Saturday, April 2, 2011

News According to Prophecy

There are so many interesting articles today, lets break the stories down according to prophetic headers:

1. Development of 10 Kings? Progress towards a North American Union (this one with the usual caveats):

Canadian officials 'secretive' on North American perimeter security agreement

Will the undisclosed plan bring to life the CFR’s vision for a North American Border Pass requiring biometric data & security clearance to cross borders?


Unifying the once sovereign nations of North America under treaty law continues to move forward by stealth. And many Canadians are sitting uneasy about the secrecy.

Members of Canada’s CTV express concern in the following clip about a draft agreement for ‘integrated perimeter security’ between the U.S. & Canada that Canadian officials have refused to release. As one of CTV’s panel members points out, it seems the Canadian government has “put the cart before the horse,” intent on ‘first signing the deal, then discussing it.’ Another panelist quips he has a copy of the agreement that “doesn’t exist,” refusing to show it to viewers because officials were keeping it under wraps.

The plan was termed a ‘mini-NAFTA’ that could undermine sovereignty through its integration scheme. “Perimeter agreement could mean goodbye to the 49th parallel,” as one journalist put it, emphasizing that the plan utilized the word “integrate.” Panelist Robert Fife lauded one of the agreement’s worst proposals: utilizing biometric data like iris scans at airport and border checkpoints.

The draft, available to Fife but not the public, draws directly from the CFR’s recommendation for a North American Border Pass. If the CFR’s vision is fulfilled, crossing the border would require security clearance for a ‘smart card’ that would include the mandatory submission of biometric identifiers and a fee.

The CFR’s own document states that: “Only those who voluntarily seek, receive, and pay the costs for a security clearance would obtain a Border Pass.” Put into action, such a plan would go beyond ‘trusted traveler’ measures and heavily restrict international travel.


North America activists plotted 'stealth' strategy

Participants in a high-level, closed door, three-day conference on the integration of the three North American nations debated whether openness about goals was preferred to a stealthy policy of building infrastructure before a vision of the end result was even laid out to the people of the U.S., Mexico and Canada, according to notes obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Official notes taken on a session on "Border Infrastructure and Continental Prosperity" at the North American Forum in Banff, Canada, last September, reveal the internal debate over continued secrecy.

"While a vision is appealing, working on the infrastructure might yield more benefit and bring more people on board ('evolution by stealth')," record the notes discovered amid documents obtained by Judicial Watch.

At least one attendee of the conference said the meeting was intended to subvert the democratic process. Mel Hurtig, a Canadian author and publisher elected as the leader of the National Party of Canada, told WND last fall the idea of the North American Forum is to move the countries toward integration without public consent or even knowledge.

The conference raised more suspicions about plans for the future merger of the U.S., Canada and Mexico – with topics ranging from "A Vision for North America," "Opportunities for Security Cooperation" and "Demographic and Social Dimensions of North American Integration."


2. Wars and rumors of war

'Israel must prepare for Palestinian fury'

Popular Resistance Committees, Democratic Front for Liberation of Palestine's military wing say they are backing out of lull agreement with Israel following IAF strike that killed three members of Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades in Gaza Strip

"Palestinian blood has a heavy price and Israel must prepare itself for the Palestinian fury," read a statement issued by the PRC.


Israel and Hamas near a spring war

After nearly two months of rising tension, Israel and Hamas have taken a step towards a full-blown military confrontation: Before dawn Saturday, April 2, an Israeli air strike killed three senior Hamas Izz al-Din Qassam Brigades gunmen in the Gaza Strip

The Hamas Brigades warned Israel its "dangerous escalation" would have "consequences."

DEBKAfile's military and intelligence sources predict that the war confrontation which Saturday brought closer to realization will be unlike any previous Israel-Palestinian showdowns in the sense that it will be less the product of the old Middle East order and fall more under the influence of the radical elements rising out of the current Arab unrest, especially in Cairo, amid the decline of Western influence.

Saturday, after nearly two months of heightened Palestinian terrorist activity and low-key Israeli reprisals, both sides dropped their long pretense of seeking calm.

The difference between the present and past conflicts is that Hamas is now drawing encouragement not just from Tehran but also from the new Egyptian regime


Hizbullah Fortifying South Lebanon

According the the Israel Defense Forces, Hizbullah has built bunkers and underground weapons depots in most southern Lebanese villages as it continues building its army, the Associated Press reports.

A memo from the IDF brass to Israeli embassies on Thursday to Israel details the acceleration of Hizbullah's fortification of the volatile border region since the end of the 2006 Lebanon war.

he memo says, "Hezbollah has built as many as 550 bunkers in the southern Lebanon region, holding various weapons. In addition, the organization has built 300 underground facilities and 100 storage units for munitions including rockets, missiles and other weapons."


Hamas warns of 'consequences' after Gaza strike

Hamas on Saturday morning warned of "consequences" after an IAF air strike killed three members of its Izzadin Kassam Brigades overnight, including a senior member of the group, AFP and Palestinian news agency Ma'an reported.

The Izzadin Kassam Brigades, Hamas's armed wing, warned in a statement that the air strike was a "serious escalation" and said Israel would "bear all the consequences."


3. Japan (prophecy link = world financial crisis, aftermath of earthquake):

Japan: Radioactive water leaking through crack into sea

Nuclear watchdog prepares to pour concrete to control leak; Japanese PM visits tsunami-struck town, enters nuke zone; "no quick solution."

The operator of Japan's stricken nuclear plant said on Saturday it had found radioactive water leaking into the sea from a cracked concrete pit at its No.2 reactor in Fukushima.

Japan's nuclear watchdog said TEPCO is preparing to pour concrete into the pit to stop the leak.


Reactor Core Was Severely Damaged

Energy Secretary Steven Chu said Friday that roughly 70 percent of the core of one reactor at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan had suffered severe damage.

In addition to the severe damage at Reactor No. 1, the Energy Department said that Reactor No. 2 had suffered a 33 percent meltdown. Mr. Chu cautioned that the figures were “more of a calculation” because radiation levels inside the plant had been too high for workers to get inside, and sensors were unreliable.

Attempts to cool the reactors and spent-fuel pools, and efforts to answer the critical question of where the radiation leaks are coming from, are being hindered by highly radioactive water in turbine buildings attached to Reactors 1, 2, 3...


Regulator Says Radioactive Water Leaking Into Ocean From Japanese Nuclear Plant

Highly radioactive water is leaking directly into the sea from a damaged pit near a crippled reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, safety officials said Saturday, the latest setback in the increasingly messy bid to regain control of the reactors.

Although higher levels of radiation have been detected in the ocean waters near the plant, the breach discovered Saturday is the first identified direct leak of such high levels of radiation into the sea.

Some experts in the nuclear industry are now starting to question the so-called “feed-and-bleed” strategy of pumping the reactors with water, because so much contaminated water is injuring workers and escaping into the ocean.


New Photos of Fukushima Reactors

4. Living in these Last Days: The Power of Prayer

Walnuts and Rice: Prayer in Real Life

Several years ago at our Bible study, the leader gave each of us a jar with unshelled walnuts, and rice filled in around them. They were a gift meant to remind us how to do it—how to fit prayer into our overfull days—which she then demonstrated.

Into her own empty jar, the leader poured rice, and then tried to insert all of her own walnuts.
They didn't fit, that way.

Emptying the jar again, this time she put the walnuts in first, then poured in the rice, and everything fit—each walnut and every grain of rice.

She explained that the walnuts represented our time spent with the Lord, and the rice represented all the other busy things that fill up our days. When you put in the walnuts first, and pour in the rice after that, it all fits. If you try to put in the rice first, there isn't enough space in the jar for it all, even though the same amount fit when we put the walnuts first.


This is a great article and serves as a reminder on the importance of prayer in the busy days that we all face. The paragraph below says it all:

God wants us to make our faith, and our obligations to our family, the first priorities in our lives. Other priorities are doing the work we are given to support ourselves and family. We need a balance in our lives; if we set God as our first priority, He makes everything else work out well.


Amen. Its so easy during our busy days - days in which many of us simply struggle for survival - to forget the importance of taking time to talk with God and to pray to our Father. But it is of such importance in our daily walk - especially in these last days.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Scott, Thank you so much for integrating devotionals and Bible
studies into the news. The comfort
and encouragement is so needed in
these stressful days.
Kem

Anonymous said...

What a powerful object lesson for the burdened Christian. Thank you for sharing this with us.

~gearedup2go

Scott said...

Kem

These are the things that speak to my heart - and we're ALL in this same boat together - we're all watching together and we all want the same thing, and we all get burdened with the same fatigue etc. I think we can all relate to one another and that's what is so special (at least one element) of prophecy watching!