FLASH: Fmr. UN Ambassador John Bolton says time running out to stop Iran nuke program, Israel could hit Iran before the end of the year

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Please join me on Thursday, August 6th for an evening of Q&A on geopolitical, economic and spiritual trends in the Middle East at Greenwood Church, just outside of Denver.

This will be the only public event involving Q&A in Colorado.

Tickets are required and are $24 each. You can order them by going to the website of Ministry Architecture. All proceeds will go to Ministry Architecture, a non-profit organization that designs and plans facilities for evangelical ministries operating in the epicenter and the developing world.

Among the prophecies we will consider: the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem.

As I describe in my non-fiction book, Epicenter, Bible prophecies in the Old and New Testaments indicate that in the End Times, a Third Temple will be built on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the site where the First and Second Temples once stood. Skeptics and cynics have long dismissed such prophecies. Military officials, moreover, have long argued that a Jewish effort to build a new temple could unleash the fury of 1.3 billion Muslims and trigger an apocalyptic war in the epicenter.

But a new poll in Israel finds a stunning 64% percent of Israelis — including 47% of secular Israelis — want to see the Third Temple built.

The Hebrew Prophet Isaiah writes, “It will come about in the last days that the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the chief of mountains” and that “the nations will stream to it.” (Isaiah 2:2)

In Daniel 9:26-27, we read: “The Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come [the Anti-Christ] will destroy the city [Jerusalem] and the sanctuary [the Second Temple]….Even to the end [of days] there will be war; desolations are determined. And he [the Anti-Christ] will make a firm covenant with the many for seven years, but in the middle of that week, he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering [in a rebuilt End of Days Temple] and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate.”

The Book of Revelation also confirms that a fully functional and operational Temple will be in place when the Tribulation begins (see Revelation 11).

Jewish groups in Israel are already producing architectural plans to build the Third Temple, and making other preparations as well.

Amidst all the other tensions in the region, could we also see a move to actually fulfill these ancient, explosive prophecies? I’ll discuss these and other scenarios on August 6th.

I hope to see you there.

More updates regarding the epicenter:

* BACKPACKS FOR ISRAELI CHILDREN — The new school year is approaching in Israel. The Joshua Fund is investing $50,000 to help Jews and Christians in the Holy Land purchase new backpacks and school supplies for poor and needy Israeli children. The backpacks will be distributed in just a few weeks as a way of obeying Jesus’ command to “love your neighbors.” I’ll report more on the project then.

* “CROCS FOR IRAQ” — The Joshua Fund is investing $12,000 to ship a container of little sandals known as “Crocs” to Iraq. They will be distributed to poor and needy Muslim children by Iraqi Christians who also want to find ways to love their neighbors.

* ISRAEL TOUR DEADLINE — September 1st is the deadline to sign up for The Joshua Fund’s “prayer and vision trip” to Israel. Please note that we are not currently planning a major tour like this next year given the possibility that Iran and Israel could be at war next year. So please prayerfully consider joining this November 5-17.  I will be teaching about the life of Jesus, End Times Bible prophecies, the geopolitics of the epicenter, and the work of The Joshua Fund. I’ll also be doing Q&A sessions with tour participants to answer the questions most on your heart. We’ll also have a Joshua Fund project day to bless the poor and needy, and end with a two-day Jerusalem Prayer Summit to pray for peace while we prepare for war. Please go to www.joshuafund.net to learn more and sign up before the tour is full.

* SPECIAL 9/11 WEBCAST — More than 175 congregations have now signed up to show the “Inside The Revolution National Town Hall Webcast” on Friday night, September 11th, from 7pm to 9pm eastern. Lt. General (ret.) Jerry Boykin will join me, and Janet Parshall, the nationally syndicated Christian talk show host, will moderate the event. We will discuss “the threat of Radical Islam and the Church’s response.” For more information how your ministry or congregation can sign up for the (free) high-resolution webcast, and/or to learn more about the INSIDE THE REVOLUTION documentary film that will be released that day, please visit www.insidetherevolution.org.

HEADLINES TO TRACK:

• New Israeli poll: 64% want Temple rebuilt
• FLASH: Feds bust up alleged jihadist sleeper cell in North Carolina; arrest 7 for supporting terrorism

“Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that Iran will never achieve its goal of obtaining a nuclear weapon, declaring to Tehran: ‘Your pursuit is futile,'” reports the Politico website. “‘What we want to do is to send a message to whoever is making these decisions, that if you’re pursuing nuclear weapons for the purpose of intimidating, of projecting your power, we’re not going to let that happen,’ Clinton s aid. ‘First, we’re going to do everything we can to prevent you from ever getting a nuclear weapon. But your pursuit is futile, because we will never let Iran — nuclear-armed, not nuclear-armed — it is something that we view with great concern, and that’s why we’re doing everything we can to prevent that from ever happening. … We believe, as a matter of policy, it is unacceptable for Iran to have nuclear weapons.'”

Transcript of Sec. Clinton on Meet the Press:

MR. GREGORY: Let me turn to another hot spot, and that is Iran. A big headline this week, again, with your words: “Clinton’s `Defense Umbrella’ Stirs Tensions.” The headlines goes on, “Suggests U.S. Will Have to Protect Allies From Nuclear-Armed Iran.” You were in Bangkok on Wednesday, and this is what you said that got this started.

(Videotape, Wednesday)

SEC’Y CLINTON: We want Iran to calculate what I think is a fair assessment, that if the United States extends a defense umbrella over the region, if we do even more to support the military capacity of those in the Gulf, it’s unlikely that Iran will be any stronger or safer, because they won’t be able to intimidate and dominate as they apparently believe they can once they have a nuclear weapon.

(End videotape)

MR. GREGORY: Did you mean to suggest that the U.S. is considering a nuclear umbrella that would say to nations in the Arab world that an attack on you, just like NATO or Japan is an attack on the United States, and the United States would retaliate?

SEC’Y CLINTON: Well, I think it’s clear that we’re trying to affect the internal calculus of the Iranian regime. You know, the Iranian government, which is facing its own challenges of legitimacy from its people, has to know that that a pursuit of nuclear weapons, something that our country along with our allies stand strongly against. We believe as a matter of policy it is unacceptable for Iran to have nuclear weapons. The G-8 came out with a very strong statement to that effect coming from Italy. So we are united in our continuing commitment to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. What we want to do is to send a message to whoever is making these decisions that if you’re pursuing nuclear weapons for the purpose of intimidating, of projecting your power, we’re not going to let that happen. First, we’re going to do everything we can to prevent you from ever getting a nuclear weapon. But your pursuit is futile, because we will never let Iran–nuclear-armed, not nuclear-armed, it is something that we view with great concern, and that’s why we’re doing everything we can to prevent that from ever happening.

• UPDATE: Obama says all U.S. troops will be out of Iraq by 2011
• UPDATE: Clinton stirs Israeli fears US will accept nuclear Iran
• UPDATE: Reports: Iran reactor to be switched on this year

President Obama and PM Maliki at the White House on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki meets the President at the White House to discuss the geopolitical and economic future of Iraq. Over the next two days, I’ll be doing eight radio shows to talk about what God is doing in Iraq and how more Iraqis are coming to faith in Jesus Christ since liberation in 2003 than ever before. Among the exciting developments: the launch of a new Christian radio station by Revivalists in northern Iraq, partially financed by The Joshua Fund (see below).

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki meeting with President Obama in Iraq earlier this year.

• UPDATE: Obama says US on schedule to leave Iraq

Throughout the summer, I’ll be preaching at various congregations about what God is doing in Israel, Iran, Iraq and the rest of the epicenter. Here’s a quick snapshot. Please join us, if you can, and may the Lord bless you as you pray for the people of the epicenter.

Tuesday, July 23 — DENVER, COLORADO

• 6:00pm to 7:00pm (eastern) — Radio interview with Ed Taylor on KRKS, Denver (live)

Wednesday, July 22 — WASHINGTON, D.C.

• 9:10-9:30 AM eastern, WMBI—Moody radio network flagship station, Chicago (live)
  
• 9:30-9:45 AM eastern, WFIL—Philadelphia  (taped)
  
• 10:00 -10:10 AM eastern, K-LOVE Radio Network News, 200+ stations (taped)
  
• 10:45-10:55 AM eastern, USA Radio Network News (taped)
  
• 11:00-11:30 AM eastern, KNST—Albuquerque, New Mexico (taped, will play on later that day)
  
• 11:35-11:45 AM eastern, WCRF—Cleveland, Moody station (live)
  
• 3:14pm to 4:00pm — Janet Parshall’s nationally syndicated radio show (live)
  

On Wednesday’s shows, I will be joined by an Iraqi ministry leader — Brother Hamid — and will be taking you inside the revolution and discussing how powerfully Jesus Christ is moving inside Iraq to draw Arabs, Kurds, Chaldeans and others to Himself.

* Information on the Iraqi Christian radio station The Joshua Fund is helping with

* Update on the Iraqi Christian radio station

I will also be giving people a sneak peak at the Inside The Revolution “National Town Hall Webcast” that Lt. General (ret.) Jerry Boykin and I will be hosting on Friday night, September 11th, from 7pm to 9pm. Janet will be moderating that event in Philadelphia as we discuss “the threat of Radical Islam and the Church’s response.” Already, 140 churches across North America have signed up for a free high-resolution webcast that they’ll be showing to their congregations that night. For more information on the event, the webcast, and the documentary film that will be released that day, please click here

Sunday, July 26 — DENVER, COLORADO

• Speaking at Calvary Chapel South Denver (9am and 11am services) — message: “Get Ready, Be Prepared” (Ezekiel 38:7, Joshua 1:11, Matthew 24:44)
  
• Speaking at a special evening service at Calvary South Denver (6pm) — message: “The Road To Damascus” (Acts 22)
• Book signings after each service
  

Saturday, August 1 — COLORADO SPRINGS

• Speaking at Mountain Springs Church in Colorado Springs (6:30pm) — message: “Get Ready, Be Prepared” (Ezekiel 38:7, Joshua 1:11, Matthew 24:44)

Sunday, August 2 — COLORADO SPRINGS

• Speaking at Mountain Springs Church (9am and 11am services) — message: “Get Ready, Be Prepared” (Ezekiel 38:7, Joshua 1:11, Matthew 24:44)
• Speaking at a pastors luncheon
• Speaking at Rocky Mountain Calvary (7pm evening service) — message: “Are We Living In The Last Days?” (Matthew 24, Joel 2)

Wednesday, August 5 — DENVER AREA, COLORADO

• Speaking at a private fund-raising dinner and Q&A session in Denver for Ministry Architecture, Inc. (For information on obtaining tickets to attend this intimate event of just a few dozen people, please email to ministryarchitecture@hotmail.com. )
  

Thursday, August 6 — DENVER AREA, COLORADO

• Speaking and doing an extensive Q&A session on geopolitical, economic and spiritual trends in the Middle East at Greenwood Church outside of Denver. (This will be the only public event involving Q&A in Colorado. Space is limited. Tickets are $24 and all proceeds benefit Ministry Architecture, a non-profit organization that designs and plans facilities for evangelical ministries operating in the epicenter and the developing world.)

Friday, September 11 — PHILADELPHIA

• 7pm to 9pm — Inside The Revolution “National Town Hall Webcast”

Note: All events subject to change. Please check back to this weblog for updates, changes and additions.

NYT caption: "A boy rested on the mud in a dried-up section of the Euphrates River near Jubaish, Iraq, in June."

UPDATE — Diplomats: Iran has means to test bomb in 6 months

The front page of Tuesday morning’s New York Times had a stunning headline: “Iraq Suffers as the Euphrates River Dwindles.”

The drying up of this historic river in the land of ancient Babylon is so stunning, that even the Times had to note that Bible prophecy says this will happen in the “last days” of history, in the lead up to the apocalyptic battle of Armageddon described in the Book of Revelation.

Excerpts from the Times story: “Throughout the marshes, the reed gatherers, standing on land they once floated over, cry out to visitors in a passing boat. ‘Maaku mai!’ they shout, holding up their rusty sickles. ‘There is no water!’ The Euphrates is drying up. Strangled by the water policies of Iraq’s neighbors, Turkey and Syria; a two-year drought; and years of misuse by Iraq and its farmers, the river is significantly smaller than it was just a few years ago. Some officials worry that it could soon be half of what it is now. The shrinking of the Euphrates, a river so crucial to the birth of civilization that the Book of Revelation prophesied its drying up as a sign of the end times, has decimated farms along its banks, has left fishermen impoverished and has depleted riverside towns as farmers flee to the cities looking for work.” [More photos of the drying-up Euphrates from the NYT.]

Please note that I did not add in the link above to the “Bible Gateway” website for Revelation 16:12. The Times’ online edition includes that link themselves. Apparently the newspaper of record now believes that the future of Iraq in light of Bible prophecy is part of “all the news that’s fit to print.”

To be clear, we will not see the complete fulfillment of Revelation 16 until during the seven-year period of judgment and bloodshed that the Bible calls the “Tribulation.” Indeed, it is possible that we will see the drought end and the Lord bless Iraq with abundant water in the coming years that will make the prophecy cited seem all that more dramatic in its proper time. Only time will tell. But it’s certainly another curious development.

I’d recommend skeptics stay tuned. This is just the beginning of the dramatic headlines to come.

* To learn more about the upcoming 9/11 event — the “National Town Hall Meeting on the Threat of Radical Islam and the Church’s Response” — and/or to sign up your church or ministry for the special, high resolution webcast, please click here.

HEADLINES TO TRACK:

• Bombs rip through Indonesia hotels, killing eight
• WSJ: Indonesia Is a Model Muslim Democracy
• Prosperity: Israeli economy appears resilient despite global challenges, has grown at an average of 5% a year for the past five years
  
• That said, 20% drop in tourism to Israel since beginning of 2009
• Security: Rocket fired from Gaza at southern Israel first since June 13
• Security and Prosperity: Signs of hope emerge in the West Bank, says NYT, as Palestinian economy grows 7%
• Threats on the horizon: Israeli warships rehearse for Iran attack in Red Sea
• Threats on the horizon: Ahmadinejad says Iran will “bring down” Western foes
• With Mousavi in audience, Rafsanjani assails Iran’s leaders

FRIDAY (7/17) UPDATE: Diplomats say Iran has means to test bomb in 6 months

Concerns that a war between Iran and Israel may not be that far off are growing. A controversial report in the German weekly Stern quotes German intelligence sources as believing that Iran has “mastered the enrichment technology necessary to make a bomb and had enough centrifuges to make weaponised uranium.” The report, picked up by Reuters, quoted one expert at the agency as saying of the Iranian military: “If they wanted to, they could detonate an atomic bomb in half a year’s time.” Officially, BND, the German intelligence agency, is denying that the agency has formally made this conclusion, conceding only that some of its analysts may consider six months a worst-case scenario.

RELATED HEADLINE: Clinton warns Iran on engagement; US Secretary of State says Iran has limited time to accept offer of engagement on its nuclear program; meanwhile German intel denies report its experts believe Iran could have a bomb within six months

UPDATE ON 9/11 NATIONAL TOWN HALL MEETING

On Friday night, September 11, 2009, Lt.-General (ret.) Jerry Boykin, former commander of Delta Force, and I will host a “National Town Hall Meeting” — webcast to churches and individuals throughout North America and around the world — to discuss the threat of Radical Islam, the Iranian nuclear threat, the future of Israel, and the role of the Church in the Middle East.

Already, 79 churches have signed up to show the webcast to their congregations that night.

We will explain the three revolutions currently underway in the Islamic world involving the Radicals, the Reformers and the Revivalists. We’ll explain how the followers of jihad, Jefferson and Jesus have completely different goals and objectives, how each are battling to dominate the Middle East and transform the world, and why each should matter to you and your family. That night, in a webcast filmed before a live audience in Philadelphia, we will show an exclusive 30-minute excerpt from the new 90-minute Inside the Revolution documentary film that will be released nationwide by Tyndale House Publishers that day. We will then answer questions from the audience, and from viewers around the country and around the world.

General Boykin’s prayer and my own is that pastors in hundreds of churches throughout North America will choose to set aside Friday night, September 11th to show the webcast of the two hour National Town Hall Meeting to their congregations in their auditoriums as a catalyst for an ongoing conversation on these vital issues. There is no fee for churches to show the high resolution broadband webcast, but pastors must sign up and receive a special access code. Individuals around the world will be able to watch a normal resolution webcast free of charge through the special website we have set up. The webcast will air live from 7pm to 9pm eastern on 9/11. It will later be rebroadcast for churches in Western time zones.

Please visit www.insidetherevolution.org and learn more about how you and your congregation can participate in this “National Town Hall Meeting on Radical Islam and the Church’s Response.” The site contains details about the event and the film. There is also a link to a trailer of the documentary film, filmed on location in Iraq, Morocco, Israel and Washington, D.C. I hope you will join us, and invite your family and friends to join us as well. Thanks so much, and God bless you.

* To learn more about this 9/11 event, the film, or to sign up your church or ministry for the special, high resolution webcast, please click here.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev unveils new global currency.

“Russian President Dmitry Medvedev illustrated his call for a supranational currency to replace the dollar by pulling from his pocket a sample coin of a ‘united future world currency,” reports Bloomberg news service.

Agence France Presse reports: “Even if Russia’s call for a global currency failed to gain much traction at a G8 summit, President Dmitry Medvedev took home a coin meant to symbolize that the dream may one day come true. The Russian leader proudly displayed the coin, which bears the English words ‘United Future World Currency,’ to journalists after the summit wrapped up in the quake-hit Italian town of L’Aquila. Medvedev said that although the coin, which resembled a euro and featured the image of five leaves, was just a gift given to leaders it showed that people were beginning to think seriously about a new global currency. In all likelihood something similar could appear and it could be held in your hand and used as a means of payment,’ he told reporters. ‘This is the international currency.'”

Please join us for a special 9/11 webcast on Friday, Sept. 11th, 7-9pm eastern.

To go to www.insidetherevolution.org and watch the trailer, please click here

This fall, we will mark the 30th anniversary of the Iranian seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and the dawn of a new era of Radical Islam. This fall we will also mark the 8th anniversary of the horrific al Qaeda attacks on New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. By God’s grace, more than twenty Radical Islamic terrorist attacks inside the U.S. have been thwarted since 9/11. But the threat has not diminished. Indeed, in many significant ways it has increased. We are now at the most dangerous moment of the Islamic Revolution. Jihadist leaders say they no longer simply want to terrorize Western cities; they want to annihilate them. The nightmare scenario is that Radical Islamic forces will obtain nuclear, chemical and/or biological weapons and use them against U.S., Israeli or other targets.

On Friday night, September 11, 2009, Lt.-General (ret.) Jerry Boykin, former commander of Delta Force, and I will host a “National Town Hall Meeting” — webcast to churches and individuals throughout North America and around the world — to discuss the threat of Radical Islam, the future of Israel, and the role of the Church in the Middle East. We will explan the three revolutions currently underway in the Islamic world involving the Radicals, the Reformers and the Revivalists. We’ll explain how the followers of jihad, Jefferson and Jesus have completely different goals and objectives, how each are battling to dominate the Middle East and transform the world, and why each should matter to you and your family.

That night, in a webcast filmed before a live audience in Philadelphia, we will show an exclusive 30-minute excerpt from the new 90-minute Inside the Revolution documentary film that will be released nationwide by Tyndale House Publishers that day. We will then answer questions from the audience, and from viewers around the country and around the world. Just how serious is the threat of Radical Islam today? How close is Iran to getting nuclear weapons? [New headline: “IRAN COULD BUILD BOMB WITHIN A YEAR.”] Could al Qaeda to seizing control of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons? Will Israel launch a preemptive strike against Iran? What would be the implications of such an Iranian-Israeli war? Are pro-democracy forces making any headway in the Islamic world? Is democracy finally taking hold in Iraq, for example? Are reports that millions of Muslims are turning to faith in Jesus Christ in Iran and the Middle East really true? How do current events in Israel and the Islamic world correspond to Bible prophecy? What should the Church be doing to bless Israel and her neighbors? What are practical ways we can show love to Muslims here in the U.S. and Canada?

These are critical questions at a critical moment and they deserve thoughtful, serious answers. General Boykin’s prayer and my own is that pastors in hundreds of churches throughout North America will choose to set aside Friday night, September 11th to show the webcast of the two hour National Town Hall Meeting to their congregations in their auditoriums as a catalyst for an ongoing conversation on these vital issues. There is no fee for churches to show the high resolution broadband webcast, but pastors must sign up and receive a special access code. Individuals around the world will be able to watch a normal resolution webcast free of charge through the special website we have set up.

The webcast will air live from 7pm to 9pm eastern on 9/11. It will later be rebroadcast for churches in Western time zones.

Please visit www.insidetherevolution.org and learn more about how you and your congregation can participate in this “National Town Hall Meeting on Radical Islam and the Church’s Response.” The site contains details about the event and the film. There is also a link to a trailer of the documentary film, filmed on location in Iraq, Morocco, Israel and Washington, D.C.

I hope you will join us, and invite your family and friends to join us as well. Thanks so much, and God bless you.

* To learn more about this 9/11 event, the film, or to sign up your church or ministry for the special, high resolution webcast, please click here.

HEADLINES TO TRACK:

• Obama: No green light for Israel to attack Iran
• Biden Says Israel Has ‘Sovereign Right’ to Attack Nuclear Iran
• World leaders delay Iran crunch-time
• The G-8 Speaks Softly on Iran’s Nuclear Program
• U.S. military chief says clock ticking on Iran nuke
• Mullen: Strike on Iran an Option, but a Bad One
• Sarkozy: Israeli strike on Iran would be a “catastrophe”
  

Pray for the people of Afghanistan, and our military forces.

Email from a friend who is serving the evangelical church in Afghanistan: “On July 2^nd 4,000 Marines launched the largest land assault since the Vietnam War in southern Afghanistan. Now is the time for the Church to launch a massive prayer initiative for the people and nation of Afghanistan. The Bible teaches ‘our weapons are not the weapons of the world, on the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.’ Please join with us as we cry out in prayer for peace in Afghanistan.”

“Around 4,000 Marines are involved in the massive operation launched Thursday in southern Helmand province, a Taliban stronghold,” reports Agence France Presse. “Operation Khanjar (‘Strike of the Sword’) is part of the new White House strategy for Afghanistan, which is intended to curb an insurgency that has grown stronger and more lethal over the last few years. Commanders on the ground say the operation’s immediate objective is to improve security in Afghanistan’s most volatile region and ensure that presidential elections scheduled for August proceed smoothly. In the longer term, the military wants to secure sufficient stability to allow economic and political development, regain the trust of the local population and transfer responsibility for the country’s security to local forces.”

>> To purchase Inside The Revolution — including several chapters on the Reform movement in Afghanistan and a detailed profile of Afghan President Karzai — please click here

>> To learn more about — or to make a tax-deductible contribution to — The Joshua Fund, please click here.

>> Will you help us build a global alliance of 1 million true friends of Israel? Click here to sign up yourself, a friend or a family member for Joel’s Flash Traffic email alerts. Get the latest news and analysis on Israel and the epicenter, prayer requests and Joshua Fund project updates.

Great new book.

FLASH: VP Biden appears to give Israel green light for preemptive strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities

UPDATE: Now State Dept says Biden did not give Israel a green light

* In signal to Iran, Israel sends sub through Suez Canal

As I traveled throughout the U.S. on my recent book tour, I kept running into people who would ask me, “Where is Steve Forbes? The economy is melting down. We need his economic expertise right now.”

I couldn’t agree more. Steve’s message in the 1990s of free market ways to create hope, growth and opportunity at home and abroad may have seemed too bold to the GOP establishment at the time. But it’s desperately needed today. His plan to scrap the corrupting federal tax code — “We need to take the tax code and kill it, drive a stake through it’s heart, bury it, and hope it never rises again to terrorize the American people” — and replace it with a simple flat tax that’s a real tax cut for American families and businesses is the right prescription for the the mess we’re now in. Steve was passionate about eliminating wasteful government spending, and eliminating pork barrel earmarks and ridiculous corporate welfare schemes. He had serious plans to advance market-based health care reforms where individuals and families get to choose their doctors, and market-based education reforms so that parents could choose the right schools for their children. In foreign policy, Steve was a strong proponent of missile defenses, and recognized the threat Russia and Iran were becoming before many others in Washington did.

The problem is that few in Washington today seem to believe in such bold, dynamic reforms, or have the courage to advance them. I certainly don’t hear any of the potential 2012 presidential candidates proposing such sweeping reforms to counter the President’s plan to rack up another $10 trillion in debt and socialize much of the American economy, notably the health care sector. As troubling, few are demonstrating Steve’s understanding of global trends and threats or insisting on missile defenses or a tougher stance towards Russia and Iran. Indeed, the biggest news the GOP makes these days are by politicians who have marital affairs and should resign but don’t, and successful governors who shouldn’t resign but do. What’s wrong with these people and this party?

Finally off the road from my book tour, I finally called Steve last week to catch up. The good news: he hasn’t disappeared. To the contrary, he’s spent the last few months working on a fabulous new book, Power, Ambition and Glory: The Stunning Parallels Between Great Leaders of the Ancient World and Today . . . and the Lessons You Can Learn. Last month, Steve embarked on a national media tour. He’s talking about the lessons we can learn from history’s most effective and provocative leaders and how we can apply those lessons to the challenges we face today. This week, the book hit the New York Times hardcover non-fiction best-seller list at #30. I hope it climbs much higher.

It’s a fascinating read. I’ve been most intrigued with the section on the Persian Empire and particularly the leadership of Cyrus the Great, the surprisingly tolerant leader of ancient Persia. It was Cyrus, Steve reminds us, who fulfilled the Bible prophecy by conquering the Babylonian empire, liberating the Jewish people, and giving the Jews permission to rebuild the holy city of Jerusalem and rebuild their Holy Temple. He also gave the Jewish people, among others, the freedom to worship God as their consciences led them, without fear of persecution. “With Babylon as part of his empire, Cyrus could boast he was ‘king of the world,’ and he pledged that all his subjects would be free to practice whatever religion they chosen. This promise was particularly significant for the Jews who had been enslaved when Nebuchadnezzar’s armies had taken Jerusalem…in 586 B.C.” He was, writes Forbes, “one of history’s most gifted leaders and his accomplishments are worth a deeper look.” What a stark contrast to the leaders who are running Iran today.

In case you’re curious, I had no part in writing this book, so it’s far better than you think! I highly recommend it, and I hope this book launch is just the beginning of Steve’s effort to re-engage in the battle of ideas. His message — and his perspective on history, and the future — is needed more than ever. With once-promising voices like Mark Sanford’s and Sarah Palin’s suddenly sidelined, it’s time for a wise and trusted voice to step back up to the microphone and inject some common sense conservatism back into the public debate.

>> To purchase Inside The Revolution from Amazon at 41% off, please click here

>> To learn more about — or to make a tax-deductible contribution to — The Joshua Fund, please click here.

>> Will you help us build a global alliance of 1 million true friends of Israel? Click here to sign up yourself, a friend or a family member for Joel’s Flash Traffic email alerts. Get the latest news and analysis on Israel and the epicenter, prayer requests and Joshua Fund project updates.

Presidents Obama and Medvedev meet. But Putin holds the real power.

Monday Update: President Obama’s summit in Moscow does not appear to have produced any progress on stopping Russian military sales to Iran or Russian nuclear technology sales to Iran. He met with the baby-faced puppet president today, Dmitry Medvedev. Tomorrow, Mr. Obama is expected to meet with the real power in the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin. Don’t expect any serious progress on Iran then either. It’s becoming increasingly clear that Russia has, in fact, formed a strategic alliance with Iran and sees its relationship with Tehran as more important that its relationship with Washington.

Wednesday Update: President Obama and Czar Putin met yesterday for two hours. Nothing substantive seems to have come out of the meeting. The biggest news of the day: the Russian military has launched large scale war games in the Caucusus. This appears to have been the least useful, least consequential summit in the history of post-Cold war U.S.-Russian summits. Photo op foreign policy is not what is needed as Russia continues to build military alliances with Iran, Syria, Libya, and Central Asia.

HEADLINES TO TRACK:

• Russia starts large-scale war games
• Putin says Obama meeting went well
• Medvedev says Russia, US must cooperate against nuclear proliferation, doesn’t mention Iran
• Obama, Medvedev agree to deal to cut nuke weapons
• Russia, Obama clinch deals to revive ties
• CNN Analysis: Who’s in charge as Obama visits Russia?
• Russian president hopeful for Obama summit
• Obama seeking to reshape US-Russia relations
• WSJ: Russia Is Back on the Warpath