Friday, July 5, 2013
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Canada Foils Al-Qaida-Inspired Plot to Bomb Canada Day Event
The Jerusalem Post reports: “Canadian police said on Tuesday they
foiled an al-Qaida-inspired plot to detonate three pressure-cooker bombs
during Monday's Canada Day holiday outside the parliament building in
the Pacific coast city of Victoria, arresting a Canadian man and woman
and seizing their home-made explosive devices.
Police said there was no evidence to suggest a foreign link to the planned attack, which targeted public celebrations outside the parliament building in Victoria, capital of the province of British Columbia.
They declined to detail any links between the two Canadians and the al-Qaida network. They also said they were not aware of any connection to the April 15 bombings at the Boston Marathon in which three people were killed by devices built from pressure cookers.
‘This self-radicalized behavior was intended to create maximum impact on a national holiday,’ Wayne Rideout, assistant commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, told a news conference.
‘They took steps to educate themselves and produced explosive devices designed to cause injury and death.’ Police said there was no risk to the public at any time because they began monitoring the suspects in February and had known all along what was happening…”
Source
Police said there was no evidence to suggest a foreign link to the planned attack, which targeted public celebrations outside the parliament building in Victoria, capital of the province of British Columbia.
They declined to detail any links between the two Canadians and the al-Qaida network. They also said they were not aware of any connection to the April 15 bombings at the Boston Marathon in which three people were killed by devices built from pressure cookers.
‘This self-radicalized behavior was intended to create maximum impact on a national holiday,’ Wayne Rideout, assistant commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, told a news conference.
‘They took steps to educate themselves and produced explosive devices designed to cause injury and death.’ Police said there was no risk to the public at any time because they began monitoring the suspects in February and had known all along what was happening…”
Source
Syrian Jihadists Publicly Behead Catholic Priest
A Catholic priest has been publicly beheaded by
Syrian terrorists after he was accused of collaborating with President
Bashar Al-Assad's regime.
Franciscan Father Francois Murad was executed along
with two other people in the countryside of Idlib in northern Syria on
Sunday, the New York Daily News reported. The brutal beheading was filmed and posted to the Internet.
The Vatican confirmed Murad's death Monday, but the
circumstances surrounding the 49-year-old priest's death are not
entirely known, reported the Daily News.
Spectators recorded the killings that included two others with their smartphones and cameras before uploading it online.
Local sources told the Vatican that convent for the
Custody of the Holy Land, where Murad had taken refute, was ambushed by
terrorists linked to the jihadist group Jabhat al-Nusra (Al-Nusra
Front).
In the video, which Arutz Sheva
has chosen not to post here due its graphic nature, a man identified as
Murad is seen sitting cross-legged in the grass with his hands bound as
a mob of men around him shout in Arabic.
Several are seen shamelessly holding up cameras to
record the horrific killings, stepping as close as they can to the
aftermath of bloody bodies.
According to the Vatican's press release quoted by the Daily News, Murad traveled to the area after becoming an ordained priest to help construct a coenobiotic monastery.
The radical, jihadist Al-Nusra Front has pledged allegiance to Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri.
Al-Nusra is one of 13 factions in the radical Islamist rebel council that announced its secession from the main opposition force and declared its own Islamic state in Aleppo. The group was recently blacklisted by the United Nations Security Council.
Adly Mansour Sworn In As Egypt's Interim President
CAIRO, Egypt -- The chief justice of Egypt's Supreme constitutional
Court was sworn in Thursday as the nation's interim president, taking
over hours after the military ousted the Islamist President Mohammed
Morsi.Adly Mansour took the oath of office at the Nile-side constitutional Court in a ceremony broadcast live on state television.
According to military decree, Mansour will serve as Egypt's interim leader until a new president is elected. A date for that vote has yet to be set.
Dressed in a dark blue suit and blue tie, Mansour used his first remarks as interim leader to praise the massive street demonstrations that led to Morsi's ouster. He also hailed the youth behind the protests that began on June 30.
The revolution, he said, must continue, so "we stop producing tyrants."Mansour replaced Morsi, who was Egypt's first democratically elected president but was overthrown by the military on Wednesday after a tumultuous year in office. Morsi is under house arrest at an undisclosed location.
The military, in a statement read by army chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi on Wednesday evening, also suspended the Islamist-drafted constitution and called for new elections. Morsi has denounced the action as a "full coup" by the generals.
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Top Female Porn Star Finds Jesus
Brittni in 2010
In 2010, Maxim Magazine named her one of the top female porn stars in the world. Little did they know, she was already on a rocky road to sanctification as a new creature in Christ.
Brittni, who used the professional name Jenna Presley, started dancing to earn extra money as a freshman at Santa Barbara City College in 2005. Two men approached her after one of her performances and asked if she would like to make “romance movies.”
“You mean porn?” she joked. They nodded affirmatively, but it was no joke.
“I didn’t know what to expect,” she admits now. “At 18, I was only a baby. I was looking for love in all the wrong places.”
Brittni was insecure as a result of her upbringing in a home with a “verbally abusive” mother and passive father. For the first time in her life, she began to receive positive affirmation, and it felt good. She traveled to L.A. and shot her first pornographic scene.
“I felt so loved that day because they did my hair and make-up. I was told I was beautiful and that I was going to be a star. In the first few months it felt good.”
Producers worked her relentlessly in the early phase of her career because of her youthful, fresh appearance. “I already looked like I was 12,” Brittni recalls. They dressed her in “little girl” clothing and pigtails, which made her uncomfortable.
The inescapable conclusion is that filmmakers wanted to appeal to the depraved fantasies of men with pedophile tendencies. “It’s disgusting how they can portray you as a little girl,” she says today. “It’s complete perversion.”
During this period, she worked as much as 60 days without a day off, shooting two and sometimes three sex scenes a day. “I didn’t know how to say no,” she notes. “I didn’t know how to stand up for myself. Before this, my mother made every decision for me.”
The youthful spark that made her such an attractive commodity began to fade. “It left me feeling drained,” she says. “I was so robotic I was like a rubber Barbie doll. I had no emotions.”
Initially, she made $900 for each sex scene she filmed, but the money quickly disappeared. As hopelessness and emptiness overwhelmed her, she turned to drugs to numb the pain. “I started with cocaine. Then it became a downhill spiral to heroin.”
“I had many lonely nights when I cut on my wrists. I tried to kill myself. I spent all my paycheck on drugs.”
After three years in the adult film industry, she was fed up. She placed a 911 call to her grandmother. “I need you grandma,” she said. “I’m done with this. Come and get me.”
During her stay with her grandparents, they took her to the Rock Church in San Diego, led by Pastor Miles McPherson. Brittni was “bawling” through most of the sermon. In response to his invitation, she raised her hand to receive Jesus as her personal Lord and Savior.
The church gave her a Bible and after she got home, she devoured Genesis. “I always wondered how we became human. Finally I had the answer and I was so excited. I couldn’t put it down.”
She began to date a man she met at church, but the relationship had a tragic ending. As they sat together at Los Panchos restaurant in San Diego one evening, men from a rival motorcycle gang approached their table and began to beat her boyfriend with brass knuckles. “He got murdered, stabbed in front of me,” she recalls. The attackers were in and out of the restaurant within minutes.
Traumatized by the incident, her burgeoning faith was derailed. “That
began another spiral into more drugs and suicide attempts,” she says.She began to date someone close to her former boyfriend. He encouraged her to get off drugs and get baptized, and she began to get involved with church again.
In another bizarre turn, this man turned out to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing. “He ended up being a pimp and got me back into the adult film industry,” she says.
Brittni began to straddle two worlds ruled by opposing powers. “I was on the Howard Stern show preaching the Word and I was preaching on the set.” She kept making adult films for two more years to make ends meet, as she battled contradictions that left her weary and dry. “It was a big mess,” she admits.
“The devil wanted me back, but God kept tugging at me,” Brittni says. “The devil had a plot, but God has a plan.”
The ministry of XXX Church, which employs creative outreach strategies to the porn industry, caught Brittni’s attention at a porn convention. Their booth at the Exotica convention blares to attendees, “Jesus loves porn stars.” Remarkably, they distribute hundreds of Bibles at these venues.
One of the young women who ministers to the girls, Rachel Collins, made an impression on Brittni. “She brought coffee, Bibles, lip gloss to the girls in the industry,” Brittni recalls. “She was so sweet and loving; there was a glow to her.”
After Brittni saw Rachel’s photo in one of their magazines, she contacted the ministry and eventually filmed an interview with Rachel about her experience with adult films.
In November 2012, Brittni filmed her last sex scene. “It was seven
long years,” she laments. “I hated what I was doing, but I wondered what
I would do next.” After Brittni left adult films, she found work with a
limousine company and makes a decent income.“I look forward to waking up every morning,” she says. “There is life after porn; there is life after drugs and prostitution.”
Brittni also reconciled with her parents and has a wonderful relationship with them today. Recently, her entire family sat together in church. “I love my mom so much,” she exclaims. “My sister got baptized with me and my brother prayed the prayer of salvation with me on the phone.”
“God is alive and He is working!” she says. “He is in the business of miracles. I have finally encountered the unconditional love of God and I will never go back.”
Mark Ellis
Source
Are We Living in the Days of the Great Apostasy?
I believe we are living in the days of the Great Apostasy. Whether we are in the early stages or nearing the end will be known only in hindsight. But that we are in the throes of the greatest "falling away" the church has ever experienced is clear.
Jesus informed His disciples that the kingdom of heaven (His presence on earth through the church) would be infiltrated by the enemies of God (see Matt. 13:24-30,36-43). He prophesied that while everyone was sleeping, an enemy (the devil) would come and sow weeds among the wheat.
The wheat (that is, believers) and weeds (sons of the evil one) would grow together in the world. At the end of the age, Jesus will send angels to collect the weeds for burning and to harvest the wheat.
He puts it this way: "The Son of Man will send out His angels and they will weed out of His kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil" (Matt. 13:41, NIV).
Jesus warned of a time when "many will turn away from the faith" and "many false prophets will appear and deceive many people" (Matt. 24:10-11). We have seen this prophecy repeatedly fulfilled throughout history, and yet what we see happening today in the church has not been seen since the days of the Borgia and Medici popes.
Aspects of the final "Great Apostasy" are spoken of in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21. And as with many prophecies, there is most likely an initial fulfillment within a generation of the prophecy; perhaps multiple, partial fulfillments as history progresses; and one final and complete fulfillment awaiting mankind on the last day.
In Acts 20:29-31, after admonishing the presbyters in the Ephesian church to carefully watch over the flock put under their care by God, the apostle Paul warns:
"I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears."
The Bible warns of a day like ours, when the world will become so corrupt that even so-called "believers" will fall away. Their separating themselves from true Christians will show that they are not of them (see 1 John 2:19).
We are seeing these Scriptures fulfilled today, as denominations, leaders and other believers turn from the Lord to serve themselves and the kingdom of darkness.
It was not odd in the early church for there to be weeds among the wheat. In 1 Timothy 1:19-20, we see the case of Hymenaeus and Alexander, who Paul says had "shipwrecked their faith" by rejecting both faith and good conscience.
Read more...
Jesus informed His disciples that the kingdom of heaven (His presence on earth through the church) would be infiltrated by the enemies of God (see Matt. 13:24-30,36-43). He prophesied that while everyone was sleeping, an enemy (the devil) would come and sow weeds among the wheat.
The wheat (that is, believers) and weeds (sons of the evil one) would grow together in the world. At the end of the age, Jesus will send angels to collect the weeds for burning and to harvest the wheat.
He puts it this way: "The Son of Man will send out His angels and they will weed out of His kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil" (Matt. 13:41, NIV).
Jesus warned of a time when "many will turn away from the faith" and "many false prophets will appear and deceive many people" (Matt. 24:10-11). We have seen this prophecy repeatedly fulfilled throughout history, and yet what we see happening today in the church has not been seen since the days of the Borgia and Medici popes.
Aspects of the final "Great Apostasy" are spoken of in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21. And as with many prophecies, there is most likely an initial fulfillment within a generation of the prophecy; perhaps multiple, partial fulfillments as history progresses; and one final and complete fulfillment awaiting mankind on the last day.
In Acts 20:29-31, after admonishing the presbyters in the Ephesian church to carefully watch over the flock put under their care by God, the apostle Paul warns:
"I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears."
The Bible warns of a day like ours, when the world will become so corrupt that even so-called "believers" will fall away. Their separating themselves from true Christians will show that they are not of them (see 1 John 2:19).
We are seeing these Scriptures fulfilled today, as denominations, leaders and other believers turn from the Lord to serve themselves and the kingdom of darkness.
It was not odd in the early church for there to be weeds among the wheat. In 1 Timothy 1:19-20, we see the case of Hymenaeus and Alexander, who Paul says had "shipwrecked their faith" by rejecting both faith and good conscience.
Read more...
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Iran: Syrian Crisis Prelude to Coming of the Mahdi
A high Iranian politician believes the Syrian revolution could be the
catalyst for sparking a worldwide conflagration that will usher in an
era of Muslim domination of the world.
“One can smell from the crisis in Syria the coming … of the end of times and the coming of the last Islamic messiah,” said Ruhollah Hosseinian, a member of the Islamic regime’s parliament. Previously he was deputy of the Intelligence Ministry and a member of board of trustees of Islamic Revolution Document Center.
Shiites, whose clerics rule Iran with an iron fist, believe that at
the end of times, the 12th Imam, Mahdi, a 9th century prophet, will
reappear with Jesus Christ at his side, kill all the infidels and raise
the flag of Islam in all four corners of the world. Many analysts
believe Iran is seeking nuclear capability to bring on that Armageddon.
Based on hadiths by Muhammad and his descendants, the Syrian revolution is a start to the coming of Mahdi, Hosseinian said in a speech quoted Thursday by Fars News Agency, a media outlet run by the Revolutionary Guards.
“Imam Sadegh (the Shiites’ 4th Imam) has stated, when the masters of the yellow flag (Lebanese Hezbollah) engage in a conflict with anti-Shiite elements in Damascus and Iranian forces join them, this is a sign and a prelude to the coming of his highness (Mahdi),” Hosseinian said. “We see that (now) the masters of the yellow flag are engaged with anti-Shiite groups in Damascus. Perhaps this is the event that promises the coming and that we must prepare ourselves.”
Hadiths from Ali, the Shiites’ 1st imam, also state that a sign of the coming will be the fall of the walls of Damascus. A tight-knit coalition of Syrian loyalists, Hezbollah fighters and Iranian forces is fighting against a loose coalition of Syrian rebels and al-Qaida fighters. The anti-Assad forces have brought their fight to inside Damascus.
Hosseinian told the audience that they should prepare themselves for war.
“The coming of his highness is assured … the prophet has promised that people from the east, which according to the hadith means Iran, take power and prepare for the government of Imam Mahdi.”
Hosseinian said that because of the belief in Mahdi, many Christians have converted to Shiism, “including a French philosopher who converted to Shiism and wrote … that because of the Shiites’ belief in Mahdi and that a human being will appear to establish justice in the world … this was the reason ‘for me’ to become a Shiite.”
WND reported on June 23 that the Islamic regime’s newly elected president, Hassan Rohani, attributed his victory in the June 15 voting to the 12th Imam, showing the deep belief of regime officials of the coming of Mahdi.
“This victory and the epic saga are without a doubt due to the special kindness of the Imam Zaman (Mahdi) and the measures taken by the supreme leader (Ayatollah Ali Khamenei), especially his guidance and words. … Without his management, then it was not clear if the people of Iran would witness such a day filled with joy,” Rohani said.
Ayatollah Movahedi Kermani, in his Friday prayer speech last week congratulating Rohani for his election, said that, “Before the reappearance of Imam Zaman (Mahdi), the struggle will reach its peak … in that fight there won’t even be mercy on the womb in the mother’s belly.”
He urged Muslims to prepare the grounds for the coming of Mahdi.
Recently Gen. Hassan Firouzabadi, the Iranian military chief of staff, criticized President Obama’s decision to provide weapons to rebel factions in Syria and warned, “Obama has made his most dangerous blunder today as president of the U.S. when, with the deceit of the Israelis, he issued an order of sending weapons for terrorists in Syria. Today the shipment of arms to the Syrian terrorists won’t solve anything as the Syrian nation with its national army will force the Israeli mercenaries to retreat and escape.”
As WND reported exclusively last year, a joint war room was created among Iran, Hezbollah and Syria to defeat the opposition in Syria and respond to any possible attack by U.S. or NATO forces with a directive for an immediate response to fire a barrage of missiles from the three allies not only toward Israel but also at American assets in the region.
The British paper The Independent reported on June 16 that Iran has decided to send 4,000 troops from its Revolutionary Guards forces to Syria to assure President Bashar Assad’s survival.
Reza Kahlili translated this Iranian video about Islamic prophecies of a coming messiah and the destruction of Israel and America:
“One can smell from the crisis in Syria the coming … of the end of times and the coming of the last Islamic messiah,” said Ruhollah Hosseinian, a member of the Islamic regime’s parliament. Previously he was deputy of the Intelligence Ministry and a member of board of trustees of Islamic Revolution Document Center.
Based on hadiths by Muhammad and his descendants, the Syrian revolution is a start to the coming of Mahdi, Hosseinian said in a speech quoted Thursday by Fars News Agency, a media outlet run by the Revolutionary Guards.
“Imam Sadegh (the Shiites’ 4th Imam) has stated, when the masters of the yellow flag (Lebanese Hezbollah) engage in a conflict with anti-Shiite elements in Damascus and Iranian forces join them, this is a sign and a prelude to the coming of his highness (Mahdi),” Hosseinian said. “We see that (now) the masters of the yellow flag are engaged with anti-Shiite groups in Damascus. Perhaps this is the event that promises the coming and that we must prepare ourselves.”
Hadiths from Ali, the Shiites’ 1st imam, also state that a sign of the coming will be the fall of the walls of Damascus. A tight-knit coalition of Syrian loyalists, Hezbollah fighters and Iranian forces is fighting against a loose coalition of Syrian rebels and al-Qaida fighters. The anti-Assad forces have brought their fight to inside Damascus.
Hosseinian told the audience that they should prepare themselves for war.
“The coming of his highness is assured … the prophet has promised that people from the east, which according to the hadith means Iran, take power and prepare for the government of Imam Mahdi.”
Hosseinian said that because of the belief in Mahdi, many Christians have converted to Shiism, “including a French philosopher who converted to Shiism and wrote … that because of the Shiites’ belief in Mahdi and that a human being will appear to establish justice in the world … this was the reason ‘for me’ to become a Shiite.”
WND reported on June 23 that the Islamic regime’s newly elected president, Hassan Rohani, attributed his victory in the June 15 voting to the 12th Imam, showing the deep belief of regime officials of the coming of Mahdi.
“This victory and the epic saga are without a doubt due to the special kindness of the Imam Zaman (Mahdi) and the measures taken by the supreme leader (Ayatollah Ali Khamenei), especially his guidance and words. … Without his management, then it was not clear if the people of Iran would witness such a day filled with joy,” Rohani said.
Ayatollah Movahedi Kermani, in his Friday prayer speech last week congratulating Rohani for his election, said that, “Before the reappearance of Imam Zaman (Mahdi), the struggle will reach its peak … in that fight there won’t even be mercy on the womb in the mother’s belly.”
He urged Muslims to prepare the grounds for the coming of Mahdi.
Recently Gen. Hassan Firouzabadi, the Iranian military chief of staff, criticized President Obama’s decision to provide weapons to rebel factions in Syria and warned, “Obama has made his most dangerous blunder today as president of the U.S. when, with the deceit of the Israelis, he issued an order of sending weapons for terrorists in Syria. Today the shipment of arms to the Syrian terrorists won’t solve anything as the Syrian nation with its national army will force the Israeli mercenaries to retreat and escape.”
As WND reported exclusively last year, a joint war room was created among Iran, Hezbollah and Syria to defeat the opposition in Syria and respond to any possible attack by U.S. or NATO forces with a directive for an immediate response to fire a barrage of missiles from the three allies not only toward Israel but also at American assets in the region.
The British paper The Independent reported on June 16 that Iran has decided to send 4,000 troops from its Revolutionary Guards forces to Syria to assure President Bashar Assad’s survival.
Reza Kahlili translated this Iranian video about Islamic prophecies of a coming messiah and the destruction of Israel and America:
Egypt Violence Builds, American Among Dead
ALEXANDRIA/CAIRO |
(Reuters) - Two people, one an American, were killed when protesters
stormed an office of Egypt's ruling Muslim Brotherhood in Alexandria,
adding to growing tension ahead of mass rallies aimed at unseating the
Islamist president.A third man was killed and 10 injured in an explosion during a protest in Port Said, at the mouth of the Suez Canal. Police on Saturday said the cause was unclear but protesters, believing it was a bomb, attacked an Islamist party office in the city.
Egypt's leading religious authority warned of "civil war" after violence in the past week that had already left several dead and hundreds injured. They backed President Mohamed Mursi's offer to talk to opposition groups ahead of Sunday's protests.
The United Nations, European Union and United States have appealed for restraint and urged Egypt's deadlocked political leaders to step back from a confrontation threatening the new democracy that emerged from the Arab Spring revolution of 2011.
The U.S. embassy said in a statement it was evacuating non-essential staff and family members and renewed a warning to Americans not to travel to Egypt unless they had to.
The Muslim Brotherhood said eight of its offices had been attacked on Friday, including the one in Alexandria. Officials said more than 70 people had been injured in the clashes in the city. One was shot dead and a young American man who was using a small camera died after being stabbed in the chest.
A Brotherhood member was also killed overnight in an attack on a party office at Zagazig, in the heavily populated Nile Delta, where much of the recent violence has been concentrated. Mursi's movement said five supporters in all had died this week.
"Vigilance is required to ensure we do not slide into civil war," said clerics at Cairo's ancient Al-Azhar institute, one of the most influential centers of scholarship in the Muslim world.
In a statement broadly supportive of Mursi, they backed his offer of dialogue and blamed "criminal gangs" who besieged mosques for the violence. The Brotherhood warned of "dire consequences" and "a violent spiral of anarchy".
It accused liberal leaders, including former U.N. diplomat Mohamed ElBaradei, of personally inciting violence by hired "thugs" once loyal to ousted dictator Hosni Mubarak.
Opposition leaders condemned the violence. The army, which has warned it could intervene if political leaders lose control, issued a statement saying it had deployed across the country to protect citizens and installations of national importance.
In the capital, Cairo, tens of thousands turned out for rival events some miles apart and there was little trouble. An Islamist rally included calls to reconciliation. On Tahrir Square, cradle of the uprising against Mubarak, there was a festive atmosphere and a determination to shake Mursi on Sunday.
In Alexandria, as several thousand anti-Mursi protesters marched along the seafront, a Reuters reporter saw about a dozen men throw rocks at guards outside the Brotherhood office. They responded. Bricks and bottles flew. Guns were fired.
Officials said dozens were wounded by birdshot. The party office was ransacked and documents were burned, watched by jubilant youths chanting against Egypt's Islamist leaders.
In Port Said, a bastion of anti-Islamist sentiment, police had suspected an accident but later said a device exploded among protesters. Canal traffic has not been affected by violence.
CAIRO CALM
Islamists gathered round a Cairo mosque after weekly prayers to show support for Mursi. His opponents hope millions will turn out on Sunday to demand he step down, a year to the day after he was sworn in as Egypt's first freely chosen leader.
Mursi, backed by the Brotherhood, has dismissed such demands as an assault on democracy, setting up an angry confrontation.
"I came to support the legitimate order," said Ahmed al-Maghrabi, 37, a shopkeeper from the Nile Delta city of Mansoura whose hand bore grazes from street fighting there this week. "I am with the elected president. He needs to see out his term."
Some speakers reflected fear and anger among Islamists that opponents aim to suppress them as Mubarak did. But there was also talk from the podium of the need for dialogue - a concern also of international powers worried by the bitter polarization.
A few hundred opposition protesters gathered outside the presidential palace, a focus for Sunday's rally. Mursi has moved elsewhere. Thousands turned out after dark in Tahrir Square, waving national flags and sampling street food.
Abdelhamid Nada, a 32-year-old accountant, had come from the provinces with eight friends to camp out "until Mursi goes". "The Muslim Brotherhood has no plan at all," he said, standing by his white tent. "They don't have any economic plan, they don't have any social plan, they don't have any political plan."
STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE
The army, which heeded mass protests in early 2011 to push Mubarak aside, has warned it will intervene again if there is violence, and to defend the "will of the people". Both sides believe that means the military may support their positions.
The United States, which funds Egypt's army as it did under Mubarak, has urged compromise and respect for election results. Egypt's 84 million people, control of Suez and its peace treaty with Israel all contribute to its global strategic importance.
U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon urged Egyptians to respect "universal principles of peaceful dialogue". European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton called for peaceful protests, building trust and a "spirit of dialogue and tolerance".
In Alexandria, opposition marchers said they feared the Brotherhood was usurping the revolution to entrench its power and Islamic law. Others had economic grievances, among them huge lines for fuel caused by supply problems and panic buying.
"I've nothing to do with politics, but with the state we're in now, even a stone would cry out," said 42-year-old accountant Mohamed Abdel Latif. "There are no services, we can't find diesel or gasoline. We elected Mursi, but this is enough.
"Let him make way for someone else who can fix it."
It is hard to gauge how many may turn out on Sunday, but even those sympathetic to Islamic ideas are frustrated by the economic slump and many blame the government.
Previous protest movements since the fall of Mubarak have failed to gather momentum, however, among a population anxious for stability and fearful of further economic hardship.
(Additional reporting by Yasmine Saleh, Alexander Dziadosz, Omar Fahmy and Alastair Macdonald in Cairo; Writing by Alastair Macdonald; Editing by Peter Graff, Kevin Liffey and Jackie Frank)
Source
Is Jesus the Messiah?
Prophecies
Did Yeshua ( Jesus ) Fulfill the Messianic Expectation as Prophesied in the Hebrew Scriptures?I remember reading some astonishing facts published by mathematician Peter Stoner about the probabilities of any one person fulfilling even a small number of the biblical prophecies concerning the Messiah—they were mind boggling. The chance of one single man fulfilling only 48 Messianic prophecies found in the Tanakh (Old Testament) would be 1 in 10^157*—to understand, that would be like the chance of finding, on the very first attempt, one specific electron out of all of the electrons in all the known mass of the entire universe! *1 followed by 157 zeros.
Yeshua however, fulfilled not just 48 Messianic prophecies—He fulfilled more than 324 individual prophecies that the Prophets wrote concerning the Messiah! Math not being my gift, the first calculation was amazing enough for me. To extrapolate the mathematical probability of the 324 prophecies being fulfilled by any ONE MAN must be a number beyond comprehension for anyone! Although I already “knew that I knew that knew” that Yeshua was the Messiah of Israel, this little mathematical study was another powerful confirmation.
To the Jewish People, this is more than a matter of random interest. The Messiah has been prophesied in Scripture with great specificity, though sometimes hidden and sometimes allegorical and poetic—beginning with Genesis 3:15 . . .
Following is a list of important Messianic prophecies that were fulfilled by Yeshua with their corresponding New Testament references:
Messiah is to be born in Bethlehem
Micah 5:2; fulfilled in Matt. 2:1-7; John 7:42; Luke 2:47
Messiah is to be preceded by a Messenger
Isaiah 40:3; Malachi 3:1; fulfilled in Matthew 3:1-3; 11:10; John 1:23; Luke 1:17
Messiah is to enter Jerusalem on a donkey
Zechariah 9:9; fulfilled in Luke 35-37; Matthew 21:6-11
Messiah is to be betrayed by a friend
Psalms 41:9; 55:12-14; fulfilled in Matthew 10:4; 26:49-50; John 13:21
Messiah is to be sold for 30 pieces of silver
Zechariah 11:12; fulfilled in Matthew 26:15; 27:3
The money for which Messiah is sold is to be thrown “to the potter” in God’s house
Zechariah 11:13; fulfilled in Matthew 27:5-7
Messiah is to be born of a virgin
Isaiah 7:14; fulfilled in Matthew 1:18-2:1; Luke 1:26-35
Messiah is to be hated without cause
Isaiah 49:7; Psalm 69:5; fulfilled in John 15:24-25
Messiah is to be silent before His accusers
Isaiah 53:7; fulfilled in Matthew 27:12
Messiah is to be executed by crucifixion, by having His hands and feet pierced
Psalm 22:16; fulfilled in John 19:28
Messiah is to be given vinegar to quench His thirst
Psalm 69:22; fulfilled in Matthew 27:34
Messiah is to be executed without having a bone broken
Exodus 12:46; Psalm 34:21; fulfilled in John 19:33-36
Messiah is to be buried with the rich when dead
Isaiah 53:9; fulfilled in Matthew 27:57-60
Messiah is to be raised from the dead
Isaiah 53:9-10; Psalm 2:7; 16:10; fulfilled in Matthew 28:1-20; Acts 2:23-36;13;33-37; 1 Corinthians 11:4-6
Messiah is to be executed by crucifixion as a thief
Psalm 22:16; Zechariah 12:10; Isaiah 53:5, 12; fulfilled in Luke 23:33; John 20:25; Matthew 27:38; Mark 5:27, 28
In his book, Science Speaks, mathematician Peter Stoner says that by applying the modern science of probability to just eight of these prophecies, “. . . We find that the chance that any man might have lived to the present time and fulfilled all eight prophecies is 1 in 10^17.” That would be one in 100,000,000,000,000,000. In order to comprehend this staggering probability, Stoner illustrates:
“ . . . we take 10^17 silver dollars and
lay them on the face of Texas. They will cover the state two feet deep.
Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly.
Blindfold a man and tell him that he must pick up one silver dollar and
say that this is the right one. What chance would he have of getting
the right one? Just the same chance that the prophets would have had of
writing just eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one
man, from their day to the present time, providing they wrote in their
own wisdom.
“Now these prophecies were either given
by inspiration of God or the prophets just wrote them as they thought
they should be. In such a case the prophets had just one chance in 10^17
of having them come true in any man, but they all came true in Christ
[Mashiach].
“This means that the fulfillment of just eight prophecies
alone proves that God inspired the writing of those [eight] prophecies
to a definiteness which lacks only one chance in 10^17 of being
absolute.”
1Stoner, Peter W. Science Speaks. Chicago: Moody Press, 1963, pp 100-107
“This means that the fulfillment of just
eight prophecies alone proves that God inspired the writing of those
[eight] prophecies to a definiteness which lacks only one chance in
10^17 of being absolute.”
1Stoner, Peter W. Science Speaks. Chicago: Moody Press, 1963, pp 100-107
Many learned Jewish men and women have come to faith in the last 40 years simply by reading their Tenakh. Some were reading through to equip themselves to dispute a child that had come to believe in Yeshua (Jesus), which was a very shocking and horrifying concept. In studying the Messianic prophecies, they found Mashiach! Some, like Sharon Allen, were Orthodox and did not surrender easily to the authority of the Scriptures, but sought the help of Orthodox Jewish Rabbis and Leaders to help her find alternate understandings of the Scriptures to no avail. The authority of the text spoke undeniably for the Messiahship of Yeshua.
Some have been survivors of the Shoah (the Holocaust), and barely could believe in the God of Israel any longer. One thing they were sure of, Christ and Christianity was against the Jews and they could never forgive! This is the story of Rose Price, who came to know the love of God through her Messiah the Messiah of Israel, Yeshua!
Study the prophecies yourself and ponder the mathematical probability of just one person fulfilling even a few of these specific prophecies. Even more importantly, be intellectually honest and open to truth. Pray. Ask the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob if Yeshua is the Messiah of Israel. He will answer you and lead you into all truth.
Would you like to pray with someone? Are you questioning the possibility that Yeshua is the Messiah? Send a prayer email.
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| Prophecies | Historical Facts | Biblical Evidence | Prayer |
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