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On March 9, 2024, U.S. Border Patrol agents apprehended a Lebanese migrant crossing from Mexico into the United States who claimed to be with Hezbollah, a terrorist organization. He further stated his intentions of heading to New York and making a bomb ("Report: Self-Proclaimed Hezbollah Terrorist Arrested at Border in Texas," Breitbart, March 18, 2024). This was following 60 other immigrants over the few months prior who were identified as being on the terror watch list -- and 270 apprehended in the two years before that. Yet how many have not been caught or identified?
Frankly this is just the tip of the iceberg among the thousands and even millions of illegal migrants who've been allowed into the country -- with many coming in from the Middle East and China. A letter to U.S. Congressional leaders from 10 former executives of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), dated Jan. 17, 2024, expressed alarm over the crisis in these terms:
"In its modern history the U.S. has never suffered an invasion of the homeland and, yet, one is unfolding now. Military aged men from across the globe, many from countries or regions not friendly to the United States, are landing in waves on our soil by the thousands -- not splashing ashore from a ship or parachuting from a plane but rather by foot across a border that has been accurately advertised around the world as largely unprotected with ready access granted.
"It would be difficult to overstate the danger represented by the presence inside our borders of what is comparatively a multi-division army of young single adult males from hostile nations and regions whose background, intent, or allegiance is completely unknown" (quoted by John Solomon, "FBI Luminaries Starkly Warn Congress That U.S. Being Invaded at Border: 'Alarming and Perilous,'" Jan. 25, 2024).
In the wake of the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, former Israel Defense Forces (IDF) major Amir Tsarfati warned that it's not just Jews in Israel in the crosshairs but Western Christians too: "Europe must wake up. America must wake up. America has thousands of sleeping cells all across the country. Your southern border is so open . . . I can't even imagine how many Hezbollah and Hamas cells are in your country right now. They're testing you . . . And then boom, one day they will strike" (quoted by Suzanne Bowdey, The Washington Stand, Nov. 28, 2023).
Read more about this serious crisis in our feature article "What's Behind the Border Disaster?". And seek God for help in preparing for the difficult times soon to come on the world at large.
It's disturbing to see that "according to recent Gallup polls, 71% of Americans think same-sex 'marriage' should be legal, and 64% believe gay or lesbian relationships are morally acceptable. These numbers are double from a generation ago. Among those who attend church weekly, 41% support same-sex 'marriage,' while 67% of those who attend church less frequently do" (John Stonestreet and Jared Hayden, "Why More Americans (and Christians) Now Support Same-Sex 'Marriage,'" The Christian Post, March 25, 2024). That's a high percentage for churchgoers.
Hollywood and the Internet have dragged society farther down the moral slope -- as has legalization of homosexual mar-riage. "Law is also a teacher. When something is legal, it becomes more socially acceptable. The Supreme Court's ruling in Obergefell [legalizing same-sex marriage] not only reflected cultural beliefs, but it also spread them" (ibid.). This and outright government promotion of this immorality has made it seem okay -- to both churchgoers and general society.
Indeed, not only acceptance but the immorality itself has steeply increased, especially among younger people. According to Gallup polling, those identifying as LGBTQ+ went from 3.5 percent in 2012 to 7.6 percent in 2023 -- more than doubling over the decade. And shockingly more than 20 percent of Gen Z adults (ages 18-26 in 2023) identify as LGTBQ+ ("Gallup: LGBTQ+ Identification in US Rises to 7.6% -- 1 in 5 of Gen-Z," Fox News, March 13, 2024).
What's truly lacking, even in many churches, is respect for biblical authority in setting the boundaries of morality. To learn more about God's teachings on sexuality, see our free study guide Marriage and Family: The Missing Dimension.
As illegal immigration at America's southern border has turned from crisis to disaster, its consequences have been felt in every state in America. This is especially true regarding the deadly drug fentanyl -- most of which is mass-produced at secret factories in Mexico by drug cartels using chemicals sourced from China.
Fentanyl is 50 times more powerful than heroin, and a lethal dose is small enough to fit on the tip of a pencil. This deadly drug is smuggled across the U.S.-Mexican border concealed inside tractor-trailers carrying loads of legitimate cargo and hidden in passenger cars or on the bodies of pedestrians. It's also "backpacked" by couriers, also known as mules, between ports of entry. A package of fentanyl, about the size of a brick, can be worth about $200,000 in the United States.
Fentanyl is also being laced with or substituted for traditional opioids like oxycodone and heroin and in non-opioids like cocaine and other counterfeit pills. In 2023 the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) seized more than 79.5 million fentanyl-laced fake pills and nearly 12,000 pounds of fentanyl powder. Those seizures were equivalent to over 376.7 million lethal doses of fentanyl -- more than enough to kill every American.
These drugs are pushed in communities in every state. Each day an average of 300 Americans die due to fentanyl poisoning -- which is the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18 to 45. According to a 2021 Washington Post article, more than 100,000 people died from drug overdoses in the United States that year -- two-thirds from fentanyl. The number of people killed by the drug has almost doubled over the last four years alone.
This vast explosion in smuggling deadly drugs has created a financial windfall of billions of dollars for Mexican drug cartels and their Chinese accomplices -- at the cost of tens of thousands of American lives each year.
Sheriff Rand Henderson of Montgomery County, Texas told Fox News on Sept. 14, 2022: "They should declare this a weapon of mass destruction and also categorize this poison as for what it is. It's something that's killing our population."
The current Israeli-Hamas war began with Hamas' brutal attack against people in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. It was recently brought to light that a video message from a Hamas spokesman 100 days after in January declared that a major trigger for the Hamas action was Jewish "aggression" against the Arab people and al-Aqsa (the Muslim designation for the Temple Mount as an Islamic holy site) through the bringing of red cows. Of course, Hamas terrorists have sought to attack the Israelis in any case, intending their destruction or expulsion from the land -- and this could be just a PR justification meant to bring further international ire against the Jews for stirring things up. Yet this does point to some intriguing developments related to Bible prophecy.
In Numbers 19, ashes from the sacrifice of a red heifer were used to produce water of purification, used to cleanse people from ceremonial defilement to make them fit for participation in the worship at the tabernacle and later the temple. Thus it's seen as necessary to the reestablishment of the Jewish temple worship system -- which Muslims perceive as a threat to Islamic worship and control at the Temple Mount.
According to rules of the Mishnah, or Jewish oral tradition, the cow must be fully red (reddish brown), perfectly unblemished, without white or black hairs. A couple candidates for the sacrifice were identified over the past few decades, but they were eventually disqualified. More recently, in September 2022, five red heifers were imported to Israel from Texas, and these are considered fit for sacrifice by rabbinic authorities.
The book of Daniel foretells a recommencement of the sacrificial system, which will then be cut off and given over to idolatrous defilement by invaders around three and a half years before Daniel's resurrection at the return of Jesus Christ (Daniel 12:11,13; Matthew 24:15). So it's thought by various prophecy watchers that we are nearing these end-time events.
Some involved with bringing in the heifers had announced a sacrifice at the time of Passover this year -- which is after the time of this writing -- but it was then stated this would not happen to avoid inflaming the region further right now. We will continue watching to see how things develop. For a short video presentation on this subject, watch "Why Hamas Attacked Israel".
When the Biden White House put out a presidential proclamation declaring March 31 the Trans Day of Visibility for 2024, it drew ire from its apparent offense against Christians, as this day was Easter Sunday.
It's true that we at Beyond Today often explain that Easter along with Christmas and certain other traditional Christian holidays are observances with pagan roots that really should not be celebrated by Christians (see Deuteronomy 12:29-32 and our free study guide Holidays or Holy Days: Does It Matter Which Days We Observe). But there was no thought in the White House statement of diminishing Easter for a biblically appropriate reason. Rather, it was to promote evil and swipe at widespread Christian belief.
It was pointed out that this transgender observance of March 31 was on the calendar since 2009 and only happened to overlap with Easter, which falls on different dates year to year. But the trans day has only recently become widely promoted -- and many noted that it could have been postponed. Yet it served the interests of those attacking biblical morality to make the transgender cause the focus of the day. The White House actually banned all displays of religious symbols at its Easter celebration that day. The governor of New York ordered the World Trade Center and other New York landmarks lit up with trans flag colors for the occasion.
Against the idea that transgenders and others on the LGBTQ+ spectrum are underrepresented on the calendar, some noted that they have 150 days of promotion on the calendar -- more than 40 percent of every year! Consider this partial list for 2024 and mourn. This is absurd -- and a complete abomination!
- Feb. 18-24: Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week
All of March: Bisexual Health Awareness Month> - March 18-22: LGBTQIA+ Health Awareness Week> - March 31: Transgender Day of Visibility
- April 6: International Asexuality Day> - April 10: International Day of Pink (opposing homophobia)> - April 12: Day of Silence> - April 26: Lesbian Visibility Day
- May 17: International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia> - May 19: Agender Pride Day> - May 22: Harvey Milk Day> - May 24: Pansexual & Panromantic Awareness Day
All of June: Pride Month> - June 28: Stonewall Day> - June 28: International LGBTQ+ Day
- July 14: International Non-Binary People's Day> - July 16: International Drag Day
- Aug. 14: Gay Uncles Day
- Sept. 16-23: Bisexual Awareness Week> - Sept. 23: Celebrate Bisexuality Day
All of October: LGBT History Month> - Oct. 8: International Lesbian Day> - Oct. 11: National Coming Out Day> - Oct. 17-24: Genderfluid Visibility Week> - Oct. 17: Spirit Day (Support for LGBTQ+ Youth)> - Oct. 19: International Pronouns Day> - Oct. 20-26: Asexual Awareness Week> - Oct. 26: Intersex Awareness Day
All of November: Trans Awareness Month> - Nov. 3: Trans Parent Day> - Nov. 8: Intersex Day of Remembrance> - Nov. 13-19: Transgender Awareness Week> - Nov. 20: Transgender Day of Remembrance
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Keywords: border lgbtq fentanyl red cows hamas
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