An anonymous Iranian source writing for the Lebanese Asharq Alawsat newspaper has stated that President Ahmadinejad has "bought off" President Assad of Syria in a $1 billion dollar deal. According to the report, Iran has promised to restore a pro-Syrian government in Lebanon in exchange for Syria's refusal to enter into negotiations with Israel, and will fund Syrian arms acquisitions from Russia and North Korea. Ahmadinejad had met with Assad on Thursday following his re-election as President of Syria for another seven year term. The Syrian government had been threatening war if Israel did not hand back the Golan Heights by September of this year. Newly elected President Shimon Peres recently stated that if Syria was serious about peace, that there was no alternative for direct negotiations between the two nations. But if today's report is accurate, it is extremely doubtful that any such negotiations will occur.

Quote: "The report went on to say that aside from economic, cultural and scientific cooperation, Iran will help to fund Syria's purchase of Russian and North Korean weapons. These weapons reportedly will include 400 advanced Russian T-72 tanks, 18 Russian Mig 31s, as well as eight M-8 helicopters and other military equipment. In addition, Iran will reportedly help Syria build factories that would manufacture medium-range missiles, and will also supply Syria with Iranian-made tanks and armored personnel carriers. The Syrian navy will also reportedly be rearmed with Chinese-made C-801 and C-802 missiles, which are presently being manufactured in Iran.

The idea of a peace agreement between Israel and Syria has also been derided by Jordan. Foreign Minister Abdelelah Al-Khatib has stated that peace between Israel and the Palestinians must come first before there can be peace between Israel and Syria. Al-Khatib's comments constitute an effort by Arab states to maintain a united front against Israel, and tar the Jewish state as the sole cause of conflict in the region. Al-Khatib also blamed Israel for the situation in Gaza.

Quote: ""The situation in the Gaza Strip is fragile and complicated, but its origins - which many Israelis also say - lie in the unilateralism and lack of coordination with the Palestinian Authority over the withdrawal." Khatib made it clear that he objects to further unilateral steps that Israel may be planning.

And that's the absurdity of this position. The Arab states demand that Israel withdraw to the pre-1967 armistice lines, but they must not withdraw without the prior consent of the Arab states. So in other words, no matter what Israel does it is in the wrong. If Israel does not make any unilateral disengagements, it is still occupying "Palestinian" land. If Israel tries to "get rid of the territories" and the Arab states refuse to give it their blessing, Israel will once again get the blame. As we can see with today's news on Syria strengthening its ties with Iran, Arab states will never agree to peace with Israel, and it is this situation that will eventually bring about the destruction of Damascus (Isaiah 17) and the time of Jacob's trouble.

Ezekiel 36:4-8
Therefore, ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD; Thus saith the Lord GOD to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes, and to the cities that are forsaken, which became a prey and derision to the residue of the heathen that are round about; Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the heathen, and against all Idumea, which have appointed my land into their possession with the joy of all their heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey. Prophesy therefore concerning the land of Israel, and say unto the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my fury, because ye have borne the shame of the heathen: Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I have lifted up mine hand, Surely the heathen that are about you, they shall bear their shame. But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people of Israel; for they are at hand to come.

Source Jerusalem Post, Haaretz

Christians in Iraq, including converts from Islam and people involved in mixed-faith marriages, are being crucified by Muslim terrorists, according to a Dutch member of Parliament studying the war-torn country.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran met with President Bashar Assad today following his recent victory in the presidential elections in Syria. They were both joined by Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah in the Syrian capital, who had apparently entered the country via a secret underground passage. The three dictators, who were all involved in last summer's Second Lebanese War with Israel, used the occasion to continue their war of words against the Jewish state.

Quote: ""We hope that the hot weather of this summer will coincide with similar victories for the region's peoples, and with consequent defeat for the region's enemies," Ahmadinejad added, in an apparent reference to Israel. During his one-day trip to Damascus, Ahmadinejad held talks with counterpart Bashar Assad which focused on the Iraq situation, Palestinian territories and Lebanon, where both Teheran and Damascus wield influence. "The enemies of the region should abandon plans to attack the interests of this region, or they would be burned by the wrath of the region's peoples," the hardline Iranian leader said at a joint press conference with Assad.

The meeting of the three dictators came on the same day Israeli President Shimon Peres seemingly called Assad's bluff, when he stated there is no substitute for direct negotiations between Israel and Syria's leaders, symbolizing their mutual recognition. It is my own opinion, and also of others, that the Golan Heights is more useful to Syria in Israeli hands than in their own. For if Israel cedes the Golan Heights to Syria, there will no longer be a pretext for war with Israel. What's worse is, they might actually have to sign a peace agreement with Israel, and lose the support of their Iranian friends. But I believe Assad does not want to remain isolated by the international community, and thus we have these conflicting announcements of war and peace. And as President Ahmadinejad is in Syria strengthening his grip on the region, thousands of Christians converged on Capitol Hill yesterday to express their support for Israel, and to urge the US government to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons...

Quote: "Hagee said Mideast tensions shouldn't be blamed on Israel, but on Islamic radicals and moderate Muslims who won't condemn them. Hagee continued to warn against Iranian President Ahmadinejad, calling him the new Hitler, saying the Iranian president will use a nuclear bomb to destroy Israel the first chance he gets. Ahmadinejad must be stopped, Hagee said, calling on the United State to attack Iran immediately.

John Hagee is right, I do believe Iran is trying to obtain nuclear weapons, and they probably would use the bomb against Israel the first chance they got. But I'm not sure that he is right in calling for a war against Iran. My reason for thinking that is, I don't read of any country intervening on Israel's behalf in the Ezekiel 38-39 war. The invasion mentioned in these chapters happens at a time when Israel is at rest, not when the nation is expecting a conflict (Ezekiel 38:11). And the reason why no other nation intervenes is so that God will get all the glory when Israel destroys their enemies (Ezekiel 39:6). Remember the story of Gideon and his 300 men...

Judges 7:2
And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me.

Yes, we should be for Israel and we should be against tyranny, but we need to remember that the battle is the Lord's, and also the victory.

Ephesians 6:12
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Source Jerusalem Post, YNet News, YNet News

Quote: "Mr Reaney, from Colwyn Bay, North Wales, hailed the ruling as a significant victory in equality for gay and lesbian Christians. He said: "I'm delighted that the Bishop of Hereford has lost this case. "It demonstrates to many lesbian and gay Christians working for God within the Church of England that they are entitled to fair and respectful treatment." A hearing has yet to be arranged to set his compensation. There is no upper limit on payouts.

In reality, it demonstrates the depth of depravity that this nation has fallen to, and in particular the spiritual condition of the "Church" in this country. Not only has the government legalized sin and is now enforcing its acceptance on those who would naturally repudiate such a lifestyle, but those claiming to know the Scriptures are prepared to "go to law" with their brother in order to have their sins sanctioned by the Church (1st Corinthians 6:1). Have we forgotten what the Lord said, "Be ye holy for I am holy", 1st Peter 1:16? And again, "let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity", 2nd Timothy 2:19. According to the Scriptures, every true believer in Christ is a priest unto God (1st Peter 2:9). Our bodies are to be presented as a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable to God (Romans 12:1). In the book of Revelation, the Church of Pergamos was upbraided by the Lord for turning a blind eye to those in its fellowship who held to the doctrine of Balaam. Balaam attempted to defeat the nation of Israel by corrupting it through idolatry and sexual sins. The Lord's warning to Pergamos applies just as much today as it did 2000 years ago, "Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth", Revelation 2:16. 

1st Peter 2:9-10 
But ye [are] a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: Which in time past [were] not a people, but [are] now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

Source Daily Mail

I found these two articles on the internet, published on the same day, and they really spoke to me about how much our world has turned its back on God to be so blinded to the truth of the Scriptures.

New research carried out by scientists at the Imperial College of London has revealed how the island of Great Britain was severed from continental Europe during a catastrophic flood. Scientists believe that the countries of England and France were once connected by a land bridge at the Dover straits. Some time in the distant past, a massive amount of water poured over this land bridge, dissolving the chalk and permanently separating Great Britain from the mainland. For the first time, sonar recordings have revealed deep gouges in the sea bed at the Dover straits, which could only have been created by a massive amount of water over a very short period of time. 

Quote: "The images detail deep grooves and streamlined features, the hallmarks of landforms that have been gouged by large bodies of fast-moving water. At its peak, it is believed that the megaflood could have lasted several months, discharging an estimated one million cubic metres of water per second. And from the way some features have been cut, it is likely there were at least two distinct phases to the flooding.

If they read the Bible, they would know exactly how long this megaflood lasted...

Genesis 7:24 
And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days (five months).

They talk about megafloods lasting months, and yet they deny the fact that a global flood ever took place. I find it a very sad thing indeed that scientists can spend millions of pounds on research, only to come to the same conclusions that were written in the Bible around 4000 years ago. In another news article, new research has proven that human race originated in Africa. A study on some 6000 human skulls from across the world has revealed that variations in their shapes and sizes decrease as distance from the African subcontinent increases. This shows that mankind originated in Africa, and migrated outwards.

Quote: "Manica and colleagues wrote in the journal Nature that variations in skull size and shape decreased the further a skull was away from Africa, just like variations in DNA. The decrease reflects the fact that, while the original African population was stable and varied, only a small number of people embarked on each stage of the multi-step migration out of Africa. This effectively created a series of "bottlenecks", which reduced diversity. The highest level of variation in skull types was seen in southeastern Africa, the generally accepted cradle of mankind.

And again, if they read the Bible they would know exactly where mankind originated from...

Genesis 8:4 
And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat (on the Turkish border).

The question the evolutionists must ask themselves is, if we have been evolving for millions of years, why is earth's population so low? If you plot a graph beginning with earth's present population of 6 billion souls, and work backwards in time using the census records of ancient civilizations, you will find you start running out of people around 3000 BC. Evolutionists must also ask the question, why did people bother to migrate out of the Middle East? And might different languages have something to do with these "bottlenecks"? And how did all the different languages evolve if we all lived in the same place a relatively short time ago? Once again, the Bible holds the answer to man's questions...

Genesis 11:6-8
And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.

The Bible states that just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man (Luke 17:26). The people scoffed at Noah when he warned them of God's coming judgement upon their sins. They didn't believe such a thing as a global flood could happen. Scientists are now proving - whether they know it or not - that such an event did occur just like the Bible states. The Scriptures also warn us that just as the previous civilization was destroyed by a flood, our civilization will be destroyed by fire (2nd Peter 3:7). Today mankind mocks the idea of a judgement, while possessing the capability of destroying this world many times over. Like in Noah's day, there is an ark of salvation - the Lord Jesus Christ. Trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation today, and when the judgement comes, you'll be lifted high.

John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Source BBC, Reuters