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CRITICAL MOMENT IN MIDDLE EAST: IRAN AT FOCAL
POINT
ISRAEL TO U.S.: TIME IS RUNNING OUT TO THWART
IRAN
Israel urgently trying to convince the U.S. that
Iran is closer to passing
the nuclear threshold than Washington believes
In a series of consultations apparently aimed at
coordinating policies against the Iranian
nuclear threat, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud
Barak will head to the U.S. on Monday for talks
at the Pentagon, days after Mossad chief Meir
Dagan was in Washington for meetings with key
intelligence officials. A week after Barak's
visit, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi
Ashkenazi will head to Washington for his own
round of talks. Barak told a meeting of the
Labor Party faction: "Israel is the strongest
country in the region and we have proven in the
past that we are not deterred from acting when
our vital interests are at stake." A senior U.S.
official recently said there was a discrepancy
of six to 12 months between the time Israel
believed Iran would pass the nuclear point of no
return, and when the U.S. felt Teheran will have
mastered the nuclear cycle. (Jerusalem Post)
SURVIVAL OF ISRAEL MAY DEPEND ON PARTNERSHIP:
THE JEWISH STATE, THE U.S., ENGLAND AND EUROPE
Six decades on from its establishment, Israel
continues to fight for
its very existence and remains the most
persecuted nation
in modern history.
Ask the Lord to continue to fulfill this word:
"It shall come to pass in that day, that the
Lord shall set His hand again the second time to
recover the remnant of His people, which shall
be left . . . He shall set up an ensign for the
nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of
Israel, and gather together the dispersed of
Judah from the four corners of the earth."
(Isaiah 11:11-12)
If Israel is to survive another 60 years, it is
imperative that Israel, the United States, Great
Britain, and Europe confront the gathering storm
and stand up to the biggest state-based threat
to international security since the end of the
Cold War. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
has made clear his intentions.
Too often in the 20th century, world leaders
ignored statements made, only to watch in horror
as barbaric actions followed earlier threatening
rhetoric dismissed at the time as the words of a
madman.
Every effort must be made to increase the
pressure on Tehran through the Security Council
and European economic, military, and political
sanctions. Major European players such as
Germany hold critically important keys to
increasing the economic pressure on the Iranian
regime. Iran has in recent years derived roughly
35% of its total imports from the EU, and
Germany is Iran's biggest European trading
partner. (Heritage Foundation)
Be alert; stand firm in the faith; be valiant
and strong
- 1 Corinthians 16:13 NEB
You can never allow yourself a holiday from the
struggle against sin.
Satan is constantly battling for your soul. So
never tire of fighting the
good fight. Keep taking up the weapon of prayer
and faith. No battle,
no victory. The victor's crown goes the one who
is prepared to endure the battle.
- Excerpt from "More Precious Than Gold
More Precious Than Gold
M. Basilea Schlink
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- An excerpt from the book, "Under God" by Toby
Mac and Michael Tait.
A TIME FOR WAR
Peter Muhlenberg
January 21, 1776
Pastor Muhlenberg stood in the vestry of his
church, putting on his traditional pastoral
robes as he had on so many other Sunday
mornings. A sense of destiny filled the air
around him. This was the last time he would
enter his pulpit, the last time he would open
the Bible and share the words of life with his
congregation.
He knew what sermon he had to preach - yet he
knew that some of his people would not
understand or accept his position. He himself
had wrestled with it for months; how involved
should a Pastor be in the affairs of government?
Didn't Jesus say, "Render unto Caesar the things
that are Caesar's and unto God the things that
are God's." Would Christ get involved? Would He
run to the battle? It was hard to imagine Jesus
carrying a weapon. But it was equally hard to
imagine Him not taking a stand.
"To everything there is a season, and a time to
every purpose under heaven," Pastor Muhlenberg
proclaimed, reading from Ecclesiastes 3 . . . "a
time of war, and a time of peace." "It is a time
for war!" Pastor Muhlenberg declared. "And not
only in New England. War has come to Virginia!
The British have marched on our own city of
Williamsburg, seizing our supply of gunpowder
and munitions. Soldiers are entering private
homes, homes just like ours.
"It is time for war! 'We are only farmers,' you
may say. Patrick Henry has rallied five thousand
men - farmers just like you - to fight back and
drive the British out. It is time to act! Many
of us came to this country to practice our
religious freedoms. It is time to fight for our
freedoms that we hold so dear. It is time for
war! I am called by my country to its defense.
The cause is just and noble. I am convinced it
is my duty."
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LAST
MAJOR OIL COMPANY WITHDRAWS FROM IRAN
Total, the French oil giant, has decided to back
away from planned investments in Iran because of
political uncertainty. Total's withdrawal from
the country, including a planned huge gas
project in the South Pars gas field, makes it
the last major Western oil company to give up on
Iran amid pressure from Washington. Total is one
of the few companies in the world thought to
have the technology to exploit Iran's gas
reserves and the news is likely to come as a
serious blow to Tehran. It is now unlikely to be
able to boost its gas exports significantly
until late next decade at the earliest, (New
York Times, AFP/Daily Star-Lebanon 7/11/08)
IRAN'S ENRICHED URANIUM SUPPLY GROWING
Israelis, to whom Iran's nuclear program
represents a threat to
their existence, are coming to believe that the
time for
patient diplomacy is running out.
According to David Albright, one of the
most-heeded technical authorities on Iran's
program, the Iranians are producing 1.2
kilograms of enriched uranium a day on average,
which would give them enough for a bomb by late
2009. (In more technical terms, that means they
would have enough low-enriched uranium - about
700 kilograms - to enrich up to the 20 to 25
kilograms of weapons-grade needed for a crude
fission bomb by then.)
Both the Israelis and the Bush administration
have said that an Iranian nuclear weapon--Tehran
still says it has no intention of developing
one--is unacceptable. But there appears to be
increasing daylight between Washington, which is
eager to avoid military action, and Jerusalem,
which is reluctantly coming to the conclusion
that there may be no choice. And that's because,
frankly, nothing else seems to be working. So
the bleak bottom line is this: barring a loss of
nerve or political will by Israel, things seem
headed toward a war.
(Michael Hirsh, Newsweek 7/9/08)
PERSECUTION
OF CHRISTIANS IN IRAN INCREASING
Although foreign missions are not allowed to
enter Iran, many agencies are cooperating with
the existing church. As a result, as more
Muslims have become disillusioned by their
religion, a growing number have converted to
Christianity.
That often leads to more oppression.
Christians make up less than one-half of one
percent of the population and the persecution
has forced believers underground. Iran is
considering a change in their penal code that
would mandate the death penalty for apostasy
from Islam. In spite of that, officials at
many Christian ministries working to reach Iran
say they've been flooded by the increase in the
response from Iran.
Open Doors' Carl Moeller says that's why they
can't give up. "Organizations like Open Doors
that are committed to serving persecuted
believers within Iran find it more difficult to
do the things that we do. Let's just say that
the impact of increasing Bibles, and the
teaching and evangelism programming, is
profound." He urges prayer. "It is important
that we remember that it's a spiritual battle
and that we engage the forces of the enemy that
would seek to use these political pressures and
these tortures and these arrests to stop the
growth of the church. But when God moves, no
force on earth can stop it." (Christian
Telegraph 7/10/08)
IRAN FAKES MISSILE LAUNCH PICTURE AFTER MISFIRE
A picture from the Iranian news website Jamejam
clearly shows three airborne missiles and one
that has failed to take off. But a second image
released by the PR arm of the Revolutionary
Guard seems to have digitally wiped away the
embarrassing dud, replacing it with a fourth
successful launch, complete with billowing
clouds of exhaust and desert dust. Mark
Fitzpatrick of the International Institute of
Strategic Studies, said, "It's ironic - Iran
launches these missile tests to demonstrate
might, and instead what they demonstrate is
foolishness." "They come across as amateurs by
doctoring it. It's laughable." (Times-UK)
ISRAEL
FACING SEVERE WATER CRISIS
Lord God Almighty:
- Perform a miracle in this season and replenish
the water supply.
- Give the leadership wisdom to know how to meet
the water needs.
- May the people be responsible in the use of
their water.
- Fill the Sea of Galilee and the aquifers to
normal levels.
- May Israel trust in You and have vision for
their water demands now
and in the future. As You are bringing Your
people back to the land
they need water. (Intercessors for Israel
www.ifij.org)
Israel 's water
situation is facing "the worst crisis in 80
years," the head of the country's water
authority said. Uri Shani, the director of the
Israel Water Authority, said at a news
conference Tuesday that Israel's major sources
of drinking water, including the Sea of Galilee
and the mountain aquifer, are below their "red
lines," meaning they are not recommended to draw
water. He added that long-range weather forecast
predictions tell an equally grim story for next
year.
To alleviate the crisis, the Water Authority has
started to pump water from tributaries that
empty into the Sea of Galilee -- water that was
not expected to reach the sea or be used until
2010. Israel also is trying to step up its
production of desalinized water. New measures
this week will limit the amount of water that
can be used for gardening and nearly double the
price of water for gardening. (Jewish
Telegraphic Agency 7/8/08)
SUDAN LEADER TO BE CHARGED WITH GENOCIDE
The chief prosecutor of the International
Criminal Court will seek an arrest warrant
Monday for Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir,
charging him with genocide and crimes against
humanity for a campaign of violence that led to
the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians
in the Darfur region during the past five years.
The action by the prosecutor will mark the first
time that the tribunal in The Hague charges a
sitting head of state with such crimes. The
Sudanese government organized a local Arab
militia, known as the Janjaweed, and conducted a
brutal counterinsurgency campaign that has left
more than 300,000 people dead and has driven
more than two million more from their homes. The
Bush administration has accused the government
of genocide. (Wash Post 7/11/08)
U.K. DEFENSE LEADER: IRAQ HAS "TURNED A CORNER"
Pray that wisdom and strategy be granted to U.S.
commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan. Intercede
for Afghan President Hamid Karzai, the Afghan
government, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani
(Kurdish), Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki
(Shiite Muslim), the Parliament, and all
officials-that a form of good government that is
representative of all Iraqi and Afghan
socio-religious ethnic groups be established and
maintained. Intercede for all troops deployed
and for their families-for protection, good
health and morale. Intercede for all Christians
and churches in both countries. (1 Tim 2:2)
U.K. defense minister
Des Browne says Iraq has "turned a corner" as a
result of the surge strategy led by General
David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador Ryan
Crocker. Browne said Thursday that any decision
on transitioning Iraqi security control should
be based on conditions on the ground, rather
than on a preset timetable. "I'm no fan of
timelines in changing operational environments
like in Iraq or Afghanistan," Browne said,
echoing the U.S. position. Speaking at the
Brookings Institution, Browne offered upbeat
assessments on the situations in both Iraq and
Afghanistan. (AFP 7/10/08)
THE 2008 G8 SUMMIT: OUTCOMES FOR AFRICA
The ONE campaign is Americans of all beliefs and
every walk of life - united as ONE - to help
make poverty history. ONE has been on the ground
in Hokkaido, Japan, making sure leaders of the
G8 heard your voice as they gathered for their
annual summit this week. The result has been
mixed.
Before the summit, the Financial Times leaked
that the G8 may backtrack on their 2005
Gleneagles commitments to the world's poorest.
But thanks in no small part to a massive outcry
from around the world-over a million people in
190 countries, including nearly 200,000 ONE
members-they reaffirmed their promises.
Unfortunately, reaffirming their promises
doesn't address the fact that their commitments
are not being backed up by money. Germany, the
UK, and the U.S. are doing well in delivering
their part, but the other countries are lagging
behind, and dragging down the group as a whole.
To learn more,
check out the analysis from the G8 summit on the
ONE Blog
CALIFORNIA
FIRES PERSIST
Crews across state strain to cover hundreds of
blazes.
Fire crews across California have been straining
to cover hundreds of wildfires that have burned
more than 1,000 square miles and destroyed
nearly 100 homes since a lightning storm ignited
most of them more than two weeks ago. Some 1,450
fires had been contained Wednesday, but more
than 320 still were active, authorities said.
Firefighters faced a sudden drop in humidity and
triple-digit temperatures amid a heat wave that
was expected to last until the weekend. At least
six firefighters were treated for heat
exhaustion Wednesday. (CBS News 7/11/08) |
