BPR Mailing List Digest: 02/01-06/99

Philologos
BPR Mailing List Digest
February 1-6, 1999

Digest Home | 1999 | February, 1999

To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Feb 1, 1999 TV Programs
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 09:45:48 +0000

8:00 PM Eastern

TLC - VOLCANO - Volcanic eruptions produce lethal clouds of
gas, mud slides and ash.(CC)(TVG)

9:00

ABC - NETFORCE , part 1, (Drama, 1999) -- The new head
   of a 21st-century FBI computer-crime unit tries to stop a
   villain from infiltrating the system. From a story by Tom
   Clancy and Steve Pieczenik. Scott Bakula, Joanna Going,
   Brian Dennehy, Kris Kristofferson (120 minutes)

DISC - SPACE COLONIES: LIVING AMONG THE STARS - Sustaining
human life in space; Avery Brooks narrates.(CC)(TVG)

HIST - THE GREAT EMPIRE: ROME - "The Republic of Rome" -
Romulus and Remus; Etruscan monarchy's destruction;
dismantling of the republic.(CC)(TVG)

TLC - GREAT MYSTERIES & MYTHS - "Loch Ness;
Religious Mysteries" - The Loch Ness monster;
religion.(CC)(TVG)

10:00

DISC - INSIDE THE SPACE SHUTTLE - The history of NASA and
the space shuttle program.(CC)(TVG)

HIST - MODERN MARVELS - "U.S. Mints: Money Machines" -
History of the U.S. Mint and the Bureau of Printing and
Engraving.(CC)(TVG)

TLC - STRANGE SCIENCE - "Bizarre Phenomena: Stigmata"
- Autosuggestion may cause the appearance of stigmata on some
people of devout faith.(CC)(TVG)

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - News: Taliban Enforces Prayer
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 09:49:14 +0000

Taliban Enforces Prayer

Afghanistan's Taliban government's "Department for Promoting Virtue
and Preventing Vice" has mandated that male Afghans must report for
prayer service five times a day or face unspecified punishments.
According to Afghans, citizens are being asked to report violations by
neighbors.

Geography Guide at The Mining Co.
Feb 1, 1999
geography.guide@miningco.com
http://geography.miningco.com

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Infobeat News Items
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 10:00:56 +0000

*** Arafat reviewing statehood decision

GAZA CITY, Gaza (AP) - Yasser Arafat said Saturday he was reviewing
plans to declare an independent Palestinian state May 4 - plans that
have raised protests from Israel. The Palestinian leader's remarks
showed more clearly than in the past that he had not decided on a
unilateral declaration on that date. Arafat said the May 4 date would
have to be observed in some fashion but not necessarily by a
declaration of statehood. Arafat has frequently said in the past that
he would declare a state on that day, when an interim period of
self-rule is scheduled to end. But in recent weeks, he has said only
that he retains the right to make such a move. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558273664-b9d

*** China to revise constitution

BEIJING (AP) - China will amend its constitution to enshrine rights of
private enterprise and pay homage to Deng Xiaoping, the man credited
with launching the country's economic reforms, state-run media
reported Saturday. The constitutional revisions being considered by
the National People's Congress reflect positions set by a key
Communist Party Congress in Sept. 1997 and are not major policy
changes. But they do signal the ruling Communist Party's commitment to
market-oriented economic reforms despite festering social unrest due
to rising unemployment and lagging farm incomes. Xinhua said the
amendments would be approved by the legislature when it convenes its
annual two-week plenary session March 5. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558263623-d72

*** Morse code use ends for most ships

LONDON (AP) - SOS. Morse code officially goes out of use Monday for
most ships in distress at sea. The International Maritime Organization
set Feb. 1 as its target date to replace dots and dashes with a
satellite system - the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System -
that can pinpoint the location of a ship signaling for help. The new
system is mandatory for all international freighters over 300 gross
tons, all passenger vessels and self-propelled oil drilling units.
Coastal freighters, most fishing boats and pleasure craft are exempt.
However, Lloyd's List, a maritime industry newspaper published in
London, estimated in December a quarter or more of the world's ships
still had not been fitted with the necessary equipment. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558278317-1cb

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Why Create Man ?
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Donna")
Date: Mon, 01 Feb 1999 06:43:19 -0600

I grew up with the notion that the angels were extremely interested
in flesh man ... to the point of rejoicing when one turns back to
the Lord ... I've always had the idea that the fate of man and the
fate of the angels were somehow linked but I did not know how.

Donna

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Archaeological News: Historians bring scientists in to check out Dead Sea Scrolls
From: bpr-list@philologos.org
Date: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 08:50:48 -0500

Historians bring scientists in to check out Dead Sea Scrolls

By NICOLAS B. TATRO

JERUSALEM (January 31, 1999 3:41 p.m. EST
http://www.nandotimes.com) - After a half-century of piecing
together the Dead Sea Scrolls from remnants found in desert
caves, scholars may be reaching a point where they have learned
all they can from handwriting and textual analysis.

So, in an attempt to open new horizons, scientists are being
brought into the field of scroll research to apply their techniques
to the 2,000-year-old scriptures.

http://www.nandotimes.com/noframes/story/0,2107,13255-22352-162621-0,00.html

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Re: Jewish Wedding
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Susan")
Date: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 15:22:56 EST

        I don't know exactly why you think that I am basing my theology on anything
that is not in the Bible by asking about the relationship of the Jewish
Wedding to that of the Rapture. I have not found the particular Bible study
yet. But, It relates to it (the wedding and the marriage supper of the Lamb)
the BrideGroom - Christ and the Bride (His Church).
        The Bridegroom (Christ) goes away and prepares a place for His Bride the
Church. It was a beautiful study of Christ and His Church and was based on
the Bible's teaching.
        I would like to say something and I will be quite honest about this. As a
Babe in Christ, I have enjoyed the posts to this list. However, I have only
said two things on it and both times people have come back and found fault and
gave me the impression that I was trying to lead others astray from the Word
of God. Maybe I am being very sensitive. But, I always thought by helping
others to learn about Christ, and the Bible we were helping our Lord.
        I am trying to learn and to share items in scripture about my Lord.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Re: Jewish Wedding
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("JM")
Date: Mon, 01 Feb 1999 16:03:06 -0500

(To the person who intimated that Susan's question about the Jewish Bridegroom/Bride
was based on a theology not from the Bible...)

What makes you think that the Jewish religion is not based on the Bible? The Jewish
relighion is based on the Torah--books of the Old Testament. Last time I checked, the
Old Testament was part of the Bible.

Julia

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Re: Jewish Wedding
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Susan")
Date: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 17:18:06 EST

Good Day in Christ,
        DJ,
                I have received and read from other listers the following information. I am
providing the information given to me so that others may enjoy this Bible
study as I have. (Regarding the Jewish wedding and the Marriage Supper of the
Lamb and His Bride (The Church).
        I do not have this book and I have not read it, but it comes to me highly
recommended:
        The Parable of Joy by Michael Card

The following were suggested: http://philologos.org/bpr/files/m-003-01.htm
and http://members.aol.com/gkilli4/home/wedding.html

These studies have truly blessed my heart and I thank those who provided the
information to me. What a wonderful blessing to see how God's Word
intertwines and gives us insight. I pray that any one else reading these
portions of God's Word will be as blessed as I have been. In Christ,
Susan

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - News: Clinton's re-election plans?
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 22:36:37 +0000

From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>

Clinton's re-election plans?
Bill to repeal 22nd Amendment introduced
(WorldNetDaily 2.1.99)

By Jon E. Dougherty
c 1999 WorldNetDaily.com

The Internet and talk radio programs across the
country are buzzing about presumably joking
remarks made by White House press secretary
Joe Lockhart regarding plans by President
Clinton to seek re-election to a third term and
legislation introduced in Congress that could
facilitate such a bid.

Before taking questions during a Jan. 27 press
briefing, White House spokesman Joe Lockhart
and reporters exchanged some light banter
about a proposed constitutional amendment
that could have a lasting impact on the office of
the presidency. The exchange went this way:

MR. LOCKHART: We'll do a couple of quick
announcements before we get to questions.

Q: Is he (President Clinton) running for
re-election?

MR. LOCKHART: Well, I guess we buried the
lead here. The president announced that he
wants to undo the Constitution and repeal the
22nd -- 23rd Amendments?

Q: Sounds like gymnastics -- constitutional
gymnastics you're talking about here.
(Laughter)

MR. LOCKHART: Yes, there you go.
(Laughter.) All's fair in constitutional
gymnastics. This is our double flip in the pike
position.

The bill, H.J. Res. 17, was introduced in the
House by Rep. Jose E. Serrano, D-NY, and his
lone co-sponsor, Rep. Christopher Shays, R-CT,
on Jan. 6. The bill was referred to the House
Judiciary Committee for review, but, thus far,
no floor action has been scheduled for it.

If the proposed repeal were to pass before
Nov. 4th, 2000, then theoretically Bill Clinton
could be the Democrat's choice for a third term
in office. There is no language in the bill as it is
currently written to bar the present
commander-in-chief from running again.

The bill proposes "an amendment to the
Constitution of the United States to repeal the
twenty-second article of amendment, thereby
removing the limitation on the number of
terms an individual may serve as president."

If H.J. Res. 17 were to be approved by both the
House and Senate, then it would require
three-fourths of the state legislatures to ratify it
within seven years before the new amendment
would be added to the Constitution.

However, few experts see much chance of
passage.

Marshall Whitman, director of congressional
relations with the Heritage Foundation, told
WorldNetDaily it had "virtually no chance" of
passing during the 106th Congress.

"It's dead on arrival," he said.

via Prophezine News Bites
Feb 1, 1999
http://www.prophezine.com

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Re: Jewish Wedding
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("TLJ")
Date: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 17:54:33 EST

Susan,

Please go to the following web address which is from the Bet Emet Ministries.
Look at how Jesus fulfills the Fall Festivals of our Lord and it explains how
it relates to a Jewish wedding. You are not imagining things. This is a
great article as to how the Feast Days provide us with a shadow of things to
come. Christ has already fulfilled the Spring Feast Days and we are waiting
on the fulfillment of the Fall Feast Days.

http://web2.airmail.net/bennoah1/unveiling_yeshua_in_the_feasts.htm

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Re: Jewish Wedding
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Tokayz")
Date: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 15:17:20 -0800 (PST)

You are right to be looking into Jewish culture. The majority of the Old
testament and shock of shocks the New testament is based on Jewish
culture. Lest we forget our Lord and Savior was Jewish.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Meaning of the word SABBATH
In the word Sabbath there are the following elements: "ab" means father
(See Strong's Hebrew Dictionary, word H1) "b" means dwelling place, or
of (i.e. Tisha B' Av in Hebrew means the ninth day of the month of Av)
"ath" (oth) means sign or seal (See Strong's Hebrew Dictionary, word
H226)
So "S-ab-b-ath" means the dwelling place of the seal of the Father.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Religion Today News Summary for Monday, February 1, 1999
From: bpr-list@philologos.org
Date: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 18:43:19 -0500

C U R R E N T N E W S S U M M A R Y
by the Editors at ReligionToday.com

February 1, 1999

Some Christian groups will boycott the National Prayer Breakfast
if Yassar Arafat attends. Leaders of the Christian Coalition (see
link #1 below) and the Traditional Values Coalition said they
will not attend the annual prayer breakfast if Arafat's
invitation is not rescinded, the Associated Press said. "Inviting
Arafat means embracing a man with blood on his hands. And I find
that disturbing," said Christian Coalition Executive Director
Randy Tate. He asked members of Congress not to participate this
year. The invitations were issued through the office of Rep.
Steve Largent (R-Okla.), a Christian conservative. Largent said
he did not personally invite Arafat, but will not rescind the
invitation. The Palestinian Authority leader has turned down
three previous invitations to attend the event, but said he will
come this year.

[..edit..]

President Clinton continues to seek spiritual support. Since the
disclosure of his affair with a White House intern (see link #3
below), Clinton has relied heavily on the prayers and advice of
several ministers, the Associated Press said. Aides sometimes
call the ministers and ask them to call Clinton if they sense
that he is becoming depressed.
..."There are people who feel that all of this is running off his
back like water off a duck. That's not true," said Rev. Bennett
Smith, who prayed for Clinton at a recent rally in Buffalo. "This
man is undergoing great agony. I really think this man is totally
repentant. I have no doubt in my mind this man will not repeat
that again. This has gone to the center of his spirituality."
Clinton continues to meet regularly with spiritual advisers (see
link #4 below) Gordon MacDonald, Tony Campolo, and Philip
Wogaman, who are reportedly helping him stay committed to his
marriage vows and repair his family life.
...A handwritten prayer from a Decatur, Ga., woman reportedly
touched Clinton deeply. Mattiel Wilburn, 60, wrote the prayer and
had it delivered by way of her pastor, a boyhood friend of the
president. "O Lord, as we look into our lives, we see much that
displeases thee. We know that we have sinned...Come into our
hearts to comfort us each time we would turn from thee," the
prayer reads in part. Clinton was reportedly so moved that he
contacted Wilburn to thank her. "Thank you so much for the
blessing of your prayer," he said in a personal note. "Prayer is
very important to me."

-----------
RELATED LINKS:
1: http://www.cc.org
3: http://www.religiontoday.com/Archive/FeatureStory/view.cgi?file=19980911.s1.html
4: http://www.religiontoday.com/Archive/NewsSummary/view.cgi?file=19980924.brf.html
-----------

News from ReligionToday.com is Copyrighted by Media
Management. Content may be reproduced provided proper
credit is given to www.ReligionToday.com.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Re: Jewish Wedding
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Tokayz")
Date: Mon, 01 Feb 1999 20:56:51 -0500

You are right to be looking into Jewish culture. The majority of the Old
testament and shock of shocks the New testament is based on Jewish
culture. Lest we forget our Lord and Savior was Jewish.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - List Changes
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 21:46:10 -0500

From: <owner-bpr@philologos.org>

Hi guys...

I need to take care of some list stuff, so listen up for just a sec
please <g>.

A week or so ago, I changed the message format of outgoing
messages so that members' email addresses didn't show up. I did
this in part as a response to one list member telling me he was
receiving harassing email from someone and he wondered if that
user was on the list. Since email addresses showed up in the
messages, he was wondering if perhaps this is where the person
in question had gotten his address. As it turns out, no the
"harasser" was not from our list. But, nevertheless, I got to
thinking (sometimes, it's not a good thing when I do that) and
noticing that a few other lists that I'm on "hide" users' addresses,
so maybe this was the trend and a way to protect from SPAM
and other such things.

After trying this new format out for a while, I've decided that I
don't like it <g>. So I'm going back to old way. If you send a
message to the list in the future, your email address will show up
in the message. Now, the reason for me changing back is that
there are several emails coming into the list recently that would
be better sent privately. I tried forwarding some email that I felt
should be private, but it's getting to be too much. Messages or
one liners that basically say "good point" or "I agree" or other
such encouraging words should be sent privately.

Secondly, please try to use TEXT formatted messages. No
HTML please.

Thanks for your time...

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Re: Why Create Man ?
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 02 Feb 1999 01:06:23 -0500

From: "R.J.CHIOMENTO" <semper@erols.com>

Hello,
I am new to this list, and my name is Christie. I accepted Christ
back in 1975. I am enjoying reading all the posts very much. I
thought, if I could, I'd like to give an answer to one of Donna's
current questions, concerning why God would go ahead and create a being,
such as man, whom He already knew would fall from grace with Himself,
which would, in effect, lead to man's spiritual death, and of him being
cut off from God.

I believe that God, even though He foreknew of mankind's eventual
failure to obey Him, and commit sin, knew that, in the long run, it
would be more than worthwhile for Him to create man, for more than just
one reason--

First, I believe that God created mankind to SHARE in the glorious world
that He had made, and to FELLOWSHIP with Himself. He knew man would
fail to stay away from sin, BUT, because he knew that, and even with all
the hardships mankind, and even God, Himself, would have to endure, to
bring mankind back to Himself, after the "fall from grace", the life God
had layed out for Himself, and mankind, in eternity, was such a
glorious, and wonderful thing, that it would make it all to have been
worth the ordeal.

Secondly, if you look at the hardships that God has allowed mankind to
suffer, here on Earth, as being able to TEACH mankind much about life,
as well as about himself, and about God, it takes on a much more
important appearance--now, it becomes of upmost BENEFIT to mankind, in
preparing him for his eventual life with God, in Eternity. All that
mankind goes through, during this earthly life, can be looked on as an
excellent way to show all of His creation about the FACTS of life, and
exactly why God loves goodness and truth, and why God hates
evil--hearing about it is one thing, but actually seeing it can really
hammer the point home!

It seems to me that, in God's view of things, man's fall from grace was
only a temporary thing, which, once Christ paid for all of their sins,
on the cross, could be ended, by mankind putting it's faith in Jesus, on
an individual bases. If a man does not accept Christ, and, therefore,
be spiritually renewed, and reunited with God, it is MAN'S fault, not
God's---God offers, MAN decides. Otherwise, man would merely be God's
puppet, and not allowed to think for himself. Tt's obvious that a
puppet is NOT what God wanted to fellowship with for all eternity, or
we'd most likely all be made out of wood, and dance on the end of a
string :~} !! And, like Pinnochio, we'd most likely be heard to say, "I
want to be a REAL boy{or,girl}!!"

I want to join in the discussion, concerning the rapture, but I need to
'study' on that one, first, for a little longer, before I make any
comments! Thanks, to all, and the Peace of the Lord be with you in
this, and in all that you do,
Christie

Donna wrote:
>
> Bek wrote:
>
> > God did not create rebellion. Man chooses to rebel. The Lord have much mercy
> > on us!
> > Okay, Donna, thank you for your post. In Christ, there is hope for the
> > hopeless. Let us be glad for the Lord is bringing His people to the perfect
> > man through Christ.
> >
> > Bek
>
> I agree. Don't get stuck on my poor way of expressing my thoughts.
>
> But God is omniscient. He knew that man would rebel ... he already
> had a plan in place to deal with it. Why create again if you
> already know the creation will rebel ?
>
> Donna
>
> ----------------------------------------------------:)
>
> Are our lives more shaped by those who love us
> or by those who refuse to love us ?

--- BPR

BPR Web Site - http://philologos.org/bpr

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Re: Jewish Wedding
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 22:52:08 -0800

From: "Nancy" <nklassy@home.com>

Dear Susan,
Here are some studies that blessed me on the Jewish wedding, and hopefully
they add light for you also.

http://www.prophecycountdown.com/articles/bride.html

http://www.yeshuatheking.org/wed.html

in Christ,
Nancy

-----Original Message-----
From: bpr-list@philologos.org [mailto:bpr-list@philologos.org]
Sent: Monday, February 01, 1999 12:23 PM
To: BPR Mailing List
Subject: [BPR] - Re: Jewish Wedding

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Feb 2, 1999 TV Programs
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 2 Feb 1999 09:58:58 +0000

From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>

8:00 PM Eastern

DISC - TOP SECRET - "The Mossad" - The success of dangerous
secret missions of Israel's Mossad give the agency a nearly
legendary status.(CC)(TVG)

9:00

DISC - THE NEW DETECTIVES: CASE STUDIES IN FORENSIC SCIENCE
- "Infallible Witness" - New forensic
techniques.(CC)(TVPG)

HIST - THE GREAT EMPIRE: ROME - "Age of Emperors" - Emperors
reign over Imperial Rome; public/private lives of
emperors.(CC)(TVG)

TLC - UFO; APOLLO 13 - The number of UFO sightings has
increased since World War II; astronauts bring a crippled
spacecraft back to Earth.(CC)(TVG)

10:00

TLC - STRANGE SCIENCE - "Weird Places" - Stone
   circles in the English countryside; geyser may predict
   earthquakes; pilgrims to Lourdes; killer
   lake.(CC)(TVG)

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Weekend News Today items (2/1/99)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 2 Feb 1999 10:07:49 +0000

From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>

Israel to construct submerged bridge to simulate 'walk
on water'

Weekend News Today
By Staff Writer
Source: BBC

Mon Feb 1 ,1999 -- Pilgrims travelling to Israel for the
Millennium celebrations are to be offered the experience of
"walking on water". Israel is to construct a submerged
bridge in the Sea of Galilee allowing tourists to simulate the
miracle which the Gospels say Jesus performed. The Israeli National
Parks Authority has authorised a private contractor to build the
bridge in time for the Millennium when some four million pilgrims are
expected to make their way to the Holy Land.

The four-metre (13ft)-wide, 100-metre (328ft) long crescent-shaped
floating bridge will be positioned just below the surface, and will
be able to accommodate up to 50 people. It will not have rails in
order to enhance the "walking on water" effect, and lifeguards and
boats will be in attendance in case a walker slips off. The site of
Jesus' reported walk on water has been a pilgrimage point since at
least the third century, and is marked by an ancient church. The
bridge is one of a long list of projects approved by Israeli
authorities for 2000.

Leah Rabin and Arafat to read from Bible and
Koran in Washington

Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: IsraelWire

Mon Feb 1,1999 -- Leah Rabin, widow of former prime minister
Yitzchak Rabin, has been asked to read Psalm 23 and selections from
Deuteronomy in a large event of the American Congress in Washington.
At the same event, Yassir Arafat will read a chapter from the Koran,
and a Christian leader will read from the New Testament. Rabin stated
that the selections she will read emphasize the Jewish belief in one
God. She will be attending the annual congressional breakfast, along
with US President Bill Clinton, members of the Senate and Congress,
the diplomatic corps, religious leaders, and other world leaders. A
representative of the Israeli Embassy in Washington will attend the
event, but the ambassador will be unable to attend.

Al Gore declined meeting with Nentanyahu

Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: IsraelWire

Mon Feb 1 , 1999 -- Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu did not
participate in the World Economic Forum in Davos Switzerland when he
learned that US Vice President Al Gore was unwilling to participate
with him in a photo session. Responding to the report, the prime
minister's media advisor, Aviv Bushinsky, stated that if Mr. Netanyahu
wanted a meeting, either with Gore or President Clinton, one could be
arranged very easily.

Weekend News Today
http://upway.com/cgi-bin/went

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Re: Jewish Wedding
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 2 Feb 1999 10:30:09 -0500

From: Joel Sheagren <wildjoel@earthlink.net>

Hi Susan

No you are not alone with people responding with great criticism over
simple things. The criticism I received did not relate to the question I
asked. It was like a platform for them to be self righteous. I'm not
sure if it is a control thing or what the deal is. Whatever is going on
is not healthy and not done in Christian love.

The study of Jewish wedding I believe is of importance as well since
one of the major themes from Gen to Rev is about marriage. Some of
us believe the meaning of life is relationship - esp. marriage since the
goal of Christ is to be married to the church and God to Israel.

There is much to be learned from traditional Jewish weddings. God
bless you in your study.

Joel

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Study: East vs West
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 2 Feb 1999 13:16:31 -0500

From: <owner-bpr@philologos.org>

Hi guys..

Over the last several weeks, we've been looking into the various
temples mentioned in the Bible -- meditating on their structure
and purpose, comparing similarities, noting differences, watching
for reoccurring themes, etc. One such theme that has caught my
attention is God's use of direction, specifically EAST in reference
to man and the temple.

The tabernacle that Moses built in the wilderness is generally
considered to be the first sanctuary. But it's my belief that in
actuality the Garden of Eden was the first sanctuary. It was the
place where God and man communed -- a holy place. It's
notable that God placed man EAST of Eden in the garden. When
man sinned, he was removed towards the east. Man's movement
towards the east (Lot, Tower of Babel, etc) is generally regarded
as symbolic of man's moving away from God in sin and error. A
westward movement is symbolic of a reconcilation with God.

If you look at the various sacrifices in temple rituals, you'll also
find references to an eastwardly direction. Entrance into the
temple was through the east, while the holy of holies was located
in the far west. (The temple had a east-west orientation). Rich
symbolism there I think.

There's much more that we are working on, but I wonder if
perhaps some of you have looked into a similar study and would
like to share your thoughts with us?

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - News: $117 billion surplus in US budget
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 2 Feb 1999 19:46:50 +0000

From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>

*** What would you do with $117 bln?

(AP) - Dick Clark's "$100,000 Pyramid"? Amateur. Cash-swollen
Powerball jackpots? Mere chump change. Publishers Clearing House
sweepstakes? Clear 'em out. Time to play in the big leagues. This
isn't hundreds of millions of dollars we're talking. It's not
billions, or even tens of billions. No, President Clinton's 2000
budget estimates $117 billion in surpluses, and he has ideas on how he
wants to use it. Sure he does. What American wouldn't? Tom Spillane
certainly did. "Give it to me," a helpful (if hopeful) Spillane, 30, a
construction worker from Melrose, Mass., suggested Monday. Ideas run
the gamut. Americans interviewed by AP had varied suggestions: from
social security to tax cuts to funding homeless and battered-women
programs to investing it in the stock market. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558289472-1b1

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - News: Bin Laden book "America & the Third World War"
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 2 Feb 1999 19:48:28 +0000

From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>

Tuesday February 2 5:45 AM ET

Bin Laden Book Publisher Charged

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) - Seven people allegedly involved in publishing
a book written by suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden have been
charged in Bangladesh with failing to first get government permission.

In the case police filed Monday, the seven were accused of
circumventing Bangladesh's Press and Publication Law by failing to
seek government permission before publishing bin Laden's ``America and
the Third World War.''

A senior police ministry official said police were searching for an
eighth man, the translator.

The government often refuses to allow publication of materials that
might increase tension between the country's Muslims and the Hindu
minority, or are deemed contrary to the spirit of Islam.

Violation of the publication law carries a jail term of up to six
months, but in most cases violators are let off after a warning.

Bin Laden, accused of funding international terrorism including last
year's bombing of United States embassies in Africa, argues that the
West has desecrated Islamic holy sites and weakened Islamic
governments around the world. The Saudi dissident lives in
Afghanistan.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Re: Study: East vs West
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 2 Feb 1999 13:57:10 -0600

From: skip007@sprynet.com

Hi Guys,
I was thinking about the fact that Adam and Eve were placed in a garden
that the Lord had placed "Eastward in Eden". Seems he placed them in a
location where they would have room to move "Westward"....or closer to Him,
by reason of their own free will.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Re: Study: East vs West
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 2 Feb 1999 13:40:52 -0800 (PST)

From: Tokayz@webtv.net

Ezekiel 8:12-18 tells of the people turning their backs to the temple of
God. And facing the east to worship the sun. It is note worthy to notice
that when God's people turned from true worship, they fell into trouble.
Lev. 17:7 Describes false worship as worshiping the devil. When the
people of God turned their backs on him they were facing the rising sun.
They worshiped as the pagan's worshiped. Job 31:26-28 calls the worship
of the sun or moon a false worship that denies God. 2Kings 23:5 shows
that the worship of Baal is sun worship. Ezekiel 28:17 describes Satan
as being the Day Star. The sun is the day star, and by paying special
homage to the sun they were worshiping satan. Ezekial 20:12-20 shows
that the people of God and the pagans had seperate days of worship.
Satan is trying to seperate God from his people. Satan designed to rob
God of his peculiar authority as the creator of the universe. Romans
1:25 says that they rejected the creator and worshiped the creature
(satan) and that they exchanged the truth for a lie. Hebrews 4:9-11
"There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has
entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from
His. (see Genesis 2:2,3) Let us therefore be diligent to enter that
rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience."

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Re: Jewish Wedding to Susan
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 02 Feb 1999 21:40:45 -0500

From: skyberspace@webtv.net

Just wanted to tell you that I love you in the Lord sister. I guess we
all have the tendancy to get carried away and believe that we are the
only ones who are right.

There are certain literal scriptures in the Bible that leave no doubt as
to what they are talking about. However, others , like the rapture,
pre-mid-post-trib etc are very much open to interpretation.(Might get
slayed on that one <grin>) Guess thats why the Lord said no man knows
the day or the hour....but He has given us "signs" to be able to discern
the times that we live in.I used to be pre-trib, now after 24 years I
lean toward a mid-trib point of view.But the fact is that I dont know,
and the other fact is,that we sure are going to find out! amen?

PS have also done studies on the Jewish weddings and also on the Hebrew
feasts and they have enriched me considerably
so go where the Lord leads you, amen?

In Christ,Sky
JESUS CHRIST IS COMING BACK SOON SO...........

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Feb 3, 1998 TV Programs
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 3 Feb 1999 09:47:44 +0000

From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>

8:00 PM Eastern

DISC - INSIDE THE SECRET SERVICE - Agents learn
assassination analysis, firearm proficiency and evasive
driving.(CC)(TVG)

HIST - THE LOST CITY OF ATLANTIS - Ancient tales
describe a sunken city.(CC)(TVG)

9:00

DISC - DISCOVER MAGAZINE - "Crime Lab" - Crime-solving
techniques; Pan Am Flight 103; World Trade Center
bombing.(CC)

HIST - THE GREAT EMPIRE: ROME - "Building an Empire" - Life
in Pompeii; Emperor Hadrian; religious revolts in
Judea.(CC)(TVG)

10:00

DISC - IN THE GRIP OF EVIL - Interviews explore the real
horror behind the film ``The Exorcist.''(CC)(TVPG)

HIST - MODERN MARVELS - "Aqueducts: Man Made Rivers of
Life" - Aqueducts of Los Angeles and San
Francisco.(CC)(TVG)

TBS - COUSTEAU'S LAKE BAIKAL: BENEATH THE MIRROR - The
ancient freshwater Siberian lake has 1500 endemic
species.(CC)(TVG)(Starts 10:05pm) (Ends 11:05pm)

TLC - STRANGE SCIENCE - "Mysterious Skies" - UFOs;
the moon; lightning; meteors; atmospheric
optics.(CC)(TVG)

--- BPR

BPR Web Site - http://philologos.org/bpr

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - News: Software flaw marks living deceased
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 3 Feb 1999 13:32:02 +0000

From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>

*** Software flaw marks living deceased

EL PASO, Texas (AP) - People across the country are finding some
disturbing information when they open their W-2 forms: They have been
declared dead. The problem appears to be that employers used new W-2
forms with old computer software programs. As a result, an "X" that
should have been printed in the "pension" box appeared in the space
denoting "deceased." At New Mexico State University, hundreds of
employees opened their tax forms this week to find an "X" printed
under the word "deceased." The same thing happened last week to 13,000
city employees in Dallas. In Saratoga Springs, N.Y., 350 municipal
employees were listed as "deceased" on their W-2's. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558304842-929

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - News: Religion Today News Summary for Tuesday, February 2, 1999
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 3 Feb 1999 09:18:28 -0500

From: <owner-bpr@philologos.org>

C U R R E N T N E W S S U M M A R Y
by the Editors at ReligionToday.com

February 2, 1999

[... edit...]

A rift in the Episcopal Church (see link #3 below) is widening.
Conservative leaders in the United States, who oppose what they
consider unbiblical positions by liberal bishops on homosexual
ordination and homosexual marriage, asked Anglican bishops
worldwide to intervene on their behalf, The Washington Times
said. "We're in the middle of a major struggle in the American
church," said Chuck Murphy, head of First Promise, a collection
of 700 conservative Episcopal clergy and lay workers who oppose
liberal trends in the church. "We've built an international
alliance of primates [Anglican bishops] who won't stand for it
any longer."
...The U.S. conservatives have asked 800 Anglican bishops to
protect them from pressure by North American church leaders. They
hope the prelates will come to American cities to baptize,
confirm, and counsel Episcopalians despite the objections of the
presiding bishop.
...Conservative leaders nominated a bishop this week to take
charge of breakaway Episcopal churches. Five churches in
Pennsylvania have stopped sending donations to the regional
headquarters because Bishop Charles Bennison has declared his
support for ordaining homosexuals and for performing same-sex
"weddings." Others are upset because leaders in the diocese
refused to pass a resolution that said the Scriptures are
divinely inspired and that Jesus Christ is the son of God. "If
our diocese can't affirm that Jesus is the Christ, then we
shouldn't be giving to it," Philip Lyman of St. John's Episcopal
Church in Huntingdon Valley, Pa., said.
...Strains in the 2.4 million-member church began to widen after
a worldwide gathering of Anglicans last summer. Bishops of the 63
million-member Anglican Communion voted overwhelmingly at the
Lambeth Conference (see link #4 below) against homosexual
marriage and ordination of practicing homosexuals. Liberals
denounced the vote and more than 70 bishops in the United States
signed a letter of apology to homosexuals. They said the
prohibitions will one day be overturned. "That is the genius of
Anglican ethos...It does not lock itself into hardened positions
which it considers definitive for the ages," Bishop Edward Lee of
the Diocese of Western Michigan said.

[... edit ...]

Nigerian Muslims want Islamic law written into the constitution.
A draft document drawn up in 1995 by the nation's former head of
state is being revised, and Muslim leaders are calling for the
Koran to be adopted as "a comprehensive code of life." The
original draft calls for a secular government and forbids
establishment of an official religion, including the
establishment of Islamic courts on the state and federal level,
Compass Direct News said. Christians said they will oppose any
constitution that does not recognize minority religious groups.

[... edit ...]

Orthodox Jews attempted to stop 33 American men and women rabbis
from praying together. The members of the Reform movement were
praying at the Western Wall, the holiest site for Jews. "Go back
to America. We don't need you here," the protesters shouted.
Police kept the two sides apart. Orthodox tradition forbids men
and women to pray together.
...The prayer service was intended to challenge Orthodox
authority in religious matters, the Associated Press said. "We
simply will not allow them to conquer Jerusalem from the rest of
the Jewish world," Reform Rabbi Stephen Fuchs said. Many Orthodox
Jews consider the more liberal Reform and Conservative movements
to be heretical. Most U.S. Jews are Reform or Conservative.

Jews who can't afford a trip to Jerusalem are visiting Virtual
Jerusalem (see link #6 below), an Internet site that presents
Jewish news and culture. Jews have been traveling to Jerusalem
for centuries to stuff handwritten notes in the Western Wall,
Judaism's holiest shrine. A "send a prayer" service on Virtual
Jerusalem allows people around the world to email their prayers,
which are gathered by an employee of the site, carried to the
Western Wall, and placed inside. A live camera linked to the site
beams shots of the wall 24 hours a day.
...The four-year-old site contains news from Arutz Sheva Israel
National Radio, The Jewish Week newspaper, and Israel Wire news
service. There is information about people, food, shopping,
religion, and politics, and lectures on the Torah from Orthodox,
Conservative, and Reform rabbis. About 25% of the visitors are
not Jewish, so the site started a section for Christians called
Virtual Holy Land (see link #7 below) that focuses on
Christianity and Israel.

-----------
RELATED LINKS:
1: http://www.crosswalk.com/ecfa/
2: http://www.nrb.com/
3: http://ecusa.anglican.org/
4: http://www.religiontoday.com/Archive/FeatureStory/view.cgi?file=19980806.s1.html
5: http://www.cardinalkungfoundation.org/menu.htm
6: http://www.virtualjerusalem.com/ 7: http://www.virtualholyland.com/

-----------

News from ReligionToday.com is Copyrighted by Media
Management. Content may be reproduced provided proper
credit is given to www.ReligionToday.com.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Why Y2K?
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 3 Feb 1999 14:40:05 +0000

From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>

I have spent some time over the last few weeks looking into the Y2K
thing (the "Millennium Bug"). Or, should I say, it has been looking
into me, since I am being sent articles from all over.

So far, and it is still early in the year, the conclusion I am drawing
from all the various different sources is that, at best, there is
uncertainty. There is no question that many sectors of the population
have been 100% successful at either resolving the problem (I am
skeptical about the 100% part), or reducing it. There is also no
question that many sectors of the population around the
world--including Russia and the developing countries--have not, and
are unlikely to resolve their problems by January 1, 2000. And it
seems that their failures can end up being shared, even by those who
have taken the time, spent the money, and have been successful in
killing their portion of the "Millennium Bug."

But that is not what makes me think. What troubles me is, what if the
time for the redemption has come? I want to know WHY "2K" in the first
place. After all, it wouldn't be the first world-wide catastrophe that
had humble beginnings, only to became a monstrous crisis it should
NEVER have become, but did anyways.

First of all, there are Midrashic hints "floating" around that
5760/2000 will be an important year. One reputable source (hundreds of
years old) predicted a world-wide "cleansing" flood in the year 5760.
As we know from other rabbinic literature, not all "floods" have to be
with water, and we probably won't understand what this means until it
happens, if it happens.

Yes, I know ... I know very well that many years have been targeted
for Moshiach's arrival (including most recently the year 1990), and
they've already come and gone. And guess what? No Moshiach. Well, at
least that's the way it appears to be ... However, perhaps if one
takes a step back, then the "writing" on the wall may begin to form
words, then sentences, and, for some, perhaps even paragraphs.

"What writing," you ask?

Let's face it, even according to the optimists, the Oslo Peace Accords
are not quite working out as "they" had hoped. In which direction will
they go, and what will be the reactions of the parties involved? Most
of the time, at least according to those of us who live in Eretz
Yisroel, it just seems like a Catch-22 for the Jewish People.

And let us not forget that the year 2000 has been a long-anticipated
repeat engagement of the founding member of the Christian religion.
Right now, they are building hotels all around Jerusalem (though
tourism is at its lowest), to house the tens of thousands of faithful
that have already begun strolling in. That promises to add confusion
to confusion over the next year-and-a-half. Will we see false messiahs
on every corner proclaiming their personal kingdom of Heaven on earth?

The papers are expecting an increase in terrorism over the next year,
all around the world. What terrorist wouldn't see the potential
confusion of the upcoming year as an opportunity to wreak havoc?

Furthermore, there is the tension building up on both sides of the
ocean among the various factions of the Jewish people over issues such
as marriage, divorce, and conversion to Judaism. We have to remember
that, when the sanctity of the Jewish people is reduced, so too is
that of ALL of creation, as the Talmud teaches:

... And it was evening and it was morning, the sixth day. (Bereishis
1:31)

The sixth day ... The letter "heh" [preceding the word "sixth"] is
extra ... to say that [G-d] made a condition with them [creation]: "If
the Jewish people accept the Five Books of the Torah, [then it is
good; if not, then you will resort back to null and void]." (Shabbos
88a)

In other words, the letter "heh" which represents the number five is
an allusion to the Five Books of the Torah; the "sixth day" is also an
allusion to the sixth day of Sivan, 2,448 years later at Mt. Sinai
when the Torah was destined be given. Without the Jewish people
keeping Torah, the world is destined to descend into chaos.

That's right, CHAOS.

Yet, the latest statistics about assimilation and inter-marriage
indicate that there is still plenty of cause for concern. And, amidst
all of this lurks Y2K, capable of "submerging" much of the civilized
world's computer network.

Let's not forget that when the Tower of Babel was destroyed, only ONE
part was completely destroyed. One part was only partly submerged, and
one part even survived. But the result was enough to change the face
of mankind forever. And why did it happen in the first place? Says the
Torah: because they all spoke ONE language!

"Naaaaahhhhh, they'll fix the problem," you and I are saying, "if they
haven't already."

Maybe they will, and maybe they won't.

However, as I have already said, what I want to know is NOT whether or
not we have the smarts or technology to keep the "floodgates" closed
(and the masses from panicking). I want to know if this is one of
those tests again.

After all, four-fifths of the Jewish people died in the Plague of
Darkness because they refused to read the writing on the wall and
accept that the redemption had come. Then, there were the Jews who
were exiled into Babylonian after the destruction of the First Temple,
because they refused to believe the warnings signs--and there had been
plenty. And then there were those--the masses--who didn't come home
after the Purim miracle, and cost us the Third and Final Temple, and
all the exiles that have resulted since then.

After them, there were the descendants of the Chashmonaim who
virtually gave over the Second Commonwealth into the hands of the
Romans, later to regret it. We're still regretting it. And can we
forget the Jews of Spain in the 1400's, and countless other places
before and after that, who should have left while Golden Era was still
golden, but didn't?

Have we forgetten Europe in the 1930's already?

I tell my students, "You know, if you were to feed the entire Tanach
(Torah, Prophets, and Writings) into a computer, and then Jewish
history, and add some current political trends for "seasoning," what
do you think it would advise the Jewish people?"

At that point, even the disbelievers among the group seem to get a
little bit antsy. The more open-minded in the group usually wonder
aloud why we don't see the pattern and "do teshuvah, FAST!"

That is the Jewish way. I asked an important rabbi about the
situation, and he told me that it won't be time to start pulling money
out of the banks, or stockpiling food until the greatest Torah rabbis
of the generation tell us it is time. However, he also said we can't
be ostriches either--if it's happening, it means something to us. It
means we should pray for the redemption, believe it can come, do
serious teshuvah, and take life seriously.

We're not a nation given to panic, but we are a people trained to read
the writing on the wall, and to know that if a potential crisis can
occur, it is a message to the Jewish people as well, and in some
cases, specifically. One thing we know for sure is, it never hurts to
pray for Divine mercy.

I would also like to add one more thing. It also never hurts to become
less attached to our host societies. After all, according to the
commentators, matzah--"Poor Man's Bread--adorns a Seder Table set for
kings, queens, and princes, to warn us: Don't become too attached to
the physical world. Live with the flexibility of a poor person, who,
lacking belongings, is free to roam wherever he pleases, whenever he
pleases, and in some unfortunate circumstances, when he is forced to.

How many Jews could do this today?

I did not write this so you could label me an "alarmist," and accuse
me of instilling false panic and a premature sense of impending
redemption. I did this because the Talmud says that, in the
"End-of-Days," one of the questions they will ask us on that great
"Exam-in-the-Sky" is, "Did you anticipate the redemption?" (Shabbos
31a). It would seem to me that people who look forward to THE
redemption are people who constantly read the events of history, with
the hope of seeing the hand of G-d bringing about redemption. I would
like to believe that I can be one of those people who can say then,
"Yes, I DID look forward to the Final Redemption."

Even if, G-d forbid, the Redemption does NOT come next year (and we
all end up laughing at ourselves, which is much better than not taking
it seriously, and being caught unprepared)--because I'm sure they will
still say, "Well, it was nice to see that at least you were looking
forward to the redemption, and took the potential seriously." Who
knows? Maybe that will be the merit to actually witness the real
redemption, when it finally comes.

Perceptions - Yisro: Why 2 K and Yisro
Rabbi Pinchas Winston
http://www.torah.org

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Re: Study: East vs West
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 03 Feb 1999 23:20:31 -0500

From: "R.J.CHIOMENTO" <semper@erols.com>

Hi All,
It just occured to me, too, that civilization progressed, seemingly
steadily, from the East to the West.....I had never noticed that before
it was mentioned here.
Christie

BPR wrote:
>
> From: skip007@sprynet.com
>
> Hi Guys,
> I was thinking about the fact that Adam and Eve were placed in a garden
> that the Lord had placed "Eastward in Eden". Seems he placed them in a
> location where they would have room to move "Westward"....or closer to Him,
> by reason of their own free will.
>
> CL

--- BPR

BPR Web Site - http://philologos.org/bpr

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - News: Religion Today News Summary for Wednesday, February 3, 1999
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Thu, 4 Feb 1999 09:01:48 -0500

From: <owner-bpr@philologos.org>

C U R R E N T N E W S S U M M A R Y
by the Editors at ReligionToday.com

February 3, 1999

[... edit ...]

Jerry Falwell apologized for saying that the Antichrist is
Jewish. He said last month that the Antichrist is probably alive
today and living in Israel (see link #3 below). That angered
Jewish groups, which said his remarks were anti-Semitic. "I
apologize to my Jewish friends here and around the world, and I
apologize to the Christians here for having created any kind of
rift," said Falwell, pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church and
president of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va.

[... edit ...]

Fewer than half the Ten Commandments are important to Germans.
Only four of the Old Testament laws are considered significant, a
survey by Emnid-Institute for Spiegel magazine said. Prohibitions
against killing, stealing, and adultery, and the command to honor
parents are considered important by most, the survey found. Not
taking the Lord's name in vain, observing the Sabbath, and
turning from other gods were considered least important, idea, a
publication of the German Evangelical Alliance, said.

-----------
RELATED LINKS:
1: http://www.promisekeepers.org/
2: http://www.religiontoday.com/Archive/NewsSummary/view.cgi?file=19990108.brf.html
3: http://www.religiontoday.com/Archive/NewsSummary/view.cgi?file=19990118.brf.html
4: http://www.naacp.org/
5: http://www.religiontoday.com/Archive/NewsSummary/view.cgi?file=19981106.brf.html

-----------
News from ReligionToday.com is Copyrighted by Media
Management. Content may be reproduced provided proper
credit is given to www.ReligionToday.com.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Stratfor Report: Iraq
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Thu, 4 Feb 1999 09:01:48 -0500

From: <owner-bpr@philologos.org>

------- Forwarded Message Follows -------

Global Intelligence Update
Red Alert
February 4, 1999

Report of Iraqi MiGs Raises Questions of Possible Attack

Summary

Iraqi opposition sources have claimed that Saddam Hussein is
preparing to launch an attack on Saudi Arabia or Kuwait, using MiG-
15 and Mirage jet aircraft. The MiG-15 is an obsolete, Korean War
vintage jet, making this report highly suspect. However, reports of
Iraqi efforts to develop an "anthrax air force" using unmanned
conversions of military jets to carry chemical and biological agents
make the opposition claim worth a second look.

Analysis

On February 1, the Jordanian newspaper Al-Arab al-Yawm cited a
"source within the Iraqi opposition" as saying that Iraq was preparing
to carry out air strikes on "military or economic targets in Saudi Arabia
in particular" using more than 15 MiG-15 and French Mirage aircraft.
The source claimed that Iraq held Saudi Arabia and Kuwait directly
responsible for facilitating a U.S. attack on five Iraqi missile batteries
in and around Basra. The source reportedly singled out U.S. forces at
the Prince Sultan airbase in al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia, as one possible
target for the retaliatory strike, "despite their knowledge that this
Saudi airbase is strongly fortified by heavy ground and air defenses
and is surrounded by U.S. anti-missile Patriot missiles and anti-aircraft
Hawk missiles." The source also reported that at least two batteries
of Scud missiles had recently been moved to between Basra and the
Rumaylah oil field.

Let us first say that this unconfirmed report is immediately suspect, in
that it comes from an anonymous and interested party. Second, even if
the report were to have some element of truth, it could reflect nothing
more than a continuation of Saddam Hussein's recent blustery
rhetoric, taken seriously by the opposition and the foreign press.
Finally, there is the almost laughable idea that Iraq would trundle out a
squadron of Korean War vintage jets for an attack on a heavily
fortified Saudi/U.S. facility.

But before the story is dismissed out of hand, there are some factors
that should be examined. First, while current orders of battle for Iraq
indicate that it has no MiG-15s, the Iraqi air force did count a number
of the antiquated jets among its inventory prior to Operations Desert
Shield and Desert Storm. Inventories of Iraqi arms are unreliable in the
aftermath of the allied bombardment of Iraq and the evacuation of
many Iraqi aircraft to Iran, leaving open the possibility that some of
the older MiGs survived. It is also plausible that even those surviving
aircraft would be struck from observers' lists of Iraqi equipment, since
the MiGs are so utterly obsolete as to be militarily worthless. Any
mission carried out in a MiG-15 against foreign powers would be a
suicide mission, one that even the most devoted of Saddam's pilots
would hesitate to take on. (Incidentally, we can't say the same for
North Korea, which was reported in September 1998 as having trained
some 140 "kamikaze" pilots to fly MiG-15s and MiG-17s into South
Korean targets should war break out on the Korean peninsula.)

But what if a pilot was unnecessary? On January 6, Jane's Defense
Weekly cited the UK Ministry of Defence as reporting that Iraq was
engaged in converting some of its Czech-built L-29 jet trainers at the
Tallil airbase into unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for use in delivering
chemical or biological warfare agents. Jane's cited UK Secretary of
State for Defence George Robertson as saying Iraq was close to
developing an "anthrax air force," including converted Polish M-18
Dromader agricultural crop dusters as well as the L-29s. Converting
the MiG-15 to essentially a cruise missile would not be entirely
unprecedented. The Soviet SSC-2b Samlet coastal defense cruise
missile was derived from the MiG-15.

In addition to the reported movement of Scuds, and now this talk of
MiGs poised to attack Saudi Arabia or Kuwait, on February 2 U.S. jets
dropped precision guided bombs on a battery of Iraqi CSSC-3 coastal
defense missiles. The missiles had been recently deployed to the al-
Faw peninsula at the mouth of the Shatt al- Arab waterway. From
there they potentially threatened U.S. naval vessels and commercial
shipping off the coast of Kuwait, the justification given for the U.S.
attack on them, but they were also within range of downtown Kuwait
City. Which brings us to the question of targeting.

If Saddam is lining up cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and converted
jets for an attack, and assuming he'd actually push the button, then
who is the target? His recent rhetoric would suggest Kuwait or Saudi
Arabia, however bombarding fellow Arab nations would destroy
whatever shred of sympathy he enjoys as the martyr to American
imperialism, particularly if he were to maximize the impact of the strikes
through the use of chemical or biological weapons. Israel is always a
potential target, but not from Basra or al-Faw. But Prince Sultan
airbase, which could be decried as a den of infidels in the land of
Mecca and Medina, would fall within the range of Iraq's Al-Hussein
and Al-Abbas Scud missile variants and the "anthrax air force."
Whether the notoriously inaccurate Iraqi missiles or the potential new
UAVs could find their target, let alone penetrate its defenses, is still
open to question.

Returning to our original caveat, this report of Iraqi MiGs is
unconfirmed and comes from an anonymous interested party.
Nevertheless, information from the Iraqi opposition has carried rich
nuggets of truth in the past. And considering Iraq's reported UAV
development efforts, the fact that this report concerns obsolete
aircraft is still no reason to immediately write it off as fiction. As
always, we welcome any additional supportive or contradictory
information our readers may be able to provide.

___________________________________________________

To receive free daily Global Intelligence Updates,
sign up on the web at http://www.stratfor.com/mail/,
or send your name, organization, position, mailing
address, phone number, and e-mail address to
alert@stratfor.com
___________________________________________________

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - News: Jerry Falwell apologizes to Jews
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Thu, 4 Feb 1999 11:54:43 -0500

From: <owner-bpr@philologos.org>

Jerry Falwell apologizes to Jews
Explains his remarks about the Antichrist

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_exnews/19990204_xex_jerry_falwel.shtml

LYNCHBURG, Va. -- "I should have known better," outspoken
Jerry Falwell said Wednesday about remarks he made before the
18th International Christian Prayer Breakfast in Nashville, Tenn.

Rev. Falwell, the chancellor of Liberty University and a noted
television personality, told the Associated Press he regrets
saying the Antichrist was a Jew, who probably is alive today.

The Nashville breakfast, sponsored by the National Religious
Broadcasters Convention, was billed as a prayer for peace in
Jerusalem and honored several Holocaust survivors.

``I apologize to my Jewish friends here and around the world and
I apologize to the Christians here for having created any kind of
rift,'' Falwell emphasized. ``I apologize not for what I believe, but
for my lack of tact and judgment in making a statement that
served no purpose whatsoever."

According to the Bible, the Antichrist will spread universal evil
before the end of the world but will be finally conquered at the
Second Coming of Christ.

On Jan. 14, Falwell told a conference on evangelism that he
believes the Second Coming probably will occur within 10 years.

As for the Antichrist, ``if he's going to be the counterfeit of
Christ, he has to be Jewish,'' Falwell said. ``The only thing we
know is he must be male and Jewish.''

"When I delivered my sermon on the Second Coming of Jesus
Christ last week to a pastors' conference in Kingsport,
Tennessee, I conveyed biblically based truths that I have
believed and preached nationally for more than 40 years," said
Falwell in a written statement on his website. "In addition to
asserting that I personally believe that Christ could return soon, I
stated that the Antichrist may possibly be alive on the earth
today.

"Many evangelicals, including Billy Graham and millions of
others, believe in the imminent, premillennial, pretribulational
Second Coming of Jesus Christ for all of His Church.

"Since Jesus came to the earth the first time 2,000 years ago as a
Jewish male, many evangelicals believe the Antichrist will, by
necessity, be a Jewish male. This belief is 2,000 years old and has
no anti-Semitic roots. This is simply historic and prophetic
orthodox Christian doctrine that many theologians, Christian and
non-Christian, have understood for two millennia."

Falwell reiterated "at the outset it should be noted that there is
honest disagreement among evangelical Christians in regards to
the background of the Antichrist. In essence, there are three
views: 1.The Antichrist is not a person at all, but an evil system.
2.The Antichrist is a real person and will be a Gentile and 3.The
Antichrist is a real person and will be Jewish.

"Of course, no one can be absolutely dogmatic in this matter, but
I personally feel (and have publicly stated) that the third view
has more scriptural support than the previous two.

"There are (at least) three scriptural passages that lead me to
believe the Antichrist may be Jewish:"

Ezekiel 21:25: And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose
day is come when iniquity shall have an end;

Daniel 11:37: Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers;

John 5:43: I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not:
if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.

In continuing, the founder of the now-defunct Moral Majority
stated: "The church fathers generally believed in a personal
Antichrist. In fact, one of the most famous, John Chrysostom,
(347-407 A.D.) held that the Antichrist would be a Jewish dictator
from the tribe of Dan, based on the following:

1.Jacob's prophecy upon his son Dan: Dan shall be a serpent by
the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that
his rider shall fall backward. (Gen. 49:17);

2.Jeremiah's prophecy concerning the tribulation: The snorting of
his horses was heard from Dan: the whole land trembled at the
sound ... for they are come, and have devoured the land, and all
that is in it; the city, and those that dwell therein. For, behold I
will send serpents, cockatrices, among you, which will not be
charmed, and they shall bite you, saith the Lord. (Jer. 8:16, 17);

3.The tribe of Dan is omitted from the list in Revelation 7. This
chapter records the tribal identity of the 144,000 Hebrew
evangelists who will be saved and called to special service
during the tribulation.

Falwell said his views were not novel or new; they were not
without biblical support or they weren't anti-Semitic.

"Since I delivered this Kingsport message, some have felt that
my comment expressing my opinion that the Antichrist will be
Jewish could possibly be construed as anti-Semitic. I did not
intend for my sincere belief on this issue to cause any pain to
anyone, Jewish or otherwise. I am strongly pro-Jewish and pro-
Israel. My statement was not dogmatic since no one can be
certain of the identity of the Antichrist. If I had known the
statement would be publicized and misconstrued, I would never
have made it. I have earlier apologized to any persons who were
offended thereby, and I restate that apology now."

Falwell is expected to make further statements on the controversy
tonight on the "Rivera" TV program.

Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat is
expected to stir up a further controversy when he plans to attend
the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. today. He has
arrived in the U.S. capital to discuss the Wye Memorandum with
President Bill Clinton.

Sources: falwell.com, Associated Press and ICEJ.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - News: This evening, Russia plans to turn night into day
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Thu, 4 Feb 1999 19:49:31 +0000

From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>

February 4 1999
WORLD NEWS

This evening, Russia plans to turn night into day. Nigel
Hawkes reports on scientists' fears

Earth under the spotlight from space

A BRIGHT light shining from space may startle parts of Europe and
North America this evening. It is part of a plan that biologists fear
could disrupt life on Earth. Cosmonauts on the Mir space station will
use a 25-metre diameter mirror to try to reflect sunlight on to the
dark side of the Earth, to test the feasibility of lighting Russia's
northern cities during their long winter. If the experiment works,
places on Mir's path will be briefly bathed in a pool of light three
to four miles across and five to ten times brighter than a full Moon.

Observers in Belgium should see the light at about 5.54pm GMT. Britain
lies outside the illuminated area but if the sky is clear it may be
possible to see the space station and its mirror, looking like a
bright, slowly moving, double star.

The project has horrified astronomers and biologists, who fear that it
will obliterate the night sky and disrupt plants and animals that
depend on day length to trigger their development.

David Thomas, of the University College of North Wales in Bangor,
believes that many ecosystems would be disrupted by a full-scale
system. "Everything - sex, movement, feeding - is triggered by day
length," he told BBC Wildlife magazine.

The Space Regatta Consortium, led by Energia of Korolev, near Moscow,
would like to launch clusters of 200-metre diameter mirrors capable of
achieving 100 times the brightness of the Moon. A cluster of 12
mirrors could provide light to five large cities, the consortium
claims.

Another experiment in 1993 produced mixed results when it was hampered
by cloud and produced illumination only half as bright as the Moon, at
best. The consortium has struggled to raise the money for today's
experiment and last year postponed a planned deployment.

Today a Progress cargo craft that delivered the new reflector for the
Znamya ("Banner") project will detach itself from Mir and move to a
safe distance. The reflector, made of a thin film stretched over a
petal-like structure, will be deployed by the Mir crew, Gennady
Padalka and Sergei Avdeyev, who will watch the position of the spot of
light as it crosses the Earth.

Today's orbit will take it over Saratov in Russia, Poltova in Ukraine,
then Liege, Frankfurt, Winnipeg, Quebec City, Calgary and Devil's
Lake, Alberta, according to the magazine Sky & Telescope, whose senior
editor, J. Kelly Beatty, advised: "Most orbiting satellites are quite
faint and go unnoticed. But this one could get so bright it will be
impossible to miss. Those who aren't expecting it may think they have
spotted a UFO."

Many scientists outside the consortium are hoping that the experiment
will fail. "I cringe to think we could lose the night sky because of
all these companies with brain-dead ideas," Daniel Green of
Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics in Cambridge,
Massachusetts, said.

http://www.the-times.co.uk/news/pages/tim/99/02/04/timfgnfgn01013.html
?11240 27

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - News: Elections in Israel - Meet the Candidates
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Thu, 4 Feb 1999 19:58:14 +0000

From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>

ELECTIONS IN ISRAEL - MEET THE CANDIDATES
For the past few weeks the Israeli news has been dominated
by the upcoming elections. After receiving several requests for
information about one candidate or another, we decided to send the
following biographical sketches of the main candidates. (February 5,
1999)

PRIME MINISTER BINYAMIN NETANYAHU
          Binyamin Netanyahu was born in Tel-Aviv on October 21,
1949. He served as a soldier and officer in an elite commando unit in
the Israel Defense Forces (1967-1972). A graduate of the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with a bachelors' degree in
architecture and a masters in business administration, Mr. Netanyahu
worked in consulting and management positions in industry in the
United States and Israel. Since 1976 he has been a director of the
Jonathan Institute, a foundation studying ways to combat terrorism.
          As Chairman of the Likud Party since 1993, Binyamin
Netanyahu was elected Prime Minister of Israel in May 1996 in the
first direct election of prime minister in Israel. He also holds the
Housing and Construction and Finance portfolios, and held the Foreign
Affairs portfolio from January 6, 1998 to October 13, 1998.
          Mr. Netanyahu previously served as Israel's Ambassador to
the United Nations (1984-88) and Deputy Head of Mission to the United
States (1982-1984). In 1984, he was a member of the first Israeli
delegation to the US-Israel strategic talks. Netanyahu served as
Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister (1988-1991) and as Deputy Minister in
the Prime Minister's Office (1991-1992). He was a member of Israel's
delegation to the Madrid Peace Conference in 1991 and to the
subsequent peace talks in Washington (1991-1992). He has been a Member
of Knesset since 1988. In the 13th Knesset (1992-1996), he was a
member of the Knesset Committees on Foreign Affairs and Security, and
on Constitution, Law and Justice.
          Mr. Netanyahu has edited several books, including:
"Terrorism: How the West Can Win" (1986), and "International
Terrorism:Challenge and Response" (1991). More recently, he has
authored "A Place Among the Nations: Israel and the World" (1993),
and "Fighting Terrorism: How Democracies Can Defeat Domestic and
International Terrorism (1995).
          Netanyahu is married and the father of three. (Foreign
Ministry Information Service, IsraelWire, January 17, 1999)

CENTRIST CANDIDATE AMNON LIPKIN-SHACHAK
Amnon Lipkin-Shachak was born in Tel-Aviv in 1944, and is
married with five children. He studied in a military boarding school;
is a graduate of the IDF's Command and Staff College, the National
Defense College, and a Marine Command and Staff College course in the
United States; and holds a degree in general history from Tel-Aviv
University.
Amnon Lipkin-Shachak joined the IDF's paratroop brigade in
1962, fulfilled various command positions starting from squad
commander and eventually becoming brigade commander. He later passed
a reorientation course for the armored corps and served as a
commander of both regular and reserve divisions. During the Six-Day
War, he served as a paratroop commander and during the Yom Kippur War
as deputy paratroop brigade commander under the command of the late
Colonel Uzi Yairi.

           Following the Peace for Galilee War he commanded the
Beirut and Shouf sectors.
1983 Appointed O.C. Central Command
1986 Became Head of Intelligence Branch, GHQ
1991 Appointed Deputy Chief of General Staff
1995-98 Fifteenth Chief of General Staff
          Amnon Lipkin-Shachak has twice been awarded the Medal of
          Valor.
(IsraelWire, January 18, 1999, Foreign Ministry Information Service)

RIGHT-WING CANDIDATE ZE'EV BINYAMIN BEGIN
          Dr. Ze'ev Benjamin Begin, son of the late Prime Minister
Menachem Begin, was born in Jerusalem in 1943.
          He earned his B.Sc and M.Sc from the Hebrew University of
Jerusalem and his Ph.D in Geology from Colorado State University in
the USA. Begin served in the Armored Corps from 1960-3 and during
1975-6 volunteered for a lengthy period of military service.
          As a geologist, Dr. Begin worked at the Geological Survey of
Israel (1965-88), where he headed the Environmental Geology and
Hydrology Division, and the Mapping, Marine Geology and Computer
Center Division. He was also coordinator of studies on the siting of
the nuclear power plant in Israel.
         Since 1989, he has served as the head of the Research
Institute of the College of Judea and Samaria.
          Begin has been a Knesset Member since 1988. In the 13th
Knesset (1992-96), he was a member of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and
Defense Committee. During the 12th Knesset (1988-92), he chaired the
Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee's Sub-Committee on National
Defense Policy, and was a member of the Knesset Committee on
Constitution, Law and Justice. He is currently a member of the
Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
          In June 1996 he was appointed Minister of Science and served
until his resignation in January 1997.
          Dr. Begin is married and has six children. (Foreign Ministry
Information Service, IsraelWire, January 18, 1999)

CENTRIST CANDIDATE, DAN MERIDOR
          Dan Meridor was born in Jerusalem in 1947, and holds a law
degree from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He served in the
Israel Defense Forces as a tank commander in the 1967 Six Day War and
continued in the IDF reserves as a Captain.
          A lawyer by profession, he practiced law in Jerusalem from
1973-82. He served as Cabinet Secretary under Prime Ministers
Menachem Begin (1982-83) and Yitzchak Shamir (1983-84). In 1984, he
was elected to the Knesset.
         In the 11th Knesset (1984-88), he was a member of the Knesset
Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and the Constitution, Law and
Justice Committee. From 1988-92 he served as Minister of Justice. In
the 13th Knesset (1992-96), he was a member of the Knesset
Constitution, Law and Justice Committee. He has been a Knesset
observer to the Council of Europe and has published articles in
academic journals.
          In June 1996, Dan Meridor was appointed Minister of
Finance, a position he held until his resignation in June 1997.
          He is married to economist Dr. Leora Meridor. They have four
children. (Foreign Ministry Information Service, January 18, 1999)

LABOR CANDIDATE, EHUD BARAK
          Ehud Barak was born in 1942 in Kibbutz Mishmar Hasharon. He
joined the Israel Defense Forces in 1959, and served as a soldier and
commander of an elite unit, and in various other command positions
including Tank Brigade Commander and Armored Division Commander, and
General Staff positions, including Head of the DF Intelligence Branch.
During the 1967 Six Day War, Barak served as a reconnaissance group
commander, and in the 1973 Yom Kippur War as a tank battalion
commander on the southern front in Sinai. In January 1982, he was
appointed Head of the IDF Planning Branch and promoted to Major
General. During the 1982 "Peace for Galilee" operation, Major General
Barak served as Deputy Commander of the Israeli force in Lebanon.
          In April 1983, Maj.Gen. Barak was appointed Head of the
Intelligence Branch at the IDF General Headquarters. In January 1986,
he was appointed Commander of the IDF Central Command, and in May 1987
was appointed Deputy Chief-of-Staff.
          In April 1991, he assumed the post of the 14th Chief of the
General Staff and was promoted to the rank of Lt. General, the highest
in the Israeli military.
          Following the May 1994 signing of the Gaza-Jericho
agreement with the Palestinians, Lt. General Barak oversaw the IDF's
redeployment in the Gaza Strip and Jericho. He played a central role
in finalizing the peace treaty with Jordan, signed in 1994, and met
with his Syrian counterpart as part of the
  Syrian-Israeli negotiations.
          General Barak was awarded the "Distinguished Service Medal"
and four other citations for courage and operational excellence.
          Barak holds a B.Sc. in Physics and Mathematics from the
Hebrew University in Jerusalem (1976), and an M.Sc. in
Economic-Engineering Systems from Stanford University, California
(1978).
         In July 1995, he was appointed Minister of the
Interior. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from
November 1995 until June 1996.
        Ehud Barak presently serves as the Chairman of the Labor
Party and a Member of Knesset. (Foreign Ministry)

Bridges for Peace
February 5, 1999
http://www.bridgesforpeace.com

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Key dates in history of Jordan's King Hussein
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Fri, 5 Feb 1999 09:25:33 +0000

From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>

04:52 PM ET 02/04/99

Important Dates for Jordan's King

Important Dates for Jordan's King
By The Associated Press

Key dates in history of Jordan's King Hussein:

_1935: Hussein was born in Jordan's capital Amman on Nov. 14 to Prince Talal bin Abdullah and Princess Zein al-Sharaf bint Jamil.

_1951: The young prince witnesses the assassination of his grandfather, King Abdullah, at the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem by a Palestinian nationalist angered by Jordan's annexation of the West Bank, which Palestinians view as their territory.

_1952: At age 16, he is proclaimed king after his father abdicates because of mental illness. He assumed full constitutional rule in May 1953.

_1956: Hussein survives the biggest coup attempt against his rule. It was led by senior army officials loyal to Egyptian Arab nationalists opposed to the king's moderate policies.

_1967: Hussein's darkest hour is the loss of the West Bank and Jerusalem to Israel during the Six Day War.

_1970: In what became known as ``Black September,'' army troops loyal to the king put down a revolt by Palestinian guerrillas, who had become almost a state-within-a-state in Jordan and demanded Hussein's ouster.

_1974: An Arab summit decides Hussein is no longer the spokesman for the Palestinians. It names the Palestine Liberation Organization, headed by Yasser Arafat, as the sole, legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.

_1988: Soon after the start of the ``intefadeh,'' the Palestinian uprising against Israel, Hussein renounces rights to the West Bank. But he retains his role as guardian of Jerusalem's Muslim holy places, the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest sites in Islam.

_1990-91: Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and the subsequent Gulf War upset Hussein's traditional ties to the West when he remains neutral in the conflict because of his country's economic ties to its oil-rich neighbor, Iraq. Some accused him of being pro-Saddam, but he later denounced the Iraqi ruler.

_1994: Hussein realizes a long-sought goal _ Jordan and Israel sign a peace treaty.

_1998: The king has his second battle with cancer. He had surgery on a cancerous kidney in 1992, and in the summer of 1998 began six months of chemotherapy of non-Hodgkins lymphoma, a cancer of the lymph glands.

_1999: Hussein returned to Jordan in mid-January _ pronounced cured by Jordanian officials _ but was ordered back to the United States by doctors for more treatment a week later. In his few days at home, he changed the line of royal succession, naming his oldest son, Abdullah, now 37, as crown prince to replace his brother, Hassan, 51, who had held the post for 34 years.

_Feb.2, 1999: Hussein has a bone marrow transplant at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

_Feb.4, 1999: Doctors say the transplant operation has failed, Hussein flies back home to Jordan.

--- BPR

BPR Web Site - http://philologos.org/bpr

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - News: Israeli Settlements on Docket at UN
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Fri, 5 Feb 1999 09:27:36 +0000

From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>

10:26 PM ET 02/04/99

Israeli Settlements on Docket at UN

Israeli Settlements on Docket at UN
By DANICA KIRKA
Associated Press Writer

UNITED NATIONS (AP) _ Palestinians take their case against Israel's policies in the West Bank and Gaza strip to the U.N. General Assembly on Friday, challenging settlement activities as a violation of the Geneva conventions.

The move comes despite Israeli objections that the session violates the spirit of the fraying Mideast peace deal struck in October and sets a dangerous precedent for the future.

About 50 countries have signed up to speak at Friday's session. At issue is land seized by Israel during the 1967 Mideast War, including the West Bank and Gaza Strip. New Israeli settlements, the Palestinians say, are threatening to change the situation on the ground, and are forcing the issue to the U.N. floor.

The Palestinians argue, for example, that a 6,500-unit housing construction project on Har Homa hill in the predominantly Arab quarter of Jerusalem violates the Geneva conventions, which prohibit population transfers in occupied territory.

The Palestinians want the United Nations to back a special conference of the countries which signed the Geneva conventions to discuss the settlement issue, said Marwan A. Jilani, the deputy permanent observer at the Palestinian U.N. Mission.

``Israel must not be a state above the law,'' he said. ``It has a legal obligation to abide by the conventions.''

The Palestinians want the meeting to be convened in March, squarely in the midst of the campaign for Israel's national elections.

Israel's U.N. ambassador, Dore Gold, objected to the U.N. session. He said that 97 percent of the people living in the so-called occupied territories already fall under the control of the Palestinian Authority.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - News: Taliban Mocks Afghan Butchers
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Fri, 5 Feb 1999 09:30:28 +0000

From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>

06:19 PM ET 02/04/99

Taliban Mocks Afghan Butchers

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) _ The Taliban militia punished butchers on Thursday accused of charging inflated prices, forcing them to parade through the Afghan capital with knives taped to their heads to look like horns, witnesses said.

Five butchers had to stand on the back of trucks while Taliban soldiers beat them and forced them to shout out their crime, witnesses said. People laughed as the trucks passed.

The Taliban-run Radio Shariat warned butchers this week that Taliban soldiers would be conducting inspections and arresting anyone who charged more than 55 cents for 2.2 pounds of beef and 75 cents for the same amount of sheep meat.

But butchers in Kabul have said the Taliban-imposed price ceiling is unrealistic and doesn't allow them to make a profit.

The Taliban religious army, which rules roughly 90 percent of Afghanistan, have imposed a harsh brand of Islamic law that calls for public punishment. Thieves have their hands and sometimes their feet publicly amputated.

Lesser thieves are sometimes paraded through the city streets with their faces blackened and Afghani money shoved in their mouths.

The Taliban are fighting their northern-based enemies. The opposition alliance is composed mainly of religious and ethnic minorities.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Arutz-7 News Briefs (2/5/99)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Fri, 5 Feb 1999 09:45:25 +0000

From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>

HUSSEIN'S DEATH IS NEAR
The doctors of King Hussein of Jordan are considering removing him
from the life-supporting machines to which he is attached. The King's
plane landed in Amman late this morning, and he was rushed directly
from the airport to the hospital. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu,
who had planned to visit Crown Prince Abdullah with Foreign Minister
Ariel Sharon this coming Sunday, is holding ongoing consultations with
his security staff regarding the situation in the country with whom
Israel shares its longest border.

RABBIS: "RESTORE OUR JUDGES AS OF OLD"
A group of rabbis is planning to hold a special prayer service nine
days from now, against what they call the "dictatorship of the High
Court." The rabbis represent the Council of Torah Sages (Audath
Yisrael), Shas, religious-Zionism, and even the Eida HaHareidit.
Parallel prayers will be held at the same time in New York and
Antwerp.

Arutz Sheva News Service
http://www.a7.org
Friday, Feb. 5, 1999 / Sh'vat 19, 5759

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Signs of Destruction of the Temple
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Fri, 5 Feb 1999 10:57:12 +0000

From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>

Signs of Destruction [of the Temple]

Josephus Flavius, who lived in the time of the Temple's destruction,
wrote about the signs which announced the forthcoming catastrophe:
"So it was when a star, resembling a sword, stood over the city
Jerusalem and a comet which continued for a year...

"And again, when before the revolt and the commotion that led to war,
at the time when the people were assembling for the Feast of
Unleavened Bread [Pesah]...at the ninth hour of the night, so
brilliant a light shone around the altar and the sanctuary that it
seemed to be broad daylight, and this continued for half an hour...

"For before sunset throughout all parts of the country, chariots were
seen in the air and armed battalions hurtling through the clouds, and
encompassing the city.

"Moreover, at the feast which is called Pentecost [Shebuoth] the
priests, on entering the inner court of the Temple by night, as was
their custom in the discharge of their ministrations, reported that
they were conscious first of a commotion and a din, and after that,
of a voice as of a host: We are departing hence!"

Josephus, Wars, VI, 6, 3, quoted in "Legends of Jerusalem," Zev
Vilnay

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - News: Wonder drug could be Pandora's box
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Fri, 5 Feb 1999 13:31:02 +0000

From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>

WONDER DRUG COULD BE PANDORA'S BOX
A powerful new antibiotic wipes out bacteria previously thought to be
drug-proof, scientists at Brown University announced last week.
Moxifloxacin looks like a major new weapon against disease, but some
fear the the drug will only create more potent strains of
drug-resistant "superbugs." Biology Guide Regina Bailey reports.
http://biology.miningco.com/library/weekly/aa020499.htm

Mining Co. Today
Feb 5, 1999
http://www.miningco.com

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - News: The Federal Republic of Germany at fifty
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Fri, 5 Feb 1999 15:12:47 +0000

From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>

THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC AT FIFTY: THE WEIMAR LEGACY

The Federal Republic of Germany will be throwing itself a birthday
party this spring. On May 23, 1949, the Federal Republic formally came
into existence with the promulgation of its constitution, the Basic
Law (Grundgesetz). The Basic Law has proved itself Germany's most
successful attempt to put democratic principles into practice, and
this success is in no small part due to the example offered by an
earlier attempt that began eighty years ago this month. Germany's
first parliament elected through a direct vote open to all adult
citizens assembled on February 6, 1919 in the city of Weimar. The
choice of Weimar as a meeting place was both pragmatic and symbolic.
Just weeks earlier, the fledgling republican government mobilized
troops by and large opposed to the new political order to suppress a
communist uprising in Berlin. Weimar offered the recently elected
parliament refuge from the tension and tumult in the capital as well
as potent historical associations. By meeting in the city of Goethe
and Schiller, the hopeful republicans signaled their claim to a German
tradition uncompromised by the war and their break with the recent
past. The extent of that break became clear later in the month when
the new minister of the interior presented the parliament with a draft
constitution. Hugo Preuss, a professor of law during the war, had been
entrusted with the task of drafting a constitution three months
earlier by the provisional government after the collapse of the
Hohenzollern monarchy. In the draft he presented in February 1919,
Preuss envisioned a sharp curtailment of the powers and prerogatives
of the German states, Prussia's above all, and a corresponding
strengthening of the central government.

The constitution the parliament approved after four months'
deliberation gave the states considerably more power than Preuss had
proposed. While the national government acquiredexpanded authority in
several areas - notably taxation, public finance and education - the
states were given a crucial say in the legislative process: the
national government had to obtain the backing of a majority of the
state governments for all legislation it wanted to submit to the
parliament. The states, as later events were to show, were also able
to capitalize on the unclear boundary between national-state
jurisdiction in a number of areas, notably in civil and criminal law.
In practice, the states could often circumvent the policies of the
national government.

The recurring tug of war between the states and the national
government during the Weimar era was very much on the minds of those
who drafted the Basic Law a half century ago. The authors of the
Basic Law consciously sought to avoid the pitfalls and loopholes in
the Weimar constitution that the Nazis and other opponents of
democracy exploited in their efforts to undermine Germany's first
democratic republic. With the Weimar experience in mind, the framers
of the Basic Law gave federal law unambiguous priority over state law
(Article 31) and, beyond carefully delineating the different
responsibilities of the federation and the states, they also provided
a mechanism for resolving jurisdictional disputes in the Federal
Constitutional Court. Disputes between the federal and state
governments still occur, and the process of European integration,
affecting the jurisdiction of both, could make for a whole new
variety of federal-state tussels in the near future. That the Federal
Republic has an effective means of addressing these conflicts is in
large measure a result of the lesson learned from Weimar's pioneering
experiment in democracy.

This Week in Germany
Feb 5, 1999

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - News: Mir's mirror experiment called off
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Fri, 5 Feb 1999 18:28:26 +0000

From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>

*** Mir's mirror experiment called off

MOSCOW (AP) - Russian officials scrapped the Mir space station's
much-hyped space mirror experiment Friday after the shiny metal
object got stuck and failed to properly unfurl. The Mir crew sent the
mirror, attached to a cargo ship filled with trash, into the earth's
atmosphere this afternoon. After mostly burning up during re-entry,
the husk dropped harmlessly into the Pacific Ocean, officials said.
The failure was a big disappointment for Russia's struggling space
agency, which had billed the project as a display of its ability to
conduct pioneering, ambitious projects despite a lack of funds. The
mirror was supposed to work like an artificial moon, reflecting a beam
of sunlight across the earth. But its petal-like segments failed to
unfold Thursday after a deployment mechanism jammed. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558339057-83a

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Books/Tapes
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Fri, 5 Feb 1999 21:56:47 +0000

From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>

Christian Book Distributors has another great closeout offer:
http://www.christianbook.com

Armageddon, Oil and the Middle East Crisis
John F. Walvoord
95 cents for the book or for those who have a long drive into work
every morning and would like the book on 2 audio-cassettes, the price
is a whopping $1.95

This is a lightweight book (1990) but it covers all the bases
regarding the end-times and at this price, well...

Chapters include:
1. Questions About the Future
2. Armageddon Calendar
3. The Israeli-Arab Conflict
4. The Oil Blackmail
5. Palestine: the Land of Promise and Travail
6. The City of the Prophets
7. Watch Jerusalem
8. The Rising Tide of World Religion
9. Changing Europe
10. The Coming Middle East Peace
11. The Continued Threat of Russian Intervention
12. A Coming World Dictator
13. The Day of World Catastrophe
14. Armageddon: The World's Death Struggle
15. Christ's Second Coming to Earth
16. A Promise to Remember
17. What Next?

The shipping is $3.50 for orders up to $20, so while you're there why
not check out (I do not own the first book but it looked
interesting):

American, Oil & The Islamic Mind
Michael Youssef
95 cents
"If your only window to the Middle East and Islam is the TV, then you
need this open door to a broader undersatnding of the Muslim
worldview and its aversion to Christianity and the West. 'The real
crisis is the gulf between our ways of thinkg.' 135 pages, softcover
from Zondervan."

And don't forget:

Genesis Unbound:
A Provocative New Look at the Creation Account
Dr. John H. Sailhamer
$2.95
"In the beginning, did God create the world out of nothing? And what
does 'in the beginning' really mean? Old Testament scholar Sailhamer
attempts to reconcile science and faith through this thorough
analysis of Genesis 1 and 2--challenging you to rethink the creation
narrative. 256 pages."

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - List Guidelines
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Sat, 06 Feb 1999 08:53:16 -0500

From: owner-bpr@philologos.org

Hi everyone...

The last week or so we (myself included) strayed a bit from the list's
intended purpose and goals. Just as a reminder, BPR is interested in sharing
articles, references, studies, and/or news items as they relate to the Word of
God and biblical prophecy in general.

It's not that we are opposed to discussions between list members, but we would
like each message to be informational in nature. Disagreements, however
mannerly or polite they may be, should be carried out in private. Major
disagreements where you feel that something blasphemous has been posted or a
grave biblical error has obviously been committed should be brought to either
my or Moza's attention.

Examples of the type of messages we are looking for are:

1. Word studies
2. News items with personal comments added if you wish.
3. Book discussions or noteworthy articles you've read that you would like to
bring to the list's attention.
4. Questions that you would like the list to research or quote scripture on.
5. Notes from your own personal studies.
6. Interesting quotes.
7. Biographies of news-worthy or historical people.

If you have any questions, please feel free to talk to Moza or me.

Thank you...

--- BPR

BPR Web Site - http://philologos.org/bpr

Philologos | Bible Prophecy Research | Online Books | Reference Guide

Please be advised that this domain (Philologos.org) does not endorse 100 per cent any link contained herein. This forum is for the dissemination of pertinent information on an end-times biblical theme which includes many disturbing, unethical, immoral, etc. topics and should be viewed with a mature, discerning eye.