May 12
Yet Another Deadly Tropical Storm Strikes
Much of southwestern Myanmar is in ruins after a powerful cyclone smashed into
the impoverished nation with huge waves, severe winds and torrential rains.
Cyclone Nargis may have killed more than 100,000 people.
Most of the deaths came when a wall of water pushed as much as 25 miles inland. In the city
of Bogalay, 95 percent of homes are thought to have been destroyed by 20-foot waves.
So far, little international aid is reaching the people in need. Myanmar is controlled by
a secretive junta, led by the ruthless General Than Shwe, and he is paranoid of what an
influx of foreigners might have on his political control of the country.
The suffering by the people of Myanmar may have just begun. The nation's rice-
growing heartland has been devastated by the cyclone, posing worries of long-
term food shortages. The Rome-based U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization
estimates that five states hit hardest by Saturday's cyclone produce 65 percent
of the Southeast Asian country's rice. The region also is home to 80 percent of
its aquaculture, 50 percent of its poultry and 40 percent of its pork
production.
In the past four years, I have reported several times about the incredible
spike in tropical storm activity. Time and time again records have been
shattered.
Global warming can't be an explanation for the upsurge we are seeing today.
Cyclone Nargis had all the makings of a perfect storm. Packing winds upwards
of 120 mph, the cyclone became one of Asia's deadliest storms by suddenly going from Category 1 to Category 3 and hitting land at one of
the lowest points in Myanmar.
The storms seem to be intelligently guided to inflict maxim damage. If they were random,
the law of averages would cause most to strike uninhabited areas or follow paths
that lead to the open ocean.
Even seasoned weathermen can see how unusual these storms have been.
"When we saw the storm track of Cyclone Nargis, I said, 'Uh oh, this is not going to be good,'"
said Mark Lander, a meteorology professor at the University of Guam. "It would
create a big storm surge. It was like Katrina going into New Orleans."
To give you folks a perspective of the intensity and frequency of tropical
systems, I've compiled a list of storms that stand out in the headlines:
2004 - Japan was hit by a record number of typhoons.
2004 - Florida was hit by a record number of hurricanes.
2004 - Cyclone Catarina - 1st South Atlantic cyclone to reach a hurricane strength
2005 - Katrina was the most costly hurricane in history.
2005 - Rita was the most powerful Atlantic storm by barometric pressure.
2005 - Atlantic hurricane watchers record 27 storms, the most ever in a season.
2006 - Larry was the most powerful tropical system to hit Australia in 31 years.
2006 - Monica topped Larry as the most intense cyclone ever to impact Australia.
2006 - Typhoon Saomai was the most powerful storm to hit Communist China.
2006 - Ioke - first recorded Category 5 hurricane to develop in the central Pacific
2007 - Cyclone Gonu - strongest tropical cyclone on record in the Arabian Sea.
2007 - The first time two Category 5 Atlantic storms made landfall in one season.
2007 - The first time an Atlantic and Pacific hurricane hit on the same day.
2007 - Humberto - fastest storm ever to go from depression to full-scale hurricane
2007 - Sidr - Second-strongest storm to hit Bangladesh since records
2008 - Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar, killing an estimated 100,000 people.
Even the most skeptical person must realize by now that something unusual is
happening. There is no way one can say these are just common events.
The trend is too pronounced and beyond anything experienced in the 400 years
that men have tracked topical systems.
I believe prophecy is the logical reason for the number of record tropical
storms. God is using them to sound the warning cry. The Bible predicts that the
tribulation hour will be preceded by an increase in natural disasters.
It seems clear to me that the Lord is using tropical storms to get mankind's
attention. Anyone who understands anything about exponential curves knows that they cannot continue indefinitely. The massive surge of the global activity in the past few years would seem to suggest that we are at the tail end of the curve.
"And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and
upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves
roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things
which are coming on the earth" (Luke 21:25-26).
-- Todd
Israel’s Birthday and World Problems Converge
Modern Israel’s 60th birthday takes place Wednesday, May 14 this week. The Jewish state, however, seems to have few celebrants outside of the Jewish community in Israel and the other places Jews cluster around the world. International problems, at the same time, grow considerably--especially problems in production and distribution of food supplies that are, according to experts, dwindling.
The following excerpts capture the predecessor celebration leading to modern Israel’s actual 60th birthday celebration. The celebratory mood harbors in its shadows, however, worries about the nation’s future.
JERUSALEM - Israel staged its 60th birthday bash with fireworks, air force flyovers and a great sense of pride Thursday, but also with uncertainty about
its future and doubts about prospects for peace with the Palestinians…Israel at 60 is a paradox of exuberance and despair - a country enduring near
daily rocket attacks from militants while producing scientists who have pioneered Wi-Fi and instant messaging. Six decades after rising from the ashes
of the Holocaust, the Jewish state is still plagued by threats from abroad and an identity crisis at home.
A large part of the angst the Jewish citizens of Israel face is engendered by media bias against its perceived illegal occupation of the tiny portion of the “holy land.” Note the tone and tenor of the writer’s following report: "Its 41-year occupation of Palestinian territories has invited international condemnation. Yet Israel is a thriving democracy that has provided a haven for the world's Jews.”
Reports on Israel by secular media are almost always tinged with accusation of that nation being there illegally and unwanted. While Israel’s early birthday celebration was going on, the “Palestinians” and the international press jumped on the opportunity to point out the Jewish state’s evil actions in usurping the hapless Arabs’ land. The report continues:
Peace talks have produced no tangible results. Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad warned Thursday that "the peace process is facing difficulties, when compared with its declared goals." President Bush wants to see a peace deal by the end of the year, but the target date appears increasingly unrealistic…In the West Bank and Gaza, Palestinians staged events to remind the world that Israel's creation has been their "nakba," or catastrophe.
Hundreds of thousands were uprooted during the 1948 war over Israel's creation, and some 4.5 million Palestinian refugees and their descendants are scattered across the region today (Source for this excerpt and those above: "Israel celebrates its 60th with pride, but also uncertainty," Steven Gutkin, Associated Press Writer, 5/8/08; http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080508/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_at60).
Barely controlled global anger against the modern incarnation of God’s chosen nation is evidenced through the global community. So, too, are the many signals of God’s displeasure about treatment of the Jewish people. The signals are similar to those that Bible writers reported throughout millennia past, when nations assaulted ancient Israel.
Food supply seemed to always affect people who dealt harshly with God’s chosen. Remember the great famine in Egypt that Joseph, a Jew, had to deal with, through his God’s intervention? And recall the Egyptian situations of Moses' day, when even the water was undrinkable, when Pharaoh wouldn’t let the Israelites leave Egypt. Food supply became more critical, the harsher the treatment became. We can’t help noticing similarities between then and now, if we truly look at the facts.
Thursday May 9, Fox News reported that the dictator of Burma was refusing to allow American food supplies into that cyclone-ravaged country, where more than 100,000 are thought to have died. The United Nations could only issue the asinine statement that they couldn’t understand why the Burma government –a communist state, by the way--wouldn’t allow the foodstuffs into the hurting country. Burma’s spokesperson said only that they didn’t want to open their people or nation up to American influence. Imagine the uproar if George W. Bush had made a comparable statement keeping the U.N. out of America. Of course, the point is moot, as the U.N. takes from America, not contributes to the nation.
America’s own food supplies are affected due to the oil problems of the Middle East, while President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice try to pressure Israel into going along with dividing Jerusalem for the sake of peace in the region. Our government continues to pursue keeping the ever more expensive oil, thus gasoline flowing by placating Israel’s neighbors, even though it is the Islamic Israel-haters who keep things stirred, and will not let peace ever come to the region. Satan wants Israel removed from existence, period. Lucifer is the unseen force that deludes the human diplomats, as well as the beastly Islamic fanatics who want to remove Israel as a burdensome stone that is, they evidently believe, the major obstacle to peace.
Consider how the price of petroleum has forced farmers to turn to selling grains to produce hybrid fuels. This action has created shortages, thus higher and higher prices in food staples, even in things like breakfast cereals. The increasing pinch is felt not only in the U.S., but also by the whole world.
Those who deal in ways detrimental to Israel or with Jerusalem, God says, touch the apple of His eye. There is always a violent reaction when one’s eye is poked. Israel is linked directly to their God, whether they prefer the tether or not. This doesn’t mean that individual Jews are under His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob if they are in rebellion against Him. But, Israel as a race, as a nation, are forever under His protection in the sense He will absolutely preserve all who turn to Him in repentance. All such individuals within God’s chosen nation during this present age will be saved. Those during the tribulation–the remnant—will be lifted out of the deadliest holocaust ever. Saved Jews who are raptured will be part of the Church–Christ’s bride--for eternity. Those preserved (the remnant) through the tribulation will inherit the millennial earth, and will be the chief nation occupying the entirety of the land God gave them.
They will bless the whole world with their productivity. There will be no shortage of life-sustaining food.
Watch for the increasing pressure from Almighty God as more pressure is brought to bear on His people of destiny.
--Terry
