Quote: ""We are not talking about the first time this has happened," military correspondent Avi Yissacharov told Army Radio. "This phenomenon of Hamas paying ten shekels to children in order to retrieve the launchers has become the norm. The terrorists launch the rockets from afar via remote control and know that if they approach the launchers they will be hit, so they send young children."

It's not the first time Palestinian children have been caught in the cross fire of this deadly war. An eight year old boy and his six year old sister were killed by a Kassam rocket when it fell short of its target landing in the Gaza Strip. A Bedouin shepherd and his teenage son were recently killed after coming across an unexploded Kassam rocket. Not to mention the Gaza Beach incident, after which world leaders lashed out at Israel for supposedly killing an entire Palestinian family, but it later turned out that the explosion was caused by a Palestinian land mine intended for IDF forces. You would think that the deaths of children would convince the terrorist organizations to call a cease-fire. In any civilized culture this would be the case, but Palestinian mothers have stated that even if their children are killed by their own people, they will have died a martyr's death in the war against the Jews. Palestinian children are at the very forefront of this conflict. Hamas even runs a website encouraging children to become suicide bombers, filled with stories about child martyrs who sacrifice their own lives in order to kill Jews. Just today the IDF revealed it has prevented another suicide bombing attempt. The perpetrator was a 15 year old boy, who intended to detonate an explosives belt strapped to his waste in order to murder IDF soldiers...

Quote: "The IDF revealed Thursday that it foiled an attack by a would-be 15-year-old Palestinian suicide bomber who tried to attack soldiers operating in the northern Gaza Strip, Army Radio reported. The bomber was stopped overnight Tuesday as he approached soldiers, according to the IDF. He had reportedly strapped explosives to his body that he planned to detonate when he reached the force, the IDF said.

Dozens of people have also been killed as a result of Israel's unexploded cluster bombs in southern Lebanon. I have no idea why the government decided to use cluster bombs in the days leading up to the end of the war. I think it was a mistake to use them, especially when they have resulted in so many civilian deaths. But the difference between Israel and Palestinian terrorist organizations is, Israel does everything possible to avoid civilian deaths and apologizes when they occur, while Palestinian terrorist organizations actively seek to cause them. That is why there can be no moral equivalence between Palestinian terrorist organizations and Israel, and why Christians who support the Palestinian cause must justify murder.

Isaiah 5:20
Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

Source Arutz 7, Jewish Chronicle, Jerusalem Post, Jerusalem Post, Mail & Guardian

"If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?" - Hebrews 12 V7

"As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent." - Revelation 3 V19

Do not be discouraged by the chastening of God, for God corrects those whom He loves. Repent! Come to Jesus. He has His arms open and all are invited. He came to seek and save the lost and sinful so even if you have something from the past that haunts you, do not be discouraged. Repent and seek forgiveness and Christ will forgive you of all your sins and He shall remember it no more. Time is running out, be zealous and repent!

Quote: "Dr. Eilat Mazar, an archaeologist and a leading member of the Committee for the Prevention of the Destruction of Temple Mount Antiquities, spoke with Arutz-7's Hebrew newsmagazine about the desecration. "It is an untenable situation," she said. "Underneath the Temple Mount is a closed area, one that has barely been disturbed since the Destruction of the Second Temple. Anyone can realize that remnants of both the First and Second Temples are there, and can guess what damage is being done by the tractor. The most precious findings are just rolling around there and are available to be found - and instead they have a tractor there! If I would try to work with a tractor at one of my digs, the Antiquities Authority would stop me immediately! With a tractor, it's impossible to make any type of careful examination of the earth and pieces being dug up."

It's not the first time the Islamic Waqf have been criticized for their destruction work on the Temple Mount. A few months ago, dozens of Arab states warned that Israel risked inciting a Third Intifada if it continued excavation work at the Mugrabi gate. Muslims claimed that Israel was damaging the foundations of the Mosque of Omar, but it was later revealed that the real reason why such an outcry was made over the construction work is because Muslims do not want Israel to rebuild the only access ramp non-Muslims have to the historic site. The Islamic Waqf themselves are endangering the Temple Mount, as they dump hundreds of tonnes of rubble into the Kidron Valley in their construction of the underground mosque. The Muslims hope that by turning the entire site into a mosque, the Temple Mount will become permanently off-limits to Christians and Jews. Dozens of historical artefacts have been unearthed lately, confirming the veracity of the Scriptures. A seal and a ritual bath dating back to the First Temple period were unearthed in September, 2005. Not found at the Temple Mount but linked to its destruction, a cuneiform tablet uncovered in Iraq was found to have a Biblical connection, detailing a payment made by a Babylonian eunuch who was in Jerusalem at the time of the invasion...

Quote: "British Museum officials announced recently the discovery of a two-inch-wide, 2,500-year-old cuneiform tablet that contains details of a financial transaction by a "Nabu-sharrussu-ukin," who is called in the tablet the "chief eunuch" of Babylon King Nebuchadnezzar. That's the same person mentioned in Jeremiah 39:3—although spelled differently in different translations—as the chief officer of Nebuchadnezzar who was in Jerusalem when the Babylonians overtook the city around 587 B.C.

Artefacts from the past are a witness to us that what is recorded in the Scriptures did take place. Just as the Lord prophesied through Jeremiah of the impending invasion of Babylon, so once again the Scriptures warn us of the coming judgement of this world. Like the prophets of the Old Testament, it is our job to warn the people of what the Lord says will take place in the not too distant future. Have you heeded the warning, or like the kings of Israel, would you rather hear a different message?

1st Kings 22:8 
And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, [There is] yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may enquire of the LORD: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil.

Source Arutz 7, Florida Baptist Witness

Quote: "The Rev. Joel C. Hunter, senior pastor of Northland Church in Longwood, FL, said: "There is a part of the evangelical family, which is what I call Christian Zionists, who are just so staunchly pro-Israel that Israel and their side can do no wrong, and it's almost anti-Biblical to criticize Israel for anything. But there are many more evangelicals who are really open and seek justice for both parties."

Christian Zionists do not believe Israel "can do no wrong", far from it in fact. We apportion blame to those to whom it is due, and sad to say that is Palestinian terrorist organizations and Arab states more often than not . Prior to June 1967, Israel occupied none of the territory now under contention, yet half a dozen Arab states not only refused to recognize the Jewish state, but actively sought to destroy it. Nor did Transjordan ever offer to create a Palestinian state on territory it captured during the War of Independence in 1948. It is Israel that must constantly concede to the demands of those that still refuse to recognize its right to exist. Where we differ from these liberal theologians is, we do believe that Israel has a God-given right to the land, that Israel's regathering is a fulfilment of Biblical prophecy, and that the situation that is playing out before our eyes will result in the division of God's land as prophesied in Joel 3:2. But apparently many of Pastor Joel's own congregation had no idea he held such unscriptural views, and some decided to organize a protest in response to the Pastor's call for the creation of a Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria. 

Quote: "The Sunday protestors were outraged at the pastor's stance so blatantly against the Bible whose message he preaches. John Hellein, of a church just two miles away, told Arutz-7, "I heard the news while riding my bicycle and listening to an Ipod radio broadcast - and I nearly fell off my bicycle. I was amazed that the pastor of a church so close to home would say something so opposed to the Bible. I knew right then that I wanted to organize some kind of protest." Hellein said that many of the church members were unaware of the controversial stance their pastor had taken, and "thanked us for informing them of it and protesting. This is not to say that everyone agreed; there were also other opinions."

Two Jewish radio hosts, Ari Abramowitz and Jeremy Gimpel from Arutz 7's "Light unto the Nations" programme, asked Pastor Joel to come on their show to explain his views, from purely a religious standpoint. But the Pastor declined, his assistant stating that this "just isn't the best forum for Dr. Hunter to explain his position on this issue". How sad that a Pastor of all people should decline such an opportunity to witness for Christ and to give a reason for the hope that is in him! But he eventually conceded to a debate with Jeremy Gimpel, which will be broadcast on BBC Radio this Thursday, August 30th, at 10:20 AM EST. Abramowitz and Gimpel said Pastor Joel would be wise to heed the warning from his namesake, the prophet Joel, who warned that God would judge the nations that were responsible for scattering His people and parting His land.

Quote: "Abramowitz told Arutz-7 he is happy to be able to debate the issue in purely religious terms. "There are many truth-seekers in the Christian community who are willing to stand with Israel even if they have to defy their own leaders," he said. "Truth resonates. As the Jewish people, we are not seeking allies; we have a responsibility to share the truth and clarify it to a world that may not want to hear it."

If find it particularly sad that it should be left to two Jews, perhaps not even believers at that, to debate with a Christian Pastor on Israel's rightful place God's prophetic calendar, a Pastor who is supposed to be led by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. As Abramowitz stated, it is mainstream Christian organizations and theological colleges that are churning out this anti-Semitic teaching. They wilfully ignore secular history by supporting the creation of a Palestinian state. They turn a blind eye to the truth of Scripture in calling for the division of God's land. And they are replacing God's absolute law with the world's shifting standards of morality, in their moral equivalence of Palestinian terrorism and Israel's right of self-defence.

Source NY Times, Arutz 7