November 5 Evening Verse of The Day

6:14 Partners with those who do not believe refers to the false apostles, whom Paul considered to be Satan’s servants. The original language pictures two different kinds of animals plowing a field under a single yoke (Dt 22:10). Under such circumstances the objective cannot be reached. Paul emphasized spiritual incompatibility by noting the impossibility of literal light and darkness equally existing, and, in v. 15, the impossibility of Christ and Satan being friends.^[1]

6:14 yoked. Paul sees a deeper spiritual reality in the prohibition against unequal yoking found in Deut. 22:10.

with unbelievers. Note that the false apostles in Corinth claimed to be Christians but were in reality servants of Satan (11:14, 15). To join with them would distort all life and ministry in the church. The prohibition against being yoked together with unbelievers must be considered in situations where significant control over one’s actions would be willingly yielded to an unbeliever through a voluntary partnership or association. Neither Paul nor the rest of the New Testament tells us to have no association at all with unbelievers (Mark 2:15–17; 1 Cor. 5:9, 10). But we are told not to be “yoked together” with them in such a way that they significantly influence the direction and outcome of our moral decisions and spiritual activities.^[2]

6:14 unevenly yoked with unbelievers Paul is not addressing the issue of marriage between believers and unbelievers here (compare 1 Cor 7:12–16); rather, he is urging the Corinthians to avoid aligning themselves with those who view him (and others) according to false standards (2 Cor 5:16). In allowing these unbelievers to have influence, the Corinthians cause rebellion against Paul and dissolve the unity of the church in Corinth.

righteousness and lawlessness Paul uses the same contrast to exhort believers not to bring their disputes before unbelievers (1 Cor 6:1).^[3]

6:14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. This command, which is Paul’s main point in 6:14–7:1, will be restated in different words at the end of the section (7:1). To be “unequally yoked” is to be “hitched up” or even crossbred with another animal who is not the same (Gk. heterozygeō; the related adjective is found in Lev. 19:19; see also Deut. 22:10, though the word does not occur there). It is thus an image for being allied or identified wrongly with unbelievers. In context, it refers especially to those who are still rebelling against Paul within the church, whom Paul now shockingly labels unbelievers (he clearly thinks it possible that some are [2 Cor. 13:5], though he hopes not), but the principle has wider application to other situations where (as with animals yoked together) one person’s conduct and direction of life strongly influences or controls the other’s.^[4]

6:14 not be bound together. Lit. “unequally yoked,” an illustration taken from OT prohibitions to Israel regarding the work-related joining together of two different kinds of livestock (see note on Dt 22:10). By this analogy, Paul taught that it is not right to join together in common spiritual enterprise with those who are not of the same nature (unbelievers). It is impossible under such an arrangement for things to be done to God’s glory. with unbelievers. Christians are not to be bound together with non-Christians in any spiritual enterprise or relationship that would be detrimental to the Christian’s testimony within the body of Christ (see notes on 1Co 5:9–13; cf. 1Co 6:15–18; 10:7–21; Jas 4:4; 1Jn 2:15). This was especially important for the Corinthians because of the threats from the false teachers and the surrounding pagan idolatry. But this command does not mean believers should end all associations with unbelievers; that would defy the purpose for which God saved believers and left them on earth (cf. Mt 28:19, 20; 1Co 9:19–23). The implausibility of such religious alliances is made clear in vv. 14b–17.^[5]

† 6:14 — Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?

This verse usually gets quoted in reference to choosing a marriage partner, and while that’s certainly a legitimate application, marriage is not the context here. All of life is the context (1 Cor. 15:33).^[6]

6:14 unequally yoked: Paul’s use of “yoke” comes from Deut. 22:10, where the Israelites were directed not to yoke an ox and donkey together. The ox was a clean animal but the donkey was not (Deut. 14:1–8). Moreover, from a practical standpoint, the two animals had different work styles and different natures. As this relates to Corinth, history reveals that the Corinthians were notorious for their associationalism. They had guilds, societies, or associations for practically everything. Every society had its own idol or protective deity. To fail to do obeisance to this idol would be to anger the god and bring its wrath down on the guild. Thus, the Corinthians tried to go along with this idol even though they did not believe in it. Evidently, the Corinthians were shutting Paul out of their hearts (vv. 11–13) and developing a dangerous affection for the false apostles (11:4, 13; Prov. 4:23).^[7]

6:14. Because the Corinthian believers were shutting Paul and his coworkers out and developing a fondness for the false apostles and their teaching, he tells them do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. The apostle is talking about his opponents in Corinth (11:4, 13). He is describing the false apostles who had come to the Corinthians in sheep’s clothing, but who inwardly were ravenous wolves (cf. Matt 7:15–23).

The expression yoked comes from Deut 22:10, where the Israelites were commanded not to yoke an ox and a donkey together. Paul is warning the Corinthians against forming a similar yoking or binding relationship with his opponents. However, he is not saying that believers must isolate themselves from unbelievers (cf. 1 Cor 5:9). He is speaking generally of permanent associations with the unbelievers, especially the false apostles.

He now uses a series of questions that point out the inappropriateness of forming such binding relationships. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? The answer is that righteousness and darkness cannot be bound to a partnership. And what communion has light and darkness? Spiritual light drives out darkness. The two cannot coexist.^[8]

6:14 The connection between verses 13 and 14 is this: Paul has told the saints to be open in their affections toward him. Now he explains that one way to do this is to separate from all forms of sin and unrighteousness. Doubtless he is thinking, in part, of false teachers who had invaded the assembly at Corinth.

Mention of the unequal yoke suggests Deuteronomy 22:10: “You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together.” The ox was a clean animal and the donkey unclean, and their step and pull are unequal. By way of contrast, when believers are yoked with the Lord Jesus, they find that His yoke is easy and His burden is light (Matt. 11:29, 30).

This section of 2 Corinthians is one of the key passages in all the word of God on the subject of separation. It is clear instruction that the believer should separate himself from unbelievers, iniquity, darkness, Belial, idols.

It certainly refers to the marriage relationship. A Christian should not marry an unsaved person. However, in cases where a believer is already married to an unbeliever, this passage does not justify separation or divorce. God’s will in such a case is that the marriage relationship should be maintained with a view to the eventual salvation of the unsaved member (1 Cor. 7:12–16).

In addition to this, it refers to business. A Christian should not go into partnership with one who does not know the Lord. It applies clearly to secret orders or fraternities: How could one who is faithful to Christ consistently go on in an association where the name of the Lord Jesus is unwelcome? Its application to social life would be as follows: A Christian should maintain contact with the unsaved in an effort to win them to Christ, but he should never engage in their sinful pleasures or in any of their activities in such a way as to lead them to think he is no different than they. Then this section would also apply to religious matters: A faithful follower of Christ would not want to hold membership in a church where unbelievers were knowingly admitted as members.

Verses 14 through 16 cover all the important relationships of life:

Righteousness and lawlessness describe the whole sphere of moral behavior.

Light and darkness have to do with intelligence as to the things of God.

Christ and Belial have to do with the realm of authority, in other words, the person or thing whom one acknowledges as master in his life.

Believer and unbeliever have to do with the realm of faith.

The temple of God and idols take in the whole subject of a person’s worship.

Righteousness and lawlessness can have no fellowship together: they are moral opposites. Neither can light have communion with darkness. When light enters a room, the darkness is dispelled. Both cannot exist together at the same time.^[9]

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^[1] Easley, K. H. (2017). 2 Corinthians. In E. A. Blum & T. Wax (Eds.), CSB Study Bible: Notes (p. 1846). Holman Bible Publishers.

^[2] Sproul, R. C., ed. (2005). The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version (pp. 1680–1681). Ligonier Ministries.

^[3] Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., Whitehead, M. M., Grigoni, M. R., & Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (2 Co 6:14). Lexham Press.

^[4] Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 2231). Crossway Bibles.

^[5] MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2006). The MacArthur study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (2 Co 6:14). Thomas Nelson Publishers.

^[6] Stanley, C. F. (2005). The Charles F. Stanley life principles Bible: New King James Version (2 Co 6:14). Nelson Bibles.

^[7] Radmacher, E. D., Allen, R. B., & House, H. W. (1999). Nelson’s new illustrated Bible commentary (p. 1503). T. Nelson Publishers.

^[8] Hunt, D. L. (2010). The Second Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians. In R. N. Wilkin (Ed.), The Grace New Testament Commentary (p. 792). Grace Evangelical Society.

^[9] MacDonald, W. (1995). Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments (A. Farstad, Ed.; p. 1845). Thomas Nelson.

Anti-Semitism and the Fig Tree | Terry James

Anti-Semitism and the Fig Tree

The chants ring ominously from college students on the East Coast: “There is no place to hide; Israel is committing genocide.”

College students on the West Coast shout in unison: “There is no place to hide; we want Jewish genocide.”

These and variations of anti-Semitic chanting, obviously orchestrated and coordinated, are increasing throughout colleges and universities across the United States. The attacks unleashed against Israel on October 7 have seemingly unleashed hatred reminiscent of 1939 Nazi Germany.

Students in the East Coast incident above were attacking a college library where Jewish students were hiding in fear, while violent banging on locked doors was accompanied by the above choruses and the further demand: “Let us in! Let us in!”

One young Jewish woman stated that she was told by those at her university—by a professor, I take it—that she should take off all of her jewelry with Jewish symbolism. Anything—like the Star of David—that would mark her as a Jew shouldn’t be worn so the pro-Palestinian protesters wouldn’t be triggered.

Another young woman said she was told by a college official that she should perhaps go into the attic while the pro-Palestinian mob was ranting, trying to get into the library. The girl asked why she, in the United States of America, should have to hide in an attic rather than be totally safe in a room with windows and the freedom to move about unafraid.

The library in question is now disdainfully being called the Anne Frank Library—referring, of course, to the young girl who hid from the Nazis during the persecution of the Jews in Germany during Hitler’s regime.

We who have studied Bible prophecy over many years have understood that Israel is destined to be at the center of the wrap-up of human history while Christ’s Second Advent approaches. As a matter of fact, a good number of us—despite the objections of many in seminaries who see no relationship of Israel to the fig tree parable—have concluded that Jesus’ Olivet Discourse prophecy concerning the fig tree is significant in framing the general time when we will recognize the nearness of His Second Coming.

Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. (Matthew 24:32–35)

The fig tree in Jesus’ parables is considered by many to represent the nation Israel. I believe this is especially true in the case of the Matthew 24 Olivet Discourse reference. And, like the Lord said, we should recognize how near He is to returning; He is right at the door when we see these things come to pass.

Jesus earlier said in that same discourse:

When you see all these things begin to come to pass, then look up and lift up your head, for your redemption draws near. (Luke 21:28)

We’ve gone over time after time all the things Jesus was predicting for the very end of the Church Age. And here He talks about the chief sign of them all: the fig tree—the nation Israel—being front and center when all these things take place.

I previously posted an article titled “The Zechariah Effect.” The prophet said Israel would become “a cup of trembling and a burdensome stone” to all the nations of earth. There is no doubt in the mind of anyone who hasn’t been deliberately hiding from today’s news that Israel and anti-Semitism are dominating all news media. The mainstream forums—i.e., The New York Times, Washington Post, CBS, NBC, ABC, etc.—are mostly calling for Israel to back off from punishing the Hamas in Gaza. They are most generally calling for a ceasefire of some sort. Absent from their reports is much about the bloody atrocities inflicted by Hamas upon innocent Israelis and even visitors from America and other countries.

The following puts into vivid perspective how quickly things are shaping up to produce that “Zechariah effect.”

Since Hamas initiated a brutal and barbaric terrorist attack against Israel and the Jewish people on October 7th, many Americans—Jewish and not—have mourned alongside the world’s only Jewish state and have understood the necessity of a swift and decisive military counterattack. But in the green quads and ivory towers of American academia, a very different reaction has been brewing. For the past two decades, the David Horowitz Freedom Center has shone a rare spotlight on the genocidal Jew hatred emanating from our college campuses. Student organizations like the Hamas-funded and Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Students for Justice in Palestine have infiltrated our universities and turned them training grounds for the next generation of jihadists. In the wake of Hamas’s barbarism, its slaughter and mutilation of innocent Jews, its campaign of rape and torture and beheading, we can now bear witness to the effects that two decades of Jew-hating pro-terror propaganda have wrought in our institutions of higher learning.

At Harvard, arguably America’s most prestigious university, over 30 student organizations signed onto a statement declaring that they “hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence.”

Not to be outdone by Harvard, the Students for Justice in Palestine chapter at Brown University released its own statement (co-signed by the Graduate Labor Organization and Teaching Assistant Labor Organization, as well as 25 additional organizations) stating that: “We, the undersigned, hold the Israeli regime and its allies unequivocally responsible for all suffering and loss of life, Palestinian or Israeli.”

At Cornell University, SJP held a rally to “Stop Israel’s Annihilation of Gaza.” History Professor Russell Rickford who spoke at the rally declared Hamas’s barbaric attack which included the rape of women, the beheading of babies, and the deaths of entire families as “exhilarating.” (“Universities Celebrate the Mass Murder of Jews-American Academia Has Descended into Barbarism,” Sara Dogan, Frontpage, October 26, 2023)

My good friend, James Michael Hile, summed up exactly where all this is showing we stand on God’s prophetic timeline:

After observing the coming to life of “the fig tree and all the trees” after World War II and during the second half of the 20th century (1950-2000), we can be assured, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the events that take place just before Jesus’ return are nearing fulfillment. This means His coming is “near, right at the door.”

According to Jesus’ words, when “the fig tree and all the trees” put forth leaves (come alive), we are to absolutely and confidently “know” the Kingdom of God is near, and the generation that is living at that time “will not pass away until all is fulfilled.” The preponderance of scriptural and global evidence is overwhelming that we are the generation Jesus was talking about. (“The Mysterious Prophecy of the Trees,” Michael Hile, https://www.raptureready.com/2023/07/12/the-mysterious-prophecy-of-the-trees-by-michael-hile/ )

An Open Letter to Those Who Have Been Taught That the Church Has Replaced Israel | Terry James

An Open Letter to Those Who Have Been Taught That the Church Has Replaced Israel

Note: The following is a most relevant open letter which is important to all within the Body of Christ to read. Our prayer is that you will read carefully and understand God’s Holy View of Israel in these end times when the Jewish people are again beginning to suffer hatred throughout the world.

An Open Letter to Those Who Have Been Taught That the Church Has Replaced Israel

Dear Brother or Sister in Christ,

If you are a member of a Catholic or mainline denominational church, you have probably been taught something called replacement theology (and perhaps you don’t even know it has that name). Replacement theology leads those who have adopted it to believe that Israel is no longer God’s people and that the modern regathering of the Jews in their historical land is theologically meaningless. Please know this is an error, and I write this letter to alert you to it so you can study God’s Word and reach your own conclusion.

Replacement theology, sometimes called supersessionism or fulfillment theology, is a doctrine stating either that the Church took Israel’s place as God’s people when Israel rejected Jesus as its Messiah or that the “old” Israel was set aside in favor of a “new” Israel, the Church, upon Jesus’s first coming. No matter how it got there, the Church is now God’s people and the beneficiary of the promises God made Israel in the Old Testament. Consequently, Jacob’s blood descendants have no unique destiny, and modern Israel’s existence has no significance. Because replacement theology is often woven into otherwise sound teachings on redemptive history, many believers aren’t even aware that it is a separate doctrine with its own name. Nonetheless, replacement theology is enshrined in Catholic dogma and runs rampant in mainline denominations, even among those that otherwise take the Bible seriously.

Replacement theology raises troubling implications about God’s character, not the least of which are: if God revoked his promises to Israel, what keeps him from revoking them again, and does God really change not (as Malachi 3:6 says)? Many who have been taught replacement theology have not considered these implications. Perhaps you have, too, but have dismissed them out-of-hand or rationalized them away, possibly because they are too dreadful to imagine. Unfortunately, ignoring the implications does not make them go away.

Rather than addressing these (and other) broader implications, this letter will instead tackle the assumption that lies at the very heart of replacement theology: did Israel really forfeit its blessings? Did God really forsake or move past Israel? Fortunately, if you read the Bible without bias, it gives a clear answer.

One point is worth making before proceeding: I don’t have the ability or the moral duty to force you to reject replacement theology. Only the Holy Spirit can convict. All I can do is call relevant scripture to your attention and invite you to check it out yourself. That is what I will now do.

To keep this letter short and clear, I will rely only on two passages: Isaiah 6 and Romans 11. (If you are a Reformed believer, you tend to read Revelation figuratively, because you have been taught that it is “apocalyptic literature.” I will therefore deliberately avoid Revelation’s many passages affirming Israel’s destiny, knowing that you will be unwilling to read Isaiah and Romans figuratively.)  I will cite the King James Version, but any good version will do.

Isaiah 6 contains the well-known “Here I am. Send me” passage in which Isaiah volunteers to convey a message God has for his people:

Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. (Isaiah 6:8-10)

God informs his people not only that they are hardened (deaf, blind and without understanding) and he is the one hardening them, but also that he has hardened them to delay their repenting and being healed. Note that God does not tell them why he wants a delay.

When the disciples ask Jesus why he speaks “to them” in parables in Matthew 13, he quotes this passage of Isaiah 6:

He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:” (Matthew 13:11-14)

Paul also quotes this same passage of Isaiah 6 in Acts 28, reminding the local leaders of the Jews that they are hardened.

And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not. And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers, saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. (Acts 28:24-27)

Paul then discloses the reason why God hardened Israel, delaying its repenting and being healed:

Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it. (Acts 28:28)

According to Paul, God hardened Israel so the Gospel could be taken to the Gentiles.

However, Isaiah 6 continues after the passage quoted in both Matthew 13 and Acts 28. God has more to say to Isaiah about his people. Returning to Isaiah 6, after hearing God’s decree against his people, the prophet begs God for an answer in verse 11, and God gives it to him:

Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate. And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land. But yet in [the land] shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof. (Isaiah 6:11-13)

God promises that he will lift Israel’s partial hardening during or just after a widespread devastation. This may be a great war, even a nuclear war given the extent and degree of damage. However, it may be a direct act of God, acting in wrath. Only he knows.

Why then did Jesus and Paul’s quotations from Isaiah 6 stop short of verses 11-13? The answer is that they were speaking in the First Century. Isaiah 6:11-13 would be fulfilled in the future. They were only talking about Israel’s hardened condition in those days, and not about when it would someday repent. Remember, Jesus was only answering a question from his disciples as  to why he was teaching in parables, and Paul was only making the case for taking the Gospel to the Gentiles.

Now, let’s look at Romans 11, in which Paul answers the question his earlier chapters in Romans begged: if Christ is the answer and the law is not, what about the Jews, to whom God had given the law? Has God turned his back on Israel?

I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. (Romans 11:1-4)

The answer is an emphatic “God forbid!” God will save an elect remnant of Israel, and God will save them by grace, not the law. To keep the Gentiles from being feeling superior to the Jews, Paul goes on to say:

I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness? For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them. For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead? (Romans 11:11-15)

Then, after describing how the holy firstfruits of lump of dough renders the whole lump holy, how a holy root can render the entire tree holy, and how branches grafted onto a holy tree become holy, even branches that had previously been cut off, Paul reveals a mystery in verse 25:

For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. (Romans 11:25)

Though he does not outright quote Isaiah 6:11-13, he affirms the promise God made in those verses to end Israel’s hardening. The mystery Paul reveals is that the partial hardening of Israel’s elect will end when the “fulness of the Gentiles be (has) come in.”

It is important to note that none of these passages are talking about the Church. God has never hardened the Church. He has only hardened Israel, and only temporarily, for the express purpose of taking the Gospel to the Gentiles and building a Church that encompasses all peoples, nations, and languages. This he did at Israel’s great expense, but he will resurrect and magnify Israel because of it. Consider the supreme irony: God hardened Israel to benefit the Gentiles, and so many churches have returned their thanks to Israel by teaching replacement theology.

God’s reply in Isaiah 6 and Paul’s teaching in Romans 11 raise two questions: when will this widespread devastation occur, and when will the fulness of the Gentiles come in? The Bible gives no clear answer; God wants us to depend on him alone for the timing.

However, we can be sure of this – God will restore the elect of his people Israel. That unambiguous Biblical truth, stated explicitly both to Israel in the Old Testament and the Gentiles of the Church in the New Testament, exposes replacement theology as bad doctrine. Now it’s up to the Holy Spirit and informed believers to purge the Church of this sad error.

If replacement theology now troubles you as much as it does me, please do me a favor. Consider giving a copy of this letter to a brother or sister who has been mistaught. You will be helping them and doing a good work for God’s kingdom.

Afflictions, But No Broken Bones | VCY

Afflictions, But No Broken Bones

He keepeth all his bones; not one of them is brokenPsalm 34:20

This promise by the context is referred to the much afflicted righteous man: “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.” He may suffer skin wounds and flesh wounds, but no great harm shall be done; “not a bone of him shall be broken.”

This is great comfort to a tried child of God, and comfort which I dare accept; for up to this hour I have suffered no real damage from my many afflictions. I have neither lost faith, nor hope, nor love. Nay so far from losing these bones of character, they have gained in strength and energy. I have more knowledge, more experience, more patience, more stability than I had before the trials came. Not even my joy has been destroyed. Many a bruise have I had by sickness, bereavement, depression, slander, and opposition; but the bruise has healed, and there has been no compound fracture of a bone, not even a simple one. The reason is not far to seek. If we trust in the Lord, He keeps all our bones; and if He keeps them, we may be sure that not one of them is broken.

Come, my heart, do not sorrow. Thou art smarting, but there are no bones broken. Endure hardness and bid defiance to fear.

The Power of a Prayer | Daily Thoughts about God.

The Power of a Prayer

“…, people brought the sick into the streets and laid then on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by… and all of them were healed” Acts 5:15-16

As you think of the Apostle Peter’s ministry in the book of Acts, what comes to mind? Is it fearlessness, anointing, miracle worker, dynamic preacher?

Yes, all these are true and God used Peter powerfully. Through Peter God healed a crippled (Acts 3:6-7) and a paralyzed man (Acts 9:32-35), raised the dead (Acts 9:36-43), opened prison doors and gates (Acts 5:19, 12:8-10) and brought thousands to salvation [Both Jews and Gentiles] (Acts 2:41, 4:4, 10:44-46). As the opening scripture in these Devotional records, people even expected to be healed by having Peter’s shadow fall on them as he passed by.

How did such a dramatic change happen in the life of a man who had so callously denied Jesus on 3 occasions? The obvious answer would be the anointing received as Peter and the other disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. How true that is and what an anointing they received!

I would however like to suggest another reason why Peter’s ministry was so effective. I believe it was also because of the power of a prayer. In fact, it was an intercessory prayer that was made on his behalf  by none other than the Lord Jesus himself. Jesus told Peter at the Last Supper “Simon, Simon, satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:31-32). The final result of that prayer was quite amazing as we have seen in Peter’s powerful ministry.

That shows the power of a prayer!

Friend, never underestimate the power behind a prayer. While we may not sometimes see immediate results, be sure the Lord hears every fervent prayer. Therefore, as the Apostle Paul recommends, “Never stop praying” 1 Thessalonians 5:17.

By Palitha Jayasooriya
Used by Permission

Comments: If you don’t see our response form, please go to https://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/palitha-jayasooriya_power-prayer/

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Further Reading

•  How to Pray

•  Sample Prayers

•  What Should Be Included in Prayer?

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Disappointed With God | Daily Thoughts about God.

Disappointed With God

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13

Have you ever been disappointed with God? You trusted him to bless you with a job or to answer a fervent prayer for a loved one and nothing happened. It’s as though God doesn’t care.

I think we all have. Let me tell you about one of my experiences. We prayed much for my husband’s healing and claimed scripture that he would be healed. But despite our earnest prayers, fasting, and spiritual warfare, he did not get better. He got worse. Today he’s in a Care Home. This was a severe test of my faith. I had a choice to make: would I give up on God and prayer or would I go deeper? If I let go of God I’d lose all hope. I would sink into despair. I’d become a bitter old woman. I didn’t want that. So I decided to keep trusting God even though I didn’t understand.

I parceled up all my expectations, my disappointments, and my failures and handed them to God. Here, Lord, I give this burden to You now. I don’t understand what is happening. I don’t like what is happening, but I want to trust You with it. I want to trust  that You are in this and somehow You will bring something good out of it.

I prayed this prayer again and again and God did meet my need for courage and hope from day to day. Now looking back I can see much good has come out of this experience. We have grown in our knowledge of God’s faithfulness and love and we’ve discovered that God is enough even when life doesn’t make sense.

Father, I thank you that you’re always acting in love towards us even when we don’t understand what you are doing.

By Helen Lescheid
Used by Permission

Comments: If you don’t see our response form, please go to https://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/helen-lescheid_disappointed-with-god/

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Further Reading

• Breaking the Power of Disappointment – by Francis Frangipane

• Rejoice in Hope – by Roy Lessin

• The Promise of Hope – by Sylvia Gunter

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The post Disappointed With God can be found online at Daily Thoughts about God.

5 Nov 2023 News Briefing

Lubavitcher Rebbe: “After Bibi comes the Messiah”
Never in its history has the nation of Israel ruled and lived freely and independently in its biblical homeland for more than 80 years. And so I would like to remind you of something a famous rabbi said regarding the coming of the Messiah. 30 years ago, the late Lubavitcher Rebbe told a young Netanyahu that “he, Benjamin Netanyahu, will be Israel’s prime minister, who will pass the scepter to the Messiah.” The Lubavitcher Rebbe said this during the election campaign in the 1990s, before Netanyahu’s first term in office. Today, Israel is in a kind of apocalyptic mood, Bibi is prime minister and the scepter is in his hand.

White House announces executive order aimed at reducing AI risks
Biden announced the launch of an executive order to reduce the risks posed by artificial intelligence (AI) to consumers, workers, minority groups, and national security. The order, which Biden signed at the White House, will require developers of AI systems that could pose risks to U.S. national security, the economy, public health, or safety to share the results of safety tests with the U.S. government, under the Defense Production Act, before they become available to the public.

Blinken rejects Arab demand for urgent Gaza truce
Blinken said that a truce would be counterproductive, and made clear the furthest he would go was support for a humanitarian pause to allow the delivery of aid and the evacuation of civilians from the besieged enclave. “It is our view now that a ceasefire would simply leave Hamas in place, able to regroup and repeat what it did on Oct. 7,” Blinken told a news conference

Game Over: US, European Officials Quietly Nudge Ukraine To Seek Peace
With the world’s attention squarely fixed on the Israel-Gaza war — while baseless hope for a Ukrainian expulsion of the Russian army has evaporated — US and European officials have started quietly conferring with Ukraine on potential concessions that could bring the war to an end, NBC News was first to report Friday evening. they’re about what concessions Ukraine could live with pursuant to a peace agreement.

Global Rise Of Antisemitism: A Harbinger Of The Approaching Tribulation
There is an alarming rise of global antisemitism. The global surge of venomous hatred of the Jewish people and the nation of Israel is palpable in our world today. Just this week, Jewish leaders told US Officials, “We’ve never seen anything like this ever.”

Turkey recalls ambassador from Israel amid Gaza war
Turkey has decided to recall its ambassador, Şakir Özkan Torunlar, from Tel Aviv for consultations following Israel’s “refusal of calls for a ceasefire and continuous and unhindered flow of humanitarian aid,” Ankara’s foreign ministry said Saturday. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has come out firmly defending Hamas’ attack on October 7,

Israel will reach and kill Hamas’s Yahya Sinwar, Gallant vows
Israeli forces will reach Hamas terror leader Yahya Sinwar and will kill him, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant vowed on Saturday evening briefing on developments in Operation Swords of Iron. Further, Gallant said that “by the end of the war, there will be no Hamas in Gaza. There will be no threat to Israeli civilians from the Strip.”

Israel’s Claims to Its Land
I will give some examples from around the world, and then I will apply it to Israel. Dr Muhammad Al-Hussaini in London, in which he points to Sura 5:20-21: “Give heed, O believers! For Moses said to his people: O my people! Remember with reverence the grace of God upon you when He appointed prophets among you and made you sovereign over yourselves. O my people! Enter the Holy Land that God has decreed for you to enter, and do not turn away from this battle … Yisrael has been given by God to the Jewish people as a perpetual covenant. There is no Islamic counterclaim to the Land anywhere in the traditional corpus of commentary”

Don’t fall for the Islamophobia scam!
The Islamophobia scam means legitimizing those supporting the eradication of the one Jewish state on the planet and the murder of its Jewish population.

Saudi prince on Nasrallah’s speech: ‘Axis of resistance’ doesn’t care about Palestinians, is only to advance Iran
A Saudi prince on Saturday lambasted Hassan Nasrallah over the Hezbollah terror chief’s remarks a day earlier, saying that the declared “axis of resistance” against Israel was nothing more than a cover for advancing Iran’s regional aspirations. Prince Abdul Rahman Bin Musai’d Al Saud, a Saudi businessman, writer and the former football club president, said that Hezbollah had no interest in supporting the Palestinians. “The so-called axis of resistance” is only a means of “implementing Iran’s agenda in the region,”

Large filament eruption produces partial-halo CME, impact to Earth expected on November 5
Potential Impacts: Area of impact primarily poleward of 55 degrees Geomagnetic Latitude. Induced Currents – Power grid fluctuations can occur. High-latitude power systems may experience voltage alarms. Spacecraft – Satellite orientation irregularities may occur; increased drag on low Earth-orbit satellites is possible. Radio – HF (high frequency) radio propagation can fade at higher latitudes. Aurora – Aurora may be seen as low as New York to Wisconsin to Washington state.

Russia’s biggest drone strike in weeks hits Ukrainian infrastructure
Russia launched a massive drone attack early on Friday, hitting critical infrastructure in the west and south of Ukraine and destroying private houses and commercial buildings in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, officials said. The air force said it shot down 24 “Shahed” drones out of 40 launched by Russia, the biggest drone attack in weeks to target Kharkiv in the northeast, Odesa and Kherson in the south and the region of Lviv on Ukraine’s border with Poland in the west.

Shallow M5.6 earthquake hits western Nepal, killing more than 120 people 
A shallow earthquake registered by the USGS as M5.6 hit western Nepal at 18:02 UTC (23:47 local time) on Friday, November 3, 2023. The agency is reporting a depth of 17.9 km (11 miles). GSRAS is reporting M5.6 at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles).

New island emerges near Iwo Jima in Ogasawara chain, Japan 
On November 1, 2023, military personnel located on Iwoto Island witnessed the birth of a new island following intense volcanic activity. The eruption, which occurred 1 km (0.62 miles) off the island’s southern coast, was preceded by frequent volcanic tremors since October 21.

‘God Is Not Done’: Free Chapel ‘Revival Services’ Extended Again, Thousands Show Up 
Hundreds of people are having their lives changed by the powerful saving grace of Jesus Christ as a “move of God” continues into its second week at Free Chapel Church in Gainesville, Georgia.

War on Meat: Study Suggests Cigarette-style Climate Warning Labels to Cut Down Meat Consumption
Just when you thought it was safe to enjoy a hamburger, a new study from Durham University in the U.K. suggests that cigarette-style graphic warning labels depicting the worst effects of so-called climate change might encourage citizens to consume less meat, which the researchers claim will “improve public health and reduce the UK’s carbon footprint.”

Azerbajian lands on list of worst Christian persecutors
The predominantly Muslim nation of Azerbaijan has landed on a persecution advocacy group’s list of the worst countries for Christian persecution over its policies toward neighboring Armenia.

Australian Gov’t Official Blows Whistle: ‘We Planned the Pandemic Decades Ago’
…According to Roberts, sacrificing millions of people around the globe was all part of their depopulation plan. NN reports: The so-called “pandemic” was planned and globally co-ordinated, decades in advance, he testified before the Australian Senate. However, Robert issued a warning to the globalist elite that they will be exposed and held accountable. “But we are going to hound you down, the people that are guilty,” he warned.

Electric Planes, Once a Fantasy, Start to Take to the Skies 
Chris Caputo stood on the tarmac at Burlington International Airport in Vermont in early October and looked to the clouds in the distance. He had piloted military and commercial aircraft over a long career, racking up thousands of flight hours, but the trip he was about to take would be very different.

France Takes Legal Action Against Woman Joking About Jewish Baby Cooked in an Oven: ‘Did they Use Salt, Pepper, Thyme, what Fat Did They Roast It In’
This case ignites a fiery debate on free speech versus government control, with champions of unrestricted expression pitted against those advocating consequences for ‘hate speech’ and ‘offensive’ remarks, embodying the provocative discourse on the limits of free expression and the perils of state interference.

Rep. Mike Johnson: “Getting Vaccines Into Arms”
…Our three biggest priorities when it comes to providing COVID-19 relief should be: • getting schoolchildren back to school,  getting workers back to work, getting vaccines into arms, Yet, the Democrat spending package doesn’t prioritize any of this. Getting vaccines into arms? Not a good sign.

Namibia rejects EU treaty that could impose anti-life, pro-LGBT agenda on African nations 
Namibia has rejected a treaty with the European Union (EU) that could impose an anti-life and pro-LGBT agenda on the African nation.

Global Rise Of Antisemitism: A Harbinger Of The Approaching Tribulation
There is an alarming rise of global antisemitism. The global surge of venomous hatred of the Jewish people and the nation of Israel is palpable in our world today.  Just this week, Jewish leaders told US Officials, “We’ve never seen anything like this ever.”

FDA Issues Alert on Wrong COVID Vaccine Doses for Children
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an alert to health care providers to administer the right dosage of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine to children amid reports that double doses were given to children.

Biden Wants Arms Deals With Israel to Be Done in Complete Secrecy
Western governments refuse to call for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, yet in the United States it has been reported that it is what 66% of what the electorate wants. This is causing the U.S. President a dilemma with an election coming up, but instead of adhering to the democratic, humane, and legal decision, he is still choosing the kleptocratic option to send billions of taxpayers dollars to Israel for them to purchase weapons from U.S. sources.

5 Nov 2023

Headlines – 11/5/2023

Erdogan: Post-War Gaza Must be Part of Sovereign Palestinian State

Obama calls for end of ‘occupation,’ security for Israel, state for Palestinians – Obama called the Israel-Hamas conflict a ‘moral reckoning for all of us’

Republican Jewish Coalition to Obama: You Are ‘Complicit in the Death and Suffering in Israel and in Gaza’

Obama: ‘All of Us Are Complicit to Some Degree’ in ‘Occupation,’ Hamas Terror

U.S. and Israel Split Over Gaza Goals, Muddying War’s Endgame

Biden’s 2024 team roiled by Israel-Hamas war

Blinken to meet with Abbas in Ramallah as US envisions PA’s return to Gaza after war

Blinken blasts settler violence, tells Abbas Gazans must not be ‘forcibly displaced’

Blinken spars with Arab leaders in Amman over ceasefire call, says it’ll help Hamas

As combat rages in Gaza, Gallant vows Israel will kill Hamas head Sinwar

Far-right minister says nuking Gaza an option, PM suspends him from cabinet meetings

IDF carries out ‘targeted’ incursion into south Gaza as troops push deeper into Strip

Army says 2,500 Gaza targets struck during ground op, troops locating more targets

More than 1,000 craters: satellite images show destruction of northern Gaza Strip

UN secretary general says ‘nowhere is safe’ in Gaza as Palestinian death toll tops 9,000

Gaza’s children face catastrophe as death toll nears 4,000, UN warns

Israel said to push back on US advice for reducing Gaza civilian casualties

Gazan terrorists fire rockets at central Israel as rally held for return of hostages

Hostage envoy booed at Tel Aviv protest as families step up pressure on government

Red Crescent says 15 killed in strike on Gaza ambulance outside Al-Shifa hospital

Deadly Israel strike on Gaza ambulance convoy sparks condemnation

IDF says Hamas attacked troops as they opened Gaza evacuation corridor for civilians

Gaza Becomes a Death Trap for Children as Israeli Strikes Intensify – About 40% of those killed so far have been under 18. ‘This is the worst we’ve seen.’

While Hamas hoards Gaza’s resources, civilians face humanitarian crisis

Average Palestinian In Gaza Is Living On 2 Pieces Of Bread A Day: UN Official

Lack of clean drinking water for 95% of people in Gaza threatens health crisis

‘I Killed 10 Jews With My Own Hands’: IDF Screens Raw Hamas Footage For Journalists

Carefully constructed misinformation videos boost viral anti-Israel TikTok presence

War film: Israeli stars work to show Hamas horrors in Hollywood

Jewish woman stabbed in her home in France with Swastika plastered to door

Eleven arrested as pro-Palestine protesters march through London after Oxford Circus brought to a standstill

London police say 29 arrested at pro-Palestinian rally, including antisemitic speaker

British Leaders Express Concern at Massive Gaza Protest Planned for Armistice Day

Tens of thousands, some from as far away as Georgia, arrive in Washington, DC, for pro-Palestinian rally

Pro-Palestinian protesters in DC say Israel is a ‘racist state’ and chant ‘long live the Intifada’

Anti-Israel Protesters Try to Storm White House, Demand Destruction of Israel

One Day After Congress Fails to Censure Rashida Tlaib She Calls for the Elimination of Israel on Twitter

Michigan Rep. Tlaib accuses Biden of backing Palestinian ‘genocide’

New York Times writer resigns over letter accusing Israel of ‘genocide’

Pro-Palestinian Protesters Breach US Military Supply Ship They Think Is Heading for Israel

NYC City Council funneled $9 million in taxpayer dollars to anti-Israel groups that sponsored massive protests

Kamala Harris’ stepdaughter Ella Emhoff promotes $8 million fund for Gaza, GOP congressman says Hamas ‘almost certain’ to benefit

Emhoff: There is an ‘antisemitism crisis’ on our nation’s campuses

The Billionaire Donor Taking On His Alma Mater Over Antisemitism – Apollo CEO Marc Rowan wasn’t vocal about social issues. Then Israel was attacked.

Dem Says He Mistakenly Voted Against Condemning Antisemitism on Campuses

New Facebook group Mothers Against College Antisemitism has 43K members and counting

White House and CNN condemn Mark Levin’s comments on ‘self-hating Jews’ at network

Jon Voight Scolds Daughter Angelina Jolie Over Israel Comments, Urges No Coexistence with Hamas ‘Animals’

‘It Feels Like the New McCarthyism’: How the Israel-Hamas War Is Redefining the Limits of Free Speech – In the age of social media, do employers have the right to fire employees for their political views?

NYC man claims he’s ‘just an artist’ after being charged over antisemitic graffiti

Amid Shin Bet warnings, Ben Gvir said to dismiss deadly settler violence as ‘graffiti’

Analysis: Nasrallah Says He Won’t Sacrifice Lebanon for Gaza, Leaving Hamas to Fend for Themselves

Blinken thanks Lebanon’s leader for work preventing country ‘being pulled into a war’

Hezbollah Targets Israel With ‘Volcano’ Rockets as Tensions Soar

Israeli jets hit Lebanon as Hezbollah fires more powerful missile

Missile from Yemen downed over Saudi Arabia – report

Turkey recalling ambassador; Erdogan: We’ve written Netanyahu off

Iranian group puts up recruitment posters for suicide bombers willing to attack targets in Israel

‘Death to Israel, death to America’: Iran marks anniversary of 1979 embassy takeover

New York Times: Russia, China, Iran helping Hamas wage war on Israel online

‘We’re losing’: Ukrainians reel from war chief’s stalemate warning

U.S., European officials broach topic of peace negotiations with Ukraine, sources say

EU Chief Continues Push For Ukraine to Join Bloc During Meeting with Zelensky

Japan gains military bases in Philippines as 2 nations expand military alliance amid increasing Chinese aggression

Survivor of Mao’s China Warns America is on the Verge of Becoming a Communist State

Billionaire-backed tech group says it’s bought all the land it needs for utopian city

Sam Bankman-Fried’s new legal nightmare as he faces second trial for bribing Chinese officials and former SEC chair calls for convicted FTX fraudster to be prosecuted for directing nearly $70M in stolen funds to Democrats

Hunter Biden Received ‘Special Attention’ from Obama Admin for His Trips to China

Trump lawyer in seized docs case reveals ‘extensive’ collaboration between Biden White House, DOJ, National Archives, intelligence community before indictment

Jack Smith pushes court to disallow cameras in Trump election interference trial

Get Your Popcorn Ready: Trump Scheduled to Take Stand in His Own Defense

Mike Johnson, theocrat: the House speaker and a plot against America – Mike Johnson, knows how he will rule: according to his Bible

Judge in freedom truckers trial orders prosecution to reveal redacted emails to police

Top Pentagon UFO chief to be replaced as whistleblowers claim he lied about technology

HAARP artificial airglow may be widely visible in Alaska

Large filament eruption produces partial-halo CME, impact to Earth expected on November 5

Rescuers Struggle to Find Nepal Quake Survivors as Deaths Reach 157

Earthquake confirmed near Tennessee, North Carolina border

New island emerges near Iwo Jima in Ogasawara chain, Japan following intense volcanic activity

Sabancaya volcano in Peru erupts to 24,000ft

Popocateptl volcano in Mexico erupts to 24,000ft

Sangay volcano in Ecuador erupts to 24,000ft

Ruiz volcano in Colombia erupts to 22,000ft

Reventador volcano in Ecuador erupts to 15,000ft

Semeru volcano in Indonesia erupts to 15,000ft

Oklahoma City’s Ordinance Will Fine People for Feeding Meals to the Homeless Without a Permit

Afghan farmers lose income of more than $1 billion after the Taliban banned poppy cultivation

Biden declines meeting with Dem mayors demanding action on border crisis

Migrants Are Flocking to the U.S. From All Over the Globe – Arrests at the Southwest border of migrants from China, India and other distant countries have tripled

African terror suspect arrested in Manhattan after being set free in the US by Border Patrol

‘Hostage situation’ at Hamburg airport as gunman drives on to runway – Reports that at least one child was in the car used to drive through security barriers

Ex-CNN producer John Griffin settles lawsuit with 9-year-old girl he sexually abused in Vermont home

Alabama mayor, Baptist pastor, commits suicide after being exposed as ‘transgender curvy girl Brittini Blaire’

State Sen. Shevrin Jones may run for Florida governor in 2026. He’d be nation’s first Black openly gay governor

Female Jiu-Jitsu athlete wins match against biological male who did not disclose being trans

Male player on Massachusetts girls’ field hockey team knocks teeth out of female opponent

Target CEO falsely claims company did not team up with Satanist designer, sell Pride merch for kids

Trans TikToker freaks out after AI filter keeps ‘misgendering’ him

USA Today, Daily Beast, Media Matters, SPLC run hit pieces suggesting Libs of TikTok is a ‘terrorist’ for standing up against child sex changes

Police shut down detransitioner documentary screening after far-left agitators disrupt event at University of Utah

California jury awards $332 million to man who blamed his cancer on use of Monsanto weedkiller

California Reinstates Mask Mandates – Bay Area Counties Implement Mandatory Face Coverings Through March

Fauci Lied, People Died: French Study Is Latest to Find Hydroxychloroquine Is Associated with Lower COVID-19 Mortality Rates

Two of Boris Johnson’s former closest aides, Dominic Cummings and Lee Cain, have given testimony at the COVID hearing in which they detailed a chaotic and dysfunctional government at the height of the pandemic

Scientists warn next pandemic is the ‘Big One’ and could be deadlier than Covid

Source: http://trackingbibleprophecy.org/birthpangs.php

Three Years Ago Today America Woke Up to a Stolen 2020 Presidential Election | The Gateway Pundit

This article originally appeared on JoeHoft.com and was republished with permission.

Three years ago today America woke up to a stolen 2020 Election.  

Americans could see through the Russia collusion lie and the unbelievable Democrat impeachment of President Trump for daring to ask about what was going in with the Bidens in Ukraine.

They came out in droves and set the record for the most valid votes for a candidate in history.  For the first time, a candidate had gained more than 70 million votes.

President Trump also recorded the most votes by a President as he walked away with the 2020 Election.

Then in the middle of the night, Americans were told that counting was stopping in multiple swing states.  When Americans woke up three years ago today they saw that their election had been stolen.

Joe Biden who hadn’t even campaigned, who stuttered, who was obviously senile, who stood for all that America hated (corruption, Obama, career politicians, etc…) somehow earned over 80 million votes.  The media told us it was legit.  Some do to this day.

From Toria Brooke:

“Today marks the 3 year anniversary of the most fraudulent presidential election in American history.

Joe Biden, who barely campaigned, couldn’t get anybody to show up to his rallies, and clearly was in cognitive decline, somehow managed to receive the MOST VOTES IN AMERICAN HISTORY with 81 million, all while losing 18 of 19 bellwether counties and winning only 16% of counties overall.

And remember if you question any of this, you’re just an election denying conspiracy theorist.”

I’ve written three books about the stolen 2020 Election.  They planned the steal.  They executed the steal.  They covered up the steal.

The post Three Years Ago Today America Woke Up to a Stolen 2020 Presidential Election appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

This is one of the ‘biggest threats’ to America, Chaffetz warns

FOX News contributor Jason Chaffetz joins ‘Fox & Friends Weekend’ to discuss America’s soaring debt dilemma as lawmakers attempt to curb government spending.

Source: This is one of the ‘biggest threats’ to America, Chaffetz warns

‘It’s terrifying’ that Obama is running the Biden White House: Arroyo

FOX News contributor Raymond Arroyo joined ‘Fox & Friends Weekend’ to discuss former President Obama’s decision to help Biden craft a sweeping executive order on artificial intelligence.

Source: ‘It’s terrifying’ that Obama is running the Biden White House: Arroyo

These are worst countries for Christian persecution, report says

International Christian Concern President Jeff King discusses the release of the 2023 “Persecutors of the Year” report, raises awareness of the underreporting of persecutions, and the underground church. #foxnews

Source: These are worst countries for Christian persecution, report says

Must-See Video: Why Muslim Nations Don’t Want ‘Palestinians’

One of the things the left is desperately downplaying as it demands that Israel allow Hamas and its supporters to go unpunished and, ideally, cede to the Arabs the entire land of Israel is the fact that the surrounding Arab nations are refusing to take Gazans in as refugees. The reason is that nobody wants these “Palestinian” Arabs who have proven to be as destructive to Arab nations as they are to Israel.

When Barack Obama’s policies triggered the disastrous Arab Spring, with massive upheaval in the Muslim lands of Africa and the Middle East, Europe opened its doors to refugees from those wars. Europe did this even though its cultural connection to these refugees was minimal to nonexistent. It was, the Europeans felt, the right thing to do. (It’s also proved to have been a remarkably stupid thing to do, as Enoch Powell predicted , but that’s another story.)

Here […]

Read the Whole Article From the Source: www.americanthinker.com

Source: Must-See Video: Why Muslim Nations Don’t Want ‘Palestinians’

Fresh revelations contradict Joe Biden’s sweeping denials on Hunter | Politico

 

Of the many disputes that followed the leaking of Hunter Biden’s laptop contents, one of the thorniest has been the case of the April 2015 dinner at Cafe Milano.

Emails from the cache suggested that Hunter Biden hosted a dinner in a private room at the tony Washington restaurant that included both his father and an executive from the Ukrainian energy company Burisma, which had appointed Hunter Biden to its board. An email from the executive, dated immediately following the dinner, thanked Hunter Biden for the chance to meet his father.

As the media litigated the controversy, the White House insisted, in increasingly forceful terms, that no meeting between Biden and the executive had occurred.

In October 2021, a year after the dinner became a matter of national controversy, a POLITICO article mentioning it prompted an email response from a White House spokesperson reiterating and extending denials that Biden had met the Ukrainian executive, Vadym Pozharskyi.

While some statements from Biden representatives could be construed as only ruling out that a formal meeting took place between Biden and the executive, the White House maintained its denial was more sweeping.

“Does this rule out any informal encounter with Pozharskyi in April 2015?” POLITICO asked.

“Yes,” the White House spokesman wrote back.

Then, this July, a former Hunter Biden business partner who was present at the dinner testified before the House Oversight Committee. Under penalty of perjury, Devon Archer said that the Ukrainian executive did dine with Joe Biden, Hunter Biden and several others at Cafe Milano in April 2015.

Asked to reconcile this discrepancy, the White House did not address the question of whether Biden and the executive met at the dinner. Instead, a second spokesperson responded, “As we have said many times before, the President was not in business with his son or anyone else in the family, and House Republicans’ own witnesses, including Devon Archer, have testified that the President never even discussed business with his son.”

The explicit White House denial of even an informal encounter, reported here for the first time, was not the only time that statements made by Biden and his camp about Hunter Biden’s dealings have been contradicted by others.

Joe Biden and his representatives have repeatedly defended him from criticism related to his relatives, his son in particular, by issuing blanket denials of misconduct and disclaiming contact with their business affairs.

But, in recent months, as congressional Republicans have opened an impeachment inquiry and controversies related to Hunter Biden continue to be litigated in the courts and in the public square, a steady trickle of revelations have contradicted the president’s denials.

A POLITICO review of recent congressional testimony and exhibits, along with court filings and media reports, casts doubt on several statements made by Biden and his representatives.

They include the president’s claim that he has never discussed his relatives’ business dealings with anyone and his suggestion that the appearance of emails apparently belonging to his son was the result of a Russian plot, as well as Biden’s denials that his son made money from China and that his relatives have profited off of the Biden name.

Republicans, meanwhile, have turned up no proof for the claims of Biden’s most zealous detractors: that he took official actions on account of his relatives’ business dealings. And as for the Cafe Milano dinner, there is no indication that Joe Biden discussed business or offered favors to the energy executive that night.

But, as with so much else related to the Hunter Biden affair, the president’s reliance on sweeping denials that end up being called into question by others has allowed the controversy to fester for years.

A Russian plot

Questions about the Cafe Milano dinner have persisted in part because of the doubt Joe Biden cast over the authenticity of emails describing the event.

In October 2020, the New York Post began publishing emails provided by Donald Trump’s ally and sometimes-personal attorney Rudy Giuliani that were purportedly taken from devices Hunter Biden had left at a computer repair shop in Delaware. In the wake of their publication, Joe Biden endorsed an alternative theory about the documents: “There are 50 former national intelligence folks who said that what he’s accusing me of is a Russian plant” or “Russian plan” (his intended wording is unclear, and news organizations have quoted it both ways), he said at the final presidential debate that month.

The letter cited by Biden stated that “the arrival on the US political scene of emails purportedly belonging to Vice President Biden’s son Hunter … has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation,” while asserting that the signers had no direct knowledge of Russian involvement.

Since then, the nature of the files has been a matter of ongoing controversy.

U.S. intelligence had indeed warned earlier in the campaign that Moscow was seeking to harm Biden’s candidacy by pushing unsubstantiated corruption claims related to the Ukrainian energy company, Burisma. But subsequent reporting has steadily accumulated to support the authenticity of the files, which a Delaware repair shop owner named John Paul Mac Isaac presented to Giuliani and which Giuliani passed on to the Post.

Mac Isaac sued POLITICO, CNN, Hunter Biden, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and the Biden presidential campaign committee for defamation and civil conspiracy in 2022. The case remains pending in Sussex County, Del.

In September 2021, a book by a POLITICO reporter authenticated several emails from the laptop, including two at the center of the original New York Post articles, based in part on interviews with people with independent knowledge of the correspondence.

In March of last year, The New York Times reported that a combination of people involved in the federal investigation of Hunter Biden and people familiar with his business dealings had authenticated an unspecified number of emails from the cache. Later that month, The Washington Post reported that two forensic experts it commissioned had verified thousands more emails.

During the initial firestorm over the release of the files, Mac Isaac told news outlets that he had handed them over to the FBI a year earlier in late 2019.

Last November, CBS News reported that a forensic analysis it commissioned of a copy of the material turned over to the FBI “shows no evidence of tampering or fabrication.”

In March, Hunter Biden sued Mac Isaac for invasion of privacy, stating that “at least some of” the electronic files obtained by Mac Isaac belonged to Hunter Biden. A footnote in that filing specifies that Hunter Biden was not conceding Mac Isaac’s account of how he came into possession of those files.

But in June, House Republicans published interviews with two IRS agents who alleged mishandling of the Hunter Biden case. One of the whistleblowers, Gary Shapley, furnished notes of an October 2020, meeting he held with FBI agents to discuss the devices provided to the Bureau by Mac Isaac.

The notes show that the FBI found further support for the claim that Hunter Biden had left the devices at the repair shop: They include financial records showing that Hunter Biden shopped at a nearby cigar shop around the time the devices were dropped off and phone records showing calls between Hunter Biden and the repair shop.

The White House did not respond to questions about the computer files.

The Cafe Milano dinner

The question of whether Joe Biden met a Burisma executive at a dinner at Cafe Milano has been a subject of controversy since his son’s emails leaked three years ago.

Emails in the cache show that Hunter Biden and Archer, his then-business partner, arranged for a dinner with roughly a dozen other people at Cafe Milano on April 16, 2015. A tentative guest list Hunter Biden sent to Archer included a “Vadym” at the time the pair was working closely with Burisma executive Vadym Pozharskyi.

Other email traffic shows Hunter Biden informing an attendee “Dad will be there but keep that between us for now.” And an email from Pozharskyi to Hunter Biden from the morning after the event says, “thank you for inviting me to DC and giving an opportunity to meet your father and spent some time together.”

That email and the guest list email were among a set from the cache that were authenticated for POLITICO by two digital forensics experts granted anonymity to share their findings. One expert cited a fear of retaliation for weighing in on a political controversy, and the other said contractual obligations limited the matters about which he could speak publicly.

In addition to being verified by forensics experts, the thank you email’s authenticity was further attested to in an affidavit produced by an IRS investigator on the case, which was released by House Republicans in September.

“This email was received by the investigative team via an Electronic Search Warrant served on Google related to [Hunter Biden’s] Google email account,” the IRS agent, Joseph Zeigler, wrote.

At the time of the dinner, Joe Biden was heading U.S. anti-corruption initiatives in Ukraine. They included efforts by the State Department to recover assets allegedly obtained corruptly by Burisma’s owner, Mykola Zlochevsky, who had granted the company lucrative resource licenses while serving as the country’s ecology minister. Zlochevsky has denied wrongdoing.

While attendees of the Cafe Milano dinner agree that Joe Biden was present, his representatives issued repeated denials of any meeting between the then-vice president and Pozharskyi.

And some attendees of the dinner had made public statements that bolstered the notion that, despite the emails suggesting a Biden-Pozharskyi encounter, the two men had never met.

One attendee, Rick Leach, who served as president of the non-profit World Food Program USA at the time of the dinner, told POLITICO he did not believe Pozharskyi had been present. “I don’t think so,” he said. “I don’t remember that name. I don’t remember that person at all.”

In October 2021, a White House spokesperson emailed POLITICO to request that an article be updated to reflect that the president’s representatives denied not only a formal meeting, but any meeting whatsoever. The official cited a statement from campaign spokesman Andrew Bates to USA Today that Biden and Vadym Pozharskyi “never had a meeting.”

While a previous Biden camp denial made reference to “official schedules” — language that potentially left open the possibility of an off-the-books encounter at a dinner — the White House spokesperson assured POLITICO that Biden had not even had an informal encounter with Pozharskyi.

But in July, Archer, who pursued a range of ventures with Hunter Biden during the Obama era, testified to the House Oversight Committee about their dealings. Archer, who was convicted in 2018 of defrauding a Native American tribe as part of a scheme in which Hunter Biden was not implicated, had attended the Cafe Milano dinner.

Archer testified that both Pozharskyi and Joe Biden also attended the dinner, an account that is consistent with Hunter Biden’s leaked emails.

Archer’s testimony specifically contradicted claims relayed in a Washington Post fact-check that Biden had not even sat down at the dinner and had only spoken to one other attendee: Alex Karloutsos, a Greek Orthodox cleric.

“That’s not correct reporting,” Archer testified.

Archer said the then-vice president ate dinner along with the group. “I remember just a regular dinner where there was a table of conversation,” he told House investigators.

Biden’s alleged contact with a Burisma executive is a sensitive matter in part because of claims, promoted by Trump’s allies during the last presidential campaign, that Joe Biden demanded the firing of a Ukrainian prosecutor who had been investigating Burisma on account of his son’s position with the company.

But subsequent investigations failed to bear out that claim: Officials familiar with U.S. policy on Ukraine testified to Congress that the firing of the prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, was consistent with that policy, and Senate Republicans found no clear evidence that Hunter Biden’s board position led to changes in U.S. policy.

Questions about Biden’s alleged contacts with Pozharskyi have resurfaced, though, with the publication of an unverified allegation made by an unnamed FBI informant that echoed the initial claims of Trump’s allies.

The informant claimed that Burisma’s owner said privately that he was pressured by Joe and Hunter Biden into bribing them for help resolving Burisma’s legal issues, including Shokin’s firing. The informant first mentioned Hunter Biden’s role with Burisma in a 2017 conversation with the FBI, according to an agency form recording his allegations, which was obtained by congressional Republicans and made public in July. The bureau re-interviewed the informant, whose identity remains secret, in 2020, after the Trump Justice Department began scrutinizing claims about Shokin’s ouster.

Former Attorney General Bill Barr, who served under Trump, told Fox News that Justice Department investigators concluded that the tip did not appear to be disinformation and forwarded it to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Delaware in 2020. It is unclear what came of the allegation from there.

The Biden White House has dismissed the allegations, citing a lack of corroboration.

The White House spokesperson told POLITICO: “Years of investigations by Congressional Republicans have turned up no wrongdoing by Joe Biden because the truth is the President did nothing wrong.”

‘Never discussed’

The White House’s Pozharskyi denial is just one of several that has been contradicted by others.

After the issue of Biden relatives’ business dealings first came up in 2019, Joe Biden issued a sweeping denial that distanced himself from his family’s commercial pursuits: “I have never discussed, with my son or my brother or with anyone else, anything having to do with their businesses. Period,” he told reporters in Spartanburg, South Carolina, that August.

In October 2020, a former Hunter Biden business partner, Tony Bobulinski, said that he discussed Hunter Biden’s Chinese business ventures with Joe Biden.

“That is false,” Bobulinski said, in a prepared statement, of Biden’s claim to have never discussed business with Hunter.

Bobulinski — who had previously given federal campaign contributions predominantly to Democrats and was working with Trump-aligned Republicans to publicize his allegations — said that Hunter Biden and his uncle, James Biden, who is the president’s younger brother, introduced him to Joe Biden in Los Angeles in early May 2017.

“At my approximately hour-long meeting with Joe that night, we discussed the Bidens’ history, the Bidens’ family business plans with the Chinese, with which he was plainly familiar, at least at a high level,” Bobulinski said in the statement.

In a 2020 interview on Fox News with conservative pundit Tucker Carlson, Bobulinski said that James and Hunter Biden also participated in the meeting. “We didn’t go into too much detail on the business,” Bobulinski said, but he said it was “crystal clear” that Hunter Biden had discussed the deal with his father.

In September, House Republicans released an FBI summary of an interview agents conducted with Bobulinski in the fall of 2020, showing that Bobulinski told investigators the same basic story: that he had discussed the China venture with Joe Biden. The summary gives extra heft to Boublinski’s public claims because lying to the FBI in order to influence an investigation can lead to criminal charges.

Bobulinski has said he did not discuss the business in any great depth with Joe Biden. Archer has said that Joe Biden was familiar with his son’s business dealings and that he has seen the president exchange pleasantries with his son’s business partners over the phone, but that he has not seen him engage in the details of his son’s business.

In an article published in September, the former president of a hedge fund that was operated by James and Hunter Biden a decade-and-a-half ago told the Wall Street Journal that Joe Biden, then a senator, sometimes participated in business calls with his relatives. Former Paradigm Global Advisors executive Charles Provini said most of Joe Biden’s participation amounted to “just pleasantries,” but that topics like Provini’s job duties and litigation related to the fund were also discussed on these calls. Provini went on to sue Paradigm, and the case was dismissed.

Asked in July by a reporter whether the White House stood by claims that Biden had never discussed his business dealings with his son, spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre responded with a more limited claim: “The president was never in business with his son,” she said.

In response to a question about the phone conversations detailed by Archer, the president said in August, “I never talked business with anybody,” a statement consistent with Archer’s testimony.

Asked whether the president stands by his broad denial of ever discussing his relatives’ business dealings with anyone, the White House cited the testimony of House witnesses who said they did not observe any such interactions.

No money from China

Joe Biden has also faced questions about Hunter Biden’s dealings outside of Ukraine.

At the October 2020, debate, Joe Biden was asked about the appropriateness of Hunter’s work in China and for Burisma during his vice presidency.

“My son has not made money in terms of this thing about, what are you talking about, China. I have not had … the only guy who made money from China is this guy,” he said, referring to Trump. “Nobody else has made money from China.”

The moderator’s question referred to Hunter Biden’s work in China during Biden’s vice presidency. Hunter Biden entered into a venture with Chinese asset managers, Bohai Harvest RST, during his father’s vice presidency. The extent to which Hunter Biden profited from his involvement in the venture remains unclear. A Hunter Biden representative has said his work on an advisory board related to the venture during the Obama years was unpaid.

But the more general claim that Hunter Biden did not make money from China is false. In court this July, Hunter Biden acknowledged hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments from a Chinese energy firm, CEFC, and people associated with it, after his father’s vice presidency.

Entities controlled by James and Hunter Biden ended up receiving nearly $5 million in legal and consulting fees from the Chinese energy company and its executives when his father was out of office, according to a Washington Post analysis published last year. At a plea deal hearing this July, Hunter Biden acknowledged receiving income from CEFC.

No profiting from Biden name

Biden has also offered general assurance that his relatives have not profited off of their association with a powerful public official.

In an October 2020, interview, Milwaukee-area television reporter Adrienne Pedersen quoted to then-candidate Biden a statement from Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson alleging that “Hunter Biden, together with other Biden family members, profited off the Biden name.”

“Is there any legitimacy to Sen. Johnson’s claims?” Pedersen asked.

“None whatsoever,” Biden said, adding, “Ron should be ashamed of himself.”

Johnson’s original comment was made in the context of a 2020 report issued by Senate Republicans that scrutinized the foreign dealings of Biden relatives. The report detailed alleged payments made by CEFC and people affiliated with it to accounts associated with Hunter Biden, James Biden and James’s wife Sara Biden.

And there are fresh indications that their association with Joe Biden helped pave the way for those payments.

That includes the summary of the Bobulinski FBI interview released in September by the House Ways and Means Committee. Bobulinski told agents that James and Hunter Biden helped open doors for CEFC around the world during Joe Biden’s vice presidency without being compensated, but that they wanted payment for that help after he left office, according to the summary.

Bobulinski said that James and Hunter Biden “believed CEFC owed them money for the benefits that accrued to CEFC through its use of the Biden family name to advance their business dealings,” according to the FBI’s summary of the interview.

Records from another FBI interview, conducted with former Hunter Biden business partner Rob Walker and released by House Republicans in June, also casts doubt on the president’s claim. Walker told investigators that Hunter Biden arranged for his father to stop by a lunch with their Chinese business partners at the Four Seasons in Washington. Walker agreed with an agent’s suggestion that Hunter Biden arranged the drop-in, which occurred when Joe Biden was out of office, to help him close a deal with CEFC executives.

The 2020 report by congressional Republicans also scrutinized Hunter Biden’s Burisma work. In his congressional interview in July, Archer said that “a large part of the value” Hunter Biden brought to Burisma was the Biden family “brand” — and that Joe Biden “brought the most value to the brand.”

Outside of the dealings covered by that report, there are other signs that Biden’s relatives have profited from the Biden name over the years. They include allegations made by former business contacts of Hunter and James Biden in lawsuits. In one case dating to the first term of the Obama administration, when Joe Biden was vice president, a former business partner at a hedge fund alleged that — in the course of a dispute about a legal bill — James and Hunter Biden, “refused to pay the bill, repeatedly citing their political connections and family status as a basis for disclaiming the obligation.” James and Hunter Biden denied the allegation.

Former business contacts of James Biden alleged in a lawsuit in 2019 that he promised that Joe Biden would incorporate their business model in his presidential campaign in order to entice them into a partnership. “All the promises were on the Biden name,” one of the executives involved in the suit told the Knoxville News Sentinel at the time. James Biden has denied the allegations.

Joe Biden’s youngest brother, Frank Biden, has also invoked the family name in the course of his business dealings. During the Obama administration, Frank Biden served as a lobbyist for, and the president of, a charter school company, Mavericks in Education, at a time when the expansion of for-profit schools was politically contentious.

In the course of seeking approvals for one of the company’s schools, Frank pledged to the Palm Beach County School Board in February of 2011, “I give you my word of honor on my family name that this system is sustainable.”

The company put out press releases describing Frank as “Brother of the Vice President of the United States and President and Director of Mavericks Education” and “brother of Vice President Joe Biden.”

In a 2011 interview with the Washington Post, Frank Biden said he did not trade on the Biden name but that he did benefit from it. “It’s a tremendous asset,” he said of the name. “I enjoy automatic acceptance or at least listening to what I have to say.”

In a leaked October 2011 email, Hunter Biden wrote of his appeal to a Chinese business partner, “It has nothing to do with me and everything to do with my last name.” That email was also authenticated by both forensics experts.

Source: Fresh revelations contradict Joe Biden’s sweeping denials on Hunter

Bill Maher’ “Democrats Are Now the Ones Carrying the Tiki Torches” (Video) | The Gateway Pundit

Liberal host Bill Maher is increasingly calling out the people on his own side over the disgusting support being expressed for Hamas.

On Friday, Ian Bremmer and Fareed Zakaria joined Maher on Real Time to discuss the recent upsurge of antisemitism among the youth.

Bill Maher: What do you make of this level of just gut wrenching just anti-Semitism? I must admit I don’t think of myself as a naive person. And I’ve been surprised. It was like a volcano that blew. I mean, just the people in the United States with banners ‘F*** Israel’ you know, ‘Any Means necessary.’

I just I don’t know where this comes from. I guess it’s ancient. Obviously, the hatred of the Jews goes way back, but I was taken aback by this.

Ian Bremmer: You can’t tell me you don’t think social media has made it much worse.

Maher: So you think that’s the answer because it’s got to be something about the Jews themselves. Because there are other people around the world who are oppressed. There are other colonized places, not that Israel colonized anything, but why this one place? Why does this arouse, especially among young people, I mean, young people who hated Trump because he wouldn’t condemn the people with the tiki torches talking about Jews rule. You’re the ones with the tiki torches.

Fareed Zakaria: To answer your question, Bill, because I have also wondered about this. The upsurge of anti-Semitism that you’re seeing around the world, and sadly, in the United States itself, is in a way the most powerful justification for the state of Israel. Right?

It must feel to Jews everywhere that they are not safe, that the one place they can be safe is the state of Israel. It is the ultimate justification. Why it happens is, sadly, it is the oldest bigotry known to man. I mean, it comes out of the Christian ideas about Jews…

Maher: But that’s not what college kids think. College kids are not hating….

Zakaria: But I think what happens is there’s just this upsurge. You have all kinds of different people doing it for all kinds of different reasons. And I think it just reminds you …I hear people saying, well, we should ban this kind of speech and there is now laws in France, for example. I don’t know that that’s the answer. I think the answer is to educate people to understand this is gross ancient bigotry, that civilized people shouldn’t believe this kind of thing. That’s the part that’s most worrying.

Watch:

In the last few weeks, Maher has called out the people on his own side for expressing support for Hamas and for the disgusting displays we have seen on college campuses.

The post Bill Maher’ “Democrats Are Now the Ones Carrying the Tiki Torches” (Video) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Game Over: US, European Officials Quietly Nudge Ukraine To Seek Peace

11-04-2023 • https://www.zerohedge.com by Tyler Durden

 US and European officials have started quietly conferring with Ukraine on potential concessions that could bring the war to an end, NBC News was first to report Friday evening.

These discussions aren’t about a new counteroffensive — they’re about what concessions Ukraine could live with pursuant to a peace agreement. Some of the conversations, which officials describe as delicate, happened during an October meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, an affiliation of more than 50 governments siding with Ukraine.

In eyebrow-raising comments to the The Economist this week, Ukraine’s top commander admitted there will be no breakthrough and the battlefield situation is in a stalemate. The New York Times characterized his remarks as “the first time a top Ukrainian commander said the fighting had reached an impasse.”

Read Full Story

Hunter Biden Billed for Mystery International Phone Line During Family’s Dealings with CEFC

Hunter Biden paid for a mystery international phone line linked to President Joe Biden from 2015-2018, years encompassing the Biden family’s dealings with CEFC China Energy Company, emails from the “Laptop from Hell” show.

Source: Hunter Biden Billed for Mystery International Phone Line During Family’s Dealings with CEFC

Oversight Chairman Comer: This Is Evidence Of Biden Family “Laundering” Money From China; “Organized Crime” | RealClearPolitics Videos

House Oversight Chairman James Comer discusses the investigation into the Biden family business deals with FNC’s Maria Bartiromo on “Sunday Morning Futures.”

REP. JAMES COMER: We traced the $40,000 check that Joe Biden received all the way back to that WhatsApp message where Hunter Biden claimed his father was sitting beside him where he was shaking down the Chinese operative. That’s where that $40,000 was triggered. We — just a few weeks after that text message, that $40,000 landed in Joe Biden’s pocket after the Bidens laundered it. But that money came from China, further evidence that Joe Biden benefited from his family’s influence peddling scheme. MARIA BARTIROMO: Well, you have now released a lot of evidence with regard to this situation, whether it be witness testimony, 176 suspicious activity reports, now these checks going directly to Joe Biden. He says he never discussed business with his son, was never in business with his son. Are you planning on calling them in and getting subpoenas out? COMER: Absolutely. We have always planned on doing that. This has been a painful process, Maria. We have been obstructed, we have been fought at every turn, not just by the Bidens’ big-money attorneys, but also by the federal government. The IRS has obstructed. The DOJ has obstructed. The Treasury has obstructed. FBI has obstructed. And the Democrats on the House Oversight Committee have pretty much been the Biden legal defense team. But, through it all, we have followed the money. We have done this the right way. We have subpoenaed bank accounts. And now we have enough bank accounts, Maria, where we can actually trace the money. We can connect the dots, because, as you showed on the screen, with this series of transactions, that’s called money laundering. And this was a very organized criminal enterprise by the Biden family. This wasn’t just some drug addict doing concoctions and making wild transactions. This was very organized. And the reason they did these complicated transactions was to disguise the source of the revenue and to deceive the IRS from paying taxes. So what you’re going to see in the coming weeks is a lot of loans. Any time the Bidens have money, they’re going to claim it was a loan, because you don’t have to report loans on your taxes. If you’re the IRS and you’re just looking at someone’s taxes, you would never know that Joe Biden got two checks for loan repayments, $200,000 and $40,000. You wouldn’t know about all the money that we’re going to show that James Biden took in and Hunter Biden took in from loans. Loans is a way — it’s an integral part of money laundering, where you deceive from the IRS about the revenue you’re taking in. In other words, you’re a tax cheat. BARTIROMO: Wow. So, in other words, in addition to potential bribery, influence peddling, there could be tax evasion as well? COMER: We — all we see in the Biden transactions are loans, loans, loans, but you never see where they made any interest payments on loans. Very seldom do you see where they even made a principal payment on the loans. I think the Biden — the next big question the Biden family, including Joe Biden, is going to have to answer to the American people is, what exactly are the terms of these loans? What type of documentation do you have on these loans? Were you going to pay these loans back? Were these forgivable loans? Were these grants? If so, in addition to influence peddling, which we have clearly proved the Bidens were doing, they have tax fraud implications with the IRS.

Source: Oversight Chairman Comer: This Is Evidence Of Biden Family “Laundering” Money From China; “Organized Crime”

Survivor of Mao’s China Issues Dire Warning: Social Upheaval Coming to U.S. in 2024

Leftists “are looking for the next one, getting ready for 2024. They will find another one, ” warns Chinese immigrant Xi Van Fleet, author of the book “Mao’s America: a Survivors Warning. ” CBN News. Because Truth Matters™

Source: Survivor of Mao’s China Issues Dire Warning: Social Upheaval Coming to U.S. in 2024

Peace Amid Turmoil :: By Nathele Graham

Life can be filled with turmoil. It’s been said that you’re either just entering a crisis, in the middle of a crisis, or just coming out of a crisis. That sounds a little pessimistic, but we do see much trouble all around us. Jesus said that there would be tribulation in life, but Christians have hope.

“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

If you are a person with no turmoil, you are most likely a hermit living far away from modern society. Still, you have troubles. Does the roof leak when it rains? Do you have enough food stored for the winter? Do the wild animals see you as a food source? There is always something to cause us turmoil. The way we handle the turmoil depends upon our relationship with God.

My mother was a very gentle lady who tried to live in a way that reflected Christ. I called her a “people magnet” because people were drawn to her, whether she knew them or not. She was a good listener and always had the right words to say to encourage others. It would seem that such a gentle person would have an easy life. Not so. The troubles she faced were major, but her faith in God was unshakable.

I wish I could tell you that I, her daughter, made her life easier, but too often, I was the cause of her troubles. As I watched Mama deal with her problems, I saw she had a peace about her that was not from a human source but from the Holy Spirit living in her. She had many favorite hymns, and one of them was titled “‘Mid all the Traffic of the Ways” by John Oxenham. My mother hummed this song, and it helped to get her through some very difficult times. I find myself humming it quite often in these troubled times.

‘Mid all the traffic of the ways,
Turmoils without, within,
Make in my heart a quiet place,
And come and dwell within;

I’m not a person who deals well with city life. The traffic and noise are things that cause me distress. I prefer the peace and quiet of life in the country. Watching a deer graze in my front yard or seeing raccoons visiting my front porch looking to steal my cat’s food brings peace into my life. I enjoy listening to the frogs singing in the pond in my neighbor’s field and hearing the cattle calling to each other at night. I know this isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but even here, among the beauty of nature, there are troubles. My house needs some repairs, my dog really needs to learn obedience, I have too many cats, and the chickens don’t always lay eggs like I want them to. Those troubles may be pretty minimal compared to the horrors happening in Israel or the gang wars in cities. No matter what the trial and turmoil, peace is to be found in Jesus.

We have many examples in Scripture of people facing troublesome situations, but God always gives peace and confidence amid the turmoil if we turn to Him.

Paul is a good example of finding peace in every situation. Paul was persecuted for sharing his faith and often went hungry, but he wasn’t bitter. He lived for Christ, not for himself. Quite often, he was thrown in jail because of his faith, but he used every opportunity to share his faith with others. One account that stands out in my mind is the time he was in Philippi and did what he thought was a good thing. There was a woman who was possessed by a demon, and Paul cast that evil entity out of her. That act of God’s love was met with anger from her handlers. The men who used the woman to make money from the demon that possessed her had Paul and Silas arrested. In those days, there was a different kind of justice than most of us understand today. The magistrates immediately inflicted judgment.

“And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely: who having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks” (Acts 16:23-24).

The pain must have been awful, and not knowing what tomorrow would bring could have caused Paul and Silas to be angry with God, caused depression, and turned them away from their faith. Instead, they found a quiet place of peace, even in that prison.

“And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them” (Acts 16:25).

They shared their faith by praising God in a time of turmoil. Then, there was an earthquake, and the prison was opened, and the chains came off the prisoners. They could have escaped, but they all chose to stay. The jailor would have been forced to fulfill the sentences of all who escaped, and he decided on suicide, which is never a good choice. Because Paul and Silas found a place of peace among the trouble, no prisoner escaped, and the jailer was spared. The jailer understood that Paul and Silas had peace, which came from their faith, and asked them what he must do to be saved.

“And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house” (Acts 16:31).

Have you found God’s peace in troublesome situations? Have you been able to share your faith and help others find the peace that only comes from God? Be an instrument of God’s love rather than the hate that Satan brings to the world.

A little shrine of quietness,
All sacred to thyself,
Where thou shalt all my soul possess,
And I may find myself;

Too often, we forget that when we first believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, the Holy Spirit is sealed within us. The Holy Spirit is the third member of the Holy Trinity and is God. He will guide you through the troublesome times if you allow it. Remember that He knows your thoughts and hears every word you say. Do the words of your mouth honor God? Do the actions of your hands show God’s love to others, even those who offend you? Find that place of quietness where God lives in you and find His peace.

“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? (1 Corinthians 3:16).

The Holy Spirit will guide you in God’s ways. The closer we draw to God, the greater peace we will find. When Paul left Philippi, he had established a congregation of believers and had many friends there. He kept in touch with every congregation he established, and in his letter to the Philippians, he closed by encouraging them to find peace.

“Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:4-7).

True peace is only found in Christ.
A little shelter from life’s stress,
Where I may lay me prone,
And bare my soul in loneliness,
And know as I am known;

Do you have stress? Bills to pay, kids to shuttle from one activity to another? Appointments to keep? All of that between holding a job and finding some “me” time. It’s not always easy. One thing that most people shuffle to the “last resort” or forget altogether is prayer. Not only talking with God about your needs but praising Him in everything. A time set aside when you can lay everything out to Him and listen for His answer. A time when it’s just you and God, with no distractions, no interruptions, and just honestly talking with Him.

I don’t know anyone who doesn’t have a need for time alone with God. Health issues are a common worry as well as a financial strain. God cares about these things, but He also wants to hear your praise for that promotion you were hoping for or the good grade on an important exam at school. He knows you, and you matter to Him. Even if you feel as if nobody around you cares about you or your problems, God is there to lead and encourage you every day.

King David had his share of troubles; some were caused by David himself, but most were everyday problems of a king who loved the Lord and who loved the nation he led. Whatever David faced, he faced it with God.

“[[To the chief Musician upon Neginah, A Psalm of David]] Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah” (Psalm 61:1-4).

David found peace amid turmoil because he loved the Lord and found God’s peace no matter what situation he faced.

A little place of mystic grace,
Of self and sin swept bare,
Where I may look upon thy face,
And talk with thee in prayer.

Grace is a gift from God, and oftentimes, we think we deserve His grace and mercy. God’s grace is a gift that we can’t earn but only comes by faith.

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” (Ephesians 2:8).

When we forget our own selfishness, we can be better able to approach God humbly and with thanksgiving. When we move past our own self-centered feelings, God can speak clearer to us. It’s easy to see life and troubles from our own point of view, but by sweeping our selfish desires and sin out of the way, we can then have an honest talk with God and hear His words. Admit your sin and ask to be forgiven, even if you feel justified in committing the sin. Find the peace God wants for you in spite of the hustle and bustle of daily life.

When you let Jesus come into every part of your life, you will find peace amid the turmoil.

God bless you all,

Nathele Graham

twotug@embarqmail.com

Recommended prophecy sites:

www.raptureready.com
www.prophecyupdate.com
www.raptureforums.com

All original scripture is “theopneustos,” God-breathed.

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“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee” (Psalm 122:6).

The post Peace Amid Turmoil :: By Nathele Graham appeared first on Rapture Ready.

Source: Peace Amid Turmoil :: By Nathele Graham

Ron Johnson: This is ‘not getting the attention it deserves’ in the Hunter case

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., says the intelligence community’s alleged obstruction of the Senate’s investigation into Hunter Biden is ‘massive corruption’ and ‘coordination.’ #foxnews

Source: Ron Johnson: This is ‘not getting the attention it deserves’ in the Hunter case