Christians flee Sadad

 

The following is an account of the battle ISIS is waging to control Sadad, which lies, 60 kilometres (37 mi) south of Homs, and 101 kilometres (63 mi) northeast of Damascus.  One of the oldest areas of Christianity.

Even tho we have the combined airpower of the US/Allies and Russia/Syria/ ostensibly going after ISIS across both Iraq and Syria, they are still conducting offensive operations in many places.  This tells me that they are not sufficiently degraded to warrant staying on the defense and only conducting limited ops.  They will not be so easily rooted out.

The evidence further points to the belief that the US and its allies have been more concerned with regime change in Syria than with the actual plight of the common man there.  It mirrors what transpired in Libya only this time, the strongman has the backing of Russia/Iran.

As Christians please continue to pray for your brothers and sisters overseas who are being persecuted daily, and face true evil head on and unafraid.

Hundreds of Christian fighters from across Syria have arrived in the majority-Syriac Christian town of Sadad to prevent it falling into the hands of the Islamic State militant group (ISIS), the head of the Syriac Orthodox church says.

Sadad, which lies just off a vital highway connecting the cities of Damascus and Homs in the west of the country, has faced an onslaught from the radical group’s militants since October 31 as ISIS advances across central Syria and inches closer to the capital.

Last Thursday, Mor Ignatius Aphrem Karim II, the Patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox church, traveled to Sadad from the church’s headquarters in Damascus in a bid to boost the morale of the fighters in the town. Following the ISIS assault last month, at least 200 Syriac fighters from Damascus, Qamishli and Hasakah traveled to Sadad to join the fight to defend the town, he told Newsweek by phone from the Syrian capital’s Old City.

Some 500 Syriac Christian fighters have so far prevented ISIS from entering the Sadad, he said. But ISIS’s capture of the town of Mahin, less than five miles away, at the end of October has left Sadad vulnerable to a continued assault by the militants.

“It is under assault,” Karim says. “IS advanced toward Sadad but they were not able to enter Sadad. The young people in Sadad, with the help of some armed groups, were able to fight back and push IS back to where they started. They are helped by some groups coming from different parts of Syria also.”

Syriac Christianity is one of the world’s oldest sects. It is an umbrella for a number of the churches of Eastern Christianity, such as the Syriac Orthodox Church, the Assyrian Church of the East, the Ancient Church of the East, the Chaldean Catholic Church and the Syriac Catholic Church. Its followers speak the ancient language of Aramaic, the tongue that Jesus is believed to have spoken.

Sadad has come under attack before. In October 2013, the Al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front militant group, which is battling the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, captured the town and held it for just over a week, killing 46 Syriacs before the Syrian army retook the town.

 

Source – read the rest here Sadad vs ISIS

INVASION U.S.A.

 

Years ago I had a role in the opening scene in the Chuck Norris movie “Invasion U.S. A.. It was an action movie. I portrayed a boat captain who was quickly dispatched by evil Russian forces.

Today we have a very real invasion, an invasion of Muslims from different parts of the world. That leads me to wonder, who will win the war of evangelization, Christians or Muslims? Already Islam has a head start in our country in jails and prisons, and is more than willing to convert former Christian-leaning people with their brand of hateful religion. Like I mentioned before in my last article, they are coming to our shores at OUR expense in droves and bringing Islam with them. There are going to be hundreds of thousands if not millions in the next few years. What will we Christians do since they are not as reticent to express their faith as we are about expressing ours?

Sunday, a bible teacher at my church read an open letter from a German person telling of the invasion of Muslim refugees from Syria. He said that the Germany they once knew would be no more. The teacher said, and I quote, “I’m glad it isn’t happening here in our country, ha ha ha.” Without hesitation I stood and told the class of about a hundred that it IS happening here and NOW! I had just been in a part of the country where they are being resettled and had seen it with my own eyes. I also told the class about my brother telling me of the Muslim invasion in Lansing Michigan. The teacher didn’t say another word. Apparently this man is so involved in his theological studies that he doesn’t know what’s going on in the world today.

They will arrive here with nothing and we Americans will foot the bill for food and shelter. One of the bad aspects of this debacle is that Muslim men can practice polygamy and can have up to twenty children according to Sharia. There is nothing wrong with helping our fellow human beings, but why won’t the other surrounding Muslim nations take them in? They have the resources and abundant land, not to mention the same ideals and faith. There is a word in the Muslim faith, it is Al Hijra, which means taking over another country by means of infiltration, proliferation and subversion. Could this be some kind of sinister game plan to topple our country?

I may be wrong, but it seems to me that Christians are taking these things all too lightly. Those who are waiting for the rapture and twiddling their thumbs may be in for a rude awakening, and may have to endure some tough times ahead, during these times of sorrow as our God-given rights are being eroded. In the meantime, we are being invaded on several fronts.

On another front, Satan is mounting another invasion; that of a one faith system. I recently met and talked to a secular writer who just wrote a book entitled “The God Secret.” (Which is no secret at all, if you understand that the Bible reveals who He is and what are his purposes.) This self-confident Englishman told me that soon all people would worship one God (the Antichrist?) and that all would be well with everyone and that we would all live in peace and perfect bliss. He wasn’t talking about the God of the bible or about Christ either. He was talking about the coming one world government and religion

We shouldn’t expect life to remain as usual or to get any better since we are constantly on the brink of all out war. In fact, there are skirmishes in the Middle East and Africa and around the world right now. For the first time in world history mankind has the capacity to annihilate all life on earth with weapons of mass destruction, and is willing to do so at Satan’s request. Utopia! Not on your life. Humanity will be facing hell on earth and probably, very soon, the time of great tribulation mentioned in the Bible. We won’t have peace until the Prince of Peace arrives to set up His kingdom.

On yet another front, while shopping at Home Depot, I overheard a distraught woman talking to a salesman about the collapse of morals in our country. She was referring to men and women killing their children throughout the country for no apparent reason (if there ever was a reason). She was so distraught that her eyes were glazed over and she looked near a mental breakdown. I expected her to collapse right there and then. The salesman listened intently and he too was very concerned about the state of our nation in agreeing with her. He was beginning to mirror her concern but tried to be a little more restrained. I reached for my wallet to get my calling cards out, but by that time she was already walking away. I approached the man and told him I had overheard the conversation. I asked if he was a Christian. “I most certainly am!” he replied. I continued on, “Well then you should know that the things that are happening were foretold in the Bible.” We talked a bit and I gave him my card. Afterward, the man thanked me with all sincerity and a glimmer of hope. It was as if a light went on in his head.

Sales of anti-depressants are up 400% since the late 2000’s. Suicides are up too, mainly among young people, and murder is rampant. It doesn’t surprise me that people are coming to their wit’s end as they witness the moral decay surrounding them. Without God’s moral compass many of us are no better than wild beasts intent on destroying ourselves and one another. Assuredly, we are in a spiritual battle for the souls of mankind.

All of this anxiety and fear is happening needlessly for those who don’t know Jesus Christ in a personal way. Jesus offers a peace that surpasses all understanding, freedom from guilt, freedom from worry, freedom from anxiety and hope for the future. The only requirement is that you learn of Him and live according to His will. He doesn’t expect much of us since he knows what we’re made of. But in spite of that, He desires an intimate relationship with each and every one of us. Jesus said, “Come to me all ye who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” “Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly of heart and you will find rest for your souls.”

To receive “The Speech” from my screenplay “The Prophecies 2016” e-mail me at     jt.filmmaker@yahoo.com (This speech has been called by some as an explosive, powerful call to repentance.)

YBIC

Jim Torres “Towers”

In Defense of #JustinBieber

 

Some Christians really need help; they love to pick apart every action and mistake by their fellow brethren and gloat about it on social media. Never realizing they need to look in the mirror before casting insults or condemnation.

This has been on my mind recently and please bear with me as I humbly try to convey a simple message. If we are true Christians we are then of the same body (Romans 12:5, 1Cor 12:12, 14-20). If we are of the same body, how then should we treat fellow Christians? You already know the answer to that. While its good to admonish and correct someone who is going astray, we should do so humbly and with grace and privately at first if we can. 1Thess 5:14 states And we urge you, brothers and sisters, admonish the undisciplined, comfort the discouraged, help the weak, be patient toward all.” Our job is to bring them back to Christ and a better understanding of where they err etc.

Let me give you another example. When you look at Navy Seal/Army Ranger or any other Elite training, you see a group of individuals in the beginning. At the end of that training you see a TEAM. A team that started out as individuals working together for a common goal in the face of adversity becomes a band of brothers.

I would give my life for my fellow Rangers. After Ranger training as an Infantry Officer, I instilled the same sense of teamwork within each of my units. I truly loved my fellow warriors, faults and all. Because I knew that no matter how bad the situation, no matter how grave the threat- my men would follow me to hell and back.

How much more love should I have for a Christian brother? I would posit that the same or more! You see whether you know it or not, we are in another battle. Ephesians 6:12 tells us we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against power, against the rulers of the darkness of this world. Furthermore, prior to this passage we are told to put on the whole armor of God. As a warrior I know what that means. Put on your gear, check your equipment, be ready for the fight. What’s not mentioned but is understood is that our fellow Christians are the battle buddies to the left and right of us. And just like I would never let one of my soldiers down in the Army, I should do the same here.

So what am I getting at?

Justin Bieber recently conducted an interview with complex magazine where he speaks openly about his newfound Christian faith. Right on cue some Christians were quick to lecture him, or worse to insult him. They attacked a fellow believer, a brother in the same fight as us. Instead of praise, they pursued condemnation. It plays into the enemy’s hands and we loose the high ground by our conceit. By the time it took them to write some of the words below, they could instead have offered up a prayer to God, to work in this young mans life.

 

Some quotes from Christians.

“His laid back live and let live, lets not get all worked up over silly details, or pay too much attention to what the bible ACTUALLY says hipster doofus speech is all he has shared with anyone, that’s what I am judging, by biblical, not my own standards”

 “Awe c’mon! He waited until the whole world hates him to come out as a christian!?”

 “Yes, life has seasons for everyone, but those who oppose the Church like this is so fundamentally Unchristian, he must be treated as a non-believer for now.”

 Maybe its because he is in the public domain that many Christians find it ok to speak negatively about him. I would say, that if you are posting hateful or negative comments about a fellow believer you are only hurting yourself. We are of one body, why hurt someone new who has just come into the body? Lift a brother up, encourage and if he drops out at least you know you didn’t push him out but instead were there to help thru prayer or in person.

The first verse I ever memorized was “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” At Justin’s age I was saved but not living as I should have been, and that continued for many years. I was the prodigal son, feeling God had abandoned me when it was the other way around.   I am grateful God knew I could never handle the fame or fortune bestowed upon Justin. I know I would have been worse and done worse than him.

Jesus accepted me as I was, a broken person.

The model of acceptance for Christians is the Lord Jesus, who accepted us, when we were: “powerless” (Rom 5:6); “ungodly” (Rom 5:6); “sinners” (Rom 5:8); and “enemies” (Rom 5:10). Certainly Christians can receive others who differ with them on nonessential matters. We can learn to love anybody if we are at the foot of the cross. Fishermen clean the fish after they’re caught . . [1]

Remember friends none of us are saved by our own accord, but only because God has allowed it.

Eph 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;

This by no means condones any sinful acts he or anyone of us commits, if you got that from my message I am sorry. What it says can best be summarized from a lesson by Paul in Romans 14:8-9

8-For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.

A believer’s individual accountability to the Lord in every area and experience of life is paramount. Every Christian in both life and death is seen by the Lord, and is accountable to Him, not to other Christians. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

9– For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.

In these verses Paul stated the theological basis for his exhortation for Christians to desist from and to resist judging one another. One of the reasons for the Lord Jesus’ redemptive death and resurrection is to be the Lord of both the dead and the living. [1]

 

Martin

 

[1] Chuck Missler review of Romans

Atheist indoctrination #CommonCore schools

KATY, Texas – A Texas seventh-grader is standing up for her religious beliefs after she alleges her teacher forced students to deny that God is real, and threatened them with failing grades if they don’t agree.

Jordan Wooley, a seventh grade student at West Memorial Junior High School in the Katy Independent School District, testified at a school board meeting last night about an assignment in her reading class that caused a serious controversy, and expressed frustration about her teacher’s atheist indoctrination.

“Today I was given an assignment in school that questioned my faith and told me that God was not real. Our teacher had started off saying that the assignment had been giving problems all day. We were asked to take a poll to say whether God is fact, opinion or a myth and she told anyone who said fact or opinion was wrong and God was only a myth,” Wooley told board members.

Please read the rest here. Atheist Teachers School

SOMALIS AND SYRIANS

By Jim Torres “Towers”

As you can tell by my last and most recent article, I’m becoming bolder in sharing my faith, almost to the point of being fanatical. But having striven to be a well rounded rational Christian for all of my spiritual life, I’ve learned to restrain myself and my tongue until I’m certain that God is involved so I am taken seriously and not be considered a fool. This attitude also prepares me for divine appointments that border on the miraculous.

Let me explain. While in the train station awaiting my ride I ordered a Chinese meal at a train depot fast food restaurant, and it proved to be more than I could handle at one sitting. So I left half of it in the Styrofoam box, got a new fork, a couple of napkins and condiments and looked for someone to give it to. It didn’t take long. A shabbily dressed man in his late thirties was standing against a wall looking forlorn. (I’ve learned to be able to tell when someone is hungry or hurting.)

Walking over to the man I asked if he’d eaten lunch. He said, “No, I haven’t.” I asked if he liked Chinese food, to which he replied, “Yes, I do.” I handed him the food and asked if he wanted prayer. “Would you?” he replied, obviously taken aback. I prayed a short prayer for him and left. Then I wondered if God had really directed me to him. I turned, walked back to him and asked, “Were you praying for food before I came to you?” The man answered, “How did you know I was?” It was confirmed that I had done the right thing.

I boarded the train to Fargo and rode a bus from there to Jamestown, North Dakota, my next stop. Although a good many Muslims have been brought to Jamestown from Somalia, I never encountered one since I was confined to bed with a severe cold. But I wondered if the government was bringing in the persecuted Somali Christians as well. In any case I also wondered if they are going to be exposed to the Gospel in the cities where they are being dumped, or to alter our culture and way of life with Sharia.

With the dispersion of these mostly non-Christians in our country comes an opportunity to witness to them for Christ. But I’m afraid that Jamestown is experiencing an ever increasing lawlessness to contend with, much like the rest of the country.

In Jamestown I wasn’t able to do much witnessing as I was sick all the time I was there. However, I did speak to an older man who claimed to be a church-going Christian who doesn’t miss a Sunday service at his church, but he had no assurance of salvation. He was a Lutheran. I asked him if he read the Bible and he said, “No, my pastor tells me all I need to know.” After questioning him and was assured that he knew Jesus Christ as savior; I quoted some scripture verses of assurance of salvation to him. Then I told him to begin reading the Bible for himself and I prayed for him. The poor soul has only months to live and isn’t sure where he’s going after death!

On my way back toward Florida I drove to Fargo and lo and behold it was the homecoming football game for the Fargo Bisons against the University of Northern Iowa in the FARGODOME. I stopped to eat directly in front of the stadium. This gave me a rare opportunity to publicize “The Prophecies 2016”. I had stocked up on my business cards and had plenty to distribute among the teeming thousands of college students across the street. I’m hopeful that they will consider looking at my website and checking out Rapture Ready on the back. Perhaps one of the articles in RR will pique their interest and set them on the right track with Jesus Christ. There I ran across a Catholic who was a wheelchair bound invalid and prayed for him. And I’m not even a prayer warrior! (I wonder who coined that phrase since I can’t find it in the Bible.)

I’ve gotten quite used to having God show up more and more frequently in my life as I go about ministering to people from all walks of life. As usually happens to me now more than ever, something unusual happened (I call it a divine appointment) when I called for a taxicab to take me to the airport. The driver was a young man in his early twenties. He was black as coal with black eyes and pearly white teeth. He was very helpful in loading my luggage into the trunk of the car. “You can sit up here with me if you like!” he hollered from the other side of the car. I took one look at him as I got into the front seat beside him and said, “You must be Somali.” He looked startled but replied, “How did you know?”

I replied, “God told me.” The young man stiffened up, not knowing how to respond.

“He also told me to share this information with you.” With that I began sharing the Gospel without any niceties or formalities since I knew that I only had a few minutes to share with him. The first thing he said was that he was a Muslim. I had assumed that already, but told him I knew something of his Muslim faith and that my Christian faith was different. It is about love and forgiveness and peace. I also told him that Jesus was /is the Son of the living God and not just a prophet. I shared scripture verses with him and urged him to get a Bible and read about the great salvation that Jesus offers. The encounter was short and sweet and when he left me at the airport he waved goodbye with a sincere smile on his face.

PS

My younger brother K.C. just called from Lansing, Michigan. He said that a large number of Somalis and Syrians had been brought into Lansing to begin a new life there. I just hope we can convert them before they convert us to Jihad and Sharia!

YBIC

Jim Torres “Towers”

Contact me at jt.filmmaker@yahoo.com for a synopsis of the movie “The Prophecies 2016.”

The Doctrine of Election

Truly the Bible is inexhaustible.  You could spend your entire life reading it and never fully understand it, and at the same time learning something new from it every day.  There are many times I will read something in the Bible and pass over something, not fully understanding what was being said.  I praise God for helping me to learn and discern something I don’t understand and reveal more to me everyday.  Case in point is the following verses in Luke 4:24-30

And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.
But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias,
when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine
was throughout all the land; But unto none of them was Elias sent, save
unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow.
And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and
none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian. And all they in
the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, And
rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the
hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.
But he passing through the midst of them went his way.

In the past I would read this verse and not ask the question, what were they so angry about? What did Jesus say here that caused them to want to kill him?  As I grow in my faith, I am more careful when in my studies and take more time to try and understand what is going on.  On a side note I am also fascinated how Jesus always slipped away from the mob on countless occasions, but that’s another story (he is of course GOD)!

What I have learned about this verse was Jesus teaching that God chooses whom he chooses, or the Doctrine of Election. Paul in Romans 9:6-13 delves into this.  They were upset at Jesus because each example above was a gentile!  Jesus gives them in this sermon two examples of two peoples that were benefited by two of Israels most famous prophets!  It made the Jews angry because they thought they were the chosen people, and Paul hits this head on in Romans 9.

For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will
have compassion on whom I will have compassion. Romans 9:15

“I Will Have Mercy On Whom I Will Have Mercy”
God took refuge in His own inherent right to suspend judgment, if it pleased Him. There was no resource left in man! All have forfeited title to life through sin. Let’s flee to the ultimate authority:
Jesus Himself.Make it personal: Why did you believe in God? It was God’s initiative for His own purposes (John 6:40-47). Mixture: God’s initiative and human responsibility. (1)

This issue of Divine Election is very misunderstood and one that can not be simple enough to explain in a single blog post.  My intent is just to give you a glimpse of what it is.  Furthermore, when you understand that God is outside the physical dimension of time, “God alone knows the end
from the beginning.” (Isa 46:10; cf. Isa 55:8).  Then there is no confusion.

Now in your bible studies, know that everything is there to teach and for our benefit.  I loved getting an understanding of what was going on in Luke and what Paul was speaking about in Romans 9.

 

 

Notes:

1.Chuck Misslers Study of Romans.

Where’s the feminist outrage over ISIS’s savage treatment of women?

Why would any woman who lives in a free society in the West choose to live under ISIS’s barbaric tyranny? Doesn’t she know that Syrian and Iraqi women (Muslims, Christians, Yazidis, Kurds) are desperate to flee the region, that they fear being captured, forcibly married, forcibly converted to Islam—or tortured as sex slaves?

I ask these questions because the Washington Post is currently running an in-depth look at “Life in the ‘Islamic State.’” Part two of the multi-part series focuses on women. The report is chilling and difficult to read.

The Post’s series reminds us that not all women are treated the same way under the men in charge of ISIS. — There are wives and then there are literally sex slaves.

Tragically, we already know the fate of the lucky “wives.” They lead isolated lives spent mostly indoors without electricity or clean water. They wear heavy head-face-and-body covering in 100 degree weather–and they are monitored, harassed, and punished by a sadistic all-female brigade if their burqa slips. According to the Post they join “an institutionalized, near-assembly-line system to provide fighters with sex and children. When their (arranged marriage) husbands are killed, they are expected to celebrate their ‘martyrdom’ and quickly marry other fighters.”

The sex slaves are not even this “lucky.” The mainly Yazidi and Christian girls and women who are forced into sex slavery are raped up to thirty times a day by different men. They are forced to perform pornography-inspired acts which terrify and injure them. As members of a shame-and-honor tribal culture, most believe that they no longer deserve to live. Many attempt suicide; some succeed. Many are sold, over and over again—and trafficked to Saudi Arabia or Northern Africa.

Why would any Western woman, any woman for that matter, want to join ISIS, you ask?

Here are three reasons:

Read the rest here –Where’s the feminist outrage over ISIS’s savage treatment of women?

 

Great article by Phyllis Chesler, Ph.D  her archived work is http://www.phyllis-chesler.com/

WORDS

 

By Jim Torres “Towers”

Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. And there was not anything made that was made without Him. In Him was life, and this life was the light of men…

Jesus is the Word. His Word is the glue that holds everything together, that’s why He was able to just speak the words and people were healed of their infirmities, and raised from the dead. Notice how Christ told the unyielding fig tree to die and it withered and did so. Also remember how he calmed the violent storm on the Sea of Galilee to the utter amazement of His apostles who were afraid they might die in the raging storm. He did so to validate His power to the Apostles who were with Him. Now that’s power!

That is why; once we trust Him He can work the miraculous, all we have to do is have faith that He can do it. Words are powerful, very powerful. They gave existence to our mortal being and sense of consciousness.

God even gave mankind the capability to form words for communication amongst themselves. We too have power in the words spoken by us; they can bring joy, hope, restoration, happiness, consolation and healing. However, when wrongly used words can also instill negative feelings of fear, intimidation, anxiety and hate. The human tongue has power over life and death as well. That’s why the Word of God, tells us to be careful what we say because we will be held accountable for every idle word we speak.

The written word also has power, the power to make one knowledgeable and well informed. We, through the written word can be entertained, and infused by the knowledge of what others preceding us had to say about a certain subject. We therefore learn without having to experience what the writer did during his experiments if the subject is science for example. Libraries across the word are full of knowledge, history and genealogy. What a dynamic gift we have in words written or spoken. It’s too bad we take this miraculous gift for granted, and more often than not abuse it.

When witnessing to someone, it is best to use the Word of God. “The Word of God is shaper than a two edged sword, piercing to the dividing asunder of the soul and the spirit and bone and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Who can refute the word of God? Only a fool would try.

An illiterate person has few options but to believe anything said to him. That’s why many third world countries are still in the dark ages as it were. The more enlightened a culture is the better is their sanitary, health, and governmental system becomes. “Blessed are they that read.”

Satan uses words too, taking advantage of a people by twisting words around though lies and deceit. “Has God really said”? In this way, by questioning the words of God, he causes people to doubt and question the authority of our Creator. He tempted Jesus with words, “If you really are the Son of God, cast yourself down for the scriptures say, He will not let you dash your foot against a stone”. But Jesus answered by saying, “It is written, thou shall not tempt the Lord thy God.”

By the way,

I’m on a mission to help my former brother in law get around after undergoing an eye operation which without it will go blind within weeks. Making my way across country by train has been a real adventure already.

I use my business cards to let these people know about my movie “The Prophecies 2016.” and on top of that, my card also informs about my writing contributions to Rapture Ready and Drop Zone Delta on the reverse side.

I was first assigned a seat next to a very religious Hindu man and we talked for hours. I was able to share Christ with him after listening to his story, after which I gave him my business card.

With only three days on the road I’ve had a number of encounters on the train and was also able to lead a man to Christ in the train station in front of many witnesses. What must the observers have thought? The truth is, I don’t care, this man’s spiritual well being was at stake and I will take every opportunity that presents itself to do so.

Another elderly couple I met and talked to at length will distribute my cards to their church members. This couple witnessed me leading the man to Christ in the train station and were impressed enough to take a photo with me. I also encountered a missionary couple from Ethiopia; they told me that Muslims are having visions of Christ there.

The following day I met an Atheist in the lounge car who is a really friendly guy and was open to discussing the Bible and God even though he was a former fan of Timothy Leary the LSD guru. A young man Amish whose name is Jacob listened to our conversation intently and I learned from him that they use the King James Bible. Soon after, I was surrounded by the entire barn raising group of about twenty, making conversation and having a good time, even laughing at times. I will never forget this wonderful encounter. Jesus said, “Only those who throw away their lives for my sake will know what it truly means to live.”

I give my business cards to everyone I encounter. In this way, I am able to spread the word about my movie to many across the country. I will also be visiting a number of churches as drive back from North Dakota to Naples next month.

Everyone has to know that God loves them and is not willing that any should perish, but come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

You can contact me for a synopsis of my evangelical movie “The Prophecies 2016 movie”

YBIC

Jim Torres “Towers”

jt.filmmaker@yahoo.com

Russia enters Syrian war with air strikes, jolts the Mid East into new era

That Russia launched its first air strikes in Syria Wednesday, Sept. 30 was confirmed by the Russian Defense Ministry in Moscow and criticized by US officials. Moscow stressed that it acted in support of Bashar Assad’s war on the Islamic State, assisted by other foreign powers including Iran and Iraq working together from an allied command center in Baghdad. Its targets were described as stores, ammunition dumps and vehicles, located according to US sources around Homs and Hama. The Russian communiqués did not indicate which organizations were bombed.

The Russian aerial offensive marks a turning point in Middle East affairs. Russia is emerging strongly as the number one power in the region. The governments which hitherto coordinated their military polices with the US, like those of Israel, Jordan and Turkey will have to reassess their orientation and affinities in a hurry.

Read More at Debka File

Are you a real man? former Delta Force commander drops #Truth

(Editors Note- This is the Foreword to the book written by Stephen Mansfield, Mansfield’s book of Manly Men: An utterly invigorating guide to being your most masculine self. I can’t add to what General Boykin wrote.  I agree wholeheartedly with his words. This book is a must read.)

Lieutenant General William G. Boykin (retired)  Former commander, Delta Force 

FEW PERSONALITIES IN THE BIBLE ARE MORE RECOGNIZED FOR their manly qualities than the “man after God’s own heart,” the great King David. He was an extraordinary warrior, an accomplished musician, a skilled author, a man of great wisdom, and, as important, a dutiful shepherd over his father’s flocks. He was also courageous, passionate, and certainly flawed. David was a manly man who achieved greatness in his lifetime, a man all men today should study for the lessons they can learn.

David knew what it was to be a man. As he lay dying, he called his son Solomon to his bedside and gave him final instructions: “I am about to go the way of all the earth. So be strong and show yourself a man.” These are the last recorded words of one of the greatest kings to ever live. Of all he might have said to his son with his final breath, he chose to instruct him to be a man. They are words we should never forget.

Today the concept of being a manly man is something every American male should contemplate. The truth is most men are not at all clear about what it means to be a real man in American society. The feminist movement has severely re-worked the image of manhood, and this has damaged the self-esteem of many men. Likewise, the constant intrusion of government into the family structure in our nation has contributed dramatically to confusion about what God intends men to be. When a government perpetuates the myth that its programs are more important than fathers in the home, men will naturally suffer a crisis of identity.

Men also face the popular but false notion that women can do anything a man can do. This, too, serves to emasculate men, just as it ignores God’s highest and noblest intentions for men and women. It has given our nation a plague of gender confusion that masquerades as trendy gender neutrality and leaves us everything from unisex dress to mixing the sexes in frontline combat units in our military.  This is one of many signs of America’s deepening gender crisis, a crisis that is devastating American men.

Sadly, most Christian churches offer little help in this cause, and it is because they fail to articulate the true nature of the greatest man in history, Jesus Christ.  Many churches portray him as meek, weak, and almost effeminate. This leads to men who are much the same.

It is a picture far from the true Jesus Christ. Consider for a moment. Jesus was a carpenter who worked with his hands and lifted heavy stone and large chunks of wood. His hands were calloused and scarred from the everyday wear and tear of carpentry. Yes, he was the Son of God, but he was also a man’s man. He even told his disciples to sell their cloaks and buy swords as they set off to do his work and build his church. He was establishing for their understanding that there are things worth fighting for, even things worth dying for as men.

He is our highest example of manhood, particularly in the magnificence of his courage. We should never forget how he entered the temple in Jerusalem one day.  Seeing conduct that showed disregard for the honor of God, he made a braided whip and drove moneychangers and merchants out of the temple courts. You can bet that those who saw him do it never forgot how he flipped over tables and fiercely prevented strong young men from carrying merchandise through God’s house. This is the true Jesus Christ. He was tough and rugged, but also the epitome of love and compassion.

What about American men today?

Most modern men do not reflect the image of the best model for genuine manhood. Society suffers as a result. For example, many men are convinced it is somehow manly to produce children yet unmanly to take responsibility for them. This is why there are American households teeming with children but absent a father.

Consider also the domestic abuse statistics in America. What kind of degenerate thinks it is manly to beat a woman—that he is somehow affirming his superior status in the world through violence against those he is intended to protect?

I could ask the same question about men who have extramarital affairs. What kind of man breaks his vows, destroys lives, and violates the laws of God for false love and brief pleasures?  It must be the same kind of man who allows pornography—a kind of fictional intimacy of the imagination—to destroy genuine intimacy with a loving wife. Certainly men who do these things are not modeling themselves after the ultimate man, Jesus Christ.

It is no wonder so many people are asking these days, “Where are all the real men?”
Manhood is suffering today. Men seem to be confused about what God wants them to be and about how to live out their manly calling. I often get this question from the men I meet: “Are there any examples of real men that we can emulate?” I answer, “Yes!” Let me tell you about just one.

My dad was a manly man who was a fine role model for my brother and me.  Gerald Boykin grew up on a tobacco farm in eastern North Carolina as one of ten children. He was the sixth son of a sharecropper. Gerald dropped out of high school three months after his seventeenth birthday so he could join the United States Navy during World War II. His four older brothers were already deployed to combat zones and Gerald refused to stay behind. He simply had to join his brothers in upholding what they all believed.

Knowing my father as I do, I’m sure he also did not want to be left out of the war stories that would be told at the family gatherings in later years!  His passion to serve his country like a man landed him in the middle of fierce fighting on June 6, 1944—D-Day. Gerald was severely wounded and left blind in his left eye. After his discharge from the navy, he returned to the tobacco farm, married his sweetheart, and started a family. When the Korean War began in 1950, he returned to service in the United States Army, which had a program for disabled veterans who could still function. After the war, he was discharged a second time.  Upon leaving the army, Gerald accepted a job with the United States Marine Corps, where he served for thirty-two years as a federal employee. This service included a year in Vietnam and multiple deployments into dangerous areas.

Gerald never expected America to give him anything but an opportunity. He served his nation with devotion all his life and raised his family to love God and to love the nation that he had so faithfully served. His sense of justice and his moral courage were his cornerstone characteristics. Gerald knew what he believed, what was important to him, and what he was unwilling to compromise.  He had a servant’s heart and the strength of character to stand by his convictions. He had transcendent causes in his life. They can be summarized in three words: God, country, family.

Though he had little education, Gerald was a man of wisdom who took his responsibilities as a father and mentor seriously and always stood on principle.  His sense of right and wrong gave him the moral compass that guided his life. He never blamed others for his own failures or shortcomings. He accepted responsibility for his actions and lived with the consequences. He was my hero—a real man, a manly man.

Some readers probably expected me to characterize him as a skilled hunter or fisherman or outdoorsman or even an avid golfer. After all, isn’t that what we think of when we talk about manly men these days? Well, he was all of these things, too, but they were not what made him a manly man. Instead, it was his willingness to subordinate his own desires and aspirations to greater causes: his God, his nation, and his family. He put the welfare and security of others before his own. He knew he was blessed by a sovereign and loving God to be an American, and he believed his family was a gift from God for which he was responsible.

Some readers might also have expected me to brag about my father’s physical strength. Yeah, he was a powerful man, too, with enough strength to impress other men. Yet this did not make him manly either. Physical strength is never what makes a man manly. Rather, it is moral strength that identifies the true man, and my father had plenty of it. He was the kind of man King David called his son to be.

What about you? Are you a manly man? Can you call yourself a real warrior, a protector of the flock, a man with a transcendent cause in your life?

Sadly, too many men in America cannot identify with the characteristics of a real man. The ideal of the warrior, for example, is too high for them. What makes a man a warrior is his willingness to place himself between what he holds dear and anything that threatens it. Honor is the chief motivator for the warrior. Dishonor is unthinkable. He does the right thing without expectation of reward because honor is an intrinsic value that, when manifested in one’s life, provides its own rewards.

The protector of the flock will risk his own life just as King David did when his father’s sheep were threatened by a lion and a bear. Although David certainly feared the strength and aggression of the bear and the lion, he overcame that fear because he knew the power of his God was greater. We should remember this. A manly man is not without fear; rather he overcomes his fear by enduring difficulty and hardship. Also, like King David, he knows the source of his own strength: God himself.

Each man must determine what is dear to him and what is worth sacrificing for.  A transcendent cause must exist in a man’s life if he is to reach his full potential as a man. Few men today have done a thorough self-analysis to ascertain what their transcendent cause is—or even if they have one. It is time, though: time to determine what we hold dear and what is worthy of sacrifice. As men, we cannot wait until the later years of our lives to make this assessment. I urge you: do it now, and bring meaning to who you are as a man.

I was privileged to serve for thirty-six years in the United States Army with some of America’s finest men. Because I was in Special Operations, I served with people who were selected because they were the best in their fields and were totally committed to their beliefs and values. I have seen them do extraordinary things, often at the risk of their lives.

During the Blackhawk Down events in Mogadishu, Somalia, in October of 1993, two of my Delta Force men, Randy Shughart and Gary Gordon, sacrificed their lives to save four comrades who had crashed in a helicopter in a hostile part of the city.  Knowing there was no one else who could save their comrades at that moment, these two men volunteered to go alone into what they knew was almost certainly a fatal situation. After asking three times to be allowed to save the four men in the crash, they were finally granted permission to go.

Ultimately, only the copilot survived to tell the story of how these incredible heroes jumped from a hovering helicopter and fought their way into the crash where they removed the crew from their seats and then defended them until they were killed. These men were motivated by more than self-interest. They were patriots.  They were men.

They, and many like them, are still the core of American manhood. I am actually optimistic today because there are other men like Shughart and Gordon who are not only serving in our nation’s armed forces, but are serving in numerous ways in communities across the nation. Some are professionals, but many are factory workers, farmers, and average citizens who have settled the question of what they care most about and are prepared to make sacrifices for the things they value.  These are the leaders of the future.

Stephen Mansfield has provided an extraordinary blueprint for every man to determine how he can be the man that God has called him to be—a manly man.  Stephen uses his knowledge of biblical principles combined with his incredible understanding of men—and the influences and distractions that they are facing today—to show us how to grow into the kind of man that King David wanted Solomon to be.

This book is a must read for every American male. We must restore the understanding of what it means to be a manly man. The nation’s future depends on men getting back to the fundamentals of being men of courage and values. Read this book and discover what it means to be a manly man. What you find may surprise you. You will be changed for the better and inspired to be the man you want to be—the man God intended you to be.

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