Worthy Brief - 9/9/2016
Friend, open your heart!
Psalms 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
Talking to people about God has become a regular part of our lives. Between meeting people on the forums and in our chat rooms and the opportunities which open up in our daily lives, we find ourselves sharing with people from all walks of life - unbelievers, new believers, people who have come and gone from the faith and back again.
It's so typical of the human nature to want all our questions answered before we decide to make any commitments, isn't it? We want proof that God is real and that the Bible is accurate. We want to know why sometimes those who call themselves Christians do awful things and how God could allow bad things happen to good people. Sadly, as soon as we think all our questions are all answered to satisfaction, undoubtedly more appear. It happens to the best of us.
While there numerous answers and proofs to these questions, we have come to realize that some things just can't be answered with our minds - they have to be answered with our hearts. The deepest faith doesn't come by getting all our questions answered - it comes simply when we open our hearts to the Lord and invite Him to search it through and through.
Don't get me wrong, it's good to ask questions and be knowledgeable of our faith, but the fact of the matter is that there are some questions to which we won't find answers until we can see the Lord face to face and ask Him ourselves.
Friend, regardless of whether we're new believers, old believers or not yet believers at all, let's all of us open our hearts to God today and ask Him to do a work in us. May you be blessed this weekend as the Lord reveals new and wonderful treasures to your hearts.
Your family in the Lord with much agape love,
George, Baht Rivka, Elianna & Obadiah
Negev Desert, Israel
Editor's Note: Watch George's message: Which voice will you listen to in the last days?
Around the World
Iran May Have Received as Much as $33.6 Billion in Cash, Gold Payments From U.S.
Iran may have received an additional $33.6 billion in secret cash and gold payments facilitated by the Obama administration between 2014 and 2016, according to testimony provided before Congress by an expert on last summer’s nuclear agreement with Iran.
UN Nuclear Report Notes Iran is Making Sensitive Parts
The International Atomic Energy Agency said in a review issued Thursday that Iran had begun manufacturing rotor tubes for centrifuges, the spinning machines used to enrich uranium. Iran is allowed to make the parts, but only under certain conditions.
A reminder of the permanent wars: Dozens of U.S. airstrikes in six countries
While Americans savored the last moments of summer this Labor Day weekend, the U.S. military was busy overseas as warplanes conducted strikes in six countries in a flurry of attacks. The bombing runs across Asia, Africa and the Middle East spotlighted the diffuse terrorist threats that have persisted into the final days of the Obama presidency -- conflicts that the next president is now certain to inherit.
North Korea conducts fifth and largest nuclear test
North Korea conducted its fifth nuclear test on Friday, setting off a blast that was more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, and said it had mastered the ability to mount a warhead on a ballistic missile.
US forces mounted unsuccessful mission to rescue kidnapped American U. in Afghanistan profs
U.S. special operations forces mounted an unsuccessful mission to rescue two American University of Afghanistan professors kidnapped in Kabul last month -- after an earlier mission was aborted when the White House withheld its approval -- defense officials with knowledge of the incident told Fox News.
Israel-Palestinian Conflict
Hamas spends $100 million a year on military infrastructure
As the residents of the Gaza Strip endure daily hardships due to the dire economic situation in the enclave, their Hamas leaders spend over $100 million a year on the group’s military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, according to estimates by both Israeli and Palestinian sources. Spending on digging tunnels accounts for some $40 million of that annual sum.
Russian Mideast push could hurt US influence, if talks occur
American influence over the Middle East could slip a notch after Israel and the Palestinians agreed in principle to Russian-organized talks in Moscow. That is, if the negotiations ever happen.
Hezbollah to move into south Syria, just across Israel border
Hezbollah fighters are preparing to move into southern Syria, a stone's throw from the border with Israel's Golan Heights, Iranian state media reported Monday.
Netanyahu, Abbas agree to meet in Moscow: reports
Russia's Foreign Ministry said Thursday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas have agreed in principle to meet in Moscow, Interfax news agency and Al-Arabiya reported.
Inside the United States
Obama administration shuts down one prison camp at Guantanamo Bay
The Obama administration has gotten one step closer to shuttering the Guantanamo Bay detention center, closing down a 100-cell maximum-security prison and moving to reduce the U.S. presence there.
'Religious freedom,' 'liberty' just 'code words' for intolerance, U.S. Civil Rights chairman says
The chairman of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights said that 'religious freedom' and 'religious liberty' have become merely 'code words' for intolerance, 'Christian supremacy' and committing every form of identity-politics sin, and thus they must yield before anti-discrimination laws.
Colossal Stealth Destroyer USS Zumwalt Ready to Set Sail and Join the Navy
The largest and most expensive destroyer ever built for the U.S. Navy once headed to sea in a snowstorm during builder trials. Now, it's heading into the remnants of a tropical storm as it leaves Maine for good.
Cruz slams Obama for 'internet giveaway'
Ted Cruz and other Republicans are barreling toward a September showdown with the White House over its plan to give up oversight of the internet, as the Obama administration tries to rally support from the tech and telecom industries.
U.S. Politics
Polls: Trump and Clinton deadlocked in Florida, Ohio
New Quinnipiac University polls out Thursday show close races in the four largest, most consequential swing states on the 2016 map — but also give Hillary Clinton an edge in two of the four, confirming her Electoral College advantage.
Gary Johnson: 'What is Aleppo?'
Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson stumbled while answering a question about the Syrian refugee crisis on Thursday, asking 'What is Aleppo?' in an interview on MSNBC.
Christian News
Christianity in Africa Threaten by Rise of Militant Islam
As the world focusses on potential military advances against the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, it risks overlooking another vast region where militant Islam is a growing threat to the Church - in the continent where the Church is growing fastest: Africa.
Hindu extremists in India invade prayer meeting and beat up pastor
On Friday 26 August at around 8am, Hindu extremists forced their way into a private home in Uttar Pradesh and beat up a church pastor who was leading a prayer meeting. The pastor, who is a convert to Christianity, was accused by the mob of proselytising Hindus.
Iraq: In Violence-Wracked Baghdad, The Few Christians Still There Struggle to Survive
As for Baghdad's once full churches, some had already been bombed a number of times over. Now the empty buildings are a screaming depiction of today's reality: only a handful of Christians left. They are tired.
Church growth: World's largest churches are getting bigger
More than 1.6 million people now attend America's largest churches each weekend, according to the latest research on church growth.
Activists: West is Ignoring Genocide of Middle East Religious Minorities
Nearly six months after Secretary of State John Kerry declared the murder of Christians in the Middle East a 'genocide,' Westerners are doing little to stop the killings, said activists gathered for a convention on the victims' plight.