Putin’s Syria Tour de Force

Sept. 20, 2015 – Wall Street Journal

Vladimir Putin doesn’t seem to share President Obama’s definition of “smarter.” Ten days ago Mr. Obama declared that the Russian President’s military deployments in Syria were “doomed to fail” and the Kremlin was “going to have to start getting a little smarter.” Mr. Putin then began sending fighter jets, and now it looks like Mr. Obama is the one who has been taken to school.

That’s the only way to read Secretary of Defense Ash Carter’s call on Friday to Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu to explore what a Pentagon spokesman called “mechanisms for deconfliction” in Syria. In addition to the jets, Russia is sending T-90 tanks, howitzers, troop-transport and attack helicopters, a company of armed Marines, and further equipment to establish an air base near the coastal Syrian city of Latakia. Mr. Shoigu describes the build-up as “defensive in nature.”

Sure, as in Ukraine. Along with Iran, Russia is the Bashar Assad regime’s principal sponsor, providing weapons, diplomatic protection at the United Nations, and now direct military support. Mr. Putin sees an opportunity to rescue his client in Damascus, strengthen ties with Iran, establish a large military footprint along the eastern Mediterranean, further reduce U.S. influence, and create diplomatic leverage that he can use to ease Western sanctions imposed in response to his invasion of Ukraine. On present course he’ll accomplish all of the above.

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Texas Pastor Calms Islamic Terrorist During Church Threat: Man Later Thanks the Church!

Teresa Neumann : Sep 17, 2015 : Emily Guevara – Tyler Morning Telegraph

“Please put security measures in place. Do not get caught thinking that this only happens in other places—in big places. It’s by the grace and mercy of God that we are not on the other side of history; the other side of tragedy.” –Rev. John D. Johnson III

(Tyler, TX)—”Every hair on my neck just stood up,” said Rev. John D. Johnson III, when Rasheed Abdul Aziz walked into Corinth Missionary Baptist Church last Sunday.

According to a report in the Tyler Morning Telegraph, the armed and heavily tattooed Aziz—who was wearing camouflage fatigue pants, camo boots, a black T-shirt and a tactical vest—was sweating profusely when he launched into a rant about being a “man of Islam.”

Aziz then reportedly started yelling about “how his god had authorized him to take lives” and that it was okay for him to kill “infidels.”

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5 Birthmarks of the Christian: How to be Certain of Your Salvation

David Jeremiah – 27 July 2015

While the entire Bible stresses certainty and assurance, there’s one section of Scripture that stakes out this theme as its central focus—the letter of 1 John.

As we carefully read through 1 John, we notice a five-fold argument for the assurance of salvation—five of the birthmarks of the Christian.

The Birthmark of Confession

The first is the birthmark of confession, described in 1 John 5:1: “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.” Before you can have assurance of salvation, you have to believe and be saved. You have to confess Jesus Christ as Lord. Some people assume they are saved because they grew up in a Christian culture, or they have gone to church all their lives, or they have been baptized, or they have tried to live a good life. Yet they’ve never distinctly and personally confessed Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.

The Bible teaches that we are sinners, separated from God by a sinful nature. We can never earn, buy, or climb our way into heaven. By our own efforts or goodness, we can never be saved. That’s why God became a man who lived a wholly righteous life, died on the cross, shed His blood for us, and rose from the dead. He paid our penalty, took our judgment upon Himself, and He offers us the opportunity to be born again.

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Baptist Evangelizer of Muslims in America Says Greatest Challenge Is Christians Are Afraid to Witness

By Michael Gryboski , Christian Post Reporter – July 17, 2015

Raouf Ghattas, pastor and founder of Arabic Baptist Church in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

A Baptist pastor in Tennessee whose young congregation is focused on evangelizing the state’s growing Islamic community has stated that the great obstacle to evangelizing Muslims is the American Church’s apathy on the matter.

Raouf Ghattas, founder and pastor of the Arabic Baptist Church in Murfreesboro, has sought to evangelize among the city’s growing Muslim population.

“Many are apathetic, afraid, or just not sure how to approach a Muslim in witness. We work to train churches and individuals in how to reach out to Muslims, but they still have to be the ones to be active,” said Ghattas to The Christian Post on Friday.

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Lateline: An atheist and a Muslim on the future of Islam

Please watch and share this very interesting interview on Lateline between an atheist and a Muslim on the future of Islam. Sam Harris, an atheist, author and neuroscientist, and Maajid…

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Why Did Oil-Rich Arab Countries Abandon Muslim Refugees?

September 4, 2015 – Nonie Darwish

Western media is reporting on the Muslim refugee crisis as a humanitarian problem that the West must deal with. But where are the media’s questions about the huge financial and land resources available to oil rich Arab and Muslim countries? Where are the Islamic solutions in this equation?

The world is often lectured to about the urgency of respecting Arab and Islamic brotherly love, but where is the Arab action to rescue fellow Muslims and Arabs from the claws of ISIS?

Where are Arab feminists, especially those who demonstrated against France for banning the hijab? They are silent and doing nothing to rescue thousands of women that are victims of Islamic jihadist rape and enslavement. The only compassionate women helping women in the Middle East are the Christian mother Teresas and Kayla Muellers of the western world.

Where are the mighty Arab armies who waged dozens of wars against Israel? Why aren’t they fighting ISIS and building tent cities in the vast deserts of Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and the wealthy Gulf States? They are all claiming they are “moderate” Muslims and that they are against ISIS. But is one substantive thing they have done?

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Donald Trump Condemns ‘Great Assault on Christianity,’ Vows to Fight ‘War on Christmas’ if Elected

Leah Marieann Klett : Aug 26, 2015 : Gospel Herald

“There’s an assault on anything having to do with Christianity…” -Donald Trump

Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump recently defended his Christian faith and condemned the “great assault on Christianity,” vowing to fight the “war on Christmas” if he is elected.

“There’s an assault on anything having to do with Christianity,” Trump said on Yellowhammer Radio with Cliff Sims on Friday. “They don’t want to use the word Christmas anymore at department stores.”

“There’s always lawsuits and unfortunately a lot of those lawsuits are won by the other side,” the controversial businessman continued. “I will assault that. I will go so strongly against so many of the things, when they take away the word Christmas.”

In continuing his comments, Trump charged that he goes out of his way to use the word “Christmas.”

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With or Without Deal, Iran Still Wishes Death to ‘Great Satan’ America

September 02, 2015 – CBN News

As Iran hardliners continue to chant “death to America,” President Barack Obama is on the verge of getting congressional approval for his controversial Iranian nuclear agreement.

Support from Sens. Chris Coons, D-Del., and Bob Case, D-Pa., means the president is one vote away from clinching victory in the Senate.

Despite furious opposition, 33 senators have now backed the deal. The president needs 34 to uphold his veto of a Republican measure disproving the agreement. Congress has till September 17 to vote for or against it.

At the State Department, officials continued to stress Obama’s statement that the U.S. would impose further sanctions should Iran change its behavior toward the deal — and that it prevents Iran from becoming a nuclear power.

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ESPN’s Smith: All Lives DO Matter

7.21.2015 – News – Mark Tapson

ESPN commentor Stephen A. Smith slammed the Black Lives Matter movement on Twitter and his show Tuesday, as Politistick reports.

Smith, a man who has never been afraid to go against the grain of the black Democrat narrative, was commenting upon the controversy about Martin O’Malley being shouted down by Black Lives Matter protesters who were outraged that the Democrat presidential candidate asserted that “all lives matter.” That wasn’t an acceptable stance to the protesters.

Smith expressed his irritation on Twitter, calling out the Black Lives Matter movement for their hypocritical silence regarding black-on-black crimes in Democrat Party-controlled cities:

On The Stephen A. Smith Show, he began, “Let me preface my comments by saying I am fully aware of the fact that no one white can say what I’m about to say. But damn it, I’m going to say it!”

Democrat presidential candidate Martin O’Malley apologized on Saturday. Ladies and gentlemen, guess why he apologized? Because during a discussion in front of an abundance of African-Americans, he said ‘all lives matter’ as opposed to ‘black lives matter.’

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African Bishop Points Out Hypocrisy of Obama’s Pro-Homosexual Agenda

Aletelia ^ | July 29, 2015 | DIANE MONTAGNA

US leader stands accused of the same bullying he himself denounced on eve of African trip.

President Barack Obama’s cajoling of Kenyan leaders to accept “LGBT rights” has met with a notable backlash from African bishops and other state and religious leaders, with one African bishop drawing attention to the hypocrisy of Obama’s LGBT agenda.

Obama arrived in Kenya for a two-day visit on Friday, his first visit to his father’s homeland as US president, before heading to Ethiopia on Sunday for a one-day visit. At a joint press conference held with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Saturday, Obama advocated for his administration’s pro-LGBT agenda, comparing Kenya’s policy toward gays to the treatment of blacks in the United States prior to the civil rights movement.

“As an African American in the United States, I am painfully aware of the history of what happens when people are treated differently under the law. There were all sorts of rationalizations that were provided by the power structure for decades in the United States for segregation and they were wrong,” he said.

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Study Finds American Evangelicals Stand Behind Israel

Study Finds American Evangelicals Stand Behind Israel; Here Are the NumbersBob Smietana/For Lifeway : Jul 27, 2015 : Charisma News

Slightly more than half of men (51 percent) say they support Israeli statehood, compared to a third (33 percent) of women.

A recent LifeWay Research study shows that American evangelicals remain among the strongest supporters of the nation of Israel. (Photo via YouTube)

Most believe God has plans for that nation, both now and in the future. And many of America’s preachers say Christians need to support Israel.

Those are among the findings of a LifeWay study of American attitudes toward Israel and the Bible. As part of the study, researchers conducted two separate surveys of 1,000 Americans, along with a survey of 1,000 senior pastors of Protestant churches.

“No piece of literature has had more impact on American culture than the Bible,” said Scott McConnell, vice president of LifeWay Research. “No country is more intertwined with the ancient Biblical narrative than Israel, and evangelical Americans see a contemporary connection with the nation.”

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All countries in the region can only conclude that America is indeed weak – America has capitulated to Iran

July 29, 2015 – By Robert Spencer

Indeed. Dark days ahead. “Six Strikes against the Nuclear Deal with Iran,” by Prof. Efraim Inbar, The Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, July 15, 2015:

There are (at least) six significant and immediate bad results from the agreement reached yesterday between the Western powers and Iran.

*America the weak: The way in which the negotiations were conducted underscored the weakness of the US. The Obama administration was willing to offer almost unlimited concessions to the skillful Iranian negotiators, ignoring all its own deadlines and red lines. It is clear that President Obama was desperate for a deal in order to leave office with a ”legacy.”

While Washington congratulates itself on a “successful” result, what counts is the perceptions of the countries in the region. Alas, all countries in the region can only conclude that America is indeed weak. America has capitulated to Iran.

*Nuclear legitimacy: Instead of insisting on the dismantling of all uranium enrichment facilities in Iran, as was accomplished in Libya, the US actually accorded international legitimacy to a large-scale Iranian 2. nuclear infrastructure, including thousands of centrifuges. The deal leaves almost intact all central components of the Iranian nuclear program.

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How Turkey Fights the Islamic State

by Burak Bekdil – July 27, 2015

  • “Turkey says it fights IS. Maybe it does. But just randomly and reluctantly.” — EU ambassador, Ankara.
  • Meanwhile, Turkey keeps on telling the world how it fights the Islamic State terrorists in Syria. Even more ridiculous than this claim is that some people apparently buy the Turkish fairy tales. In April, US Secretary of State John Kerry underlined that Turkey was an essential partner of the US in the fight against IS, and praised Turkey’s contributions.
  • So it is natural that the Turks think they can always fool their allies: they help jihadist terrorists and in return get pats on the shoulder.

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (the Islamic State, or IS) has been the number one target for the world’s democratic nations, since it captured large swaths of land in Syria and Iraq last summer and declared caliphate under sharia law in the lands it controls. The United States and its allies have been waging a war against IS at a distance. So is NATO ally Turkey, at least theoretically, and not at a distance.

In reality, things are a bit different. Especially since the beginning of this year, several press reports in local and international media outlets told chilling stories about how jihadists move freely and recruit fighters in some of Turkey’s biggest cities. “It is no secret that Turkey has become a fertile ground for jihadist activity. Turkey says it fights IS. Maybe it does. But just randomly and reluctantly,” said one EU ambassador in Ankara.

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WHAT A TRUE CHRISTAN REALLY LOOKS LIKE

4/29/2015 Bethany Blankley – Charisma News

It’s easy to understand why nearly all non-Christians, secularists and the media misunderstand Christianity. Today words and their definitions are nearly meaningless because the same words are used to support particular, even opposite agendas. Relativism and proof-texting are the means to this end, justifying the terms people use about themselves and others.

Division among denominations, churches, organizations, and even personalities advocating their own version of truth certainly hinders non-believers from understanding Christianity.

However, identifying real Christianity and the people of the Cross is straightforward.

Christianity is rooted in the historical person and work of Jesus Christ. Jesus’ words and actions communicate God’s unconditional, immeasurable love, expressing God’s unbending commitment to human redemption. To know Jesus is to know God; one’s belief about Jesus yields eternal consequences.

A true Christian believes Jesus is not only the Word of God but he is the key to understanding God’s revelation (John 1, 5, 8; Romans). Jesus made authoritative claims about His deity, the eternal co-existing relational nature of God, and the necessity for salvation, truth and life, all of which only He can provide. His claims got Him killed (John 10:29, 30, 8:24-27, 5:18, 3:35, 15:26, 19:10-11; Luke 2:49, 11:13; 1 John 4; 1 Pet. 1; Matt. 26:39).

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What Chris Pratt Said about His Faith Will Change Your Mind about Hollywood

Carrie Dedrick – 2015 Jun 2015

There is no doubt what is trending in our culture today. It seems like everyone is talking about newly released action flick “Jurassic World,” the long-awaited follow-up to the “Jurassic Park” series. Even I saw the record-breaking film over the weekend (and I am not one for action movies, particularly those involving dinosaurs).

“Jurassic World” raked in $511.8 million globally in its opening weekend, becoming the highest grossing global film of all time. It made $204.6 million in the U.S., falling just behind “Marvel’s The Avengers” at $207.4 million.

But this column is not about “Jurassic World” (if you do want to know more about the film, read our review here). It’s about Chris Pratt, the film’s lead actor.

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