“Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul.”
(Matthew 10:28)

Fear Not Them

Dear Friends,

Greetings. We thought we would pass on an article from Leben.com this week concerning the life of Lady Jane Grey.

Leben.com

17-YEAR-OLD CHRISTIAN GIRL KILLED FOR 'TREASON'

Exclusive: The editors of Leben take you behind the execution of Lady Jane Grey

Although her reign was brief and the end of her life tragic, Lady Jane Grey remains one of the most beloved figures of the Reformation. When executed at the Tower of London, Jane was only 17. Yet her passionate faith and remarkable courage remain an inspiring testimony to all the sons and daughters of the Reformation.

Born in 1537, during the reign of Henry VIII, Lady Jane’s early life was one of quiet study. Henry VIII’s marriage to Jane Seymour had produced the son he had hoped for, and so the Tudor dynasty would continue through the person of young Edward, Jane Grey’s childhood friend. When Henry died, Edward was crowned Edward VI at the tender age of nine.

Despite his young age, Edward VI was devoted to the Protestant cause, embracing the Reformed faith in a markedly different fashion than his father. While Henry’s adoption of Protestantism had more to do with politics, Edward’s was a faith of the heart, and his fear of England returning to Rome would lead him to consent to the scheme that would eventually bypass his Roman Catholic half-sister Mary and place Lady Jane on the throne.

The leading figure in the conspiracy was John Dudley, the Duke of Northumberland. An exceedingly ambitious man, Northumberland was a military hero and skillful politician who saw in the Protestant cause a means to acquire power and wealth. When news of Edward’s eventually fatal illness reached him, Northumberland launched an audacious scheme to put his own son on the throne.

Arguing that Parliament had declared both Mary and Edward’s other half-sister Elizabeth illegitimate, Northumberland attempted to enlist Jane’s father in a plot to maneuver the throne to Jane. Critical to Northumberland’s scheme was the marriage of Jane to the Duke’s son, Lord Guildford Dudley.

Upon being advised of the plan, Jane’s father, the Duke of Suffolk, wrote to Northumberland, “From Jane, I think, we should find some difficulty. She has a passion for retirement, and no ambition to prompt her wish for a crown.”

Indeed, from Jane’s own letters to her cousin, Lady Anne Grey, we find a young lady utterly dismissive of the trappings of royalty: “The bare possibility of being a queen is a source of uneasiness to me, though it is very improbable I shall ever be one.”

Jane, at this point, was completely unaware of the machinations of Northumberland, or the eventual complicity of her own father. On the issue of young Guildford, however, her thoughts were quite set. She would have nothing to do with Northumberland or his sons.

She confided to her cousin that she had become quite taken with a young man who had been visiting with them, one Sir William Morley. But alas, she had reason to believe a marriage to the humble Morely “will not, in my parent’s esteem, be a proper alliance for me.”

Shortly thereafter, however, Jane learned that Sir William Morley was, in fact, Northumberland’s son, Guildford Dudley. The plan to introduce him under an alias was hatched by Northumberland and Jane’s own parents, and it accomplished the purpose, for Jane and Guildford soon were betrothed. Still, Northumberland’s plan required that Edward change the order of succession to the throne.

The duke met with the ailing king, telling him that God would judge him for turning the throne over to a Roman Catholic when it was in his power to prevent it. He persuaded Edward to overlook his half-sisters’ claims in favor of Jane.

Edward had known Jane his entire life, and was well acquainted with her passionate, evangelical faith. Edward trusted that Jane would preserve the Reformation in England, not for power’s sake, but for the gospel’s sake. Calling his ministers together around his bedside, the ailing king ordered the documents drawn to change the succession.

His ministers declared the act illegal, but King Edward was determined that the succession would pass to Lady Jane. What he could not have fully comprehended, however, was how deep the treachery of Northumberland ran.

Into this maelstrom of deceit and intrigue Jane would then be drawn.

When Edward died, Northumberland purposed to keep it secret until he could stage-manage the ascendancy and take Mary into custody. But his plans are thwarted when Mary escaped to raise an army and assert her right. Northumberland arranged for all the King’s ministers, parliamentary leaders and officials to swear allegiance to Jane, yet she reluctantly accepted the crown.

Within days, Mary rallied not only Catholic forces, but many Protestants, as well, who are enraged at the rumors of Northumberland’s treachery. Defections from Northumberland’s army increased, and he eventually hailed Mary as queen in a desperate maneuver to save his own life.

The Tower of London

When Mary and her army arrived at the Tower of London, where Queen Jane was staying, Jane ordered the doors opened and received Mary as lawful heir to the throne. Jane’s nine-day reign was over.

Northumberland was nonetheless arrested and convicted of treason. On the gallows, he renounced Protestantism and embraced the Church of Rome. Some speculate that Jane’s innocence was so manifest that Mary would likely have been forced to spare her and her husband. We cannot know if Mary would have ever pardoned Jane. We only know what, in fact, did happen.

Jane was tried for treason.

She pled guilty and took all responsibility for Northumberland’s foiled plot upon herself. Mary sent priests and dignitaries to convince her to convert to Rome. Jane refused.

When the appointed day arrives, Jane sent a message to her husband – who had stayed by her side throughout, also refusing to recant his Protestant faith – that in a very short while, they shall meet again. Guildford is taken to the executioner first. His decapitated body on a cart passed beneath Jane’s window. Jane was next led to the block in the courtyard of the Tower … and the reign of Bloody Mary had begun.

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New York Times

Russia Sending Warships on Maneuvers Near Syria

ANDREW E. KRAMER and RICK GLADSTONE - -

July 11, 2012

MOSCOW -- Russia said on Tuesday that it had dispatched a flotilla of 11 warships to the eastern Mediterranean, some of which would dock in Syria. It would be the largest display of Russian military power in the region since the Syrian conflict began almost 17 months ago. Nearly half of the ships were capable of carrying hundreds of marines.

The announcement appeared intended to punctuate Russia's effort to position itself as an increasingly decisive broker in resolving the antigovernment uprising in Syria, Russia's last ally in the Middle East and home to Tartus, its only foreign military base outside the former Soviet Union. The announcement also came a day after Russia said it was halting new shipments of weapons to the Syrian military until the conflict settled down.

Russia has occasionally sent naval vessels on maneuvers in the eastern Mediterranean, and it dispatched an aircraft-carrying battleship, the Admiral Kuznetsov, there for maneuvers with a few other vessels from December 2011 to February 2012. There were rumors in recent weeks that the Russians planned to deploy another naval force near Syria.

But the unusually large size of the force announced on Tuesday was considered a message, not just to the region but also to the United States and other nations supporting the rebels now trying to depose Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad. -

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WND

IRAN LEADER: WE MUST PREP FOR 'END OF TIMES'

'We shall make the Islamic civilization proud on the world stage'

By Reza Kahlili

Iran's supreme leader, for the first time, is telling his nation that it must prepare for war and "the end of times" as it continues to develop nuclear weapons.

State-owned media outlets, in a coordinated effort, all ran a similar story Friday highlighting Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's message on the coming of the last Islamic messiah.

Until now, the Iranian media would mostly quote clerics from seminaries on the issue of the last Islamic messiah to avoid the regime being labeled messianic. However, the wide publication of Khamenei's statements on a need to prepare for the end of times as it confronts the West over its illicit nuclear program is alarming to Western leaders.

"The issue of Imam Mahdi is of utmost importance, and his reappearance has been clearly stated in our holy religion of Islam," Khamenei said. We must study and remind ourselves of the end of times and Imam Mahdi's era. ... We must prepare the environment for the coming so that the great leader will come."

Shiite theology holds that great wars must engulf the Earth, during which one-third of the world's population will die in the fighting and another third from hunger, lawlessness and havoc. Israel is to be destroyed, and only then will the 12th imam, Mahdi, reappear and kill all the infidels, raising the flag of Islam in all corners of the world.

Under the guidance of Khamenei, several centers have been established in Iran on research and information on the coming of Mahdi, and a conference is held annually on Mahdiism.

"Today we have a duty to prepare for the coming. ... If we are the soldiers of the 12th imam, then we must be ready to fight," Khamenei said.

"With the guidance of Allah and His invisible help, we shall make the Islamic civilization proud on the world stage. ... This is our destiny. ... The youth, the faithful must prepare themselves for this great move."

Referring to the Quran, Khamenei said the coming has been promised by Allah. "There will come a time when all the oppressive powers of the world will be destroyed and humanity will be enlightened in the era of Imam Mahdi."

As reported recently, the regime has distributed the booklet "The Last Six Months" among its military forces in preparation for the coming and its confrontation with the West. The material admonishes the Revolutionary Guards and the Basij paramilitary forces that they must be prepared to do their duties during the expected war.

The Revolutionary Guards' media outlet, Mashregh, on Sunday warned Israel and America that they will have to guess as to what type of warhead the Iranian missiles will be carrying when targeting them.

In its lengthy piece, Mashregh discussed Iranian missile capability and the devastation it can wreak on potential enemies. Referring to U.S. military bases in the region, it said that in recent war games, ballistic missiles with cluster warheads destroyed targets similar to air bases and fighter craft hiding under hangers.

The piece boasts that the two-stage solid-fuel Sejil missile can pierce through Israel's missile defense system and has had "the Zionists losing sleep."

After a decade of negotiation with Iran, the West has yet to make any inroads in stopping the regime's illicit nuclear program.

The latest report by the International Atomic Energy Agency indicated Iran continues to enrich uranium at both the Natanz and Fordow facilities and now has enough nuclear material for at least five nuclear weapons. The regime has denied an IAEA request for inspection of a military facility where it is believed Iran conducted secret experiments of an implosion-type nuclear weapon.

While a majority of Iranians oppose the mullahs' brutal regime, Western sanctions have not curtailed its pursuit of nuclear weapons, which not only could lead to the collapse of the global economy but the killing of tens of millions of innocent civilians, including those in Iran.

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The American Dream

60 Days In Prison And A $12,180 Fine For Hosting A Home Bible Study In Arizona

Michael Snyder -

July 9, 2012

The war on home Bible studies and house churches is heating up again. Down in Phoenix, Arizona a man has been sentenced to 60 days in prison and has been fined $12,180 for hosting a Bible study in his home.

Since 2005, Michael Salman and his wife have been hosting gatherings of about 15 or 20 people where they share food, fellowship and discuss the Bible. Unfortunately, that kind of thing is against the law in Phoenix, Arizona apparently. At one point, nearly a dozen armed police officers raided their home and "evidence" of their "crimes" was gathered. Michael Salman was found guilty of 67 "code violations", and now he is going to be ripped away from his family and put in prison for two months. In addition, the assistant city prosecutor is asking the court to "revoke his probation and convert it into a 2 1/2 year jail sentence since he continues to hold worship gatherings on his property despite court orders." This kind of case has the potential to have a huge "chilling effect" on home gatherings of all kinds all over the United States.

You may be thinking that you are glad that this man is being put in prison because you aren't a Christian and you don't have any sympathy for Christians.

Well, what if you wanted to hold small gatherings in your home to discuss the U.S. Constitution?

Or what if you wanted to hold small gatherings in your home to play cards or watch football?

The U.S. Constitution guarantees "the right of the people peaceably to assemble", and when the constitutional rights of one person are under attack, it is an attack on all of us.

In America today, we actually do not own our homes and our properties. Instead, we are only allowed to use them in very, very narrowly-defined ways, and if we "rebel" against those rules the control freaks that run things will smack us hard.

A while back I wrote about how control freak bureaucrats all over the country are using "code violations" to force preppers back on to the grid. In some cases, they are even using "code violations" to force preppers completely off of their properties.

They want to run our lives, and if we do not live within the very narrow constraints that they define for us then they will send armed men to raid our homes.

So how did Michael Salman's problems start?

You can probably guess.

His "neighbors" complained about noise and "traffic congestion".

So that is how city officials got involved. We have become a nation of informers and tattlers, and this is another perfect example of that.

Michael Salman did have a big cross and a big sign outside his home, and in this situation that was rather foolish. Perhaps if he had kept a lower profile things would have been different. But it still does not excuse what authorities in Phoenix are doing to him.

People should be able to have small gatherings of friends and family in their own homes. If we can't do that, what do we have left?

And these days, just about everything is illegal in America, so if you want to sick the authorities on your neighbors it is quite easy to do.

What is this nation turning into?

The implications of this story are staggering.

Over the past couple of decades, the number of "house churches" in the United States has absolutely exploded as an increasing number of Americans reject the big, institutional churches for one reason or another.

Now we are seeing a backlash against the home church movement.

Are we going to start to see authorities systematically coming after home Bible studies and house churches all over America?

Sadly, we have already seen quite a few examples of this. The following is one example from California....

A Christian couple from Orange County, Calif., were fined earlier this month for holding Bible studies and for what city officials called "a regular gathering of more than three people" in their homes. They have now been told they face a $500 fine if they continue to hold their home Bible study gatherings.

Fortunately, authorities in that case have backed off at least for now after immense public pressure.

But this is just the beginning. Bible-believing Christians are now considered to be "outside the mainstream" and are being attacked in unprecedented ways.

For example, the head of Personhood USA (Keith Mason) had his home brutally vandalized after he was featured in a recent Newsweek article. When that article was posted on the website of The Daily Beast, someone left a comment that contained his home address. Unfortunately, some very sick individuals decided to "pay a visit" to the home and hurled a boulder that destroyed the glass in his front door. In addition, they took red spray paint and painted cuss words and red coat hangers on his house and on his sidewalk.

The following is how this attack was described in a recent Newsweek article....

Mason says he was awake at the time of the attack. "I was in the basement, catching a movie and having a beer, to just chill," Mason says. "I heard a loud noise and thought one of our kids had fallen down the stairs." Mason says he ran upstairs from the basement, then "ran through a bunch of glass" and "saw red." He describes the scene as "surreal--I didn't know if it was blood on the glass or what. It turned out to be spray paint. There was red paint all over the side of our house. They spray-painted coat-hangers all over my sidewalk and door. We called 911. The police were there within three minutes."

The family has moved from the home and they say that they have no plans to return.

This is what America is turning into.

Hate and anger are rising to unprecedented levels and it seems like psychopaths are running around everywhere.

I truly fear for the future of this nation.

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CNN

Farmers suffer as soaring temperatures worsen drought in Midwest

By the Wire Staff

July 13, 2012

The Department of Agriculture said 1,016 counties in 26 states are natural disaster areas.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

About 61% of the contiguous U.S. is experiencing drought conditions

It is the highest percentage in the 12-year history of the drought monitor

Parts of the southern Midwest are suffering the worst June conditions since 1988

(CNN) -- A severe drought is spreading across the Midwest this summer, resulting in some of the worst conditions in decades and leaving more than a thousand counties designated as natural disaster areas, authorities said.

Farmers in the region are suffering, with pastures for livestock and fields of crops becoming increasingly parched during June, according to the National Climatic Data Center. Many areas in the southern Midwest are reporting the poorest conditions for June since 1988.

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The Telegraph

The Shard - a giant middle finger directed by the super-rich at the rest of London

By Ed West Politics

Last updated: July 5th, 2012

"Up yours, London. Love, rich people"

Being a patriot, and a massive sexual inadequate, I should be pleased that Britain now has the tallest, most dominant, thrusting skyscraper in the whole of Europe.

It's something I can take pride in every time we take our kids to the top of Parliament Hill, where the enormous monster needle completely now dominates the view, dwarfing St Paul's in front of it. Still, at least Hampstead Heath is free, unlike the Shard, which costs £90 for a family of four.

Flats in the overbearing millionaires' playground cost up to £50m a pop, and those at the top must feel like gods, but to people on the ground it looks like a middle finger being directed by the super-rich at the rest of London.

The Shard is still only the 59th tallest building in the world, with most of the those above it being in the UAE or China, and a smattering in North Korea, Saudi Arabia or the US. After the Shard, seven of the next 12 tallest  in Europe are in Moscow.

Why is it that with the exception of the US, which has very high inequality levels, all the other monster buildings are in tyrannies ruled by oil sheikhs or politburos? What does it say about Britain that we're now part of this group?

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WND

JON VOIGHT DEFENDS BRAD PITT'S MOM

Mother of Hollywood star quaking in fear since slamming Obama

Published: 07.12.12

by JOE KOVACS

Jon Voight

The battle over Brad Pitt's mother and her comments slamming Barack Obama while supporting Mitt Romney is collecting another member of the Brangelina clan: actor Jon Voight.

Voight, known for his roles in "Midnight Cowboy," "Deliverance," "National Treasure" and TV's "24," is the father of actress Angelina Jolie, who is married to actor Brad Pitt.

As WND reported this week, Jane Pitt, mother of actor Brad Pitt, has been scared into silence by the hate-filled, vulgar and even violent reaction to her public assertion that Barack Obama is "a liberal who supports the killing of unborn babies and same-sex marriage."

Pitt has even been the subject of death threats following her letter to the editor of Missouri's Springfield News-Leader in which she asserted failure to vote for Republican presumptive presidential candidate Mitt Romney constituted a vote for Obama.

"All hell has descended on this woman," said radio host Rush Limbaugh this afternoon.

WND spoke briefly with Pitt and asked about the media assault against her for her comments as a private citizen supporting Romney. With inflections in her voice that conveyed fear and despair, she quietly and politely said she was not interested in talking to anyone in the media about the incident.

When she was told WND supported her right to speak her mind and is appalled by the threats against her life, Pitt expressed gratitude to WND for being one of the few news agencies doing so. Even her thank you, however, was said in a subdued manner laden with heaviness of heart.

Now, Fox News is reporting Mrs. Pitt has at least one high-profile supporter on her daughter-in-law's side of the family: Jolie's father, Jon Voight.

"Good for her," Voight told FOX411′s Pop Tarts column, adding he agrees with the points-of-view expressed by Jane.

A representative for Obama supporter Brad Pitt did not respond for further comment.

Jane Pitt also received some family support from her son Doug this week on NBC's "Today."

"I think moms and dads and kids agree to disagree all over the world. So why would our family be any different? There can be healthy discussion when people disagree with you," he said. "The bad thing is when it turns to venom and negativity, and we don't have that in our family. It's open discussion. We can learn from each other and, if anything, it solidifies your point. Or maybe you learn something."

The media firestorm has given Mrs. Pitt every reason to be frightened. Following her letter to the editor in her local newspaper, mainstream news agencies have painted her comments in a vilifying light.

The Hollywood Reporter published a story headlined, "Brad Pitt's mother pens anti-gay, anti-Obama letter to local newspaper." The New York Daily News went further, penning an article originally titled, "Brad Pitt's mom unleashes anti-gay, anti-Obama fury in letter."

She Knows Entertainment reported that Pitt actually "hates Obama, 'gay' people."

These slants on the story, however, are mild compared to comments posted on Twitter.

Editors of the Twitter-scouring news site Twitchy exclaimed sarcastically, "Time for the left's self-proclaimed arbiters of tolerance to teach her a lesson with their hateful, misogynist slurs and death wishes."

Twitchy then spotlighted some of the tweets it found.

Jane Pitt

"Brad Pitt's mom, die," wrote Twitter-poster Sandy Kownacka.

A tweet from "I Bleed Gaga" echoed similar sentiments, saying, "Brad Pitt's mom wrote an anti-gay pro-Romney editorial. Kill the b---."

Other comments included, "F-- you, brad pitt's mom, the gay community made your kid a star, you whacko," and, "Brad Pitt's mom is a dumb c--."

Many of the comments told her to commit vulgar sexual acts with the commenter.

These statements stand contrary to Pitt's own statements about his mother. In January, Pitt told the Hollywood Reporter that his mother was a very loving person.

"She's very, very loving - very open, genuine, and it's hilarious because she always gets painted in the tabloids as a she-devil," the actor said. "There's not an ounce of malice in her. She wants everyone to be happy."

Jane Pitt originally penned her letter to the editor responding to another reader, Richard Stoecker, who stated that Christians should not vote for Romney based on his Mormonism.

In her rebuttal letter, she acknowledged that there were doctrinal differences between Mormonism and Christianity, but she took issue with the rest of Stoecker's reasoning.

Pitt wrote, "I think any Christian should spend much time in prayer before refusing to vote for a family man with high morals, business experience, who is against abortion and shares Christian conviction concerning homosexuality just because he is a Mormon."

Pitt went on to say, "Any Christian who does not vote or writes in a name is casting a vote for Romney's opponent, Barack Hussein Obama - a man who sat in Jeremiah Wright's church for years, did not hold a public ceremony to mark the National Day of Prayer and is a liberal who supports the killing of unborn babies and same-sex marriage."

Her statements on Obama's record, however, are not opinions, but established facts. Obama himself has come out and said he supports the rights of homosexuals to marry. He has repeatedly backed legalized abortion. While he was a state senator in Illinois, Obama opposed a bill that would have required medical care to be given to infants who survived an abortion.

Unlike his mother, Hollywood actor Brad Pitt has taken a strong stand for same-sex marriage and supports Obama.

Brad Pitt has a long history of support for homosexual causes. He once famously declared he would refuse to marry Angelina Jolie until same-sex marriages were made legal in America in every state.

Following New York's legalization of same-sex marriage, Pitt said, "It is each American's constitutional right to marry the person they love, no matter what state they inhabit. No state should decide who can marry and who cannot."

In 2008, he donated $100,000 to help fight passage of Proposition 8, a constitutional amendment in California that recognized marriage as being between one man and one woman. In March, he portrayed homosexual Judge Vaughn Walker in "8," a play that re-enacted the trial where Walker overturned the amendment.

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Until next week...keep on believing.

Almondtree Productions

“The things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.”
(2 Timothy 2:2)