“The Turkish military mobilized large numbers of reinforcements from its eastern provinces to the Syrian border on Tuesday, amid rising tension with Damascus, after the downing by Syria of a Turkish Air Force jet on Friday,” reports the Times of Israel. “Large numbers of Turkish troops — including at least 15 long-range artillery pieces and tanks – moved to the Syrian frontier from the eastern city of Diyarbakir. A video published by the Turkish Cihan News Agency showed Turkish tanks being transported by carrier trucks toward the frontier….’As awe-inspiring as Turkey’s friendship is, Turkey’s wrath is equally awe-inspiring,’ [Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip] Erdogan told the Turkish parliament on Tuesday. ‘The rules of engagement of the Turkish Armed Forces have changed,” Erdogan said. “Any military element that approaches the Turkish border from Syria posing a security risk and danger will be regarded as a threat and treated as a military target.’ Erdogan closed his remarks with an especially harsh condemnation of Syrian President Bashar Assad: ‘Turkey and the Turkish people will continue to provide all support until the people of Syria have been saved from this tyrannical, murderous, bloody dictator and his gang.'” Syria also reportedly fired at a Turkish rescue plane. Meanwhile, fighting near Damascus has escalated and at least 160 people have been killed in the last 48 hours.

Thanks so much to everyone who has been reading Implosion: Can America Recover From Its Economic & Spiritual Challenges In Time? The book will debut on the New York Times best-seller list in the paper this coming Sunday, July 1st. The online list goes up early and indicates the book has hit #13 on the Times’ “combined print & ebook non-fiction” list.

Putin and Abbas in Bethlehem Tuesday (photo credit: Issam Rimawi/Flash 90)

“Russian President Vladimir Putin was given a royal welcome on his first official visit to the Palestinian territories Tuesday,” reports the Times of Israel. “Arriving in Bethlehem, Putin visited the Church of the Nativity and inaugurated a Russian cultural center. Palestinian media was jubilant at the visit, calling it ‘historic’ and dubbing the Russian leader ‘the great guest of Palestine.’ A main road in Bethlehem was even named ‘Putin’ to commemorate the visit, the Palestinian news agency Maan reported. Putin’s visit to the Palestinian territories comes at a particularly tense time in relations between Russia and the Arab world. Reports of Russian military support for the Syrian government crackdown are being highlighted in Arab media, and Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States have been increasingly vocal during the past few weeks in condemning Russia. Worldwide demonstrations outside Russian embassies took place on June 13. Syrians have been burning the Russian flag in protest against Russia’s support for President Bashar Assad.”

The Jerusalem Post reports that Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas is calling for a peace conference in Moscow even as Putin praised Abbas for “behaving responsibly to achieve peace based on the two-state solution.” It’s not clear why Putin regards Abbas rejecting direct peace talks with Netanyahu or allowing Palestinians in Gaza to fire more than 150 rockets and mortars at southern Israel last week constitutes “behaving responsibly.”

Please pray for the Lord to show great love and mercy to the Palestinian people. Please pray especially for Palestinians who follow Jesus Christ and live in very difficult circumstances in the Holy Land.

* Putin visited Western Wall, Old City at 1:30am

Russian President Vladimir Putin today told Israeli leaders not to launch a preemptive military strike against Iran. The question is whether Putin “cautioned” Israel or “warned” Israel not to use force. Publicly, the conversation is being described as Putin urging Israel not to act “prematurely.” But I’m curious to know if behind the scenes Putin is privately issuing a much stronger warning that Israel must not harm Russia’s closest ally in the Middle East or suffer consequences. We’ll have to watch carefully as the trip unfolds. “Putin expressed his reservations over the prospect of a military strike in Iran, urging Israel Monday to learn from negative US experience in Afghanistan and Iraq,” reports Ynet News. “Putin’s comments were made in a meeting with Shimon Peres in Jerusalem, after Israel’s president asked the visiting leader to speak out on the Iran issue. ‘Look at what happened to the Americans in Afghanistan and in Iraq. I told Obama the same thing,’ the visiting president said in a meeting with his Israeli counterpart, cautioning against hasty military action. ‘There is no need to do things too quickly; one should not act without thinking first….Iraq has a pro-Iranian regime after everything that has happened there. These things should be thought out ahead of time before doing something one will regret later….One should not act prematurely.'”

New Egyptian president Mohamed Morsey (Reuters/Ahmed Jadallah)

UPDATED: Who is the new President of Egypt? He’s an absolute disaster — an Islamic Radical who poses a grave threat to Israel, the U.S. and to the people of Egypt, especially the Christians of which there are millions in Egypt. Here’s what Mohamed Morsi  (sometimes spelled Morsy or Mursi) said at a speech at Cairo University in May: “The Koran is our constitution, the Prophet is our leader, jihad is our path and death in the name of Allah is our goal.” According to a Russian news service, Morsi also said, “Today we can establish Sharia law because our nation will acquire well-being only with Islam and Sharia. The Muslim Brothers and the Freedom and Justice Party will be the conductors of these goals.” Those quotes ought to provide insight into just how dangerous Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood really are. There is also a report in the Iranian and Arab press today that Morsi wants to expand strategic ties with Iran and reconsider Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel (note: Morsi’s advisors are disputing this). Nevertheless, President Obama called Morsi and congratulated him on his victory. One of the most fascinating questions to me is: What happens to Egypt in end times Bible prophecy? The answers are found in Isaiah 19, as I have written about in the past on this blog.

Jerusalem Post profile: Morsi goes from prisoner to president; Muslim Brotherhood candidate succeeds Mubarak as president of biggest Arab nation, breaking tradition of domination by armed forces

>> Help The Joshua Fund teach the Word of God in the epicenter, educate and mobilize Christians around the world to bless poor and needy Israelis, train pastors and ministry leaders in Egypt, and prepare for a possible major new war in the epicenter — please prayerfully consider a generous, tax deductible financial contribution to The Joshua Fund.

• IMPLOSION: Can America Recover From Its Economic & Spiritual Challenges In Time?
• Fox News interview with Shannon Bream on “Implosion”
• THE TEHRAN INITIATIVE (paperback)
• Inside the Revolution: How the Followers of Jihad, Jefferson, and Jesus Are Battling to Dominate the Middle East and Transform the World

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, listens to his host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as they prepare to deliver joint statements after their meeting and a lunch in the Israeli leader’s Jerusalem residence, Monday, June 25, 2012. The West’s standoff with Iran over its nuclear program was expected to top the agenda on Monday as Russian President Vladimir Putin began a 24-hour visit to Israel. (AP Photo/Jim Hollander, Pool)

“Visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday evening that his country ‘has a national interest in guaranteeing peace and tranquility for Israel,’” reports Israel’s Ynet News. “Putin’s comments were made in a meeting with Shimon Peres in Jerusalem, after Israel’s president asked the visiting leader to speak out on the Iran issue….” Is Putin telling the truth? Why then is he arming the mullahs in Iran and standing with the brutal dictatorship in Damascus?

* Peres to Putin: Israel knows Russia will prevent Iran from getting nuclear arms

* Syria official says Damascus did not know downed warplane was Turkish

>> Aljazeera: “The Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Morsi has officially won Egypt’s presidential election and will be the country’s next president.”

The new Czar of Russia arrived in Israel this morning for a two day trip to the epicenter. The question is: Why is Vladimir Putin there? Putin refused to come to the U.S. last month for the G-8 summit, yet he decided to visit Israel. Remarkably, Putin is the only Russian leader in history to visit the Jewish state. He first visited seven years ago. His second visit comes at a time when Russia’s alliance with Iran, Syria and other Islamic countries is both troubling and growing. Russia is selling billions of dollars worth of arms to Islamic countries, is sending naval forces at the moment to Syria, and has sold billions of dollars worth of nuclear technology to Iran. Yet at the moment Putin seems determined to show a friendly face to the Israelis. Here’s a quick snapshot of what’s happening on the Putin visit.

“Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in the city of Netanya on Monday morning on an official state visit,” reports Haaretz. “During a speech given at a memorial to the Red Army, Putin called the Holocaust ‘the darkest, most shameful chapter in human history,’ and praised the Soviet Army was the one to ‘smash the head of the Nazi monster and allowed all nations to survive.’ Putin added that he was ‘very excited’ and thanked Netanyahu, Peres and ‘all of his Israeli friends’ for the establishment of the monument. President Shimon Peres was the main Israeli representative at the dedication ceremony. He praised the Soviet Union’s actions against Nazi Germany, as well as the current Russian government’s efforts to promote peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

The Jerusalem Post reports: “Both Israel and Russia agree that Iranian proliferation of nuclear weapons poses a great danger to both Israel and the world, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said at a joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem on Monday. Speaking after Putin, Netanyahu made three demands for Iran: that it must cease all uranium enrichment in the country, that it transfer all enriched uranium out of the country, and that it disassemble its underground nuclear facilities.”

Here’s the schedule, according to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

• Russian President Vladimir Putin will arrive in Israel for a special two-day visit on Monday, 25 June 2012 at the head of a Russian delegation.
• President Putin will be welcomed on arrival at 10:30 at Ben-Gurion International Airport by Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman.
• At 14:00 he wil hold a joint meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Jerusalem Residence, after which they will issue a joint statement.
• At 19:00 President Shimon Peres will host a special evening in the Garden of the President’s Residence, to include a reception, working diplomatic meeting and state dinner for Russian President Vladimir Putin. 
• At the start of the working meeting they will deliver joint statements in Hebrew and Russian (consecutive translation). During the state dinner the two Presidents will enjoy a special salute to Russian culture. At the start of the dinner, they will deliver speeches in Hebrew and Russian (simultaneous translation).

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• IMPLOSION: Can America Recover From Its Economic & Spiritual Challenges In Time?
• Fox News interview with Shannon Bream on “Implosion”
• THE TEHRAN INITIATIVE (paperback)
• EPICENTER 2.0 (paperback)
• Help The Joshua Fund teach the Word of God in the epicenter, educate and mobilize Christians around the world to bless poor and needy Israelis, and prepare for a possible major new war in the epicenter — please prayerfully consider a generous, tax deductible financial contribution to The Joshua Fund.
• What is the “War of Gog and Magog”?
• To listen to my spiritual journey on YouTube — how I came to faith in Jesus Christ, and then experienced a dramatical revival in January 1984 — please click here
• A simple, concise explanation of the Gospel

I’m waking up to the sunrise, praying and reading the Word and preparing to preach three times this morning at a church in Old Bridge, New Jersey. And as I begin the day, I find myself drawn again and again to this beautiful worship song that my wife shared with me yesterday. It’s called “10,000 Reasons” by Matt Redman and I hope you’ll be blessed by it, too.

>> NOTE: I’ll be speaking on Sunday morning at a church in New Jersey (Calvary Chapel Old Bridge) on 2 Chronicles 7:14 and the need for a Third Great Awakening. Please join us.

>> UPDATE: Gaza terrorists fire 22 rockets at Sderot and environs, hitting a school and factory; Iron Dome makes five interceptions on Saturday; IDF chief calls for urgent meeting to consider military’s next steps

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Here’s the link to the print and video interview I did yesterday with Newsmax.

The video is my full interview and much more detailed, including analysis of the latest troubling trends in the Middle East. Here are a few excerpts:

* “America’s internal crises — of faith, of spiraling crime, of massive debt, of moral and spiritual void — could lead to an implosion and the best hope for preventing it is a spiritual great awakening, author Joel Rosenberg told Newsmax.TV. Rosenberg new book Implosion: Can America Recover From Its Economic & Spiritual Challenges in Time? addresses the enormous internal threats America is facing. Rosenberg told Newsmax that he usually writes about the external threats to America and Israel, such as radical Islam but that ‘we’ve got internal threats that are enormous and they’re building so rapidly that it concerns me as an American.’ The author says that because America is not mentioned in the last days as prophesized in the Bible, ‘something happens to neutralize us, to sideline us, or at least to paralyze us from projecting influence and force into the world at large and into the Middle East specifically where most end times prophecies will happen.’…..”

* “We’re at 53 million plus abortions in the United States. We are rapidly approaching 60 million human beings murdered . . .  How long until He either removes His hand of favor on our country or proactively begins to judge it?”

* “One chapter of the book addresses natural disasters and how God tries to send messages with such events. ‘He will use earthquakes and tidal waves and all kind on natural disasters to shake people and get them to start thinking less about the sins that they’re involved in and start thinking about their only hope being in Jesus Christ,’ Rosenberg said.”

Here’s a link to the full column.

Here’s two excerpts:

• A teacher in Texas was arrested for “sexting” with a student only days after he  was named Teacher of the Year. “Sexting,” sending nude photos or videos of  oneself via cell phone, is on the rise in high schools across the country as  students seek approval in the wrong places from their classmates and teachers. A  recent survey shows that even among adults the practice is on the rise, with 1  out of 5 smartphone users admitting to “sexting.”
• “Today, the central question of our time for Americans is this: Will the  American people experience a Third Great Awakening? The Tea Party movement and  to some extent the Occupy Wall Street Movement have launched a constitutional  revival, returning to the principles of 200 years ago. Maybe it’s time to go back 2,000 years for a spiritual renaissance. If not,  our days may be numbered and a terrible implosion is coming. There is no more  middle ground. It is one or the other.”

>> IMPLOSION: Can America Recover From Its Economic & Spiritual Challenges In Time?