“But go ye and learn what [that] meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
(Matthew 9:13)
Mercy, And Not Sacrifice

God’s Idea of Righteousness

By David Brandt Berg

There is no goodness except God.1 God is the only one who is good. “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”2 Everybody’s bad except those who have the goodness of God, the love of God, and the righteousness of God. God’s Word says that all other righteousness, man’s righteousness, your own righteousness, your own goodness, is like filthy rags. “We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.”3 In other words, God says if you don’t have His goodness, which is true goodness, true holiness, real love, real mercy, you have nothing but a filthy rag!

God’s idea of righteousness is the pitiful, hopeless, lost, humble, sinful sinner who knows he needs God. Those He came to save. “He came not to call the righteous to repentance, but sinners.”4 So God’s idea of goodness is godliness—a sinner who knows he needs God and depends on Him for salvation—not the self-righteous who think they can save themselves by their own goodness.

God’s idea of saintliness is not sinless perfection, self-righteousness. It’s a sinner saved by grace, a sinner who has no perfection, no righteousness of his own at all, but is totally dependent on the grace, love, and mercy of God by faith. Believe it or not, those are the only saints—there are no others.

God knows you’re anything but perfect and can’t be perfect and never will be perfect, and usually you’re pretty much of a mess, like the rest of us. So the only question, the only standard, is: Do you depend on the Lord, trust Him and His grace and His love and His mercy and give Him all the glory and the credit? If there’s anything good you ever do, do you give Him the glory? Do you say, “Thank Jesus; don’t thank me. Thank the Lord. It’s all the Lord!”

That’s what the Lord looks to as saintliness, the person who knows he’s a sinner and therefore gives God all the glory if anything good comes of what he’s done. As Paul said, “I know that in me, my flesh, dwelleth no good thing.”5 There’s nothing good about me or my flesh; anything good is only the Lord. That’s sainthood!

David—a sinning saint

The greatest men in the Bible were guys who made terrible mistakes and realized they were sinners, that they needed God. I never got much encouragement from those who were so perfect, like Enoch, who walked so close to God that he got completely out of touch with humanity, so God had to take him out of this world. I take a lot more heart from the pathetic stories of the drunks and the harlots and the publicans and the sinners who came to Jesus for love and mercy.

In fact, one of the worst characters in the Bible is my greatest inspiration. One of the most wicked men in the entire Bible, who was a murderer, an adulterer, and a liar, but whom God turned around and called a man after His own heart, King David.6

The most encouraging thing about David’s example was not his perfectionism but his human failures, sins, and shortcomings, which gave God a chance to get all the glory and show there’s hope for me—and you. I always figured if God could forgive even as bad a guy as David, surely He could forgive me. I think King David has been an encouragement to a lot of people—to know how much mercy God has and how much forgiveness He has, how good He can be if you’ll really repent like David did.

He was one of the biggest sinners in the Bible and did some horrible things. But look what a marvelous change occurred in him when the Lord really humbled him. It came through a humbling of his spiritual pride.

But he had to be completely exposed—his wickedness and his sins and his weaknesses. He was sitting up there on his throne so high and mighty and seemingly so perfect and righteous. The prophet Nathan came along and pointed the finger at him and said, “Thou art the man.”7 “You’re the wicked one, the sinner.” And then the judgments of God began to fall and he lost everything, everything but Bathsheba; she stuck by him. He was absolutely stripped except for a few loyal friends and followers.

A guy couldn’t have gone down in worse defeat than King David did. And the worst of all his sins was that he had become a hypocrite because he covered up all of his other sins and pretended to be so righteous, judging other people’s problems. That’s when the prophet came along and exposed him.

He apparently had a lot of spiritual pride that had to be humbled, because look what a great hero he was to begin with. Even as a little boy he was a great hero. He even fought and killed a lion and a bear to protect his sheep.8 Then all Israel knew what a great hero he was when he killed Goliath, the giant. They were praising his name above King Saul, saying, “Saul hath slain his thousands, but David his tens of thousands.”9 It could be that he was quite proud, which is no doubt why the Lord had to finally really humble him and disgrace him and debase him down to the bottom before he finally became humble and sympathetic to others and wrote those marvelous Psalms.

So David is a dandy bad example, yet a great example of a great man who was apparently lifted up in pride for a while and thereby got into great sin and thereby had to have a great humbling, a great judgment, a great confession, and a terrible stripping of everything.

His was a great sin and it was a great dealing of God with him for his iniquity, but it was also a great repentance, and as a result, a great forgiveness. But it cost him the child of the wife that was dearest to him, Bathsheba. But praise God, as a result of his repentance through having gone through that soul agony of the loss of that first child of Bathsheba, God forgave, and in His mercy gave him another one named Solomon, who became a very great king, the wisest and richest Israel ever knew.

Though they were great sins, he had a great repentance, and therefore God had a great forgiveness for him. And from that squeezing and twisting of David’s life came forth the sweet honey of the Psalms and the fragrance of his praises to the Lord for His mercy. It was all God and all grace, and none of himself or his own righteousness—a lesson that has been an encouragement to other great sinners like me and you ever since.

“I will have mercy and not sacrifice”

“And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto His disciples, ‘Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?’ But when Jesus heard that, He said unto them, ‘They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: For I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.’”10

Jesus said to go back and learn what God meant when He said, “I will have mercy and not sacrifice.”11 In other words, “I would rather see you have love and not just a sacrificial, dutiful, law-keeping offering of sacrifices and duties. I’d rather see you give love to others than be self-righteous.”

I think we all need to apply this to ourselves. We all need to learn what that means. We all need to ask Him in all humility to help us have mercy on others, knowing that we ourselves must also be forgiven for many sins. Remembering continually what sinners we are and how many mistakes we’ve made helps greatly to keep us humble and to avoid that spirit of self-righteous pride which causes us to criticize and condemn others.

If you’ll remember that no one is perfect, including you, you’ll help others to do the best they can, as you’d like them to do to you. It helps to always remember we’re all sinners and we all make mistakes and that we must “forgive one another even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven us.”12

The only way we can be patient with others is to know what a hopeless case we are ourselves. You’ll be much more merciful to others if you realize how much you also need mercy. When you need a lot of forgiveness and you need a lot of mercy, it sure helps you to extend it to others.

Jesus taught us to pray, “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”13 If you can’t forgive, you can’t have real love or real humility; you can’t have mercy, because love is forgiveness and mercy.

“Above all things have fervent love one toward another.”14

Compiled from the writings of D. B. Berg, originally published March 1986.

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RUSSIA INSIDER

Russians to Build Tallest Jesus Statue in World on Pacific Coast

Taller than famous Rio de Janiero and Lisbon statues

Intended as symbol of rebirth of Russian Far East and rebirth of Christianity

(Pravmir.com) August 19,2015

This article originally appeared at Pravmir.com

The statue was cast in 2013 by Tsereteli, the famous Georgian-Russian sculptor, known for his gigantic projects such as a statue of Peter the Great in Moscow and ‘The Tear of Grief’ in the United States, dedicated to the struggle against world terrorism.

The monument stands 50 metres taller than the world famous ‘Christ the Redeemer’ in Rio de Janeiro, and two metres higher than ‘The Christ the King’ in Lisbon.

In Vladivostok, the monument will be composed of two parts: the statue itself and the pedestal housing a cathedral in honour of Archangel Michael.

The project was inspired by a local businessman Aleksey Shchepin, who donated two hectares of land overlooking the sea on the Churkin Peninsula for it to be built.

Now some $15.3 million is being raised to see the statue put in place.

Organisers say the monument, which has the backing of the Orthodox Church, will boost tourism and encourage residents of Vladivostok to believe in God.

It is also seen as a symbol of the revival of the Russian Far East.

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Daily Mail

Image of JESUS appears in smoke trail as Red Arrows fliers perform in front of hundreds of thousands at airshow

• The face of Christ appeared in smoke trails produced by a Red Arrow plane at an airshow in Eastbourne, Sussex

• The image disappeared as a crowd of thousands looked on during the annual event on the south coast

By HUGO GYE FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 06:29 EST, 17 August 2015 | UPDATED: 07:26 EST, 17 August 2015

Thousands of spectators at an airshow were shocked to see the face of Jesus appear in the smoke trail left by a Red Arrows plane.

The bearded image could clearly be seen by visitors to the Airbourne show at Eastbourne in Sussex on Saturday afternoon.

But the spooky apparition then vanished as quickly as it had arrived when the trail behind the RAF jet disappeared into the ether.

Image: The face of Jesus has appeared in the smoke trail produced by a Red Arrows plane at an airshow in Eastbourne

The bizarre incident took place during the four-day aviation extravaganza in the resort on England's south coast.

More than 100,000 spectators were said to have packed the shore for 'super Saturday', featuring the Red Arrows as well as a number of historic planes.

Britain's last working Vulcan Bomber, which will go out of operation for good this year, wowed crowds with a fly-by at the free event.

Eerie: The smoke took the shape of a bearded face looking over proceedings at the festival on Saturday

As well as the famous RAF stunt crew, the Breitling Wingwalkers showed off their skills to the vast gathering of people.

One day of the Airbourne festival, which ended yesterday, was completely washed out as the South was swept with torrential rain.

The Red Arrows are known for their acrobatic stunts, often trailing red, white and blue smoke behind them to reflect the colours of the Union flag.

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WND

BLOOD-MOONS AUTHOR: LOOK FOR JUDGMENT INSIDE CHURCH

Rare historical convergence looming

Published: August 16, 2015

In Biltz’s opinion, the current sequence of blood moons “is a sign for today’s Christians as judgment always begins in the house of God. I believe the current blood moons also signal the end of an era.”

Biltz notes there’s something else unique about this tetrad: its convergence with biblical holy days.

The April 15 event in 2014, for example, happened during Passover. On Oct. 8, 2014, the blood moon occurred during the Feast of Tabernacles, or Sukkot. Another of the blood moon’s occurred during Passover on April 4, 2015. The last will happen on Sept. 28, 2015, another Feast of the Tabernacles.

Historically, a blood-moon tetrad also occurred in 1493, while the Jews were being expelled from Spain. Another tetrad occurred in 1949, soon after the state of Israel was founded. The last tetrad happened in 1967, during the Six-Day War between Arabs and Israelis.

Biltz discovered what has become the “blood moon phenomenon” back in 2007, researching the correlation between when blood moons fell on feast days and key historical world events. He found the divine link between prophecy, heavenly signs, historical events, and when they intersect.

The following chapter is excerpted from Biltz’s “Blood Moons,” and is directed at the naysayers of his discovery to explain God is speaking through these heavenly signs.

Blood Moons Chapter 7: For the Naysayers

By Mark Biltz

Since my discovery in March 2008 of the correlation between eclipses past and future and when they fall on the biblical calendar, there have been many naysayers. One of the first objections I heard was that “this is only Mark Biltz’s theory.” But the facts don’t lie. That eclipses actually occur is a fact. That they fall on feast days according to the biblical calendar is also a fact. The biblical calendar is not a theory. It is a fact that when eclipses have fallen on past feast days, major historical events have happened. I do not control eclipses, and I do not have authority over the biblical calendar. The only theory I hold is what significance these events may have, which I will discuss later.

Another objection I’ve heard is that I am a false prophet. But I am not prophesying the coming eclipses. NASA has scientifically determined when they will occur. Neither am I am prophesying that they will fall on biblical holidays. It is not I who determines when they fall. I am not a prophet, nor do I claim to be one. I am just letting the world know a pattern exists between when eclipses have fallen on past feast days and major events that have occurred at the same time. As far as what will happen during the next tetrad, that is up to the reader to contemplate and pray about. Now, of course it is fun to speculate on what it all may mean, but that is no more prophesying than trying to guess who will win a football game. (Go, Seahawks!)

Other grumblers protest that not all of the four eclipses in the upcoming tetrad will be seen in Jerusalem. So what? They weren’t all seen in Israel when that tiny country became a Jewish nation in 1948, and they weren’t all seen in Jerusalem when the Jews recaptured it in 1967! Still, everyone would agree that these were extremely significant prophetic events. And if you didn’t see them, well sorry, you missed it. God will do what He wants to whether we like it or not, know it or not, see it or not, or even care. This is a very narrow view of prophecy anyway. God loves the whole world, not just the Jewish people. And that the eclipses will not all be visible in Jerusalem is a moot point, because with the advent of technology, everyone in Jerusalem – or for that matter, anyone with an Internet connection anywhere in the world – will be able to see every one of these eclipses. Even without technology, every part of the world will see at least one of them. God is announcing His signals to all tribes, tongues, and nations. Remarkably, the final blood moon on the Feast of Tabernacles in 2015 will be seen from Jerusalem. And it will be a supermoon! While it is not larger, it has the appearance of being around 14 percent larger.

Some readers say the eclipses are irrelevant because one time a significant event might come after the four blood moons, and another time it might occur before them. This is also totally missing the point. Think of it this way: America or the United Nations may think that they should get the credit (or blame, depending on how you look at it) for creating Israel in 1948, but the fact that these four blood moons occurred in 1949 and 1950 is, I believe, God’s way of telling the world it was His doing and had nothing to do with the United Nations! They were mere puppets in the hand of God! In 1967, when the first of the four blood moons occurred a few months before the Six-Day War, God was telling the nation of Israel that His hands were going to be all over it. Sadly, these signals were totally missed by everyone anyway, as the connections were not made until I discovered them in 2008. At least this time we have a forewarning of what may come!

Another objection I encounter is from people who are reading what others are saying about the eclipses, and I have nothing to do with their statements. A lot of folks will read articles by writers who misquote me or assume I am saying things that I am not, and then they get all fired up and accuse me of saying things I never said. People really need to check their sources and contact me before spreading rumors.

“You’re saying that a biblically significant event will happen on the very day the eclipses occur,” other folks complain. No, I am not. As noted before, the four blood moons of 1949-50 occurred after Israel became a nation in 1948. The Six-Day War of 1967 did not happen on the day of one of the eclipses either. The eclipses coming in 2014 and 2015 are signs in themselves, as they occur on the feast days. If nothing noteworthy happens in 2014 or 2015, it just means these are signs of things to come.

Then there are the debunkers, and I now have to debunk the debunkers. Some people object [to] the idea that the eclipses occur around major events because they aren’t tied to the seven seals in Revelation. The reason I never tried to tie the eclipses to the seals is because that wasn’t my point, which they totally missed. I wasn’t making predictions or connections to any seals or trumpets in the book of Revelation. My point is to demonstrate that God says He created the sun and the moon to send signals on His feast days. And guess what? There are some big signals coming that will start flashing like a billboard, and if people focus on the seals and not the feast days, they’ll be left in the dark.

Still other people say I am setting dates for when Yeshua will return and will rapture all the saints. No, I am not. I have never set dates and never will. “No one knows the day or the hour,” my accusers chide. Exactly! I have never said I knew the day or the hour. I have no idea when the rapture will happen. The only dates I am setting are when the eclipses will occur on the biblical calendar. Again, it will be exciting if the eclipses and the rapture do happen at the same time, and if you want to think so, more power to you, but one thing I realized a long time ago was that God is not going to consult me as to when He should either come back or raise the dead. I will point out, though, that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. If He fulfilled the spring feasts to the day with His first coming, then it makes sense that He would fulfill all the fall feasts to the day with His second coming. Look at what Paul wrote to the Thessalonians: “But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night” (1 Thess. 5:1–2).

Hopefully by now you realize that when he mentions “times and seasons” he is speaking about the appointed times and the festivals of the Lord. Why does he say there is “no need” for him to write to the church about the feasts? Because they get it! He goes on to say: “But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief” (v. 4). Read that several times!

There are three fall feasts that must be fulfilled at Messiah’s coming:

1. The Feast of Trumpets (Do you read anything about trumpets in the book of Revelation?)

2. Yom Kippur (Israel’s national day to be atoned for)

3. The Feast of Tabernacles (when God tabernacles among men for a thousand years)

I have no doubt that different biblical prophetic events will happen on these very days. So yes, I do know the days that events will happen, but I am still not setting dates, because I have no idea what year! All I know is that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and there is no shadow of turning with Him!

Many people speculate on where I am regarding the timing of the rapture. As I said in chapter 4, it doesn’t matter to me. Why do I say that? Because I am not afraid. When a house is on fire, you have people running out and others running in. It depends on what you believe your calling is. I believe the time of Jacob’s trouble will be the “Super Bowl” of human history, and I don’t want to miss it. For me, it’s “Put me in the game, Coach!” I just want to finish the task God has given me to do. If I finish it beforehand, great; take me out. In the middle, that’s fine too. If it’s at the end, okay, Lord. Just let me finish the task You have given me to do. I really believe it will be like when Philip baptized the Ethiopian eunuch and then was transported to another city. We could be facing danger, and God will transport us to another city. Who wants to miss that?

I used to think how amazing it will be to sit down at the wedding supper of the Lamb with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and hear all their stories. Now I realize, as the Bible says, that even the angels desire to look into the things that are happening in this world as prophecy unfolds. They are waiting excitedly to talk to us and ask us what it was like to participate in the terminal generation, where all of prophecy culminated. I don’t want to tell them, “I don’t know, because I hid behind a rock!” I pray this book is a wake-up call to all the men and women of valor out there who know no fear and who are willing to rise up to the most glorious assignment of joining the heavenly army and fulfilling the task God has called them to do!

Having had two relatives die in the Holocaust, I will never stand idly by while the enemy attacks! Never again will the Jewish people go down as lambs to the slaughter on my watch. I’m in this to the glorious end. We are all going to die anyway, so let’s go in glory! For believers, there is no need to be afraid of death. We just change clothes, so to speak. My only fear is not having completed the job God gave me to do.

Too many Christians waste so much time trying to determine when the rapture is going to take place that they get absolutely nothing done for the kingdom. There are no extra points for being right. And if you are wrong, it doesn’t mean you won’t be raised from the dead. I would rather be wrong and ready than right and unprepared. God does not care about my personal view of the rapture anyway. He only cares if I am doing what He told me to do.

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SEAL MANS FINAL WARNING- AS NOW HE GOES SILENTSEPTEMBER 2015 DATES OF SIGNIFICANCE (This article has appeared on many web sites including Steve Quayle's.)
(Updated August 13, 2015)
2015 has been declared The International Year of Light by CERN. Lucifer is The Light Bearer, The Morning Star [Unfortunately, this is a {generally popular – due to NIV & Strong’s Concordance}, misinterpretation, it SHOULD simply read the first title, or “keeper of the light” and “son of the dawn” – Helel ben Shakar{#7835 thru,[& especially:#7837]]. CERN is the KEY… [refer to Tom Horn’s “Apollyon Rising 2012” & “Forbidden Gates”]…
1. Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky stated that the messiah (anti-Christ?) will be returning at the end of the sabbatical year which is the 29th day of Elul, which falls on Saturday September 12th, 2015.
2. Madonna Concert, Washington DC-Verizon Center (Opening Theme: Desecration of the Bride & Arrival of Fallen Angels) September 12th.
3. This is a Shemitah year, the final date of this 7 year cycle ends around September 13th.4. Rosh Hashanah, Feast of Trumpets, Jewish New Year. The anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve, sounding the shofar. September 13th (evening)-thru the evening of Sept.15th, 2015.
5. The 5776 Anno Lucis, “The Year of Lucifer” Begins September 14th.
6. UN resolution for Palestine to become a state: September 15th.
7. Jade Helm 15 which began on July 15th, publically ends on September 15th.
8. Madonna Concert, New York-Madison Square Garden (Opening Theme: Desecration of the Bride & Arrival of Fallen Angels) September 16th-17th. 9. International Day of Peace ( “…when they say ‘Peace & Safety’?) Note: The “Day of Atonement” begins, (that evening), just hours after the International “Day of Peace” is completed (“…Sudden Destruction”?). September 21st.
10. Year of Jubilee (70th) Begins September 23rd.
11. Mecca pilgrimage (Hajj), “Day of Arafat”: Representing Standing of the Day of Resurrection, Waiting for judgement, and the Gates of Heaven to Open. September 22nd – 23rd.
12. Eid ul Adha (Feast of Sacrifice): Muslim Time of Sacrifice is September 23rd – 26th. Note: In 2016 the Muslim Feast of Sacrifice (the eve) falls on September 11th.
13. June 7, 1967 falls in the Hebrew year 5727, adding forty-nine prophetic years to this date we arrive in the Hebrew year 5776, which is 2015 on the Gregorian calendar. If one counts exactly forty-nine (360 day) prophetic years (17,640 days) from the June 7, 1967 date of Jerusalem’s recapture, we arrive at September 23, 2015—The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur).
Note: The Day of Atonement is on the 266th day of 2015. 266 days is the earliest a woman’s pregnancy is considered full term.
Note: The Pope was elected on March 14, 2014-It is exactly 923 (9/23) days from this date to September 23, 2015.
14. The Mayan Cycle was 5126 years. From September 11, 2001 to September 23, 2015, there are 5126 days.
15. International Celebrate Bisexuality Day (Bi Visibility Day) September 23rd.
16. CERN (Switzerland) firing at full power, crossing over, opening portals September 23rd-24th.
17. Madonna Concert, Philadelphia (Opening Theme: Desecration of the Bride & Arrival of Fallen Angels) September 24th.
18. The Pope will be addressing U.S. congress on September 24th (the first time in world history).
19. French Prime Minister/John Kerry: End of 500 day climate chaos that was declared on May 13, 2014 – to end on September 25th.
20. The Pope will address the U.N. General Assembly of world leaders – Sustainable Development (This is the announcement of unifying the world’s laws, the environment, religions and distribution of wealth – The New World Order). He will also be issuing an ENCYCLICAL - on September 25th.
21. The Pope will be holding Mass at Madison Square Garden in New York City at 6pm on September 25th.
22. TomorrowWorld/TomorrowLand: Celebrating False Love & Light, Keys, Anti-Christ, Opening Gates & Portals. Atlanta Georgia September 25th-27th. Note: Location: 33° 33′ 2″ N, 84° 45′ 38″ W.
23. The Pope will be visiting The Church of Philadelphia (This church visit has significance) on September 26th.
24. Feast of Tabernacles, The holiday of Sukkot, Feast of the Nations, The Season of Joy: September 27th (eve)-October 5th.
25. The 4th Blood Moon falls on September 28th.
26. Beginning, first bookend, for the collapse of the U.S. Dollar September 2015.
27. Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit the U.S. in September (Date not disclosed yet)
To Note: “The Parable of the Fig Tree”,[Lk.13:1 – 9/note the correlation between the “Galeliens” & the “fig tree”/] . The average generation lasts 67 years, and some people have linked the “budding of the fig tree” to the birth of the Nation of Israel in 1948. If you add 1948 and 67 you arrive at the fruit thereon...”, from Ysra’el, twice since it’s establishment:Yeremiah & Yeshuah! And they now await their last “yearly check” – Zec.13:9A & B,{in fulfillment of Matt.23:39}; thru 14:3, {fulfillment of Zec.13:9A & B – which has not occurred as yet.}.
To Note: The Mahdi: [VERY POSSIBLY the “beast” of Rev.13:1 – 10!], Muslim clerics are predicting the return of their Mahdi September 2015. The Muslims have a prophecy of old, (written by the Islamic prophet Ali Bin Iben Abi Talib), which states that, just before the coming of the Mahdi, a tall black man will rise up, to take command of the West, and he will command the most powerful army on earth...There is a “Legion”, [very likely far more than merely1000] of Demons on their way here right now, traveling at a high rate of speed. This Legions’ “Scouts” are already here [thus the “changing of the ‘princes’ of the Nations! – aka “The Arab Spring”?{Dan.10:13 & 20}]. The unveiling of the “Baphomet” (Lucifer / Hele ben Shakar / “Satan”) statue, in Detroit, in July, was a planting of a Conquering Flag; Satan is now in command, & “the hand of God”,[II Thes.2:7B] has been ‘taken away’; thus, this nation is no longer under Yahwey’s protection. [BUT! HIS “remnant”,{Rom. 11:5; Rev.12:17, Dan.8:23 – 25; & 11:32 – 35] ARE! “Midnight” approaches, [Matt.15:1 – 13 [“...especially ver. 10; they waited too long, and it was too late!] &, in a SHORT Time - This Will be a LONG Time Ago. Be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, pray for your family, friends, neighbors, and countryman!!

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WATCHERS NINE Trailer from Richard Shaw on Vimeo.

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the FEDERALISTS

Hey Christians, Say Goodbye To Religious Freedom

There will be plenty of cake, though.

By David Harsanyi

AUGUST 14, 2015

Just in case you need a refresher: Back in 2012, a baker in the Denver suburb of Lakewood was asked by a gay couple to make them a wedding cake—two years before gay marriage was even legalized in Colorado. The owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop, Jack Phillips, declined to participate in Charlie Craig and David Mullins’ celebration, because such an event conflicted with his Christian faith.

Here are a few things Phillips didn’t do: He didn’t query consumers about their sexual preferences. He didn’t bar same-sex couples from purchasing a cake at a place of public accommodation. He didn’t ask consumers traveling in same-sex pairs to leave his shop. He didn’t hang a ‘No Gays Allowed’ sign in his window.

What he could never have known when he first opened his shop was that celebrating gay marriages would be a precondition for making a living. And when you consider that there are at least a few dozen other bakeries within a short drive from Masterpiece Cakeshop that could have accommodated the couple’s celebratory pastry needs, why would he?

Yet instead of exhibiting a basic level of tolerance (or dignity), two priggish bullies decided to call the authorities when Phillips refused to bake them a cake. And the cultural commissars at Colorado’s Civil Rights Commission soon ruled that he had discriminated against the couple.

The shop was not only ordered to alter store policy and start baking cakes for gay weddings–or else face debilitating fines, a consequence often reported on by the media–but it was also forced to provide comprehensive staff training, ensure compliance, and then file quarterly obedience reports with the government for two full years. In these reports, Phillips had to describe exactly which remedial measures the shop had taken to conform, and document the reasons why any other patrons were denied service.

So, you know, I’m sure this is exactly how Jefferson imagined America would turn out when he was writing the Declaration of Independence.

Phillips appealed the decision and just this week, a three-panel Colorado Court of Appeals unanimously decided that Masterpiece Cake Shop’s policy against creating wedding cakes for same-sex couples was a “discriminatory and unfair practice,” further ruling that the shop must continue to answer to the Civil Rights Commission, or else be run out of business.

The Colorado Court of Appeals has tasked itself with determining when religion should matter to the faithful.

Incredibly, the court acknowledged in its decision that it would have looked at the First Amendment arguments more closely had the gay couple ordered a cake with some explicit messaging that advocated for gay marriage. In other words, the Colorado Court of Appeals believes the threshold for denying religious liberty is the presence of advocacy. The court has effectively tasked itself with determining for you when religion should matter.

If nothing else, it’s comforting to know that Colorado can force an orthodox Islamic butcher to make sausages for a polyamorous bisexual bachelor/bachelorette party, so long as no one asks the butcher to outwardly promote swine and free love.

Not only does the court now apparently hold the power to bore into the souls of shopkeeps to establish that their religious objections aren’t authentic, but it can also decide when their prejudice is. It makes the risible assertion that any theological problem with gay marriage is really just “opposition” to the existence of gay Americans—whatever that means:

Specifically, Masterpiece asserts that its refusal to create the cake was “because of” its opposition to same-sex marriage, not because of its opposition to their sexual orientation. We conclude that the act of same-sex marriage is closely correlated to Craig’s and Mullins’ sexual orientation, and therefore, the ALJ did not err when he found that Masterpiece’s refusal to create a wedding cake for Craig and Mullins was “because of” their sexual orientation, in violation of CADA.

A person may have gay friends and relatives–they may even love their fellow gay Americans–but if they decline to participate in a same-sex wedding for theological reasons, the court wants us to assume they could only be motivated by bigotry.

And the crusade will continue to accelerate until the legal lynch mob gets to religious institutions.

In any event, I’m sure there will be an appeal. But since most Americans are fine with gay marriage and simultaneously put off by unpleasant (and in this case, deceptive) words like “discrimination” and “prejudice,” the courts–nearly always driven by the vagaries of public opinion–will find a way to force all to comply. This will go for any other businesses even tangentially related to weddings, such as food catering, music, and so on. And the crusade will accelerate until the legal lynch mob gets to religious institutions. No doubt advocates will work backwards to come up with a great legal rationalization for all of it.

All of this is not to say that in American life, the minority should never be compelled to surrender to some form of majoritarianism, judicial force, or government. In this case, though, the minority does not have the ability to compromise without abandoning its faith. The other side refuses to compromise precisely because of this reality. And courts and commissions around the country are willing to destroy businesses—businesses that sometimes took a large part of a lifetime to build—by ignoring one of the most vital functions of the First Amendment.

The position of these businesspeople, unlike Southern racists decades ago, in no way undermines the newfound right of gay Americans to marry, nor does it inhibit them from enjoying freedom or finding happiness. In this case, only one side is attempting to legislate morality.

If you admit—and many rational people do, even those who quarrel with the reasoning behind religious obstinacy—that millions of Christians hold some form of a genuine, long-standing religious conviction that prohibits them from celebrating gay marriages, but you still support state coercion against them, then you might as well just concede that religious freedom isn’t compatible with your conception of a contemporary society.

Whereas at one time the state wouldn’t substantially burden religious exercise and would use the least restrictive means to further “compelling interests,” the state today is inclined to substantially burden a Christian by the mere fact that someone’s feelings are hurt.

***

WND

'COAST TO COAST' AUDIENCE TOLD: 'BE THOU PREPARED'

Author to discuss biblical case for meltdown readiness

Published: August 18,2015

Pastor and author Carl Gallups will be a guest on the popular radio program “Coast to Coast AM” overnight Wednesday into Thursday morning to discuss his new book, “Be Thou Prepared: Equipping the Church for Persecution and Times of Trouble.”

Gallups is scheduled to appear starting at 1 a.m. Eastern Thursday, which is 10 p.m. Wednesday night Pacific. And he brings a warning to Christians around the globe – the world is not safe and it is time for the church to prepare for what is to come.

“Coast to Coast AM,” or “C2C” as it’s often called, has more than 600 affiliates reaching more than 3 million Americans seven days a week. And Gallups says it’s an ideal place to teach about the difficult subjects in his new book.

To be released by WND Books on Sept. 15, “Be Thou Prepared” is a guide containing detailed and specific information on spiritual and practical readiness, covering everything from remaining steadfast during persecution to organizing relief efforts during crisis situations. The book even includes guidance on how to create a church security ministry team to ensure the physical safety of congregants.

It’s also a theological tour de force, covering such difficult subjects as whether Christ’s command to “turn the other cheek” means Christians must abjure self-defense and explaining whether Christians should know how to use firearms.

Gallups points out the global instability wreaking havoc on everything from the economy to national defense. More importantly, Gallups claims, America is in the midst of a social revolution which makes his message more important than ever.

“‘Be Thou Prepared’ speaks to the turbulent times we live in, not just in the world, but especially in relation to the changing cultural and spiritual landscape in the United States,” Gallups told WND. “This book is written primarily for Christians, but in truth, anyone can benefit. It covers all the logistical, spiritual, and philosophical issues all Americans are going to be dealing with in the years ahead, as our country deals with the consequences of becoming totally unmoored from our social, political, and above all, moral traditions.”

Gallups’ previous book, “Final Warning: Understanding the Trumpet Days of Revelation,” laid out his case Americans are living in a “prophetic generation” that may see the end times. He believes his current book is a guide about how Christians can prepare themselves as individuals and communities to make it through this time of danger.

It’s a view shared by Joel Richardson, a Christian apologist, filmmaker and evangelist. The author of the New York Times bestseller “Mideast Beast: The Scriptural Case for an Islamic Antichrist,” praised “Be Thou Prepared,” saying: “Across the earth, there is a growing sense that we are now rapidly approaching the last days. Now is the time to get ready. Pastor Carl Gallups’ latest work draws upon his past as a police officer with his present calling as a pastor to give us a solid and well-thought-out action plan to prepare for what lies ahead.”

Gallups believes Christians have a moral responsibility to plan ahead for difficult situations.

“It’s not a sign of faithlessness,” says Gallups. “It’s a way of showing the wisdom to be faithful with what God has entrusted to us.”

Gallups urges every church and Christian family in the country to become involved with planning, thinking ahead and aggressively preparing for the potential of tough times. Gallups even invokes Scripture to emphasize what he believes is the duty of Christians to organize for the worst case scenario.

“Look at James 4:17,” teaches Gallups. “Knowing what to do, for the sake of good, but not doing it, is sin.”

Gallups identifies specific incidents when civil society collapsed, most notably in New Orleans immediately following Hurricane Katrina.

“You ended up with the worst of both worlds,” Gallups observed. “You had widespread criminality, anarchy and disorder, and somehow, at the same time, you had government officials going around enforcing wildly tyrannical guidelines and even confiscating firearms.”

As a result, Americans may be forced to rely on themselves for protection, meaning Christians have to begin planning now.

“Once the need becomes apparent,” warns Gallups, “it will already be too late.”

However, Gallups sees preparedness not just as a tool for survival, but a tactic for evangelism. “‘Be Thou Prepared’ isn’t just a manual that answers questions about preparedness; it’s a guide to how the early church acted in circumstances that in some ways were similar to our own,” says Gallups. “They experienced disasters, persecution, and unbelievable trials, and yet they still ministered the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world and spread the truth of the Word.”

Gallups urges Christians to accept the challenge thrust upon this generation.

“We are living in prophetic times,” he said. “But this is grounds for excitement, not despair. I hope in some small way, my book will show Christians how they can serve themselves, their communities, and the world in this difficult age, and I look forward to taking that message to the people.”

***

rense.com

Shocking, Stunning Light Beams Around World

8-20-15

***

BREITBART

‘LORD OF THE RINGS’ ACTOR BLASTS POLITICAL CORRECTNESS: ‘WE HAVE LOST OUR MORAL COMPASS’

Getty Images

by DANIEL NUSSBAUM12 Aug 2015490

Lord of the Rings actor John Rhys-Davies decried Islamic terrorism and political correctness in an interview with podcast king Adam Carolla Monday night.

The actor, who played the dwarf Gimli in the three Rings movies, joined Carolla on the latest episode of his podcast to blast Western politicians for failing to say or do anything to combat the rising tide of Islamic terrorism and the political correctness that enables it.

“There is an extraordinary silence in the West,” Rhys-Davies told Carolla. “Basically, Christianity in the Middle East and in Africa is being wiped out – I mean not just ideologically but physically, and people are being enslaved and killed because they are Christians. And your country and my country (Wales) are doing nothing about it.”

“Why is it so evolved not to judge?” Carolla replied, identifying political correctness as the culprit. “This notion that we’ve evolved into a species that’s incapable of judging other groups and what they are doing, especially when it’s beheading people or setting people on fire or throwing acid in the face of schoolgirls… I like that kind of judging. That’s evolved!”

Carolla added that the U.S. “crushing Hitler” in World War II was a “good thing” that would not be possible now because Bill Maher would be “screaming” about tolerance.

“This is a unique age,” Rhys-Davies explained. “We don’t want to be judgmental. Every other age that’s come before us has believed exactly the opposite. I mean, T.S. Eliot referred to ‘the common pursuit of true judgement.’ Yes, that’s what it’s about. Getting our judgments right, getting them accurate.”

“Why can’t we get the same nations on the same page?” Carolla asked. “There’s a lot of nations that are never going to go down this road with us, but your nation, England, they’re sane. Why can’t we get them back toward sanity?”

“I think it’s an age where politicians don’t actually say what they believe,” the actor replied. “They are afraid of being judged as being partisan. Heaven forbid we should criticize people who, after all, share a different ‘value system.’ But ‘it’s all relevant, it’s all equally relative. We’re all the same. And God and the devil, they’re the same, aren’t they, really? Right and wrong? It’s really just two faces of the same coin.'”

“We have lost our moral compass completely, and unless we find it, we’re going to lose our civilization,” Rhys-Davies cautioned. “I think we’re going to lose Western European Christian civilization anyway.”

***

WND

TOP SCIENTIST: 'I'D CONSIDER THAT A LIVING BABY'

Reacts to 'beating heart' abortion video: 'Horrible, sinking feeling in my stomach'

Published: August 19, 2015

GREG COROMBOS

Theresa Deisher, Ph.D, is a world renowned scientist in the field of adult stem cell therapies and regenerative medicine

The scientist who recently went public with her belief Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers harvest organs from babies with active heartbeats says she is sickened to see her theory confirmed by the newest Center for Medical Progress video, and she says the horror is compounded by knowing fetal organ research yields virtually no medical progress and that other depraved experiments may be happening.

On Wednesday, the Center for Medical Progress released the seventh in a series of videos exposing the practices of Planned Parenthood, with particular focus on the abortion provider’s alleged profiting from the sale of aborted baby parts.

The new video is the third to feature the testimony of Holly O’Donnell, a former procurement technician for Stem Express, the biomedical firm that had a close business relationship with Planned Parenthood until last week.

O’Donnell told the horrific tale of watching a Planned Parenthood employee prepare to harvest the brain of a newly aborted baby.

“This is the most gestated fetus and the closest thing to a baby I’ve seen. [The Planned Parenthood employee] was like, ‘OK, I want to show you something.’ So she has one of her instruments and she just taps the heart and it stops beating. I’m sitting here looking at this fetus and its heart is beating and I don’t know what to think,” said O’Donnell in the video.

“It had a face. It wasn’t completely torn up. It’s nose was very pronounced. It had eyelids, and its mouth was pronounced. Since the fetus was so intact, she said, ‘Well, OK, this is a really good fetus and it looks like we can procure a lot from it. We’re going to procure brain. So what you do is you go through the face.’ I’m thinking, no, I don’t want to do this,” continued O’Donnell.

AVM Biotechnology CEO Theresa Deisher, who predicted these sorts of tactics were being used in abortion facilities, told WND and Radio America she takes no solace in having her theory confirmed.

“I probably felt the same emotions that every American and every person is feeling this morning,” Deisher said. “Having my suspicions and the suspicions I shared with (Center for Medical Progress Project Lead) David Daleiden over the years confirmed, it just made me sick and really a horrible, sinking feeling in my stomach.”

Deisher said her suspicion of such grisly tactics came from years of studying scientific journals and learning what fetal organs are most highly desired.

“For the heart research, they look for fetal gestation age of 20 weeks or beyond,” said Deisher, noting that babies as young as 22 weeks in the womb have survived premature births.

“In their descriptions, it was just very clear that those babies had to be alive when they took their tissues because the scientists in their publications say that they have to have the material in their special digesting buffers within five minutes,” she explained. “That wouldn’t be possible with other situations.”

As O’Donnell saw the Planned Parenthood technician tap the baby’s heart on and off, she wasn’t sure if the child was alive or dead. Deisher said there should be no confusion.

“A human being is certainly alive until their heart stops beating,” she says. “Perhaps in this situation, the baby’s heart stopped beating temporarily during the procedure to take the baby from the mother’s womb. But it started beating again with a tap. I would consider that a living baby.”

Deisher is not sure if we will soon see videos describing other grisly tactics, but she has another ominous fear about how these babies may be used.

"I have long worried about the temptation that people might have to keep an aborted baby alive and potentially use that baby for an intact study on a drug metabolism or a new drug toxicity profile by perfusing the baby, which is absolutely horrific," she said.

Deisher said Wednesday's revelations not only shock the conscience but ought to generate even more frustration when realizing the pro-choice defense of harvesting baby organs is fallacious.

"Regardless of illegality or legality, this is wrong. Even if it's legal, it should be made to be illegal. We should not allow this as a civilized society. More important, it's absolutely unnecessary," said Deisher, referring to Planned Parenthood assertions that the harvested organs are used to develop breakthrough treatments for all sorts of ailments.

She said that's simply not true.

"I'm not aware of any medical breakthrough that required or needed the use of aborted fetal tissue for progress," Deishen said.

She said there are biological barriers that prevent fetal parts from being of much use to treat older patients.

"Results from fetal tissue would often times be misleading because what happens during the development of a baby in a womb and the proteins and factors that regulate that is often not what happens in an adult or a toddler," Deishen said.

"Since we're talking about breakthroughs to treat adults or children, the information from the aborted fetus in many cases would not be applicable at all," she added.

Deishen concluded by saying the moral conscience of America must be aroused by the horrors exposed in these videos.

"This is absolutely barbaric and beneath the dignity of a civilized society," she said. "We can do better than this. We, as a people who are civilized and respectful of other human beings, we need to develop alternatives. That's the mission of my organization, to develop alternatives so that no one will ever feel compelled, coerced or justified in exploiting another human being for medical progress."

Also, after release of the video Wednesday, Liberty Counsel called on Congress to impose an emergency moratorium on Planned Parenthood funding.

"We are living in dark times," Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, said in a public statement. "Planned Parenthood uses our tax dollars to fund its massacre of helpless children. You and I are complicit because part of our tax money is going into the hands of people who are cutting out organs of developed babies and selling them to the highest bidder! Future generations will look back on us the way we look at the brutality of Nazi Germany or ISIS and wonder how we could have allowed innocent babies to be slaughtered."

***

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Natural News (We can not attest to the validity of this article, but Natural News has proven reliable in the past.)

BOMBSHELL: China and America already at war: Tianjin explosion carried out by Pentagon space weapon in retaliation for Yuan currency devaluation... Military helicopters now patrolling Beijing

Monday, August 17, 2015

by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger

(NaturalNews) EXCLUSIVE: Mainland Chinese dissidents have handed Natural News the following bombshell story. (Two minor updates / corrections are now included in this story, see below.)

The Tianjin explosion was waged as an act of "kinetic retaliation" by the Pentagon in response to China's currency war Yuan devaluation, according to dissident sources from mainland China. The Chinese government has put in place unprecedented secrecy surrounding the mysterious explosion, and aggressive police state tactics are now being invoked to control the flow of information surrounding this event.

"Last week's explosions sent massive fireballs into the sky and hurled burning debris across the industrial area at the world's 10th-largest port, burning out buildings and shattering windows kilometres away," reports the Daily Mail UK.

The Chinese government's official explanation for the explosion, which has now killed 114 people, is a complete whitewash. China is going to declare regional martial law in the next 18 days, Natural News has learned, in order to exercise total control over the movement of people and information. The government has banned reporters from entering the area and has begun arresting bloggers who promote what the government calls "conspiracy theories" regarding the cause of the massive explosion.

China has blacked out reporting on Tianjin in exactly the same way the U.S. media blacked out reporting on Dr. William Thompson, the CDC whistleblower who admitted the CDC buried evidence linking vaccines to autism. In both China and the United States, when the government doesn't want the citizens to know something, it censors the story across the entire state-run media, invoking "information totalitarianism."

Both before and after the massive explosion, the Chinese government has been flying "black helicopters" in formation across Beijing. (Update: Previously, this article stated the helicopters began flying after the explosion, but we have been corrected on this point, as helicopters were witnessed in the sky in the days before the explosion as well.) Chinese dissidents took numerous photos of these helicopters and were able to deliver these exclusive pictures to Natural News:

Tiajin-Exposion-Drone-Footage-500.jpg

A warning shot from the United States: Don't crash the dollar or sell our debt

Chinese dissidents have told Natural News they have reason to believe the attack on Tianjin is a warning shot from the United States, which is terrified that China is on the verge of announcing its own gold-backed currency while declaring a fire sale on U.S. debt holdings.

The actions would collapse the U.S. dollar and destroy the U.S. economy, sending the United States into economic freefall. The "Rod of God" weapon deployment by the U.S. Pentagon, we're told, was America's "shot across the bow" to send a powerful warning message to China while disguising the attack as a domestic chemical explosion.

Timeline of events: China devalues currency, then Pentagon strikes in mere hours

Consider the calendar of events in all this:

August 11, 2015: China devalues the Yuan by 1.9%, sending "shockwaves" around the world and setting off a "devastating" impact to the U.S. economy.

August 12, 2015: Tianjin struck by Pentagon's secret "Rod of God" weapon, a space-based top-secret kinetic weapon that can be dropped from high orbit to strike almost any land-based target. The weapon instantly destroys six city blocks on the edge of the city of Tianjin, sending a message to China that's eerily similar to the message sent by the United States in the dropping of the world's first atomic weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II. (Yes, the USA is willing to drop weapons of mass destruction on civilian populations. It has already done it twice!)

(For those following the Shemitah, the dropping of atomic bombs on Japan also occurred during a Shemitah year, in the month of august, 1945, exactly 70 years ago. This is precisely TEN Shemitah cycles ago, or what might be called a "deca-Shemitah.")

August 16, 2015: Obama issues stern warning "...about the presence of Chinese government agents operating secretly in the United States," reports The New York Times. "And it comes at a time of growing tension between Washington and Beijing on a number of issues: from the computer theft of millions of government personnel files that American officials suspect was directed by China, to China's crackdown on civil liberties, to the devaluation of its currency."

The Pentagon's secret space-based weapons

The "Rod of God" weapon consists primarily of a kinetic weapon arriving with unimaginable kinetic energy... more than a small tactical nuclear weapon, in fact, giving it the appearance of a tactical nuke.

U.S. websites are now speculating that the Tianjin explosion was a U.S. space-based weapons test involving a "Rod of God" weapon dropped from orbit. "The [resulting] lake [crater] in China proves a 5 kiloton blast, possibly nuclear or possibly from a space based 'rod from God' (pictured to the left) weapon [was] deployed by the space plane," says The Unhived Mind.

"After looking through the images of the soviet nuclear tests, the new lake in China appears to have been made by a slightly sub surface burst of at least a 5 kiloton nuclear bomb... This was NOT an accident and the fracture pattern around the crater proves a sub ground burst. If it was a sub ground burst, then a small nuclear weapon is the biggest possibility because once a nuke has to push dirt, the blinding flash will not happen. A slightly subsurface detonation would explain why camera sensors did not get strange artifacts. And if it was not a nuke, it was something else incredibly huge, but not a fuel air bomb because fuel air bombs will not leave craters."

Space-based kinetic weapons "dropped" onto targets are explained by Popular Science in this article from 2004:

When instructed from the ground, the targeting satellite commands its partner to drop one of its darts. The guided rods enter the atmosphere, protected by a thermal coating, traveling at 36,000 feet per second--comparable to the speed of a meteor. The result: complete devastation of the target, even if it's buried deep underground.

"When required these projectiles can be commanded to dive, singly or en masse, at targets on the Earth's surface, smashing into the victim at orbital speed. As the projectile's kinetic energy is released, the blast would be equivalent to a large conventional bomb," explains Armaghplanet.com.

China to declare martial law as total control of information and people kicks into high gear

Martial law will be declared across Beijing in the coming days, dissidents have told Natural News. Meanwhile, the Chinese government -- which runs a massive state-controlled firewall that snoops into all internet traffic and blocks VPN access -- has added "Tianjin" as a red flag keyword to its internet traffic filtering.

Local police raids have already begun at the locations of bloggers and independent journalists who have attempted to report true stories on what really happened at Tianjin. The Chinese government is engaged in a total cover-up.

Natural News has learned that the Chinese government is now setting up roadside checkpoints near and around both Tianjin and Beijing. Additional security measures now in place to control the movement of people include:

• All hotels are reporting details of visitors to the government, including passport numbers, nationalities, names and phone calls made from the rooms.

• Tourists who don't stay in hotels are now required to register with local police or risk arrest. The Chinese government has mandated that it must know the location of every person at all times.

• Red armbands are now being worn by workers to indicate they are serving as Stasi-like obedient police snitches. The red armbands indicate total obedience to the government, and the workers wearing them have all been trained in how to spot dissident behavior. It's China's version of "If you see something, say something" just as was pushed in the United States.

• In preparation for China's Sep. 3 celebration for the defeat of Japanese occupation -- it's the 70th anniversary -- China has banned Japanese writing in most of its large cities. Government propaganda runs 24/7, condemning the Japanese and the horrifying war crimes committed by Japanese soldiers against China. (It's true, the Japanese committed unimaginable atrocities such as mass-raping women and then chopping them into pieces with machetes to destroy the "evidence.")

• Helicopter patrols are now routinely witnessed across Beijing and Tianjin, where military choppers are flying in formation as a show of strength.

• Massive populations of laborers are now living in underground dwellings, underneath the clean, high-tech buildings of Beijing that seem like world-class architectural achievements. (Update: Previously, this story stated "underground cities" but we have been corrected on this point and have updated the description to "underground dwellings." Essentially, they are below-ground mass housing basements.)

If this war escalates, it could unleash a global currency war of attrition

If this covert war between China and the United States continues to escalate, it would ultimately devastate the economies of both nations. Both China and the USA are currently experiencing shockwaves in their stock markets as bubble economies built on debt begin to unravel.

In these times of shaky financial foundations, it doesn't take much to topple public faith and unleash a mass exodus away from currencies and markets. It's also clear that the United States considers currency games to be acts of war while justifying "kinetic responses" to such events.

This is all fully aligned with the government policies set in motion by President Obama in 2011. "Washington will to [sic] consider using conventional weaponry in response to a cyber-attack on the United States, according a new US strategy," reported The Telegraph:

The White House's strategy statement on cybersecurity said the United States "will respond to hostile acts in cyberspace as we would to any other threat to our country".

"We reserve the right to use all necessary means – diplomatic, informational, military, and economic – as appropriate and consistent with applicable international law, in order to defend our nation, our allies, our partners and our interests," the May 16 document said.

Pentagon spokesman Colonel Dave Lapan confirmed that the White House policy did not rule out a military response to a cyber-attack.

Even further, Henry Kissinger had the following to say about U.S. China relations, as quoted from his website HenryAKissinger.com, in an article entitled The Future of U.S. - Chinese Relations; Conflict Is a Choice, Not a Necessity:

Just as Chinese influence in surrounding countries may spur fears of dominance, so efforts to pursue traditional American national interests can be perceived as a form of military encirclement. Both sides must understand the nuances by which apparently traditional and apparently reasonable courses can evoke the deepest worries of the other. They should seek together to define the sphere in which their peaceful competition is circumscribed. If that is managed wisely, both military confrontation and domination can be avoided; if not, escalating tension is inevitable.

If the United States defines currency war attacks as "cyber attacks," then we may have just witnessed the first application of that new war doctrine, where electronic "attacks" are met with kinetic responses from the Pentagon.

Let us all hope this doesn't escalate even further, or America will likely find itself on the losing side of any war involving economics, currencies or cyber warfare.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.naturalnews.com/046630_CDC_whistl...

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/17/us/politic...

http://theunhivedmind.com/wordpress3/did-the...

http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2004-0...

http://www.armaghplanet.com/blog/rods-from-g...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/no...

http://www.henryakissinger.com/articles/fa04...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3200...

***

PressTV

Scale of human suffering in Yemen incomprehensible: UN

Wed Aug 19, 2015 11:24PM

United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien (C) speaks to journalists during a press conference at Sana’a International Airport in the Yemeni capital on August 11, 2015. (AFP)

The United Nations has strongly condemned Saudi Arabia for bombing the Yemeni port city of Hudaydah, a lifeline for imports of food, medicine, and fuel.

“These attacks are in clear contravention of international humanitarian law and are unacceptable,” UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O'Brien told the Security Council on Wednesday.

O'Brien also said that he was extremely concerned that the damage inflicted by Saudi airstrikes on this city could have “a severe impact” on the whole country, deteriorating the humanitarian crisis.

“The scale of human suffering [in Yemen] is almost incomprehensible… I was shocked by what I saw,” O'Brien further noted, adding that the attacks are unacceptable as they clearly violate international humanitarian law.

He called for a political solution to quell the violence and warned that launching peace talks are critical for resolving the crisis “before it's too late. Otherwise there will be nothing left to fight for.”

Displaced Yemeni children, who fled Sa’ada province due to Saudi airstrikes, play at a school turned into a shelter in the capital Sana’a on August 19, 2015. (AFP)

The Saudi air raids on the western city of Hudaydah have completely burnt warehouses used to keep humanitarian aid supplies. Trucks and cranes have also been destroyed in the strikes.

The executive director of the World Food Program also warned of a growing humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

On March 26, Saudi Arabia began its military aggression against Yemen – without a UN mandate – in a bid to undermine the Houthi Ansarullah movement and restore power to the fugitive former president, Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, an ally of Riyadh.

Over 4,300 people have been killed in the Yemeni conflict, the World Health Organization said on August 11. Local Yemeni sources, however, say the fatality figure is much higher.

***

THE CRUX

These alarming new passport laws are being snuck through Congress right now

From Daniel McAdams at The Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity:

Just the other day we wrote about a U.S. House “suspension” bill that would give the Secretary of State the authority to cancel your passport if he decided that you had “aided” an organization that he rules is terrorist.

There is no definition of what “aided” means, no chance to dispute the Secretary’s decision, no trial or presentation of evidence, and in fact any evidence the government has can be classified as secret so that you may not see it. In effect the Secretary of State can unilaterally consign you to internal exile and there is nothing you can do about it.

Because Members of the U.S. House were too cowardly to go on record voting for such an anti-American piece of legislation, the bill passed by a voice vote.

Today the U.S. Senate plans to one-up its counterparts on the lowlier side of Capitol Hill. Buried inside the U.S. highways funding bill is a provision to revoke or deny issuance of a U.S. passport to anyone who has a large outstanding tax debt to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. According to a Senate Finance Committee summary (PDF) acquired today, the measure provides for:

Revocation or denial of passport in case of certain unpaid taxes. This provision would authorize the Federal government to deny the application for a passport when an individual has more than $50,000 (indexed for inflation) of unpaid federal taxes which the IRS is collecting through enforcement action. It would also permit the Federal government to revoke a passport for such individuals. Before revocation, however, the Federal government would be allowed to limit a previously issued passport only for return travel to the United States or to issue a limited passport that only permits return travel to the United States. The provision would be effective on January 1, 2016, and is estimated to raise $0.398 billion over 10 years.

As can be seen from the summary, this measure threatening to imprison Americans within (or outside) U.S. borders is simply viewed as a means by which to raise revenue. The hoped-for increase in revenue coming from this threat is considered an “offset” to the money being spent on the highway bill — in other words the threat to imprison US citizens within their own country or freeze them out is considered appropriate incentive to force them to pay what the government claims it is owed.

Unconvinced that the US government would do such a thing? Check the bill coming to the Senate Floor. Section 52102 of the Highway Funding bill, to be taken up by the Senate today, states:

If the Secretary receives certification by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue that any individual has a seriously delinquent tax debt in an amount in excess of $50,000, the Secretary shall transmit such certification to the Secretary of State for action with respect to denial, revocation, or limitation of a passport pursuant to section 52102(d) of the Transportation Funding Act of 2015.

Tax “deadbeats” will be either denied entry into the United States or forbidden from leaving the United States.

The use of citizenship rights as a weapon against Americans is becoming increasingly common as Washington is ever more desperate for control of its passport holders.

The last time Ron Paul ran for president, the mainstream media ridiculed him for claiming that U.S. government’s border control strategy is most likely designed to keep Americans from leaving the country rather than to keep illegals from entering. These two measures within a week’s time pretty clearly confirm what was once laughed off as a “paranoid” view that the U.S. government was building a virtual Berlin Wall to keep its citizens from departing.

Perhaps that is why this year a record number of Americans are renouncing their passports and getting out of the country… while they still can.

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PRESSTV

Assad ouster precondition unacceptable: Russia's Lavrov

Mon Aug 17, 2015 6:5PM

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has stressed that Moscow does not agree to the precondition that calls for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step aside before any meaningful talks between parties to the Syria crisis and the subsequent peace process in the country.

On Monday, Lavrov stated that Russia's position "has not changed" on Syria and a solution to the conflict should come "without outside interference or any kinds of preconditions."

The remarks came in response to the August 14 allegations by the head of the so-called Syrian National Coalition, Khaled Khoja, that Moscow is "not clinging to Bashar al-Assad."

Russian officials have on numerous occasions underscored that Moscow does not support Assad personally, but rather backs him as "the legitimately elected president" of Syria.

On Friday, Lavrov told senior Syrian opposition leader Haytham Manna in the Russian capital city of Moscow that the anti-terror agenda now tops the priorities of all parties to the Syrian crisis, including the opposition groups.

Manna, for his part, voiced his support for Moscow’s political initiative to end the deadly conflict in Syria, saying that “a military solution cannot bring anything but violence.”

He also urged all sides to contribute to the political process in Syria.

The Western-backed Geneva I and Geneva II peace conferences on Syria, held in June 2012 and February 2014 respectively, ended in total failure since foreign-sponsored opposition figures refused to discuss widespread terrorism in the country and persisted in demanding the ouster of the Syrian government as a precondition.

The conflict in Syria, which started in March 2011, has reportedly claimed more than 240,000 lives up until now.

The violence has also forced over 3.8 million Syrians to take refuge in neighboring countries, including Jordan and Lebanon. More than 7.2 million others have been displaced within Syria, according to the United Nations.

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The Economic Collapse

23 Nations Around The World Where Stock Market Crashes Are Already Happening

By Michael Snyder, on August 17th, 2015

You can stop waiting for a global financial crisis to happen. The truth is that one is happening right now. All over the world, stock markets are already crashing. Most of these stock market crashes are occurring in nations that are known as “emerging markets”. In recent years, developing countries in Asia, South America and Africa loaded up on lots of cheap loans that were denominated in U.S. dollars. But now that the U.S. dollar has been surging, those borrowers are finding that it takes much more of their own local currencies to service those loans. At the same time, prices are crashing for many of the commodities that those countries export. The exact same kind of double whammy caused the Latin American debt crisis of the 1980s and the Asian financial crisis of the 1990s.

As you read this article, almost every single stock market in the world is down significantly from a record high that was set either earlier this year or late in 2014.

But even though stocks have been sliding in the western world, they haven’t completely collapsed just yet.

In much of the developing world, it is a very different story. Emerging market currencies are crashing hard, recessions are starting, and equity prices are getting absolutely hammered.

Posted below is a list that I put together of 23 nations around the world where stock market crashes are already happening.

1. Malaysia

2. Brazil

3. Egypt

4. China

5. Indonesia

6. South Korea

7. Turkey

8. Chile

9. Colombia

10. Peru

11. Bulgaria

12. Greece

13. Poland

14. Serbia

15. Slovenia

16. Ukraine

17. Ghana

18. Kenya

19. Morocco

20. Nigeria

21. Singapore

22. Taiwan

23. Thailand

Of course this is just the beginning. The western world is going to feel this kind of pain as well very soon. I want to share with you an excerpt from an article that just appeared in the Telegraph entitled “Doomsday clock for global market crash strikes one minute to midnight as central banks lose control“. You see, the Telegraph is not just one of the most important newspapers in the UK – it is truly one of the most important newspapers in the entire world. When it speaks on financial matters, millions of people listen very carefully. So for the Telegraph to declare that the countdown to a “global market crash” is “one minute to midnight” is a very, very big deal…

When the banking crisis crippled global markets seven years ago, central bankers stepped in as lenders of last resort. Profligate private-sector loans were moved on to the public-sector balance sheet and vast money-printing gave the global economy room to heal.

Time is now rapidly running out. From China to Brazil, the central banks have lost control and at the same time the global economy is grinding to a halt. It is only a matter of time before stock markets collapse under the weight of their lofty expectations and record valuations.

When one of the newspapers of record for the entire planet starts sounding exactly like The Economic Collapse Blog, then you know that it is late in the game.

Others are sounding the alarm about an imminent global financial crash as well. For example, just consider what Egon von Greyerz recently told King World News…

Eric, I fear that this coming September – October all hell will break loose in the world economy and markets. A lot of factors point to that, both fundamental and technical indicators and this indicates that we could have a number of shocks this autumn.

Sadly, most investors will hold stocks, bonds and property and will see any decline in value as an opportunity. It will be a long time and a very big fall before they realize that the system will not help them this time because the central bankers have run out of ammunition to save the global financial system one more time. Yes, we will see more massive money printing, but it will just make things worse. And at some stage, which could be quite soon, real fear will set in, a fear of a magnitude the world has not experienced before.

Hmm – there is another example of someone talking about September. It is funny how often that month keeps coming up.

And of course most of the major stock market crashes in U.S. history have been in the fall. Just go back and take a look at what happened in 1929, 1987, 2001 and 2008.

The “smart money” has been pulling their money out of stocks for quite a while now, and at this point a lot of others have hopped on the bandwagon. The following comes from CNBC…

The flight of investor money from U.S. stocks has turned into a stampede.

In fact, the $78.7 billion leaving domestic equity-focused funds has been worse in 2015 than it was even during the financial crisis years, when the S&P 500 tumbled some 60 percent, according to data released Friday by Morningstar. The total is the highest since 1993.

Domestic equity funds surrendered $20.4 billion in July alone and have seen $158.6 billion in redemptions over the past 12 months. Even a strong flow of money into passively managed exchange-traded funds has been unable to offset the stream to the exit among retail investors, who generally focus more on mutual funds than ETFs.

A global financial crisis has already begun.

So those that were claiming that one would not happen in 2015 are already wrong.

Over the coming months we will find out how bad it will ultimately be.

Sometimes I get criticized for talking about these things. There are a few people out there that don’t like all of the “doom and gloom” that I discuss on my website. Apparently it is a bad thing to talk about the things that really matter and we should all just be “keeping up with the Kardashians” instead.

I consider myself just to be another watchman on the wall. From our spots on the wall, watchmen such as myself all over the nation are sounding the alarm about what we clearly see coming.

If we saw what was coming and we did not warn the people, their blood would be on our hands. But if we do warn the people, then we have done our duty.

Every day I just do the best that I can with what I have been given. And there are many others just like me that are doing exactly the same thing.

Those that do not like the warning message are going to feel really stupid when things start falling apart all around them and they finally realize how wrong they truly were.

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NEWSMAX

GREEK PM TSIPRAS ANNOUNCES RESIGNATION, CALLS FOR SNAP ELECTION

Proposed elections on September 20

Image Credits: Wikimedia Commons.

AUGUST 20, 2015

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announced his resignation on Thursday and called for early elections in the crisis-hit country, widely expected to be held on September 20.

“I will shortly meet with the president of the republic and present my resignation and that of my government,” Tsipras said in a televised address to the nation.

The move comes with the leftist leader facing a rebellion in his governing Syriza party over austerity measures demanded in a massive new international bailout worth about 86 billion euros over three years.

“I want to submit to the Greek people everything I have done (since taking office in January) so that they can decide once more,” Tsipras said.

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Until next week...Keep on believing.
Almondtree Productions

“And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred [and] threescore days.”
(Revelation 12:6)