ISIS "Declares War on Christians"

Article Source: Virtual Jerusalem 

Islamic State (ISIS) has published a new edition of the propaganda booklet Dabiq, which is again signaling its primary enemy - Christianity. 

On the cover page of the booklet is a photo of the Vatican bearing the ISIS flag, along with the terror group's desires to conquer Rome and "break the cross." 

According to some Islamic traditions, the founder of Islam Mohammed predicted that the occupation of the three cities of Istanbul, Jerusalem and Rome pave the way for the appearance of the Mahdi, the Islamic Messiah. 
The declaration surfaces amid growing concern over the widespread persecution of Christians in the Middle East.

The cause sparked a joint conference between the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem (ICEJ) and the World Jewish Congress (WJC) in Jerusalem earlier this week, and an impassioned speech on regional issues by an Israeli Christian Arab leader to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) last month. 

"Across the Middle East, in the last ten years, 100,000 Christians have been murdered each year. That means that every five minutes a Christian is killed because of his faith," Father Gabriel Nadaf, who has campaigned for Christian Arab rights and for local Christians to support Israel, told the UNHRC in September.

"Those who can escape persecution at the hands of Muslim extremists have fled... Those who remain, exist as second if not third class citizens to their Muslim rulers."

Some 12 million Christians were estimated to have lived in the Middle East in total, according to a July estimate in the Guardian, but that number has been thought to have decreased drastically since ISIS's summer takeover in Iraq.

The Christian community has faced dire persecution in a variety of Middle Eastern countries over the past 2-3 years, with a systemic crackdown on religious dissidents intensifying as the region shifted more toward radical Islam. 

In Egypt, Coptic Christians have been targeted by violence from the Muslim Brotherhood ad Salafi groups. In Syria, Al-Qaeda linked rebels have threatened to kill Christians who do not join the fight against President Bashar Al-Assad.

Iran has persecuted Christians relentlessly as well, recently making headlines for burning the lips of a Christian man caught eating 
during the Ramadan fast. 

Tel Aviv Israel: Sixth-grade girls charged with planning classmate’s murder

ArticleSource timesofisrael.com

A group of four 12-year-old girls were charged Sunday with conspiring to murder a classmate and then dispose of her body in revenge for the victim having cursed at a family member.

The girls, from the central region of the country, were charged at the Tel Aviv Youth Magistrate’s Court on Sunday. A fifth girl, who was also involved in the plan, was too young to face charges.

The girls, all in the sixth grade, said they intended to murder the girl because she cursed at one of their sisters.

The incident first came to light at the beginning of the month after several girls, including the intended victim, overheard the accused discussing details of the plot in the school bathroom. They alerted school authorities, and the principal called in police who discovered that the accused were armed with two knives that they had stolen from the teachers’ kitchenette.

During questioning, more details of the carefully planned scheme came to light, police said. The girls revealed that they had picked up tips on how to cover their tracks from a popular Israeli teen TV show called “Galis” set in a summer camp, according to the Walla news site.

The girls tried to obtain rubber gloves so as to not leave any fingerprints, and planned to wear old shoes so that their footprints would be harder to identify.

The plan involved leading the victim to a wooded area near the school and then, upon an agreed signal, two of the attackers were to repeatedly stab their target before changing their clothes and then making their escape. The charge sheet noted that the girls planned to dig a pit at the site to hide the body, Walla said.

The alleged attackers were held under house arrest until they were to brought before the court to face charges of conspiracy to murder, theft, and carrying a knife.

Perilous Times: Houston School Stabbing Injures Several

Story Source: Good Morning America

A Houston high school was put on lockdown today after several people were stabbed, officials said.

One person was listed in critical condition, ABC News affiliate KTRK reported. Others were also stabbed, the station reported.

Houston radio affiliate KROI reported that one person had died, but police and school officials did not confirm that report.

The attack happened at Spring High School in North Houston around 8 a.m. EST, according to the Harris County Sheriff's Office.

Several people were injured in the attack, sources said.

Law enforcement and emergency personnel flooded the area around Spring High School shortly after the attack. One student posted a photo to her Twitter account showing what appears to be blood in the hallways of the high school, according to KRIV.

One man was seen being carried from the school in a stretcher to an ambulance shortly after 10 a.m. He was conscious and sitting up, and his injuries were not immediately clear.

2 Timothy 3:1-4

New King James Version (NKJV)

Perilous Times and Perilous Men

3 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,