IRVINE, Calif. – Pastor Greg Laurie of Harvest Christian Fellowship church took the opportunity during his Sunday sermon series on the book of Revelation to talk about the current events in the Middle East as it relates to Bible prophecy. He also pointed to the controversy during the Democratic National Convention over the party's vote on including Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in its platform as highly ironic.

"It seems like every time you turn around there's another outbreak of violence or at least a threat of one," Laurie said during last Sunday's sermon shared at his two Southern California churches in Riverside and Orange County. "Iranian president Ahmadinejad has repeatedly called for the destruction of both the nation Israel and the United States and recently stood before the members of the U.N. speaking of an Islamic messiah and a new world order that is coming. Haven't I heard this before?"

Laurie then described events in the Middle East that were perhaps misinterpreted by some people at first. more >>

In a Sunday interview, CNN's Fareed Zakaria asked Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad about his desire to "wipe Israel off the map" and his support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Ahmadinejad said that Iran is loved around the world and thanked New Yorkers for their kindness while he was in the city to attend the annual meeting of the United Nation's General Assembly.

Zakaria pointed out on "GPS" that 20,000 Syrians have been killed by the Assad regime, 250,000 have fled the country and 1.2 million Syrians have been displaced by the civil war. Experts believe that the Syrian regime is being supported by Iran.

When asked if he would call for Assad to resign, Ahmadinejad answered, through a translator, that such a request would not solve the problem. more >>

Obama spiritual adviser Jim Wallis of Sojourners has condemned a pro-Israel ad in the New York subway system-describing jihadists as "savages" -- an ad that has divided NYC and resulted in a high profile arrest of a Muslim activist who spray painted graffiti on one of the ads.

The Rev. Jim Wallis, president and CEO of Sojourners said of the campaign, "When Jesus said, 'Love your neighbor as yourself' he didn't add stipulations. He didn't offer any extra addendums or added qualifiers. Christians around the world need to put that into action as often as we can, especially where we see hatred like this."

"Everyone – regardless of race, religion, or creed – deserves to feel welcomed and safe when riding public transit in America," said Wallis. "With tensions across the world at an all-time high, the Christian community is doing what it can to promote non-violence in their own backyard, and this addition of subway ads to an ongoing billboard campaign only reinforces the Christian call to peace." more >>

In his speech at the United Nations General Assembly Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed a unique prop in his talk about Iran's nuclear program that has received mixed reviews: a chart featuring a drawing of a bomb.

Netanyahu used his chart to describe the threat of a nuclear Iran, a country which has previously threatened to fire nuclear missiles at Israel and questioned its Middle East neighbor's existence.

Using the chart, Netanyahu explained that Iran is currently in its second stage of nuclear weapon creation. When that stage is complete, Iran will have completed 90 percent of the processes required to have enough enriched uranium for a nuclear weapon. more >>

Jewish and Muslims groups are denouncing anti-Jihad advertisements recently placed in the New York City subway system, arguing that the advertisements imply that Israel is anti-Islamic, and also promote a sentiment of Islamophobia in the United States.

"The challenge for us now is to raise our voices to say that these ads don't represent and don't reflect the mainstream American Jewish community," Mark Pelavin, senior adviser at the Union for Reform Judaism and associate director of the Religious Action Center, told The Jewsih Daily Forward.

The controversial advertisements were recently posted in 10 subway stations in NYC. The advertisements read: "In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel. Defeat Jihad." more >>

Republican Mitt Romney addressed a crowd of business leaders and global policy experts Tuesday at former President Bill Clinton's Global Initiative in New York. His message to those gathered and the world was simple: Americans must "never apologize" for America's role as a world leader.

Although he never mentioned President Obama by name, Romney made a strong case that his administration would take a more proactive role in the Middle East and that America does not owe the world an apology in doing so.

"We somehow feel we're at the mercy of events rather than shaping events," said Romney. "I will never apologize for America. I believe that America has been one of the greatest forces for good the world has ever known." more >>