Hark the Harold Angels Sing

You Shall Call Him Jesus

Mary, a virgin conceived a Child

By the power of the Holy Spirit

Joseph a righteous and compassionate man

Decided to end their betrothal privately

Then an angel of the Lord appeared 

Commanded Joseph to fear not

Take Mary as your wife

That which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit

She shall bring forth a Son, you shall call Him Jesus 

For He shall save His people from their sins

In this, the Lord fulfilled the prophesy of old

Isaiah 7:14

A virgin shall conceive a child, and bear a Son

His name shall be called Immanuel, God with us

Then Joseph awaken

Did as the Lord commanded 

He took Mary as his wife and did not know her

Until after the birth of her firstborn 

The virgin born Son, conceived of the Holy Spirit

His name is Jesus for He shall save His people from their sin

By Susan Wachtel

December 21, 2011

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.  19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.  20 But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.  21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.” 


22 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying:  23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.” 


24 Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife,  25 and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son.   And he called His name JESUS. - Matthew 1:18-25

PM Netanyahu's Christmas Greetings

The God Margin

It’s time to step out
Face impossible circumstance
Dare to be out numbered 450 to 1
Stand and see what the LORD will do
When the trumpet blows
Enemies will flee and victory is certain
In the God margin

by Susan Wachtel
December 11, 2011

So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outpost of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just as they had posted the watch; and they blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers that were in their hands.  Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers—they held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands for blowing—and they cried, “The sword of the LORD and of Gideon!”   And every man stood in his place all around the camp; and the whole army ran and cried out and fled.   When the three hundred blew the trumpets, the LORD set every man’s sword against his companion throughout the whole camp; and the army fled to Beth Acacia, toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel Meholah, by Tabbath. –Judges 7:19-22

Five Minute Friday: Color This Week Over

Color this week over, I’m glad it’s done.  It was a hard week, a challenging week in many ways: physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.  It left me feeling blue.  I did some wrestling with God this week in prayer.  There were tears shed.  I wondered if my prayers did any good.  It seems I pray and pray and pray, but it comes to naught.  Right about then God does a big work in the life of someone I’ve been praying for.  It kind of feels like a poke in the chest and God saying, “See I hear your prayers and I do answer them, but in My time frame and according to My plan.” 

After struggling with prayer today, I realized that it was the enemy trying to discourage me.  When I got a hold of that…I prayed those faithful prayers, that Lord willing He will answer.  Especially the prayers for the salvation of my family and friends, Lord willing.


This post is being linked to 5-Minute Friday, where you simply write for 5 minutes without worrying if it's right or not.  

Daughter of the King

My precious one
You are a daughter of the King
Too often you forget Whose you are

I bought and paid for you
With the precious blood of My Son
Adopted you as one of My own

When you go out into the world
Remember you are My ambassador
To a lost and dying world.

Go forth in My strength, not your own
Sow My peace where there is discord
Show My lavish grace and mercy to all, just as I did to you

When you feel overwhelmed
Remember you can do all things
Through Christ who strengthens you

I never meant for you to do this alone
That’s why I gave you a guarantee
The Holy Spirit of promise Who resides within you

Wash and nourish your soul each day
Through the reading of My word
Stay in constant communication with Me through prayer

Remember dear one
You are a daughter of the King of kings
A daughter of grace


Susan Wachtel
December 3, 2011


Dedicated to the sons and daughters of our heavenly Father who sometimes forget Whose they are. 

What’s a devil to do?

Order, order...this meeting is now in session
The agenda: Getting the focus off of Christ

Their God calls them
To be a light on a hill, shinning in the darkness

Their Savior desires that all will know
They are Christians by their love

What’s a devil to do
To get the focus off of Christ?

Let’s use their natural sinful tendencies
Put the focus on themselves

Unforgiveness, you sow seeds of hurt
Bitterness, you come alongside and nurse a grudge

Before long anger and resentment
Will be able to slip in unnoticed

Gossip, your assignment is to loosen tongues
May the sparks of slander spread to all who have an ear to hear

Cause them to forget that their Savior died
And has forgiven the very one they won’t forgive

Their prayers will be rendered ineffective
When they are distracted by their feelings, instead of focused God

My fellow demons, may the saint’s love for God
And for the brethren be rendered impotent

Sow the seeds of discord
That we may soon reap the fruit of division


by Susan Wachtel
November 19, 2011


For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be.  I fear that there may be discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder. – 1 Corinthians 12:20

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. – Colossians 3:12-14

At the Foot of the Cross

It’s time to come
Lay your burdens down
At the foot of the cross

Repent
Receive forgiveness for your sins
At the foot of the cross

Be cleansed
By the precious blood of the Lamb
At the foot of the cross

Old man sin has gone
You’ve become a new creation in Christ
At the foot of the cross

Without Christ you can do nothing
With God all things are possible
At the foot of the cross


by Susan Bunts Wachtel
November 12, 2011

Michael…this is my prayer for you.

The Tehran Initiative. . .WOW!!!

Author Joel Rosenberg is a master of intrigue and suspense and has another winner with his latest novel, The Tehran Initiative.  Right from the start this book draws you in and you won’t want to put it down.

A bold assassination plan is launched in the opening chapters of The Tehran Initiative.  CIA Agent David Shirazi is a dutiful son is standing by his mother’s sickbed when duty calls.  The President of the United States, the Prime Minister of Israel and the President of Egypt are attacked in New York City.  Within hours, David is headed back to Iran to see if he can find out who was responsible for this deadly terrorist attack on American soil.  Can war be averted as the Twelfth Imam continues to persuade Islamic countries to join his Caliphate?  Should nuclear weapons be entrusted to the self-proclaimed Islamic messiah who has genocidal plans against Israel?  Will the United States stand behind their ally and the only democratic government in the Middle East?  Will America and the world wake up before it’s too late?  Will they?  Well, you’ll need to read the book to find out!

Joel is an excellent writer, skillfully weaving current Middle East events with Christian biblical prophecy and Islamic eschatology.  There were a couple of times when current news events closely resembled scenes in the book.  (That was kind of eerie.)  Joel does a good job in developing the characters and giving you an understanding of who they are and what motivates them.  

I enthusiastically recommend this book, both for the Joel Rosenberg fans and the person who hasn’t yet read one of his novels.  This book stands well on its own or as an exciting and welcomed addition in the continuing series by Joel Rosenberg.

FTC Disclosure: I received The Tehran Initiative for free as part of the Tyndale Publisher book blogger program. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

watch on tyndale.com

 An interview with Joel C. Rosenberg

author of The Tehran Initiative

1) This is the second book with CIA operative David Shirazi. Where does the story pick up from your previous bestseller The Twelfth Imam?

A: The Tehran Initiative begins about sixty seconds after The Twelfth Imam leaves off. I’ve tried to create a near seamless connection between the two. And there’s another book coming, The Damascus Countdown.

2) You started writing The Tehran Initiative when the Arab Spring began earlier this year. Did events impact your writing or the storyline?

A: Actually, I was well into writing The Tehran Initiative when the “Arab Spring” began and it was a little eerie because the novel opens with the assassination of the President Egypt and Egypt descending into chaos after the leader’s fall. Fortunately, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak wasn’t killed, but he certainly fell quickly and somewhat unexpectedly and Egypt is still reeling from the aftermath. The novel really focuses a great deal on the intense desire amongst many Muslims in the Middle East and North Africa to build a global Islamic empire, or a “caliphate.” And that’s certainly a growing theme among the Islamists in the region this year.

Perhaps what struck me most curious since the publication of The Twelfth Imam and while I was researching and writing The Tehran Initiative is that the so-called Supreme Leader of Iran, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has began speaking more publicly about the coming of the Twelfth Imam. He used to be silent, or nearly so, on this subject. He let President Ahmadinejad do all the public talking about Shia End Times theology. But Khamenei has become more bold over the past year or so. He has told people that he has met personally with the Twelfth Imam, though we don’t know what he meant. Did he meet with a flesh and blood person? Did he see a dream? Or a vision? We don’t know. But Khamenei has also asserted that he is the personal representative on earth of the Twelfth Imam, as well as the so-called Prophet Muhammad. These developments – along with his support for Iran’s aggressive nuclear development program – suggest Khamenei senses the time is very short before some claiming to be the Twelfth Imam emerges publicly. In part, that’s why the Iranian government released the pseudo-documentary film in early 2011 called, “The Coming Is Near,” about all the geopolitical signs that they believe are indicators that the Mahdi’s arrival is increasingly close at hand. Whether it will really happen or not remains to be seen. But the Iranian leadership is certainly convinced. Most of them, anyway. And, of course, the Bible tells us in Matthew chapter twenty-four to expect false prophets and false messiahs in the last days. So we can’t rule out the possibility that we’ll actually as false messiah emerge from the Shia world.

3) You’ve earned a reputation of writing stories that seemed ripped from tomorrow’s headlines. What is going on in The Tehran Initiative that we can see unfolding in the news?

A: I think the biggest parallel between The Tehran Initiative and current events is the growing sense amongst Shia Muslim leaders – particularly in Iran – that the Twelfth Imam is coming any moment, coupled with Iran’s feverish efforts to build nuclear weapons, and the Israelis’ growing isolation in the world and feeling that they may have to hit Iran all by themselves.

Did you see Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s apocalyptic address at the U.N. in September, or read the full text? You should. It’s instructive. Ahmadinejad is not a world leader worthy of the world stage. He is the evil leader of an Iranian death cult. A recent U.N. report indicates he is making progress in building nuclear weapons. He is calling for the arrival of the Twelfth Imam and wiping Israel “off the map.” He aspires to be a mass murderer beyond the scale of Adolf Hitler. He deserves to be in prison, or an insane asylum. His U.N. speech was further proof, if more was needed.

Like Hitler’s speeches in Germany in the 1920s and 1930s, Ahmadinejad isn’t hiding what he believes. He’s pretty clear. He denied the Holocaust. He blasted the U.S. for bringing Osama Bin Laden to justice. He blamed the terrorist attacks 9/11 on the U.S. government. He insisted that his so-called messiah known as “Imam al-Mahdi” or the Twelfth Imam is coming soon. He insisted Jesus Christ will come with the Mahdi to take over the world. He called for a one-world government when he called for “the shared and collective management of the world.”

Consider these excerpts: “This movement is certainly on its rightful path of creation, ensuring a promising future for humanity. A future that will be built when humanity initiates to trend the path of the divine prophets and the righteous under the leadership of Imam al-Mahdi, the Ultimate Savior of mankind and the inheritor to all divine messengers and leaders and to the pure generation of our great Prophet. The creation of a supreme and ideal society with the arrival of a perfect human being who is a true and sincere lover of all human beings, is the guaranteed promise of Allah. He will come alongside with Jesus Christ to lead the freedom and justice lovers to eradicate tyranny and discrimination, and promote knowledge, peace, justice freedom and love across the world. He will present to every single individual all the beauties of the world and all good things which bring happiness for humankind.”

Though most world leaders do not appear to understand what Ahmadinejad is really saying, students of Shia Islamic eschatology or End Times theology do. The Iranian leader believes the end of the world as we have known it is increasingly close at hand. He believes the time for establishing an Islamic caliphate or global government ruled by the Mahdi is rapidly approaching. What’s more, he believes that the way to hasten the coming of the Twelfth Imam is to acquire nuclear weapons and use them to annihilate the United States, which he calls the “Great Satan” and Israel, which he calls the “Little Satan.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu understands what Ahmadinejad means. So do some of his top military advisors. That’s why they believe Iran is in the eye of a gathering storm in the Middle East, and that the chance of a major war is growing.

Iran has not abandoned its nuclear program. The opposite is true; it continues full steam ahead,” warned Israeli Defense Forces Home Front Command Chief Major General Eyal Eisenberg in a speech earlier this month. Also noting recent uprisings in the Arab world and growing tensions with Turkey, Eisenberg said, “This leads us to the conclusion that…the likelihood of an all-out war is increasingly growing.”

To me, all this feels ripped from the pages of The Tehran Initiative. Unfortunately, it’s all true.

4) Readers seem to get very attached to your characters. What goes into creating the characters in your novels?

A: It’s the Colonel’s secret recipe of seven herbs and spices. I could tell you, but then I’d have to….well, never mind….no comment to that one.

5) What experiences in your real life do you draw from to piece together these novels that incorporate geo-politics, espionage, romance, and Bible prophecy?

A: Someone once told me, “Write where you live in your head.” For some reason, that advice resonated with me and stuck. I’m fascinated with politics, prophecy and the Middle East. Living in Washington, D.C. and working in and around the political world for the past two decades has certainly helped provide context for me to write political thrillers. I think traveling extensively throughout the Middle East and North Africa has been helpful, too. Somehow, it’s all worked together in a way some people find as interesting as I do.

6) You often incorporate Old Testament prophecy in your books. What scriptures do you draw from for this book and why?

A: There’s no question that I am absolutely intrigued by Bible prophecy, and I like to start with an End Times prophecy – or a group of last days prophecies – and ask, “What if these were to happen in my lifetime? What would it look like? What would it feel like? How might such prophecies realistically be set into motion, and what might be the implications of their fulfillment?” That’s how I approach writing these books. But I don’t think of it like writing a fantasy novel or science fiction. I’m genuinely trying to imagine how it could really play out? I’m not saying these prophecies will necessarily come to pass the way I envision them, but they are interest to war game and see what happens. And given what’s happening in the real world today, I think readers are as curious as I am, and somehow my plots don’t feel that far-fetched.

7) You’ve been successful with your non-fiction books Epicenter and Inside the Revolution and you have a large following reading your analysis of Middle East events on your blog and e-newsletter “Flash Traffic.” Why do you continue to choose writing novels about the Middle East?

A: What could be more interesting? Presidents and presidential candidates constantly focus on the Middle East. Prime Ministers do. Kings do. Generals do. The media does. The economists do. The fact is, the eyes of the nations are riveted on Israel and her neighbors, the epicenter of the momentous events that are shaking our world and shaping our future. The stakes are very high. There is lots of uncertainty. It’s mysterious and dangerous and complex – it has all the elements of riveting political thrillers. And the Bible says the Middle East will become even more dramatic until the very return of Jesus Christ. Why write about anything else?

Yet Will I Praise Him

After a long exhausting day that left me spent, on my drive home I put in a worship CD from the Getty’s “In Christ Alone”.  Worship music, hymns and praise have a way of healing the soul.  For this Lord…I give you thanks and praise. 

Praise the LORD with the harp;
Make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings.

Sing to Him a new song;
Play skillfully with a shout of joy.

For the word of the LORD is right,
And all His work is done in truth.

Psalm 33:2-4

18 Inches

He says he believes

Jesus Christ is Lord

Son of God, Son of man

Yet that belief hasn’t traveled

Or made its way

18 inches into his heart

There is no desire to know God more

No hunger read His word

Or commune with God through prayer

Obedience is lacking

Holiness is not increasing

The Holy Spirit doesn’t reside within

He continues on in his sin, just like before

No conscience to bother him

Or bring about repentance

He says believes Christ is Lord

His belief hasn’t yet traveled

18 inches into his heart

Susan Bunts Wachtel

October 12, 2011

But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.  You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!   But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? – James 2:18-20