PSALM 125

1 A song of ascents: Those who trust in ADONAI are like Mount Tziyon, which cannot be moved but remains forever. 2 Yerushalayim! Mountains all around it! Thus ADONAI is around his people henceforth and forever. 3 For the scepter of wickedness will not rule the inheritance of the righteous, so that the righteous will not themselves turn their hands to evil. 4 Do good, ADONAI, to the good, to those upright in their hearts. 5 But as for those who turn aside to their own crooked ways, may ADONAI turn them away, along with those who do evil. Shalom on Isra'el!

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This Psalm is one of a set of 15 (Psalms 120-134) which were sung by pilgrims making the journey to the mountain of God (Tziyon) to worship Him at feasts 3 times annually.

This one, the sixth in the set, begins like a confident Tziyon hymn, and is in this respect similar to Psalms 46, 48 and 76. Notice the confidence we can have when we put our trust in Adonai, our lives can be compared to Mount Tziyon, which is unmovable and everlasting in its character.

In the midst of events of the political turmoil we have witnessed over the last few weeks in so many different countries and the natural disasters which have literally shaken the earth, I believe we need to be reminded that our position in Jesus is one that is secure and unshakable. "Yerushalayim! Mountains all around it!" In the same way as we view the safety of this geographical location, we can also view our spiritual position in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Whilst still on this earth we are surrounded by unseen heavenly hosts who guard and protect us day by day in our going out and coming in, at work, at rest and at play.

Verse 3 is another reassurance in the world we see around us today, "the scepter of wickedness will not rule the inheritance of the righteous. God can keep and preserve us from evil when it seems to prevail. In the UK last week a pronouncement was made by two High Court Judges that there is no place for Christian belief in British law. This was in response to a case involving a Pentecostal couple who were fostering a child. As they did not believe in homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle, they are now forbidden to foster children. In courts, oaths are made on the Bible (which forbids homosexuality), we have an established church, of which our Queen is a Governor and we have Church of England Bishops who sit in our upper house, the House of Lords.

As there has been no holding to account of the 2 High court judges, or further comment made following the absurd statement they made in a country which once sent Christianity around the world, I think we can quite confidently assume that the UK is no longer a Christian country. What a joy it is to know in my heart that God is faithful and will preserve me in this culture which has forsaken His ways to worship money, power, pleasure and fame.

In verse 5 we see a very serious statement made in regard to those who forsake or neglect God in their lives. It says, "may ADONAI turn them away, along with those who do evil."

Conversely, in verse 4 we see that God will do good to those who are good, to those who are upright in heart. Let us seek to follow and trust our lives to Him who gave up all the glories of heaven to suffer at the hands of sinful men and give His life in order that we might have eternal life. Let us also continue to pray for Shalom on Isra'el in these tumultuous times.

Thi sarticle does not make for light bed-time reading. Th outlook for planet earth is not very good at the moment, with the strain on global resources caused by a population going up to near 7 biliion.

There is no easy solution to the problems and doom scenario we see in this feature, but one thing we have to remember is what I call the God factor. If it was left to us to resolve everything, we would get nowhere fast, but by using the common'sense, skills and abilities endowed by out Creator, we may just be able to all play our small part on the world stage. Ultimately, it is God's world (Psalm 24) and we are the people He has made it for. We have a responsibility to safeguard it and do the best that we can, but realize He is ultimately Lord of time and space and will work all things out to His glory. Look at the picture below, what finer example is there in space of a living, breathing planet that sustains life, that we know of?

Amplify’d from theeconomiccollapseblog.com

It is not just the United States that is headed for an economic collapse.  The truth is that the entire world is heading for a massive economic meltdown and the people of earth need to be warned about the coming economic disaster that is going to sweep the globe.  The current world financial system is based on debt, and there are alarming signs that the gigantic global debt bubble is getting ready to burst.  In addition, global prices for the key resources that the major economies of the planet depend on are rising very rapidly.  Despite all of our advanced technology, the truth is that human civilization simply cannot function without oil and food.  But now the price of oil and the price of food are both increasing dramatically.  So how is the current global economy supposed to keep functioning properly if it soon costs much more to ship products between continents?  How are the billions of people that are just barely surviving today supposed to feed themselves if the price of food goes up another 30 or 40 percent?  For decades, most of the major economies around the globe have been able to take for granted that massive amounts of cheap oil and massive amounts of cheap food will always be there.  So what happens when that paradigm changes?

At last check, the price of U.S. crude was over 104 dollars a barrel and the price of Brent crude was over 115 dollars a barrel.  Many analysts fear that if the crisis in Libya escalates or if the chaos in the Middle East spreads that we could see the all-time record of 147 dollars a barrel broken by the end of the year.  That would be absolutely disastrous for the global economy.

But it isn't just the chaos in the Middle East that is driving oil prices.  The truth is that oil prices have been moving upwards for months.  The recent revolutions in the Middle East have only accelerated the trend.

Let's just hope that the "day of rage" being called for in Saudi Arabia later this month does not turn into a full-blown revolution like we have seen in other Middle Eastern countries.  The Saudis keep a pretty tight grip on their people, but at this point anything is possible.  A true revolution in Saudi Arabia would send oil prices into unprecedented territory very quickly.

But even without all of the trouble in the Middle East the world was already heading for an oil crunch.  The global demand for oil is rising at a very vigorous pace.  For example, last year Chinese demand for oil increased by almost 1 million barrels per day.  That is absolutely staggering.  The Chinese are now buying more new cars every year than Americans are, and so Chinese demand for oil is only going to continue to increase.

Much could be done to increase the global supply of oil, but so far our politicians and the major oil company executives are sitting on their hands.  They seem to like the increasing oil prices.

So for now it looks like oil prices will continue to rise and this is going to result in much higher prices at the gas pump.

Already, ABC News is reporting that regular unleaded gasoline is going for $5.29 a gallon at one gas station in Orlando, Florida.

The U.S. economy in particular is vulnerable to rising oil prices because our entire economic system is designed around cheap gasoline.  If the price of gas goes up to 5 or 6 dollars a gallon and it stays there it is going to have a catastrophic effect on the U.S. economy.

Just remember what happened back in 2008.  The price of oil hit an all-time high of $147 a barrel and then a few months later the entire financial system had a major meltdown.

Well, as the price of oil rises it is going to create a whole lot of imbalances in the global financial system once again.

This is definitely a situation that we should all be watching.

But it is not just the price of oil that could cause a global economic disaster.

The global price of food could potentially be even more concerning.  As you read this, there are about 3 billion people around the globe that live on the equivalent of 2 dollars a day or less.  Those people cannot afford for food prices to go up much.

But global food prices are rising.  According to the United Nations, the global price of food has risen for 8 consecutive months.  Last month, the global price of food set a brand new all-time record high.  Many are starting to fear that we could actually be in the early stages of a major global food crisis.

The price of just about every major agricultural commodity has been absolutely soaring during the past year....

*The price of corn has doubled over the last six months.

*The price of wheat has more than doubled over the past year.

*The price of soybeans is up about 50% since last June.

*The price of cotton has more than doubled over the past year.

*The commodity price of orange juice has doubled since 2009.

*The price of sugar is the highest it has been in 30 years.

Unfortunately, the production of food in most countries around the world is very highly dependent on oil, so as oil goes up in price this is going to make the food crisis even worse.

Hold on to your hats folks.

Also, as I have written about previously, the world is facing some very serious problems when it comes to water.  Due to the greed of the global elite, there is not nearly enough fresh water to go around.  The following are some very disturbing facts about the global water situation....

*Worldwide demand for fresh water tripled during the last century, and is now doubling every 21 years.

*According to USAID, one-third of all humans will face severe or chronic water shortages by the year 2025.

*Of the 60 million people added to the world’s cities every year, the vast majority of them live in impoverished slums and shanty-towns with no sanitation facilities whatsoever.

*It is estimated that 75 percent of India's surface water is now contaminated by human and agricultural waste.

*Not only that, but according to a UN study on sanitation, far more people in India have access to a mobile phone than to a toilet.

*In northern China, the water table is dropping one meter per year due to overpumping.

These days, one of the trendy things to do is to call water "the oil of the 21st century", but unfortunately that is not a completely inaccurate statement.  Fresh, clean water is something that we all need, but right now world supplies are getting tight.

Our politicians and the global elite could be doing something about this if they really wanted to, but right now they seem perfectly fine with what is happening.

On top of everything else, the sovereign debt crisis is worse than it has ever been before.

All of the major global central banks have been feverishly printing money in an attempt to "paper over" this crisis, but it is not going to work.

Most Americans don't realize it, but right now the continent of Europe is a financial basket case.  Greece and Ireland would have imploded already if they had not been bailed out, and now Portugal is on the verge of collapse.  The interest rate on Portugal's 10-year notes has now been above 7% for about 3 weeks, and most analysts believe that it is only a matter of time before they are forced to accept a bailout.

Sadly, if the entire global economy experiences a slowdown because of rising oil prices, we could see half a dozen European nations default on their debts if they are not bailed out.

For now the Germans seem fine with bailing out the weak sisters that are all around them, but that isn't going to last forever.

A day or reckoning is coming for Europe, and when it arrives the reverberations are going to be felt all across the face of the earth.  The euro is on very shaky ground already, and whether or not it can survive the coming crisis is an open question.

Of course there are some very serious concerns about Asia as well.  The national debt of Japan is now well over 200% of GDP and nobody seems to have a solution for their problems.  Up to this point, Japan has been able to borrow massive amounts of money at extremely low interest rates from their own people, but that isn't going to last forever either.

As I have written about so many times before, the biggest debt problem of all is the United States.  Barack Obama is projecting that the federal budget deficit for this fiscal year will be a new all-time record 1.65 trillion dollars.  It is expected that the total U.S. national debt will surpass the 15 trillion dollar mark by the end of the fiscal year.

Shouldn't we have some sort of celebration when that happens?

15 trillion dollars is quite an achievement.

Most Americans cannot even conceive of a debt that large.  If the federal government began right at this moment to repay the U.S. national debt at a rate of one dollar per second, it would take over 440,000 years to pay off the national debt.

But the United States is not alone.  The truth is that wherever you look, there is a sea of red ink covering the planet.

The current global financial system is entirely based on debt.  If the total amount of debt does not continually expand, the system will crash.  If somehow a way was found to keep this system going perpetually (which is impossible), the size of global debt would keep on increasing infinitely.

Now the World Economic Forum says that we need to grow the total amount of debt by another 100 trillion dollars over the next ten years to "support" the anticipated amount of "economic growth" around the world that they expect to see.

The entire global financial system is a gigantic Ponzi scheme.  It is designed to keep everyone enslaved to perpetual debt.  If at some point the debt spiral gets interrupted in some significant way, we are going to witness an economic disaster that is going to make what happened in 2008 look like a Sunday picnic.

The more research that one does on the current global economic situation, the more clear it becomes that we are absolutely doomed.

So people of earth you had better get ready.

An economic disaster is coming. Read more at theeconomiccollapseblog.com

In relation to this latest pronouncement, my fears have been confirmed that Britain is no longer a Christian country.

A few questions to think about.

1) Is there place or consideration for any kind of belief in the British law? If so, do we still have Human Rights and equality in Britain?

2) Why do we still have an established Christian church of whom the Queen is a governor?

3) Why do we have Bishops in government who sit in the House of Lords?

I am thankful that there is a Higher Court than the High Court, to whom the people who made this stupid comment will have to give an answer one day.

Pray for wisdom for our leaders and lawyers in these days, they certainly do need it!

Amplify’d from www.telegraph.co.uk

There is no place in British law for Christian beliefs, despite this country’s long history of religious observance and the traditions of the established Church, two High Court judges said on Monday.

Lord Justice Munby and Mr Justice Beatson made the remarks when ruling on the case of a Christian couple who were told that they could not be foster carers because of their view that homosexuality is wrong.

The judges underlined that, in the case of fostering arrangements at least, the right of homosexuals to equality “should take precedence” over the right of Christians to manifest their beliefs and moral values.

In a ruling with potentially wide-ranging implications, the judges said Britain was a “largely secular”, multi-cultural country in which the laws of the realm “do not include Christianity”.

Campaigners for homosexual rights welcomed the judgment for placing “21st-century decency above 19th-century prejudice”. Christian campaigners claimed that it undermined the position of the Church of England.

The ruling in the case of Owen and Eunice Johns, from Derby, is the latest in a series of judgments in which Christians have been defeated in the courts for breaching equality laws by manifesting their beliefs on homosexuality. Read more at www.telegraph.co.uk

This is a very sensitive issue with the things that are occurring in the world at the moment. I would be interested to know what action the Italian police would have taken in the case of someone or a number of people being converted to Islam in the same Catholic country?

Amplify’d from creepingsharia.wordpress.com

ROP strikes again, via Italy arrests 6 for stirring hate vs pope.

ROME (AP) – Italian police on Friday arrested six Moroccan men suspected of inciting hatred against Pope Benedict XVI for converting a Muslim journalist in Italy to Catholicism.

Stefano Fonsi, head of Brescia police’s anti-terrorism squad in northern Italy, said the suspects allegedly banded together and met privately with the goal of stirring up religious hatred against non-Muslims, including the pope.

Investigators say they found literature exhorting Muslim immigrants against integrating into Italian society and saying the pope should be punished for having baptized the journalist during an Easter vigil ceremony in St. Peter’s Basilica.

The investigation grew out of security checks ahead of a pastoral visit by Benedict to Brescia in 2009, but authorities insisted that their probe revealed no plot against the pontiff or other terrorism aims.

Brescia Prosecutors Fabio Salmone said there was “absolutely no” indication that the group had attacks in mind. “I rule that out,” he told reporters. “There wasn’t even a plan” to organize attacks, he said.

In 2008, Egyptian-born journalist Magdi Allam angered some Muslims by becoming a Catholic. After being baptized, he changed his name to Magdi Cristiano Allam. He had built a career in Italy as a newspaper commentator and author attacking Islamic extremism and supporting Israel. Read more at creepingsharia.wordpress.com

It can be seen from the last few weeks that very serious political turmoil is spreading throughout Middle Eastern and North African countries. Beginning with Tunisia and Egypt we are now looking on anxiously to see how events are going to play out in Bahrain and Libya, not forgetting the rumblings in Iran which haven't really subsided since the disputed elections there a few years ago.

Looking on as an outsider at these different and unique national situations we can see that the inhabitants of many of the countries are finding a new voice through social media such as Facebook and Twitter. They feel they are losing their sense of isolation and helplessness at having to continue to tolerate governments and dictators which have been in seemingly undisputed or unquestioned power for decades in many cases.

What the inhabitants of these countries need to consider is what is likely to succeed the governments they are ousting one by one. One case is that of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya, who, whatever one may say, has experience of governing and recently sought to become reconciled with Western nations because he recognizes the importance of the oil trade to his country. The heir apparent, his son Seif-al-Islam, has none of that experience and, who knows, may have more tyrannical and repressive tendencies than his father who has raised him and set a pattern and example which most would agree is not the best he could have been given.

Let us pray in these days that there will be an end to the domino-effect toppling of regimes and a move towards our preferred Western way of choosing new governments, the ballot box. We know that can also come in different shapes, sizes and degrees of fairness and accuracy, but many of us still believe it is the best way to represent the wishes of the greatest number of people within a country. As Churchill would have said (paraphrased) "Democracy is the worst form of government known to man, except for any other alternative means of governing."

Amplify’d from goodmenproject.com

Turmoil in Libya: How Responsible Is the U.S.?

Muammar Gaddafi has held the hand of both Barack Obama and George W. Bush. Literally and figuratively, some might say. He’s shown himself to be quite the tyrannical despot, or despotic tyrant—whatever you like better. But after seizing power in Libya 40 years ago, his grip is slipping away.

Today marks day six of the Libyan protests … or what we know about them. Media access in Libya has been so strictly limited that every report has to be met with some skepticism. The precision and accuracy of each story is hard to gauge. There sure as hell won’t be any Al Jazeera footage like there was in Tarhir Square. The Internet has been cut and TV signals are being jammed. Many Libyans have gone to Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube (warning: graphic) to relay information.

The protests broke out in the eastern city of Benghazi, Libya’s second largest city, inspired by the events in Egypt and Tunisia. As the protests grew, texts were sent out over the Libyana mobile network urging “nationalist youths” to defend the country’s “national symbols.” Translation: Gaddafi wants thugs to deal with the protestors. This has led to more than 200—again, an estimate—civilian deaths. Civilians have been killed at funerals, which just leads to more funerals. Tanks have run people over. Snipers shoot from rooftops and helicopters. There have been reports of machine guns and mercenaries, too.

Despite Gaddafi’s uncivil, unreasonable, and completely inhumane tactics, it’s being reported that Benghazi has fallen to the anti-government supporters. It appears that many government forces in Benghazi have turned against Gaddafi. Then, late yesterday, reports surfaced that protests began in Tripoli, the western and capital city of Libya. It was heavily tweeted that Gaddafi ordered mercenaries to rape Libyan women. And again, reports say that there have been clashes between pro- and anti-government forces, and “witnesses said tear gas and live ammunition were used against anti-government protesters.”

This morning, Seif al-Islam Gaddafi, Muammar Gaddafi’s son and heir apparent, released a rambling statement over statewide airwaves, warning civilians, “We will fight until the last man, until the last woman, until the last bullet.”

The younger Mr. Qaddafi blamed Islamic radicals and Libyans in exile for the uprising. He offered a vague package of reforms in his televised speech, potentially including a new flag, national anthem, and confederate structure. But his main theme was to threaten Libyans with the prospect of civil war over its oil resources which would break up the country, deprive residents of food and education, and even invite a Western takeover.

“Libya is made up of tribes and clans and loyalties,” he said. “There will be civil war.”

Recalling Libya’s colonial past, he warned, “The West and Europe and the United States will not accept the establishment of an Islamic emirate in Libya.”

The fact that he’s even using language like “last women” or “last bullet” tells you everything you need to know. The Libyan protests have been the region’s bloodiest thus far. Unfortunately, it’s probably only going to get worse.

And there’s one more thing to remember during all of this. There’s a reason Gaddafi was able to rule for so many years: oil. Even though Libya-U.S. relations haven’t always been smooth, there’s still always been a relationship. As Jeff Neumann just wrote:

Just as in Egypt and Tunisia and elsewhere around the world, wealthy countries are all too eager to overlook suppression of basic human rights in favor of “economic liberalization” in the countries they’ve invested in. So, to answer the question of who’s been propping up Qaddafi the answer is simple: we have. Read more at goodmenproject.com

Why is there a constant sense of doom and gloom hanging over us about our economy? Why do one set of figures that dip slightly from the last lot seem to be such a big deal? I feel we have become like hypochondriacs, constantly wanting to check our pulse or blood pressure and temperature as far as our economy is concerned.

We know there is inflation, we know there are 2 and a half million plus unemployed, and we know that after 13 years of socialism (communism) there is more greed,inequality and poverty than we have ever seen before.

However, I feel we need to gain a sense of perspective now that we are supposed to be one big global village. There are many millions in the world who exist on less than a dollar a day, there are people who are starving and people in multiple countries wanting a change of leadership who don't know what form that might take. It could lead them to less freedom than they had before.

The media keep drawing our attention to regular sets of statistics which are to be honest both unnecessary, prove nothing and have very little real significance. In 5 years time, even in a year's time, will they mean anything? I don't think they will have any relevance.

With the lush pay packets of the top few percent of the population constantly flashed in front of our eyes to make us feel envious, we know very well that the majority of our British population just get by day by day. In some countries this is not so easy and for many of us in Britain there are fears over job loss, shorter working hours, pay cuts and worries about paying that Council Tax and the utility bills. We may have to dip into our savings or try and claim benefits which aren't there any longer, but not everyone can be put in prison for not paying their Council Tax.

Let's take a reality check, sort out our own priorities, go without those needless luxuries and move on, giving some help where we can to those who really need it. I've had to do it and will probably have to carry on doing it for the remainder of my life. If fuel becomes too expensive, then I will have a car that just sits in the driveway or gets sold. So what, I still have some health, food on my plate and a roof over my head at the moment and am grateful that I live where I do.

Amplify’d from www.guardian.co.uk

The Markit household finance index fell this month to its lowest level since March 2009 as business confidence declined for the fourth consecutive quarter

George Osborne's hopes of a rapid recovery were dealt a blow from the latest measure of business confidence falling for the fourth consecutive quarter. Photograph Dominic Lipinski/PA

Consumers and businesses are increasingly gloomy about the outlook for their own finances over the next year, leaving the government with a headache as it tries to boost confidence in the UK's economic prospects.

The Markit household finance index fell this month to its lowest level since March 2009, while a measure of business confidence declined for the fourth consecutive quarter.

Markit found that about 34% of households noted a worsening of their finances, compared to just 5% who reported an improvement.

Mortgage holders, public sector employees and 18 to 24-year-olds reported the worst outlook for their finances since the survey began in February 2009 amid the depths of the financial crisis.

Markit said households remained concerned about inflation, which is eating into their disposable income and depressing the amount of cash they have to spend.

Tim Moore, senior economist at Markit, said: "Heightened pessimism among households threatens to subdue economic activity in early 2011 as rising job insecurity and worries about the financial outlook curtail consumer spending.

He said an unhealthy combination of high inflation and job worries caused households to report that their financial outlook has slumped back to the levels seen during the worst part of the recession.

"With the pendulum swinging towards deeper government spending cuts, there are signs that people initially insulated from the downturn are now feeling the most strain.

The chancellor, George Osborne, has come under pressure ahead of his budget next month to reassure businesses and households that he plans to announce policies to support growth.

The Bank of England last week cut its growth forecast and said 2011 would be a tough year with real household incomes continuing their recent decline.

A survey of businesses by the accountants Grant Thornton and the accountancy trade body the ICAEW found them in a gloomier mood than at the end of last year. The business confidence index declined from +11.9 in the last quarter of 2010 to +9.6 in the first quarter of this year.

The ICAEW said company profits were strong and firms had seen an improvement in turnover, profits and exports compared to the last quarter. It said firms expected to grow this year, though more modestly.

Companies also expect to create about 100,000 private sector jobs, the survey found.

Scott Barnes, chief executive of Grant Thornton, said it was not clear if the jobs would all be full-time. Figures for last year showed that more than 90% of the 200,000 private sector jobs generated were part-time. Barnes said: "Overseas clients will be particularly important in 2011, given domestic demand is likely to be weak so I'm encouraged that businesses are reporting that exports have grown by 4.0% over the last year. Business will be keen for the Bank of England to keep interest rates low to maintain that level of growth." Read more at www.guardian.co.uk