Creation Groaning; Distress of Nations…and Goodbye Sports!
Earthquakes: In Japan, one of the most powerful earthquakes to rock the Kansai region in decades (6.1) struck Osaka and neighboring prefectures Monday, leaving at least 5 people dead and 381 injured. It was the largest quake within the prefecture since records were first started in 1923.
There was a 6.1 earthquake on the island of Vanuatu with minor damage. And in Guatemala, which is trying to recover from the devastating Fuego volcano eruption, there was a 5.6 quake, fortunately with no damage to the population since the quake was so deep.
Volcanoes: A Galápagos volcano on Fernandina Island erupted last Saturday after a series of nine earthquakes, spewing lava and threatening the abundant wildlife.
The Mt. Shinmoe volcano in southwestern Japan erupted explosively again. The JMA warned of the possibility of large cinders traveling up to about 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from the crater, and of pyroclastic flows traveling up to about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles). March 6 was the first explosive eruption in seven years, but the volcano had been quiet since April, till now.
The Sabancaya volcano in Peru erupted to 24,000 ft. The Reventador volcano in Ecuador erupted to 15,000 ft. The Sinabung volcano in Indonesia erupted to 10,000 ft.
Much of the destruction from the ongoing eruption of Kilauea on Hawaii’s Big Island over the past several weeks has centered on the lower Eastern Rift Zone. Two dozen fissures have erupted in this zone, sending lava flows to the ocean and destroying entire communities. All of the magma feeding those rivers of lava has been draining out of Kilauea’s summit crater, causing the walls of the crater to collapse, resulting in a destabilized and widening crater. In a photo, an entire parking lot is seen slumping into the crater. Much of the National Park remains closed due to frequent earthquakes and eruptions of steam, smoke, debris and boulders from the crater.
Todd Strandberg discusses the implications of this in his latest Nearing Midnight article on the Rapture Ready website.
Extreme weather: The official beginning of summer brought extreme weather across the US which included heavy rains falling in a short amount of time, causing flooding. In addition, record heat spread across the country.
Pestilence: The first known case of the Keystone Virus transmitted to humans through mosquitoes has been identified. It took a year to figure out the diagnosis. Scientists suspect there have been other cases that weren’t diagnosed.
Drugs, sex, and depression among young people: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released its bi-annual National Youth Risk Behavior Survey report last week showing a smaller percentage of U.S. teens are using illicit drugs than in the past, but about one in seven of students surveyed reported misusing prescription opioid pain medications. The report showed fewer teens reporting having sex, but those who are sexually active are less likely to use condoms than in the past. Also, a greater proportion of teens say they felt sad or hopeless or had suicidal thoughts.
Traitors: Former Israel minister in charge of energy and infrastructure, Gonen Segev, was charged with spying for Iran since 2012, giving them sensitive information. He was allegedly an active spy at the time of his arrest and had twice been to Iran to meet his handlers. Segev, a disgraced politician who served time in jail for drug smuggling, forgery, etc, was extradited to Israel from Equatorial Guinea.
Israel’s Prime Minister and his wife need our prayers just like President Trump. All are being targeted by leftists who are pulling every stunt they can to try to take them down.
In Israel, opposition leader Isaac Hertzog was unanimously elected as chairman of the Jewish Agency against Netanyahu’s wishes. Herzog is a strong supporter of a two-state solution. In researching, I found a 2015 article that describes why most Arabs hope the day will come when Herzog is prime minister of Israel. The writer said, “…for that day – at least according to the viewpoint of most Arabs – is the beginning of the end of the state of Israel. The reason is simple: Herzog is seen as a person of weak character…”
Interestingly, Herzog was born on Rosh Hashanah, which is known as “the day of judgment.” Christians know it as the Feast of Trumpets.
Socialism: Venezuelan security forces are suspected of killing hundreds of demonstrators, and alleged criminals enjoy immunity from prosecution, indicating that the rule of law is “virtually absent” in the country.
The Liberal-left agenda: In Portland, Oregon: The city gave $96,000 to a couple opening a blacks-only Hip Hop Marijuana Shop.
We already can’t watch mainstream news without hearing Trump bashing in every other sentence. Now weather reporters are told to promote the climate change agenda.
Islamization Agenda: Amid daily acts of jihad terror and abject lawlessness, 100,000 Muslim migrants are enroute to Western Europe. Security and police officials met to discuss their response to prevent this repeat from 2015 and also growing traffic along a new smuggling route.
As the backlash continues to rise throughout Europe against open borders immigration and its disastrous results, prominent conservative Catholics are coming together to take on Francis, naming him as most guilty of driving this migrant crisis.
European Union leaders gathered in Brussels on Sunday for emergency talks on migration. A recent opinion poll showed migration was the top concern for Europe’s citizens.
At a Catholic elementary school in Linz, Austria, the children had to memorize and recite Islamic songs as part of the Islamic Ramadan festival. They were punished if they refused. One shocked parent remarked, “We were on our way home when my child suddenly started to sing “Allah, Allah.”
In Sweden, they’ve cancelled their largest annual music festival because of sex attacks. Last year there were at least 11 sex attacks, three of which led to arrests. The year before, nearly 40 young girls complained of being sexually harassed or abused by men often described as “foreign.” One 17-year-old victim described her attackers, saying: “They were probably immigrants. I hate to say it. But it is the truth.”
Depravity: The University of California, Santa Barbara website says it’s OK for children to engage in sexual play and watch porn.
Robert Gagnon, Ph.D., former associate professor of New Testament at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, was blocked from Facebook for 24 hours for engaging in “hate speech” when he briefly criticized a shocking video in which an adult is seen enthusiastically indoctrinating very young children in the wonders of being homosexual, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, a “gay icon,” and a “gay ally.”
TEDx Talks are said to be “showcases for speakers presenting great, well-formed ideas in less than 18 minutes.” Recent TEDx Talks independent speaking events have featured guests promoting acceptance of pedophiles. Yet it distanced itself from a recent one in which a German medical student at the University of Würzburg lectured on “Why our perception of pedophilia has to change.” She said, though we must encourage them not to act on their impulses, we must accept them.
In NFL news, representatives from over 60 organizations, including 14 NFL teams, assembled at the Vikings facility for the first LGBTQ summit held by an NFL team. There were panel discussions on “how best to promote an inclusive atmosphere for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer athletes.”
In Connecticut’s Open track and field championship events, a winning athlete broke records left and right for the girls’ events – a male on the girls’ team that identifies as a female – and so was the runner-up.
Actor Peter Fonda (brother of Hanoi Jane) tweeted that he wants to rip Barron Trump from his mother and put him in a cage with pedophiles. He also threatened the children of border agents, called Republicans and the president a—holes, and called for millions of protestors. Yet he still has a Twitter account and Sony is still set to release his new project in two weeks. Censorship appears only to be for conservatives.
Hollywood TV writer Pat Dussault, who is from Canada, tweeted Donald Trump Jr. the following: “Don’t worry; we’re coming for Chloe.” Chloe is Trump Jr’s 4-year-old daughter. Dussault has since deleted his Twitter account. Could he not handle the backlash?
Video surfaced this week showing a French Catholic priest grabbing a crying baby’s face firmly and slapping him. When the baby’s father tried to take the baby, the priest wouldn’t let go and put his hand over the baby’s mouth. The priest said he was going to pour water on the baby so he will become a “little Christian.” (You won’t find babies or young children being baptized in the Bible. And baptism, though a public display of one’s understood commitment to follow Christ, is not required for salvation according to the Bible). Following widespread outrage when the video went public, the priest was suspended from performing baptisms.
The World Health Organization (WHO) announced it will not classify being transgender as a mental disorder in its upcoming 11th edition. The WHO claimed there is clear evidence that being transgender “is not a mental disorder and classifying it this way will cause enormous stigma for them.” Gender incongruence (someone who’s convinced their true gender is different from the one indicated by their body) has also been moved out of mental disorders and into sexual health conditions. Yet the WHO ruled that same day that those addicted to playing video games have a mental disorder.
Persecution of Christians: In Canada, the Christian Trinity Western University lost its bid to open a law school due to the school’s policy that students must promise not to have premarital sex or engage in homosexuality. The Canadian Supreme Court sided with the Law Society of British Columbia in its belief that LGBTQ+ rights are more important than religious freedom rights.
Anti-Semitism: Jerusalem Affairs Minister Ze’ev Elkin criticized Britain’s Prince William for listing his upcoming tour of the Old City of Jerusalem as part of his trip to the Palestinian territories, rather than to Israel.
Showing how little the PA aka PLO cares about its own people except to use them as pawns for their destruction of Israel agenda: Nabil Abu Rudeineh, aide to Mahmoud Abbas, condemned US plans to secure Gulf funding to improve the humanitarian situation for Gazans. Gaza was taken over from Abbas by Hamas terrorists shortly after it was turned over to Arabs by Israel’s then prime minister Ariel Sharon. That shows how well the PA can run a state if they had one.
Hamas was exposed this week for paying a family to say their baby was killed by tear gas from Israel’s IDF. In reality, the baby died at home from the same blood disease that killed her brother last year.
Community Security Trust, a charity which looks to protect British Jews from hate, recorded 1,382 anti-Semitic incidents last year, the highest ever. Three fourths of those were in London.
In London, Jeremy Bedford-Turner gave a speech outside Downing Street calling for his “soldiers” to liberate England from “Jewish control.” He blamed Jews for issues ranging from both World Wars to Jack the Ripper. He wants all Jews to leave the UK. Needless to say, the problem in the UK is not the Jews. The Crown Prosecution Service initially decided against bringing charges against him, but reversed the decision after a judicial review was launched by the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism.
In London, Alison Chabloz writes anti-Semitic songs mocking the Holocaust and gas chambers as “a proven hoax” and describing the Nazi death camp as “a theme park.” She was given a 20-week suspended sentence, was banned from posting anything on social media for a year and ordered to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work. This was in May, yet she’s posted on her FB page since (only the most recent posts were removed where she commented on the trial and gave out her wordpress site address). She commented on her wordpress site as late as June 13, thanking her many supporters.
Terrorism: Three Israeli soldiers were seriously wounded in a car-ramming terror attack by an Arab man. A local Arab resident leaked a video of the horrid scene online, and Muslims rejoiced over it with horrible comments. This car attack is just one of several in recent days against Israeli soldiers.
In London, a woman wielding a 10-inch kitchen knife screamed “I want to kill all you Jews” and other hateful remarks while chasing a group of children who had just left a synagogue. She was tackled by bystanders and held till police arrived. A Metro police spokesman said, “This incident is not terror-related.” Really?
In Nigeria, at least 31 people were killed and 40 injured by another suicide bombing, followed by rocket attacks. The Boko Haram terrorist group, who want an Islamic Caliphate, is suspected of carrying out the attack. They are said to be angry at Muslims they suspect voted for a candidate they didn’t like. The crowd was returning home after celebrating the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday. The terrorist group used 6 female children aged 7 to 10 as the suicide bombers, likely ones they’d previously kidnapped.
Sophia Lösche, a university student and president of the youth of the Social Democratic Party in Bamberg, Germany, considered Muslim migrants not to be a danger, but instead in danger. She got into a semi with a Muslim migrant whose truck bore Moroccan license plates last week. Her body was found this week behind a gas station showing “clear indications of violence.” This migrant had tried to burn her body in an attempt to eliminate evidence. He admitted his guilt.
Wars and rumors of wars: This week, 45 rockets and mortars were fired at Israel from Gaza terrorists; one landed near an Israeli kindergarten. The IDF struck 25 Hamas targets in response. The terrorists continued with their incendiary devices flown into Israel, setting fires. Israel is prepared for a major ground operation in the Gaza Strip if Hamas continues to escalate tensions along the border.
The IDF confirmed firing a Patriot missile towards an unmanned aerial vehicle approaching Israel’s Golan Heights from Syria on Sunday.
Russian jets struck an opposition held town in southwest Syria on Sunday in an expanding Syrian army offensive to recapture the strategic area bordering Jordan and the Golan Heights.
Peace Talks: President Trump’s Mideast team has been there this week in discussions with Arab nations and Israel. Jared Kushner said if Mahmoud Abbas (PA aka PLO president) continues to refuse to meet, the peace proposal will be unveiled without him. President Trump is not taking a position on the boundaries of Israeli sovereignty that are to be determined in negotiations.
“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature (God’s creation) waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
“For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it” (Romans 8:14-25).