NORTH KOREAN MISSILE RAISED INTO FIRING POSITION

Rockstar pope

Seems like end time charismatic leader, Malachy was right.......i guess it's going to fall fire from the sky.

Revelations 13:13 (again 13...)
Twenty million Americans consider themselves lapsed Catholics, but Pope Francis is convincing many to test the holy waters again with his bold gestures and common touch.

After years of disenchantment with the church's hierarchy and teachings, former members of the flock say they are willing to give the Vatican a second chance under new leadership.

Dallas teacher Marilyn Rosa is one of them.

"It was a sign," Rosa, 57, said of the Argentine Jesuit's election as pontiff last month. "It was like a miracle."

Born and raised Catholic, Rosa attended parochial schools and had a church wedding for her first marriage. Over the years, she drifted away from the religion that had been such an integral part of her Puerto Rican family's life.

She questioned the relevance of church policies in the modern world. As a divorced woman, she felt cast out. The pedophile-priest scandals disgusted her.

Three years ago, she quit going to Mass and joined an evangelical church. But she didn't feel at home and she started to wonder how she could fill the void.

"The day the pope got elected, I turned on the TV and when I learned he was Latin, I went crazy at home," said Rosa.

"When they started to talk about how he lived by himself and didn't move into the archbishop's residence, how he took the bus to work, I said, 'I know God is talking to me. This is the man we needed.'"

On Palm Sunday, she and her second husband "reverted," attending services at Dallas' St. Pius X Catholic Church.

"It was packed. I had to stand up the whole time. But I felt so happy. It was like a revival," she said.

Rosa has kept going to back to St. Pius, encouraged by what she's seen of the pope: from the simple white robe he wears to his rejection of the opulent papal apartment in favor of a spartan guest house.

"He's not letting himself be controlled by the rest of the church," Rosa said. "He's his own man."


Onenewsnow

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon hails Pope Francis as a global spiritual leader

VATICAN CITY - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday hailed Pope Francis as "a spiritual leader of the world" and emphasized goals of social justice shared between the Vatican and the United Nations.

"It is very important to meet a spiritual leader of the world," Ban said at the start of his meeting with the Argentine pope, who last month became the first non-European leader of the world's Catholics in nearly 1,300 years.

"The Holy See and the UN share common goals and ideas," said Ban—one of the first world leaders to be received at an audience by the new pontiff.

Francis has called for the Roman Catholic Church to be closer to ordinary people and help the needy, as well as to reach out to people of different religions and non-believers.

"We discussed the need to advance social justice and accelerate work to meet the Millenium Development Goals," Ban said after the meeting.

The international community has undertaken to meet goals including eradicating extreme poverty and hunger and reducing child mortality by 2015.

"Pope Francis is a man of peace and purpose. He is a voice for the voiceless," he said.

Ban said he also invited the pope to visit the United Nations "at his earliest convenience."

The UN leader also commented on the pope's choice to name himself after St Francis of Assisi, saying this was "a powerful message for the many goals shared by the United Nations."

"It speaks loudly of his commitment to the poor, his acute sense of humility, his passion and compassion to improve the human condition," he said.

Ban gave the pope a large book with the Charter of the United Nations in six languages.

The pope, who only spoke in Italian, gave Ban a mosaic of Rome. 

Agence France-Presse

A Chinese Air Force officer on Saturday accused the U.S. government of creating the new strain of bird flu now afflicting parts of China

A Chinese Air Force officer on Saturday accused the U.S. government of creating the new strain of bird flu now afflicting parts of China as a biological warfare attack.

People’s Liberation Army Sr. Col. Dai Xu said the United States released the H7N9 bird flu virus into China in an act of biological warfare, according to a posting on his blog on Saturday.

The charge was first reported in the state-run Guangzhou newspaperSouthern Metropolis Daily and then picked up by several news outlets in Asia.

State Department spokesman Jason Rebholz dismissed the claim. “There is absolutely no truth to these allegations,” he told the Washington Free Beacon.

Seven deaths from the bird flu outbreak were reported as of Tuesday in state-run Chinese media. As many as 24 people reportedly were infected by the disease in Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui.

Chinese authorities are trying to calm public fears of a major epidemic, claiming there is no evidence the virus can be transmitted between humans.

The government also is claiming that the outbreak is not related to the recent discovery of thousands of dead pigs floating in a river in China.

The accusation of U.S. biological warfare against China comes as the Pentagon is seeking closer military relations with China. Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is set to travel to China for talks with Chinese military leaders later this month.

Dai is a military strategist who in the past has been outspoken in seeking to foment conflict between China and the United States. He told the Global Times in August that China should go to war over U.S. support for Japan’s claims to the disputed Senkaku Islands.

Writing on Sina Weibo, a Chinese microblogging site akin to Twitter, Dai stated that the new bird flu strain was designed as a biological weapon similar to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), which he also claimed was developed as a U.S. bio-weapon, that affected the country in 2003.

According to Dai’s posting, the new flu outbreak should not be a cause for concern. “The national leadership should not pay too much attention to it,” the PLA lecturer at the National Defense University wrote. “Or else, it’ll be like in 2003 with SARS!”

“At that time, America was fighting in Iraq and feared that China would take advantage of the opportunity to take other actions,” he said. “This is why they used bio-psychological weapons against China. All of China fell into turmoil and that was exactly what the United States wanted. Now, the United States is using the same old trick. China should have learned its lesson and should calmly deal with the problem.”

Dai said that even if “a few may die” from the flu outbreak, it will not equal one-thousandth of the deaths caused by vehicle accidents in China.

Dai in the past has called for China to punish the United States for U.S. arms sales to rival Taiwan, by selling arms to U.S. enemies. “China recognizes that a few perfunctory protests will not have any effect,” Dai said in 2010. “China can’t directly sanction American arms companies since they did not do business with China … but China can sanction companies that are doing business with China directly, like Boeing or General Electric.”

Dai also has said the United States has used crises with North Korea and offers of cooperation on the issue as a plot to drive a wedge between Beijing and its fraternal communist ally.

Dai also has said U.S. efforts to counter Chinese espionage and intelligence-gathering were part of a U.S. “plot theory” of “western countries threatening others by [releasing] information gained through spying in order to damage the reputations of other countries.”

A State Department official said China notified the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 31 about its first detected human cases of H7N9 infection. Fourteen cases were confirmed by the WHO by April 5, of which six were fatal. The organization said there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission.

“U.S. Embassy Beijing and U.S. Consulate Shanghai are monitoring the situation, working closely with counterparts at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, and the Beijing and Shanghai municipal governments,” the official said.

The colonel’s accusation provoked a widespread response on Chinese websites. One post in reaction joked that Dai’s comment about auto deaths must mean that the United States and Germany are responsible for a conspiracy to produce cars, according to a report in Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post.

Luo Changping, deputy editor of Caijing, said most PLA soldiers would not support Dai’s comments and he urged the colonel to resign and apologize to those who have died from the current bird flu outbreak.

A defiant Dai then said in a new posting Sunday that “it is common knowledge that a group of people in China have been injected with mental toxin by the United States.”

“Now, a group of fake American devils are attacking me,” he wrote in another post. “I will not retreat even half a step.”

Analysts say the colonel’s remarks are a reflection of the growing xenophobic atmosphere within the Chinese military that views the United States as its main enemy.

Former State Department intelligence analyst John Tkacik said China’s military was largely to blame for mishandling the 2003 outbreak of SARS. Tkacik said there was speculation when the epidemic began that “the PLA suspects SARS had emanated from its own biological laboratories and was all the more eager to keep it secret.” China is known to have a covert biological arms program.

“Col. Dai Xu is a shameless liar when he accuses the United States of using bio weapons,” Tkacik told the Free Beacon. “He’s probably motivated by a desire to exculpate the PLA for their mishandling of the epidemic—no doubt most Chinese have happily forgotten the episode—as much as by a cynical xenophobia. But, that’s what passes for deep strategic thought at China’s National Defense University these days.”

The Pentagon has been trying with varying success to develop closer ties to the Chinese military as part of a strategy aimed at building trust. However, China’s military leaders believe the U.S. offers of closer ties are a ruse designed to contain China’s growing military buildup.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel spoke by phone with China’s Defense Minister Gen. Chang Wanquan on April 2. Chang is the No. 4 defense official after Chinese President Xi Jinping and two other generals who run the Central Military Commission, the Communist Party’s ultimate power organ.

“The leaders both expressed their intention to work together to continue to build a military-to-military relationship that serves the vision of both President Obama and President Xi,” Pentagon press secretary George Little said in a statement after the call.

“The secretary discussed the importance of focusing on areas of sustained dialogue, practical areas of cooperation, and risk reducing measures,” he said.

U.S. ties with China are strained due to China’s reluctance to rein in neighboring North Korea.

China provides North Korea with large amounts of fuel oil and other goods. However, Beijing has not taken steps to pressure Pyongyang using its economic leverage during the ongoing crisis.

The flu has lit up China’s thriving Internet, according to analysts. Over 945,600 microblog postings addressed the flu between April 8 and 9. Since the outbreak began some seven days ago, between 1.3 million and 3 million postings were put online on outlets including Sina Weibo and QQ Weibo.

Tens of thousands of users expressed doubts about the official Shanghai municipal government’s denial of any link between the dead pigs found floating last month in the region’s Huangpu River.

The proximity to the initial outbreak in Shanghai and the river has led to speculation that the pig deaths may have been linked to the flu virus jumping from animals to humans.

That speculation was fueled by reports that one of the victims of the flu was a pig butcher.

The avian flu strain is similar to an earlier outbreak with a significant difference: The current strain does not kill the birds it infects, making it more difficult to identify infected poultry.

The Shanghai government waited 20 days before announcing the first H7N9 infection on March 31.

Washington Free Beacon

Iranian Military Chief Vows to Defend North Korea from US

The deputy chief of staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, Major General Masood Jazayeri announced that Iran will stand by North Korea and defend it in a war between the United States and North Korea.

Jazayeri made the statement on Friday, April 5. He blamed increasing tensions in the Korean peninsula on “excessive demands by the United States,” which he said was “tightening the noose on North Korea.” The Iranian military leader said that those aggressive activities on the part of the U.S. left the North Koreans with no option but to confront the “big Satan.”

“The nation and government of North Korea has always been subject to threat, despotism, and imperialism by the U.S, therefore they consider it their right to boost their own defensive power in order to inhibit their enemy,” said Jazayeri. “The time is long past that the United States can bully other countries.”

And just to make sure Americans understand he means business, Jazayeri warned that “America and her allies will suffer countless thousands of victims” should Iran and North Korea be provoked into a war with the U.S.

The Iranian commitment to stand with North Korea is another move in an escalating exchange of verbal hostilities – considered by many to be mostly posturing – and military maneuvers that North Korea, South Korea and the U.S. have engaged in over the past several months.

The regime of Kim Jung Un has been issuing increasingly threatening announcements, including its boast that it has authorized the nation’s military to launch a nuclear attack on the United States. After reports that the regime had moved its second missile to the country’s east coast, South Korea deployed two warships with missile defense systems.

Early last week the United States announced that it would deploy its advanced ballistic missile defense system in the Pacific in a direct response to increased threats from North Korea.

While most countries with a diplomatic presence in North Korea expressed dismay over the escalating tensions, the Islamic Republic of Iran expressed its support for North Korea.

North Korea and Iran have been on friendly terms since the Iranian Revolution in 1979.

In September of 2012, the two nations signed an agreement to cooperate on “science technology and education,” which many sophisticated observers understood to mean that North Korea will be – indeed already is – assisting Iran on its path to nuclear weaponization.

A 2011 United Nations report said Iran and North Korea are suspected of sharing ballistic missile technology, and both have been sanctioned by the UN Security Council for their nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

The Jewish Press

Why Are The Banksters Telling Us To Sell Our Gold When They Are Hoarding Gold Like Crazy?

The big banks are breathlessly proclaiming that now is the time to sell your gold.  They are warning that we have now entered a "bear market" for gold and that the price of gold will continue to decline for the rest of the year.  So should we believe them?  Well, their warnings might be more credible if the central banks of the world were not hoarding gold like crazy.  During 2012, central bank gold buying was at the highest level that we have seen in almost 50 years.  Meanwhile, insider buying of gold stocks has now reached multi-year highs and the U.S. Mint cannot even keep up with the insatiable demand for silver eagle coins.  So what in the world is actually going on here?  Right now, the central banks of the world are indulging in a money printing binge that reminds many of what happened during the early days of the Weimar Republic.  When you flood the financial system with paper money, that is eventually going to cause the prices for hard assets to go up dramatically.  Could it be possible that the banksters are trying to drive down the price of both gold and silver so that they can gobble it up cheaply?  Do they want to be the ones sitting on all of the "real money" once the paper money bubble that we are living in finally bursts?

Over the past few weeks, nearly every major newspaper in the world has run at least one story telling people that it is time to sell their gold.  For example, the following is from a recent Wall Street Journal article entitled "Goldman Sachs Turns Bearish on Gold"...

Another longtime gold bull is turning tail.

Investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said Wednesday that gold's prospects for the year have eroded, recommending investors close out long positions and initiate bearish bets, or shorts. The shift in outlook was the latest among banks and investors who have soured on gold as its dozen-year runup has been followed by a 12% decline in the last six months.

Goldman began the year predicting gold would decline in the second half of 2013, but said Wednesday the drop began earlier than expected and doesn't appear likely to reverse. Like others, the firm said the usual catalysts that have been bullish for gold during its run are no longer working.

Major banks over in Europe are issuing similar warnings about the price of gold.  The following is from a Marketwatch article entitled "Sell gold, buy oil, Societe Generale analysts say"...

Analysts at Societe Generale predict in a note Thursday that gold prices will fall below $1,400 by the year’s end and continue heading south next year.

They cite two main reasons:

1.  Inflation has so far stayed low and now investors are beginning to see economic conditions that would justify an end to the Fed’s quantitative easing program.
2.  The dollar has started trending higher, which should make gold prices move lower as the physical gold market is extremely oversupplied without continued large-scale investor buying.

And even Asian banks are telling people to sell their gold at this point.  According to CNBC, Japanese banking giant Nomura is another major international bank that has turned "bearish" on gold...

Nomura forecast gold prices will fall in 2013, on Thursday, becoming the latest bank to turn bearish on the precious metal which has been a favorite hedge for investors who fear aggressive monetary stimulus will lead to rising inflation.

"For the first time since 2008, in our view, the investment environment for gold is deteriorating as economic recovery, rising interest rates and still benign Western inflation (for now) will likely leave some investors rethinking their cumulative $240 billion investment in gold over the past four years," wrote Nomura analysts in a sector note on Thursday.

A lot of financial analysts are urging people to dump gold and to jump into stocks where they "can get a much better return".  They make it sound like it is only going to be downhill for gold from here.  The following is from a recent CNBC article entitled "Gold's 'Death Cross' Isn't All Investors Are Worried About"...

Gold is flashing the "death cross" but the bearish chart pattern is not the only thing scaring investors.

The magnetic appeal of a rising stock market has pulled some investment funds away from the yellow metal. Since the beginning of the year, stocks are up nearly 7 percent and gold is down nearly 6 percent.

But if gold is such a bad investment, then why are the central banks of the world hoarding gold like crazy?

According to the World Gold Council, gold buying by global central banks in 2012 was at the highest level that we have seen since 1964...

Worldwide gold demand in 2012 was another record high of $236.4 billion in the World Gold Council’s latest report. This was up 6% in value terms in the fourth quarter to $66.2 billion, the highest fourth quarter on record. Global gold demand in the fourth quarter of 2012 was up 4% to 1,195.9 tonnes.

Central bank buying for 2012 rose by 17% over 2011 to some 534.6 tonnes. As far as central bank gold buying, this was the highest level since 1964. Central bank purchases stood at 145 tonnes in the fourth quarter. That is up 9% from the fourth quarter of 2011, and the eighth consecutive quarter in which central banks were net purchasers of gold.

This all comes on the heels of decades when global central banks were net sellers of gold.  Marcus Grubb, a Managing Director at the World Gold Council, says that we are witnessing a fundamental change in behavior by global central banks...

Central banks’ move from net sellers of gold, to net buyers that we have seen in recent years, has continued apace.  The official sector purchases across the world are now at their highest level for almost half a century.

Meanwhile, insiders seem to think that gold stocks are actually quite undervalued right now.  In fact, insider buying of gold stocks is now at a level that we have not seen in quite some time.  The following is an excerpt from a recent Globe and Mail article entitled "Insider buying of gold stocks surges to multi-year highs"...

The TSX global gold index has lost about a third of its value over the past two years. The S&P/TSX Venture Exchange, stock full of gold mining juniors, hit a multi-year low this month.

Yet, executives and officers who work within those businesses are showing remarkable confidence that the sector is poised for better times.

In addition, the demand for physical silver in the United States seems to be greater than ever before.  According to the U.S. Mint, demand for physical silver coins hit a new all-time record high during the month of February.

And demand for silver coins has not abated since then.  Just check out what has been happening in April so far...

The US Mint has updated April sales statistics for the first time since last week, and to no surprise, the Mint again reported more massive sales, with another 833,000 silver eagles reported sold Monday!   The April total through 6 business days is now 1.645 million ounces, bringing the 2013 total to a massive 15.868 million ounces.  In response to the continued massive demand for silver eagles, the mint also has begun rationing sales of silver eagles to primary dealers resulting in supply delays!  Just as was seen in January, tight physical supplies have seen premiums on ASE’s skyrocketing over the weekend and throughout the day, as ASE’s are rapidly becoming as scarce as 90%!

Something does not appear to add up here.

I also found it very interesting that according to Reuters, Cyprus is being forced to sell most of their gold reserves in order to help fund the bailout of their banking system...

Cyprus has agreed to sell excess gold reserves to raise around 400 million euros (341 million pounds) and help finance its part of its bailout, an assessment of Cypriot financing needs prepared by the European Commission showed.

So exactly who will they be selling that gold to?

And I also found it very interesting to learn that Comex gold inventories have been falling dramatically over the last few months.  The following is from a recent article by Tekoa Da Silva...

A stunning piece of information was brought to my attention yesterday. Amid all the mainstream talk of the end of the gold bull market (and the end of the gold mining industry), something has been discretely happening behind the scenes.

Over the last 90 days without any announcement,stocks of gold held at Comex warehousesplunged by the largest figure ever on record during a single quarter since eligible record keeping began in 2001 (roughly the beginning of the bull market).

In particular, something very unusual appears to be happening with JP Morgan Chase's gold...

JP Morgan Chase’s reported gold stockpile dropped by over 1.2 million oz.’s, or rather, a staggering $1.8 billion dollars worth of physical gold was removed from it’s vaults during the last 120 days.

So what does all of this mean?

I don't know.  But I would like to find out.  Someone is definitely up to something.

Meanwhile, the central banks of the globe seem determined to put their reckless money printing into overdrive.

For example, the Bank of Japan actually plans to double the monetary base of that country by the end of 2014 as a recent Time Magazine article described...

On Thursday, the new governor of the Bank of Japan (BOJ), Haruhiko Kuroda, announced that the central bank would double the monetary base of the country — adding an additional $1.4 trillion — by the end of 2014 in an attempt to end the deflation plaguing the economy. To achieve that, Kuroda will buy government bonds and other assets to inject cash into the economy — what has now become familiar as quantitative easing, or QE — to bump inflation up to a targeted 2%. The plan is part of a greater strategy ushered in by new Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to restart the economy through massive fiscal and monetary stimulus. It also expands on the efforts by the Federal Reserve, Bank of England and European Central Bank to stimulate growth and smooth over financial turmoil by infusing huge sums of new money into the global economy.

Many in the western world have been extremely critical of this move, but the truth is that we actually started this "currency war".  The Federal Reserve has been recklessly printing money for years, and even though we are now supposedly in the midst of an "economic recovery", the Fed is actually doing more quantitative easing than ever.

Anyone that thinks that gold and silver are bad investments for the long-term when the central banks of the world are being so reckless should have their heads examined.

However, I do believe that gold and silver will experience wild fluctuations in price over the next several years.  When the next stock market crash happens, gold and silver will go down.  It happened back in 2008 and it will happen again.

But in response to the next major financial crisis, I believe that the central banks of the globe will become more reckless than anyone ever dreamed possible.  At that point I believe that we will see gold and silver soar to unprecedented heights.

Yes, there will be huge ups and downs for gold and silver.  But in the long-term, both gold and silver are going to go far, far higher than they are today.

So what do you think will happen to gold and silver in the years ahead?  Please feel free to post a comment with your thoughts below...

Economic Collapse

The Joseph Pattern

Joseph Herrin



Three years ago this month I posted a series titled Wilderness Survival for Christians.

http://www.heart4god.ws/index_htm_files/Wilderness%20Survival%20for%20Christians.pdf

In this series I wrote of the coming days of tribulation where the Spirit of Christ will direct the people of God into a wilderness experience. The focus of the writing was to share with the saints how they might prepare themselves to survive, and even thrive, in days that will see a great many Christians fall away from the faith, and a significant number lose their lives. The counsel set forth in this series was not carnal. It did not focus on building a bunker in the national forest, or converting one’s money to gold and silver. The counsel was in accordance with those things I have been setting forth in recent posts. It stressed the need to simplify one’s life, to jettison the accumulated baggage of years of materialistic living, and to yield oneself to be directed by the Holy Spirit in all things. Following is an excerpt from that book.
---
In 1999 the Father spoke through a young woman in the church of which I was both a member and a minister. He said, “I am about to lead some of you through some very difficult experiences. These experiences are to prepare you for the days that follow which will be even more difficult.” I have walked in the fulfillment of these words. I have been led through wilderness ways, often without companion or friend. (Like Joseph in Egypt.)

These experiences were intended for my development as a son. They served to humble me, and to teach me Yahweh’s ways. Many things that were once a large part of my life fell by the wayside. Some things simply cannot be carried into the wilderness. They are burdensome and make the journey too difficult. This was a lesson the pioneers learned as they traveled west across America in the 1800s.




When God calls a people to surrender all, and to follow wherever He would lead them, they must begin to make decisions about what must be kept, and what must be left behind. In my case, these decisions were thrust upon me. In order to follow the leading of Christ, I had to leave home, vehicles, furnishings, and many years of accumulated possessions behind. Yahweh provided no means for me to continue to hold onto these things.

Many pioneers heading to the American West started off with too heavy a load. This placed a strain on the wagon, and on the animals pulling it. In soft, wet, or rough ground, the wagon would become stuck. Many goods were abandoned along the way. Some cast away pianos, china cabinets, and other things which they had previously been unwilling to surrender. When their forward progress was brought to a standstill they had to evaluate what things were truly essential. Things that were not absolute necessities were thrown to the wayside.

I am reminded of Paul’s words to Timothy as he instructed him about the proper attitude towards the goods of this world.

I Timothy 6:7-8
For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. And if we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.

People of God, eleven years ago (now fourteen) I had a large house on nearly an acre of land in town. I had a household of goods. Our closets were full, as was our garage. We were overloaded with the goods of the world. This encumbrance prevented us from following the Father wherever He would lead.

The Father led me to a radical departure from the life I had been living. He instructed me to quit my job as a computer professional and to follow Him. I anticipated keeping most of my worldly goods, but the Father had other plans. He began to strip us of many things accumulated through years of indulgent living. Christians in America have little concept of how materialistic their lives are.

As God begins to lead a greater number down wilderness pathways they will quickly learn that they must do with much less. Some will try to carry the maximum amount possible.




About a year after the Father directed my family to follow Him wherever He would lead us, He had brought us to a place where everything our family of four owned would fit into a 28-1/2 foot long motorhome. There was tremendous liberty in this. We could go wherever the Father directed. We were not held back by our possessions.

Many have criticized me for leading my family to such an experience. In the mindset of American culture, including the American church, such Spartan living strikes many as cause for reproach. I am persuaded, however, that a great many in the days ahead will be brought by the Father to choose whether they will follow Him and leave the world behind, or cling to the things of the world.

Luke 14:33
"So therefore, no one of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.”

If you are to survive your wilderness experience you need to let go of the things of this world. Some will make foolish decisions as they seek some way to hold onto possessions that have taken hold of their hearts. Their journey will be far more laborious because they started off trying to carry too much with them.




[End Excerpt]

In recent posts I have stated that it is the will of the Father that His people yield all of their possessions to the direction of His Spirit to be disposed of in any manner that He should choose. I have shared that surrendering one’s possessions to Christ, unburdening oneself of the world’s goods, should not be considered an exceptional act. It was the normal experience of Christ, His apostles, and the church of the New Testament.

The recent posts have elicited a number of objections. Some have written to me with sincere reservations about whether such a life is appropriate for the sons of God today. Others have been carnal and churlish in their responses. One brother even declared that the cost of discipleship is NOT universal. He suggested that Christ’s words were intended only for the apostles.

I was truly taken aback by this argument, being surprised that any saint with a modicum of familiarity with the Scriptures would suggest such a thing. Yahshua’s words regarding the cost of discipleship, and the surrender of one’s possessions, were clearly addressed to all who wished to follow Christ and be His disciple.

Luke 12:32-33
“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves purses which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near, nor moth destroys.”

Matthew 19:21
Yahshua said to him, “If you (a young man, not one of the apostles) wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

Luke 14:33-34
"So therefore, no one of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his possessions.”

Luke 18:24-30
And when Yahshua saw that he became very sorrowful, He said, "How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." And those who heard it said, "Who then can be saved?" But He said, "The things which are impossible with men are possible with God." Then Peter said, "See, we have left all and followed You." So He said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who shall not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come eternal life."

In the series I posted several years back I included an explanation of the Scripture above.
---
Many have misunderstood the message of Christ in these words, for they have mistakenly equated “the eye of a needle” with a sewing needle. Camels do not go through the eye of a sewing needle, so this makes little sense. In the days of Christ cities were surrounded by walls for protection against invading enemies. Gates were set in the walls to allow people and materials to come and go. These gates were closed at night and in times of danger, but it was still necessary to allow a limited flow of people in and out. Therefore, built into the large gates was a small door which could be opened to let a man in or out. This small door was called “the eye of the needle.”




Camels at the time were used for transport of goods. They would be piled high with merchandise and goods to be traded. If a man came to the gates after they had been closed and needed to enter, it was possible to go through and take his camel along, but it was very difficult. The master of the camel would have to take all the merchandise off of the camel, and the camel would have to go through the gate on his knees.

This is a picture of how a rich man must enter the kingdom of heaven. Getting on one’s knees speaks of humility, and removing all the goods from the camel’s back speaks of the necessity of Christians being unburdened from their possessions.
[End Excerpt]

That the early church widely practiced the surrender of their property, and the giving of their money to charity, is revealed in numerous places.

Acts 2:44-45
Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.

Acts 4:34-35
For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales, and lay them at the apostles' feet; and they would be distributed to each, as any had need.

These Scriptures, and others, reveal that it was the common practice of those who became disciples of Yahshua, to literally and personally embrace the commandment to “sell your possessions and give to charity.” This was not exceptional behavior. Nor was it just for apostles, though the apostles led by example in this area.

Luke 5:11
And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.

What these scriptures reveal is the normal Christian life. I realize that those who read this blog may still have reservations about yielding all they have to the will and direction of the Lord. Such actions are viewed as radical, and indeed they are. Being a disciple of Christ requires a radical commitment. This is why Yahshua counseled people to weigh the cost of being a disciple before they publicly declared their intent to follow Him.

There are people who read this post who have families, even young children. I had a wife and two children when Yahweh called me to this walk in 1999. I had no money in the bank, no church supporting me. Yet the call of Christ was for me to divest myself of the material possessions I had accumulated in previous years, and to follow Him wherever He would lead. To say I was full of apprehension would be an understatement. Nevertheless, I followed, and Yahweh has proven faithful to meet every need.

I have been praying recently for the Father to reveal His mind clearly to me regarding the message He desires for me to proclaim, for I do not wish to lead any astray. I not only desire to proclaim truth, but seek to declare timely truth. I want to know what it is the Father desires to have spoken to His people at this moment in time. Yahweh has been affirming the message He has appointed to me by giving me further understanding of the pattern observed in the life of Joseph, the son of Jacob.

Joseph was raised up by Yahweh to save a remnant in a time of worldwide calamity.

Genesis 45:7
And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance.

Genesis 41:56
When the famine was spread over all the face of the earth, then Joseph opened all the storehouses...

The Scriptures record that the famine of Joseph’s day lasted for seven years. This experience serves as a type and shadow of the worldwide tribulation that the Scriptures prophesy for the end of the age. It too will last for seven years.

To understand how the famine of Joseph’s day relates to the great tribulation that occurs at the end of the present age, one needs to perceive that Joseph stands as a type of Christ. I have shared the following information in other writings.

Both Joseph and Yahshua were dwelling in glory and honor with their father when their father asked them to leave their glory and go check on their brethren. Both submitted to their father’s will freely. Both Joseph and Yahshua had their outer garments stripped from them. Both were numbered among the transgressors. Both men experienced a death and resurrection experience (Joseph was reported dead by his brothers, to be found alive many years later.) Joseph’s brother Judah proposed the idea of selling him for 20 pieces of silver. Judas (the Greek form of Judah) sold Yahshua for 30 pieces of silver. Both faced temptation and overcame it. Joseph was tempted by Potipher’s wife and refused her sexual advances. Yahshua was tempted by Satan in the wilderness and rejected his proposals. After enduring suffering, both were raised to a position of glory and honor.

These are but a few of the many parallels between the lives of Joseph the son of Jacob and Yahshua the Son of God. In this post I would mention a few more. Both men went directly from being numbered among the transgressors to a position of ruling and reigning. By comparing the type of Joseph and the antitype of Yahshua, we see that Pharaoh serves as a figure of God. It was Pharaoh who elevated Joseph to the throne, even as it was Yahweh who elevated Yahshua.

Consider also the following: When Joseph was sent by his father to check on his brothers, Joseph’s brothers spoke of killing him, and later reported to his father that he had been killed. This was followed by a long period in which Joseph was not seen by his brothers. We find a parallel in the life of Christ in that He came to His own, but His own received Him not. Yahshua was put to death by His own people. This led to a prolonged period when Yahshua was not seen among man, for He ascended to His Father.

After considerable time elapsed, and Joseph had bestowed upon him authority and great glory, he appeared again to his brothers. At Joseph’s first meeting with his brother’s in Egypt, they did not recognize him. So too, at Yahshua’s first appearing in Israel, His brother’s did not recognize Him.

When Joseph’s brother’s returned a second time, Joseph revealed Himself to them. At Yahshua’s second coming He will also reveal Himself to the nations. The Jews who crucified the Son of God will recognize Yahshua as their Messiah and mourn.

Zechariah 12:10-11
“And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him, like the bitter weeping over a first-born. In that day there will be great mourning in Jerusalem...”

Presaging the above event, there was much weeping, and sorrowful repentance, among Joseph’s brothers when he revealed himself to them at their second meeting.

The parallels between Joseph and Yahshua are profuse and profound. I want to share with you one parallel the Spirit shared with me this day as an affirmation of His will. I have been sharing with the people of God that they are to let go of their worldly possessions, for a time of great distress is at hand. It is the will of Yahweh that His people trust HIM for all they need to survive in coming days. This too has its parallel in the history of Joseph.

After Joseph revealed himself to his brothers, he told them that they were to leave their homes in Canaan, and relocate to a place Joseph would prepare for them. This is symbolic of the church being called to leave their comfortable lives and follow Yahshua wherever He would lead them. The famine had already been in the land for two years when Joseph directed his brothers to abandon their homes and relocate to the place he would provide for them, but things would get much worse. There were still five years of famine left.

Genesis 45:11
“There I will also provide for you, for there are still five years of famine to come, lest you and your household and all that you have be impoverished.”

Keep in mind that Pharaoh is symbolic of God as you read what follows:

Genesis 45:16-20
Now when the news was heard in Pharaoh's house that Joseph's brothers had come, it pleased Pharaoh and his servants. Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: load your beasts and go to the land of Canaan, and take your father and your households and come to me, and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt and you shall eat the fat of the land.’ Now you are ordered, ‘Do this: take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father and come. And do not concern yourselves with your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’”

Do you see the parallel to the present hour? Once more the people of God are entering a time of worldwide calamity. Yahshua and Yahweh have promised to care for the people of God even as Joseph and Pharaoh promised to care for the family of Jacob. Pharaoh told Joseph’s family to not concern themselves with their goods. Why was this detail added to the narrative? It has little purpose if one does not discern that the Bible is a book of parables. Spiritual truths are conveyed through historical accounts.

The antitype of this command of Pharaoh is found in Yahweh’s directions to His people in this hour. The Spirit of Christ is calling for the sons of God to lay aside their earthly possessions, to free themselves up to travel, that they might follow Him wherever they are directed. Look again at the image of the covered wagon displayed earlier.




Pharaoh provided wagons for Jacob’s household. It was a long journey from Canaan to the land of Goshen. These wagons would become mobile habitations for the journey. The sons of Jacob, their wives and children, had to severely limit the amount of goods they carried with them. Pharaoh told them to not concern themselves about their goods, for he would provide all they needed.

So too is the Father declaring to His people that they are to let go of their former manner of living. Let go of your accumulated possessions. Prepare yourself to go wherever Yahweh says go, and to do whatever He says you are to do.

Let me share something from this story related to timing. AFTER we read about Joseph’s brothers leaving Canaan to relocate to Goshen, the narrative of the book of Genesis tells us that the money failed in Egypt and in all of Canaan.

Genesis 47:15
And when the money was all spent in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, "Give us food, for why should we die in your presence? For our money is gone."

People of God, NOW is the time to surrender your life to follow Yahweh. There are many signs that point to the impending collapse of the world financial system. The people of Cyprus serve as the canary in the coal mine. What occurred in that small country will soon happen throughout the nations. Your money will be seized. Your savings will be lost. NOW is the time to act, before it is too late.

I know the arguments that arise. I hear them all the time in the e-mails I receive. The counsel I am sharing is NOT for a chosen few. To yield all of one’s possessions to the direction of Yahweh is required of all who would be Christ’s disciples. Will you surrender all your possessions to the Lord?

I have not chosen this message of my own initiative. It is Yahweh that has placed His message in my mouth. Like Pharaoh, He is saying, “Do not concern yourself with your goods.” If He says give it all away, then do so. He has promised to care for you in the calamitous days ahead. Will you trust Him?

Hebrews 11:6
Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

II Chronicles 16:9
For the eyes of Yahweh move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.


Joseph Herrin

Dire Consequences Await the Uninformed April 11

Nearly half of US drone strikes in Pakistan not against al-Qaeda

A trove of leaked classified reports has confirmed what many had suspected – US drone kills in Pakistan are not the precision strikes against top-level al-Qaeda terrorists they are portrayed as by the Obama administration.

Instead, many of the attacks are aimed at suspected low-level tribal militants, who may pose no direct danger to the United States – and for many there appears to be little evidence to justify the assassinations.

Top secret documents obtained by McClatchy newspapers in the US show the locations, identities and numbers of those attacked and killed in Pakistan in 2006-8 and 2010-11, as well as explanations for why the targets were picked.

The statistics illustrate the breadth of the US ‘drone doctrine’ – which has never been defined by consecutive US administrations. Between 1,990 and 3,308 people are reported to have been killed in the drone strikes in Pakistan since 2004, the vast majority of them during the Obama terms.

In the 12-month period up to 2011, 43 out of 95 drone strikes in the reports (which give an account of the vast majority of US operations in the country) were not aimed at al-Qaeda at all. And 265 out of 482 people killed in those assassinations, were defined internally as “extremists”.

Indeed, only six of the men killed – less than two percent – were senior al-Qaeda leaders.

Some of the groups include the Haqqani network and the Taliban Movement of Pakistan, both militant organizations, but ones the US did not designate as terrorists until 2012 and 2010 respectively. Neither one has ever conducted an attack on US soil.

It also confirms that attacks during the George W. Bush era, were conducted on targets picked by ISI, Pakistan’s security agency, which has no obligations to comply with US legal criteria.

Furthermore, in some cases it is difficult to confirm that the targets were militants at all.

In the strikes above, the internal reports showed that only one civilian had been killed. But the modus operandi revealed behind the strikes, shows that some of the attacks seem to have been based on the certain people or visitors being present as certain locations, or merely associating with those the US believes were terrorists. This chimes with the accusation that the US is carrying out a policy of “signature strikes” – attacks based on behavior, or “signature” that would be expected of a terrorist, rather than any specific illegal activity.

These “signatures” apparently include such suspicious behavior as taking part in a funeral procession or first responding to an initial drone strike. Last year, the United Nation’s special rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism, Ben Emmerson, said it’s believed that, “since President Obama took office, at least 50 civilians were killed in follow-up strikes when they had gone to help victims and more than 20 civilians have also been attacked in deliberate strikes on funerals and mourners.”

The US has previously refused to admit that it operates such a policy.

RT

South Korea and U.S. on missile watch

(Reuters) - South Korea and the United States were on high alert for a North Korean missile launch on Thursday as the reclusive and poverty-stricken state turned its attention to celebrating the ruling Kim dynasty and appeared to tone down rhetoric of impending war.

Despite threats it will attack U.S. bases and the South in response to any hostile acts, North Korea started to welcome a stream of visitors for Monday's celebrations marking the birthday of founding father, Kim Il-sung.

North Korea has stationed as many as five medium-range missiles on its east coast, according to defense assessments made by Washington and Seoul, possibly in readiness for a test launch that would demonstrate its ability to hit U.S. bases on Guam.

"There are signs the North could fire off Musudan missiles any time soon," an unnamed intelligence source in Seoul told Yonhap news agency.

Musudan missiles are medium-range missiles that have the potential to hit U.S. bases on Guam, although it is not known whether they have been tested or can fly that far.

"But the North has been repeatedly moving its missiles in and out of a shed, which needs close monitoring."

Most observers say Pyongyang has no intention of igniting a conflict that could bring its own destruction but warn of the risks of miscalculation on the militarized Korean peninsula.

There did not appear to be any signs of panic in Seoul, the South Korean capital, and financial markets shrugged off the risk of conflict with stocks posting a third day of gains.

New South Korean President Park Geun-hye met foreign businessmen on Thursday and reassured them that the country was safe and that it was working closely with the United States and China, the North's only major diplomatic ally.

Taiwan appeared to become the first country to warn its citizens against travelling to South Korea after Pyongyang said that foreigners should leave, but hotels were reporting brisk business.

Pyongyang issued a statement that appeared to be tinged with regret over the closure of the joint Kaesong industrial zone that was shuttered when it ordered its workers out this week, terming the North-South Korean venture "the pinnacle of General Kim Jong-il's limitless love for his people and brothers".

The statement on the country's KCNA news agency blamed Park for bringing the money-spinning venture to "the brink of shutting down".

Kim Jong-il, Kim Il-sung's son, ruled North Korea until his death in December 2011. He was succeeded by Kim Jong-un, the third of his line to preside over one of the world's poorest and most heavily militarized countries.

Since taking office, the 30-year-old has staged two long- range rocket launches and a nuclear weapons test. The nuclear test in February triggered U.N. sanctions that Pyongyang has termed a hostile act and a precursor to invasion.

For over a month, Pyongyang has issued an almost daily series of threats to the United States and South Korea, most recently warning foreigners to leave the South due to an impending "thermonuclear" war.

Apart from the swipe at South Korea's new president, verbal threats appeared to fall off as KCNA listed arrivals for the upcoming birthday celebrations, naming an eclectic mix ranging from Chinese businessmen to Cold War-era enthusiasts of its socialist monarchy and official ideology of "juche", or self-reliance.

Ramon Jimenez Lopez, listed as the chairman of the Latin American Institute of the Juche Idea, and Jie Wenjiang, who it said was in charge of Hantong International freight company in Dandong, China, were among the arrivals, KCNA said.

"YEAR OF TEARS"

Reinforcing the rule of the Kim dynasty and the legitimacy of the latest Kim to hold power in Pyongyang is a key tenet of North Korea's ideology.

The Kim regime may have been given a boost by a rise in food production thanks to agricultural reforms, a Korean-language Japanese newspaper with close links to Pyongyang reported on Thursday, saying the a bigger harvest had come in 2012.

There have been reports of starvation in North Korea last year and the country experienced a famine in the 1990s. Although the newspaper report could not be independently verified, it chimed with a World Food Programme assessment released last year.

Party newspaper Rodong Sinmun said Kim Jong-un had "lifted the North Korean people out of the sea of bloody tears that has been their world in the past year" after the death of his father.

It was the first anniversary on Thursday of Kim's official ascent to power, although he became de-facto leader immediately after his father's death.

Despite the heady rhetoric from North Korea and its closure of the Kaesong zone that generated $2 billion a year in trade, Pyongyang does not appear to have placed its 1.2 million strong armed forces on high alert.

The North's rhetoric has pushed the United States, the guarantor of South Korea's security, to move more military assets into the region in response to the rising threat levels.

In Washington, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel warned on Wednesday that the North was "skating very close to a dangerous line" with its threats and provocations, and said the United States, currently involved in military exercises with South Korea, was prepared to respond to any moves by Pyongyang.

"We have every capacity to deal with any action that North Korea would take, to protect this country and the interests of this country and our allies," Hagel told reporters at the Pentagon.

Secretary of State John Kerry will visit Seoul on Friday as part of a trip that will also take him to Beijing. He met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in London and the Russians stressed that Moscow and Washington were closely aligned.

China urged "relevant parties" to resume long-stalled six-party talks, joining China, the two Koreas, the United States, Japan and Russia and aimed at reining in North Korea's nuclear ambitions.

"The hope that the Korean peninsula maintains peace and stability is the universal expectation of the international community," spokesman Hong Lei told a daily news briefing.

The Global Times, a tabloid published by the ruling Communist Party's People's Daily, said North Korea held the responsibility of preserving peace.

"Pyongyang should drop its illusions that it can make the world stay silent over its desire for nuclear arms through its hard-line stance and deceptions," it said. "We believe the North still has a chance and we regret that it has become mired in this crisis. We hope the crisis is only temporary."

Financial markets, which have fluctuated with the rise in tensions, appeared to have stabilized and the head of South Korea's central bank on Thursday announced that there was no imminent threat to Asia's fourth-largest economy.

"We will take appropriate action if the economy is affected by North Korea risks," Bank of Korea Governor Kim Choong-soo said after it left interest rates unchanged on Thursday.
Reuters