New thriller, "The Twelfth Imam," now available for pre-sale.

Thanks for all the people who have been emailing me about when my next book will be out. I am glad to be able to announce that the next one will be a novel — a geopolitical thriller — entitled, The Twelfth Imam. It releases nationwide on October 19th with a national book tour. It is now available for pre-order on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, CBD, as well as your local book and Christian retailer.The Twelfth Imam is the first in an entirely new series — new characters, new threats, and several new questions I’ve been wrestling with: 1) What if the world waits too long and Iran actually acquires nuclear weapons? 2) What if the Islamic messiah known as the Mahdi or the Twelfth Imam actually comes to earth? What would that look like? What would happen? Would it be consistent with Jesus warning in Matthew 24 that false messiahs will come in the “last days”?

The timing of the new book could be interesting given a story a few days ago by the Voice of America. Excerpts: “Iran’s Supreme Leader has reportedly issued a fatwah, or Islamic edict, demanding that people obey him as the earthly ‘deputy’ of both the Prophet Muhammad and Shi’ism’s mysterious 12th Imam.  He also accused the U.S. and Britain of sowing division among Muslims and of fomenting the recent mosque bombing in Sistan-Baluchestan.  Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has created a stir after apparently issuing a religious edict Tuesday claiming ultimate spiritual powers on Earth.  Iranian media reported that he told followers that they must ‘obey him’ as the “representative of the Prophet Muhammad and [Shi’ism’s] 12th Imam on Earth…..'”

HEADLINES TO TRACK:

• Gaza rocket strikes Ashkelon, two mortar shells hit west Negev
• Arab League authorizes Palestinians to engage in direct peace talks with Israel
• Gay Pride Parade held in Jerusalem
• House Republicans Giving Green Light for Israeli Strike on Iran — Congressional resolution introduced by Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas would  support “all means necessary to confront and eliminate nuclear threats posed by Iran”, including military force.
• Full text of House Resolution 1553

It is not often a reporter publicly thanks a former terrorist for helping him to give his life completely to Jesus Christ. But it happened this week. That’s why I commend to you this week’s edition of “Stakelbeck on Terror.” CBN reporter Erick Stakelbeck profiles Tass Saada, a “former Palestinian Muslim sniper who used to work for terror master Yasser Arafat-but now works for Jesus.” Stakelbeck interviews Saada and explains how this one-time radical Muslim “put down his gun and learned to love his greatest enemy: Israel.” Then he publicly thanks Saada for his book, Once An Arafat Man, and shares how reading that book and interviewing Saada led Stakelbeck to a personal relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ.

Later in the program, Stackelbeck examines “a disturbing trend that is spreading throughout the Muslim world: ‘kiddie jihad’ in the form of child suicide bombers.” He covers a few other issues, and then at the end of the program (24:52), he includes an interview with me on Israel, the Iranian nuclear threat, and “the gathering storm.”

To watch the program online, please click here.

• On Thursday in Denver, July 29th, Joel will be speak on U.S.-Israel relations, the threat of radical Islam, Bible prophecy, and events/trends in the epicenter. Tickets are $25. Seating is limited.
•  To pre-order the DVD collection of the speeches/presentations at the 2010 Epicenter Conference, please click here.
• To support The Joshua Fund’s on-going efforts to feed the poor and needy in Israel and provide other humanitarian relief to those in the epicenter, please click here

>> Please pray for the families and friends of the Israeli Air Force helicopter crew that died yesterday in a tragic crash in Romania

>> On Thursday in Denver, July 29th, Joel will be speak on U.S.-Israel relations, the threat of radical Islam, Bible prophecy, and events/trends in the epicenter. Tickets are $25. Seating is limited

UPDATED: “Iran expects the United States to launch a military strike on ‘at least two countries” in the Middle East in the next three months, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told state-run Press TV,” reports Reuters. “In an interview recorded on Monday, Ahmadinejad did not specify whether he thought Iran itself would be attacked nor did he say what intelligence led him to expect such a move. The United States and Israel have refused to rule out military action against Iran’s nuclear program which they fear could lead to it making a bomb, something Iran denies. ‘They have decided to attack at least two countries in the region in the next three months,’ Ahmadinejad said in excerpts broadcast on the rolling news channel on Tuesday.

Ahmadinejad’s warning comes amidst several interesting developments in the region — surprisingly tough new economic sanctions imposed on Iran by the European Union and Canada, as well a curious rift developing between Russia and Iran. Moscow and Tehran have been increasingly close allies in recent years. But in recent weeks Russia voted for new U.N. sanctions on Iran, criticized Iran for moving towards nuclear weapons, and now says it will not deliver S-300 missiles to Iran (after saying just a few weeks agothat it would). Furthermore, the BBC reports that “an additional factor that may further influence the decision-making in Moscow is Saudi Arabia’s offer to buy more than $2bn worth of Russian weapons (helicopters, armour, anti-aircraft missiles) on condition that Russia does not sell Iran S-300 missiles, and stops supporting it [Iran] in the UN.”

Note the following recent headlines:

1. Ex-CIA chief: Strike on Iran seems more likely now
2. Israeli defense chief offers warnings on Iran and Lebanon
3. Netanyahu makes surprise visit to Jordan to meet King Abdullah
4. The European Union passes unprecedentedly tough Iran sanctions: The EU passed sanctions today that surpass the UN’s Iran sanctions and all previous European measures. As Tehran’s largest trading partner, the EU is likely to make a serious dent economically.
5. Canada imposes new sanctions against Iran
6. The ‘unravelling relationship’ between Russia and Iran — Russia and Iran seemed to be good friends, but in recent weeks the relationship has unravelled.
7. Medvedev Tells Iran to Come Clean on Nukes
8. Ahmadinejad warns Medvedev of joining “US plot” against Iran
9. Medvedev ‘mouthpiece’ of Iran enemies: Ahmadinejad
10. Ahmadinejad’s statements unacceptable – Russian Foreign Ministry

SUNDAY UPDATE: 

• Ex-CIA chief: Strike on Iran seems more likely now
• U.S. to fully fund Israel’s Arrow 3 missile defense system
• Germany, Israel fail to agree on submarine sale
• North Korea Warns of Nuclear Response to Naval Exercises
• US holds drills off Korea as Pyongyang talks war

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Despite rumors of war earlier this year, it doesn’t currently look like Israel is about to launch a preemptive strike against Iran this summer, despite the fact that Iran is dangerously close to getting nuclear weapons. Anything is possible, of course, but many people are wondering why Netanyahu hasn’t hit the mullahs and their atomic program already. The main reason, I believe, is that evangelical Christians around the world are praying for the peace of Jerusalem according to Psalm 122:6, and the Lord is staving off war in the epicenter for now. In that context, there are several interesting geopolitical dynamics worth considering.

“Why hasn’t Israel bombed Iran yet?” asks Wall Street Journal editorial writer Bret Stephens in a column earlier this week. “It’s a question I often get from people who suppose I have a telepathic hotline to Benjamin Netanyahu’s brain. I don’t, but for a long time I was confident that an attack would happen in the first six months of this year. Since it didn’t, it’s worth thinking through why.” Stephens is a former editor for the Jerusalem Post and a solid Mideast analyst. His take is worth considering.

Meanwhile, Time magazine’s Joe Klein has written a column this week suggesting the military option against Iran is back on the table inside the Obama administration. Not entirely sure I agree with his take, but it’s worth noting.

I look foward to addressing these issues in the context of U.S.-Israel relations and overall geopolitical and spiritual trends in the epicenter at a talk and Q&A I’m doing in Denver on Thursday, July 29th at Calvary Chapel South Denver. Hope you can join us.

• Joel will be speaking on U.S.-Israel relations, the threat of radical Islam, Bible prophecy, and events/trends in the epicenter in Denver on July 29th. Please click here to learn more or to purchase your ticket ($25) — seating is limited, so please register today!
• To pre-order the DVD collection of the speeches/presentations at the 2010 Epicenter Conference, please click here
• To support The Joshua Fund’s on-going efforts to feed the poor and needy in Israel and provide other humanitarian relief to those in the epicenter, please click here

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (right) shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during thier meeting in Cairo. (photo credit: Agence France Presse)

Today we remember the destruction of the First and Second Jewish Temples in Jerusalem. The Hebrew prophets, as well as the Apostles and Jesus Himself tell us to expect a Third Temple to be built in the last days. Personally, I believe this is not far off.

Haaretz headline: Dreaming of the Third Temple in a conflicted Land of Israel

In the meantime, please be praying for Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak who is in very poor health. He and Netanyahu just met. It was a rescheduled meeting from about a week ago when Mubarak had to postpone. Please pray for the Lord to draw Mubarak to faith in Jesus Christ, as well as his son and his cabinet and advisors. Please pray for the Lord to have mercy on the people of Egypt, and that Egypt would be a true partner for peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Thanks.

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HEADLINES TO TRACK

• In sign of warming ties, Turkey FM reportedly meets Hamas chief
• Iron Dome missile defense system aces final test run
• Netanyahu, Mubarak discuss peace process
• WSJ: Preventing the Next Lebanon War — Israel has released valuable intelligence on Hezbollah weapons placement. Will the U.N. and Arab governments act?

“Bishop Luigi Padovese, stabbed to death last month, is the latest victim of Turkey’s growing hostility to Christians,” reports John F. Cullinan in a must-read story on National Review Online. “For all the attention Turkey has gotten lately, very few Americans are aware that the Roman Catholic bishop serving as apostolic vicar of Anatolia was stabbed to death and decapitated last month by an assailant shouting, ‘Allahu Akbar! I have killed the great Satan!’ There are fewer than 60 Catholic priests in all of Turkey, and yet Bishop Luigi Padovese was the fifth of them to be shot or stabbed in the last four years, starting with the murder of Fr. Andrea Santoro in 2006, also by an assailant shouting, ‘Allahu Akbar!’ (An Armenian journalist and three Protestants working at a Christian publishing house — one of them German, the other two Turkish converts — were also killed during this period.) What’s going on? Why has traditionally secularist Turkey, with its minuscule Christian community (less than 0.2 percent of the population), lately become nearly as dangerous for Christians as neighboring Iraq? And why has this disturbing pattern of events so far escaped notice in the West? In a nutshell, all these violent acts reflect a popular culture increasingly shaped by Turkish media accounts deliberately promoting hatred of Christians and Jews…..” [To read the rest of this story, please click here]

Mosab Hassan Yousef, author of Son of Hamas, writes on his weblog: “The five-story building at 45-47 Park Place in Manhattan, two blocks north of “Ground Zero,” was built more than 150 years ago. The religion practiced within its walls, however, dates back nearly 1,500 years—and is directly responsible for the slaughter of nearly 3,000 Americans. Last year, Soho Properties, a Muslim-run real estate company, paid $4.85 million cash for the property. Two of the investors—Cordoba Initiative and the American Society for Muslim Advancement—now want to turn it into what has been called a “mega mosque.” According to its website, the “Cordoba Initiative hopes to build a $100 million, 13-story community center with Islamic, interfaith and secular programming.” In addition to the mosque, the project calls for a 500-seat auditorium, swimming pool, art exhibition spaces, bookstores and restaurants. Please understand that I have no problem with buildings. But I have a very big problem with the politics and symbolism behind this building….If Cordoba and other Muslim organizations in America would like to “do a huge amount of good,” let them build a hospital instead of a mosque. Build something that will help the families of the 9/11 victims. Do something productive for humanity in general, instead of challenging liberty and confusing people about the realities of Islam. This is how they can generate good will, not by building a rock of offense two blocks from Ground Zero.” 

I fully agree with my brother, Mosab. There should be no mosque at or near the 9/11 site.

On Thursday night, July 29th at 7:30pm, I’m looking forward to a special evening at Calvary Chapel South Denver. The topic will be U.S.-Israel relations, Bible prophecy, and how powerfully the Lord Jesus Christ is moving in the epicenter these days. I will speak for about 45 minutes, and then we’ll have a 1 hour and 15 minute Q&A session. The event is a fund-raiser for Ministry Architecture, Inc., the ministry my parents run designing Christian training centers, orphanages, hospitals, and other facilities for evangelical organizations operating in developing countries.

• Please click here to learn more or to purchase your ticket ($25) — seating is limited, so please register today!
• To pre-order the DVD collection of the speeches/presentations at the 2010 Epicenter Conference, please click here
• To support The Joshua Fund’s on-going efforts to feed the poor and needy in Israel and provide other humanitarian relief to those in the epicenter, please click here

HEADLINES TO TRACK:

• Iron Dome missile test in Israel successful
• Poll: Israelis not swayed by Obama
• U.S. paid Iranian nuclear scientist $5 million for aid to CIA, officials say
• BP finally stops oil spewing from Gulf gusher
• Libyan aid ship diverts course from Gaza, enters Egyptian port peacefully
• First half of 2010: Record number of tourists in Israel

I wanted to let you know that I’m helping Glenn Beck raise funds for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation by donating an autographed collection of all his books for a special auction that is underway right now. Please click here to learn more and to bid on this or other interesting packages. “The Special Operations Warrior Foundation provides full scholarship grants and educational and family counseling to the surviving children of special operations personnel who die in operational or training missions and immediate financial assistance to severely wounded special operations personnel and their families.”

Bid on autographed collection of Joel’s books

To read the transcript or watch the video on-line, please click here

>> Joel will be speaking on U.S.-Israel relations and events in the epicenter in Denver on Thursday, July 29th. Tickets are $25 and seating is limited. Please click here for details.