The Spiritual World - Chuck Missler

Entire Mosques Coming to Christ in Sub-Saharan Africa

The idea of more than 200,000 former Muslims coming to faith in Sub-Saharan Africa within a few short years is mind-boggling. But entire mosques in Sub-Saharan Africa coming to faith? That news is even harder to wrap one's mind around, but it is in fact what is happening according to reports from a former church planter among Muslims in West Africa.

In the new book Miraculous Movements, Jerry Trousdale, now director of International Ministries for CityTeam International, records amazing and inspiring stories of faith among Muslim communities in Africa. The author opens up a new world to Western readers, taking them into the heart of the "miraculous movement" of God in Africa that is transforming the hearts of Muslims.

Trousdale writes that "unprecedented" events are happening among the Muslim populations that his ministry and its affiliates are working among, including:

• Multiple cases of entire mosques coming to faith
• Thousands of ordinary men and women being used by God to achieve seemingly impossible outcomes
• Tens of thousands of Muslim background Christians becoming dedicated intercessors who fast and pray for the gospel to penetrate the next community
• Muslim people groups that never had even one church among them now have more than fifty church planted, and in some cases more than one hundred churches – within two years of engagement
• Former sheikhs, imams and militant Islamists making up 20 percent or more of the new Christian leaders in Muslim regions

"We had seven years now in Africa. And of the people in Africa, 81 different people groups that have at least 50 percent Muslim have now significant movements among them. Of those 81, 45 are people groups with 99 or 100 percent Muslim," said Trousdale in an interview with CP. "So we are talking about fairly extreme areas of Islamic influence. These are people who have been Islamic for well over a hundred years, some hundreds of years."




Church & Ministries

Very high radiation, little water in Fukushima No. 2 reactor

TOKYO —

One of Japan’s crippled nuclear reactors still has fatally high radiation levels and hardly any water to cool it, according to an internal examination that renews doubts about the plant’s stability.

A tool equipped with a tiny video camera, a thermometer, a dosimeter and a water gauge was used to assess damage inside the No. 2 reactor’s containment chamber for the second time since the tsunami swept into the Fukushima Daiichi plant a year ago.

The data collected Tuesday showed the damage from the disaster was so severe, the plant operator will have to develop special equipment and technology to tolerate the harsh environment and decommission the plant, a process expected to last decades.

The other two reactors that had meltdowns could be in even worse shape. The No. 2 reactor is the only one officials have been able to closely examine so far.

Tuesday’s examination with an industrial endoscope detected radiation levels up to 10 times the fatal dose inside the chamber. Plant officials previously said more than half of the melted fuel has breached the core and dropped to the floor of the primary containment vessel, some of it splashing against the wall or the floor.

Particles from melted fuel have probably sent radiation levels up to a dangerously high 70 sieverts per hour inside the container, said Junichi Matsumoto, spokesman for Tokyo Electric Power Co. The figure far exceeds the highest level previously detected, 10 sieverts per hour, which was detected around an exhaust duct shared by No. 1 and 2 units last year.

“It’s extremely high,” he said, adding that an endoscope would last only 14 hours in those conditions. “We have to develop equipment that can tolerate high radiation” when locating and removing melted fuel during the decommissioning.

The probe also found that the containment vessel - a beaker-shaped container enclosing the core - had cooling water up to only 60 centimeters from the bottom, far below the 10 meters estimated when the government declared the plant stable in December. The plant is continuing to pump water into the reactor.

Video footage taken by the probe showed the water inside was clear but contained dark yellow sediments, believed to be fragments of rust, paint that had been peeled off or dust.

A probe done in January failed to find the water surface and provided only images showing steam, unidentified parts and rusty metal surfaces scarred by exposure to radiation, heat and humidity. Finding the water level was important to help locate damaged areas where radioactive water is escaping.

Matsumoto said that the actual water level inside the chamber was way off the estimate, which had used data that turned out to be unreliable. But the results don’t affect the plant’s “cold shutdown status” because the water temperature was about 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit), indicating the melted fuel is cooled.

Three Daiichi reactors had meltdowns, but the No. 2 reactor is the only one that has been examined because radiation levels inside the reactor building are relatively low and its container is designed with a convenient slot to send in the endoscope.

The exact conditions of the other two reactors, where hydrogen explosions damaged their buildings, are still unknown. Simulations have indicated that more fuel inside No. 1 has breached the core than the other two, but radiation at No. 3 remains the highest.

The high radiation levels inside the No. 2 reactor’s chamber mean it’s inaccessible to the workers, but parts of the reactor building are accessible for a few minutes at a time - with the workers wearing full protection.

The government said in December that the reactors are safely cooled and the plant has stabilized, while experts have questioned its vulnerability.

During a recent visit by a group of journalists including The Associated Press, the head of the plant said it remains vulnerable to strong aftershocks and tsunami, and that containing contaminated water and radiation is a challenge. Radioactive water had leaked into the ocean several times already.

Workers found a fresh leak of 120 tons from a water treatment unit this week from one of its hoses, with estimated 80 liters escaping into the ocean, Matsumoto said. Officials are still investigating its impact.

Fukushima’s accident has instilled public distrust and concerns about nuclear safety, making it difficult for the government to start up reactors even after regular safety checks. All but one of Japan’s 54 reactors are now offline, with the last one scheduled to stop in early May.

Japan Today

Turkish commander inspects troops on Syria border in surprise visit

Land Forces Commander Gen. Hayri Kıvrıkoğlu on Wednesday traveled to the border province of Kilis to inspect Turkish troops.

Gen. Kıvrıkoğlu, accompanied by Gen. Servet Yörüklü, Second Army commander, visited a Syrian refugee camp in the town of Öncüpınar. They also had talks with Governor Yusuf Odabaş before he inspected Turkish troops along the border later in the day.

Kıvrıkoğlu and Yörüklü already visited a brigade in the İskenderun district of Hatay, also on the Syrian border, on Tuesday evening.

The generals' surprise visit comes after Turkey recently raised the possibility of establishing a buffer zone in the event of a massive influx of refugees from Syria, as well as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's talks in Tehran, which focused on the latest developments in Syria. Analysts say such a move is likely to lead to armed confrontations between Turkish and Syrian forces.

Turkey has bitterly criticized Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's brutal crackdown on anti-regime protests and said it would offer help to Syrians fleeing from violence.

In 1998 when tension was running high with Syria due to its support for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged a bloody war in Turkey's southeast since 1984, former Land Forces Commander Gen. Atilla Ateş visited the Reyhanlı Border Command in the southern province of Hatay where he made harsh statements against Syria's policies.
Syrians caught trying to enter refugee camp with explosive belts

Turkish gendarmes on Tuesday detained three Syrians who were carrying explosives as they were trying to enter a tent city hosting nine generals who defected from the Syrian army.

The three Syrians attempted to enter the tent city near the village of Apaydın in the Altınözü district in the province of Hatay on Tuesday, telling gendarmes guarding the refugee camp that they were staying there with relatives. The three men, identified only as A.İ., S.M. and H.M., were instead taken to a gendarmerie station for questioning after gendarmes searched them and found the explosive belts.

An investigation is under way following the discovery of explosives. A subsequent search of the camp revealed that there were no other explosive devices inside the camp, but security was heightened in Syrian refugee camps across Hatay. Last week security personnel confiscated three grenades before they were smuggled into a refugee camp in Hatay's Reyhanlı district.

More than 17,000 Syrians have fled to Turkey to escape violence in their country. In addition to the refugees, Turkey has also emerged as the main haven for Syrian opposition groups and fighters.


Todays Zaman

69% of Israelis Support US-Israeli Attack on Iran

Sixty-nine percent of Israelis support a joint U.S.-Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear installations, according to a poll conducted for the Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace and the Palestinian Center for Policy andSurvey Research.

Forty-two percent of Israelis support a strike if Israel has to act alone.

The poll found that 73% of Israelis and 85% of Palestinian Authority Arabs believe that a regional war will break out f Israel attacks Iran.

The poll shows higher support for an Iran strike than a previous poll, conducted by Shibley Telhami of the Brookings Institute and the Dahaf polling firm.

If the Israeli survey included Arab respondents, who make up about 20% of Israeli citizens – that could mean that an even larger percentage of Jewish Israelis support an Iran strike.

The New York Times published an analysis piece Tuesday in which it claimed that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak are not sharing the decision making process on Iran with others.

"A top Israeli official who works closely with both leaders and spoke on the condition of anonymity confirmed that the cabinet had not talked lately about Iran, but noted that detailed and long-standing preparation had gone into the possibility of a military strike," the NYT reported. "Of the two men, he said: 'One views himself as a savior, the other lives for a good operation. They’re a strange pair who have come to appreciate each other. Together they control this issue.'"


Arutz Sheva

Biometric immigration tests urged

A panel of experts has recommended that the Justice Ministry test facial, iris and hand vein identification systems to help simplify airport immigration procedures.

Immigration officers now identify most travelers by comparing their faces with facial photos on their passports. While automatic fingerprint recognition gates have been set up at four airports for Japanese travelers, their use is limited as they require fingerprint preregistration. Because many people resist fingerprint registration, the panel urged the ministry to develop and test the alternative identification systems.

The Japan Times Online

Noda urges N Korea to cancel rocket launch as Japan readies missile units

SEOUL/TOKYO —

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda called Tuesday for North Korea to cancel its planned rocket launch, telling world leaders at a nuclear security summit the move violated U.N. resolutions.

“North Korea’s launch of a missile under the guise of ‘a satellite’... is against the non-proliferation efforts of the international community and would be a violation of relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions,” Noda said, according to an English version of his speech given to reporters.

“As such, the international community strongly urges North Korea to exercise restraint and cancel the launch.”

Noda’s comments to leaders or top officials from 53 nations at the summit in South Korea came after Japan announced Monday it would deploy surface-to-air missiles in central Tokyo in readiness to shoot down the rocket if needed.

The North said this month it would fire the rocket to put a satellite into orbit between April 12 and 16 to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of founding president Kim Il-Sung.

The nuclear-armed state insists it has a right to launch a satellite for peaceful purposes.

The United States, Japan, South Korea and other nations say the exercise is a disguised missile test, which U.N. resolutions have banned.

Meanwhile, in Tokyo, Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka on Tuesday ordered interceptor missile units to prepare for North Korea’s rocket launch.

The Unha-3 rocket is expected to fly over western Japan. That has raised concerns that a failed launch, or a falling stage of the rocket, could endanger Japanese lives or property.

“We must be fully prepared to protect the safety of our nation,” Tanaka said after issuing the order at a meeting military commanders.

Officials have said Japan is likely to send three AEGIS-equipped destroyers to the Pacific and East China Sea and deploy mobile Patriot missile launchers to islands in Okinawa. An interceptor missile unit is also likely to be deployed in Tokyo, although the capital is well away from the expected flight path.

Seoul has also warned it might shoot down any parts of the North Korean rocket that pass over South Korean territory.

Japan mobilized its interceptor units and issued a similar warning to North Korea before a rocket launch in 2009, but did not follow through.

Interceptor missiles on the Japanese destroyers would serve as the first line of defense, and the land-based Patriot missiles would be a backup. Japan has successfully tested its interceptor missiles, but has never used them in a real-world situation.

Japan Today

FBI Memo: Agents Can ‘Suspend the Law’

The FBI once taught its agents that they can “bend or suspend the law” as they wiretap suspects. But the bureau says it didn’t really mean it, and has now removed the document from its counterterrorism training curriculum, calling it an “imprecise” instruction. Which is a good thing, national security attorneys say, because the FBI’s contention that it can twist the law in pursuit of suspected terrorists is just wrong.

“Dismissing this statement as ‘imprecise’ is a rather unsatisfying response given the very precise lines Congress and the courts have repeatedly drawn between what is and is not permissible, even in counterterrorism cases, over the past decade,” Steve Vladeck, a national-security law professor at American University, says. “It might technically be true that the FBI has certain authorities when conducting counterterrorism investigations that the Constitution otherwise forbids, but that’s good only so far as it goes.”

The reference to law-bending was noted in a letter to FBI Director Robert Mueller from Sen. Richard Durbin that Danger Room obtained. When Danger Room asked for the original document, the FBI initially declined. On Wednesday, a Bureau spokesperson relented, but refused to say who prepared the document; how long it was in circulation; and how many FBI agents, analysts and officials received its instruction.

The undated piece of instructional material notes that “under certain circumstances, the FBI has the ability to bend or suspend the law to impinge on the freedom of others.” Those circumstances include “the ability to gather information on individuals which would normally be protected under the U.S. Constitution through the use of FISA [the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act], Title 3 monitoring [general law enforcement surveillance], NSL [National Security Letter] reports, etc.”

Some surveillance experts were confused by that explanation. Surveillance under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act or so-called “Title-3″ law-enforcement surveillance requires the approval of judges. National Security Letters — administrative subpoenas for records issued by FBI officials, not judges — are troubling to civil libertarians, as the practice is rife for abuse, but the issuance of the letters themselves is legal. In other words, there shouldn’t be any suspension of the law.

“This certainly does not read as if a lawyer wrote it,” says Robert Chesney, a national-security expert at the University of Texas’ law school. “Congress has given the FBI the authority to wiretap, collect business records, and gather other forms of information for intelligence purposes, subject to certain safeguards. It is a severe misstatement to refer to the exercise of these lawful authorities as ‘bending’ or ‘suspending’ the law; that mischaracterization runs the risk of both delegitimizing these lawful tools and, simultaneously, conveying to agents the mistaken impression that there might be some more general power to disobey the law during intelligence investigations.”

The FBI discovered the document, removed it from its curriculum, and allowed aides to the Senate Judiciary Committee to examine it as part of a six-month review into improper counterterrorism training spurred by Danger Room’s reporting. It was among hundreds of pages of training material — out of 160,000 reviewed, the FBI says — that the FBI took out of circulation for “imprecision”; inaccuracy; reliance on racial, ethnic or religious stereotypes; or conflating illegal behavior with constitutionally protected activities. No FBI official responsible for any of the discarded training material received disciplinary action.

Wired

'Azerbaijan granted Israel access to air bases on Iran border'

Israel has been granted access to air bases in Azerbaijan on Iran's northern border, Foreign Policy reported Wednesday, quoting senior U.S. diplomats and military intelligence officials.

"The Israelis have bought an airfield," a senior U.S. administration official told Foreign Policy's Mark Perry, "and the airfield is called Azerbaijan."

According to the report, U.S. intelligence officials are worried that Israel's military involvement in Azerbaijan would make it more difficult for the U.S. to reduce Israeli-Iranian tensions. Apparently now, military planners must prepare for a war scenario that would also involve the Caucasus.

"We're watching what Iran does closely," said a U.S. intelligence officer involved in assessing the consequences of a potential Israeli strike on Iran. "But we're now watching what Israel is doing in Azerbaijan. And we're not happy about it."

In February, Israel signed a $1.6 billion arms deal with Azerbaijan, committing to sell drones and anti-aircraft missile defense systems to Baku. According to a retired U.S. diplomat, the deal left Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan "sputtering in rage," since Israel had previously canceled a contract to develop drones with the Turkish military.

The report said that the Azeri military has four abandoned, Soviet-era airfields that could be available to Israel and four air bases for their own aircraft, quoting the International Institute for Strategic Studies' Military Balance 2011.

U.S. officials told Foreign Policy that they believe Israel has been granted access to these air bases through a "series of quiet political and military understandings."

"I doubt that there's actually anything in writing," said a former U.S. diplomat who spent his career in the region. "But I don't think there's any doubt - if Israeli jets want to land in Azerbaijan after an attack, they'd probably be allowed to do so. Israel is deeply embedded in Azerbaijan, and has been for the last two decades."

The report states that Israel's embassy in Washington, the IDF, the Mossad, and the Shin Bet were all asked to comment on the story but failed to respond. Also, the Azeri embassy to the U.S. did not respond when asked about Azerbaijan's security agreements with Israel.

Earlier this month, Azerbaijan authorities arrested 22 people suspected of plotting to attack the Israeli and American embassies in the capital Baku. Iran's Revolutionary Guards was reportedly behind the plan to attack Israeli and U.S. targets in the country, according to Azerbaijan's national security ministry.

Haaretz

Iran flies thousands of pro-Palestinian activists to Syria

Commentary & Analysis
by
L. A. Marzulli

Iran flies thousands of pro-Palestinian activists to Syria. IDF fortifies borders

DEBKAfile, Political Analysis, Espionage, Terrorism, Security

The poster on the left is almost one year old, now “Jerusalem Day,” is about to happen again and perhaps this event will serve as the flash point for the coming Middle East conflict. There is a saying in the Middle East and it is: The enemy of my enemy is my friend. When it comes to Israel, there is agreement amongst Arabs, Sunni, and Shia Moslems that Israel is the enemy and thus, what would be opposing factions are willing to drop their differences to go after their common enemy, Israel. Jerusalem Day, is slated to happen on March 30, which is only a few days away. How will Israel respond when its borders are breached by hundreds, perhaps thousands of illegals trying to break into the country? Will this serve as a flash-point that will rally the Iranians, Hezbolloah, HAMAS, and other factions in the region to launch a full-scale military assault on Israel? I am reminded of a prophecy that tells us: Jerusalem will be a cup of trembling.

We are seeing this prophecy unfold right before our eyes and it’s happening in real-time. Israel is surrounded on all sides by those who want to participate in this march. Even Jordan, the only country that still maintains a peace treaty with Israel is getting into the act.

Jordan to Allow Global March to Jerusalem Jordanian authorities confirmed they will permit a planned march in the Jordan Valley “in support of Jerusalem.”

Jordan to Allow Global March to Jerusalem – Middle East – News – Israel National News

Meanwhile Anti-Semitism is on the rise as seen in this article. Bosnian Muslim neo-Nazi group vilifies Jews – Jihad Watch

The OSLO peace accords promised that there would be land for peace, and this seemed to offer some hope for the region. Now, years later, we see that this concept is broken and in fact will never work. When Israel gave up the Gaza strip, as the last of the Israeli’s were leaving the land, the shelling and mortar fire began. It continues to the present day, stopping and starting in a macabre cat and mouse game. Land for peace is a joke and it will never solve the conundrum that is the so-called displacement of the Palestinian people. Jordan is Palestine and at present is populated by 70% Palestinians.

In closing todays post: There is a supernatural component to what we are seeing that is not talked about and I believe is avoided at all costs. Israel has been gathered back into the homeland which in itself defies all logic. Now, we see that Jerusalem is in contention. Will Jerusalem Day serve as a flash point that will start WWIII? I hope not….

LA Marzulli

Gold headed for $2,175? Morgan Stanley thinks so and here is why

Gold prices have been well off their highs on the strength in the U.S. dollar, but Morgan Stanley analysts continue to be bullish on gold for 2012.

Fed action, including the likely adoption of QE3 in the first half of the year, is expected to boost gold prices. Moreover:

“…Recent coordinated actions by six central banks and separate actions by the ECB suggest that non-gold related measures to ease access to USD swaps will be successful, reducing downside pressure on the gold price.”

Drawing on this they think gold prices will depend on the persistence of four pillars of the original bull market namely:

1. Decline in producer hedging. Last year gold mining companies growing cautious on gold volatility began hedging to lock-in prices for their future output. But Morgan Stanley analysts say a decline in hedging or a potential de-hedging could be a “positive demand factor”.

2. The decline of developed market central bank sales and rise of emerging market central bank purchases

3. The inability of gold mining companies to increase gold supplies materially

4. Long-term growth in physical investment demand.

Morgan Stanley projects gold prices will rise to $1,845 per ounce in 2012 and $2,175 in 2013. For now they see that absence of central bank sales, limitations in size of the scrap gold pool, the rising demand from ETFs and coin sales is likely to see the bull market last into 2012 – 2013.

Financial Post