Did Israeli gov’t vandalize box that held the bones of Jesus’ brother?

A limestone box said to have once held the bones of the brother of Jesus was at the center of the most controversial forgery case in decades — and it was allegedly vandalized by the Israeli government before being returned to its owner. Called the James ossuary, it is a small stone box with an inscription that reads, “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus.”

That Jesus had a sibling at all is a controversial idea disputed by the Roman Catholic Church. If the box itself were authentic, it would be considered the first physical link to Jesus. A three-judge panel of Israeli Supreme Court justices ordered the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) to return the box and several other artifacts to antiquities collector Oded Golan last month, after the agency spent 10 years accusing Golan of forging the items. The box will soon go on display for the public to view for the first time since 2002. There’s just one problem: Reddish stains now appear over the inscription, remnants of a silicon substance applied by the Israel Police Forensics Laboratory to help determine the authenticity of the James ossuary. The contamination might make it impossible to ever fully determine if this ancient relic is forged or real. “The Israeli police, with permission of the IAA, made a red silicon mold of the inscription — destroying the ‘letter patina’ by pulling out this ‘soft’ patina … thus destroying evidence,” said the geologists who first studied the ossuary in 2002, according to Jerusalem-based journalist Matthew Kalman who has covered Golan’s trial extensively. “Consequently, the alleged small amount of masking letter patina is absent now and cannot be studied further.” A patina is a tarnish that forms on objects after a long period of time. It is one factor archaeologists use to determine the authenticity of artifacts. Judge Aharon Farkash who presided over the case agreed that the process of making the mold left damage to the box and left him with reasonable doubt regarding Golan’s guilty charge, Kalman reported. “There is no dispute that the casting of the silicon by the forensics people changed the physical condition of the inscription of the ossuary,” Judge Farkash said. There is also confusion over the decision to create a silicon mold. The police officer who led the investigation testified that he asked the forensics lab to only “examine” the ossuary and not to carry out invasive tests, according to Kalman’s report. An IAA member who was part of the team of experts that ruled the ossuary a fake testified for the defense in regards to the contamination. “I saw a picture of what happened to the ossuary,” Orna Cohen told the court, calling it “contaminated,” according to Kalman. “It will be hard to say anything about the ossuary itself.” Golan spoke out over his frustration that the ossuary was damaged when returned to him. “It’s not in the same condition as before the trial,” Golan told Kalman. “The inscription was defaced, contaminated. The government said the second half of the inscription was forged — the words ‘brother of Jesus’ — and that’s where the major damage has been done.” Fox News

Palestinian Preacher: Put the Jews to the Sword

Unbelievably, Jerusalem's Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism, is still used today, even under Israeli control, as a platform from which to incite jihad against the Jewish state. Last Friday, Palestinian Authority (PA) religious leader Sheikh Omar Abu Sara'a delivered a sermon at the Al Aqsa Mosque in which he lambasted the PA for being so weak as to actually negotiate with the Jews. Sara'a noted that Islam's Prophet Mohammed urged his followers to "fight" the Jews, not treat with them. "For Jews, we do not have but the sword and by extension we need to hold an all-out war against them and not talk with them," demanded the sheikh. Many Israeli officials fear that the conciliatory policies of their government concerning the Temple Mount mean that the Jewish state has already surrendered the holy site to its enemies. The fact that Sara'a and other Muslim clerics can use the Temple Mount to openly call for the destruction of Israel and the slaughter of Jews would seem to justify their concerns.

Christians among 80 executed in North Korea on 3rd November

AS many as 80 people were publicly executed in North Korea earlier this month, some for offenses as minor as watching South Korean movies or possessing a Bible. South Korean newspaper JoongAng Ilbo reported that the so-called criminals were put to death in seven cities across North Korea on Nov. 3, in the first known large-scale public executions by the Kim Jong-un regime. A source, who is familiar with internal affairs in the North and who recently visited the country, told the paper that about 10 people were killed in each city. Eight people — their heads covered with white bags — were tied to stakes at a local stadium in the city of Wonsan, before authorities shot them with a machine gun, according to the source. Wonsan authorities gathered a crowd of 10,000 people, including children, at Shinpoong Stadium and forced them to watch the killings. “I heard from the residents that they watched in terror as the corpses were (so) riddled by machine-gun fire that they were hard to identify afterward,” the JoongAng Ilbo source said. Most of the Wonsan victims were charged with watching or illegally trafficking South Korean videos, involvement in prostitution, or possessing a Bible. Relatives or accomplices of the execution victims implicated in their alleged crimes were sent to prison camps. There is no clear reason for the executions. One government official noted they occurred in cities that are centers of economic development. Wonsan is a port city that Kim is reportedly planning to make a tourist destination by building an airport, hotels and a ski resort on Mount Masik. Simultaneous executions in seven cities could suggest an extreme measure by the North Korean government to quell public unrest or any capitalistic inclinations that may accompany its development projects. The common theme of the persecution was crimes related to South Korea — like watching South Korean films — or corruption of public morals, especially sexual misconduct. North Korean law permits executions for conspiring to overthrow the government, treason and terrorism. But the country has also been known to order public executions for minor infractions such as religious activism, cellphone use and stealing food, in an effort to intimidate the public. Some experts questioned whether the executions were related to earlier executions of members of the Unhasu Orchestra, a state-run orchestra that First Lady Ri Sol-ju used to participate in, according to the report. “As the news that people were brutally killed in public executions spread in the countryside, the people have been spreading rumors that say that Kim Jong-un has started a terror campaign in response to the Ri Sol-ju’s pornography scandal,” the source told JoongAng Ilbo. There were no executions in the capital of Pyongyang, where Kim depends on the support of the country’s elite. The young leader continues to build luxury and recreational facilities in the capital, including a new water park.

Ex-Intel Chiefs: Obama Let Iran Go Nuclear

Former Israeli and American intelligence chiefs this week said the deal US President Barack Obama and other Western leaders struck with Iran last week in Geneva had essentially allowed the Islamic Republic to become a “nuclear threshold state.” More accurately, former Israeli military intelligence chief Amos Yadlin said that the West had failed for decades to adequately confront the Iranian nuclear threat, and so had finally given up and signed a bad deal. “The fact that Iran is a nuclear threshold state does not derive from this agreement, but because the Iranians have developed capabilities for years, and no one can stop them,” Yadlin said at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv. “Iran is on the verge of producing a bomb. It’s sad, but it’s a fact.” Attending the same conference, Israeli lawmaker MK Tzachi Hanegbi (Likud) lamented the nuclear deal: “If this is not moral defeat, what is moral defeat? If this is not surrender, what is surrender?” The Israelis were not alone in viewing the nuclear deal as what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week said was a “historic mistake.” Former CIA and NSA director Gen. Michael Hayden told Fox News that Obama had clearly “accepted Iranian uranium enrichment. There’s no question about that. That’s a different red line than we used to have.” Hayden noted that the deal agreed to in Geneva speaks of a mutual understanding regarding Iranian uranium enrichment, whereas previous UN resolutions insisted the Islamic Republic had no right to enrich at all. “At the end of the day, Iran’s going to be a nuclear threshold state,” he continued. “What we have to do is push that threshold back as far as possible. …Right now, the Iranians are far too close to a nuclear weapon.” Meanwhile, Iran’s nuclear chief, Ali Akbar Salehi, told his country’s state-run news agency IRNA that the time had come to build even more nuclear plants. Salehi spoke of the plants for use in producing electricity, but Israel and other critics have argued that as a major oil producer, Iran has no real need for civilian nuclear power.

"WAR ON CHRISTMAS" ENDS IN TEXAS AFTER NEW LAW IS PASSED

"I love this. Thank you, Texas. Thank you for stopping the insanity." -Glenn Beck According to a Glenn Beck report, a new law, having bipartisan support, was passed in Texas that reiterates students'; teachers'; and parents' First Amendment rights to "acknowledge Christmas on school grounds without fear of censorship, persecution, or litigation." The FAQ page on the MerryChristmasTexas.com website posts the following information: Can my school acknowledge Christmas? Yes. HB 308 guarantees the freedom of acknowledging Christmas for teachers and students in our public schools without fear of censorship, persecution or litigation. Can teachers and students face punishment for talking about Christmas? No. HB 308 respects the first amendment rights of students and staff and tells school districts that they don't have to be "speech police" for Christmas expressions. Teachers and students in Texas no longer need fear political correctness run amok, that have led to Christmas Trees being replaced with "Holiday Trees" and simple greetings such as "Merry Christmas" landing a student or teacher in hot water. Does this new law force school districts to teach about Christmas and other holidays? No, HB 308 states that a school district "may educate" students about the history and cultural impact of Christmas, Hanukkah, and other holidays. Does this new law force school districts, staff or students to endorse a particular religion? No. HB 308 specifically states that displays "may not include a message that encourages adherence to a particular religious belief." Apparently the need for the law came about after many restrictions against using the word "Christmas" began arising in various situations. "I love this," remarked Beck regarding the passage of the law. "I love this. Thank you, Texas. Thank you for stopping the insanity," he added.

CHILE'S PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE ACCEPTS JESUS CHRIST

"I pledge to continue with the future of our government and God willing if I get there, nothing will be done that goes against what the Bible says." -Evelyn Matthei (Santiago, Chile)—Evelyn Matthei is running for the office of president in Chile. Recently, she met with a group of 3,000 Christians gathered together to celebrate the centennial of the Evangelical Church in Chile to discuss what she would do if elected on December 15. "I pledge to continue with the future of our government and God willing if I get there, nothing will be done that goes against what the Bible says. Marriage is between a man and a woman, and life is cared for them from the moment of conception until natural death. No to abortion; no to euthanasia. That is a commitment I make before you." She also reportedly met afterwards with a group of pastors to make her confession of faith and repeat the Sinner's Prayer. (See here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_zhBGT17kk) Naturally, some speculate whether the politician's verbal commitments are genuine. The candidate opposing her was Chile's first woman president and her childhood friend, socialist Michelle Bachelet, who plans to legalize abortion and open a debate on gay marriage. "That is not what we want," said Matthei. "Why take God out of our country? Is that what we want? That's not what I want." Time will tell if Matthei's profession of faith is real, but meantime Christians are praying it is so.

ISRAELI MK'S DEMAND JEWISH ACCESS TO TEMPLE MOUNT ON HANUKKAH

Jews and Christians are only permitted to visit the Temple Mount under severe restrictions. Despite it being the holiest site on earth to Jews and many Christians, they are forbidden from carrying Bibles or praying while inside the compound for fear of "inciting" Muslim violence. (Jerusalem, Israel)—Jerusalem's Temple Mount is a focal point of the upcoming holiday of Hanukkah, as it is for many aspects of the Jewish faith. As such, Israeli lawmakers are insisting that Jews have freer access to the Temple Mount over the week-long festival. "Just because some Muslims throw stones when Jews go up to the Temple Mount is not a reason to prevent them from going, as happened over Succot," Knesset Members Miri Regev (Likud), chairwoman of the Knesset Interior Committee, told police officials during a committee session on Monday. Regev noted that "special arrangements are made for Muslim prayer [on the Temple Mount] during Ramadan and similar arrangements must be made for Jewish visits on Jewish holidays." Jews and Christians are only permitted to visit the Temple Mount under severe restrictions. Despite it being the holiest site on earth to Jews and many Christians, they are forbidden from carrying Bibles or praying while inside the compound for fear of "inciting" Muslim violence. Many times, the Temple Mount is simply closed to Jews and Christians all together if police feel there is even a chance that the Muslims could riot. Arab Knesset Member Masud Gnaim (UAL-Ta'al) countered that the Temple Mount is "occupied territory" and is "holy [only] to hundreds of millions of Muslims and not to Jews." Many Muslims have convinced themselves that the Jews have no historical connection to the Temple Mount and only try to visit the site today in order to complete their modern "conquest" of the Holy Land.

US REVIVAL WILL START WITH MEN SAYS SOUTH AFRICAN EVANGELIST, ANGUS BUCHAN

He spoke to 10,000 men at the second Mighty Men Conference at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. (Port Elizabeth, South Africa)—"Faith Like Potatoes" South African evangelist Angus Buchan says he has a hope to see "total revival" in the United States "starting with the men and spreading to the family, communities, and nation as a whole." Buchan arrived back in South Africa this week after speaking to more than 10,000 men at the second Mighty Men Conference (MMC) USA at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, on Sunday night, November 17. A few months before he addressed a similar-sized gathering of men at the first MMMC USA at the Murphy Centre at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro. He said that God sent men from every corner of the USA to Bridgestone Arena for the latest MMC USA event. "We have already started receiving very encouraging reports of changed lives and we are so grateful to the Lord Jesus for what He is doing. As John Wesley said, the definition of revival is ‘a people saturated with God'. Having experienced the MMC phenomenon in South Africa, we know this is the same Spirit, excitement and Holiness, we felt here." After hearing God tell him to mentor men, Buchan launched the MMC on his farm, Shalom, in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa in 2004. Forty men attended the first event but the numbers of men increased exponentially each year, and there were more than 400 000 men at the 7th and final MMC on his farm in 2010. An inspiring film, "Faith Like Potatoes," was made about Buchan's MMC journey in South Africa. US country music legend Charlie Daniels and singer Scotty McCreery, an "American Idol" winner, performed at the Nashville MMC USA, which was organized by Pastors G. Allen Jackson and Phillip Jackson from World Outreach Church in Murfreesboro. G. Allen Jackson, who also addressed the men, invited Buchan to speak at the first MMC USA after he and Buchan met as invited speakers at the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem, Israel, in 2011 and realized they shared a vision of impacting men through the truth of Scripture. While the Mighty Men movement is for men only, South African women are generally big MMC fans because they see that it leads to positive change in their men. Echoing this sentiment, a US woman, Jayme Akins, posted this on the Mighty Men USA Facebook page: "I am not a mighty man but I love the mighty men organization. Because of the conference in Nashville Sunday night I have my husband back! I told him I had a feeling he'd get his breakthrough there and my intuition was right! I also told others there would be breakthrough and miracles there they smiled politely like I was crazy … My husband was the one going through the divorce or pondering it, waiting on Gods answer, well he got it. DON'T DO IT! "This organization is amazing and I'm thankful for it. It's natural to see women praise, we do it easier but to see men praise that's beautiful, it's more intimate if that makes sense. You get to see these big tough guys humble themselves to Someone greater. So from a woman I wanted to say thank you!" Buchan said that besides speaking at the MMC USA, other highlights of his latest ministry trip to the USA were speaking at the World Outreach Church in Murfreesboro on Saturday, November 27 and Sunday, November 28, and visiting the 80 000 capacity Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, Texas, where he and G. Allen Jackson prayed over the stadium. "By faith, we are believing one day to book the stadium [Cowboys] for Jesus," said Buchan. Asked about his priorities for this season, Buchan said: "To spend more time with the Lord Jesus. To spend more time with my family. To go only where the Lord Jesus directs us, namely the USA and Israel at the moment."

EVANGELIST ANDREW PALAU JOINS WITH 500 CHURCHES IN ETHIOPIA

"This festival brought everybody together. Everybody wanted to discuss the heart behind Love Ethiopia. It played a significant role in bringing unity at top leadership levels." (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia) In the heart of one of Africa's most influential cities, world evangelist Andrew Palau and 500 Ethiopian churches joined together in a significant effort to foster unity and love, and reach out with the Good News through Love Ethiopia, October 26 through November 17, 2013. The campaign visited the nation's seven largest cities with the clear message of Jesus Christ. It included more than 17 partner evangelists, 120 short-term missionaries, more than 70 para-church organizations, and thousands of local volunteers in 175 events. From outreach events in local prisons to a private meeting with the newly-appointed president of the nation, the campaign reached every level of society and touched more than 250,000 people, with many thousands responding to the clear Gospel message presented by Andrew Palau and dozens of others. Andrew's Biblical messages of hope rang out to tens of thousands of people on the closing weekend of the festival, forming a potent capstone to the three-week-long campaign involving many evangelistic opportunities. Many in the crowd on Saturday were clad in Ethiopian soccer jerseys, proudly sporting the nation's colors – all in hopeful anticipation of the World Cup qualifier match set to be held later that night. Yet none of them budged from the festival site as Palau shared an impassioned message about the reality of Heaven and Hell and the possibility of a lasting and eternal hope. He told stories of men and women who had died with the assurance of Heaven, offering the same assurance to the crowd. "Our brother Andrew is a real evangelist," said Reverend Alemu Shetta, General Secretary of the Ethiopian Evangelical Churches Fellowship. "He is preaching the Gospel to the fullest, in its simplicity. Everybody could understand it." The campaign in Ethiopia was the latest for Palau – part of a 10-year campaign to join with believers throughout Africa and share the Good News of Jesus Christ. And the impact has not gone unnoticed. "I want to thank you for all that Love Ethiopia with Andrew Palau is doing in the area of social services and in presenting a positive message to the young people of Ethiopia," said Ethiopia's President Mulatu Teshome. "You have my support." The festival in Addis Ababa opened with a program for children with evangelist Doug Horley from the UK, BMX demonstrations from Dirt Brothers, Vic Murphy and Jon Andrus, and music led by Chicago-based Salem Baptist Choir, Don Moen, and Dave Lubben, as well as local musical guests Dawit Getachew, Sami Tesfamichael, Tseat Choir, and Tesfaye Gabbiso. Throughout the festival, opportunities to pray and accept the Lord were given numerous times. "This plan and shared vision will meet the great need of this generation," shared Reverend Hiruy Tsige. "The youth are bewildered." Palau has a special love for Ethiopia as he and his wife adopted their daughter from Addis Ababa five years ago. It was their experience in the city that clarified the Lord's call for them and inspired Palau's vision to serve with the Church in 10 capital cities of Africa for 10 subsequent years. Yet, Palau's specific vision for Ethiopia was greater than just the festival in Addis Ababa. After an official invitation from leaders representing 76 denominations in Addis Ababa, Palau shared a proposal that would help unify the entire country and reach every level of society with the Good News of Jesus Christ. He shared his vision with several partner evangelists from the Luis Palau Association's Next Generation Alliance, many of whom were excited to join in the effort. In the weeks prior to the festival more than 17 evangelists led outreaches in seven of the largest cities in Ethiopia. They involved the leadership of Keith Cook, Alan Greene, Blair Carlson, Richard Hamlet, and Reid Saunders. "This festival brought everybody together," said Zelalem Abebe, Love Ethiopia's Festival Director and General Secretary of the Evangelical Students' and Graduates Union of Ethiopia. "Everybody wanted to discuss the heart behind Love Ethiopia. It played a significant role in bringing unity at top leadership levels." The effort in Addis Ababa also involved the participation of more than 200 short-term missionaries from the United States, the United Kingdom, and surrounding nations. They volunteered as mission team members in the week prior to the festival, working alongside local believers, doctors, and medical professionals to serve more than 11,000 people through clinics distributing free eyeglasses, leading outreaches through soccer clinics and BMX demonstrations, and visiting schools, orphanages, and prisons. Working with the Luis Palau Association, local churches and leaders have spent several months building a follow-up and discipleship strategy for every new believer, including the vital partnership and official launch of ALPHA Africa. At present, the Palau team is finalizing preparations for a Christmas outreach in China and evangelistic festivals in Alaska with both Luis and Andrew Palau as the evangelists.

SCIENTISTS FIND MELATONIN, AMONG OTHER THINGS, CONTROLS WEIGHT

Among the health benefits of taking low doses of melatonin on a nightly basis have been improved sleep [and] better resistance to viral infections. It is clearly associated with the aging process." -Nutrition Review (Spain)—In the Journal of Pineal Research, scientists from the University of Granada Institute for Neuroscience, the Hospital Carlos III, Madrid, and the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio (USA) have revealed, for the first time, the previously unknown enigma of why melatonin has metabolic benefits in treating diabetes and hyperlipidemia. In earlier publications, the researchers analyzed the effects of melatonin on obesity, dyslipidemia, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes mellitus associated with obesity in young obese diabetic Zucker rats—an experimental model of metabolic syndrome. In view of their most recent results, it seems the key lies in the fact that chronic melatonin consumption not only induces the appearance of 'beige fat' in obese diabetic rats, but also increases its presence in thin animals used as a control group. 'Beige fat' cells are found in scattered lentil-sized deposits beneath the inguinal skin in obese diabetic Zucker rats. Melatonin is a natural hormone segregated by the human body itself and melatonin levels generally increase in the dark at night. It is also found in small quantities in fruit and vegetables like mustard, Goji berries, almonds, sunflower seeds, cardamom, fennel, coriander and cherries. These findings, together with the pharmacologically safe profile of melatonin, mean it is a potentially useful tool both in its own right and to complement the treatment of obesity. Sleeping in the dark and consuming these foodstuffs could help control weight gain and prevent cardiovascular diseases associated with obesity and dyslipidemia. The study—coordinated by University of Granada lecturer Ahmad Agil—showed that chronic administration of melatonin sensitizes the thermogenic effect of exposure to cold, heightens the thermogenic effect of exercise and, therefore, constitutes excellent therapy against obesity. The fact is that one of the key differences between 'beige fat', which appears when administering melatonin, and 'white fat', is that 'beige fat' cell mitochondria express levels of UCP1 protein, responsible for burning calories and generating heat. The study—authored by Aroa Jiménez-Aranda, Gumersindo Fernández-Vázquez, Daniel Campos, Mohamed Tassi, Lourdes Velasco-Perez, Tx Tan, Russel J. Reiter and Ahmad Agil—has been part-financed and supported by the Granada Research of Excellence Initiative on BioHealth (GREIB), the University of Granada Vice-Rectorate for Scientific Policy and Research, and the regional government of Andalusia research group CTS-109. Given the importance of this discovery, the researchers are confident they will obtain the funding needed to continue their work—says principle researcher Ahmad Agil—"and be able to achieve their final objective: to confirm these findings in humans, by administering melatonin to help combat obesity and diabetes."