" "...and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen" - Matthew 28 V20

"...Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; for I am with you, and no one will attack you or hurt you; for I have many people in this city." - Acts 18 V9,10

We have a great promise from our Lord Jesus Christ that He is with us always. Our circumstances may deceive us in believing that we are alone but even during the darkest hours of our life our Lord is with us. What else do we need? We have all we need: Jesus Christ.

"And Nathan said to David, "You are the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel: 'I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul...' " " - 2 Samuel 12 V7

"O wretched man that I am! who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God - through Jesus Christ our Lord!" - Romans 7 V24

The story of David is well known and a man known to be after God's own heart was guilty of adultery and murder, but God forgave David because he repented and he had faith. Even we are wretched in our sinful nature and God is ready to forgive every sin of ours and deliver us from this body of sin. "...Behold the man!" (John 19 V5) reminds us that Christ took our (You are the man!) blame on Himself that we may have everlasting life. I thank God for the wonderful gift of salvation. Praise God!

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad railed on the United States and Israel during his address to the United Nations General Assembly yesterday. The visit of President Ahmadinejad, who has publicly called for the state of Israel to be "wiped off the map", slammed "murderous Zionists" as being responsible for the global financial crisis and America as being responsible for much of the world's problems. The event was widely protested but Ahmadinejad's speech went ahead as planned, resulting in scathing criticism of the UN for allowing such anti-Semitic remarks to go unreprimanded. Israeli President Shimon Peres stated that it was "the first time in the history of the United Nations that the head of a state is appearing openly and publicly with the ugly and dark accusations of the 'Protocols of the Elders of Zion'". The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is an anti-Semitic forgery that accuses the Jewish people of constructing a devilish plot to take over the entire world. During his address Ahmadinejad repeated his claims that the 'Zionist regime' would soon disappear...

Quote: ""Today, the Zionist regime is on a definite slope to collapse, and there is no way for it to get out of the cesspool created by itself and its supporters," he said in a speech to the UN General Assembly. Ahmadinejad also sharply attacked the United States and NATO, accusing them of acting as aggressors in Iraq and Afghanistan, and of starting those wars "in order to win votes in elections." "American empire in the world is reaching the end of its road, and its next rulers must limit their interference to their own borders," Ahmadinejad said. He reiterated Iran's insistence that its nuclear program is purely peaceful, not aimed at producing nuclear weapons.

Ahmadinejad also vowed that Iran will press on with its nuclear programme. His remarks follow the publication of new evidence by the International Atomic Energy Agency of Iran's attempts to modify their Shahab-3 missiles to carry nuclear warheads. The European Union is also warning that Iran was working on a nuclear weapons programme in the past, and that the country is approaching the capability of reconfiguring its enrichment process to produce weapons' grade Uranium. During a speech to delegates of the United Jewish Communities General Assembly, Israeli opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu warned that the world needs to act now in order to prevent Iran from producing nuclear weapons.

Quote: ""It's 1938 and Iran is Germany. And Iran is racing to arm itself with atomic bombs. Believe him and stop him," Netanyahu said of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. "This is what we must do. Everything else pales before this."

In 1938 British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain tried to appease Hitler by permitting Nazi Germany to reoccupy Czechoslovakia in return for peace. But the plan failed. Over six million Jews would be sent to their deaths in Nazi concentration camps over the next few years. Today the international community is repeating the mistake of past generations, in attempting to appease a man who is bent on the complete annihilation of the Jewish state. But Hitler and the Third Reich are no longer. Babylon is no more. Egypt, Assyria, and the Greek and Roman Empires have come and gone. God's promises are everlasting, so you can guarantee that the Jewish state will outlive any government that seeks to set itself against the Mighty God of Jacob. But those who have trusted in Jesus Christ for salvation have an even greater security than that of Israel. For the Bible says that all who believe on Jesus Christ for salvation have eternal life and shall never perish. Jesus Christ declares that no man is able to pluck us out of His hand, and adds that no man is able to pluck us out of His Father's hand (John 10:27-29). Not only do we have this double security on the outside, but we also have God's Holy Spirit dwelling on the inside of us (John 14:16-17, 1st John 4:4). Do you have this security? You can have it through trusting in Jesus Christ for salvation. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved (Acts 16:31).  

Source Arutz 7, YNet News, Jerusalem Post, Tehran Times, Israeli Insider

"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." - Psalm 46 V1

"What  then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?" - Romans 8 V31

God is our strength and refuge and not tomorrow or days later but a very present help in time of trouble. Trust in His strength and He will deliver you from all trouble.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams is planning to visit Lourdes this week, as celebrations of the 150th anniversary of 'Our Lady of Lourdes' get underway. The aim of his visit to the shrine, which will be the first for an Archbishop of the Church of England, is to foster unity with the Church of Rome. The shrine at Lourdes was built to commemorate the appearances of 'Mary' to a young girl by the name of Bernadette Soubirous. The apparition revealed itself to Bernadette in a grotto in Lourdes in January 1858. Two other girls were with Bernadette at the time of the encounter, but only Bernadette was able to see the 'vision'. Her first reaction was one of fear. She prayed that if this apparition was not of God, that it would go away. She also sprinkled a bottle of 'holy water' at the figure in an attempt to make it leave. But the apparition remained. Bernadette was to see the apparition on eighteen separate occasions, while numerous others were present. The apparition later instructed Bernadette to have a chapel built in the grotto, and to organize a procession honouring her as the 'Immaculate Conception'. Four years previous to this event, the Pope had proclaimed Mary as the 'Immaculate Conception', declaring her to be without original sin. It is said that Bernadette could not have known about the Pope's decree, thus many Catholics believe that her visions were genuine. I also believe her visions were real, but I do not believe that this apparition was the same Mary that we read about in the Scriptures. The Mary of the Bible was a humble woman who would not dare to elevate herself to the level that this apparition has. Mary was a sinner who trusted in God her Saviour (Luke 1:47). But now Archbishop Rowan Williams is seeking for the Church of England to be reunited with the Church of Rome, through the worship of this apparition. 

Quote: "Dr Williams will participate in the celebrations at the invitation of the Bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes, Monsignor Jacques Perrier. He will also take part in a pilgrimage of bishops, clergy and laity of the Church of England, organised by the Society of Mary and the Anglican Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham. He will be accompanied in Lourdes by the Church of England bishop with particular responsibility for chaplaincies in France, the Right Reverend David Hamid, the suffragan bishop of the Diocese in Europe. His visit follows that of Pope Benedict, who made a pilgrimage to the town last weekend.

It's no secret that the Archbishop of the Church of England is a Druid. The Druids venerate nature, the sun, trees and groves, hill tops, streams, lakes and plants. They are also involved in ritualistic human sacrifice. Some believe the Druids may have been responsible for the construction of Stonehenge, in Salisbury, England. It is thought that the ancient landmark may have been used to track the sun through the summer and winter solstices. Thousands of people still visit Stonehenge every year to celebrate these occasions. Some think that the site may have also witnessed its fair share of human sacrifices. Well today just happened to be the autumnal equinox, the day that falls directly between the summer and winter solstices. At this time of year the northern hemisphere experiences exactly the same amount of daylight hours as the southern hemisphere. And what better day to give Stonehenge a modern makeover? It seems that in honour of one Druid's visit to the Catholic shrine of Lourdes, England is about to get its own version...

Quote: "The findings do not conflict with other recent theories about the uses of Stonehenge -- which indicate that it was an astronomical observatory, a cemetery and the site of biannual celebrations that honoured the dead and the living. But they do suggest that the monument also was an ancient Lourdes where pilgrims congregated to have their wounds and illnesses magically healed. Stonehenge has "multiple meanings and multiple uses" that may have changed over the centuries, said archaeologist Mary Ann Owoc of Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pa., who was not involved in the new research. "To limit it to one is an error." The idea that the stones are not just building materials but have efficacy "is tremendously appealing as an idea," said archaeologist Julian Thomas of Manchester University, who also was not involved in the research. "The idea that they were brought there because they have some kind of power seems to me entirely plausible. But whether it is just about healing is another question."

Is it just a coincidence? A Druid representing the Church of England visits Lourdes? A Druidic monument gets a 'Lourdes makeover' on the day of the equinox? Perhaps it is just a coincidence. But there is no coincidence in that the same devil is behind all of it... The apparitions of Mary all over the world, the adoration of Mary, the 'miraculous healings' both at Lourdes and now apparently at Stonehenge, the 'lucky charms', the worship of nature and the human sacrifices... Personally I think the makeover on Stonehenge is just a cover-up designed to hide its dark past. Just as the apparition at Lourdes had the appearance of good, the beauty was just a veneer that served to hide a very different reality underneath. The Bible warns us in 2nd Corinthians 11:14-15 that Satan masquerades as an angel of light in order to deceive, and that it should be no marvel if his ministers use the same tactics. Regarding Rowan Williams and Lourdes, I can't think of any other words to say about this other than what God says in Revelation 18.

Revelation 18:4-5
And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.

I feel the thing is too far gone to merit commenting on. Make no mistake about it, judgement is coming. But what about you? As Christ said of the Pharisees, outwardly they are like whitewashed sepulchres, but inwardly they are full of dead men's bones (Matthew 23:27). Does that verse apply to you? Have you an outward veneer of good works, but inside you are still spiritually dead in trespasses and in sins (Ephesians 2:1)? Jesus Christ died for you. He bore God's wrath for your sins upon the cross. And God has promised that all who believe on Jesus Christ for salvation can have forgiveness of sins and everlasting life in heaven. Jesus Christ said all who believe on Him, out of their inward parts shall flow rivers of living water (John 7:37-39). Trust in Jesus Christ for salvation today.

Source Wales Online, Mary Pages, LA Times, APOD, BBC