HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRISTIANITY

May 20, 2010

Today is the day that the Christian Church had its beginning over 2000 years ago.  The story is told in Acts 2.  Most Christians consider it to be the “birthday” of the Church. It was on Shavuot (Pentecost) that God sent the Holy Spirit to those who believed that Jesus was the long awaited messiah.  God has impeccable timing.  The Holy Spirit was given on the anniversary of the giving of the commandments, laws from a loving God in an attempt to keep humankind from trouble.

Shavuot ends at nightfall tonight.

Here is typical sentiment about this holiday, found on a website written by a Jew:

“To my Jewish friends and readers, Chag Shavuot Sameach (a Happy Shavuot Holiday).  To everyone else, the holiday is basically, a celebration of G-d giving the Torah and the Ten Commandments to the Jewish people. On the holiday, men traditionally stay up all night, the first night, in Bible (Torah) study, and we eat dairy foods. Women can stay up all night, too, and some liberal Jewish women do.”

Happy Shavuot.  May the Spirit of Pentecost fill our lives.

Chris Reimers

More about Shavuot here:

Gary Stearman explains the observance of Pentecost (Christians will celebrate it this Sunday, May 23rd):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvxpJY3KJ4k

Wikipedia explanation of Shavuot (a good one – it must have been written by a Jew):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shavuot

A view of Shavuot from a Christian Jew:

http://derek4messiah.wordpress.com/2009/04/27/shavuot-pentecost-basics-and-beyond

The story of Pentecost:

In a Bible near you (Acts chapter 2)


THE BEAR IS GROWLING

May 11, 2010

Checking Russian online news sources this morning, it took awhile to find the story. I don’t look at Russian online news very often, but it’s amazing how similar they look to mainline U.S. online news sources.

Once again, the gathering of this information was made easier by Christian news sources.  The secular news doesn’t understand how important these developments are.

Surprisingly, CBS had an online story about this meeting.  Was it was seen in the print or T.V. media?  It’s doubtful.

The CBS post entitled, “Russia Seeks Bigger Mideast Role, Via Syria,” had the following quotes:

“Russian diplomats said the long-stalled Mideast peace process, Iran’s nuclear program and bilateral arms trade between the two countries were expected to be key topics for the two-day visit, the first ever to Syria by any Russian or Soviet head of state.”

“Analysts say Moscow’s influence in the Middle East will in many ways depend on its relations with Syria, an increasingly important regional player with tight ties to Iran, Hezbollah and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which has its political headquarters in Damascus.

Russia, with the European Union, the United Nations and the United States, is a member of the international quartet for Middle East peace and has long sought to expand its clout in the region.”

“Medvedev’s visit comes amid reports that he he’ll honor a deal with Damascus for the sale of an advanced anti-aircraft defense system.”

“Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has personally flown to Moscow in the hope of preventing the weapons deal, but Medvedev would only agree to a delay, unwilling to cancel the deal. The Russian leader justified the sale by saying the weapons system is a defensive one, not an offensive one.”

“Syria has insisted that the promise of an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights be a precursor to any renewed peace negotiations between the two countries. Netanyahu has vehemently rejected the notion of a withdrawal.”

The complete article may be seen here:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/russia-seeks-bigger-mideast-role-via-syria/

Russian sources reported the following:

“”The situation in the Middle East is getting worse and an increase of tensions would be extremely dangerous,’ Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday during his visit to Syria.
“‘Any future flare-up of the Mideast situation is fraught with the danger of catastrophe,’ Medvedev said during a joint news conference with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.”

“‘I have personally emphasized that Russia will do everything possible to restore Mideast peace talks under the existing international legal base,’ he added. ‘The situation is deteriorating, becoming more complicated, and it negatively affects the general climate in the Middle East.'”

“The president said Russia was ready to make every effort and hold a Middle East peace conference in Moscow that would achieve “at least some intermediate results.”

“Syria’s main demand within the peace process is the return of the Golan Heights, occupied by Israel during the Six-Day War in 1967.”

“Al-Assad said his country was ready to negotiate on all issues as soon as the occupied territories are returned to Syria.”

“‘Syria cannot agree to a deal under which it gets back only a part of the occupied Syrian land,’ the president said.”

See the article here:

http://en.rian.ru/world/20100511/158972407.html

There you have it.  Neither side will make concessions on the issue of the Golan Heights.  Israel can’t be blamed.  If they were to give up the Heights, they would be giving up one of their most strategic positions.  It helps protect them from the north.  Any military man will tell you that you never give up the high ground.

Articles relating to these events and seen from different angles, can be found at the following site:

http://www.nuggetnetreview.com/main-news1.htm

This story has many implications.  It’s only a matter of time to see what comes of it.

Chris Reimers


JEWS IN THE NEWS – AND MOST OF AMERICA HAS NO CLUE

May 9, 2010

One of Yesterday’s headlines reads:

Poll: Obama has Lost Almost Half of his US Jewish Support

Less than a week ago, I wrote that I had always been surprised that 80% of Jewish Americans had voted for Barack Obama (see “comments” under RADICAL ISLAM IS ON THE MOVE). The same folks who discovered these surprising numbers now say that Mr. Obama has the support of only 4 in 10 American Jews.  What a difference in 18 months.

Here’s another headline from yesterday:

US sends Israel smart bombs to match Syrian missiles for Hizballah

Both of these headlines were found in Jewish news sources and were parroted in a few Christian websites.

Anyone who has been watching the Middle East knows that Hezbollah has been re-arming since its last confrontation with Israel in the summer of 2006.  The only difference is that now the terrorist group has more rockets.  Not only are they greater in numbers – U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has said “Hezbollah has more missiles than most governments”- they are reportedly more deadly and they have greater range.  The Israelis have been preparing for chemical attacks.

If the headline is true, if we are going to help Israel defend itself, it may change the way the Jews view Mr. Obama once again.  I’ve read story after story about the disappointment that American supporters of Israel have over certain actions or non-actions of the current American administration.

What would America do if a terrorist group were placing huge numbers of missiles in Mexico?  What if we knew they were aimed at American cities like San Diego and San Antonio and we thought that some of them may contain chemical weapons?

The answer is obvious.  Look at how our media has reacted to the intended car bombing in New York City.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is expected to visit Damascus in Syria today.  I wonder if it will get any coverage.  This is the same Damascus that the Bible predicts will suffer dire consequences some day.  Most of the missiles the terrorists in Southern Lebanon possess came through Syria compliments of the leaders of Iran.  I can’t wait to see how the Medvedev/Assad meeting goes.

Yesterday, Shimon Perez met with Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow.  He was representing Israel at a ceremony recognizing the defeat of the Nazis 65 years ago.

Israel could have sent a lower level dignitary to such an event.  The real reason that President Peres went to Moscow was to, once again, hold out the olive branch to those who are bent on Israel’s destruction.

Mr. Peres, sent a message to the President of Syria, Bashar Assad, stating that Israel did not want a confrontation with Syria.

Unbelievable.  The Israelis are offering peace once again.  It doesn’t take a genius to know the results.  The Syrians and Iranians will continue to support the terrorists.

How many Americans know what you’ve just read?

How many Americans know that the Chinese President and German Chancellor were also in Moscow and met with President Peres?

The answer: very few.

I watched several mainline news programs yesterday and these events were not mentioned.

I didn’t get the local paper, but I checked the Sentinel-Record front page online.  Not there.  Was it anywhere? Page 12A?  Maybe one of you can tell me.

I checked the online issue of the Arkansas Democrat Gazette.  Nothing visible enough that anyone would notice.

I googled “Medvedev meets with Peres” and several other possibilities that should have given me news about these events. A few articles about these important events came from two sources in Israel, one that is a very liberal source according to one of the readers of this blog.  The other sources were mostly Christian sources that watch the Middle East anticipating the eventual fulfillment of Biblical prophecies.

Where is the mainstream American media? They are where they normally are.  They are lost. The big story is still the attempted bombing in NYC.  Hillary Clinton talked about the “global threat” on 60 minutes last night in a story that was mostly about her. The interview with our Secretary of State followed a story about the New York City bomb scare.  The “global threat” statement she made neglected to mention Iran or Syria or Hezbollah.

Unbelievable.

Are the conspiracy theorists right?  Is the mainstream media spoon fed by elites who control what we are told?

I think there may be some truth to this because some deliverers of the message are elites themselves. However, it is not the main reason important stories don’t make the front page.

Most of those who report mainstream news do not believe what the Bible says.  To most of the mainstream media, the Bible is a collection of nice stories that attempt to teach us moral behavior.  They think it’s a book of fairy tales.

The Russian President, the Chinese President, the German Chancellor, and the Israeli President were all at the same place at the same time (Moscow) and I can’t find the news easily available anywhere in American mainline media sources.

The American media is self-absorbed.

The second biggest “global threat” is the one developing in the Middle East.  There is only one larger threat, but I can wait until next Monday to post information about it, I think.

Chris Reimers

Late breaking news – The BBC New just posted a report entitled:

First round of Mid-East indirect peace talks completed

This is the story that will probably hit the mainstream American newswires today.  George Mitchell is shuttling between representatives of Israel and the Palestinians.  I think that most people who have followed the relations between the two parties know the minute chances of something permanent coming from talks like these. – CR

The poll:

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/137449

Related articles:

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/peres-in-message-to-syria-israel-does-not-want-war-1.289238

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/the-missiles-are-coming-1.289149

The BBC story:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8670726.stm


DON’T BELIEVE THAT THE JEWS ARE PLANNING ANOTHER TEMPLE? LOOK AT THIS.

May 6, 2010

I recently heard an interview with the man in charge of the Temple Institute in Jerusalem.  It’s pretty amazing stuff for those of us who believe the Bible tells us that the next Hebrew temple is inevitable. -CR

https://www.jewishvoice.org/read/article/update-building-third-temple