Persecuted: 2 Pastors facing death penalty in Sudan

Time is running out for two Christian pastors facing a possible death penalty in Sudan, the American Center for Law and Justice is warning as it launches a global petition asking the world to help save the two men.

The Rev. Hassan Abduraheem and Rev. Kuwa Shamal have been arrested, transferred, and re-arrested on multiple occasions this past year in the Islamic-majority country of Sudan, with government officials accusing them of national security crimes.

ACLJ Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow is arguing, however, that the imprisonment and the threat of a death penalty punishment are directly linked to the pastors' Christian faith, and has warned that if other believers don't speak up, the government of Sudan will send them to their deaths.

"They could be sentenced to hang for their faith if the world is silent," Sekulow wrote in an email, linking to the petition.

Christian Pastors Hassan and Kuwa need your voice now. Time is of the essence, as the trial continues. Our silence could be their death," he added.

"Other Christians facing death in Sudan are now free because you spoke out. Be heard now for these persecuted Christians."

Shamal and Abduraheem are reportedly both from the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan, an area which the central government has targeted since 2011 in an aerial bombardment campaign against the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, leading to many civilian deaths.

CSW's Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas said back then that the treatment of the two pastors is "indicative of a government campaign to harass and restrict the rights of the Christian community."

"We urge the authorities to end the judicial harassment of the Christian community and to uphold the right to freedom of religion or belief for every citizen. We also call on the Sudanese authorities to rectify any derogation from constitutional and international fair trial principles and ensure that the men are detained in a safe and habitable environment," Thomas added.

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

https://youtu.be/QV9zC_JwaD8Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made – The Right Image
Do you ever wake up, take a good look in the mirror, and tell yourself, “No doubt about it—I’m fearfully and wonderfully made!” Maybe when you think about the kind of person you are, words like “average” or “not bad” come to mind. Sometimes you might see yourself as above average, but there are days when a closer look reveals insecurities and flaws that you can’t ignore. If you ever consider yourself unremarkable or even ordinary, you’re not seeing yourself as a result of God’s divine creation. When we discover the truth that we are God’s unique design, it is overwhelming.

In Genesis 1:27, “God created man in his own image...male and female he created them.” We often mistakenly equate this with just physical appearance. God transcends all that is physical and spatial. Only Jesus Christ is the express image of God’s person, having the same nature (Colossians 1:15-17; Hebrews 1:3). God honored us by fearfully and wonderfully making the Word flesh (John 1:1, 14), clothing the Son of God with a body like ours; then clothing our fleshly body with a glory like His. But it is the soul of human beings that especially bears God’s image: mind, will, and emotion. God’s image on us consists of knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness (Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:10).

“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” -Psalm 139:14

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made – Set Apart and Unique
On a more practical level, God has fearfully and wonderfully made us, setting us apart as the brightest, clearest mirror of God’s creativity. While evolutionary biology considers us nothing more than glorified apes, scientific research confirms that humans are vastly unique on many levels. Only humans possess the ability to create and understand art and drawing.¹ Man’s capacity for abstract thinking sets us apart from animals. By referring to unobservable events and changes, we are able to formulate explanations of why certain things are happening. Chimpanzees, for example, operate in a world of concrete, tangible things merely reacting to conditioning from directly observable events.²

Humans are set apart from all other creatures by the ability to make moral judgments. We can discern between what is right and wrong. No animal models exist for human pride, shame, or guilt. A dominant male chimpanzee does not punish or prevent another chimpanzee from stealing food from another.³Humans are unique in that we recognize wrongdoing and seek redemption.

American author and biochemist, Isaac Asimov (1919–1992), stated that the human brain is “...the most complex and orderly arrangement of matter in the universe.” As you read this, your brain signals your eyes to automatically adjust the focus and aperture. Humans are not the product of chance or haphazard construction. German-American rocket scientist and aerospace engineer, Wernher van Braun (1912–1977) stated, “Certainly there are those who argue that the universe evolved out of a random process, but what random process could produce the brain of a man or the system of the human eye?”

In the time it took you to read any of the previous paragraphs, 1.5 gallons (6 liters) of blood passed through your heart. Did you know that the human heart’s blood vessels are not just straight-through tubes? They are helical, having a slight twist to them. This gentle corkscrewing makes your blood flow more evenly, minimizing damage from turbulent flow, especially at T-junctions. This smooth flow also encourages the productions of healthy-promoting protective substances.⁴ God’s attention to the human heart is extraordinary!

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made – The Heart of the Matter
In many cultures, the heart is seen as the center of the emotions. The human heart is fearfully and wonderfully made, enabling us to love and experience God intimately. The heart reveals our personality—thoughts, memories, emotions, desires, will (Luke 6:45). Our hearts not only think, feel, and remember, but also choose every course of action. Our decisions should reflect integrity of heart, with a heart that is discerning. When we live an upright and honorable life, God fills our hearts with joy (Psalm 97:11).

God places a high value on our bodies as well as our hearts. We are an intricate and fleshly fine-tuning of divine wisdom, a creation “a little lower than heavenly beings” but capable of being the crown of honor and glory (Psalm 8:5). God created us to be in relationship with Him, not as slaves to our sin, but with redeemed bodies. Others have experienced, and we must expect the failing of our physical bodies. Life after death is dependent on the gracious will and act of God through Jesus Christ, who sacrificed His life for us (Romans 6:23). Christ gave His own “body,” His total person, for us, so that we can be eternally reconciled to God. So the next time you look in the mirror, see yourself as God does, “fearfully and wonderfully made”—designed to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37).

Cashless Society: India Takes Drastic move

In 2012, India launched a nationwide program involving the allocation of a Unique Identification Number (UID) to every single one of its 1.2 billion residents. 

Each of the numbers will be tied to the biometric data of the recipient using three different forms of information - fingerprints, iris scans, and pictures of the face. All ten digits of the hand will be recorded, and both eyes will be scanned.

The project will be directed by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) under the premise of preventing identity theft and social welfare fraud. 

India has rather extensive social welfare and safety net programs, ranging from medical support and heating assistance to others aimed at helping the poor. 

Fraud is a rampant problem in India, especially in relation to these programs due to a preponderance of corrupt politicians and bureaucrats who often stuff welfare rolls with fake names and take the money for themselves.

Yet, although the justification for the billion person database is the increased ability to accurately disperse social welfare benefits, it will not be just the Indian government's social welfare programs that have access to and utilize the UIDAI. 

Indeed, even before the program has been completed, major banks, state/local governments, and other institutions are planning to use the UIDAI for identification 

verification purposes and, of course, payment and accessibility.

As Aaron Saenz of the Singularity Hub writes:

Yet the UID is going to be used for much more than social welfare programs. The UIDAI is in discussion with many institutions (banks, local/state governments, etc.) to allow them to use the UID as a means of identity verification. 

These institutions will pay the UIDAI some fee to cover costs and generate revenue. There seems to be little doubt that once it is established, the UID will become a preferred method (if not the preferred method) of identification in India.

Saenz also sees the eventuality of the UIDAI program becoming a means of payment and accessibility. He continues:

Ultimately, I wouldn't be surprised if the UID, with its biometric data, could be used as a means of payment (when linked to a bank account), or as an access key to homes and cars. 

Purchase a meal with your fingerprint and unlock your door with the twinkle in your eye. Similar results could be expected in other nations that adopted biometric identification systems.

Saenz, and other proponents of the UID (UIDAI), have been diligent in pointing out that the program "is just a number, not an ID card." However, this claim is debatable. 

War of Gog and Magog: Ezekiel 38 fulfilled as Turkey form an Alliance with Russia

Turkey's half-century old EU membership bid is currently tottering on the brink of collapse, after the European Union's legislature asked the bloc to freeze membership negotiations with Turkey over the government's heavy-handed crackdown following a failed coup in July.

In response, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to open Turkey's borders to allow migrants to reach the EU, a move that would tear up the landmark deal that has reduced the flow significantly.

Last year the continent experienced its worst refugee crisis since World War II, with more than a million people fleeing war and poverty to land on Europe's shores mostly via Turkey.

In a bid to stem the flow, Brussels and Ankara agreed to a $6.4 billion deal in which Turkey would take back migrants in exchange for money, visa-free travel and the opening of new chapters.

According to Weston Williams in a report compiled for the scmonitor.com, Turkish president Erdo an indicated in a recent interview that he was fed up with waiting for the European Union to accept Turkey as a member state, indicating that he would be willing to consider joining the Russia-led Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) as an alternative to the Western bloc

After more than a decade of negotiations, the president said that there was no reason to sentence Turkey to even more years of diplomatic wrangling just to become part of an international organization that has been consistently slow in welcoming Ankara into its ranks. 

After the EU officially formed, Turkey applied for full membership of that organization in 2005, and has remained in negotiations ever since.

"Turkey must feel at ease," said Erdo an in the interview with Turkish newspaper Hurriyet. "It mustn't say 'for me it's the European Union at all costs.' That's my view....Some may criticize me but I express my opinion," said Erdo an. "For 

example, I have said 'why shouldn't Turkey be in the Shanghai Five?'"

The Shanghai Five is the old name for the SCO, which consisted of 5 members until Uzbekistan joined the political/economic/military pact. The five-country treaty was signed in 1996, largely thanks to Russia and China.

Could such a move actually materialize, perhaps triggered by a final fallout between the EU and Turkey over a spate of irreconcilable differences? If so, what would its significance be, if any, in the larger scheme of things? 

Ricky Scaparo took a look at the Bible prophecy angle shortly after the attempted
coup in July with an examination of what Turkey's role is and why it matters.

2,600 years ago, the prophet Ezekiel foretold of a time when a coalition of predominately Muslim Nations would gather together to invade the nation of Israel. This well-known conflict is known as "The War of Gog and Magog." 

According to the book of Ezekiel, chapters 38 and 39, this confederacy of nations will attack Israel during a relatively peaceful period that appears to be generated by a recent conflict resulting in a "state of peace" for the Jewish nation. 

According to the prophet, "After many days you shall be called. In the latter years, you shall come into the land that is restored from the sword, whose inhabitants
have been gathered out of many peoples, against the mountains of Israel which had been always a waste. But its people were brought out of the nations, and they, all of them, are dwelling safely ... and you shall say, 'I will go up against the land of unwalled villages. I will go against those who are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls and having neither bars nor gates'" (Ezekiel 38:8, 11, MEV).

The nations cited by Ezekiel are each referenced in the Old Testament, yet they all represent nations which exist today. Long before Russia became a major world power, most Biblical scholars identified Magog as the nation of Russia and Gog as the ruler of Russia. These other nations mentioned in Ezekiel 38 are:

" Magog (also said by other experts to include Meshech, and Tubal)  = Russia

" Persia = Iran

" Cush = Ethiopia

" Put = Libya

" Gomer = Turkey (Some have identified as eastern Europe)

" Beth-Togarmah = Turkey (also said by other experts to include Armenia, and the Turkish-speaking people of Asia Minor).

The Bible indicates that in the "latter days" the Lord will put a "hook in the jaw" of
these nations listed, including the nation of Turkey and, according to the prophet, "you shall ascend and come like a storm; you shall be like a cloud to cover the land, you and all your troops, and many peoples with you." (Ezekiel 38:9)

So Turkey will be significant in the near future in the context of Biblical prophecy. She will unite with several other nations and attempt to destroy the nation of Israel but will ultimately fail. So just what will befall these nations in that war?

 Israel will not need to rely on America, Britain or any of her allies to defend her because God Himself will step into the scene spectacularly and overcome Israel's enemies through a mixture of several strategies: civil wars, pestilences, overflowing rain and hailstones, fire and brimstone (Ezekiel 38: 18-23).

There are other perspectives of how the Biblical prophecies could yet pan out with regard to Turkey. Britt Gillette for WND.com reported the views of Joel Richardson, New York Times bestselling author of "The Islamic Antichrist" and the director of the new teaching series "The Coming Battle for Jerusalem." 

Richardson argued in July that the failed coup in Turkey would empower Islamism within the once secular country, leading to massive global consequences.

 "Whether we are speaking of the role of the nations in last days Biblical prophecy, or merely examining current Middle East geopolitics from a secular
analysis, understanding what is presently unfolding in Turkey is absolutely critical," Richardson told WND. 

"For the past 20 years, American foreign policy has looked to Turkey as the model for what we would like to replicate throughout the region. Turkey, it was thought, was a model of success of a moderate Muslim nation."

Behavioural Conditioning Experiment Begins in China

The largest behavioral conditioning experiment in the history of mankind has just begun in China and, for those who value their freedoms in the West, one can only pray it never makes it here.

A citizen score system has been developed which will rate each citizen on the basis of their political views, their expression on social media, the kinds of purchases they make, and their credit scores. 

These scores, ranging between 350-950, will be taken into account when handing out loans, approving travel visas, and other grants from the government. 

Such scores could also be used to determine who will have access to certain types of jobs. Essentially, your life opportunities will be determined by this score.

Where this system gets even more manipulating is that the scores of one's family and friends can also affect your score, thereby ensuring a social pressure to behave in the approved manner lest it affect those you know and care about.

There will be no hiding your score from family or friends and its impact on them, as everybody will have the ability to check anyone else's score online.

Once this system is in place, the government will have a very effective method of reinforcing the kind of behavior it believes to be politically and socially correct. 

The scores will be linked to China's national ID card and, while currently voluntary, the government has announced that it will be mandatory by 2020.

Opponents of a national ID system in the US will no doubt point to the Chinese 

system as a warning for the US of what can happen when big government and big data get together.

Since most of the big social networks and payment gateways in China are controlled by Alibaba and Tencent, the two companies have been roped in to run this citizen score system for the government. 

Yahoo, an American company, is a major stockholder in Alibaba and is already a participant in this oppression of the most populous nation on earth. 

This blatant abuse of power should serve as a warning to Americans who are, themselves, handing away their liberties without realizing the consequences.

Every year Americans give away more and more personal information about themselves that makes assembling a profile on them very simple.

All the information required to enable such a system here is already easily available to the government through the cooperation of the major corporations in the country.

Think about it: you are being tracked everywhere you go through software on your phones, your laptops and computers send back usage reports, advertisers have enough information about you to target their products with increasing precision and all of your personal data on social networks is being mined for whatever use deemed necessary.

Credit card companies already use numerous factors in determining your risk as a card holder. With so much data made available it will be tempting for these companies to incorporate other non-financial indicators to determine one's credit worthiness .  

With more and more people dependent upon government financial aid in the United States, it is not hard to see how a government that wants more control over its citizenry might one day want to take advantage of combining political manipulation with financial benefits or lack thereof.

Christian prophecy experts make note of the fact that Revelation 13 specifically speaks of a time in the future in which the "mark of the beast" is directly connected to political support for the "Beast" or Antichrist. 

One will not able to buy or sell without this mark and it is clearly a mark of loyalty and allegiance. 

The merging of political allegiance and the ability to conduct commerce is clearly only beginning.

Solar Flare Destruction Revealed in the book of Reveletion

The scriptures tell us that the earth will be destroyed a total of three times. The first was by water during the days of Noah to purge unrepentant man from the earth and restore God's order. The next time the earth will be destroyed is during the Tribulation period through a series of various events; several of which are clearly described as resulting from fire in which the Lord will once again purge unrepentant man from the earth. After this second restoration (Isaiah 65: 17-25), the Lord will reign on the Earth for 1,000 years. The Book of Revelation then states that after this period, the world once again turns wicked and God executes the third destruction. In this final destruction, the Earth and heavens (the entire universe) will pass away with a fervent heat and a new heaven and a new Earth (of a different kind without day or night) will be created to last for all of eternity.
The Scriptures provide the framework by which the end-times will unfold and describes a world where there must be a convergence of religion, economics, and leadership. Right now, we clearly see these new systems and ideologies merging and most surmise that a one-world financial system will emerge as nations' economies become more unstable. The Bible also talk about the characteristics of the last generation and we are the first generation in human history to meets all of the conditions described in the Scriptures. The Bible also states that during these last days there would be unprecedented Christian and  Jewish persecution of which we also see the framework being laid today for such a scenario. There is scarcely a day that passes in which we don't hear of events around the world which continue to lay the foundation for the final days as described in His Word;  however, the scriptures also talk about geographic and cosmic events within the Book of Revelation that will devastate the earth and result in the death of millions or billions of  people. The truth is that the foundation for these cataclysmic cosmic events are also being laid today!

In this article, we will be focusing on only one of the fire-related destructive events described within Prophecy during the Tribulation period, and new discoveries made that are foreshadowing its passing. We may not know the day nor the hour of such events, but we can clearly see the season approaching. 
Many are familiar with the prophetic event within Revelation that describes 1/3 of 
the Earth being burnt up along with 1/3 of the trees and grass (Revelation 8:7). John's wording is compact and precise and tells us exactly what he's seeing. Based on the wording of the text, many theologians and astrophysicists claim that what is being described could be the occurrence of a coronal mass ejection (CME) from the Sun hitting the Earth!

The surface of the sun consists of dense, super-heated Plasma. Think of the sun as a ball of liquid FIRE - burning at around 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and not as having a surface that is on fire - but is literally fire through and through (i.e. like a lake of fire and not a lake on fire). CMEs are always being emitted from the sun, but should a large one on an unprecedented scale directly strike the Earth; this dense superheated plasma would push away part of the Earth's atmosphere. 
This would expose the stratosphere to the -150 degrees Fahrenheit temperature 
of space which would instantly crystalize all the moisture within the stratosphere. As the CME pressure wave continues to push through the atmosphere, it would compress the ice crystals into hail balls. This is exactly what is being described within the text of Revelation. John described that before 1/3 of the Earth was burnt up, "there came hail and 
fire"; seemingly contradicting states of matter. As the CME continues into the tratosphere, it would then vaporize all planes, birds and flying insects which also complies with the next description from John that the coming of hail and fire was "mixed with blood". The CME would then continue to the surface of the Earth where John clearly described that this hail, fire and blood is then, "cast upon the earth" - burning up 1/3 of the trees and grass! As you can see, John's description is specific and intended to be in chronological 
order; describing exactly what one would expect if an unprecedented CME did indeed strike the Earth. 

Some may believe this is nothing more than theory or speculation of what events could occur within the end times, but the reality is that various governments from around the world have realized this approaching Biblical event is entirely real, and they are already preparing for it.

Will Obama Divide Israel in January 2017 as advised by Jimmy Carter

In an absolutely stunning editorial for the New York Times, former president Jimmy Carter has publicly called for Barack Obama to divide the land of Israel at the United Nations before Inauguration Day. 

While he was president, Carter negotiated peace between Israel and Egypt, and ever since that time he has been a very strong advocate for a Palestinian state. 

Carter is completely convinced that a "two-state solution" will bring lasting peace to the Middle East, but now that Donald Trump has been elected Carter knows that his dream of seeing a Palestinian state while he is still alive is rapidly slipping away. 

In a desperate attempt to salvage the situation, Carter is urging Barack Obama to take bold action while he still has the power to do so.

In his New York Times editorial, one of the steps that Carter says that Obama should take is to give formal U.S. diplomatic recognition to a Palestinian state...

I am convinced that the United States can still shape the future of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict before a change in presidents, but time is very short.  The 

simple but vital step this administration must take before its term expires on Jan. 

20 is to grant American diplomatic recognition to the state of Palestine, as 137 

countries have already done, and help it achieve full United Nations membership.

Of course such a move would largely just be window dressing. The new Trump administration could very quickly revoke diplomatic recognition, and so if Barack Obama really wanted to "leave a legacy" in the Middle East he would have to do something that Donald Trump would not be able to undo.

Later on in his editorial, Carter suggested just such a thing. He urged Obama to support a UN Security Council resolution that would set forth firm parameters for resolving the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians...

The Security Council should pass a resolution laying out the parameters for resolving the conflict. It should reaffirm the illegality of all Israeli settlements beyond the 1967 borders, while leaving open the possibility that the parties could negotiate modifications. Security guarantees for both Israel and Palestine are imperative, and the resolution must acknowledge the right of both the states of Israel and Palestine to live in peace and security. Further measures should include the demilitarization of the Palestinian state, 
and a possible peacekeeping force under the auspices of the United Nations.

In a previous article, I discussed what the three main pillars of such a resolution would probably look like...

1. It would give formal UN Security Council recognition to a Palestinian state for the very first time.

2. It would grant East Jerusalem to the Palestinians as the capital of their new state.

3. It would establish the 1967 ceasefire lines as the basis for final negotiations for borders between the two states.

Such a UN Security Council resolution would be considered legally binding on the Israelis and the Palestinians. And the Trump administration would not be able to undo such a resolution because it would take another vote of the UN Security Council to revoke the resolution once it had been passed and that would not happen.

Right now the rest of the UN Security Council is ready to support this kind of resolution. 

The only thing that has been standing in the way has been the U.S. Security Council veto power, and there have already been rumblings that Obama may not exercise that veto power if a "parameters resolution" is put up for a vote before he leaves office.

And if Obama was going to make such a move, a really good way to drum up some public support for it would be to have a highly respected former president publish an editorial supporting the move in a highly visible newspaper such as the New York Times.

Over in Israel, the government has been ignoring Carter's anti-Israel rants for years, and they have also responded to this latest editorial by Carter with silence...

As Carter's criticism of Israel over the years has become increasingly scathing and one-sided, Jerusalem's policy has been to largely ignore him. In line with this approach, 
neither the Prime Minister's Office nor the Foreign Ministry had any response on Tuesday to his op-ed.

But without a doubt the Israelis are very concerned about what may happen next. They know the kind of damage that Barack Obama could do before we get to January 20th, and they are desperately hoping that Obama does not decide to do something exceedingly foolish. The following comes from the Jerusalem Post...

A number of European governments, as well as various think tanks, are talking with Obama administration officials, urging them to take some kind of action on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the waning days of the current presidency.

Among the suggestions are a new UN resolution laying down parameters for a peace deal; US support for the recognition of "Palestine" in the UN; or - at the very least - backing or abstaining on an anti-settlement resolution in the Security Council.

Israeli officials consistently maintain that they do not know what - if anything - Obama has planned. However, the fact that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continuously says - as he did on Sunday - that he expects Obama not to divert from traditional US policy on the matter, is an indication that there remains concern over the matter in Jerusalem.

From a Bible prophecy perspective, the division of the land of Israel is the number one event that we are watching for right now, and this is one of the reasons why I have labeled the period of time leading up to January 20th as "the danger zone".

Even though the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal have both been running stories about a potential UN Security Council resolution that would divide the land of
Israel, and even though experienced politicians such as Jimmy Carter and John Bolton are making lots of noise about it, most people don't seem to understand how immensely important this really is in the greater scheme of things.

But if Barack Obama does decide to make a move to divide the land of Israel at the United Nations at some point during the next several weeks, the consequences for this nation will be more severe than most people would dare to imagine.

---