Signs Of The Times Are Everywhere

It was good to be back in class last evening and listen to those telling about their experiences in the Holy Land, and than to look at Matthew 24 and relate it to what we see happening around us. If you watch with your spiritual eye, you can see almost moment by moment the rumblings going on in Heaven where, I believe, God Almighty is getting thing ready to tell His Son, "go get your Bride."

Several interesting articles are in the news this morning.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy reportedly told Israeli President Shimon Peres when the two met in Paris two weeks ago that the current failure of the Middle East peace process is almost entirely the fault of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Senior Israeli officials were briefed on the meeting recently, and told Ha'aretz under condition of anonymity that it was a "very difficult" encounter for Peres.

Sarkozy reportedly spent the first 15 minutes of the meeting railing against Netanyahu.
"I'm disappointed with him," the French president reportedly said.. "With the friendship, sympathy and commitment we have toward Israel, we still can't accept this foot-dragging. I don't understand where Netanyahu is going or what he wants."

Sarkozy's increasingly hostile position mirrors that of the Obama Administration, which has made clear that it sees Netanyahu and the right-wing elements in his government as the reason the peace process is not moving forward.

That despite the fact that Netanyahu has already gone against his election platform by publicly accepting the idea of a Palestinian state, has frozen Jewish building in Judea and Samaria and has repeatedly stated that he is ready to immediately restart direct bilateral negotiations with the Palestinians.

That Palestinian leaders outright refuse to sit with Netanyahu and discuss these issues has been almost completely ignored in Western capitals.

In another note, this is not new today, but is beginning to open the eyes of many church leaders today.

Pope Benedict has approved a new church provision that will allow non-Catholics and in particular, the Anglicans, to convert to Catholicism while at the same time, maintaining many of their distinctive spiritual and liturgical traditions.The Vatican made this decision in response to the disillusionment of some Anglicans over the election of openly gay bishops and the blessing of same sex marriage which has caused a major uproar in the Anglican church not only in England, but across the world.

This never-before provision for Protestants to become a part of the Catholic Church has many Protestant leaders concerned about the breakdown in doctrinal differences between the Catholics and Protestants that came out of the Reformation 500 years ago.

Revelation 17 predicts a worldwide church will be in operation during the seven year period of judgment known as the Tribulation. Could this be the beginning of the final curtain?

Also, Senior Obama Administration officials on Tuesday expressed frustration and anger over criticism leveled against them by Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat in a series of interview with American media.

Barkat is currently in Washington for meetings and interviews set up for him by top congressional leaders. During the interviews, he has constantly referred to US pressure on Israel to halt Jewish construction in eastern Jerusalem as "illegal," and has suggested that Obama is anti-Israel.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak is also in Washington, and during meetings with top administration officials, he has been pressed to reign in Barkat and halt what they called his unproductive behavior.

My heart rejoices to think that we "could fly today."