Posted in end time, end time. prophecy, perilous times, shooting

It’s open season on humans

Forget deer season, the moose lottery, and duck hunting. There’s a new season, and it’s humans who are now the hunted.

Shootings are increasing and their randomness, lack of motive, or trivial motives are growing more shocking daily. We have:

Professors shooting colleagues
According to a faculty member, the professor had applied for tenure, been turned down, and appealed the decision. She learned on Friday that she had been denied once again. Officials said the dead were all biology professors, G. K. Podila, the department’s chairman; Maria Ragland Davis; and Adriel D. Johnson Sr. Two other biology professors, Luis Rogelio Cruz-Vera and Joseph G. Leahy, as well as a professor’s assistant, Stephanie Monticciolo, are at Huntsville Hospital in conditions ranging from stable to critical. The shooting came just a week after a middle school student near Huntsville shot and killed a classmate.

Elementary Teachers shooting Administrators
A fourth grade teacher at Inskip Elementary School (TN) is charged Wednesday with the shootings of the principal and assistant principal at the school. Foster entered the office at Inskip Elementary School and lured the victims, Elisa Luna and Amy Brace, into the principal’s office,” the police complaint states. “(Foster) then shot victim Elisa luna multiple times at close range…and shot victim Amy Brace multiple times at close range…”

Restaurant-goers shooting patrons
Police say a man opened fire inside a Gresham (OR) restaurant, killing one person and wounding two other before killing himself.

Children shooting parents
A 12–year old Iowa boy is charged with killing his stepfather and injuring his half sister. Neighbor and good family friend, Candy Burmeister, describes the Peek family as, “salt of the earth.” She says the parents raised their children with strong morals and kindness. Police are trying to piece together what led to the shooting.

Teens shooting children
Richmond (CA) police have arrested a 17-year-old boy on suspicion of shooting a toddler riding in a car with her father. Sgt. Bisa French says the shooter did not know the girl or her father when he shot into the moving car while on foot.

Clients attacking their hairdresser
An Athens (GA) woman attacked another woman Tuesday morning because she was upset over how the victim styled her hair, Athens-Clarke police said. … The victim tried to call police, but Fleming ripped a cell phone from a rope around the victim’s neck and drove away, police said.

Paul wrote in no uncertain terms to Timothy about the state of affairs in the last days. He said they would be “perilous.” (KJV)  “For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” (2 Timothy 3:2-5)

When I read these verses I think of national peril, such as America is in now being an ever-growing economic and military target, but I also think of individual peril. It’s perilous for individuals to simply go about their daily business. It’s perilous to drive an ice cream truck, go to a restaurant, have a faculty meeting, teach in a school. It’s perilous to cut hair, to dwell in your home, to ride in a car with your baby.

Making the days even more perilous than the shootings’ penetration into daily lives are the reasons for the shootings. Being denied tenure? Not liking your haircut? Not responding quickly enough during an armed robbery? Trivial reasons, as if any reason could ever justify a shooting. Selfish and ungodly. As moral people we seek answers and reasons. Though we do not condone a shooting we can understand self-defense in extreme situations, or simply the heartbreak of true psychological madness. But in the shootings highlighted above, the reasons make the times perilous, because they are trivial and selfish, just as Paul said men would be. Worse, are the many shootings that have no motive. People simply show up somewhere and begin shooting randomly. Note that the list of shootings are not scraped together over a period of years, they all occurred in the last week. Tragically, it was easy to find examples simply by googling the search term “shooting” under the news search and thousands of results popped up.

Notice the ages of the shooters. More and more often they are teens. In one of the news stories above, a 12-year-old boy killed his step-father. Children shooting parents is simply unthinkable. Paul mentions disobedience to parents in the verses above and there is no greater disobedience to parents than killing them or their siblings.

Satan is the god of this age and surely he hates humans as much as he hates God. Attacking us through our minds is his primary way he subverts any incipient Godliness and bring to the fore the appearance of godliness as described by Paul in the verses above. Since this is only a form of godliness it is false and easily crumbles when the sinful thoughts are not taken captive. James 1:14-15 says, “Each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin.”

It is not only perilous times because of bodily danger, but perilous because of our sinful natures to begin with, and satan’s war against humanity is increasing. Failure to take captive all sinful thoughts immediately lends a person vulnerable to satan’s wiles. People with corrupt motives creep in and for the people who are outside of Christ, I cannot even imagine how difficult it is to withstand the onslaught of deception and corruption. It is open season and every human is at risk. If you have not asked Jesus to forgive your sins, do so and do not delay. If you are truly sorry for the bad things you have done, thought, or said, ask Jesus to forgive them. Make Him the Lord and Savior of your life. If you are saved, you are not immune to being hunted either. Satan hates the Godly even more than the godless, and it is incumbent upon every Christian to persevere daily in the diligence of seeking His face. Doing so brightens His light inside us, and in these perilous times, what better antidote than being the Light of Jesus shining into the eyes of those who dwell in dark places? It is a gift to be bright for Him, because the unsaved are “the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” (MAT 4:16)

Posted in end time, prophecy, snow

Does God have a sense of humor? I think so!

A friend and I were discussing global warming. Just when it looked like global warming was going to take root in governments around the world, the momentum stopped dead in its tracks. Climategate was like a two-by-four to the knees and killed its momentum. Copenhagen pushed it further down, with a foot on its neck so to speak. And now this snow. My, there’s a lot of snow. Two blizzards in one week caused Blizzard Rearranges Climate Change Announcement. And this – Global warming congressional hearing cancelled due to blizzard. And still the snow marches on. There’s rare snow down in the deep south, and a nor’east clipper to the New England states predicted for Monday. That about covers the whole US.

As a matter of fact, right now, 49 states dusted with snow; Hawaii’s the holdout
By Seth Borenstein, AP Science Writer

“— Forget red and blue — color America white. There was snow on the ground in 49 states Friday. Hawaii was the holdout. It was the United States of Snow, thanks to an unusual combination of weather patterns that dusted the U.S., including the skyscrapers of Dallas, the peach trees of Atlanta and the Florida Panhandle, where hurricanes are more common than snowflakes. More than two-thirds of the nation’s land mass had snow on the ground when the day dawned, and then it snowed ever so slightly in Florida to make it 49 states out of 50. At the same time, those weird weather forces are turning Canada’s Winter Olympics into the bring-your-own-snow games.”

“Who’s the Great White North now? “I’m calling it the upside-down winter,” said David Robinson, head of the Global Snow Lab at Rutgers University in New Jersey.”

“Snow paralyzed and fascinated the Deep South on Friday. Snowball fights broke out at Southern Mississippi University, snow delayed flights at the busy Atlanta airport, and Louisiana hardware stores ran out of snow supplies. Andalusia, Ala., shut down its streets because of snow. And yet, Portland, Maine, where snow is usually a given, had to cancel its winter festival for lack of the stuff. Weather geeks turned their eyes to Hawaii. In that tropical paradise, where a ski club strangely exists, observers were looking closely at the islands’ mountain peaks to see if they could find a trace of white to make it a rare 50-for-50 states with snow.”

“The idea of 50 states with snow is so strange that the federal office that collects weather statistics doesn’t keep track of that number and can’t say whether it has ever happened. The office can’t even say whether 49 out of 50 has ever taken place before.”

There’s more at the headline link. It’s an interesting article.

And still it comes. We have Record snow in Dallas. There’s Rare snowflakes start falling from Miss. to Fla. Rome getting heaviest snow in 25 years. Heavy snow brings travel chaos in Germany. Aw, rats, let’s just say there’s Heavy snow across the world. “From the Eastern USA, to Scotland, Scandinavia and the Alps there are some great skiing and snowboarding conditions. The only place it seems to be lacking is at one of the venues for the Olympics where a giant helicopter is flying it in.”

So, does God have a sense of humor? Oh, yeah. I think so.

(Image source, my front yard in Georgia. And it’s still coming down.)

Posted in end time, great tribulation, prophecy

The plague of beasts

By Elizabeth Prata

Gustave Dore, Vision of Death. 1865. public domain

I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth. (Revelation 6:8).

Consider those words for a moment…we are all familiar with plagues such as THE Plague, as in bubonic, Swine Flu and Dengue Fever and Malaria and all the other diseases and plagues throughout the centuries as well as biblical plagues of locusts and the ten plagues of Egypt. But one of the plagues loosed in Revelation 6 as the 4th seal is opened will be wild beasts.

Before we explore further, let’s go back to the beginning, in Genesis1:28 and Genesis 9:2. In Gen 9, God said “The fear of you and the terror of you will be on every beast of the earth and on every bird of the sky; with everything that creeps on the ground, and all the fish of the sea, into your hand they are given.” In this verse, after the flood, God is making a promise to Noah and his descendants. God grants them power over the inferior creatures for their use and benefit. Man would have dominion over them. In Gen 1:28 God gave dominion over the animals but it was in harmonic governance. By Gen 9, the change is that He will now instill a fear into the animals, and fallen man shall rule over them through their fear and dread of man. “Those creatures that are any way hurtful to us are restrained; so that tho’ now and then man may be hurt by some of them, yet they do not combine together to rise up in rebellion against man” writes Wesley.

Have you ever pondered the thought that we can ride a horse and make it do our bidding using only our heels and a bridle? Or that we can cause a bull to do our will, or an elephant to prance around on two legs? Or train a lion using a chair? Or ride Killer whales at Sea World? These are huge animals who could stomp us in a second, yet they don’t (as a rule). Why? They are restrained because of their fear and dread of us.

By the time Revelation 6:8 comes, the LORD will have taken away that fear and dread and the animals will rise up. Animals are already being abandoned in great number, and not just the small animals of dogs and cats, horrifying enough as that is, but also horses and zoo animals. We read more and more of sharks attacking in closer watersmountain lions poaching humans in the backyard suburbs, wolf attacks are increasing, even raccoons attacking daily in DE and FL.

Imagine what it will be like when the LORD removes the restraint completely and allows animals to willfully rise up and attack. Remember how Wesley interpreted it: “Those creatures that are any way hurtful to us are restrained; so that tho’ now and then man may be hurt by some of them, yet they do not combine together to rise up in rebellion against man.” In Revelation 6 they will do exactly that!

God has cursed man with the plague of wild beasts before. In Lev. 26:22 “God said ‘I will let loose among you the beasts of the field, which will bereave you of your children and destroy your cattle and reduce your number so that your roads lie deserted,” and in Ez 14:21 “For thus says the Lord GOD, “How much more when I send My four severe judgments against Jerusalem: sword, famine, wild beasts and plague to cut off man and beast from it!”

Matthew Henry commentary -“Hurtful beasts, noisome and noxious, either as poisonous or as ravenous. God can make these to pass through the land (v. 15), to increase in all parts of it, and to bereave it, not only of the tame cattle, preying upon their flocks and herds, but of their people, devouring men, women, and children, so that no man may pass through because of the beasts; none dare travel even in the high roads for fear of being pulled in pieces by lions, or other beasts of prey, as the children of Beth-el by two bears. Note, When men revolt from their allegiance to God, and rebel against him, it is just with God that the inferior creatures should rise up in arms against men.”

How horrifying that the wild beasts should hunt us, attack, and do so in great number! You, Dear reader, do not have to be among the number killed by claws and teeth. Jesus made a way. If you feel saddened and upset over your misdeeds, called ‘sins’ in the bible, then ask Jesus to forgive them. Sinners cannot attain heaven, God hates sin and always judges it. That’s what the Tribulation is about: judging Israel and punishing national and individual sin through His wrath. If you pray to Jesus to forgive your sins and do so with sincere heart, believing He and only he can forgive them because of His work on the cross, then you are saved! Saved from the plague of beasts sure to come upon the world and then a worse fate of an eternity without Jesus in heaven. It will happen soon, do not delay.

illustration source

Posted in end time, iran, nuclear, prophecy

Iran is a nuclear nation

The most important news of the day has got to be Iran’s announcement that they are now a nuclear state. I don’t know why this surprises the power-brokers, it has been widely touted that Iran would have a nuke by 2010. It’s now 2010. You do the math, lol. I wonder what Israel will do?!

I believe the bible foretells nuclear war. In Isaiah 17:1 it says “An Oracle concerning Damascus: “See, Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins.” Only nukes could obliterate a city thoroughly enough for the city to be uninhabitable and unrecognizable. Even the massive and continual German bombing of London in WWII didn’t raze the city.

The nuclear issue is hugely important. Though nukes have only been used twice since their invention (Hiroshima and Nagasaki) I believe the bible foretells their use in quantity during the Tribulation. There are many verses that could be interpreted that way, but here are a few:

In Matthew 24:29 it states “The sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky.” Joel 3:14-15 and Mark 13:24 say the same. Nuclear winter effects are similar. When Mt. Tambora erupted in 1815 it produced a volcanic winter known as “Eighteen Hundred and froze to death” (1816). Severe summer climate abnormalities destroyed crops in Northern Europe, the Northeastern United States and eastern Canada. Famine was the result. Sunsets were spectacular, brown and red snow fell all over the globe, the skies were dark and the cold persisted for two years. That was just one eruption. Imagine the effects on a globe where nukes are falling in number.

Revelation 6:15 – “Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains.” Why do they hide in caves in mountains? To shield themselves from the effects of nuclear blasts and fallout? Otherwise they would hide in homes and buildings, no? Mount Weather is the underground bunker to which the President and Congress is evacuated in the event of an emergency, such as when copters flew them to the facility on 9/11. Also, Cheyenne Mountain is another cave-like bunker facility to which the military would continue operations in case of nuclear exchanges.

Rev 6:14 “And the sky receded as a scroll…” this effect actually occurs during a nuclear blast. The continuing force of a nuclear blast wave drives everything away from its super-heated center, with winds up to 400 miles per hour. After a few seconds the winds rush back to fill the partial vacuum left from the blast.

Rev. 9:18 “A third part of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur.” Sulfur also known as brimstone, is a by-product smell of bitter fallout.

Revelation 8:7 we see that “A third of trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.” Joel 2:30 says, “I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood, and fire, and billows of smoke.”

Revelation 8:10-11 And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.

Zech 14:12 “Now this will be the plague with which the LORD will strike all the peoples who have gone to war against Jerusalem; their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongue will rot in their mouth.” John Hagee mentioned that this scenario is a perfect example of the effects of a nuclear blast on the human body.

It seems likely that nukes will be used liberally during the Tribulation…pray now to receive Jesus as savior and forgiver of your sins, and you will dine with Him at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb rather than hide in caves shivering from nuclear winter.

Prophecy note: The rise of Iran, Russia, and China in these articles below coincides with the players that the book of Revelation says will be belligerent, powerful war-mongers in the Tribulation. Iran and Russia being the leaders of the Gog-Magog war and China being the land of the Kings of the East (Rev 16:12) mounting a 200 million man army.

President Ahmadinejad declares Iran a nuclear state
Iran is now a nuclear state, President Ahmadinejad told a huge rally of supporters on the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Thursday that Iran had produced a first batch of uranium enriched to a level of 20 percent and that it was capable of achieving much higher levels of purity – up to 80 per cent.

Iran: Destroy Israel if it strikes
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told Syrian President Bashar Assad that Israel “must be resisted” and finished off “once and for all” if it launches a military operation in the Middle East, Reuters cited an Iranian report on Thursday.

China threatens to dump US Treasuries over Taiwan arms sale
Majors General Zhu Chenghu and Luo Yuan and Colonel Ke Chungqio of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army were quoted in an official Chinese publication calling for the Chinese government to retaliate against the United States economically for the recent decision to sell $6.4 billion of arms to Taiwan. China has already announced unspecified sanctions against U.S. companies that participate in the sale.

Twitter diplomacy: Envoy says Russia will ‘kick ass’ of US
Russia’s ambassador to NATO said Wednesday in a post on his Twitter feed that the proverbial Russian bear would “kick the ass” of the United States and its allies if cornered by a new US missile shield.

Nations are rising, as the bible said they would be!

Posted in end time, iran punch, prophecy

What will Iran’s ‘punch’ be?

For a little under two weeks now, Iran’s top leaders, either Khamenei or Achmadinejad, have been threatening the west with a blow and a punch on Feb. 11 that will leave us stunned. Feb. 11 is the anniversary of their revolution. Though hot air always emits from those quarters, it is unusual to have a date assigned. Though they usually posture, they rarely issue empty threats. Speculation as to what this punch may consist of was slow to begin but is now rampant along the fringes of the internet conspiracy groups.

George Ure at urbansurvival.com thinks that Iran will launch a missile from a satellite and blow an electro-magnetic pulse over America, immediately throwing us back to the stone age as all electricity and anything with a chip in it becomes immediately fried. Though that scenario sounds outlandish, the fact that America is not mentioned as a nation participating in any end time or tribulation war seems to indicate our country is incapacitated throughout. An EMP would do it. Couple that with the fact that the UK recently increased their threat level to severe, the second highest level, indicating a terrorist attack is “highly likely”. Joel Rosenberg postulated this scenario of sorts in his last book, Dead Heat, where a rogue nation lobs nukes at us from container ships anchored close to shore. So a terrorist act is not out of the question, given Rosenberg’s track record with fictional end time political thrillers that come true, the UK threat level elevation, and America’s absence from world stage in the end time/Tribulation.

Another scenario is making the rounds that I personally think is more likely. Speculation is Iran will announce they will pull out of the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty. Though opinions run the gamut that Iran is expected to announce another Shahab-3 missile launch, a series of drones they’ve built, bought a nuke from Pakistan (who is not in the NPT), or even a nuke test itself, announcing they would withdraw from the NPT does the most good for Iran and the most damage to the west. It would come on the heels of their announcement they are enriching uranium to 20%. That enrichment frenzy indicates without a doubt that their intentions with nuclear power are not peaceful. They know that the West has reached the end of their rope with Iran, and more nations are calling for harsh sanctions, even war, so the announcement they are withdrawing from the NPT would put them out of reach of the west. They could even blame the west and/or Israel for ‘forcing’ them to withdraw. Iran has spent six fruitful years developing nuclear power and ICBMs all the while keeping the West dancing to their tune, it had to end sometime. Withdrawing from the NPT is one way to keep the west dancing and free Iran to pursue what is universally acknowledged as a near end to their goal of a nuke.

Whether it’s only hot air, posturing, a let-down, or a real punch, we only have another day to see which prophecy (if any) would be fulfilled on Thursday with this threatened punch. Meanwhile, the end time is fraught with deception and attendant anxiety in attempting determining what is real and what is a lie. Angst and perplexity over the violence and ugliness happening in the world are very real results when the god of the age is running wild against all humanity. The Texas A&M newspaper says it well:

Iran’s threat elevates world anxiety
“Scholars, government officials and military officers worldwide call Iran and its nuclear operations a ticking time bomb. Iran may have hinted how much time is left before 00:00.”

Posted in end time, prophecy, psalm 83

Eerie; Psalm 83 language comes alive in today’s political rhetoric

I think the language in the Psalm 83 prophetic prayer is remarkably similar to the language Achmadinejad and Khamenei are using today!

For behold, Your enemies make an uproar, And those who hate You have exalted themselves.  They make shrewd plans against Your people, And conspire together against Your treasured ones. They have said, “Come, and let us wipe them out as a nation, That the name of Israel be remembered no more.” Psalm 83:2-5

‘Israel’s obliteration is certain’
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Sunday the destruction of Israel was assured, while pledging to “defend Palestinians due to their heartfelt beliefs.” ”Israel is going downhill toward decline and fall and God willing its obliteration is certain,” Khamenei said

And Iran conspires against its enemies…

Iran will punch West, leave them stunned
Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Monday that Iran is set to deliver a “punch” that will stun world powers during this week’s 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution. “The Iranian nation, with its unity and God’s grace, will punch the arrogance (Western powers) on the 22nd of Bahman (February 11) in a way that will leave them stunned,” Khamenei, who is also Iran’s commander-in-chief, told a gathering of air force personnel.

Posted in end time, iran, prophecy, punch

The punch heard round the world?

Iran is a huge end times player in prophecy: Persia is prophesied to surprise attack Israel in the last days in a coalition of nations that seem as though they will prevail. At the time Persia/Iran attacks, Israel is surprised because ‘I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will go to a peaceful people, who dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates’—  to take plunder and to take booty…” (Ez 38:11-12.) At the time of the propesuied attack, Israel is dwelling securely. Israel is not dwelling securely at this moment in time, but the point is, Persia/Iran is shown to be sneaky and belligerent in their hatred against Israel. They will attack.

That prophesied dastardly belligerence is on display now. On Feb. 1st, Iranian President Achmadinejad said that Iran is prepared to deliver a “telling blow” to the Western arrogant powers. He did not elaborate. Today, a new statement of the same kind: this time from the Muslim Clerical Supreme leader, who said “Iran anniversary ‘punch’ will stun West: Khamenei” “Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Monday that Iran is set to deliver a “punch” that will stun world powers during this week’s 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution.” Khameni did not elaborate. “The Iranian nation, with its unity and God’s grace, will punch the arrogance (Western powers) on the 22nd of Bahman (February 11) in a way that will leave them stunned,” Khamenei, who is also Iran’s commander-in-chief, told a gathering of air force personnel.”

This threat comes at the time when Iran again rejected Western pressure to cooperate in the nuclear issue and instead defiantly said they would ramp up their uranium enrichment to 20%. And for the first time in many decades the heated exchanges between Lebanon/Syria and Israel were pointed and nearing a flashpoint. Todd Strandberg at Rapture Ready said, “I’ve been following prophecy for thirty years, and I’ve never seen a time when so many hostile statements have been made between Israel and Syria.”

Things are very tense. With the prophecies of the Isaiah 17:1 statement of Damascus being destroyed and the Psalm 83 war looming, praying for peace right about now seems like a good idea…

Posted in end time, prophecy

"He told me all that I ever did"

The “Woman at the well” passage always blesses me when I read it. The verses in John 4:1-42 are rich with lessons of all kinds. Dwelling on each one could be enough sermons for a year. However, today the phrase the woman uttered “He told me everything I ever did” stays with me and it is the focus of this essay.

The woman went to the well at midday, instead of early morning and late afternoon with all the other women, likely because she was a known sinner and shunned from respectable company. When Christ asked her for water, she said as much, “the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.” (verse 9). She had had five husbands and the man she was living with then was not her husband. Six husbands/lovers in even a mid-sized city is a lot of men.

Thus began their conversation that rings through the ages. During the conversation, the woman’s spiritual awareness grew and grew, until she realized just Who it is that she was talking to, which Jesus confirmed. The woman marveled, “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?”(verse 28)

“He told me all that I ever did.”

If that thought doesn’t strike fear in the believer’s heart, I don’t know what will. Though Christ’s death on the cross enabled God to obtain for us the legal discharge from the handwriting of ordinances, which was against us, (Col 2:14) believers must still present themselves to Jesus and account for what they have done for Him subsequent to accepting His gift of grace. This ceremony is known as the Bema Seat.

Romans 14:10-12:
“For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written:
“As I live, says the LORD, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God.” So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.”

“He told me all that I ever did.”

Second Corinthians 5:10 tells us, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”

“He told me all that I ever did.”

We are not to stand before Jesus at the Bema seat for judgment nor condemnation. “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. ” (Romans 8:1). But we will stand and answer for everything we ever did, so that Jesus may know how many rewards to bestow. It will be visible and it will be one-one-one. Just as He spoke with the woman at the well, and confronted her sin directly, so He will do with us.

“He told me all that I ever did.”

“According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” (I Corinthians 3:10-15)

The more works that are burned as hay or stubble, the fewer rewards we will receive. Not condemnation, but greater or lesser rewards. Still, I have no doubt that the feeling will be excruciating. At the moment Jesus stands before each of us individually and confronts everything we ever did (after the pardon of forgiveness was given), I know that no matter how much I think I have done for Him, I will want to have done more. I will want to have done better. I will be ashamed that so much would be burned as hay or stubble.

“He told me all that I ever did.”

Are you ready to have a one-on-one conversation with Jesus where He will not only tell you everything you ever did but burn some of it before your eyes as worthless? Are you ready for Him to lift up the scales containing your good work for Him of gold and silver? If you have unconfessed sins in your life, confess them now. If you think your work is only hay or stubble, ask the Spirit to help you change that work to gold and silver.

Our work does not save us, but the work we do for His glory after being saved will be evaluated, scrutinized, weighed and either burned or rewarded. Are you ready to have Him tell you everything you ever did?

Posted in damascus, end time, israel, prophecy

Is war about to break out in the Middle East?

Psalm 90:10 says the average man’s life span is 70 years. I recall the verse in Matt. 24:34 that said the generation of people being born when the first End Times signs appeared would still be alive at the 2nd coming. It is my belief that the first major end times sign was Israel’s birth in 1948 and that is the generation of which Jesus spoke. The average man born on that day would live on average to 2018 according to Psalm 90. Subtract 7 years from that date for the seven-year tribulation to take place and we wind up with 2011. It is my personal belief that based on the above verses and also the rapidity with which the signs are birthing, that the rapture could and likely will take place between the next moment and 2011’s end.

FYI, the “no one knows the day nor the hour ” verse from Mt 24:36-37 is for the Second Coming, not the rapture. I take my stance from this reasoning here. However the rapture is a number driven event, based on a certain number the LORD has in mind to be saved (Romans 11:25). We don’t know that number, but we were given signs to watch for, talk about, witness thereof, and look up expectantly for.

If the by-2011 rapture expectancy is correct then that means in rapid succession the Isaiah 17:1 Damascus prophecy will be fulfilled, and the Psalm 83 War will take place, then Gog-Magog. It is my firm belief we will not be around after Gog-Magog because the LORD uses that event to bring Israel back into covenant with Him and the church is not in the picture when the old covenant starts ticking again.

WHO? Psalm 83“With one mind they plot together; they form an alliance against you- the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, of Moab and the Hagrites, Gebal, Ammon and Amalek, Philistia, with the people of Tyre. Even Assyria has joined them to lend strength to the descendants of Lot.” Edom, Moab and Ammon are Jordan today. Syria. Gebal, and Tyre are in modern Lebanon today. The Amalekites lived in the desert just south of Israel. Saudi Arabia. Philistia settled in Gaza on Israel’s southern border. The descendants of Lot is one way of saying Moab and Ammon, who were the sons of an incestuous union between Lot and his two daughters. The listed countries are all of Israel’s next-door neighbors. Since Syria does not participate in the Gog-Magog alliance, speculation is that the Psalm 83 war combined with Isaiah 17:1 “Damascus destroyed” means that Syria may be out of commission after that.

WHO? Gog-Magog: Russia, Iran, Turkey, Armenia, Libya, Ethiopia, Sudan and ‘many others with you’.

You see the lists of nations participating in Psalm 83 and Gog-Magog do not overlap. I believe that one or all of the conflicts prophesied to come, will come in 2010-early 2011, which may be bearing this out as we speak.

In the last few days belligerent war rhetoric has increased its heat across Israel and Syria’s borders. More than that, materiel is being moved. MidEast rhetoric is always heated but not usually this blunt. In light of the times, and in light of the language of Isaiah 17:1 and Psalm 83‘s fulfillment, read the following and see if the Spirit doesn’t speak to the imminence of the prophecies’  fulfillment:

Iran will deliver telling blow to global powers on Feb. 11. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the nation will deliver a harsh blow to the “global arrogance” on this year’s anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.

Iran stokes nuclear fire
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad yesterday ordered Iran’s atomic chief to begin higher uranium enrichment, raising the stakes in a dispute with the West days after seeming to accept a U.N.-drafted nuclear deal.

An atomic warhead for Teheran
[Note: this was in German from the Suddeutsche newspaper, translated through babelfish] “Iran developed an atomic warhead for its medium-range missiles according to a newspaper report. According to specialists it could function.” Summarizing the German news article, “Quoting a new IAEA summary, the Suddeutsche said the scientist had previously worked in a Soviet nuclear weapons laboratory on advanced warheads. It said both western intelligence services and diplomats had confirmed the connection. The newspaper added that Iran was trying to make a nuclear weapon small enough to fit into one of its Shahab 3 medium-range missiles and was designing a so-called two-point implosion system, which requires only two simultaneously exploding detonators to trigger a nuclear blast.”

Israeli ships pass though Suez Canal – rumored to be heading to Persian Gulf.
Two Israeli missile boats pass through Egypt’s Suez Canal en route to Red Sea, according to Arab media reports; Cairo adopts strict security measures to ensure ships’ safety. Egyptian sources estimate vessels headed to Persian Gulf

Israel and Syria Trade War Threats
Longtime enemies Israel and Syria have indulged in some fiery exchanges of rhetoric in the last 24 hours, leading some in the Middle East to fear a new armed conflict may be looming.

Egypt opposes the escalating Israeli harsh tone against any Arab country and its allusions to war

Foreign Minister, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, said that the exchange of severe statements recently regarding possible war in the region is a matter of concern and should be stopped. Aboul Gheit outlined, commenting on Israeli statements regarding war against Syria, that Egypt opposes the escalating Israeli harsh tone against any Arab country and its allusions to war, not only as a matter of principle, but also in light of the major negative repercussions aiming at increased tension in the region;

Syria supplies advanced surface to air missiles to Hizbollah front 
Israeli threatens Syria if they’re used. In an interview, the senior U.S. official warned that if Syria supplies Hezbollah with this type of missile, Israel will bomb Damascus and a war will likely ensue.

Watch Israel, God’s number one end times sign!

Posted in end time, prophecy, secret banker meeting

Secret summit of top bankers

“THE world’s top central bankers began arriving in Australia yesterday as renewed fears about the strength of the global economic recovery gripped world share markets. Representatives from 24 central banks and monetary authorities including the US Federal Reserve and European Central Bank landed in Sydney to meet tomorrow at a secret location, the Herald Sun reports.” [photo is of a past meeting]

“Organised by the Bank for International Settlements last year, the two-day talks are shrouded in secrecy with high-level security believed to have been invoked by law enforcement agencies. Speculation that the chairman of the US Federal Reserve, Dr Ben Bernanke, would make an appearance could not be confirmed last night. The event will be dominated by Asian delegations and is expected to include governors of the Peoples Bank of China, the Bank of Japan and the Reserve Bank of India.”

The world’s top bankers began arriving in Australia as fears of the failure of the global economic recovery set in. Reps from 24 central banks landed in Sydney to meet secretly tomorrow. Will what they propose, work? Will their banking overhaul save the day? No. Not until the Antichrist proposes a 1-world economy and 1-world currency, that is.

It hardly seems like any time at all has passed since October of 2008 when the world’s economy crashed. This past year has been one of fruitless efforts on the part of man to rectify the horrible decline in currency values, economies, standards of living, and reputation for many of the Western nations caught in the downward spiral.

Just as interesting, this past year has been a good one for the Indonesian, Chinese, and Indian economies, who have seen their currency values, economies, standards of living, and reputation rise in proportion to the US, UK, France, and other nations have fallen.

Though bankers are worried, and they meet, and they tinker with economic strategies, the economy will crash. There will be such acceptance of a one world economy and a one world currency by the time the antichrist proposes it that it will be created in a flash. There will always be an economy, we know this from verses in Revelation that state that people will be buying bread (it’ll cost a day’s wages though – Rev 6:6). And there will be merchants selling luxuries, because when the Babylon is destroyed the merchants lament. (Rev 18:11-13). “And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise anymore: merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones and pearls, fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet, every kind of citron wood, every kind of object of ivory, every kind of object of most precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble; and cinnamon and incense, fragrant oil and frankincense, wine and oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and bodies and souls of men.”

But along with the few who are able to buy and sell the world’s richest luxuries, there will also be famine and war and death and disasters. However, there will always be an economy. The difference is, this economy, if you noticed in the list of items bought and sold, include bodies and souls of men.

The fact is that these bankers will continue to do everything wrong because their focus is entirely in the thing that will lose them their soul. Their focus is on the money itself. They will tinker and meet and study charts and lie and hold press conferences, but they fail to do the one and only thing that would help: appeal to God. Engaging in prayer and supplication for their venal ways, setting aside the idol of Mammon. All the gold and silver is God’s, He said so. “‘The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine,’ declares the LORD of hosts.” (Haggai 2:8) But instead they sell their souls and try to prop up an economy of luxuries that soon, no one will either be able to afford, or even want in their possession.

‘They will fling their silver into the streets and their gold will become an abhorrent thing; their silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD. They cannot satisfy their appetite nor can they fill their stomachs, for their iniquity has become an occasion of stumbling.’ (Ezekiel 7:19)

The article says “The gathering also comes at an important time for the BIS as it initiates an overhaul of the global banking system…” and overhaul it will undergo. But the price is men’s souls. Christian, pray! Do not store up treasures on earth where moths and rust destroy, but in heaven, where it will last forever (Mt 6:19). Are you seeing the despicableness of the monetary system and an economy founded on personal gain without thought of God? Though money can be good if used for Godly purposes, the more bankers cling to it, the harder they will throw it into the street when the time comes. And the time is shortly arriving….