PROPHESY NEWS WATCH

The Challenge Of Pastoral Burnout
It is estimated that this year, thousands will leave the ministry, burned out and hurting - from big and small churches, growing and stagnant ones. When famous Pastors quit, their successes and failures are amplified.
The office of a pastor is high, noble and holy calling, much respected within Christendom. Due to their function in the church, pastors are perhaps the most visible among the five-fold ministry that also comprises apostles, prophets, evangelists and teachers.  
The pastor is perceived to enjoy closer fellowship with God, greater hope of eternal rewards, and many blessings through service and spiritual strength. 
Despite holding such an historically revered and even enviable position, pastors are throwing in the towel in seemingly unprecedented numbers.
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One of the latest examples is that of megachurch Pastor, Pete Wilson, who resigned from Nashville's Cross Point Church saying he is "tired and broken,"  or simply burned out. 
Cross Point now has over 7,000 attendees every week, at multiple locations, and is continuing to grow. Wilson, however, announced to his congregation that he is burned out and would be resigning.
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Many Concerned Obama 'Wont Have Israel's Back' at UN After November Election
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There is significant bipartisan concern in Washington that President Barack Obama "won't have Israel's back" at the United Nations following the election of his successor in November, a prominent Middle East expert told The Algemeiner on Tuesday.
Clifford D. May, president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank, spoke with The Algemeiner a day after 88 US senators sent a letter to Obama urging him to veto any one-sided resolutions regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict during the remainder of his time in office.
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The letter, which was organized by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), made "very telling points," May told The Algemeiner.
"A one-sided UN Security Council resolution would be damaging not just to Israel, but to any possibility of peace in the near future," May warned.
He further explained, "I think it's fairly obvious at this point that the UN is egregiously prejudiced against Israel. And what you don't want to see is something like what the French have been discussing -- mandated negotiations, and if those negotiations fail to produce fruit, the Palestinians would be rewarded. That would assure that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas would not make any concessions."
In his final address to the UN General Assembly last week, Obama said, "Israelis and Palestinians will be better off if Palestinians reject incitement and recognize the legitimacy of Israel, but Israel recognizes that it cannot permanently occupy and settle Palestinian land."
May noted that those words would "probably feed into the concern that exists that after the election Obama will take actions that will tie the hands of the next president."
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The Truth About Israel's Christian Minority
The Christian society is one of the successful minorities in Israel. There are people in high positions in education, in hospitals, courts - everywhere you look you will find a Christian in a high position. They are a quiet yet successful community, and they are not speaking out enough.
In the Gatestone Institute's August report on Christian persecution, Raymond Ibrahim described the brutal, rampant and global Islamic persecution of Christians and other minorities, including violations of religious freedom, harassment, detention, torture and executions. 
The accounts are too abundant and tragic to list in full, as many involve gruesome persecution, murder, and rape happening in Eritrea, Iran, Syria, Iraq, Uganda, Bangladesh, Congo, Philippines, Egypt, Tanzania, Pakistan, Germany, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Nigeria. 
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Ibrahim concluded, "Such Muslim persecution is not random but rather systematic, and takes place in all languages, ethnicities and locations."
Such was Jonathan Elkhoury's conclusion when he spoke last week at the Jerusalem Salon, an organization bringing English lectures and discussions to Jerusalem, about his experience fleeing from the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah's rule in Lebanon. 
Elkhoury fled to Israel with family after his father, a former South Lebanon Army (SLA) officer, had to leave his homeland during Israel's withdrawal in May 2000.
Now that he's found safe refuge in Israel, Elkhoury writes and talks about the situation of Israeli Christians and minorities to various audiences and advocates for the Christian Empowerment Council (CEC) in Israel. 
Elkoury concludes that to improve the life of Christians everywhere, Israeli Christians should speak out about their positive experiences as minorities in the Jewish state. 
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Why Do Kids Leave the Church? Don't Forget Bad Theology!
There is a vital component often left out of the discussions over why kids leave the church--the influence of theology. In my experience, there is often a faulty theological view driving why kids disengage the church (and many times their faith).
There has been a lot of talk recently about why kids leave the church, including this recent post by Bishop Robert Barron, and books such as You Lost Me (Kinnaman) and Sticky Faith (Kara Powell and Chap Clark). These authors, and many others, rightly point out that issues are complex and can involve a number of different factors (moral, volitional, emotional, relational, intellectual, etc.).
And yet there is a component often left out of these discussions--the influence of theology--that is so often at the heart of why kids leave the church. In my experience, there is often a faulty theological view driving why kids disengage the church (and many times their faith). Consider three examples:
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1. Misunderstanding the nature of man: Recently I was speaking at a youth group in southern California, not far from where I live. After the service, a college student, who described himself as a former Christian, wanted to discuss the "Problem of Hell." 
We talked for nearly 45 minutes and he raised the standard objections against the justice of Hell: How could a loving God send someone to Hell? How can a finite sin warrant an eternal punishment? How can people enjoy Heaven knowing their loved ones are in Hell? I did my best to respond with both kindness and truth (and by the way, most of my apologetics points were borrowed from C.S. Lewis!).
After our talk, it seemed that I had made almost no "dent" with his questions. He still thought God was a moral monster. And then it dawned on me: His problem was that he saw human being as basically good. If humans are basically good, and simply commit a few "sins" in their lifetime, as he believed, then Hell does seem like overkill. 
Moreover, Hell can only begin to make sense when we grasp the biblical view of mankind--that we are made in God's image with infinite dignity, value, and worth, but our natures have been deeply corrupted because of sin (See Romans 3:9-18; John 2:24; Mark 7:14-23). An unbiblical view of the nature of man was at the heart of his rejection of the faith.
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Obama's Final UN Speech Promotes A 'Liberal World Order' And A Palestinian State
During Barack Obama's eighth and final address to the United Nations he let his true colors show. He staunchly defended globalism, he took several not very subtle shots at Donald Trump, and he boldly declared that Israel "cannot permanently occupy and settle Palestinian land".
During Barack Obama's eighth and final address to the United Nations he let his true colors show. He staunchly defended globalism, he took several not very subtle shots at Donald Trump, and he boldly declared that Israel "cannot permanently occupy and settle Palestinian land". 
That statement about "Palestinian land" was extremely alarming to many, because there are indications that Obama may decide to support a UN Security Council resolution that establishes the parameters for a Palestinian state during his final months in the White House. 
Barack Obama has promised to squeeze every ounce of "change" out of the remainder of his term that he possibly can, and his last UN speech showed what is on his heart at this moment.
According to the Washington Post, Obama's final UN address represented "an impassioned plea on behalf of a liberal world order"...
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Time To Face The True State Of The Middle Class In America
As the middle class has shrunk and the cost of living has increased, a lot of people have decided to quite literally "live on the road". Whether it is a car, a truck, a van, a bus or an RV, an increasing number of Americans are using their vehicles as their homes.
Do you remember the old Saturday Night Live sketches in which comedian Chris Farley portrayed a motivational speaker that lived in a van down by the river?  Unfortunately, this is becoming a reality for way too many Americans.  As the middle class has shrunk and the cost of living has increased, a lot of people have decided to quite literally "live on the road".  
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Whether it is a car, a truck, a van, a bus or an RV, an increasing number of Americans are using their vehicles as their homes.  Just recently, someone that I know took a trip down the west coast of the United States and stayed at a number of campgrounds along the way.  
What she discovered was that a lot of people were actually living at these campgrounds.  Of course there are some that actually prefer that lifestyle, but many others are doing it out of necessity.
Earlier this week, Circa.com posted a story about "the van life".  One of the individuals that they featured was a recent graduate of the University of Southern California named Stephen Hutchins.  Without much of an income at the moment, he decided that the best way to cut expenses was to live in his van...
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Drone Wars: Only The Beginning
As of early this year, the number of countries that employ surveillance drones stood at 78 and those that have equipped their drones with weapons is now at least 21, with 7 of those countries actively using those drones in combat operations.
Perhaps the greatest revolution in warfare over the past decade and a half has been the proliferation of armed drones in combat, but in recent years the use of these lethal robots has quickly moved from the sole possession of the United States and into the hands of poorer countries, despotic regimes and now even terrorist groups. 
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As of early this year, the number of countries that employ surveillance drones stood at 78 and those that have equipped their drones with weapons is now at least 21, with 7 of those countries actively using those drones in combat operations.

The combat drone is a weapon unlike most other tools of warfare because it allows the soldier to be separated from the battlefield. Armed drones allow a nation to engage in combat operations without putting its own soldiers in harm's way. Removing domestic casualties from the equation lowers the chance for political opposition to war since it virtually eliminates the consequences that politicians would normally face. 
The act of killing through a video monitor has also been shown to take a toll on the drone pilots that struggle with feelings of disassociation in the act of killing that is both real and artificial. And then there are the errors. Even in the hands of the United States, drones have resulted in a collateral damage rate of 9.5% when comparing intended kills with civilian deaths.
The newest country to receive drones is Saudi Arabia. The United States has refused to sell to its ally, despite supplying the kingdom with $60 billion in military equipment since 2010, including F-16 fighters. The sticking point for the United States in its dealing with Saudi Arabia is the dirty war it is currently waging in Yemen and the potential for drones to worsen the slaughter. 
Thousands of civilians have been bombed and numerous historical sites destroyed in their campaign to stamp out Shia rebels in Yemen. The Saudi kingdom has expressed its interest in obtaining lethal drone technology for at least the past six years and now it has found a vendor in the Chinese government.
The Chinese-made Pterodactyl drone is an armed autonomous flying robot that is about 30 feet long and that looks strikingly like the Predator and Reaper drones from the United States, yet with less sophisticated technology. 
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The Dictatorship of Relativism: Absurdity Reigns--For Now
No--you haven't lost your mind. Things really are crazy out there. And you can thank something called the dictatorship of relativism.
Does it kind of feel like folks have lost their minds?  That we've taken a collective walk through the looking glass and nothing is logical, nothing really makes sense? 
That you can look people square in the eye, assert a scientific, biological fact such as "if you have an x and a y chromosome and you have male sexual organs, then you are not a woman," only to have them accuse you of being a hater or on the wrong side of history
Or take abortion. Even some of the staunchest abortion supporters admit a fetus is a baby is a human being. But that doesn't matter, because a woman has a right to do what she wants "with her own body."
It's sort of kooky. How have we reached this level of absurdity?
Well, as I explain in a recent article at Intercollegiate Review, welcome to "the dictatorship of relativism," which, as Pope Benedict said, "does not recognize anything as for certain and which has as its highest goal one's own ego and one's own desires."
I first encountered this kind of pervasive relativism as an undergraduate at Yale. I came from a working-class background, I actually believed in the truth, that it was beautiful, and worth living for and even dying for.
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Critical Year For Israel As UN Bias Expected To Continue
As the United Nations begins it's 71st General Assembly in New York City, Israel is preparing itself for another round of attacks. There is no other nation on Earth as vilified in the United Nations as Israel.
Many fear the Security Council this year will push through a resolution setting territorial parameters, and a deadline, for the creation of a Palestinian state.
President Obama has hinted that in the final months of his term, he may reverse the traditional U.S. policy of vetoing such resolutions. Some have even suggested the recent military aid deal formalized by the United States and Israel is part of that plan by using a carrot and stick mentality.  
The US has given Israel the military assistance carrot but will now allow the stick to fall at the UN by not protecting it from a hostile world body. 
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New China Banking Crisis Could Rock Global Financial System
The pinnacle of the global financial system is warning that conditions are right for a "full-blown banking crisis" in China. At this point the total value of all outstanding loans in China has hit a grand total of more than 28 trillion dollars. That is essentially equivalent to the commercial banking systems of the United States and Japan combined.
The pinnacle of the global financial system is warning that conditions are right for a "full-blown banking crisis" in China.  Since the last financial crisis, there has been a credit boom in China that is really unprecedented in world history.  At this point the total value of all outstanding loans in China has hit a grand total of more than 28 trillion dollars.  
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That is essentially equivalent to the commercial banking systems of the United States and Japan combined.  While it is true that government debt is under control in China, corporate debt is now 171 percent of GDP, and it is only a matter of time before that debt bubble horribly bursts.  
The situation in China has already grown so dire that the Bank for International Settlements is sounding the alarm...
A key gauge of credit vulnerability is now three times over the danger threshold and has continued to deteriorate, despite pledges by Chinese premier Li Keqiang to wean the economy off debt-driven growth before it is too late.
The Bank for International Settlements warned in its quarterly report that China's "credit to GDP gap" has reached 30.1, the highest to date and in a different league altogether from any other major country tracked by the institution. It is also significantly higher than the scores in East Asia's speculative boom on 1997 or in the US subprime bubble before the Lehman crisis.
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What Will Israel's Next War Look Like?
With multiple enemies training hundreds of thousands of missiles and rockets on Israel's cities and towns, the Israeli Defense Force recently presented a next new war scenario to the Security Cabinet.
Of the estimated 230,000 weapons focused on Israel, the IDF predicts more than 10,000 direct hits in populated Jewish areas resulting in upwards of 400 fatalities, according to Israel National News. 
In its presentation to the Security Council, the IDF's very real war scenario highlights the possible aggressions by Islamic terror groups from the Gaza Strip, both Syrian and Iranian armed forces, as well as Hezbollah in Lebanon. The army is making ready for a potential mass confrontation on multiple fronts. 
Such an assault on the Israeli citizenry would come from large, sustained rocket and missile attacks that would blanket the country from the northern Haifa region to the south coast and would expose much of the population to direct strikes on buildings.
Although many projectiles are expected to land in open spaces, at least one percent of all launched weapons would devastate urban and suburban populations and cause hundreds of civilian casualties.
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Palestinian 'Ethnic-Cleansing' Mob In Action
Talk about bad timing for the Palestinian PR machine. Just as the Palestinian Authority seemed to have Israel's prime minister on the defensive over his "ethnic cleansing" remark, wouldn't you know it - two young Jewish women accidentally drove into the Palestinian Arab city of Tulkarm this week, and a Palestinian ethnic cleansing mob immediately tried to murder them.
Granted, the two women were wearing Israeli army uniforms. But so what? The US State Department and J Street are always telling us that the average Palestinian is moderate and wants to live in peace with Israelis. Why should the mere sight of an IDF uniform on a young woman fill them with murderous rage?
The two women weren't establishing a Jewish settlement in Tulkarm. They weren't massacring Palestinians. They weren't oppressing anyone or implementing an apartheid regime. In fact, there hasn't been an Israeli military government ruling Tulkarm since 1995. The Palestinian Authority has been the "occupier" there for the last 21 years.
The two young women weren't on patrol or brandishing their weapons. They weren't a brigade of combat soldiers in full gear. They were obviously just two young women driving by. Any rational person would have understood that they innocently took a wrong turn. The Palestinians' response, however, was anything but rational: a mob immediately surrounded the car and tried to stone the women to death.
Think about the circumstances. The entire episode played out over a matter of minutes, at most. There wasn't time to organize a demonstration. There wasn't time to gather politically-minded folk from various parts of Tulkarm. 
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Church Apostasy Grows Worldwide
With virtually every passing day, it's becoming clearer and clearer that the Christian church worldwide is faced with a serious moral decline and seems to be losing the battle to retain its purity and integrity
One of the persistent areas of concern is the acceptance and celebration of homosexuality in the church.
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A recent wnd.com report by Bob Unruh noted that Biola University, once considered one of the most conservative evangelical Christian universities in the nation, has announced the creation of a "purposeful, community-focused program" for students with same-sex attractions.
The Web page for the new program, called Sustinere, explains that students with same-sex attractions typically don't feel free to talk about their experiences and feel unsupported in their community.
The program "will seek to provide a caring and supportive community where students can journey together to live authentically and lovingly with same-sex sexual attractions, orientations, and identities."
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=669#k02rZQpLP6AagXDB.99.


Christianity and Islam
In Hungary, Croatia, and elsewhere in Eastern Europe, a pro-family, pro-life revolution and a rediscovery of Christian roots is occurring. Like it or not, the last chance to save Europe's roots might well come from the former communist members of the EU -- those who defeated the Ottomans in 1699 and now feel culturally threatened by their heirs.
Austria's fate is now at stake.

Perhaps it was a coincidence that Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, Archbishop of Vienna and tipped to be the next Pope, chose September 12, the anniversary of the Siege of Vienna, when Turkey's Ottoman troops nearly conquered Europe, to deliver a most dramatic appeal to save Europe's Christian roots.
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"Many Muslims want and say that 'Europe is finished'," Cardinal Schönborn said, before accusing Europe of "forgetting its Christian identity." He then denounced the possibility of "an Islamic conquest of Europe."
Konrad Pesendorfer, head of the Austrian Office of Statistics, said that by 2030, 40% of the population of Vienna will be foreign-born, thanks to internal demography and migration flows (60,000 arrivals in just one year).
Since the fall of Constantinople in 1453, much of Eastern Europe's Christian population spent centuries under Islamic occupation, particularly under the Ottomans. It now seems that the clock has reverted to 1683, when Ottoman armies were at the gates of Vienna.
It is not a coincidence that the fierce resistance of Eastern Europeans has been the main impediment to a unified response by the European Union to the migrant crisis. It was these Eastern states that forced German Chancellor Angela Merkel to halt the massive flux of migrants. Today, where there is no border, migrants keep coming en masse. In August alone, 23,000 migrants arrived in Italy.
Brussels is whipping up a propaganda war to cast the Western Europeans, who favor unvetted Muslim migration, as cosmopolitan and tolerant, and Eastern Europeans as a bunch of xenophobic bigots, if not outright neo-Nazis.
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Canada Refuses To Confront Islamist Views Spreading Through Schools
The government of Canada has been calling for greater work towards identifying the causes of extremism and radicalization in Canada. One source of extremism is clearly in educational institutions. If the government of Canada is truly serious about attacking extremism in Canada, then having a national level investigation into educational institutions would be a good place to start.
Muslim children need to be stronger so they "won't get mixed with the moral degeneration of the Canadian community." At least this is the view of a teacher who explains why an Ottawa Islamic school uses the textbooks it does to keep Muslim youth firmly in the Sunni (Islamist) camp. At York University in Toronto, the Muslim Student Association has handed out literature that says beating a wife is permissible and that some wives will enjoy the beating.
These examples serve to highlight the many other instances of what is being taught in Ontario schools under current provincial Premier Kathleen Wynne and national leader Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Lovers of Death
Young Muslims of Canada, based in Mississauga, is an offshoot of the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), which has offices in Canada and the USA. Its website, aimed at young Muslims, tells them that they should: "Prepare for jihad and be the lovers of death. Life itself shall come searching after you."
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Fresh Wave Of Terror Attacks In America: Fears Of More To Come
New York City, New Jersey and Minnesota were all hit by terror attacks within a 24 hour time period, and authorities are concerned that this may be the start of a fresh wave of terrorism in this country.
New York City, New Jersey and Minnesota were all hit by terror attacks within a 24 hour time period, and authorities are concerned that this may be the start of a fresh wave of terrorism in this country. 

Those that conduct acts of terror do so because they want to create fear and because they want attention. All three of these attacks accomplished those goals, but in particular the bombing in New York City's thriving Chelsea neighborhood instantly captured the attention of the entire nation. 
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The following is how USA Today described the attack...
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A Palestinian State Cometh: UN Secretary-General Calls For Imminent Action
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has harshly criticized Israeli settlements in the West Bank and is calling for urgent action to save "the two state solution". He insists that Israeli settlements in the West Bank "are illegal under international law" and he told reporters that the "occupation" of Palestinian-controlled territories "must end".
These comments represent perhaps the strongest statements that any UN Secretary-General has ever made against Israel, and they come at a very ominous time. As I detailed just a few days ago, there is a major push to try to get some sort of UN Security Council resolution on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict before Barack Obama leaves office. 

As you will see below, this is something that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon obviously endorses.
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Those that are hoping for a "two state solution" know that fresh negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians are not likely to happen any time in the near future. So if the "peace process" is going to move forward, it is going to have to happen at the United Nations.
Ban Ki-moon is among those that are desperate to try to save the "two state solution", and as the UN begins a new annual session this week he is urging imminent action. The following comes from the official UN website...

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Churches Forced To Confront Transgender Agenda
The 'transgender agenda' has evolved and is spreading to the point where it is now a very real threat to Christian believers, churches, and ministries in the United States. It is becoming so woven into law and social fabric that those refusing to pander to their value systems now face some very real legal and licensing risks.
WND.com previously reported on the issue in Iowa in a report by Bob Unruh. There, a church sued the state in federal court, demanding that officials withdraw their threats of prosecution because of the content of the church's sermons, specifically what is said about homosexuality, same-sex "marriage," transgenderism and other related topics.

Most recently, Unruh  has further reported about orders for public building managers, for colleges and even for public schools to allow a male who says he's female to use locker rooms and restrooms set aside for women. The privacy and feelings of the biological females who are in those facilities are of no account.

Now a second state has decided that churches, too, are bound by the agenda. The Massachusetts Commission against Discrimination this month released a "Gender Identity Guidance" that imposes its demands on society.

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Why Is The Worlds Most Prosperous Nation So Depressed?.
The United States is the third most depressed country in the world according to new figures released by the World Health Organization. The US trailed only India and China while Germany, which came in 10th, was the only other Western nation to feature in the top 10.  
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The figures may be skewed slightly due to under reporting in some poorer nations, experts warn that the reason America ranked so highly is likely due to certain factors which aren't as prevalent in some other nations.
 
Americans are under constant pressure to maintain a stable job, raise a successful family and pursue the 'Great American Dream'. This constant pressure seems to be taking its toll on their  mental health.  In some other nations, even ones with significantly lower living standards, the pressure to be successful simply isnt as intense and this may be why they have lower rates of mental illness. 

Part of the problem may also be attributed to lack of treatment. According to the National Alliance on Mental Health, 1 in 5 Americans will experience some form of mental illness every year but less than half of those who do will receive any form of treatment. This is likely due to the stigma which still surrounds mental health issues, making people hes

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PROPHESY NEWS WATCH

Obama Plans To Bring In Four Times As Many Syrian Refugees In 2017
In 2016, approximately 10,000 Syrian refugees were brought into the United States, but in 2017 that number could skyrocket to 40,000 under Barack Obama's new plan.
Obama says that we must play our part in taking in those displaced by the ongoing Syrian civil war, but Republicans in Congress are outraged by this announcement and remain deeply concerned that there are terrorists among the refugees that are being brought in. 
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The Obama administration insists that all refugees are being subjected to rigorous screening, but his critics are quite skeptical. Coming out of the midst of a five year civil war, documentation is scarce for many of these refugees, and there aren't too many people that you can call over there that can serve as a solid reference at this point.
According to USA Today, the total number of refugees worldwide that will be brought in next year is scheduled to rise by 29 percent under Obama's new plan...
The White House plans to sharply increase the number of refugees accepted by the United States to 110,000 in the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, saying the move is necessary to help stem a migrant crisis gripping Europe and the Middle East.
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Venezuela's "Death Spiral" - A Warning To America's Socialists
For many Venezuelans, by every economic, social and political measure, their nation is unraveling at breakneck speed. Severe shortages of food, clean water, electricity and medicines punctuate a dire scenario of crime-ridden streets in this nearly failed OPEC state, which at one time claimed to be the most prosperous nation in Latin America.
For many Venezuelans, by every economic, social and political measure, their nation is unraveling at breakneck speed.

Severe shortages of food, clean water, electricity, medicines and hospital supplies punctuate a dire scenario of crime-ridden streets in the impoverished neighborhoods of this nearly failed OPEC state, which at one time claimed to be the most prosperous nation in Latin America.
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Today, a once comfortable middle-class Venezuelan father is scrambling desperately to find his family's next meal -- sometimes hunting through garbage for salvageable food. The unfortunate 75% majority of Venezuelans already suffering extreme poverty are reportedly verging on starvation.

Darkness is falling on Hugo Chavez's once-famous "Bolivarian revolution" that some policy experts, only a short time ago, thought would never end.
In a 2007 study on the Chavez years for the Washington, DC-based Center for Economic and Policy Research, Mark Weisbrot and Luis Sandoval wrote:

"At present it does not appear that the current economic expansion is about to end any time in the near future. The gains in poverty reduction, employment, education and health care that have occurred in the last few years are likely to continue along with the expansion."
While it was not so long ago that many people heralded Venezuela as Latin America's successful utopian Socialist experiment, something has gone dreadfully wrong as the revolution's Marxist founder, Hugo Chavez, turned his Chavismo dream into an economic nightmare of unimaginable proportions.

The question of whether Socialism can be an effective economic system was famously raised when Margaret Thatcher said of the British Labor Party:
"I think they've made the biggest financial mess that any government's ever made in this country for a very long time, and Socialist governments traditionally do make a financial mess. They always run out of other people's money. It's quite a characteristic of them. 

They then start to nationalise everything, and people just do not like more and more nationalisation, and they're now trying to control everything by other means."
In short: "The trouble with Socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money."
When President Nicolas Maduro inherited the Venezuelan Socialist "dream", in April of 2013, just one month after Chavez died, he was facing a mere 53% inflation rate. 
Today the Venezuelan bolivar is virtually worthless, and inflation is creeping to 500% with expectations of much more. A recent Washington Post report stated:
" ...markets expect Venezuela to default on its debt in the very near future. The country is basically bankrupt. It is not easy for a nation to go bankrupt with the largest oil reserves in the world, but Venezuela has managed it. How? 
Well, a combination of bad luck and worse policies. The first step was when Hugo Chávez's socialist government started spending more money on the poor, with everything from two-cent gasoline to free housing. That may all seem like it's a good idea in general  but only as long as there's money to spend. And by 2005 or so, Venezuela didn't have any."
Chavez had the good fortune to die just before the grim reaper showed up on Venezuela's doorstep. According to policy specialist Jose Cardenas:
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=654#oI2j3pALweVehLg3.99


Euthanasia Practices Continue To Spread Worldwide
In the decade after Belgium legalized doctor-assisted death, the number of patients using it to end their lives rose 800%, according to records of the national euthanasia control committee. Critics of Belgium's law believe the law sends the wrong message about of the value of life and that the law is effecting the country's most vulnerable.
This week came the disturbing news out of Rio that one of the Belgian Paralympians is considering suicide after the Paralympics are over. The athlete in question,  Marieke Vervoort, has since denied she has any plans to end her life even though she does say she has her euthanasia papers "in hand". 
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Euthanasia has been legal in Belgium since 2002 when it became only the second country in the world to legalize assisted dying. To be eligible for euthanasia in Belgium, the law does not require that a patient be terminal, only that they are experiencing unbearable physical suffering. That's why Marieke Vervoort, who suffers from a painful degenerative spinal condition is eligible. 
She claims that euthanasia being legal allows her to keep living in peace knowing that she can end her life when she is ready.  In a media conference she claimed that she "would have committed suicide" had it not been for the fact that euthanasia was a possibility.

In tHe decade after Belgium legalized doctor-assisted death, the number of patients using it to end their lives rose 800%, according to records of the national euthanasia control committee. 
Critics of Belgium's law believe the law sends the wrong message about of the value of life and that the law is effecting the country's most vulnerable.  In 2013 Belgium extended their euthanasia laws to also include children, despite proponents earlier saying that it would never apply to children.
Just last year it emerged that a woman suffering from 'suicidal thoughts' had been given the green light to end her own life despite suffering no physical illness. While the law is meant to prevent euthanasia in such cases, critics argue that increasingly the safeguards are being openly ignored.
The renewed focus on euthanasia comes at a time when the practice is rapidly spreading across the world. The Netherlands, Belgium, Colombia and Luxemburg have legalized euthanasia while in Switzerland, Germany, Japan and Canada, doctor-assisted suicide, where patients take the final action themselves, is legal. Australia is currently considering legislation which would legalize euthanasia in the coming weeks as well. 
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=653#GXfjCL3kwGTBYrDL.99


Less Than Third of American Millennials Able to Identify Israel on Map
Less than one-third of US-educated millennials are able to identify Israel on a map, a new survey has found.
According to the joint study  titled What College-Aged Students Know About the World: A Survey on Global Literacy  conducted by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and National Geographic, a mere 31 percent of respondents knew the location of Israel on a map of the Middle East.

Close to 50% were able to locate Iraq and Iran on a map, with 61% able to identify Saudi Arabia.

A small number of respondents  29%  were able to identify Indonesia and its distinction as the country with the largest majority Muslim population in the world.

CFR and National Geographic concluded that the survey revealed significant gaps between what young people understand about todays world and what they need to know to successfully navigate and compete in it.
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The average score of respondents was only 55% correct, the report said. Just 29% of respondents earned a minimal pass  66% correct or better. Just over one percent&earned an A, 91% or higher.

The survey was conducted online and is based on responses of 1,203 participants aged 18 to 26 who currently attend or have recently attended a two or four-year college or university in the US.

Originally published at Algemeiner.com - reposted with permission.
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=652#GAT8zBUhqQoWWPtQ.99

Why You Should Be Paying Attention to America's Quiet War on Cash
A new war on cash is being waged that threatens freedom in a more subversive way than ever before.
Banks and governments around the world are cracking down on the use of paper money, and in turn, eliminating any anonymity left in the current system. Through strict rules on cash transactions and civil asset forfeiture laws, for example, the system has already instituted penalties for using cash.
 But as payments evolve into a purely digital network, the consequences of this new paradigm are being brought into the spotlight.
The ability to track, record, and mediate transactions of all individuals is a power dictators throughout history could have only dreamed of. Those who value privacy are turning to alternatives like cash, cryptocurrencies, and precious metals, but these directly threaten central bank dominance. 
This ongoing tug-of-war in financial innovation will determine whether we enter an age of individual empowerment or centralized enslavement.
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=646#OfBgSRT0tcv41pPH.99




Germany Readies Internal War On Terror, Prepares For Terror Attacks
    
There have been several alarming developments in Germany over the past few weeks. For the first time since the end of the Cold War, the German government has told its citizens to begin stockpiling food and water. 

And not long after announcing that, the government suggested that they may bring back the draft, which was abolished in 2011 after it was deemed to be archaic and unnecessary.

Initially the government was reluctant to bluntly spell out exactly why they wanted to bring back conscription or why their citizens should start stockpiling necessities. But based on some of the reports that have come from the German government since then, it's obvious that they're preparing terrorist attacks. 
And not the kind of run of the mill attacks that Germany has seen over the summer. It seems like Germany is preparing for the kind of terror attacks that could break down their society.
For instance, the German military admitted in August that dozens of Islamic extremists had infiltrated the armed forces. However, that's nothing compared to what Germany's interior minister recently admitted.

Speaking in an interview with Bild newspaper, Thomas de Maiziere said there were currently at least 520 "potential attackers" in the country, which has been on edge since two Islamic State-inspired attacks in July.
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=645#CmBscQxLLBMrLvXF.99


America's Homeless Tent Cities Are Booming
Just like during the last economic crisis, homeless encampments are popping up all over the nation as poverty grows at a very alarming rate.
According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, more than half a million people are homeless in America right now, but that figure is increasing by the day.  And it isn't just adults that we are talking about.  

It has been reported that that the number of homeless children in this country has risen by 60 percent since the last recession, and Poverty USA says that a total of 1.6 million children slept either in a homeless shelter or in some other form of emergency housing at some point last year.  
Yes, the stock market may have been experiencing a temporary boom for the last couple of years, but for those on the low end of the economic scale things have just continued to deteriorate.
Tonight, countless numbers of homeless people will try to make it through another chilly night in large tent cities that have been established in the heart of major cities such as Seattle, Washington, D.C. and St. Louis.  Homelessness has gotten so bad in California that the L.A. City Council has formally asked Governor Jerry Brown to officially declare a state of emergency.   
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=644#sByrxG6bZDcDbTUq.99


Health of Candidates Prompt Scrutiny of Running Mates' Views on Israel
In the event of a health crisis during an election, a presidential candidate's running mate does not automatically stand in his or her stead. However, it seems likely that the leaders of each party would indeed choose their vice presidential nominee as their new standard-bearer.
With questions surrounding the health of both presidential candidates in the spotlight, the positions of their running mates on Israel are attracting fresh scrutiny from the Jewish community.

Hillary Clinton's medical episode at the 9/11 memorial, which her doctor has said was due to pneumonia, highlighted the candidate's previous health problems, while the refusal of both Clinton and Donald Trump to release their full medical records fuels media speculation about the physical fitness of whoever will be America's next commander-in-chief.

These concerns have led to a renewed look at the policies and opinions of their vice presidential picks -- and potential successors.

"I think of this as the Horace Greeley conundrum," Professor Gil Troy of McGill University told JNS.org. While no presidential candidate has ever died or been incapacitated in the middle of a race, Greeley -- the 1872 nominee of the Liberal Republican party -- came close: he passed away only weeks after election day, and before the Electoral College had balloted. 
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=643#sZuhrgyPxcJmvvRp.99


Palestinians Race To Get UN Security Resolution Before Obama Leaves Office
A little more than four months from now Barack Obama's time in the White House is scheduled to end, and the Palestinians know that their best chance of getting a UN Security Council resolution addressing their conflict with Israel is rapidly slipping away.
A little more than four months from now Barack Obama's time in the White House is scheduled to end, and the Palestinians know that their best chance of getting a UN Security Council resolution addressing their conflict with Israel is rapidly slipping away. 

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are both greatly wooing the Jewish vote, and they both are making very strong pro-Israel statements these days. 

To many of you it probably isn't a surprise that the Palestinians are not exactly thrilled with the prospect of a Trump presidency, but the truth is that they are very leery of Clinton as well.  

At this point the Palestinians are pretty much convinced that any action at the UN Security Council must happen while Barack Obama still holds the reigns of power, and so they are in a race against time.

At a minimum, the Palestinians would like a UN Security Council resolution condemning any new Jewish settlement activity in the West Bank. And that is precisely what they are pushing very hard for right now...
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=650#2zaS6KhKKLRLSa08.99


European Leaders Discuss Plan For European Army

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News Image BY SOEREN KERN/GATESTONE INSTITUTE SEPTEMBER 15, 2016
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European leaders are discussing "far-reaching proposals" to build a pan-European military, according to a French defense ministry document leaked to the German newspaper, the Süddeutsche Zeitung.

The efforts are part of plans to relaunch the European Union at celebrations in Rome next March marking the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, which established the European Community.

The document confirms rumors that European officials are rushing ahead with defense integration now that Britain - the leading military power in Europe - will be exiting the 28-member European Union.

British leaders have repeatedly blocked efforts to create a European army because of concerns that it would undermine the NATO alliance, the primary defense structure in Europe since 1949.

Proponents of European defense integration argue that it is needed to counter growing security threats and would save billions of euros in duplication between countries.

Critics say that the creation of a European army, a long-held goal (see Appendix below) of European federalists, would entail an unprecedented transfer of sovereignty from European nation states to unelected bureaucrats in Brussels, the de facto capital of the EU.

Others say that efforts to move forward on European defense integration show that European leaders have learned little from Brexit  the June 23 decision by British voters to leave the EU  and are determined to continue their quest to build a European superstate regardless of opposition from large segments of the European public.

The Süddeutsche Zeitung reported that it had obtained a copy of a six-page position paper, jointly written by French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and his German counterpart, Ursula von der Leyen. The document calls for the establishment of a "common and permanent" European military headquarters, as well as the creation of EU military structures, including an EU Logistics Command and an EU Medical Command.

The document calls on EU member states to integrate logistics and procurement, coordinate military R&D and synchronize policies in matters of financing and military planning. EU intelligence gathering would be improved through the use of European satellites; a common EU military academy would "promote a common esprit de corps."
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=649#pTu8iQEWEttlOLmz.99


Minority Report? Police Are Already Using AI To Stop Crimes Before They Happen
Pre-crime, a term coined by science fiction author Philip K. Dick and loosely described as the use of artificial intelligence to detect and stop crime before it happens, has become a terrifying reality -- and will likely be business-as-usual for police in just 15 years.
"Cities have already begun to deploy AI technologies for public safety and security," a team of academic researchers wrote in a new report titled Artificial Intelligence and Life in 2030. 

"By 2030, the typical North American city will rely heavily upon them. These include cameras for surveillance that can detect anomalies pointing to a possible crime, drones, and predictive policing applications."

First in an ongoing series for the Stanford University-hosted One Hundred Year Study on Artificial Intelligence (AI 100), the report is intended to spark debate on the benefits and detriments of AI's growing presence in society -- and, as in the area of law enforcement, the removal of the human factor won't necessarily end well.
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=648#8gysFxVT6FSKmy0Z.99

Pro-Abortion Advocates Step Up Campaign For Abortion On Demand
There is clearly a disconnect between what the Bible teaches about the sanctity of life and what is being taught in churches and Christian schools across the country. Gallop released polling which showed that 52% of woman who have had an abortion identify as Christians.
The Pro-abortion group 'All Access' held their first annual concert for abortion rights in Cleveland last weekend with controversial music sensation Sia headlining the event. 

The stated aim of the group, which is actually an alliance of several pro-abortion organizations including NARAL and Planned Parenthood, is to 'expand access to abortion'  and repeal pro-life legislation.

The collaboration is just one of many initiatives that the pro-abortion lobby has attempted to get off the ground in response to a string of pro-life victories in state legislatures. 

The abortion movement has been set back in recent years and initiatives like 'All Access' are an attempt to regain lost ground.    

They have had particular problems recruiting young people and the hope is that concerts like the one held in Cleveland will help motivate the next generation of abortion advocates to become more active. 

Unfortunately for them, however, it appears that their attempts to attract young people back to their movement may not be working.  

A group of students from Students for Life America infiltrated the event and took photos which appear to show a half empty auditorium. 
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=647#LasgYIYGZ3o8Lzjp.99

September 30th - Beginning Of The End For Free Speech On The Net?
The first step toward the global suppression of free speech on the Internet will take place at midnight on September 30, when the Obama administration cedes control of the World Wide Web to foreign interests.
L. Gordon Crovitz of The Washington Post has penned two pieces outlining the collision course of American free speech. The first, "Stop Obama's Internet Giveaway" in March, 2016, and a recent follow-up piece called "An Internet Giveaway to the U.N." discuss the potential fallout of not preventing President Obama from allowing a government contract with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to expire.
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=618#EdMLSduMr1EJA2Vv.99

Genetic Manipulation - The New Weapon Of Mass Destruction
Biological warfare is a frightening possibility that has recently become more accessible and, potentially, far more powerful due to recent advances in genetic manipulation called CRISPR. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper cited genetic manipulation as a threat to national security, adding genetic manipulation to the list of threats of weapons of mass destruction.
Early this year, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper cited genetic manipulation made possible by the new technique as a threat to national security, adding genetic manipulation to the list of threats of weapons of mass destruction. But just what is CRISPER and how much of a threat does this pose?
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=617#SCXhiMgtHocM3BUc.99

America's Obesity Epidemic: At Least 1 Out Of Every 5 People Are Obese
The United States officially has an obesity crisis. According to a brand new report that was just released by the Trust for America's Health, at least one out of every five people meet the clinical definition for obesity in all 50 states. And remember, being obese is different from being overweight.
The United States officially has an obesity crisis.  According to a brand new report that was just released by the Trust for America's Health, at least one out of every five people meet the clinical definition for obesity in all 50 states.  But of course in some states things are far worse than that.  
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=616#GgIfuKoXMHFAMcYK.99


Big Brother's Eye In The Sky - Persistent Surveillance Systems
We may still have some expectation of privacy while we are in our homes, but when outside under a clear sky, there is no longer any assurance that we are not being watched, thanks to a new surveillance system being employed by the police in some cities.
First developed for the US military to monitor Iraqi cities and track those who were planting explosive devices, the technology has now been improved and applied to domestic law enforcement. 
Far removed from a circling police helicopter called out for a dangerous pursuit, this system mounts a specially designed 192 mega pixel wide-angle camera array together with digital recording. It has caused a quantum leap in urban surveillance that allows police to record up to ten hours of footage that covers nearly an entire city.
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=615#ORsIJS08Vy26c25C.99


Russia Prepares For Next War
In a series of provocative moves that seem designed to threaten war, Russia continues to modernize its military, increase military production capacity, build new atomic bunkers and conduct large-scale military drills.
Russia's recent invasion of Crimea, which went largely unanswered from the United States and the rest of Europe, must be seen as a stark warning of what is to come. 
For neighboring countries such as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, a resurgent Russia building and flexing its military muscle is a grave threat as Putin gradually works to expand Russia's sphere of power.
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=622#PC8odhYvIhzul8ys.99

Millennials & The Church: What To Expect From The Next Generation 
Can a church survive without young people?' Millennials comprise 20 percent of the entire U.S. population with 83 million people -- even more than Baby Boomers -- and by 2020 this figure will grow to 30 percent.
It is commonly said that the youth - also primarily referred to by the term 'Millennials' - are the future of the church. It has also been said that the youth are not just its future but its present - at the very core of the church and its current vibrancy. 
Whichever the case, are there any indications of what role these Millennials will play in the church after the present generation? Or how the church will eventually shape them? 
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=621#WvUOArAc1OsHq2aQ.99


Smart Cities: Spying Is Just The Beginning
Most people now carry a smartphone in their pockets and other smart devices such as smart watches, smart TV's and smart cars are growing increasingly common. The "smart" concept that defines hundreds of consumer devices is now coming to cities around the world.
Most people now carry a smartphone in their pockets and other smart devices such as smart watches, smart TV's and smart cars are growing increasingly common. The "smart" concept that defines hundreds of consumer devices is now coming to cities around the world. The wonderfully euphemistic term "smart" refers to the ability of a device or system to connect to a network and operate autonomously. 
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=620#tp07X0K4z1WYAFv2.99




Iran: The Return of Ahmadinejad
Iran's former president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, saying he wants to "redefine revolutionary ideals" set up by the leader of Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, appears to be launching a campaign to run in the upcoming Iranian presidential elections, in February, 2017.
Ahmadinejad was well-known for his incendiary and provocative speeches, which included denying the Holocaust. At the end of his presidential term, from 2005 to 2013, his approval rating was extremely low, and he managed to drive away most constituents across political spectrum, including the topmost hardline leaders. He also became the first Iranian president since 1979 to be summoned by the parliament (Majlis) to answer questions regarding his activities and policies.
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=619#11wvkoe6tvAxrfVy.99


Men Without Work: Millions Missing From The Workforce
Why are so many men in their prime working years unemployed? The Obama administration would have us believe that unemployment is low in this country, but that is not true at all. In fact, one author quoted by NPR says that "it's kind of worse than it was in the depression in 1940.
They aren't employed and they aren't considered to be looking for employment either, and so they don't show up in the official unemployment numbers.  But they don't have jobs, and nothing the Obama administration does can eliminate that fact.
According to NPR, "nearly 100 percent of men between the ages of 25 and 54 worked" in the 1960s.
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=626#4Zc3DfKjBvTXGqbe.99


Human Microchip Implants Gaining Greater Acceptance
Once used for tracking pets and livestock, human microchip implants are now moving away from the fringe and becoming more mainstream. There are now an estimated 10,000 people with RFID implants embedded in their bodies capable of sending out signals, but the rate of implantation has now begun to increase rapidly.
So why has a technology used to track and control animal populations now gained more widespread, and voluntary, adoption among young people around the world?
The first answer is convenience. In the same way that we agree to unlimited monitoring of our private communications through social media and cellphone networks in exchange for the convenience, people are beginning to prefer the advantages of simply waving a hand near a sensor to open a door or turn on the lights. 
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=625#u07WC7GLIT3y0Zki.99

Pacific Northwest Becomes Preppers Paradise
Anyone who follows the news has probably heard of 'safe spaces' being organized on certain college campuses where speech is monitored. These artificial socio-political boundaries are nothing compared to the real work of preppers who have been moving into the inland regions of the Pacific Northwest to build practical, self sufficient homes.
Their lifestyle is generally based upon self reliance and a Constitutional legal system. They come from many areas of the United States, and they come for a variety of reasons. 
Some people feel that Americans have lost touch with nature because of our technologically-based world with virtual reality and instant entertainment. Some want to live a simpler life in the glorious mountains and forests of eastern Washington and Oregon, for instance. 
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=605#3TaJbl6MGZRqYwOD.99


Witchcraft, Islam And Humanism Are Filling The Spiritual Void Left By The Church
A dramatic spiritual paradigm shift is taking place in the western world. More Americans than ever before appear to be turning away from the Christian faith, and this is particularly true among our young people. And while it is undeniable that atheism and agnosticism are both growing rapidly, it is also important to point out that other faiths are on the rise in the western world at the exact same time that Christianity is shrinking.
If you are a Christian, what you are about to read should concern you greatly.
Let's start with witchcraft. It has been estimated that Wicca (one very popular form of witchcraft) is now the fastest growing faith in America. Books and movies featuring Harry Potter and others that use "magic" for good have fueled a tremendous amount of interest in the dark arts these days. Just consider the following excerpt from a Salon article that was published earlier this month...
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=604#rc0BASgkyj3PBtB6.99


Churches In Conflict Over Israel
The 2016 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA could not offer a word of condemnation for the murders of Christians in Libya, Iraq or Syria by ISIS. In fact, ISIS is not even mentioned in any of the overtures submitted to the PCUSA's 2016 General Assembly. The assembly did, however, condemn Israel multiple times.
Predominantly Arab, Muslim and anti-Semitic groups are known routinely to call for the destruction of Israel, the boycott of Jewish businesses and general anti-Israel sanctions, all in the name of the Palestinian cause. Ironically, they have allies right within Christendom that rival the zeal of predominantly secular, anti-Israel and openly anti-Semitic groups in this regard.
Examples abound - including many Evangelical Christian groups and mainstream churches. The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) recently shared the example of The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, which recently approved a resolution at its triennial convention in New Orleans demanding an end to US aid to Israel unless it ended construction of Jewish communities in the West Bank and "enabled an independent Palestinian state."
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=603#RcgKja55mU1k7QFh.99


Atheist Vs. Christian Camps: Which Was More Effective This Summer?
A blog reader sent me some information recently on an atheist summer camp. I was fascinated to read all that they are doing to promote an atheistic worldview with their young campers. It immediately made me wonder how Christian camps stack up.
After all, about 40 percent of all U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 have been a camper at least once at a religious summer camp--making camp a perfect opportunity to give large numbers of kids an understanding of why there's good reason to believe Christianity is true and how to defend their faith in a secular world.
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=602#JfLUZbk0rmQryFTc.99

More Americans Than Ever Are Losing Their Religion
Americans are leaving the Christian faith in droves, and this is why many of our churches are less than half full on Sunday mornings. What we are doing right now is clearly not working, and hopefully we can get the church in America to wake up while there is still time to do so.
Never before in U.S. history have so many Americans chosen to be unaffiliated with any particular religious group. As you will see below, the percentage of "nones" in this country has absolutely skyrocketed over the past decade. 
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=600#BW2Hpdg0CSIC8YeP.99


Destroying Tomorrow - US Economic Debt Will Crush Future Generations
We continue to rack up debt as if there is no tomorrow, and in the process we are literally destroying tomorrow. Every dollar of debt that we accumulate now makes life worse for our children and our grandchildren. We have come to believe that it is "normal" to go into so much debt, and as a society we continue to race toward economic oblivion
At this point, I know what most of you are probably thinking.  You are probably thinking that such a lifestyle would not last for long and that a day of reckoning would eventually come, and you would be exactly right.  
In fact, anyone that has ever had a tremendous amount of credit card debt knows how painful that day of reckoning can be.  To mindlessly run up credit card debt is exceedingly reckless, but unfortunately that is precisely what we have been doing as a nation as a whole.  We are a "buy now, pay later" society, and our national day of reckoning is approaching very, very quickly.
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=599#zFbo1WzXhobAJGtM.99


CRISIS: Internet to Have Global Governance October 1
Very soon, on October 1, 2016, much of the internet's governance will shift from the US to a nonprofit multi-stakeholder entity,known as ICANN. While the transition may appear ostensibly "technical", the absence of the United States in overseeing the governance of the internet could spell the end of the current era of free speech on the internet, as well as free enterprise.
Until now, NTIA has been responsible for key internet domain name functions, such as the coordination of the DNS (Domain Name System) root, IP addresses, and other internet protocol resources. But in March 2014, the U.S. announced its plan to let its contract with ICANN to operate key domain name functions expire in September 2015, passing the oversight of the agency to a global governance model. The expiration was subsequently delayed until October 1, 2016.
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=598#y5DcdZBMrABuLxqb.99


Europe Will Be Unrecognizable In One Generation
Deaths that exceed births might sound like science fiction, but they are now Europe's reality. It just happened. During 2015, 5.1 million babies were born in the EU, while 5.2 million persons died, meaning that the EU for the first time in modern history recorded a negative natural change in its population.
The numbers come from Eurostat (the statistical office of the European Union), which since 1961 has been counting Europe's population. It is official.
There is, however, another surprising number: the European population increased overall from 508.3 million to 510.1 million. Have you guessed why? The immigrant population increased, by about two million in one year, while the native European population was shrinking. 
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=597#QHx7olOKdMlVyk15.99

Amerageddon: America Without Electricity
While a localized and short-lived blackout can be dealt with as an emergency situation and supplies trucked in from outside, a sustained national blackout would pull society into a lawless dark ages closer to the year 1100 than 1810, accompanied by mass starvation in a society suddenly unable either to produce or distribute sufficient food.
Today we often take our electricity and communications for granted. The degree to which modern economies and modern societies rely upon both is staggering with everything from food production and delivery to pumping the fuel for transportation and the power for communications completely dependent on electricity. 
The quaint belief that we would revert to the rustic 1800s in the event of a catastrophic interruption to our power grid is dangerously off the mark too. In the 1800s, we did not depend on thousand-plus mile food supply chains, electronic banking and the skill set of the average worker included tasks useful without electric power, unlike office workers, digital media specialists, truckers and thousands of other professions today. 
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=594#vyajVkzt8Tjiep3Y.99



Which Items Will Disappear First During A Major National Emergency?
We can get some clues about which items will disappear first during a major national emergency by taking a look at where such a scenario is already playing out. One recent survey found that over 80 percent of all basic foodstuffs are currently unavailable in Venezuela, and about half the country can no longer provide three meals a day for their families.
We can get some clues about which items will disappear first during a major national emergency by taking a look at where such a scenario is already playing out.  One recent survey found that over 80 percent of all basic foodstuffs are currently unavailable in Venezuela, and about half the country can no longer provide three meals a day for their families.  
Thankfully, some stores still have a few things that they are able to offer, but other key items are completely gone.  The following comes from USA Today...
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=593#6AIuGLCuZZ5c3jCR.99


Rise Of The "Nones" - Why People Are Leaving The Faith Of Their Childhood
An important new survey by Pew Research asks why people who were raised in religious homes but who now identify as religious "nones" - having no religious affiliation -  decided to leave the faith of their childhood.
The results were varied, but according to the survey, "Half of 'nones' left childhood faith over lack of belief, one-in-five cite[d] dislike of organized religion."
Of this half (more exactly, 49 percent) of "nones" who say they no longer believe, many "mention 'science' as the reason they do not believe in religious teachings" while others "reference 'common sense,' 'logic' or a 'lack of evidence' - or simply say they do not believe in God."
Of the 20 percent who cite their dislike of organized religion are "some who do not like the hierarchical nature of religious groups, several people who think religion is too much like a business and others who mention clergy sexual abuse scandals as reasons for their stance."
This chart summarizes the survey's results: What is God's solution to this growing problem of religious "nones"? It can be summed up in three words: truth, encounter, and consistency.
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What Those Captured Palestinian Weapons Really Mean
Somebody in the foreign ministry's "hasbara" division deserves credit for coming up with a simple, yet incredibly effective way of demonstrating what Israel is up against to the world press: show their weapons.
t's one of the most disturbing photos from Israel that I've seen in years.

I'm referring to this week's image of the hundreds of Palestinian terrorist weapons captured in Israeli raids. It was enough to send shivers down one's spine. And it revealed more about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict than all the panel discussions, research papers, and expert analyses with which we are always being bombarded.
Friends of Israel often complain about what they say is the Israeli Foreign Ministry's inadequate effort to make Israel's case to the international community. And those complaints are not entirely without merit. But somebody in the foreign ministry's "hasbara" division deserves credit for coming up with a simple, yet incredibly effective way of demonstrating what Israel is up against: show their weapons.
Telling the world that hundreds of terrorists have been arrested, or thousands of weapons captured is mind-numbing. They're just numbers. The public yawns and turns the page. But recall what the Israelis did after capturing in Jan. 2002 the Karine A, the Palestinian ship seized by Israeli commandos. 
They didn't just issue a press release about the 50 tons of arms, or the 700,000 rounds of ammunition on board. They actually spread the weapons out, on the ground, for the photographers and television cameras. And they reached as far as the eye--and the lens--could see.
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Is Russia About To Invade Ukraine?
In recent weeks, tens of thousands of Russian soldiers have been massing at eight staging areas along Russia's border with Ukraine, and some Pentagon officials believe that this could represent preparations for a full-scale invasion.
War is coming, but unfortunately most Americans are completely oblivious to what is about to happen. In recent weeks, tens of thousands of Russian soldiers have been massing at eight staging areas along Russia's border with Ukraine, and some Pentagon officials believe that this could represent preparations for a full-scale invasion. 
But ultimately Russia has much bigger concerns than just Ukraine. At this point, the Russian people view the United States more negatively than they did even during the height of the Cold War, and their leading thinkers openly talk about the inevitability of a future conflict between the two superpowers. 

The Russians have been feverishly upgrading and modernizing their strategic nuclear forces in anticipation of that conflict, but unfortunately the U.S. military has not made similar strides under the Obama administration. 

As a result, the balance of power has shifted dramatically in favor of the Russians.

Things have been relatively calm in Ukraine for a while, but that may be about to change in a major way. According to Business Insider, Russian forces are "encircling Ukraine from the north, east, and south"...

Something big may be about to go down in Ukraine.

For the Ukrainian soldiers that are stationed on the eastern border with Russia, however, things have already escalated to a conventional conflict -- for example in Shyrokyne, on the Azov Sea coast east of the port city of Mariupol, Ukrainian forces have reported being the target of over 200 rounds of mortars and artillery fire in the middle of the night from separatist forces.

And the conflict in Ukraine looks like it could be on the verge of boiling over as Russian and Russian-backed forces are encircling Ukraine from the north, east, and south.

Needless to say, these developments are deeply alarming U.S. officials. In fact, Bill Gertz of the Washington Free Beacon says that up to 40,000 Russian soldiers stand poised to launch a full-scale invasion at this moment...

The Pentagon has identified eight staging areas in Russia where large numbers of military forces appear to be preparing for incursions into Ukraine, according to U.S. defense officials.

As many as 40,000 Russian troops, including tanks, armored vehicles, and air force units, are now arrayed along Ukraine's eastern border with Russia.

Additionally, large numbers of Russian military forces will conduct exercises in the coming days that Pentagon officials say could be used as cover for an attack on Ukraine.

August 24th is Independence Day in Ukraine, and some analysts are pointing to that date as a time when a potential attack could occur.

Hopefully that will not be the case, and we should remember that Russian President Vladimir Putin tends to do the unexpected. Just look at what happened in Crimea. He was able to annex the entire region without a shot hardly being fired.

When it comes to geopolitics, way too often the Russians are playing chess while the Obama administration is playing checkers.

And as I mentioned in the opening paragraph, the Russians are very much preparing for the day when there will be a military showdown between the United States and Russia.

For example, the newly developed Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile (also known as the "Satan 23) has the capability of destroying an entire region the size of Texas. 

Each missile has 12 independently targetable warheads, and essentially what that means is that one missile goes up and 12 nuclear warheads come down. It is a weapon of exceedingly great power, and we have no way of stopping it...

Russia is preparing to test-fire a nuclear weapon which is so powerful it could reportedly destroy a whole country in seconds.

The "Satan 23 missile is rumoured to be the most powerful ever designed and is equipped with stealth technology to help it dodge enemy radar systems .

This terrifying doomsday weapon is likely to strike fear into the hearts of Western military chiefs, as current missile defence technology is totally incapable of stopping it.

But to me, what is even more frightening is the fleet of strategic nuclear submarines that the Russians are putting together. The following comes from a major British news source...

Vladimir Putin is assembling a secret fleet of super submarines which could topple NATO and plunge the world into war.

A report by naval experts warns that Russia already has a small but sophisticated army of subs which are capable of launching missile strikes across the globe.

These submarines can dive extremely deep and they are incredibly quiet. The advanced stealth capabilities that they possess make them an enormously powerful weapon...

Andrew Metrick, who co-wrote the report for the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said: "Russia operates a small number of very small, nuclear powered submarines that are capable of diving in excess of several thousand meters.

"You can imagine what a clandestine deployable deep submergence vehicle could be used for."

Yes, it doesn't take much imagination to see what these ultra-quiet subs could be used for.
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Someday, a fleet of Russian nuclear submarines could come right up to our coastlines without us ever knowing that they were there. In the middle of the night they could surface, launch their missiles, and strategic targets would start being destroyed within just a couple of minutes.

And if the U.S. was even able to muster much of a response, the Russian anti-ballistic missile systems are able to destroy just about anything that we can throw at them.

To say that the balance of power has shifted from the days of the Cold War would be a massive understatement.

Meanwhile, the Russians have also been creating a "cloak" which can reportedly make units "invisible" to enemy radar...

A Russian defense company has created a "cloak," which it says can make electronic objects invisible to enemy radar. The aim of the fiber technology, which is used in the cloak, is to make weapons invisible to prying eyes and detection systems.

The St. Petersburg-based company Roselectronics has come up with the invention and says it can make weapons that use thermal, infrared, and electromagnetic radar in targeting invisible.

"The main idea of the development is to create coverage that reduces radar visibility of the object both on the visible and microwave spectrums," Georgy Medovnikov from Roselectronics told Ruptly, RT's video agency.

Roselectronics believes the lightweight and flexible material can be used to protect armored vehicles, missile systems and warplanes. According to its creators, the material is unique in its ability to absorb radio-electronic signals and interfere with the distribution of electronic traces.

Here in the United States, the Obama administration has had much different priorities, and so our strategic nuclear forces are hopelessly outdated. 60 Minutes has shown that our strategic nuclear forces are still using rotary phones and the kind of eight inch floppy disks that you could literally flop around in your hand that they were using back in the 1970s.

If you follow my writing regularly, you already know that I have written extensively about a future conflict with Russia.

At one time the doctrine of "mutually assured destruction" applied, but at this point things have changed dramatically.

Russian military theorists have spent a lot of time studying how to fight and win a nuclear war, and now they have the technological edge to potentially be able to do it.

Sadly, these kinds of articles tend to get less attention than many of my other articles because people simply do not understand the threat we are facing, and by the time they do it will likely be way too late.
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Turkey's Exhausting Zigzagging Between East And West
Turkey's newfound love affair with Russia will inevitably have repercussions in Syria, and that pleases Iran. Not only will Turkey have to 'digest' that (Russian-Iranian-Syrian) line, it will have to join it, entering into a pact with Putin and the ayatollahs. Clearly, this is where Erdogan has decided is the best place to pledge his allegiance.

Turkey has been a republic since 1923, a multi-party democracy since 1946, and a member of NATO since 1952. In 1987, it added another powerful anchor into the Western bay where it wanted it to remain docked: It applied for full membership in the European Union (EU). 


This imperfect journey toward the West was dramatically replaced by a directionless cruise, with sharp zigzags between the East and West, after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Islamist AKP party came to power in 2002. Zigzagging remains the main Turkish policy feature even at this day.

Until the summer of 2015 Turkey was widely known as the "jihad highway," because of its systematic tolerance for jihadists crossing through Turkey into neighboring Syria to fight Erdogan's regional nemesis, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. 

Turkey supported various jihadist groups in the hope that they would help Ankara unseat Assad. Then, under pressure from its NATO allies, it decided to join the U.S.-led, international campaign to fight the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in Syria. Feeling betrayed, ISIS started to blow up Turkish cities.

At the end of 2015, Turkey risked tensions with Russia in order to advance its pro-Sunni Islamist agenda in Syria. Russia, together with Iran, provided the lifeline Assad needed to stay in power while Turkey stepped up its anti-Assad campaign. 

In November, Turkey once again zigzagged toward the West when it shot down a Russian military aircraft, citing the violation of its airspace along its border with Syria. Turkey also threatened to shoot down any Russian aircraft that might violate its airspace again. It was the first time in modern history that a NATO ally had shot down a Soviet or Russian military airplane.

An angry Vladimir Putin, Russia's president, imposed punishing economic sanctions, which cost the Turkish economy billions of dollars. Turkey started zigzagging again. In July 2016, Erdogan apologized for downing the Russian plane, and in August he went to Russia to shake hands for normalization. Once again, Russia is trendy for the Turks, and the West looks passé.

Erdogan and his men are now accusing NATO and, in particular, the United States, of roles in the failed July 15 coup, which they claim is linked to a reclusive, U.S.-based Islamic scholar, Fethullah Gulen. 

According to Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isik, NATO should sit down and think where it went wrong in response to the coup attempt in Turkey. According to Turkey's justice minister, Bekir Bozdag, the United States would be sacrificing its alliance with Turkey to "a terrorist" (Gulen) if it refuses to extradite him.

Turkey's newfound love affair with Russia will inevitably have repercussions in Syria, and that pleases Iran. "Not only will Turkey have to 'digest' that [Russian-Iranian-Syrian] line, it will have to join it, entering into a pact with Putin and the ayatollahs. Clearly, this is where Erdogan has decided is the best place to pledge his allegiance," wrote Meira Svirsky at The Clarion Project. There are already signs.
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Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Turkey and Russia have similar views on the need for a ceasefire in Syria, the provision of humanitarian aid, and a political solution to end the crisis. 

That must have caused shy smiles in Moscow: the Turkish John Wayne on his knees begging to work on Syria only months after he threatened to shoot down any Russian aircraft and kick the Russians out of Syria. Now Turkey is calling on Russia to team up and carry out joint military operations in a bid to crush ISIS in Syria.

After the last Turkish zigzag, Turkey and Russia found where they converge: Putin accuses the West of violating agreements by expanding NATO to Russia's borders and fomenting unrest in nearby Georgia and Ukraine, while in Turkey, the pro-Erdogan media accuses the U.S. of orchestrating the coup. 

There are more alarming signals from Ankara. Cavusoglu, the foreign minister, said that Turkey may look outside NATO for defense cooperation.

Fuad Kavur, a prominent London-based film director and producer, described the Turkish zigzag in a private letter (quoted with permission):

"Erdogan's recent manoeuvrings remind me of how Hitler hoodwinked the West. Until four days before he invaded Poland, the West, ever sleepwalking, were utterly convinced Hitler was going to attack USSR, because he had come to power on an anti-Communist ticket. The West had a rude awakening only when, on 23 August 1939, Von Ribbentrop signed the Non-Aggression Pact with Molotov; and on Sept. 1, Hitler took half of Poland. Few days later, Stalin took the other half.

"What is the moral of the story? Until a few weeks ago, the West was comfortably day-dreaming that, despite his foibles, Erdogan was a staunch U.S. ally and an eager EU candidate. After all, had he not, only recently, downed a Russian jet? Then, suddenly, what do we see? Putin and Erdogan kissing and making up ... It is a matter of 'my enemy's enemy...'"

From the beginning, Russia was too big for Turkey to bite. A few billion dollars of trade losses and friendly reminders from Western allies that Turkey should keep up to better democratic standards were sufficient to get Ankara kneel down -- and perform another act of zigzagging. This, in all probability, will not be the last such act.

Originally published at Gatestone Institute - reposted with permission.

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America's Looming Demographic Winter: Can We Avoid a Fertility Free Fall?
We've talked before about the fertility crisis facing China, Japan, and much of Europe--all of which face what has been called a "demographic winter." Until recently, the United States has been an exception to this distressing trend, but this seems no longer the case.
To understand why, here's a primer. Demographers use two numbers to measure fertility rates: the average number of children a woman gives birth to during her lifetime--that's called the "total fertility rate"--and the number of births per 1,000 women, often referred to as the "birth rate."

If the "total fertility rate" drops below 2.1 children per woman, a country's population will shrink unless there are compensating levels of immigration.

And that's what's been happening in the U.S. since at least 2008. Our total fertility rate has dropped below replacement levels, but has been masked by high levels of immigration in two distinct, but related, ways.
First, immigrants replaced children that native-born Americans weren't having. Second, immigrant women had higher than replacement-level fertility rates, which, as Jonathan Last of the Weekly Standard pointed out in his book, "What to Expect When No One is Expecting," made our total fertility rate significantly higher than it would have otherwise been.
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Welcome to College: Ask the Right Questions
If your son or daughter is getting ready for college, you're probably feeling the mixed emotions of pride and nervousness: pride in your child's accomplishments and nervousness for . . . well, for a whole host of reasons.
If you're a Christian parent, for instance, you may be concerned for your son or daughter's faith. Maybe you know how many young adults with church backgrounds end up dropping out of church: 43 percent, according to David Kinnaman in his recent book "You Lost Me." 

At least part of this trend stems from college lessons and experiences that can chip away at students' faith, leaving them unsure what they really believe.

As a friend of mine says, sending your children to college is like sending them off for "four-year brain and heart surgery." Now, there's more to that analogy than meets the eye. Surgery can be a good thing, but one has to prepare for it properly. And part of that is asking the right questions. 

When you're having surgery, you want to know things like, how experienced is this surgeon? What's his or her track record? And most importantly, what exactly is going to happen to me?

But when it comes to choosing and preparing for college, too many students and parents focus on the wrong question. They want to know what the dorms are like or how good the football team is. Is there good food in the cafeteria? But what they really need to ask is, what's exactly going to happen to my son or daughter? How will this college affect their faith and worldview? Do students here get educated or indoctrinated?
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=586#PLP6jEd1fDrfQky6.99

Why Are The Pulpits Silent On Bible Prophecy?
Over 50% of Protestant pastors, according to a recent survey, believe in a literal Antichrist -- but their pulpits are silent. Most pastors hold to the basic teachings of Christ's Second Coming -- but their pulpits are silent. Why?
What incredible times we live in -- like no previous generation. The world is heading pell-mell for a conclusion though nobody knows the timing on this. But we are privileged to look at signs that are like clouds forming on the horizon. In the 1970s there were only a few events that were prophecy-related happening. There were minor shakings but sometimes connecting the dots was even a stretch!
 


Fast forward to today and there are so many prophecy-related events happening daily and hourly that it presents a major dilemma for those of us watching the signs of the times to know just where to focus. As I post stories daily on my website, I agonize that I must leave off so many as space and time won't allow readers to zero in on all that is happening!
 
It is a privilege and a challenge to be born for such a time as this. Very little that is predicted to happen in the "last days" is good news and who wants a steady dose of bad? But if one can "look up" one can bear the heartache of looking around as the signs of the times explode on our news outlets.
 
The Bible asks us to be "watchmen" (Ezekiel 33). We're to be sounding an alarm. Trouble is ahead. Time is short. And I have never felt such a sense of urgency and the realization that time is, indeed, short.
 
I am watching signs "converge." They are stunning and breathtaking. But most pastors will not talk about them!
 
LifeWay Research is a Nashville-based, evangelical research firm that specializes in surveys about faith in culture and matters that affect the church. They report that a third of America's Protestant pastors expect Christians to be Raptured -- or taken up in the sky to meet Jesus -- as the last of the last days begin. Over 36% believe in a pre-Tribulation Rapture. In spite of this glorious good news, their pulpits remain silent.
 
Over 50% of Protestant pastors, according to the survey, believe in a literal Antichrist -- but their pulpits are silent.
 
Most pastors hold to the basic teachings of Christ's Second Coming -- but their pulpits are silent.
 
This same survey says almost 50% of Protestant pastors believe in a coming Millennium and hold to premillennialism.  At this time we finally do away with the curse and fallen human nature -- but their pulpits are silent.
 
Pastor Tom Hughes leads The 412 Church in San Jacinto, California. He has written a thoughtful article titled, "Five Reasons Pastors Don't Teach Bible Prophecy." He writes, "Prophecy fills the Bible. End time prophecy touches every person alive today. Jesus taught on it. So did John, Paul, Peter, James, and Jude. Yet only a small percentage of churches teach this crucial part of God's message to our generation.
 
"Some pastors don't teach it for theological reasons. They don't believe it, don't think it applies to us, consider it symbolic, or whatever. Others believe we're probably living near the end of the age, but still refuse to touch the topic. They see it as an elective part of God's curriculum. Take it or leave it."
 
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Hughes continues, "That's not how Jesus saw it. He reprimanded the Pharisees and Sadducees for not discerning the times. 'When it is evening you say, it will be fair weather, for the sky is red; and in the morning, it will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening. Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.' " (Matthew 16:2-3 NKJV)
 
Hughes concludes, "More than a quarter of the Bible is prophecy -- much of it yet to be fulfilled. How can we give congregations a well-rounded understanding of scripture if we leave out such a vital part of it?"
 
He then goes on to list these five reasons pastors may not be sharing these issues in the pulpit:
 
1) They don't understand prophecy.
 
2) They fear offending members of the church.
 
3) They sense this will scare people.
 
4) People might not tithe if they think we're close to the end.
 
5) There is fear in looking like the "loony-tune fringe. The Harold Campings have done great damage.
 
The prophecies of the first coming of Christ were fulfilled. They stand as evidence that the Bible can be trusted. Prophecies of His second coming work the same way, except we get to witness these events in our time, often with our own eyes.
 
The nations of the world seem moved, as though by a hidden hand, into exactly the right positions on a global chess board. What an amazing thing to see it happening before our eyes! It builds faith and draws our attention God-ward. And it is a fantastic evangelism tool. 
 
I think the church is headed into the home stretch of her history! I base that not on emotions or wishful thinking. I base that on what I see happening daily.  Man can live for a week or two without food. We can live only days without water. But our spirits are crushed within hours without hope.
 
We have the good news of the ultimate hope -- the "blessed hope." (Titus 2:13) His glorious appearing. Pastors, please don't remain silent!  Share the only good news out there.


You are invited to learn more about the importance of Bible Prophecy from some of today's top prophecy experts at the annual Understanding The Times Confrence in Eden Prairie, MN this Fall. Learn more here. http://www.olivetreeviews.org/conferences


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Hillary's Future Chief Of Staff Worked For A Radical Islamic Journal
Huma Abedin worked for Hillary Clinton when she was a U.S. Senator, when she was Secretary of State, and at this moment Abedin currently serves as her top campaign aide. If Clinton wins the election in November, it seems virtually a certainty that Abedin will become the White House chief of staff. She is already one of the most powerful women in America, and yet the vast majority of Americans have absolutely no idea who she is.
Well, it turns out that she worked at a publication run by her mother known as "the Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs" for more than a decade as an assistant editor. While Huma Abedin worked there, the journal regularly published articles that promoted radical Islamic causes and that opposed the rights of women. 
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=585#c4EYYwAkExES6Xtu.99

France: "First the Saturday People, then the Sunday People"
The slaughter of French priest Father Jacques Hamel on July 26 in Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray was significant. The church where Father Jacques Hamel was saying mass was nearly empty. Five people were present; three nuns and two faithful. Most of the time, French churches are empty. Christianity in France is dying out.Jacques Hamel was almost 86 years old; despite his age, he did not want to retire. He knew it would be difficult to find someone to replace him. 
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=583#cMb9RrjWYf0tUm7g.99


Can The Lutheran Church In America Shun Its Antisemitic Roots?
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) recently and overwhelmingly approved a resolution calling on the US government to end all aid to Israel and "enable an independent Palestinian state." In addition, the ELCA adopted a resolution calling for divestment from Israel, so as not to "profit from human rights abuses." ELCA has some 4 million members spread over 10,000 congregations. Many members have German, Danish and Norwegian roots, which is where Luther's teachings took hold.
Martin Luther, who founded what became the Lutheran Church, is considered to be one of Germany's greatest icons and, of course, is famous for the Protestant Reformation. He had disagreed with various teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, which resulted in his excommunication in 1521. 
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=582#CW4XCUFVLMVBs4VA.99

Mock Human Sacrifice Was Just Conducted At CERN
Have you seen the video of the "mock human sacrifice" that was conducted right outside the entrance of CERN? A spokeswoman for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (more commonly known as CERN) has told the public that this ritual happened without their permission and that they are looking into the matter. If this "occult ritual" was indeed some kind of "sick joke", what was the motivation?

This new video continues a long string of bizarre events related to CERN and the Large Hadron Collider that is housed there. 

Last month, I wrote about strange "portal-shaped clouds" that formed over CERN during recent experiments. And the the director of research at CERN, physicist Sergio Bertolucci, has publicly admitted in the past that the Large Hadron Collider could potentially open up a "door" to "an extra dimension". 

There has been so much speculation about what is really going on there, and that makes this latest video that much more creepy.

There are so many unanswered questions about this video, but here are ten things that we do know at this point...

#1 There were eight people in black robes and one woman involved in this mock human sacrifice. The fact that the eight shrouded individuals were wearing black robes means that someone definitely wanted this to look like an occult ritual.

#2 This ritual was conducted directly next to the statue of the Hindu god Shiva that stands at the entrance to CERN. In Hindu lore, Shiva is the "god of destruction", and this spot was obviously purposely chosen.

#3 During the ritual, a woman walks into the middle of the group, disrobes, and willingly lies on the ground.

#4 Subsequently, one of the individuals in black robes pulls out what looks like a knife and brings in down in a stabbing motion toward the woman. After that, the video quickly ends.

#5 CERN is officially calling this ritual "a work of fiction" and says that this was done without their permission or knowledge...

The video, shot from a window of a nearby building, is a "work of fiction showing a contrived scene," officials said on Thursday.

"These scenes were filmed on our premises, but without official permission or knowledge," a spokeswoman for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) told the AFP news agency.

#6 It appears that CERN may know exactly who was involved, because their spokeswoman told the press that CERN "welcomes every year thousands of scientific users from all over the world and sometimes some of them let their humor go too far" and that "those responsible for the prank had access badges". If this is indeed the case, why keep their identities secret?

#7 Previously, a bizarre "dance of destruction" was filmed at CERN with their full knowledge and permission that you can view right here. Many have pointed out that the "dance of destruction" appears to contain at least some occult elements.

#8 The police in Geneva are aware of this incident but they are not involved in the investigation at this point.

#9 An argument in favor of this being a mock ritual is the fact that the video was almost too perfect. The figures in black robes walked into the courtyard just as the video started, and even though it was night they chose a spot that was well lit so the person filming the ritual could get some really good shots. And the video ends very abruptly, and so we never get to see if the woman that was "stabbed" ends up bleeding. So there are definitely some reasons to question the motives and authenticity of what took place.

#10 This incident has drawn even more attention to CERN, and the hype surrounding the Large Hadron Collider continues to grow. In fact, large particle colliders that open up "doors" or "stargates" to other dimensions are even showing up in toys for our children. The following comes from Mac Slavo...

By the way, has anyone else noticed that one of the most popular children's toy at the moment is a Lego Dimensions set where you construct a CERN-style particle collider that opens up portals to other dimensions. Is your kid simulating contact with demons from other dimensions?
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Media Silent As Persecution Of Christians Escalates
"The persecution of Christians is getting worse, in every region in which we work - and it's getting worse fast. In many parts of the world, despite the pressure and the often terrible cost, the church continues to grow. There is always hope, and yet we are in unmarked territory - the pace and scale of persecution of Christians is unprecedented and growing fast."
Reports from mission organizations around the world tell us that millions of Christians are being persecuted for their faith, with more than 7,000 having been murdered just within the last year. However, few in the West are hearing about it as the media ignores the growing threat that Christians face. 
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=568#tJmgFvLzjERGQ2pt.99


Islam's "Quiet Conquest" of Europe
There are an estimated 15,000 Salafists among France's seven million Muslims, "whose radical-fundamentalist creed dominates many of the predominantly Muslim housing projects at the edges of cities such as Paris, Nice or Lyon. Their preachers call for a civil war, with all Muslims tasked to wipe out the miscreants down the street. Confrontation is inevitable".
Last month, the Wall Street Journal published an interview with France's director of domestic intelligence, Patrick Calvar. "The confrontation is inevitable," Mr. Calvar said. There are an estimated 15,000 Salafists among France's seven million Muslims, "whose radical-fundamentalist creed dominates many of the predominantly Muslim housing projects at the edges of cities such as Paris, Nice or Lyon. Their preachers call for a civil war, with all Muslims tasked to wipe out the miscreants down the street."
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=567#szwMrcDBwzxhKoTK.99


The High Costs of Living Together 
Over sixty percent of first-time marriages are preceded by cohabitation, according to the University of Virginia's National Marriage Project, which reports a 17-fold increase in the practice since 1960.
Sliding in
Cohabitation has become so accepted and commonplace that for many couples it is not the result of a conscious decision or even a conversation. Instead, notes clinical psychologist Meg Jay, more often it "just happens," as a couple slides, ever so surely, from dating, to having sex, to sleeping over, to sleeping over a lot, to moving in together without discussing goals or expectations.
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=566#iGWXwajzXuqPHjMw.99


Why Are Jews Not 'Radicalized?'
According to the most popular and largely dominant theory of why Muslims become radicalized, the more they feel discriminated against, the more likely they are to engage in terrorism and join terrorist groups such as Islamic State.
.This theory claims to be research based. It is only fitting, therefore, to examine why it is not equally applicable to Jews, including Jews who live in Israel. After all, Muslims are not a small minority in the world, with around 1.5 billion adherents of Islam, compared to the roughly 14 million Jews in the world. 
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=565#JFG6F3ZO5fJglzoi.99


ISIS Has A New Focus: Killing Christians And Bombing Churches
If you are a Christian, ISIS wants to kill you. Our politicians keep telling us that our battle with ISIS is not a "religious war", but to ISIS it most certainly is.
As you will see below, ISIS has a new focus. They are very clear about the fact that they intend to kill as many "citizens of the cross" as they possibly can, and they plan to bomb churches wherever they can find them. 
In a previous article, I explained how an entire church in the U.S. ended up on an ISIS kill list, and we just saw in France that they are willing to strike anywhere and at any time. 
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=572#sV4qkX5FMIVO3xet.99

Is America Losing Hope?
Without hope, I don't know how anyone is going to make it through what is coming. If you think that the unrest and violence in Milwaukee are disturbing, just wait for a while, because much, much worse is on the way.
A cloud of madness is descending on America, and most of us are completely unprepared for the chaos that will be unleashed during the months ahead.  This morning, I was reading through Deuteronomy when I came to a phrase that really resonated with me.  
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=571#LYYVcU6mHqF9Fzl4.99


Children Under Siege - From After School Satan Clubs To TV Entertainment
Children and youth are under a sustained spiritual siege. Indications are that there is a multi-pronged attack for the hearts and minds of the young; a concerted effort to capture their spiritual attention and mold their moral allegiances right from their earliest days.
One vivid example of this trend was recently reported: the opening of 'After School Satan Clubs' by The Satanic Temple for children as young as five years of age.  Harry Farley for ChristianToday.com explained that the organization has billed the extra-curricular option as a challenge to evangelical Christian after-school programming which they say has infiltrated America's elementary schools.
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=570#2lHh8go0YMAGUAmz.99


A Temporary Win for Religious Universities in California
It can seem to us that each day brings news of yet another setback or some new ominous cultural development that's concerning to Christians, each one another straw on the back of an already overloaded camel. But as recent events in California demonstrate, these trends can be resisted and, if not reversed, at least held at bay.
But as recent events in California demonstrate, these trends can be resisted and, if not reversed, at least held at bay.
In late June, Eric Metaxas told us about California's Senate Bill 1146. The bill, as its author, Senator Ricardo Lara, admitted, targeted Christian colleges and universities that adhered to traditional Christian teaching on human sexuality, including same-sex erotic relationships
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=569#MYVuvgqmcMyM8eDM.99

Israel Prepares To Build Third Temple As It Mourns Previous Temple Destruction
It may have been almost 2000 years since the Roman Empire destroyed the Second Temple in 70 AD and even more since the Babylonians destroyed the First Temple but a growing movement of Jews is determined to see the Temple rebuilt and once again take its place at the center of Jerusalem.
It may have been almost 2000 years since the Roman Empire destroyed the Second Temple in 70 AD and even more since the Babylonians destroyed the First Temple but a growing movement of Jews is determined to see the Temple rebuilt and once again take its place at the center of Jerusalem.
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=564#YPQqTBZieIr4MLOj.99



What America Must Learn From Venezuela's Economic Collapse
Venezuela has made the news again this week for yet another low in the history of what anyone would classify as a failed state. Government Decree 9855, issued by President Nicolás Maduro under his broad emergency powers, allows for any Venezuelan to be forcibly relocated to agricultural labor camps in order to combat widespread food shortages.
Venezuela has made the news again this week for yet another low in the history of what anyone would classify as a failed state. Government Decree 9855, issued by President Nicolás Maduro under his broad emergency powers, allows for any Venezuelan to be forcibly relocated to agricultural labor camps in order to combat widespread food shortages. 
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=563#7kCWPH6asMetvvtJ.99


The Real Caliphate Threat Is Not From ISIS But Turkey
In a nation of 80 million Muslims with the 10th most powerful military on the planet and massive immigration into Europe, the idea of a Turkish-Islamic super-state, a true Caliphate is an exciting allure for Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The social media reach of ISIS has allowed it to recruit thousands of foreign fighters per month to its cause and build connections with other terror networks across Asia, Africa and the Middle East. 
But, beset by a coalition of powerful militaries and forced to cede territory in Iraq and Syria, its dreams of a glorious world-dominating Caliphate now seem far-fetched. ISIS and its affiliate groups will continue to be sources of death and terror but, meanwhile, the real threat of a Caliphate or Islamic kingdom looms large in neighboring Turkey.
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=562#UzEthlJLQzX9Ggqp.99

A Flood Of Evidence: Chronological Snobbery And Archaeology
Shouldn't archaeologists want to know if what they're digging up has significance in known history? Sadly for many in the West, the answer is a resounding "not really." This dismissal of ancient writings, including the Bible, is rooted in chronological snobbery. The ancients, experts today assume, were just too dumb or superstitious to get their own histories right.
In his conversion story, "Surprised by Joy," C. S. Lewis explains how his close friend, Owen Barfield, demolished his "chronological snobbery." Lewis defined chronological snobbery as "the uncritical acceptance of the intellectual climate of our own age and the assumption that whatever has gone out of date is on that count discredited."
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=561#0sCF2r5RZg35WqjP.99

China Attempts To Remold Christianity In Its Own Image
Indications are that China is on track to have the world's largest Christian population by 2030 - approximately 250 million. Little wonder then, the Chinese government has decided to take the path of subtlety: convert the Christian church into a subservient part or tool of the State.
 The Chinese government is increasingly working towards suppressing Christianity as far as possible: tearing down church crosses, destroying buildings and arresting politically-incorrect Christians. Despite all of that, there are indications that China is on track to have the world's largest Christian population by 2030 - approximately 250 million.
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=560#iQmr0fXKLqbpMK5S.99


Spirit Of Violence: Chicago Gangs Prepare For War With Cops
As I have warned before, a spirit of violence and civil unrest is rising in America. According to authorities, at a recent gathering of major gangs in the city of Chicago it was agreed that they would use automatic weapons against the police, and at least one of the gangs already has "a sniper in place".
Is the city of Chicago about to see a wave of unprecedented chaos and violence? The facts that I am about to share with you may seem fantastical at first glance, but they come from the Chicago police and they are being reported by the mainstream media. 
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=559#zWcywJcuqZo9vzSl.99


The Election And The Judgment Of God: 'And God Gave Them Over'
Despite the dire warnings from both candidates about the consequences of electing their opponent, the most important thing about this election is not who becomes president. The most important thing about this election is what it reveals about us as a society.
So, have you heard this one? Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are stranded at sea on a life boat. Who survives? Ha! America does!
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=558#CokDQ1qPvKx92Ktb.99


Progressives Use Gay Rights Arguments To Push For Leaglized Incest
If two grown men or two grown women can marry each other, why can't a grown mother and son have a consensual, loving relationship? Isn't it bigoted and discriminatory to say that consensual homosexual love should be recognized by the law while consensual incestuous love is rightly criminalized? How can you support the one and condemn the other?
We've heard it for years now. "Love is love. I have the right to marry the one I love. Love wins."
Well, if these slogans are true, why can't a mother marry her adult son? Why is that wrong?
If two grown men or two grown women can marry each other, why can't a grown mother and son have a consensual, loving relationship?
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=557#4guPwDvCB3y3X7bX.99

Obama's Last Act? Deliver Israel To The UN Security Council
Newsweek is reporting that France is ready to make a renewed push for a UN Security Council resolution that would formally establish a Palestinian state, and this time around the Obama administration may be ready to go along with such a resolution.
The Obama administration is absolutely furious with Israel. At the end of July, the U.S. State Department issued a scathing press statement in which it publicly rebuked the government for Israel for "settlement activity" in East Jerusalem which the Obama administration considers to be "corrosive to the cause of peace". 
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=556#XCElMdO53a7Jw0CI.99


World Vision: Hamas Funding Only Latest Anti-Israel Mission
How would you react to the possibility that your generous offerings and gifts to a Christian outreach organization did not alleviate the sufferings of the sick, hungry, poor, orphaned, widow or refugee? Instead, they were used to buy weapons that would shed the blood of innocent people, including women and children, in heinous terrorist attacks.
That's the awkward perception that World Vision International, perhaps the world's largest Evangelical Christian humanitarian aid organization, finds itself on the receiving end of today
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=555#GQ2QYcPdqbRtvZT6.99


Welcome To The New Rome: Corruption And Violence From The Top Down
It isn't just the politicians in Washington D.C. that are deeply corrupt. Numerous mayors and other local politicians continue to be exposed for their crimes. Ultimately, we aren't going to turn this country around by electing the right president, because the truth is that the biggest problem with this nation is in our own hearts. Until we get our hearts right, nothing is going to really change.
The study also aimed to find the opinions of those who considered themselves devoutly religious.
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=544#FzewYl7gmOjxIsyU.99


Transgender Activists Next Target: The English Language
No amount of compassion for a young person struggling with gender identity issues can justify the radical transformation of the English language, yet that is exactly what is being called for by transgender activists.
These are the kinds of things you cannot make up. A report from the Daily Mail documents the "March of the Male Mums" while an article on Slate.com declares, "There is plainly no one type of body that we could accurately label a 'male body.'"
Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=543#rwCFFpekptT8Sixk.99