Ron Paul: Why is U.S. 'taking military actions that benefit ISIS?'

President Donald Trump is veering from his campaign promises to destroy ISIS at all cost, says former presidential candidate Ron Paul.

On Saturday, a U.S. Navy fighter jet shot down a Syrian war plane after it attacked rebel forces being supported by Washington.
The F-18 launched from the USS George H.W. Bush in the Mediterranean Sea near Israel and shot down a Syrian SU-22 fighter over Syrian territory. This is the first time the U.S. has engaged in an air-to-air shoot-down since the U.S. attack on Yugoslavia in 1999.
In response to the U.S. attack, the Russians have suspended the use of the military hotline and announced that they will view all unidentified aircraft operating in the vicinity of Russian military aircraft as potential targets.
Paul is mystified by the Trump administration’s actions.
“The U.S. claims the attack was in self-defense, that the Syrian jet was threatening U.S.-backed rebel forces in the area,” he said in an emailed statement. “That claim has been debunked by even the pro-rebel Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.”
The shoot-down of the Syrian plane is the latest in a pattern of military actions against the regime of President Bashar Assad.
“This marks the fourth recent U.S. attack on Syrian government forces as they engage ISIS in attempt to eject the terrorists from eastern Syria,” Paul continued. “Each time, U.S. intervention has benefited ISIS.”
Paul put forth similar criticisms in a June 16 column titled “Why are we attacking the Syrians who are fighting ISIS.”

Read more at WND

God is Greater than Satan

People of the Second Chance by Mike Foster

“Dispelling the Beautiful Lie”
Today I want to begin with a harsh truth. You see, most if not all of us believe what I call the beautiful lie.

The lie says this is what really counts: to be wealthy, powerful, influential, attractive, admired, talented, popular, and, above all, valuable. We must make a life that is worth something to others. Worth more than others. The world screams at us to hurry up and matter. Our lives become a reaction to this lie.

According to the lie, we must not be nothings. To be good for nothing is to be as good as dead. And death is what we fear most. The death that says our lives have no value.

So we thrash about in a pool of comparison and one-upmanship. Our lives become burdened by the heaviness of getting it right. Our joy becomes brittle, and our hearts slowly break. The only possible outcome of this hurry-up-and-matter hustle is the slow crushing of our souls.

But God offers real life, where our brokenness is redeemed. He says we can abandon society’s beautiful lie and allow him to breathe new life into us, his beloved.

I think of the passage in Ezekiel where the Lord leads the prophet through a valley. Ezekiel wrote: “God’s Spirit took me up and set me down in the middle of an open plain strewn with bones. He led me around and among them—a lot of bones! There were bone all over the plain—dry bones, bleached by the sun” (37:1-2, msg). That’s our condition. We’re like dead, dry bones.

And yet God tells Ezekiel to prophesy—to reveal something by divine inspiration—over these bleached and broken things. The prophet does. And in the story the bones come alive. Broken things are made beautiful.

Here’s the point: God breathes life into our dead and imperfect things. So if we feel that we don’t measure up, that doesn’t mean we have to climb onto the build-your-worth treadmill. We already have worth. In God’s eyes. By his doing. And our worth is permanent, lasting far longer than any worldly attempt to uphold the beautiful lie could ever last.
Are you seeking your self-worth through redemption in Christ or through striving to gain others’ approval?

ISIS Surrounded: Trump's Plan to 'Annihilate' the Islamic Caliphate

ISIS is facing a major defeat as opposition forces backed by the United States are surrounding their capital city.
U.S. coalition forces are increasing the pressure in their battle against ISIS in Syria.

"Our strategy right now is to accelerate the campaign against ISIS," Defense Secretary James Mattis recently told CBS' "Face the Nation."
Mattis says his order from the president of the United States is to eliminate the Islamic terror group once and for all.

 "We have already shifted from attrition tactics where we shove them from one position to another in Iraq and Syria to annihilation tactics where we surround them," the secretary said.

So now a major battle is underway as Kurdish and Arab fighters backed by the United States are carrying out an offensive against Raqqa, Syria, which had served as the so-called caliphate or capital of the Islamic State.

For several months, U.S.-backed coalition forces have been encircling the symbolic and strategic city, which ISIS seized in 2014 and has used as a base to plan attacks abroad.

Up to 4,000 jihadists are reportedly defending Raqqa, and the coalition forces are wearing them down. Mattis says once the group is completely surrounded, they'll go in and clean them out.

"Our intention is that the foreign fighters do not survive the fight to return home to north Africa, to Europe, to America, to Asia, to Africa, we are not going to allow them to do so. We are going to stop them there and take apart the caliphate," said Mattis.

Faced with defeat in Raqqa, ISIS is moving its forces elsewhere in the region. But as ISIS faces major setbacks in Syria and Iraq, the group is telling its followers not to give up.

In one of its recent magazines, the group tells readers to "worship your lord until death comes to you" and reminds fighters that "hardships cause a hidden strength."

It goes on to say that Islam needs men who are "inclined to work hard, find comfort in pain and toil, strong resolutions and those who refuse to be entangled by weariness… so roll up your sleeve."

In an audiotape released this week, an ISIS spokesman called on supporters to launch attacks in the US and Europe during Islam's holy month of Ramadan which began two weeks ago.

Since then, there have been 95 terror attacks by radical Muslims that have killed roughly 1,100 people, including victims in Britain, Egypt, Iran and the Philippines.

Source: George Thomas, CBN News

Parable of the Fertilizer

In Matthew 5:13-16, Jesus describes His followers as salt and light. Like salt, they’d be a preservative in society. As light, they’d illumine the beauty and presence of God to dispel the darkness that blinds us to all that is good in the world.
When I was a kid, my family lived in a small North Jersey town not far from New York City. Being Italian, we had a very large garden. Every spring, a large amount of fertilizer was delivered to help us prepare the soil for planting. It had quite an aroma, as you could imagine! But it was effective when used properly.
Now, I’m taking liberty with what Jesus said and adding another trait of the Christ-follower’s persona. We are to be like fertilizer, along with salt and light. We are meant to spread throughout the land and nourish the environment so that things can grow and be fruitful. Today, our culture needs more than just preserving. It needs replenishing. Ideally, we as Christians should be known by the way we enrich the world by our presence.
But, take that same fertilizer and store it for too long and it begins to fester and smell. It’s not a pleasant aroma when that happens. Instead of contributing to the overall productivity of the soil, it becomes useless.
So, ask yourself the question. Am I preserving the land? Or do you remain in the saltshaker clumped together with the rest of the salt? You know what happens then. The longer it stays in that shaker, the harder it is to shake loose.
Is your light pleasant to be around? Or is it blinding? Just what are you illuminating anyway?
And, finally, are you acting like fertilizer? Spreading out to enrich the land—or stockpiling yourself with other believers?
By the way, what’s that I smell? Just thought I’d ask.

Question: How are you spreading the love of Christ throughout your land to enrich those around you?

Source: The Politically Incorrect Jesus by Joe Battaglia