Free Kindle Books, Allah Forbidden for the Christian God, Hezbollah Upgrades Threat, Jesus Failed? Christian Martyrs Doubled are This Week's WebSightings

What Are You Afraid Of?: Facing Down Your Fears with Faith [Kindle Edition]  free for a limited time

Dr. David Jeremiah

Beth Moore books free -- this is the amazon link

I don't know a lot about her but understand she is well liked.
on various formats (check your device)

in Spanish too (two of her books are free in Spanish)
Breaking Free
Breaking Free Day by Day
Believing God Day by Day
Further Still
Things Pondered
Feathers from My Nest
A Heart Like His
Jesus, the One and Only
Praying God's Word
Praying God's Word Day by Day

Aiming for 'Effective Anger': The Top 50 Countries Where It's Hardest To Be a Christian
(UPDATED) Christian martyrdoms doubled in 2013, reports World Watch List in revealing its methodology for the first time.
Katherine Burgess  [ posted 1/8/2014 11:41AM ]

Authorities strike Bible Society of Malaysia
PUBLISHED BY KATEY HEARTH ON JANUARY 6, 2014 BY KATEY HEARTH
“The word ‘Allah’ is the common word for God,” explains Voice of the Martyrs USAspokesman Todd Nettleton.

“It is used by both Muslims and Christians, but now the government is saying, ‘Hey, Christians are not allowed to use that word; these Bibles that are printed with the wordAllah inside them are now illegal.’”

My thought on the Allah story above is that I think that it is a good thing that there is a clear distinction between the God of Christianity and the Allah of Islam.  Christianity Today carried a story of former Muslims who claimed to now follow Christ, use the name Allah for God but aren't Christians and keep many Muslim traditions. As I read the story, I saw confusion not faith, perhaps even deception.  The Gospel and the Jesus of the Bible is a stumbling stone, a rock of offense.  Let Allah and the God of the Bible not be mistaken for one another. 

Hezbollah Upgrades Missile Threat to Israel
Components Said to Have Already Been Moved to Lebanon from Syria
By ADAM ENTOUS, CHARLES LEVINSON and JULIAN E. BARNES Jan. 2, 2014 7:03 p.m. ET

A Caution For Every Christian That Drinks Alcohol
January 1, 2014

The writer’s main point is about the disregard for the weaker brother. Actually, I think it is outright disrespect. Too many believers think their liberty trumps your temptation.


Kim Jong Un's executed uncle was eaten alive by 120 hungry dogs: report
By Eric Baculinao and Alexander Smith, NBC News

BEIJING


The Only Time Jesus Ever Failed
Mature Conversations About Marriage, Re-Marriage, Same-Sex Marriage, Etc

BY KEVIN SHRUM, CHRISTIAN POST GUEST COLUMNIST

January 4, 2014|9:45 am


Is it 1914 all over again? We are in danger of repeating the mistakes that started WWI, says a leading historian

My thought:  The author has quite a point here.  In seeking to understand our policy in the Middle East, most especially the seeming insanity of endless war with al-Qaeda and our involvement for over a decade in Afghanistan and Iraq that is still ongoing to an expensive extent (despite Obama's campaign promises to be different from Bush), I have come to the conclusion that perhaps a bigger war is coming and our leaders know it.  

Also, my pre-World War II reading at one point (I know the author is referencing WWI but bear with me) led me to conclude that there were smaller wars that seemed to be preludes to the big one, WWII. Is history repeating itself?  Could the fights in the Middle East in Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, the Arab Spring, etc., be preludes to the big war to come? Watch and pray.