Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria were shocked to see a Nazi flag waving over a mosque in the Palestinian village of Beit Omar near Hebron on Monday. The flag was visible to thousands of Israeli citizens who pass by this mosque en route from Hebron to work.

Uri Arnon, who saw the flag, told Tazpit News Agency, “I felt we were going back 75 years, losing our hold on the land. The Arabs no longer feel the need to hide their murderous tendencies, announcing out loud that they wish to destroy us.”

Aryeh Savir of the Tazpit News Agency reported, “The IDF’s Coordination Office of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) latest response is that they are waiting for members of the Palestinian electricity company to come in and remove it because it is on power lines.”

Regardless of whether the flag stays up or not, the fact that a Nazi flag was waved over a Palestinian mosque is an uncanny reminder of how certain Palestinian nationalists have demonstrated overt support for Nazism, thus demonstrating once again that they have no intention of peacefully coexisting with Israel.

In fact, according to the Walid Shoebat Foundation, which is run by a Palestinian named Walid Shoebat, who used to be a PLO terrorist yet has in recent years become an advocate for Israel, claims that such Palestinian actions should not surprise any of us. He says that the fact that a Nazi flag would be waved over a Palestinian mosque “should be common knowledge but is continuously ignored—Islamic fundamentalists and Nazis are like-minded. That a Nazi flag would be flying over a Palestinian village near a mosque should actually be less shocking than the fact that so many are shocked by it.”

Grand Mufti of Palestine, and Hitler

In the 1930s, Palestinian leader Grand Mufti Haj Amin Al Husseini, who was directly involved in the 1929 riots that destroyed the ancient Jewish community of Hebron, developed a very close alliance with Nazi Germany. The Grand Mufti and his followers were so attached to Hitler that they even adopted Nazi salutes, waved pictures of Hitler at rallies and placed swastikas on their written materials, while the Nazis reciprocated by giving scholarships to Arab students, hiring Arabs in German firms and inviting Arab leaders to Nazi rallies at a time when Jews who lived within Germany their entire lives were denied such opportunities.

Indeed, the Mufti was on the Nazis’ payroll as an agent and propagandist, and the Nazis were actively involved in forming links with Arabic media outlets, whose anti-Jewish legacy that began around the time of the Holocaust endures to the present day. The Grand Mufti was behind the Great Arab Revolt of 1936-1939 and the countless Arab terror operations targeting the Jews of Israel; he was involved with the Farhud massacre of members of the Baghdad Jewish community in 1941; he actively urged European governments to transport Jews to death camps and not let Jews leave Europe; and he was involved in training pro-Nazi Bosnian forces, who committed countless atrocities. He also smuggled Nazi loot into Arab countries.

Present Ties

According to Palestinian Media Watch, “The name Hitler does not carry the stigma in PA society that it does in the West. Both the Hamas weekly and the Fatah PA dailies have written in favorable tones about Hitler. To some Palestinians, the man and his name are worthy of admiration. While it may be surprising to Western observers to see official Palestinian sources presenting Hitler in a heroic light, it is important to note that the revulsion of Hitler that is taken for granted in the West is not true of Palestinian society. There are even Palestinians whose first name is Hitler.”

For example, one article in Al Hayat Al Jadida written not too long ago by Hassan Ouda Abu Zaher stated, “Had Hitler won, Nazism would be an honor that people would be competing to belong to, and not a disgrace punishable by law. Churchill and Roosevelt were alcoholics, and in their youth were questioned more than once about brawls they started in bars, while Hitler hated alcohol and was not addicted to it. He used to go to sleep early and wake up early, and was very organized. These facts have been turned upside down as well, and Satan has been dressed with angels’ wings.”

Indeed, waving a Nazi flag over a Palestinian mosque is merely the latest manifestation of the Palestinian national movement’s overt support for Nazi ideology.

Rachel Avraham is a staff writer for . For the original article, visit .

In a landmark study published recently in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, researchers from the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, have proven that a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids (healthy fats found in coldwater fish, such as salmon, and in certain plant foods, such as walnuts) can inhibit the growth of breast cancer tumors by 30 percent, especially if started early in life.

While advocates of omega-3s have long believed that diet may significantly help in preventing cancer, epidemiological and experimental studies to back up such claims have been lacking, and human studies have been inconsistent—until now.

“It’s a significant finding,” says David Ma, a professor in Guelph’s department of human health and nutritional sciences and one of the study’s authors. “We show that lifelong exposure to omega-3s has a beneficial role in disease prevention—in this case, breast cancer prevention. What’s important is that we have proven that omega-3s are the driving force and not something else.”

Known as an expert on how fats influence health and disease, Ma believes the study will lead to more research on the benefits of healthy living and on using diet to reduce cancer risk.

“There are inherent challenges in conducting and measuring diet in such studies, and it has hindered our ability to firmly establish linkages between dietary nutrients and cancer risk,” Ma says. “So we’ve used modern genetic tools to address a classic nutritional question.”

The modern genetic tools used by Ma and his research team enabled them to genetically engineer mice that uniquely produce omega-3 fatty acids and develop aggressive mammary tumors. Then Ma’s team compared those mice to other mice that were genetically engineered only to develop aggressive mammary tumors.

The results provided solid evidence that the mice producing omega-3s developed only two-thirds as many tumors—and any tumors they did develop were 30 percent smaller than those in the control mice.

“This model provides a purely genetic approach to investigate the effects of lifelong omega-3s exposure on breast cancer development. To our knowledge, no such approach has been used previously to investigate the role of omega-3s and breast cancer,” Ma says. “The fact that a food nutrient can have a significant effect on tumor development and growth is remarkable, and has considerable implications in breast cancer prevention.”

Don Colbert, M.D., is board certified in family practice and in anti-aging medicine. He also has received extensive training in nutritional and preventive medicine, and he has helped millions of people discover the joy of living in divine health.

For the original article, visit .

Would you agree that people are looking for champions today?

The world needs champions for life, champions for good, champions for justice. 

You know that Jesus said in Luke 4:18-19, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

The purpose of God’s Spirit coming on God’s men was to be the champion of those who have not, of those who know not, and of those who are put down a lot.  

We see that same Spirit coming upon the men of Pentecost, God’s men. We see this explosion of champions who are agents of justice and who have powers like Batman.

That rag-tag group of defeated men we call the disciples was transformed into a group of real, live biblical Batmen who were empowered by the Spirit of God, fueling a new masculinity. (I’m talking about the Batman I grew up with, not Christopher Nolan’s presentation of the Dark Knight.)

The world is waiting for more champions like these, fueled by a new form of masculinity that is moral and counter-cultural, that shows the same unity, the same moral courage, and is focused on a new target audience: men! 

It’s not focused on the people we hurt, although we still need to help them, but let’s get to the root cause of the issue. Let’s tap the well. Let’s target men—men targeting men. 

What we saw at that time was Peter filled with the Spirit, targeting the source of the problem: the men of Israel. They are the target of his message.

Why? It’s because the men of God want to spark an uprising.

A new message gave a new heart to men—a new character, a new conduct—and created a phenomenon that we are still living in today. The blast zone of what happened 2,000 years ago among men in Jerusalem at the feast of Pentecost is an explosion that is still reverberating around the globe today. If you’re reading this and you’re one of God’s men, you fall into that tradition. 

This is like the shores of Tripoli. If you’re a Marine, that’s the song we should sing. We look back at that. That’s the inception of male Christianity. It was right there at Pentecost, and it’s a phenomenon. There was a personal tumultus, meaning “an uprising” in Latin, a personal changing of the heart. That led to a social tumultus in the surrounding community that then led to a global tumultus that was born out of a men’s movement.

Let’s focus on the uprising in a man. What goes on when a man has a personal uprising, a personal tumultus in God?  

It is an uprising of spiritual sonship. That’s what happened at Pentecost. That’s what transpired with the Son of God.  

I was on a television show that was aired around the world, and the female host said, “Kenny, answer this question. What is wrong with men?”

I didn’t hesitate for a second: “Men are on a quest for an identity to house their masculinity.” I looked at the host and said, “Every man is born for this quest. It’s the Holy Grail of our existence. We just can’t put our finger on it. We are looking for our identity to house our masculinity.”

It’s called the quest for sonship. When we talk about an uprising and when we talk about whole social fabrics of men—men in community, men in the church, men outside the church—this is the quest. It’s about this Holy Grail of masculinity, this quest for validation.

What happens if a man successfully achieves his quest for validation as a man? He finds the identity in which to house his masculinity. This produces inner security, inner stability and inner maturity.

You see, when you have inner security, inner stability and inner maturity, when the pressure squeezes on you, what comes out is a man.

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The preceding is the second in a series Every Man Ministries is calling “Uprising, Part 2.” We discover that a rebellion is taking place against the suffering created by broken masculinity. This article—and the others that follow—take us on a journey into the broken male culture, showing us that God is our Father and He wants us to return home to His family, and like any loving Father, He expects His sons to behave accordingly. Part 1

Kenny Luck is the founder of Every Man Ministries and the men’s pastor at Saddleback Church. His 20th book, Sleeping Giant: No Movement of God Without Men of God, is the proven blueprint for men’s ministries and was recently released through B&H Publishing. Watch and read more of Kenny’s teaching at . Follow Every Man Ministries now on Facebook, Twitter (@everymm) and YouTube.

Do you eat the typical American diet—high in soft drinks, including diet soda, white flour, French fries and processed meats, like cold cuts and hot dogs?

Eating that way can increase your risk of developing diabetes by 300 percent.

Are you carrying around extra weight? That raises the risk of getting diabetes—a lot. A woman who is mildly obese—for example, weighing 190 at 5-feet-6—has a 55 percent chance of getting diabetes. A man who is mildly obese, who weighs 225 pounds and is 6 feet tall, has a 57 percent chance of developing diabetes.  

This can be prevented, and I will share with you the exciting research on nutrition and foods that can help prevent and reverse diabetes in a moment. But first, a closer look at the problem.

The Diabetes Epidemic

• There are 21 million diabetics and 41 million people at risk of becoming diabetic in the U.S.
• 1 out of 3 American children born in the year 2000 is predicted to develop diabetes during his or her lifetime. For children of African-American, Hispanic, Asian and Native American descent, the odds are closer to 1 in 2.
• Diabetes is predicted to increase by 481 percent among Hispanics, 208 percent among blacks and 113 percent among whites by mid-century.
• The estimated total costs of health care for diabetes rose from $23 billion in 1969 to $132 billion in 2002. It is expected to reach $192 billion by 2020.
• It is in the cost to the individual and their families where diabetes takes its human toll.
• Diabetes is the No. 1 cause of blindness, kidney failure, amputations and nerve disease in the U.S.
• Diabetes causes damage to the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys and nerves.
• A diagnosis of diabetes doubles your risk of dying over the next 10 years.

What makes this so unacceptable is this simple fact: Type 2 diabetes, the form of the disease responsible for this epidemic, is almost totally preventable. 

Staying fit and lean reduces your odds of developing diabetes by over 90 percent.

What Is Insulin Resistance?

Type 2 diabetes occurs when cells do not respond normally to insulin, a hormone made by your pancreas. This condition is called insulin resistance, and it leads to high blood sugar, high blood levels of fat (triglycerides) and high blood pressure.

Once it was a disease seen only in people over 40 and referred to as “adult-onset diabetes.” Today, Type 2 diabetes occurs even in young children. Almost half the new cases of childhood diabetes are now Type 2, reflecting the sharp increase in obesity and lack of physical fitness among our children.

At least 171 million people worldwide suffer from diabetes, and this is expected to reach 366 million by 2030, according to the World Health Organization.

Clearly, prevention of Type 2 diabetes must become an international priority.

Dr. Leo Galland is a board-certified internist who is internationally recognized as a leader in nutritional medicine. He has written several dozen scientific papers, textbook chapters, and three highly acclaimed popular books, The Fat Resistance Diet, Power Healing and Superimmunity for Kids.

The reasons for overeating tend to fall into the same areas for both women and men. However, to help men better understand specifically why they overeat, this article is going to look at those reasons from a “male-centric” point of view.

Men who overeat tend to do it in ways that are tied to other activities and behaviors, which means that most men do not realize they are overeating. To discover if you’re eating enough for a man twice your size, you need to examine these five eating patterns to determine when, and why, you overeat.

1. Boredom. Eating is a visceral, caveman kind of “sensory activity,” and it charges up the senses. Maybe it’s time to find another way to charge up your senses—like a new hobby or interest.

2. Culture. Many cultures are all tangled up in social events in such a way that the event isn’t fully entertaining unless food is involved. Whether it’s popcorn at the movies or beer and hot dogs at the game, most events for men do not involve healthy food. At times like this, when you feel the need to fit in, the best advice is moderation and self-control.

3. Stress and anxiety. Stress comes from many sources, and we all need a way to deal with it. Unfortunately, because eating gives you a feeling of control and power, many men deal with stress by eating. Then, combined with the sensory experience of taste and the comfort of a full stomach, they become less aware of the problems they wanted to avoid. It’s emotional eating, and it may sound like a problem more often experienced by women; however, many men also deal with stress by overeating. Realizing that stress is your overeating trigger will lead you to find new—and healthier—ways to deal with stress and anxiety.

4. Quitting an addiction. In giving up an oral addiction (such as smoking or drinking), many people feel the need to keep their hands busy, and eating seems like a harmless solution. While overeating may feel like the lesser of two evils, there are better ways. Learn from men who improved themselves by quitting the addiction years ago. Try doing what they did.

5. To please women. For many men, this starts in childhood—trying to show your mom that you like her meals by eating all that she provides on the table—and reemerges as a way to show your wife that you like her meals by eating all she provides on the table. At times like this, men tend to forget that words and communication are just as important. Instead of gorging yourself, try telling her how great her food is.

In conclusion, overeating is most often a symptom of an underlying problem, not the cause. Once you realize why you overeat, you can deal with the issue behind your eating habits, and soon you will be on your way to a healthier lifestyle.

Don Colbert, M.D., is board certified in family practice and in anti-aging medicine. He also has received extensive training in nutritional and preventive medicine, and he has helped millions of people discover the joy of living in divine health.

For the original article, visit .

Social media has a lot of benefits and pitfalls, especially when it comes to how your spouse feels about your “friends” and “followers.” Here are some tips about how to go about your posts and your tweets:

1. Never get defensive. If you need to defend it, you are probably in the wrong. Don’t defend a virtual friend you never see over your spouse!

2. Unfriend old girl/boyfriends. Sure, they might be your ex, but you now have access to their every move. Do you really need to know what they’re up to? Men, do you really need to see pictures of them in a bikini? Don’t ask your spouse if “it’s cool” for you to be friends with them, either.

3. Relationship status. If you’re married, you better have it marked that you’re married. Another cool way to make it known is in your pictures that you post, and you can write something good about your spouse or marriage once in a while. This should help keep the “lookers” away.

4. Be cool with a page review. If your spouse has feelings of distrust and wants to look through your social media, let it happen. Don’t lose or break the trust in your marriage over something as meaningless as your status updates.

5. Don’t do it at all. I know a lot of couples that don’t use social media at all, and they have great marriages. Of course, we won’t say anything about their overall tech knowledge, but again, this is your marriage, and it should be very important to you! Talk it over with your spouse and find out if this would be the best thing to do.

6. Share happy photos. Have a great photo of the two of you? Put it up on your wall or keep it as your cover. Have a picture of your child or children? Throw that up on your wall every now and then. You should want to put out a positive message to the people that see you and follow you.

7. No messaging with the opposite sex. Early in my marriage, I started catching up with some women I knew from years ago. I didn’t think it was a big deal at the time, until my wife started asking what I was doing. It was a big deal to her, and it should be a big deal to you! Again, don’t unnecessarily put yourself in bad situations. Keep the private messages for your spouse.

8. Combine your pages. I can’t say I have done this personally with my spouse, but this might be a great way to stay connected with friends and family and not have to worry about who or what you’re doing. This would also send a positive message about your marriage!

9. Don’t share issues! What do I mean? Don’t share issues that you are having in your marriage on social media and then let your spouse find out. Marriage is all about great communication skills, and with our growing culture of texting and updates, we are losing the one-on-one deep talks. Go to your spouse first, and work out whatever issues you are having. Don’t seek advice from your buddy whom you haven’t seen in 10 years.

10. Share funny things with each other. I love to send my wife a funny picture, interesting message or new story on her wall. Not only does this show everyone that the two of you have great connecting skills, but it shows others that your marriage is strong and happy.

And that was only 10 ways! Share some ways you and your spouse handle the social media world.

Manturity is a blog built on establishing spiritual maturity in today’s man. The goal is to assist men in building better marriages, help men in grow in maturity and explore different aspects of manhood. features new weekly blog posts, daily social media updates and a powerful resources page. Stay up to date with the Manturity blog communities on Facebook and Twitter.

For the original article, visit .

As stories began to emerge after the collapse of the World Trade Center towers, several survivors from the South Tower mentioned a courageous young man who mysteriously appeared from the smoke and led them to safety. They did not know who this man was who saved their lives, but this they remembered: Wrapped over his mouth and nose was a red bandanna.

For 56 minutes, the man in the red bandanna shouted orders and led people down a stairwell to safety. “I found the stairs. Follow me,” he would say. He carried one woman down 17 flights of stairs on his back. He set her down and urged others to help her and keep moving down. Then he headed back up.

A badly injured woman was sitting on a radiator, waiting for help, when the man with the red bandanna over his face came running across the room. “Follow me,” he told her. “I know the way out. I will lead you to safety.” He guided her and another group through the mayhem to the stairwell, got them started down toward freedom, and then disappeared back up into the smoke.

He was never seen again.

Six months later, on March 19, 2002, the body of the man with the red bandanna was found intact alongside firefighters in a makeshift command center in the South Tower lobby, buried under 110 stories of rubble.

Slowly, the story began to come out. His name was Welles Crowther. In high school, he was the kid who would feed the puck to the hockey team’s worst player, hoping to give his teammate that first goal. He became a junior volunteer firefighter in Upper Nyack, N.Y., following in his dad’s footsteps.

Crowther graduated from Boston College, where he played lacrosse, always with his trademark red bandanna. His father had always carried a blue bandanna.

After college he worked as an equities trader on the 104th floor of the South Tower. He had a habit of putting change in his pocket in the morning to give to street people on his way to work.

Not long before Sept. 11, Crowther told his father, “I don’t know how much longer I can keep doing this work.” He was restless for more. Crunching numbers for invisible clients just didn’t seem like what he was born to do. He dreamed of becoming a firefighter or public servant.

On Sept. 11, 2001, at the age of 24, Welles Crowther became both—and also a hero, because he was willing to go up while everyone else was coming down.

There Must Be More

This story touches a need deep inside me—something so primal that I find it hard to put into words. But it makes me yearn to feel more alive. And every man with whom I’ve ever shared it has felt the same way.

Like Crowther, we all want to make a contribution and leave the world a better place. It is a primal need—one among many. By “primal,” I mean that as men, we have a raw, restless energy that’s different from women. It needs to be channelled, chiseled, transformed.

Over the last four decades, I’ve met one-on-one with thousands of men over coffee, in restaurants, in offices, online, after Bible studies or just hanging out at the racetrack—men like you. I’ve listened to their stories. I’ve heard what they said and didn’t say. Christian men know—or strongly sense—that we were created to lead powerful lives transformed by Christ.

But something is blocking them.

With a few inspiring exceptions, most men I talk to are confused about what a powerful, transformed life really looks like, regardless of how much “I love Jesus” they’ve got. They have high hopes for what Christianity offers but have little to show for it.

Their instincts are screaming, There must be more!

When men try to put into words what keeps them from feeling fully alive, they invariably describe one or more of these seven symptoms:

1. “I just feel like I am in this thing all alone.”
2. “I don’t feel like God cares about me personally—not really.”
3. “I don’t feel like my life has a purpose. It seems random.”
4. “I have a lot of destructive behaviors that keep dragging me down.”
5. “My soul feels dry.”
6. “My most important relationships are not working.”
7. “I don’t feel like I’m doing anything that will make a difference and leave the world a better place.”

Do you feel the angst? Do you see yourself on this list? As you can see, as men, our similarities dwarf our differences.

These inner aches and pains—these yearnings—correspond to the seven primal, instinctive needs of men.

What a Man Alive Does Differently

We all know a handful of Christian men we admire more than others. Their faith has become robust and powerful. They’re living lives of influence because their primal needs have been fulfilled. They feel alive. Perhaps you have even witnessed their transformation from spiritual mediocrity. Likewise, you’ve known men who never seem to be able to get it together spiritually. What makes the difference?

To ask, “What do men who lead powerful, transformed lives do?” would be misleading. Why? Because lukewarm men are just as likely to do a lot of those same things: attend church, serve on a committee and send kids to youth group.

The right question to ask is, “What do men who lead powerful, transformed lives do differently than their lukewarm counterparts?” In business, we call these the differentiated success factors.

To imitate what most professing Christian men do wouldn’t be helpful. What we want to know is, “What are the guys who really have it together doing that the guys who live in spiritual mediocrity don’t do? What differentiates strong men from those guys who always seem to be looking in from the outside? What do successful Christian men do that unsuccessful Christian men fail to do?”

Where Do We Go From Here?

What I’m proposing is a huge promise—not from me, but from God’s Word. Jesus said it Himself: “My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life” (John 10:10).

That’s quite a promise.

You don’t have to settle for being half-alive. You can heal each of your inner aches and pains. You can be the good soil. You can be transformed. God will change your life one verse at a time.

It’s not self-indulgent for you to become the man God created you to be. In fact, it’s your destiny to lead a powerful life transformed by Christ—not without ongoing opposition, but equipped and trained with the power to prevail.

I’m going to show you how God has provided ways for you to transform that raw, restless energy you feel into a powerful spiritual life. We’re going to flesh out each one of these seven primal needs:

1. To feel like you don’t have to do life alone
2. To believe—really believe—that God loves and cares about you personally
3. To understand how your life has a purpose, that your life is not random
4. To break free from the destructive behaviors that keep dragging you down
5. To satisfy your soul’s thirst for transcendence, awe, and communion
6. To love and be loved without reservation
7. To make a contribution and leave the world a better place 

We’ll explore how it feels when your life is not going right, what makes that so hard and what to do about it.

I’m praying that God will satisfy your hunger for a powerful, transformed life and will supernaturally elevate you to a whole new level of feeling alive … from which you refuse to return.

We are part of something bigger than ourselves, you and I. We share a common bond. And there are others too—millions of us, everywhere. Men unwilling to settle for spiritual mediocrity, men unwilling to settle for anything less than becoming fully alive.

Let’s go get it.

Editor’s Note: This article is an excerpt from chapter 1 of Man Alive, now available for Father’s Day here.

The escalation of tension between Israel and Syria is becoming palpable in both word and deed. Hours after the official Syrian Arab News Agency confirmed that the Syrian army had deliberately fired at an Israel Defense Forces patrol jeep in the central Golan Heights, Defense Minister Moshe (Bogie) Ya’alon and IDF Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz gave clear warnings that Israel will not allow spillage of fire into Israeli territory.

“Our policy regarding Syria is clear—we are not intervening in the civil war. But as for the situation in the Golan Heights, we are not allowing, and won’t allow Syrian fire to spill into our territory,” Ya’alon said. “Tonight, a Syrian Army target was destroyed in the wake of such spillage in the Golan Heights.”

Israeli and Syrian troops exchanged fire across their tense cease-fire line in the Golan Heights on Tuesday, prompting an Israeli threat that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will “bear the consequences” of further escalation. Tuesday morning’s small-arms fire attack on the Israeli jeep was the third shooting attack against IDF forces in the area in as many days.

Touring the area of the incident later on Tuesday, Gantz accused Syria’s leader of encouraging and directing operations against Israel. He said the Israeli patrol was targeted several times Tuesday by a “clearly marked Syrian position.” “Our nighttime patrol was clearly along the border fence and did not cross into Syrian territory. They fired three times from the Syrian post, so it was destroyed,” he stated.

In his comments, Gantz clearly alluded to the possibility that hostilities could erupt between Israel and Syria, which have fought several full-scale wars over the years and are still technically at war.

“We will not allow the Golan Heights to become a comfortable space for Assad to operate from,” Gantz told a conference at the University of Haifa later in the day.

The chief of staff added, “If Assad escalates the situation in the Golan Heights, he will have to bear the consequences. I am not a belligerent person, but we must know to protect [ourselves] amidst a deteriorating situation.”

Gantz said the situation was extremely combustible, and “a day doesn’t go by” where there could be a “sudden uncontrollable deterioration.” He warned, “Instability will be the only stable thing that will happen here.”

Strategic Affairs, Intelligence and International Relations Minister Yuval Steinitz also responded to Tuesday’s incident, saying that “we must not allow the events and general situation in Syria, Sinai and Gaza to push aside the most critical issue, which is nuclear Iran. The Iranian nuclear program is game changing, it will change Israel’s situation, and the situation of the entire Middle East, possibly even the world.”

GOC Homefront Command Maj. Gen. Eyal Eisenberg stressed that “there is no doubt that as the northern front develops, the Israeli homefront will experience things it has never experienced before, and it will need to remain strong and to project its might.”

“It won’t be easy,” he added. “But Israel has much more destructive ability than our enemies. That is why I propose that our neighbors reconsider their actions before revving their engines.”

Amidst the increasing tension, official state Syrian media have for the second time accused Israel of sending military supplies to the rebels fighting the Assad regime. On Tuesday, Syrian TV said the Syrian army had “intercepted a large weapons shipment sent from Israel to the rebels. This is Israeli weaponry sent so that the ‘new freedom fighters’ will win. These are the allies of Sharon, Livni, Netanyahu and Barak,” the presenter on Syrian TV said.

Earlier this week, Syrian state media displayed an old IDF jeep with Hebrew markings on it, which Syria claims was captured in the battle of Qusayr taking place now between rebels and Assad’s forces. Israel said the jeep had been decommissioned decades ago and was a holdover of IDF operations in the security zone in southern Lebanon before Israel’s withdrawal. The use of the old jeep was a “cheap propaganda ploy,” the IDF said.

For the original article, visit .

In times of crisis, I have noticed a peculiar proclivity among many men, including myself. There is something that keeps us from asking God for help when we need it the most: guilt.

A voice inside your head says, “You deserve to be here. You disobeyed. What did you expect? You knew what you were doing was unwise, or just plain sinful, and look where it’s gotten you. And you want to ask God for help now?”

At the root of this thinking, however, is not some kind of thoughtful willingness to take responsibility for your own actions. It’s actually a refusal to apply the gospel to your life. You think, “I got myself into this mess. I am going to have to get myself out.” There is both a logical and a theological fallacy to this way of thinking.

Logically, if you weren’t wise enough to avoid the pitfall you find yourself in, what makes you think you’re wise enough to figure a way out? Ask someone bigger, smarter, stronger and more capable for help. Listen to what He says. Look in the Word, and watch for His Spirit’s leading.

Theologically, this is what the gospel is all about. We’re not righteous. Of course we feel guilty. Guilt, when deserved, is an honest emotion. It points out that we fall short (Rom. 3:23). But the gospel points us to a loving and gracious God who wants to save us. So rely on His grace and compassion.

What about you? Are you in the belly of a fish? Pray to the Lord your God. Even Jonah realized this was his only hope: “In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me” (Jonah 2:2).

What about men you know or lead? Don’t let them fall into the trap of trying to save themselves. Point them toward their God so that He can answer them and their faith can grow.

“From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God.” (Jonah 2:1)

Brett Clemmer is a Christ-follower, husband, father, rock-climber, runner and avid reader. He lives in Central Florida and works for Man in the Mirror. In his role as vice president of leadership development, Brett spends the majority of his time writing, training and equipping church leaders to disciple men. Brett co-authored No Man Left Behind, a guidebook for church leaders who want to build male disciples in their church. He is active on Facebook and Twitter and maintains the One Man, Under God blog at .

My last post was titled, 7 Reasons for a Trip to Israel (especially if you’re a pastor and/or Bible teacher).

This post is a natural follow-up. It’s for all of you who believe your pastor(s) don’t have enough of a heart for Israel and you want to talk to them about it in the right way.

First of all, I want to commend you for your love for Israel and the Jewish people. All of us need that heart—especially because God has that heart.

We see God’s heart for Israel in Deuteronomy 7:6-8: “For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because the LORD loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you.”

Paul had God’s heart for Israel: “I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh” (Rom. 9:2, 3). And again: “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved” (10:1).

Paul reveals how Gentile followers of the Messiah have an obligation to the Jewish people, for “salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make Israel jealous.” (11:11) And then, Paul gets very practical concerning our need to support the Jewish people—even materially: “For if the Gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister to them in material things.” (15:27)

There are pastors who believe God has cast away the Jews and replaced them with the church—as the “new and true Israel.” This is heresy, and I will write about this in a future post.

But I also meet pastors who have a genuine heart for Israel, but they are very reluctant to openly support Israel for some very natural reasons:

• Many didn’t hear much about Israel where they studied theology and feel ill-equipped to teach on the subject.
• Many worry that if they teach about Israel, they will stir up controversy in their congregations.
• There are also the pastors who have had a bad experience with so-called “Israel freaks.” Such well-meaning folks have a seemingly naive, romantic infatuation with Israel. The stereotypical “Israel lover” is the one wearing puffy sleeved silk tops, playing a tambourine badly (driving the worship leader and drummer crazy), and keeping an oversized shofar strapped to his back, ready for battle. There are pastors who love Israel but get totally weirded out by such people. I really get that.
• And finally, many pastors have met people who love Israel but their focus is almost entirely on political support. They have little concern for the spiritual state of Israel.

Because I’m a pastor myself, I think I can offer you some insider tips on how speak to your pastor about Israel.

1. Pray for your pastor. If you really care about your pastor you’ll already be praying for him, right?

2. Respect your pastor, recognizing his God-given authority in your life. (Remember David’s attitude of respect toward King Saul despite their conflict).

3. Submit to your pastor. Good pastors take such people very seriously. Hebrews 13:17 says, “Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.”

4. Know and study the Scriptures. When your pastor sees that you have a good knowledge of “the whole counsel of God,” he will more readily listen to your theology on Israel. Recognize that your pastor needs to protect the flock from strange teachings, tangents and divisive issues. Your pastor is well aware of the warning in Romans 16:17: “Note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them.”

5. Be patient. Take into account your pastor’s background and training. He may have learned ”replacement theology” in college or seminary. Don’t expect him to instantly throw out what he absorbed at a formative time in his life.

6. Time your first conversation well. Consider when is the best time and how much time for the first conversation. Your pastor might be stressed with a load of work and concerns. Don’t try to schedule an appointment just before his busy weekend of public ministry. And don’t try to talk to your pastor immediately following your attendance at a conference on Israel. Wait until you’ve had some time to process and pray through the exciting things you’ve experienced.

In my next blog post, I’ll give tips on what you should do the first time you meet with your pastor about Israel.

Do you have a heart for Israel? Have you shared this with your pastor? What kind of response did you get? Can you offer one or two tips of your own on how to speak to your pastor about Israel? My friends and I would love to hear your comments below.

Along with his wife, Ann, Wayne Hilsden has served as lead pastor of King of Kings Community in Jerusalem, Israel, since 1983.

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