Again: ‘Green Fireball’ Lights Up The Night Sky Across Southern California, Sparks Dozens Of Meteor Reports

By Samantha Tata and Olsen Ebright, NBC Los Angeles – “An authentic photo surfaced Friday afternoon capturing the bright light seen by dozens of Southern California sky watchers.

About 50 people contacted the American Meteor Society on Thursday with reports of a ‘green fireball’ lighting up the sky. Sightings were reported in Ventura, Anaheim, Van Nuys, Los Angeles, Paso Robles, San Francisco and Santa Barbara, according to the group’s website.

Photographer Susan Lary of the Southern California Weather Authority captured the so-called fireball and provided the image to NBC News.

Lary’s photograph (pictured, above) was taken with a 1-minute exposure in Lancaster, Calif., facing southwest.

‘I saw a light and looked directly at the meteor as it came down in the ocean off Corona Del Mar. Bits came off, and it was bright white,’ Laguna Hills resident Patric Barry wrote in an email to NBC4.

Barry spotted the object out of his living room window about 10:35 p.m.

The sightings come days after Bay Area residents were treated to a light show of their own when a fireball was seen streaking across the sky.” Read more.

LA Meteor Creates Bright Light Across Southern California Sky, According To Witness Reports – “Los Angeles residents reported seeing a bright light zoom across the Southern California sky late Thursday. Dozens of witnesses submitted accounts to the American Meteor Society that they saw what appeared to be a fireball, which is a very bright meteor, at about 10:30 p.m. The reports came in from across the LA area, including Alhambra, Anaheim, Burbank, Culver City, Garden Grove, La Crescenta, Pasadena and Ventura. ‘There was extreme detail of this fireball from my location,’ Leslie A. of La Crescenta reported to AMS. ‘I actually saw flames with a trail of glowing lime green attached to it. [It was] very large in size.'” Read more.

‘Horrific Pressures, Death Threats’: Imprisoned American Pastor Says Iranian Captors Are ‘Waiting For Me To Deny Christ’

“But,” the pastor continues, “they will never get this from me.” This is the type of faith that we as brothers and sisters in Christ must be ready to reflect, they who will overcome the evil of this Beast by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, loving not their lives even unto death …

Matthew 16:24-25, “Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.'”

Revelation 2:10, “Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.”

By Lisa Daftari, Fox News – “American pastor Saeed Abedini, jailed in a notoriously brutal Iranian prison for his Christian faith, is facing physical and psychological torture at the hands of captors demanding he renounce his beliefs, according to supporters.

The 32-year-old married father of two, who left his home in Boise, Idaho, to help start an orphanage in his latest country, detailed ‘horrific pressures’ and ‘death threats,’ is a letter to family members, according to his U.S.-based attorneys.

‘My eyes get blurry, my body does not have the strength to walk, and my steps become very weak and shaky,’ read the letter, sneaked out of Evin prison in Tehran. ‘They are only waiting for one thing…for me to deny Christ. But they will never get this from me.’

Abedini was sentenced to eight years in prison for threatening the national security of Iran through his leadership in Christian house churches. The American Center for Law and Justice has provided legal support for Abedini’s family in the U.S. and is working through various government means to help win the pastor’s release. ACLJ Executive Director Jordan Sekulow said the fact that the torture is happening after Abedini’s trial, a sham he and his attorney were not even allowed to attend, is particularly chilling.

‘This is post conviction,’ Sekulow said. ‘This isn’t about a trial. This is about life, and the message is you will be treated this way until you become a Muslim.'” Read more.

Flashback: Iran: Authorities Launch Mass Arrests Of Christians, Men And Women Dragged To Prisons All Across Iran – “Massive arrests of evangelical Protestant Christians, including many former Muslims, are reported in Iran, with men and women being dragged to prisons across the Islamic nation. ‘We have learned that at least 100, but perhaps as many as 400 people, have been detained over the last 10 days,’ said Firouz Khandjani, a council member of the ‘Church of Iran’ house church movement.” Read more.

Flashback: Iran: Islamic Republic Refusing Business License For Convert To Christianity, Orders Businesses Not To Employ Christians – “Iranian authorities refuse to allow a young man to start his own company because he converted to Christianity and was previously detained on charges of ‘apostasy’, or ‘abandoning Islam’ … Iranian Christians said the move is part if a wider government crackdown on non-Islamic minority groups, especially Christian converts, in society… Outside prison, government offices are reportedly ordered not to employ Christians and Christians have been deprived from high school or university education, or running their own schools …” Read more.

France: Muslim Immigrant Desecrates Strasbourg Church, Places Qur’an On Pulpit, Writes ‘Allahu Akbar’ On Toppled Statues

For peaceful purposes …

BFM (Translated) – “A 24-year-old Moroccan has been arrested in Strasbourg, suspected of having damaged statues in a church and of having placed a prayer carpet and a Qur’an stolen from a mosque [inside the church].

Taken into custody on Thursday, the suspect confessed and will be subjected to a psychiatric examination. According to the priest of the church in question, located in the centre of Strasbourg, he ‘probably’ has psychological problems.

The man is suspected of having toppled around 15 statues. ‘He wrote ‘Allahu akbar’ [Allah is greater] in Arabic with chalk, especially on the statues, and placed a Qur’an on a pulpit,’ said the priest.

The man was exposed by officials of the Grand Mosque of Strasbourg, who noticed that on several occasions he had stolen objects from the mosque, including the imam’s prayer carpet, said one of the leaders of the mosque.” Source –  BFM (Translated).

• Flashback: The Islamization Of France In 2012
• Flashback: France Seeks To Reclaim Muslim ‘No-Go’ Zones
• Flachback: France Sees ‘Shocking Surge’ in Anti-Semitic Violence
• Flashback: Imams’ Indoctrinating French Muslims With Culture Of Hate, Racism
• Flashback: France: Muslim Mobs Burn Nearly 1,200 Cars On New Year’s Eve
• Flashback: France: Christian Church Vandalised With Graffiti Saying ‘Islam Is Growing In Power’

Israel: Security Forces Clash With Violent Palestinian Protesters On Temple Mount, ‘What’s Taking Place Now … Is The First Sign Of A Third Palestinian Uprising’

According to Israel Radio, US President Barack Obama’s upcoming visit next month is also being cited as a reason for these new violent Palestinian protests. Seems like everything Obama does (or doesn’t do, depending on how you look at it) always somehow manages to inspire those of the Islamic faith to demonstrate to the world just how serious they truly are when it comes to their Allah, his Qur’an, and the “perfect man” responsible for all of it …

By Yoel Goldman and Stuart Winer, The Times of Israel – “Palestinian protests in Jerusalem and the West Bank turned violent on Friday, with demonstrators throwing stones at Israeli security forces at several locations.

At the Temple Mount in the capital’s Old City, Palestinians exiting Friday prayers hurled stones at security forces stationed near the Mughrabi Gate. Israeli forces stormed the area, entering the Temple Mount compound, and used stun grenades to disperse the protesters.

‘Our forces at the Mughrabi Gate [leading up to the Temple Mount compound] were hit by hails of stones,’ said Jerusalem District police chief Yossi Pariente. He said one policeman was lightly injured.

In Hebron, dozens of Palestinians attacked security forces with stones in the city’s Jewish quarter. A Border Police officer was lightly injured when hit by a brick hurled by protesters. He received initial medical treatment on the scene before being transferred to a hospital.

Hundreds of protesters also gathered at the Beitunia military checkpoint near the Ofer Prison outside Ramallah, where several Palestinian inmates are on a hunger strike. Dozens of them threw stones at IDF and Border Police stationed at the post.

In Nabi Saleh, also near Ramallah, security forces used live fire to disperse protesters.

Palestinian sources claimed dozens of people were lightly injured by tear-gas inhalation at the various demonstrations.

Israeli security forces had been placed on high alert ahead of the anticipated protests, following escalating demonstrations in recent days.

Senior PLO official Hanan Ashrawi told Channel 10 News that, for now, things are under control, but that ‘if something happens to any of the Palestinian prisoners, especially the hunger strikers, it will raise the ire of the public and lead to acts of retribution.’

Some Israeli experts believe the Palestinian Authority is using the issue of the hunger strikers to try to foster a first intifada-style Palestinian uprising.

Palestinian organizations in Gaza were carefully watching events unfold. Islamic Jihad official Habed Habib said ‘What’s taking place in the West Bank now is the first sign of a third Palestinian uprising. The Israeli occupation must be uprooted.’…

US President Barack Obama’s upcoming visit to Israel was also cited as a reason to draw protests, according to Israel Radio.” Read more.

Kidnappings, Rapes, Forced Conversions: Christians in Syria Being Targeted By Islamic Extremists

AINA – “In a poor gypsy neighborhood of Istanbul, a Syrian Orthodox refugee from Syria says he worked as a dentist in Aleppo as long as he could after fighting broke out in 2011; he finally fled when lack of food, electricity, water, and constant fear of sniper-fire and kidnapping of Christians made life too dangerous.

‘Some people would come to my dental office and threaten me with kidnapping,’ he says. ‘I finally had to close my practice.’

Living in an unheated house and keeping their voices down for fear of attracting police attention, 20 Syrian Orthodox Christians bundle up in winter jackets, drink Turkish coffee, and discuss the dangers of fleeing war-torn Syria and illegally crossing the border into Turkey. The middle-aged dentist, identified only as Ilyas, says in fluent English that friends and relatives were kidnapped by criminal groups operating freely due to the removal of central government control.

The refugee says he paid $6,000 to a smuggler to help him leave and crossed the border while under gunfire from an unknown group. He cannot get legal employment here but works occasionally translating Arabic to Turkish.

Another refugee from northern Syria, identified only as 35-year-old Ibrahim, fled when his aunt was kidnapped by a local criminal group. He said criminal group members were colluding with foreign Muslim extremists who have been flooding into the country to fight President Bashar al-Assad and set up an Islamic state. His aunt was eventually ransomed for $6,000.

Having crossed into Turkey after paying bribes at the border, Ibrahim worries about his future since Syria is no longer safe for Christians, while local charity groups in Turkey have ignored Syrian Orthodox refugees, he said.

‘How can we stay in Turkey?’ he said. ‘Nobody gives me a job because they don’t like Arabs, and it would be worse if they knew I were a Christian. Even charity organizations in Turkey don’t assist me when they find out I am a Christian.’

These refugees are among the thousands of Syrian Orthodox fleeing to nearby Middle East countries and Europe.

Those that flee to Europe face dangers by entrusting themselves to smugglers, who have created a multimillion dollar human trafficking business in the fallout of the war. Christians who stay in Syria risk attacks and executions by extremists. Either way, church leaders and activists fear Syria will soon lose its Christian population.

‘There is a silent exodus of Christians from Syria,’ Nuri Kino, a Swedish journalist of Assyrian background, told Morning Star News. ‘Unfortunately there are signs that what happened in Iraq is happening here — there are kidnappings, rapes, and YouTube videos put up of people being forcibly converted to Islam.’

Before the war, 1.4 million Christians lived in Syria, or 6.3 percent of the population of the Muslim-majority nation, according to Operation World. It is unclear how many remain now.” Read more.

Death For Preaching Christ In ‘Liberated’ Libya, ‘The Rewriting Of History … Is Foisted By Muslims Everywhere’

Daniel 7:25a, “He will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law …”

By Raymond Ibrahim, Frontpage Mag – “Four foreign Christians—including one who holds American-Swedish citizenship—were arrested days ago in Libya.  According to the Guardian, their crime is arousing ‘suspicion of being missionaries and distributing Christian literature, a charge that could carry the death penalty.’

Apparently the four Christians had ‘contracted a local printer to produce pamphlets explaining Christianity.’  Proselytizing to Muslims—that is, preaching to them another religion—was banned even under the late Col. Muammar Gaddafi.

Libyans—strongly supported by U.S. President Obama in the name of ‘freedom’—got rid of Gaddafi but kept the distinctly anti-freedom law.

Discussing this case, Libyan security official Hussein Bin Hmeid, trying to justify the Islamic ban on free speech, observes: ‘Proselytizing is forbidden in Libya. We are a 100% Muslim country and this kind of action affects our national security.’ Indeed, Muslim governments—most notably Iran’s—constantly suppress any talk of Christianity, claiming it threatens ‘our national security.’ Such is the tribal mentality of Islam which everywhere declares: If you’re not one of us, you must be an enemy trying to subvert our way of life.

Is the flipside of this prevalent mentality also true—that if Muslims are not one of us, they must be trying to subvert our way of life?

Nor should the arrested Christians expect much sympathy from more ‘moderate’ Libyans.  According to Benghazi lawyer and ‘human rights activist’ Bilal Bettamer, Christians should not offend Muslims by trying to share their faith: ‘It is disrespectful. If we had Christianity we could have dialogue, but you can’t just spread Christianity.  The maximum penalty is the death penalty. It’s a dangerous thing to do.’

Indeed, like ‘blasphemy’—whether in the guise of Muhammad cartoons or movies—proselytizing to Muslims is one of the many forms of free speech to be specifically banned by Islamic Sharia.  According to Muslim tradition, this ban goes

Al-Aqsa Group: The Temple Mount Is An Islamic Site, Demands Jewish Prayers Cease Because They’re ‘Defiling The Holiness’ Of Western Wall

The spirit of this group’s demand does not call for Jews alone to cease and desist from praying at the Western Wall, but to all non-Muslims in general — including any and all Christians — who pray to anyone other than “Allah” …

By David Lev, INN – “An Israeli Arab group, ‘The Al-Aqsa Heritage Institute,’ on Thursday issued a statement demanding that Israel halt its plans to bring more Jews to the Kotel (Western Wall) – which, the group claims, is holy not to Jews, but to Muslims.

In fact, the group says, Israel is ‘defiling the holiness of the site’ by conducting Jewish prayers there.

In Jewish tradition, the Kotel is the outer retaining wall of the Holy Temple, which stood on the Temple Mount, approximately at the same location as the Al-Aqsa Mosque. When the Holy Temple was destroyed nearly 2,000 years ago, Jews were prohibited from worshipping on the Mount, first by the Romans and then by the Muslims, and proscribed from doing so by Jewish law – and adopted the Kotel as a place of prayer, as it was the closest place to the Holy Temple as the could get.

In Islamic legend, however, the Kotel is a Muslim site – famous as the wall that Muhammad used to tie up his donkey when he ascended to heaven on his ‘night journey’ from the Temple Mount. The ‘Buraq Wall,’ as Islamist groups call the Kotel, is a part of the Temple Mount, and thus has the same status for Muslims as the Al-Aqsa Mosque, or the other holy places in the area.

In a statement this week, the group said that ‘the Buraq Wall, west of the Al Aqsa Mosque, is one of the main objectives of the Israeli occupation. As a result, more than 10 million Israelis and tourists violated the holiness of the site during 2012, this according to the occupying police force. The occupiers are proud of this large number, and say in fact that they want to double the number of visitors within a few years,’ the statement said.

‘Such plans endanger Al-Aqsa by making it a target for direct Israeli occupation,’ the statement said. ‘The Al-Buraq Wall along with the entire area around Al-Aqsa, including the Mugrabi neighborhood (the term used by the group for the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem), destroyed in 1967, is holy Muslim land, and an inseparable part of the Al-Aqsa property,’ the statement added.” Source – INN.