French President Nicholas Sarkozy has hailed tomorrow's Paris summit as the "best news for peace in the Middle East". Forty-one of the forty-four heads of state invited to the summit have agreed to attend. The list of participants include Albania, Algeria, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Latvia, Lebanon, Libya, Lithuania, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, Palestinian Authority, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey and the United Kingdom. French President Nicholas Sarkozy and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will co-host the event. But it is the presence Syrian President Bashar Assad and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that is expected to steal the show. Both countries have been involved in indirect peace negotiations since May, and have signalled their readiness to move to direct talks. 

There was a mixed reaction to the proposal for a Union for the Mediterranean (UPM) when it was first announced following Sarkozy's election in October 2007. Northern European states originally feared that the new project could become a competitor to the European Union, and objected to EU money being used to fund an initiative they had no part in. Arab states were concerned that the UPM would be dominated by wealthier European states, and objected to Israel's inclusion in the group. But the plan was adopted by the European Union on the 13th of March, and on the 13th of July the new Union for the Mediterranean will be formed...

Quote: "The union was the brainchild of his special advisor and speech-writer Henri Guaino. In Toulon in February 2007, Sarkozy said he wanted "to be the president of a France that will set the Mediterranean on the path of its reunification, after 12 centuries of division..." He wanted "to achieve a new Renaissance... undertake with this project a policy of civilisation as envisioned by the philosophers of the Enlightenment." In Tangiers last October, Sarkozy said: "Within every man and woman who lives on the shores of the Mediterranean sleeps the memory, nostalgia, for the unity lost 15 centuries ago." Not since the Italian dictator Mussolini revived the ancient Roman concept of Mare Nostrum ("our sea" in Latin) has a politician held such high ambitions for the Mediterranean.

Revelation 13:1
And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

And as you can see from these two maps, despite the watering-down of Sarkozy's original proposal, the above quotation is an apt description of what is happening here. For it seems that the European Union and the Union for the Mediterranean are fulfilments of Biblical prophecy. The old Roman Empire is being revived, just as the Bible predicted. Throughout the centuries Christians have proclaimed the rebirth of the nation of Israel and the revival of the old Roman Empire. These Christians staggered not at the promises of God, though there was little evidence of these things coming to pass during their lifetimes. We have been privileged to witness the rebirth of the nation of Israel and the revival of the old Roman Empire. There is no excuse. The fact that there is a nation called Israel in the world is plain for all to see. And just in case you are not sure if the EU is the revival of the old Roman Empire, we have the frequent allusions to it by European leaders, the references to it in EU paraphernalia, the design of the EU parliament building, the motif on our coins, and the geographical area of the EU and UPM are roughly the same. The EU is the revived Roman Empire, no question about it.  The Bible predicted over 2000 years ago that these things would happen. And today they are coming to pass before our very eyes. If the Bible was right about these things, what other things does the Bible say that we should know about? Jesus Christ is coming back soon (John 14:3). First, to take all those who have trusted in Him for salvation to be with Him where He is (John 14:3). And again, to judge this world for its wickedness (2nd Thessalonians 1:7-8). We need to be ready for His coming. How we can be ready? The Bible says our sins have separated between us and God (Isaiah 59:2). And if we die in our sins, where God is we cannot go (John 8:21). We need to have our sins forgiven. How can we have our sins forgiven? God sent His only Son Jesus Christ into this world 2000 years ago. He took God's punishment for your sins when He died upon the cross (Isaiah 53:6). All who believe on Him for salvation can have their sins forgiven and have eternal life in heaven (John 3:16). Turn away from your sins. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation today and you shall be saved (Acts 16:31).

Source Irish Times, Bloomberg, Wikipedia

"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." - Psalm 23 V6

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness..." - Galatians 5 V22

Those who follow the Lord and trust in Him, surely goodness and mercy shall follow them. The Spirit of the Lord is the gift to every follower of Jesus Christ and one of the fruit of the Spirit is goodness. Our Lord is faithful and His reward is great to all who follow Him. Praise God!

"for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God. - John 16 V27

"nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 8 V39

God's love is unconditional towards us. God loves us no matter who we are or what we are. Sin separates us from God but still God so loved us that He sent His Son Jesus Christ to redeem us from our sins and He will forgive and accept all who come to Him through Christ. There is nothing that can separate us from the love of God and every person is invited to experience the abounding love and blessings of God through Christ our Lord.

"But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed." - Isaiah 53 V5

"O Lord, You have pleaded the case for my soul; You have redeemed my life." - Lamentations 3 V58

When the Son has set us free we are free indeed. The love of God is so great that He humbled and became flesh and lived a lowly life and preached the divine hope and ultimately He was bruised and He died for our iniquities. We enjoy eternal life by believing in His name but He paid the price which cost Him much more than what can be expressed. He will come again as the King of kings and the Lord of lords and all who believed in Him shall reign with Him for eternity. Christ only is worthy of all the praise and glory. Amen!

This link from my friend Ben. Mark Blitz of El Shaddai Ministries, who is credited with discovering the unusual pattern of solar and lunar eclipses that are to fall over the next seven years, has revealed plans for a global celebration of the Feast of Trumpets. Through studying the Hebrew calendar, Blitz found that a series of solar and lunar eclipses fall on several significant Jewish feast from the years 2008 to 2015. Blitz believes that this pattern of eclipses is extremely rare, and has actually only occurred during significant dates in Israel's history, in 1948 when the state was established and in 1967 when Israel retook Jerusalem. Blitz appeared on the Prophecy In The News telecast to discuss his findings, and I was sent a link to a video of this telecast by a friend. I found the information contained on the video very intriguing, for I had already been studying the Jewish feasts in relation to the timing of Daniel's seventieth week. I was originally using a spreadsheet to analyze the Hebrew calendar. The Prophecy In The News video inspired me to create an Access database to make studying this aspect of prophecy a lot easier. You can download the database from the above link. The First Coming of the Messiah fulfilled all the spring feasts commemorated by the Jewish people. The Lord was crucified on Passover, He was in the tomb during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, He was raised from the dead on First Fruits and the Holy Spirit was given on Pentecost. The three autumn feasts remaining to be fulfilled are the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles. It is generally believed that the Second Coming of Christ to this earth will fulfill all these feasts. The Lord's return for His Bride may occur on the Feast of Trumpets, the Second Coming to earth on the Day of Atonement and the Millennial Reign on the Feast of Tabernacles. If you want more information on the Feast of Trumpets and how it relates to the rapture of the Church, read the rapture page. I have no doubt the remaining feasts will be fulfilled in the Person of Jesus Christ. Of course there is always going to be a certain amount of speculation when it comes to future events. We don't know exactly what will happen until it happens. But to mark this year's Feast of Trumpets and increase awareness of this unique event, Mark Blitz is hoping to get believers from all around the world to blow their shofars on the evening of the 29th of September to signal the return of Jesus Christ for His Church.

Quote: "You know how at sporting events they have "the wave" where one group starts it and then it cycles all the way around back to the beginning? Do you remember how at the year 2000 they showed on television all the New Year celebrations going on around the world as the new millennium began? ... Let's have an around the world shofar assembly in every time zone on the Feast of Trumpets at sunset announcing to Messiah we are awake and anxiously anticipating His return. What a dress rehearsal! Won't that stir His heart? We will list on our website all the cities in the different time zones that are participating and hopefully we can get people from every tongue, tribe and nation participating as we join in proclaiming Yeshua (Jesus) as our coming King!

There is no doubt we are living in tremendous days, with efforts being made to establish a Palestinian state by the end of the year, the formation of a Mediterranean Union next week, oil and food prices continuing to rise, the Temple Institute manufacturing priestly garments, talk of a military strike against Iran by the end of the year, etc. Strange things are already happening in this world, never mind talk of a rapture or at least the beginning of Daniel's seventieth week. The Feast of Trumpets and the unusual series of solar and lunar eclipses may just be another anomaly to add to the long list of prophecies being fulfilled before our very eyes. In regards to the Feast of Trumpets, I think we should be encouraged that our Lord may come for us at any moment, but I would still caution against date setting. The Lord said to His disciples, "It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power", Acts 1:7. It is not for us to know the time of His Coming, and there are very good reasons for that. This effort to try and discover the timing of the Lord's return may be part of confusion behind this whole pre, mid, post and pre-wrath rapture scenarios. We should be ready at all times for His Coming (Matthew 24:44). If we were ready at all times, there would be no confusion over the timing of the rapture. Nobody would be arguing over who's view is the correct one. Instead, we would all be concentrating on making sure we were personally ready for the return of Christ, were He to come today. I think that's what we need to get back to.

The fact is, Jesus Christ is coming back (John 14:3). Even if He did return for His Church on the 30th of September, you don't have a guarantee you will live to see that date. The Bible says now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation (2nd Corinthians 6:2). Tomorrow never comes. If Jesus Christ came today, would you be ready to meet Him? If not, here is what to do. Confess to God that you are a sinner, and that you deserve eternal punishment in hell because of your sins. Ask God to forgive you for your sins, and thank Him for sending His only Son Jesus Christ into the world to bear the punishment your sins deserved. The Bible declares that "whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved", Romans 10:13.

Source WorldNetDaily