Jim Bakker Show

In light of reports that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons on civilians and that military troops are carrying out summary executions of suspected rebels without trial, the U.S. is considering supplying arms to the Syrian rebels.

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told reporters that for the first time the U.S. is no longer ruling out the possibility of arming the rebels.  Last year, President Obama had rejected a similar proposal from then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

“Arming the rebels, that’s an option,” Hagel said during a press conference.  ”You look at and rethink all options.  It doesn’t mean you do or you will.  These are options that must be considered with the international community.”

A European Union ban on arming the rebels expires in a few weeks and Hagel’s British counterpart, Philip Hammond,  said Britain would be looking at their options after the ban’s expiration.

Sources within the defense department told a BBC reporter that because the U.S. does not want to directly get involved militarily in Syria, arming the rebels is now considered the “least worst option.”

Both Hagel and Hammond stated that despite multiple reports and photographic proof of the Syrian government using chemical weapons, there is still not enough hard evidence to act.  Hammond said that because much of the public clearly remembers the weapons of mass destruction claims in 2003 which led to the Iraq invasion, any evidence of chemical weapons would have to come from “very clear, very high quality evidence.”

More than 70,000 have died in the Syrian civil war.

The United States task force in Jordan is spending most of their time working with the Jordanians on logistics. There have been as many as 3,000 refugees a day flowing over the Syria / Jordan border. The task of distributing tons of food, water and latrines to the border has been monumental. The Syrian army has been building up their presence in southern Syria near Jordan’s border which has cut down on the number of refugees escaping across the border to several hundred a day. (more…)

Repeatedly in the Scriptures, God refers to Israel as His land.

In the beginning the church was made up of Jewish believers and then spread to Antioch, where the first Gentile congregation began, and from that base the Gospel of Messiah Jesus (Yeshua) spread into the entire world. (more…)

Israeli officials have been trying to persuade the U.S. that time is of the essence in planning an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Israel is hard pressed with a feeling of urgency and the present administration in Washington, doesn’t want to move on this thing till next year, after the U.S. elections. (more…)

The United Nations has called on the United States to end production of biofuel ethanol because of the current worldwide food crisis.

Current US law requires that 40% of the nation’s corn must be used to create biofuel. Prices are currently facing significant increases with the USDA estimating the corn yield will be the lowest in 16 years. The shortfall is estimated to cause close to a 40 percent rise in prices per bushel. (more…)

A drop in consumer spending resulted in the US economy growth slowing to an annual rate of 1.5% according to the Commerce Department. That’s down almost a full percentage point from the first quarter of the year.

The Commerce Department also put some of the blame on an increase in imports during the same time period.

“As campaigning [for President] gets serious, the economy is losing momentum not gaining,” Mark Gregory of the BBC reported. “That’s bad news for President Obama’s chances of hanging onto his job in November.” (more…)

Six US soldiers were killed in Afghanistan by a roadside bomb while on a mission with other NATO forces. The incident comes after 14 civilians were killed in Taliban attacks on Sunday.

The civilians were also killed by roadside bombs that were aimed to cause maximum civilian causalities. The first bomb hit a car and then the second did not explode until a tracker arrived to rescue the wounded from the initial attack. (more…)

The US economy’s unemployment rate increased slightly in April while the Eurozone’s held steady at a record high level.

The news sent all the US stock markets plunging lower in morning trading. The jobless rate in the US increased to 8.2%, up .1%, according to the Labor Department report. The number of jobs added in March and April was revised down by 49,000 and there are now five million fewer jobs in the US than at the start of the recession. (more…)

Strong words coming out of Iran. Iran has been claiming the United States has been forced to humble themselves before Iran and their nuclear plans. “This shows weakness on the part of West and is paving the way for the Iran Islamic regime to annihilate the Jewish state.” (more…)

A U.S. mission over Yemen involving 5 drones made strikes this week, one of which targeted a checkpoint run by militants. “The attacks were fierce,” one official told CNN. Residents saw dozens of militants blocking roads leading to the areas of the attack.

The Yemenis government officials said to CNN, at least 11 U.S. attacks have been conducted on Yemeni soil over the last week alone. “With every U.S. attack that is conducted in Yemen, al Qaeda is only growing in power and we have to ask ourselves why that is happening?”

The drones targeted militant hideouts, checkpoints, training facilities and weapons warehouses in the Azzan district, a stronghold for al Qaeda. The explosions were powerful and were heard from miles away. The death toll is expected to rise. (more…)