeks ago that China is prepared to use nuclear weapons against "hundreds" of U.S. cities if a conflict breaks out over Taiwan.
2. Israel - G-D's Timepiece
The Sanhedrin Returns
A unique ceremony - probably only the second of its kind in the past 1,600 years - is taking place in Tiberias today: The launching of a Sanhedrin, the highest Jewish-legal tribunal in the Land of Israel. Organizers' announced their intention to convene 71 rabbis who have received special rabbinic ordination as specified by Maimonides. The goal is to have one rabbinic body in Jerusalem that will convene monthly and issue rulings on central issues. This is the need of the generation and of the hour." Rabbi Yisrael Ariel, who heads the Temple institute in Jerusalem, is one of the participating rabbis. Jerusalem looms as central issue for Israeli-Palestinian peace As painful as it has been, Israel's evacuation of nearly 9,000 of its own angry and heartbroken settlers from the Gaza Strip may be the last "easy" part of forging peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Many tougher issues remain, both sides agree. For starters: What to do about the much larger West Bank? How to deal with rapid Arab population growth within Israel itself? How to guarantee safe borders and peaceful relations between Israel and a future Palestinian state? How to end terrorist attacks once and for all? Perhaps the toughest: What to do about Jerusalem? After Gaza, What Next? The Road Map for peace called for an end to Palestinian armed activity, including for the Palestinian Authority to collect arms from terror groups and for all official Palestinian institutions to end incitement against Israel. None of which has happened. Now that Israel's disengagement from Gaza is a fact — a major question remains, what will happen the day after? All indications point to Gaza becoming a haven for gathering Palestinian terrorist groups, as well as global terrorists affiliated with them. Many have openly stated they will be moving their bases of operations there.
3. A Revived Roman Empire?
Europe to become world power - to keep America in check
Tony Blair's hopes of healing the rift between Europe and America after the re-election of President George W Bush were quickly dashed, as France led calls for a rival European superpower to confront Washington. Reacting to Mr Bush's victory, Michel Barnier, the French foreign minister, said four more years of a unilateralist administration in Washington required Europe to develop its own diplomatic and defence machinery. "Our world needs several powers. We are in the process of gathering the pieces and the will to become another power," EU looks to build military power to back up foreign policy The initiatives from the newly-created European Defence Agency represent the EU's first step in military research and development. They are aimed at transforming the EU from being solely a political power, in charge of policies such as agriculture and trade, to a military one, capable of sending troops around the world to enforce a foreign policy agreed by its member states. Plans for EU diplomatic service can officially begin Today's formal signature of the European Constitution means that plans for an EU diplomatic service can officially begin. It is meant to be up and running in two years which will be a back-up to the new EU foreign minister foreseen in the Constitution. While foreign ministries in the individual member states have been preparing their thoughts on the new service - the EU's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, has also been active. Mr Solana, who will become the EU foreign minister when the Constitution comes in to place.
4. The Gog/Magog War
Iran threat: Attack by West risks all 'Middle East oil'
Iran has warned that Gulf Arab oil would be endangered by any U.S. attack on the Islamic republic. In the first such threat, a leading Iranian official raised the prospect of Iranian retaliation against Middle East oil exports. The official said such Gulf oil states as Kuwait and Saudi Arabia could be threatened. "An attack on Iran will be tantamount to endangering Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and – in a word – the entire Middle East oil," Iranian Expediency Council secretary Mohsen Rezai said this week. About 40 percent of the world's crude oil shipments passes through the two-mile wide channel of the strategic Straits of Hormuz. Iranian forces are deployed at the head of the channel. Oman and the United Arab Emirates are located on the other side. Russia Developing New Mystery Nuclear Missile President Vladimir Putin said this week that Russia is developing a new form of nuclear missile unlike those held by other countries, news agencies reported. Earlier this year, a senior Defense Ministry official was quoted as telling news agencies that Russia had developed a weapon that could make the United States' proposed missile-defense system useless. Details were not given, but military analysts said the claimed new weapon could be a hypersonic cruise missile or maneuverable ballistic missile warheads. Russia, China To Hold Joint War Games Nearly 10,000 troops are to take part in unprecedented joint military exercises by China and Russia this month aimed at strengthening ties between the armed forces of two powers that were once bitter foes. The scale of the exercises, which will involve land, air, naval, paratroop and marine forces, underlines the determination of Beijing and Moscow to expand a military relationship that has blossomed over the past 15 years. The war games reflect strengthening ties between Russia and China over shared concerns about U.S. dominance of world affairs.
5. Apostate Christianity
Survey: Two-Thirds of Evangelicals Doubt Jesus' Words Regarding Salvation Thru Him Alone
There's a new poll out which points to a growing rejection among Evangelicals that Jesus is the only way of salvation. For years, most evangelical Christians have been taught and accepted the words of Jesus in John 14:6, where He states, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no man cometh unto the Father but my Me." But now a new Newsweek/Beliefnet poll is showing a shocking number of people who call themselves evangelical and born-again have come to reject those words.The question in the poll read: "Can a good person who isn't of your religious faith go to heaven or attain salvation, or not?" According to the poll results of more than 1,000 adults 18 years of age and older, 68 percent of evangelical Christians believe "good" people of other faiths can also go to heaven. Nationally, 79 percent of those surveyed said the same thing, with an "astounding" 91 percent agreement among Catholics, notes Beliefnet. Beliefnet spokesman Steven Waldman calls the results "pretty amazing." Episcopal Church Turns To Idol Worship A conservative Anglican activist is criticizing the response of the Episcopal Church USA (ECUSA) to revelations that two of its priests embrace the worship of pagan deities. Some members of the Worldwide Anglican Communion say they are not the least bit surprised by the latest heresy to surface in the American Episcopal Church -- a pagan liturgical rite promoted on the denomination's website. The ECUSA's Office of Women's Ministries recently touted a resource called the "Women's Eucharist: A Celebration of the Divine Feminine," which encourages worship of a so-called "Queen of Heaven." U.S. congregations largely ignore the Bible's teaching about discipline The next meeting of the United Methodist Church's highest tribunal will review an unusual dispute about discipline. It involves whether the Rev. Edward Johnson should have been put on forced unpaid leave because he refused a homosexual who wanted to join his congregation in South Hill, Va. The evangelical Good News caucus says the gay applicant is living in a relationship with another man and "unrepentant about his practice" so Johnson was merely applying Methodism's teaching against same-sex behavior. But Virginia's Methodist clergy decided Johnson violated church policy, both in rejecting a homosexual and in defying directives to accept him that came from the bishop and district superintendent. The case attracts attention because it's rare nowadays for a pastor to attempt to bar or discipline a lay member. U.S. congregations largely ignore the Bible's teaching about discipline and the result is "the impending collapse of authentic Christianity in this generation," asserted the Rev. R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
6. Increase in Knowledge/New Technologies
FDA Approves Use of Chip Implants in Humans
The Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday that Applied Digital Solutions of Delray Beach, Fla., could market the VeriChip, an implantable computer chip about the size of a grain of rice, for storing medical information. With the pinch of a syringe, the microchip is inserted under the skin in a procedure that takes less than 20 minutes and requires no stitches. Silently and invisibly, the dormant chip stores a code that releases patient-specific information when a scanner passes over it. Security law would unlock Net The federal cabinet will review new legislation this fall that would give police and security agencies vast powers to begin surveillance of the Internet without court authority. The new measures would allow law enforcement agents to intercept personal e-mails, text messages and possibly even password-secure Web sites used for purchasing and financial transactions. "I think it's the kind of legislation that is literally going to shock millions of Canadians," University of Ottawa professor Michael Geist said. RFID wristbands used for cashless payment "Smart Kiosk is a money loading device that works similar to ATM machines, but instead, funds are transferred onto patrons' RFID wristbands," comments Victor LaRosa , PDC RFID Manager. "It is part of the latest cashless payment technology which is practical for water and amusement parks where patrons don't like to carry wallets, and loose cash can get wet or lost. It provides an added convenience for both park owners and patrons." The system helps increase throughput at concession stands, reducing long lines that often deter patrons from making additional purchases. Most of the time spent waiting in lines is attributed to the financial transactions of handling and counting cash or processing credit cards - that is now practically eliminated.
7. Christian Worldview/Issues
Alarming Number of 'Stayaway Saints' Affecting Today's Church
An alarming number of Christians are staying home on Sunday mornings and the trend is affecting today's church. Believers who have become "stayaway saints" are alternately worrying and exciting church leaders, pointing to what is being seen as either a serious threat to the spread of the gospel or the actual cusp of a revolution that could usher in the sort of revival many have prayed for and dreamed of for years. A recent study found that about 13 million Americans whom the researchers identified as being born again were "unchurched ... not having attended a Christian church service, other than for a holiday ... at any time in the past six months." The Beginning Of The End Of Christianity In Australia? Two Australian Christian pastors have been found guilty of vilifying Muslims. The decision was handed down in Melbourne this week. Bill Muehlenberg, the National Vice-President of The Australian Family Association said the decision could "could mark the beginning of the end of freedom of speech in Australia, and the official restriction of proclaiming the Christian gospel." Judge Higgins said that the two pastors, Daniel Scot ( a former Muslim), and Danny Nalliah, breached section 8 of Australia's Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001 which says a person cannot engage in conduct that "incites hatred against, serious contempt for, or revulsion or severe ridicule of, that other person or class of persons." Nation's Unchurched Doubled in Decade The proportion of Americans who say they have no religious affiliation doubled over the last decade and now stands at 16% of the population, according to a new study on religious identity. Only Catholics (24%) and Baptists (17%) outnumber the so-called "non-identifiers," or "nones," said the report. Based on telephone interviews with more than 10,000 randomly selected people, said about one in six answered "none" or "no religion" or described themselves as secular, humanist, ethical-culturalist, agnostic or atheist. Their ranks will continue to grow, and they'll soon outnumber Baptists.
8. Other World Events To Watch
China's thirst for oil gets into top gear
China is not the biggest oil consumer in the world, that prize goes to America, nor is it the biggest importer - which is also the USA. What China outdoes the rest of the world at is the growth of its appetite. Ten years ago China imported no oil at all. Last year it overtook Japan to become the world's second biggest importer. Its thirst continues to grow. Imports are expected to rise another 40% this year. China's appetite for oil shows no sign of slowing. Today China has 10 million private cars - by 2020 that number will be 120 million. Natural disasters 'on the rise' More and more people are being caught up in a growing number of natural disasters, a UN agency said this week. It said 254 million people were affected by natural hazards last year - nearly three times as many as in 1990. Events including earthquakes and volcanoes, floods and droughts, storms, fires and landslides killed about 83,000 people in 2003, up from about 53,000 deaths 13 years earlier. Planet drying up: U.N. The world is turning to dust, with lands about half the size of Prince Edward Island becoming desert wasteland every year and the problem threatening to send millions of people fleeing to greener countries, the United Nations says. One-third of the Earth's surface is at risk, driving people into cities and destroying agriculture in vast swaths of Africa. Thirty-one per cent of Spain is threatened, while China has lost 93,000 square kilometers to desert - an area the size of Indiana - since the 1950s. By 2025, two-thirds of arable land in Africa will disappear, along with one-third of Asia's and one-fifth of South America's. Some 135 million people - equivalent to the populations of France and Germany combined - are at risk of being displaced.
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