Month: June 2012

Posted in heaven, jesus

Your new name!

Posted on by elizabethprata

Here is a prophecy to look forward to!

Believers, if you have been faithful and your persevering walk is evidence of that faith, you will be given a pass into eternal glory upon which the Lord of Hosts, the Ancient of Days, the Holy-Holy-Holy Lord has written upon it Himself, personally for just YOU!

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.’’ (Revelation 2:17)

“But there’s an interesting little historical note, when a victor won in the games, whatever great games were being held, it was not uncommon for the victor to be given as part of his prize a white stone. And the white stone was his admission pass into the festival that was held following the games for all the victors. Could it be that the overcomer will receive the ticket to the eternal victory in heaven?”

Commentary on that verse:
“And then He says, “And a new name written on the stone,” and I read where they would do that. They would give the victor, like a trophy, a stone with his name and he alone could use it as his pass. “A new name written on the stone which no one knows, but he who receives it.” I can’t tell you how many people have asked me…what is that name? A lady will come to me any time I preach on the book of Revelation and say, “What is the name that no man knows?” Folks, I don’t know what the name is. If I knew what the name was then this verse couldn’t say what it says, it would have to say, “And no one knows except John MacArthur.” The only one who knows what it says is the person who receives it, that’s how personal it is. What it is to me is some kind of personal message from Christ to the one He loves which is given as an admission pass into eternal glory. I’ll know mine and you’ll know yours and we’ll know the Lord wrote them for each of us and for none of the others of us.” (source)

WOOP! It is huge to think of the precious Savior not only saving me, not only guiding and protecting me, not only providing for me, but when He brings me to glory (amazing!) He gives me a personal message just for me, out of the millions thronging there!

Friend, if you have ever been picked last, if you have ever had unwanted divorce thrust upon you, if you have ever been fired from a job, marginalized at home, or left in any feeling invisible and unwanted, THIS should pick you up. A secret message/name is waiting for you, just for you, with the Savior’s love and care personally imprinting it and gracefully extending it to you in heaven. What a day that will be!!!!!!!

Posted in demonic invasion, leroy ny, mass hysteria, tourette's

Leroy NY incident: diagnosis is in, it’s ‘mass hysteria’

Posted on by elizabethprata

On January of this year, I posted an essay which reported that students at a western NY high school in LeRoy NY had come down with…something. At that time, doctors, school officials, and parents were not sure what they were dealing with. A bunch of girls who attend the school suddenly started showing symptoms of Tourette’s Syndrome. They began twitching, having tics, involuntary movements, and for some, their schooling was impacted. They had to drop out of sports teams or drop out of school entirely.

Then a teacher at the school came down with it, and several other people, including a couple of boys. At that point it made national news. The school had conducted tests to determine if their location was a cause. The famed environmental lawyer Eron Brokovich came on the scene to determine if there was an environmental cause. Doctors were consulted. Everyone came up with empty hands.

One doctor dared to state that it was probably a condition known as “mass hysteria” but that diagnosis was resisted. They decided to simply call it Tourette’s. At that point I got interested. Mass Hysteria is a real diagnosis, and is one that is at root of another famed incident: the Salem Witch Trials.

Here are the two previous essays I posted on the Leroy NY mass hysteria incident.

January 20, 2012: “Outbreak of mass hysteria (or demon infestation) in Leroy NY“
January 28, 2012: “Update on LeRoy NY Tourette’s outbreak”

There is new news of the incident. They found no toxins anywhere, the girls were not on drugs, vaccines were ruled out, Tourette’s doesn’t have sudden onset (they finally admitted) and eventually a diagnosis of mass hysteria was declared unequivocally this week:

“Mass Hysteria Confirmed in NY School“
“A bizarre illness affecting nearly 20 students at a Western New York Junior-Senior High school now has an official diagnosis: mass hysteria.The students, almost all of them girls, and mostly friends, began experiencing involuntary jerks and tics. Sometimes their limbs, neck or face would suddenly spasm; other times they would twitch, grunt, or shout. It was strange and troubling behavior, made all the more scary because it had no clear cause.”

“Mass psychogenic disorder is a rare — but not unheard of — phenomenon. The disorder is usually characterized by the mysterious spread of a variety of symptoms without a discernible cause. It frequently occurs in isolated communities. Teenagers and girls are also frequent victims. Collective hysteria can spread when a fear exists of exposure to a disease, combined with a contained, stressful environment.”

This is very interesting to me because as I mentioned in the two essays I linked to above, the Salem Witch Trials in the late 1600s began in exactly this same way. Several teenage girls began manifesting symptoms remarkably like the girls in NY, and like wildfire, the ‘disease’ spread from house to house. The reasons for the hangings that resulted has multiple and complex reasons- cultural, religious, demonic, and societal. There was a feud going on between the merchants and the farmers. A growing town always fights over its direction (to develop or not to develop?) when they hit an important crossroads in its identity. The girls admitted to experimenting with voodoo with Tituba, their South American Indian maid who had been a slave in Barbados. Tituba had also made a witchcake containing dog urine and rye, which is fed to a dog in hopes of determining the person afflicting the sick. 

Boredom, pride, and covetousness, and gossip can equally be said to blame for the Salem incident’s catalyst. And satan is behind all of those, not to mention the localized practices of voodoo, casting bones, and fortune telling some of the girls and Tituba admitted to!

As the year of the Witch Trials crescendoed and then  ended with a whimper, the aftermath included church-wide repentance, and in particular, “On August 25, 1706, Ann Putnam Jr., one of the most active accusers, joined the Salem Village church, she publicly asked forgiveness. She claimed that she had not acted out of malice, but was being deluded by Satan into denouncing innocent people…” (source)

Any time there is unexplained mass illness it needs to be looked at carefully by the officials whose duty it is to serve and protect the vulnerable in our society. However in this day and age, demonic influence is rarely discussed as a possible root cause of the problem. It was all right for the “backward Puritcanical bible thumpers” to blame satan, but not today.

As I mentioned, the reasons that the Salem Witch Hysteria took off were complex, coming to the fore from a variety of factors. However, the Salem incident is listed today among the medical texts as a case of mass psychogenic illness. (source)

The same could well be true of the Leroy Mass Hysteria incident. There is one question I am sure was not asked amid the tests and diagnoses and reports that resulted in 6000 pages which concluded “We don’t know why this is happening”. Were the girls experimenting with tarot, palm reading, fortune telling or occult in any way? The answer would be very revealing.

Traci Leubner, one of the girls afflicted, said of the Leroy NY testing results, “It’s freaky, because they didn’t find anything. There wasn’t like a, ‘this is what happened’. It was kind of mysterious.” (source)

Please be in continued prayer for the Leroy NY girls and also for the vulnerable of our society everywhere. I long for the day when our children will be safe.

Posted in earthquakes in diverse places, end time

Of Brimstone and Earthquakes

Posted on by elizabethprata

One of the most interesting to me, and by the look of the blog statistics, others as well, is earthquakes as an end times sign. Jesus said that as a sign of His coming there would be earthquakes in diverse places. (Matthew 24:7). Of course, He gave other signs too. And also of course, one earthquake does not mean the end is near.

The end time is actually the time when Jesus ascended and will end when He comes back. So by that token, there have been many earthquakes over the last 2000 years. So what makes so many of us so sure that this is the end of the end time?

Jesus also said that the signs of His coming will be as birth pangs on a woman. (many parallel verses here.) The earth will travail and groaneth as in labor. (Romans 8:22).

You have to think about how labor pains work. The pregnancy gestates, at first unnoticed. Then the baby bump appears. It grows larger, seemingly slowly at first, then quickly. Finally the labor begins with the water breaking (I liken that to the rapture). After the water breaks the real labor has arrived. At first the pangs are painful but bearable. They come far apart. But then they increase with intensity and finally they are unbearably overlapping, painfully crashing one upon the other.

So in the early part of the century there was an earthquake or two here and there. But now, the quakes (and other signs too, I hasten to add) are all happening more frequently with more intensity. So let’s look at quakes.

There was only 1 major quake this past week. (June 10-16). “Major” quakes according to the US Geological Survey are quakes with a magnitude above 6.0 There was a 6.0 in Taiwan.

There were some smaller quakes in unusual places:

4.2 Pakistan
3.1 Dallas
2.5 Urban area Oklahoma City
2.8 near Oklahoma City
3.3 near Oklahoma City
5.3 Turkey-Iraq-Syria border region
2.6 Colorado
2.7 Colorado
4.0, 4.2, 5.7, 5.4, 4.6 Afghanistan

As I have been sharing, the end time prophesies are not just contained in Matthew 24. They are all over the entire bible. As a matter of fact, there is an end time judgment reference in every New Testament book except Philemon. And of course, Revelation is the granddaddy of the bible books with the most information in one place regarding the promises of God in the last days.

Mexico’s Volcano Popocatepetl

In Joel chapter 2 there is a reference to “columns of smoke”. “And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.” (Joel 2:30-31).

The Hebrew word defines column of smoke as a pillar or palm-like tree trunk. It is a vivid picture, and can, in my opinion, be interpreted as volcanic column of ash and smoke. For the last three years, volcanoes the scientists thought were dormant have been popping back to life, sometimes very unexpectedly (Chile’s Chaiten).

Science fact of the day: Did you know that the biblical term for “brimstone” is the chemical element sulfur? Elemental sulfur can be found near hot springs and volcanic regions in many parts of the world, especially along the Pacific Ring of Fire. Hydrogen sulfide is the compound that smells like rotten eggs.

Smith’s bible dictionary explains: “Brimstone, or sulphur, is found in considerable quantities on the shores of the Dead Sea. (Genesis 19:24). It is a well-known simple mineral substance, crystalline, easily melted, very inflammable, and when burning emits a peculiar suffocating odor. It is found in great abundance near volcanoes. The soil around Sodom and Gomorrah abounded in sulphur and bitumen.” The bible refers to brimstone 14 times. The Lake of Fire burns with brimstone, “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death” (Revelation 21:8).

Though I don’t have quantifiable numbers, it seems that along with quakes, volcanic activity has dampened somewhat these last two or three weeks. The calm before the storm? Or the catching of breath before the next, bigger pang?

Posted in jesus, nephilim, petroglyphs

Ancient and startling petroglyphs found: perhaps of Nephilim?

Posted on by elizabethprata

There is a biblical subject I can safely say fascinates many Christians: the Nephilim.

The interpretation of Genesis 6:1-8 has in recent times been a controversy, but did you know that until the 4th century that it was uniformly – and correctly – interpreted with no controversy? The Septuagint actually translates ‘sons of God’ as angels, because that is who they are. Here is the text. It says what it says:

“When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown. The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the LORD said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.”

The bible records after the Fall of man in Genesis 3 that there were sons of God who mated with daughters of man and spawned a race of giants. They were called the Nephilim. Many have ascribed the resulting hybrid race as the Nephilim but the word nephal means to fall, and I believe the Nephilim are actually the fallen angels who did the mating. The fallen angels/Nephilim who did the deed are in chains in the gloomiest dungeon now, as punishment for corrupting man, and as a warning to others who might try the same thing again. (Jude 1:6)

The topic has gotten an unsavory tinge to it not only due to the unwarranted controversy because of the incorrect interpretation, but because I would think also the sexual mating.

Let’s look at the verse. The angels mated with woman, and in the next verse God declared His Spirit would not strive with man forever. Then the verse says that they were the mighty men of renown, and the LORD declares the earth was evil, He was sorry He had made man, and He will wipe out man (except Noah.)

If the evil of man and the cataclysmic judgment of same was inextricably tied to the Nephilim, don’t you think it behooves us to study it?? Especially since Jesus said that the days before the next cataclysmic judgment would be like the Days of Noah??? (Matthew 24:37). Avoiding this topic makes no sense.

When I read archaeological sites and they present petroglyphs of ancient alien-like beings, I personally believe they are depicting the Nephilim who were on earth on those days. Nephilim are aliens: off-planet dwellers visiting earth, bringing with them their superior knowledge and powers, and shining with a bright light. After all, how did the Pyramids get built? What are the Nazca Lines? Why were there such advanced civilizations at places like Peru’s Machu Picchu or the US Southwest’s Anasazi, which mysteriously died out just as quickly as they appeared? When the Nephilim were on earth on those days, I am sure that they were plenty busy, and not just with women. They didn’t come here just to mate, but to thwart God’s plan. Remember, satan’s goal is to be like the Most High, to be worshiped. Satan has a plan, too. (Isaiah 14:13-15). The Nephilim were busy interacting with man in a way that would corrupt civilization in every arena, including spiritual as well as emotional, agricultural, geo-physical, sexual, societal… And by the verse in Genesis 6:5, they were successful.

There are ancient petroglyphs showing strange looking ‘alien-like’ beings. Often they are depicted with glowing heads or as shining beings. Also they are often depicted as being very large in size. Here’s one:

This one is also from Australia, where
the new petroglyphs were discovered

Today some ancient rock art was discovered that not only depict otherworldly type beings, but they are drawn in the act of having sex. The news articles (lol, the UK Daily Mail tabloid would be the first to pick up on it…) are snickeringly calling it “ancient porn.” The intricate paintings depict strange looking and rather large men having relations with women. Here is the news article link:

Aboriginal erotic rock art proves that – even 28,000 years ago – men had ONE thing on their minds

The area is only accessible by a 90-minute helicopter ride into the Australian interior. I thought that was probably the most interesting fact in the whole article. Though the article reports the archaeologists as dating the rock art to 28,000 years ago, Christians know that cannot be true. However it does indicate the ancient age of the art, raising the likelihood of it having been drawn at the time the Nephilim were on the earth.

Now, a caution. While I said up above that it behooves us to study the Nephilim, I meant from the bible. There are a host of weird and flaky websites that have wild theories and many frankly are spam sites. We study man’s fallen condition from his progression from his creation in Genesis 1, to his fall in Genesis 3, to the depths of corruption in Genesis 6. Chasing after ancient aliens diverts us from studying the Most High God.

Another note: The Daily Mail is known for its large photos with lots of short captions in between. If you click on the headline above from the Daily Mail, be aware that there is a large photo showing the large men in the petroglyphs and they all sport something else that is extremely large, too.

Here are a couple of links to essays that deal with the Genesis 6 text in expositional fashion. The information is from solid sources. Do go there and read them, if you have any questions about the interpretation of the Nephilim passages.

Apostates, Be Warned, Part 2

Who were the sons of God?

So that is your weird news of the day!

Posted in divination, fortune telling

Update on fortune telling class

Posted on by elizabethprata

I wrote yesterday about a situation that we have become aware of at our local library. A two-part class aimed at teenagers ages 12-18 was to be held on the subject of interpreting dreams, palm reading, and fortune telling.

Praise the Lord, the Library cancelled the class! Thank YOU for your prayers and concern!! Children were protected. Jesus’ name was proclaimed in the secular arena. It is all good.

I can’t overstress how serious the sin of divination is. (Explanation on what divination is at above link). Attempting to obtain information about our destiny, or about the other side apart from God revealing it to us is a horrific rebellion that He hates. He has called it an abomination, and forbids it in many scriptures in the Old Testament and the New.

Remember when Saul was told by God to kill all the Amalekites and their goods and cattle, but Saul coveted the cattle. His pride in victory over the fierce Agag pushed Saul to let Agag live and Saul took the cattle too. God was angry. He immediately rejected Saul as King. God said,

“For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king.” (1 Sam 15:23)

God likened Saul’s outright disobedience to divination. Of course, both of those sins, rebellion and divination, are both acts that people perpetrate outside of God’s bounds.

As for the fortune telling, I had had enough. I drew the line. As Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Captain of the Starship Enterprise famously said:

“I will not sacrifice the Enterprise. We’ve made too many compromises already, too many retreats. They invade our space and we fall back. They assimilate entire worlds and we fall back. Not again. The line must be drawn here! This far, no farther! And I will make them pay for what they’ve done!”


Of course God will punish, not me. One can only take a quote metaphor so far. But the line was drawn for me on this subject of fortune telling, palm reading, etc. No farther! We must protect our children. We must stand up for Jesus!

I listened to Stand up, Stand Up for Jesus today. I looked into the writing of that old hymn. Here is the story:  Episcopalian Reverend Dudley A. Tyng (1825-1858) was a dynamic preacher known for taking strong stands against evil, no matter what the cost. His sermon regarding the evils of slavery in America is still in print today. This sermon resulted in him being removed from one of his pastorates. On Tuesday, March 30, 1858, Tyng preached a sermon on Exodus 10:11, “Go now ye that are men and serve the Lord”, at a YMCA noon mass meeting. Tyng delivered his message to 5,000 men that day. More than 1,000 of those men responded to the altar call, to receive Jesus as their Savior. Just over a week later, Tyng lay dying as a result of a tragic accident. His final statement, whispered to friends and family, was “Let us all stand up for Jesus.”

Now we just have to remain vigilant around here that the class doesn’t re-appear!

We all have our line in the sand. We make too many retreats. We make too many compromises. I will not sacrifice the children. I have nothing to fear wading into the battle, because Jesus is my Commander in Chief. And He has already won.

Posted in apocalypse

Mushroom like cloud forms, sparking fears of an armageddon-like event

Posted on by elizabethprata

Mushroom like cloud forms, sparking fears an armageddon-like event was underway. This happened in Beijing. “An enormous mushroom cloud formed in the sky over Beijing late last week, sparking fears that a cataclysmic, Armageddon-like event was underway. Alas, it was not the end of the world—or worse, the beginning of a real-life movie starring Will Smith: It was just nature. The giant cumulonimbus—which spanned several miles—was accompanied by lightning, swallowing up the capital’s skyline for an hour, according to the Daily Mail. Photographers and videographers captured images of Thursday’s ominous-looking formation, which “gradually took the shape of an atomic bomb.”

Two weeks ago a weird yellow haze formed in the Chinese city of Wuhan, too. Here is a pic of the mushroom cloud. That is one scary cloud! And the lightning, too!

Did you notice that many of headlines these days refer to the apocalypse?

Apocalypse-like hailstorm in Dallas
Election Apocalypse: Greeks hoard canned food
Drachmageddon? Middle-class poverty. Feral gangs. Neo-Nazis. Athens waits for the volcano to explode
Zombie Apocalypse: Bath Salts Emergency Calls Increase Dramatically in Indiana
Apocalypse now, but we just carry on regardless

‘Drachmageddon”… “Election Apocalypse”, “Apocalypse-like hailstorm..” etc. … Yet here is an irony–

Young people’s belief in God, Judgment Day plummets
“Pew asked respondents in the poll to agree or disagree with the statement: “I never doubted the existence of God.”Sixty-eight percent of those in the Millennial Generation agreed, a figure that has dropped 15 percent in the past five years. Eighty-three percent of under-30 respondents in 2007 said they had never doubted God’s existence. The figures perhaps reflect the increasing boldness of atheist authors and philosophers in public debate, or perhaps the less-than-stellar behavior of prelates who proclaim God’s word. Pew laid out a second statement in its poll: “We all will be called before God at the Judgment Day to answer for our sins.” The Millennial Generation is likewise showing doubt of Judgment Day: 67 percent agreed with the statement, down from 74 percent in 2007.”

That’s what I mean when I say ‘irony’- that though fewer people say they don’t believe in apocalypse, more and more the secular world is talking about it.

Posted in damascus, jesus, prophecy, russia, syria

UPDATED 2X–Rumors: Russia to escort Assad out of Syria?

Posted on by elizabethprata

UPDATE #2
IDF: Iran Realizing Assad is Finished
DF Spokesperson Brigadier General Yoav (Poly) Mordechai said Friday that Syria’s allies Iran and Hizbullah are coming to realize that Bashar Assad’s regime has “reached its end.”“Another week is almost over, during which the desperate effort by Iran and Hizbullah to help the Assad regime survive was evident,

UPDATE #1
A story below mentioned that the US had enlisted UK’s aid in stopping the alleged shipment by Russia of helicopters to war-torn Syria. Today the UK Telegraph reports “A Russian ship believed to be carrying helicopters and missiles for Syria has been effectively stopped in its tracks off the coast of Scotland after its insurance was cancelled at the behest of the British government.’ More here
——————–
During the fog of war there is by definition a clash of truth and rumor. It becomes very hard to know what is true and what’s a feint. What is propaganda and what is accurate. With that in mind I bring you some news of the events in the fast-unfolding arena of imminent prophecy fulfillment: Syria, Israel, Egypt.

Syria, which Isaiah 17 prophesies its capital city of Damascus and environs will be totally destroyed, has been in the news since winter of 2011. The citizens rose up against its dictator, much like the citizens in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Algeria, Libya etc did. Except the Syrian uprising is still going on. The feeling of imminent fulfillment deepened last week when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reported that Russia was planning to deliver attack helicopters to Syria’s leader, Bashar al-Assad. The two nations have been allies for 40 years, and Syria is Russia’s biggest customer for war weapons.

Egypt has also been in the news, with the uprising, capture of dictator Mubarek, and Muslim Brotherhood ascension to power, and now their elections. Isaiah 19 is an unfulfilled prophecy regarding Egypt in the last days.

It is also no coincidence that Russia began expanding Syria’s port of Tartus last year so that it can host Russian warships. Tartus is the only port on the Mediterranean that Russia has access to. For Russia, having an ally and thus a presence in Syria is critical. Russia is in prophecy in Ezekiel 38-39 as a participant in the Gog-Magog war.

That was the background. Several news stories caught my eye this morning.

EGYPT-ISRAEL

Amid presidential elections, al-Qaida leader urges Egypt to cancel treaty with Israel
“Al-Qaida’s leader has urged Egypt to cancel its peace treaty with Israel and to establish Islamic rule, according to an audio message released Sunday. He said the goal was to stop Israel from turning Jerusalem into a Jewish city.”

IDF moves tanks closer to Egypt
“The IDF has deployed Armored forces near the Israel-Egypt border, moving tanks closer to the fence, Ynet has learned. The unusual move followed Monday’s terror attack on defense contractor crews building the new security fence”

RUSSIA-SYRIA

US enlists Britain’s help to stop ship ‘carrying Russian attack helicopters’ to Syria
“The US government has enlisted Britain’s help in a bid to stop a ship suspected of carrying Russian attack helicopters and missiles to conflict-riven Syria, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal.”

Stop the presses! Forget the helicopters, that was so yesterday. Today Russia just upped the ante from helicopters, to warships and troops.

Russia to send ships and marines to Syria
“Two Russian navy ships are completing preparations to sail to Syria with a unit of marines on a mission to protect Russian citizens and the nation’s base there, a news report said Monday. The deployment appears to reflect Moscow’s growing concern about Syrian President Bashar Assad’s future.”

Ahhh, now here comes the rumor:

Russian Commandos ‘to Escort Assad Out of Syria’
“Ships carrying Russian commandos may soon sail to Syria to escort strongman Bashar Assad to safety from the country where a rebellion against him is growing fiercer.Reports to this effect were cited by Voice of Israel radio’s veteran “listener” Miki Gurdus, who specializes in listening to radio broadcasts on various frequencies worldwide.”

Of course Israel is in prophecy, everywhere. Most applicable today is the prophecy in Zechariah 12:1-2.

“The burden of the word of the LORD concerning Israel: Thus declares the LORD, who stretched out the heavens and founded the earth and formed the spirit of man within him: 2“Behold, I am about to make Jerusalem a cup of staggering to all the surrounding peoples.”

While Isaiah 19 foretells a time of strife and wrath from the Lord upon Egypt, it is hopeful to know that God has a glorious future in store for Egypt (and Assyria and Israel as well!!) Egypt turns to the Lord! Assyria is blessed! (What IS Assyria? Here is a map)

Isaiah 19 ends with the following promise that will be fulfilled in the Millennium:

“In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the LORD at its border. It will be a sign and a witness to the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry to the LORD because of oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and deliver them. And the LORD will make himself known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians will know the LORD in that day and worship with sacrifice and offering, and they will make vows to the LORD and perform them.

“And the LORD will strike Egypt, striking and healing, and they will return to the LORD, and he will listen to their pleas for mercy and heal them. In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the LORD of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.”’ (Is 19:19-25)

The LORD is good!

It is my opinion that with events moving into place so quickly and the probable fulfillment of these prophecies coming into view, nay, landing on our laps, that the rapture is even closer. The rapture is an event that has no sign, and could happen at any moment. It is dependent upon Jesus taking the full number of believers that he has set aside, (Romans 11:25) and we don’t know what that number is or how close we are to it. That is why the rapture has always been imminent, meaning, could occur at any time. It is not dependent upon one certain thing occurring before it could take place.

In listening to Pastor JD Farag’s weekly prophecy update last night, he said he is changing his message from “get ready” to “BE ready.” He said it is too late to get ready. Make preparations now for being snatched up to the Lord. No more waiting, no more dithering, no more researching, no more wondering. This is it. The rapture seems so close, he said, in his opinion, it is closer than any of us can imagine.

I agree.

He referenced the rapidly moving events that coincide with what the Lord said to look for and what the Lord promised would happen. Things are moving at a day-by-day clip now, with each dawn unfolding new developments that seem to be ripped out of the pages of the bible. Now is the time to know the Lord through repentance of your sins and acceptance of Him as Savior and Lord.

WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED??

“Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” (Romans 10:9-10)

Believe upon the Gospel. WHAT IS THE GOSPEL?

The basic ingredients of the gospel message are the death, burial, resurrection, and appearances of the resurrected Christ. “Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel that I preached to you, that you received and on which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received—that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve… (1Corinthians 15:1-5)

He was buried, so His death became an established fact. He was resurrected which witnesses verified, therefore His claims of being God were verified. He is who He says He is: God in the flesh, come to seek and save the lost in their sins by becoming the sacrifice upon which God poured out all His wrath for sin, so we would not have to bear it. He took the penalty for it. However, His though His death and resurrection provided the way, it is the ONLY way to heaven and thus of escaping God’s wrath. Any other way is not the pardon, it is the death sentence.

Do we have to work our way into heaven? Even if we accept Jesus?

No. His grace is sufficient. “For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.” (Romans 6:14)

“Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” (John 6:29)

Repent and believe! The end is nigh.

Posted in expository preaching, laodicean church, topical preaching

Are you hot, lukewarm, or cold? Your approach to the bible will reveal the answer

Posted on by elizabethprata

‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:15-20).

Often forgotten in the prophecies are the warnings Jesus gives to the churches in Revelation. As with many prophecies, there is a near fulfillment and a far fulfillment. The 7 letters to 7 churches that opens Revelation were actual letters sent to actual churches and actually read as warnings, encouragements or indictments against them. The second reason the letters were sent was to reveal seven different types of individuals/churches throughout history from then to now, and instruct them/us in God’s truth. Illustration: “To the Church in Laodicea”, Stephanus Garsia Placidus (11th cenury).

The last verse is the one I want to point to. Jesus is not ‘knocking at the door of your heart’ in this verse. It is obvious He is knocking at the door of the church. The church had become (and will become, like it is now) so pale and non-Gospel oriented that Jesus is outside it! Just think of Joel Osteen’s church at Lakewood and you have a perfect fulfillment of the kind of church Jesus is warning about here. Mr Osteen never preaches sin or wrath or judgment because he doesn’t want to offend anyone, wanting to stay positive. But how can a person repent if they don’t know they are sinning? He refuses to put a cross on his stage, because it might prove an “obstacle to anyone who might come.” But if they are not coming to the cross, what are they coming to??? Jesus is standing outside Mr Osteen’s church, knocking to get in.

That sad indictment is repeated over many parts of the body of Christ today. I pray you find a good church that has solid beliefs, and participate there. If your pastor stands on the foundational principles of the faith, and preaches them- support him. He is a rarity these days, and precious. Treat him like he is.

The decline of belief is symbiotic. If you attend a church like Lakewood for any length of time, even if you were hot for Jesus at first, you will fade into lukewarmness having remained unfed from the full counsel of God. A steady diet of corn flakes won’t sustain your body, and a steady diet of prosperity optimism won’t sustain your soul. You need meat! A well-rounded diet!

If the full counsel of God is preached, His perfect message of sin and wrath/mercy & redemption is held up and you will grow in Christ-likeness. Without the cross preached, who are the Lakewood/Laodicean congregants going to look like? Man, not God.

Therefore don’t shy away from sermon messages that preach “hellfire and brimstone.” Don’t feel proud because your pastor avoids the difficult passages in the Old Testament. If he doesn’t preach them, and you really cannot find a solid, well rounded church in your area, then the wonderful internet can bring any kind of solid, convicting sermon to you.

Above, unhinging a scripture verse
from its context leaves us ripe
for scripture-twisting interpretations

Look for a preacher who preaches the bible book-by-book. This is called expositional preaching. This simply means that the pastor is explaining the meaning of a passage in scripture verse by verse embedded in the historical and cultural background. Preaching that preaches a topic by choosing a subject and finding scripture texts that support it is all right, but there is a danger of getting weaker and weaker in the explanation of the topic. The worse case of topical preaching is Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyer (who isn’t even biblically qualified to be a preacher because she is a woman,) and Beth Moore (ditto). Once you release the scripture from its context, you risk twisting it to suit man-made interpretations. It is the difference between shaking out a tapestry in the wind and letting one ribbon flutter. The ribbon of scripture needs to be attached to something, i.e, the context of culture and history and the other text surrounding it.

Most pastors have a church website nowadays where audio of their sermons can be found, or the website Oneplace.com hosts literally thousands of sermons by preachers who preach expositorily. Hischannel.com also has many good preachers in video.

The warning by Jesus is a prophecy, also. Are you in a church where “you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing?” Or are you like the praised church of Philadelphia: “you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name… you have kept My command to persevere…” (Rev 3:3b-4a). The Church at Philadelphia was praised for staying true to Jesus, persevering patiently. How did they stay on course so well? How does any church stay on course today? They stayed in the full Word. (Ps 119:105). Stay on the path of the word, and His light will guide your way.

Posted in dream interpretation, palm reading, satan, tarot

Calling all believers to a prayer request

Posted on by elizabethprata

Please see UPDATE here.

What is below is an actual letter I have sent to my local newspaper. I live in an area of the USA that is considered the “Bible Belt”. See map at left. The Bible Belt is “an informal term for a region in the southeastern and south-central United States in which socially conservative evangelical Protestantism is a significant part of the culture and Christian church attendance across the denominations is generally higher than the nation’s average.”

Yet  in our Christian conservative evangelical area, satan has made bold and dastardly attempts to target our precious youth. See the explanation for my call to prayer in the following letter I’ve sent in:

There’s a local Summer Library Class for teenagers called “Enter Portentia”. In it, youths aged 12-18 will be taught “how to interpret your dreams, read palms, tell fortunes and become open to the portents (secret messages) around and within us.” 

We’re all intensely curious about the ‘other side’ aren’t we? I think it’s natural for people to wonder about the realms we cannot see. The fact that we do wonder is testament to the fact that we believe those realms exist. 

Before I was saved by Jesus’s grace, I used a Ouija board, went to a Tarot Reading, had my palm read, and had my Aura photographed. I was looking for answers to those secrets I knew were beyond my grasp. But to be honest, each time I felt a little silly. I didn’t think that looking at my own palm’s flesh was going to reveal the secrets of the other side. For that, I needed to look beyond myself. Besides, how could I trust any information I got? What was the source of it? I remained uneasy. 

When I was born again, the messages from the other side became clear, because Jesus sends Holy Spirit to guide us into truth. The scales fell from my eyes, and questions about the other side were answered- in the bible. Jesus is the only reliable source! 

Any information we get from the other side that’s not from God’s Word is occult and is outside His bounds. Therefore it’s bad for us. 

The bible condemns activity such as the Portentia class in the strongest possible terms. Verses in both New and Old Testament call divination an abomination. I urgently request that the Library decision-makers stop this class. You are exposing children to realms that God condemned, because He knows to partake of them invites hell into your house. 

If you’re not a Christian and you’re reading this, don’t dismiss it. Divination is not a “harmless” activity. As a parent, if your daughter came home with Tarot cards and books on palm reading, do you say, “Goodie! I hope she makes a career out of it!”? Do you say, “What a relief, this is such a wholesome activity!” You don’t say those things, because in your heart you know that the uneasiness you feel is there for a reason. Kids who get sucked up into occult activity rarely come out the other side without experiencing a downward spiral first. 

The answer to what is on the other side is Jesus. If there are Christian participants and leaders of that class: Stop the class. Repent and ask Him to forgive you. He will. Non-Christian participants and teachers of the class: If you ask Him to forgive you of all your sins, He will do that too. You won’t need to read lines on your palm anymore, because you’ll have an eternity to discover the secrets of the other side that Jesus is waiting to share.

Here are some resources on Divination and Spiritism:

Does the bible take a position on clairvoyance and parapsychology?

What kinds of things can open you up to demonic oppression?

Is there demonic activity in the world today?

What does the bible say about palm reading

The class is in two parts. The first part has already passed. The second class is scheduled to be held June 21. Would you please pray that the teachers of this class, the youth participants, and the Library Board’s hearts would be changed? That this second class be cancelled? That any youth hooked by the first class would be released? And that those involved would repent, or become saved if they are not?

Though it is disheartening to me to be on a battlefield that has satanic ammunition constantly lobbed from any direction, at any time, I praise the Lord He gave us His Word, His armor, His Son, and His victory so that we can go forth in confidence and joy in doing His work. Thank you for your consideration on this personal request.

Posted in prophecy, summer, the true vine

The promise of future bounty

Posted on by elizabethprata

The summer has been gentle and the Lord has provides bounty from the earth. The summer garden crops are coming in and they are plenteous. The figs are coming in. The muscadine vine is full. It reminds me in particular of two verses in the bible. They are promises. That is what prophecies are, you know. Promises of things the Lord has in store for the people who love Him and for those who don’t love Him.

“Every man will sit under his own vine and under his own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid, for the LORD Almighty has spoken.” (Micah 4:4).

“In that day, declares the LORD of hosts, every one of you will invite his neighbor to come under his vine and under his fig tree.” (Zechariah 3:10)

In the bible, vines (usually grape) and fig trees were emblematic of agricultural abundance and that abundance bespoke wealth. Many fig trees meant prosperity. The promised land was described in Deut. 8:8 as “a land of wheat and barley, and vines and fig-trees and pomegranates.”

It was not described as a land flat and therefore ripe for land prospecting development. It was not described as a land full of silver and gold mines. It was not described a land of great cities producing a rich population. The prosperity the land promised was riches from a bountiful earth. Remember that after the Fall, Adam was cursed with toil, and that the land would not yield unless he worked it with sweat and labor, and even then it would produce thorns and thistles.

“Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground,” (Gen 3:17b-19b).

What was it like before the Fall? I can’t wait to find out, and that is what these prophecies promise. That curse will be reversed and the land will pop with generous abundance. Remember the two spies who came back, in Numbers 13:23 reporting that they saw huge grapes and figs and pomegranates? Doesn’t sitting under our own fig tree and our vine and sound relaxing? Refreshing? Cool? Like walking with God in the garden in the cool of the day.

And Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5). And look what Jesus did! He did everything!

He accomplished redemption for mankind, by breaking His own body and allowing it to be poured out! We are His branches, connected to the Great Gardener whose vine covers us, and which provides all sustenance. When you’re out haying this summer, sweat running down your face, or you’re out mowing this summer, and thirsting because of the heat, or you’re gardening and battling the bugs who are killing your bean plants, remember, the prophecies.

“My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest.” (Isaiah 32:18).

“I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside.” (Isaiah 5:1).

How beautiful the relationship. We are the branches, closely grafted into the true vine. The true vine covers us, and we sit under it in peace and abundance. The abundance comes from the Vine Dresser who is the Father (John 15:1), who cares for the true vine in love and cares for his children, the branches.

 Our God is a tremendous God!!!!!