In his annual Good Friday address, Pope Benedict warned that Western civilization has “drifted into a desert of godlessness.”
Jesus is humiliated in new ways even today – when things that are most holy and profound in the faith are being trivialised, the sense of the sacred is allowed to erode,’ he said.
‘Everything in public life risks being desacralised – persons, places, pledges, prayers, practices, words, sacred writings, religious formulae, symbols, ceremonies. Our life together is being increasingly secularised.
‘Religious life grows diffident. Thus we see the most momentous matters placed among trifles, and trivialities glorified.
‘Values and norms that held societies together and drew people to higher ideals are laughed at and thrown overboard. Jesus continues to be ridiculed.’
The Pope, who turns 82 later this month, prayed that Christians would respond to the problem by growing in faith.
‘May we never question or mock serious things in life like a cynic,’ he said.
‘Allow us not to drift into the desert of godlessness. Enable us to perceive you in the gentle breeze, see you in street corners, love you in the unborn child.’
While speaking of Western society in general and not solely to the United States, it was interesting to hear the pope allude to how end-time America is portrayed in Isaiah 18, Jeremiah 50 & 51, and Revelation 18.
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Discussing yesterday’s claims by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that Iran has 7,000 active centrifuges, completing the nuclear fuel enrichment cycle, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton admits to having no clue what is happening inside of the country.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday she did not see Iran’s latest statements about its nuclear program as a rebuff to U.S. overtures to engage Tehran.
The top U.S. diplomat also voiced skepticism about Iran’s new claims that it had made major progress in its nuclear program and tested more advanced equipment for enriching uranium.
“We do not attribute any particular meaning, with respect to the range of issues that we are looking to address with the Iranians, from this particular statement,” Clinton said at a news conference when asked about an Iranian statement that it was now running 7,000 enrichment centrifuges.
Enriching uranium can produce fuel for a nuclear power plant or, if purified to a much higher degree, provide material for an atomic bomb.
“We don’t know what to believe about the Iranian program. We’ve heard many different assessments and claims over a number of years,” said Clinton of Iran’s latest claims.
Well, Madam Secretary, we do know what to believe. Soon, Iran will have nuclear weapons (Joel 2:3, 30; Malachi 4:1), and Iran will attempt to use them in concert with Russia (Psalm 83:4-5; Ezekiel 38:5). Just as they have promised to do.
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Russia has test fired an aging Topol rocket that is capable of defeating missile defense shields.
Russia successfully test-fired a Topol intercontinental ballistic missile on Friday as part of checks needed to extend its service life for up to 22 years, Russian media reported.
The Topol was fired from the Plesetsk cosmodrome, nestled among the forests of northern Russia, and successfully hit the test site on Russia’s Pacific peninsula of Kamchatka, 6,000 km (3,700 miles) to the east.
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Test launches of new missiles have become routine in recent years, and the Kremlin says the financial crisis will not discourage it from spending as much money as needed on defense. The Topol, which entered service in 1985, was last test-fired last October.
Russia has extended the highly mobile Topol’s use way past the 10-year guaranteed operational life set by the manufacturer. It is designed to pierce anti-missile defense systems such as those that the United States has said it wants to build in Eastern Europe.
The RS-12M Topol, called the SS-25 Sickle by NATO, has a maximum range of 10,000 km (6,125 miles) and can carry one 550-kiloton warhead.
In the last few years, Russia has ramped up development and testing of weapons designed to penetrate US and European defense shields, including the impressive Iskander MIRV, which is capable of separating into 10 different nuclear warheads mid-flight, rendering any air defense system useless. This will enable Russia to shoot “(its) arrows like those of an expert warrior” (Jeremiah 50:9) when executing a surprise attack on the United States (Jeremiah 50:24).
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The Times (UK) reported yesterday that al-Qaeda activity in Iraq could delay the US military’s withdrawal from two major cities, putting a crimp in President Obama’s plan to have all troops out of Iraq by August, 2010.
Generally speaking, modern day Iraq is referenced by Mesopotamia and Babylon in Scripture, while Persia refers to Iran (Persia became Iran in 1932). There are some, however, who believe that Iraq is part of the Persia who joins with Russia to attack Israel in Ezekiel 38:5. This dates back to Mesopotamia being considered part of Persia prior to the Ottoman Empire in the late 13th century, at which time Iraq was annexed. The capital of Iraq, Baghdad, still uses its Persian name.
I believe this to be quite plausible. While historically the Iraqi’s have been at odds with the Persians because of the ruling Baathist political sect, Iraq is actually majority Shiite. Since the ouster of Saddam Hussein, the Shiites–who have strong ties to Iran–have ascended in power. The Iranians have been heavily involved with the Shiites for a long time, and they have ramped up their influence since Iraq embraced free elections.
It is very conceivable that if US troops depart from Iraq, the nation will become Iran, Jr. and join in the Russian-led march against Israel (Psalm 83:4-5; Ezekiel 38:16).
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(This is part one of a three part series on Holy Week.)
Every year during Holy Week, I find myself becoming increasingly agitated with the days we choose to remember certain events. Traditionally, we remember the Last Supper on Thursday, the crucifixion on Friday, and the glorious resurrection Sunday morning.
But these days cannot possibly be accurate, or else the Bible is full of errors. So what is the truth?
Click here to continue reading…
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As predicted, Iran celebrated National Nuclear day by proclaiming that it has “accomplished the last stage of the nuclear fuel cycle.”
Iran is now running 7,000 uranium enrichment centrifuges, a senior official said on Thursday, an announcement likely to increase Western concerns about the Islamic Republic’s disputed nuclear plans.
Gholamreza Aghazadeh, head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation, also said it had obtained the technology to produce more “accurate” centrifuges, which are used to enrich uranium.
Referring to the inauguration of a nuclear fuel production plant by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad earlier on Thursday, he said in a televised speech: “Today we praise … the accomplishment of the last stage of the nuclear fuel cycle.”
Iran–which constantly repeats its promise to annihilate Israel and the United States–will join with Russia (Ezekiel 38:5), Egypt (Daniel 11:40), Syria (Isaiah 17:1, Psalm 83:8), Ethiopia (Ezekiel 38:5), Libya (Ezekiel 38:5), Turkey (Ezekiel 38:6), Jordan (Psalm 83:7), Lebanon (Psalm 83:7), Palestine (Psalm 83:7), and several other nations to attack Israel (Psalm 83:4-5; Ezekiel 38:15).
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One day after a US government official warned of a growing threat from cyber attacks, Siobhan Gorman of the Wall Street Journal reports that spies from China and Russia have installed trojans onto the United States electrical grid:
Cyberspies have penetrated the U.S. electrical grid and left behind software programs that could be used to disrupt the system, according to current and former national-security officials.
The spies came from China, Russia and other countries, these officials said, and were believed to be on a mission to navigate the U.S. electrical system and its controls. The intruders haven’t sought to damage the power grid or other key infrastructure, but officials warned they could try during a crisis or war.
“The Chinese have attempted to map our infrastructure, such as the electrical grid,” said a senior intelligence official. “So have the Russians.”
The espionage appeared pervasive across the U.S. and doesn’t target a particular company or region, said a former Department of Homeland Security official. “There are intrusions, and they are growing,” the former official said, referring to electrical systems. “There were a lot last year.”
Many of the intrusions were detected not by the companies in charge of the infrastructure but by U.S. intelligence agencies, officials said. Intelligence officials worry about cyber attackers taking control of electrical facilities, a nuclear power plant or financial networks via the Internet.
Authorities investigating the intrusions have found software tools left behind that could be used to destroy infrastructure components, the senior intelligence official said. He added, “If we go to war with them, they will try to turn them on.”
Officials said water, sewage and other infrastructure systems also were at risk.
This could be used to fulfill a prophecy found in Jeremiah 51.
Click here to continue reading…
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It is hard to go more than 24 hours without seeing another world leader say it time to place the entire earth under one massive umbrella and create a “new world order.” Today it was Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s turn, who said this while in Beijing meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao.
We are creating a new world, a balanced world. A new world order, a multipolar world,” Mr. Chavez said on arriving in China the evening before a scheduled Wednesday meeting with China’s president and Communist Party leader Hu Jintao.
“The unipolar world has collapsed. The power of the U.S. empire has collapsed,” he said. “Everyday, the new poles of world power are becoming stronger. Beijing, Tokyo, Tehran .. It’s moving toward the East and toward the South.”
Many years ago, the late Paul Henri Spaak, who was Prime Minister of Belgium, President of the UN General Assembly, and Secretary General of NATO, said Europe clamored for a single leader with great oratory skills to set up a one world government, even adding, “be he man or devil we are ready to receive him.”
Quite a prophetic statement by Mr. Spaak. The Antichrist will rise out of Europe (Daniel 7:24) while being controlled by the Devil and his demons during his ascent to power and through the first half of the Tribulation (Daniel 8:23), at which point he will actually become Satan incarnate (Revelation 17:8, 11).
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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is prepared to announce that his nation has mastered the final stages of nuclear fuel output.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is expected to announce Iran has mastered the final stage of nuclear fuel production when the Islamic state celebrates its National Nuclear Day on Thursday.
“I will have good nuclear news for the honored Iranian nation tomorrow (April 9),” Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday in a televised speech at the central city of Isfahan.
Foreign nuclear analysts believe Tehran has yet to prove it has mastered industrial-scale enrichment of uranium, the key to making fuel in large, usable quantities and the most technically difficult aspect of churning out nuclear energy.
Tehran has slowly expanded its Natanz enrichment plant in defiance of U.N. resolutions demanding it stop over concerns Tehran’s goal is atomic bombs, something it denies.
But analysts expected Ahmadinejad to say that Iran has perfected the last of several phases of fuel output.
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The report said Iran’s fuel fabrication plant in Isfahan had begun producing fuel rods and that a process line for making uranium pellets was ready for operations.
Tehran says the Arak complex will be geared to making only isotopes for medical care and agriculture.
Western powers fear Iran may configure the Arak reactor to derive plutonium from spent fuel rods as another possible source of bomb-grade fuel, besides its Natanz uranium enrichment plant, which is under daily IAEA surveillance.
Authoritarian leaders have often made a habit of over stating their accomplishments while understating their intentions. It is certainly possible that Ahmadinejad will tell a lie tomorrow when he proclaims that Iran has mastered the fuel output game. However, if he is lying, it won’t be for long, for soon Iran will have access to a nuclear weapon. It is Ahmadinejad’s stated goal to obliterate Israel–and the USA in the process. Iran is one of the many nations that bands together with Russia (Ezekiel 38:5) to attack Israel (Psalm 83:4-5) at the midway point of the Tribulation.
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Russia has gone to bat for Iran again, saying that they do not pose a threat to the United States (despite Ahmadinejad’s promise to get nuclear weapons, and his vow to use them against the US and Israel). Russia also wants to protect North Korea from sanctions that may be imposed after its rocket launch last week.
As has been mentioned many times over the last few days, Russia and China will continue to back Iran & North Korea in their respective standoffs with the West. These four nations will be the key players in the two major marches against Israel. Russia and Iran will team up to lead a slew of Arab nations against Israel (Psalm 83:4-5; Ezekiel 38:15). After that invasion is pushed back (Joel 2:20), China will lead a gigantic army (Revelation 9:16) from the Orient and east Asia right across the Eurphrates River (Revelation 16:12).
Related posts from prophecyproject.org:
- China, North Korea, Russia, Iran working together
- Russia, North Korea to test fire new missiles
- North Korea, Iran advance chemical & nuclear programs
- Russia, China, North Korea increase activity, spar with EU
- North Korea restarts nuclear plant, makes threats, tests missiles
