Month: November 2013

Posted in creation, God, sunset

What is it about sunsets?

Posted on by elizabethprata
Sunset, Comer, GA. EPrata photo

A friend of mine said that she loves sunsets. She and her gal friends, when they have an annual get-together at the beach, chase sunsets. They love the beauty and color and vibrancy and uniqueness of each one.

That got me thinking about sunsets. In October of this year I had put up a few of my favorite sunset photos. I used to travel quite a bit, and enjoyed sunsets in many places and in many climes. One place we used to enjoy sunsets was Naples Florida. Naples is on the west coast of FL and almost as far south as far as you can go on the peninsula. The city overlooks the Gulf of Mexico.

When you have a city on a west coast overlooking the water, it sets up a great view for seeing sunsets (and the green flash). People used to gather at the beach just before sunset. As the day waned and sunset drew near, the atmosphere at the beach changed from boisterous family fun, wheels of gulls, and screeches of children, to a quiet slapping of shutting folding chairs, towels snapping as they’re shook out, and slow footprints in the sand drifting away from the beach and back to the car.

Sunset, Danielsville, GA. EPrata photo

Then the sunset chasers arrived. Clusters of folks would stand around, or sometimes sit, and watch the changing colors in the sky. The place would become quiet. Eyes would gravitate to the shore, and voices would become whispers, almost reverential, so as not to break the spell. The sun bedecked itself in glorious colors as it neared the horizon, and the hues became almost otherworldly. Voices were all silent now with eyes full of wonder tracking the orb’s descent. As the sun sunk below the blue gulf, and the skies turned blue and purple itself, sunset watchers would sigh, and slowly fold their chairs and drift to their cars.

What is it about a sunset that evoked such reverence and attention from seekers, many of whom didn’t even believe in God? It wasn’t a movie or a show or a musical or a circus…it was a sunset. What is it about sunsets?

Sunrise, Comer, GA. EPrata photo

so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs. You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy. ~Psalm 65:8

An old-time pastor named Charles E. Jefferson pondered the meaning of the sunset in his sermon with that title.

“How many sunsets have you seen during this last week, this last month, this last year? How many have you seen in the last ten years, the last twenty, the last thirty? I do not ask how many have you glanced at, but how many have you gazed upon, paid attention to, pondered? On how many have you held your mind long enough for it to become impressed, for an influence to be diffused through your heart, for a discipline to be exercised upon your spirit? How many sunsets stand out vivid and glorious on the walls of your memory? How many of you can say, that the glory of setting suns is an appreciable factor in the development of your emotional and spiritual life?“

Charles E. Jefferson (1860-1937)
Sunset, Colbert, GA. EPrata photo

“The purpose of my sermon is to awaken in you the sense of condemnation, the consciousness of sin because of your neglect of this great feast of the Lord. I would have you think of the sunset as a means of grace. Have you ever counted up the means of grace? How long is your list? What have you included? Public worship? Yes. Bible reading? Yes. Prayer? Yes. Is that all? Have you not put down the sunset? That is a means of grace. By all means, put that down. It is a sacrament. It is the visible sign of an invisible grace. It is a symbol for mediating God’s grace to your heart. Put it down in the list of the means of grace; include it, also, in your list of sacraments. Reckon it a page in -your Bible. It is certainly a word ‘of the Lord.’ It is not a word of man. Man cannot speak after that fashion. There are some things- which God allows man to assist Him in making. If God wants a potato or a turnip, a cucumber or a squash, He allows man to help Him in producing it. If God wants a flower-bed or a lawn He allows man to collaborate with Him. But there are some things in which man can have no part. When God makes a sunset He says to man: “Now, please step aside; I want to do all this by Myself. You cannot in any way assist Me. This work is completely beyond you. I, alone, can produce a work like this.”

The bible says that all peoples from all nations, tribes, and tongues, have been made plainly aware of the attributes of our God the Holy Creator.

Nacreous clouds at Sunset, EPrata photo

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. (Romans 1:19-20).

The sunset is a miracle, a sign, and a wonder. Pastor Jefferson continues,

“What a mystery it is that a thing so resplendently beautiful should be made of vibrations, and dust-particles and the movements of vapour. By reflection and refraction, and radiation and absorption, every dust particle obeying one law, and every vibration obeying another law, and every air-current obeying still another law, this stupendous miracle comes to pass.”

Consider the sunset. Consider the God who ordained it. Exult in the daily joy we have to worship His works and His creative power.

Posted in rewards

Receiving rewards!

Posted on by elizabethprata

All Christians will stand before Jesus to be judged. It’s a ceremony that is not drenched with condemnation, but of rewards! (1 Corinthians 9:4-27; 2 Timothy 2:5)

It’s OK to think about the rewards. I do, a lot. The reason that it’s OK to think about this, is that I acknowledge that I could do nothing apart from Jesus. (John 15:5). It’s because I acknowledge that the Holy Spirit was the One who enabled me to do the things I did in the name of Jesus. (2 Corinthians 3:6;  Gal. 5:22-23, Luke 24:49).

I can’t wait to see if Jesus was pleased with anything I did in the Spirit’s power. I can’t wait to cast my crowns back to Him! (Revelation 4:4).

As much as I enjoy thinking about working for the name of Jesus and how the Bema Seat Judgment-Rewards ceremony will go, something struck me last night.

A beloved pastor and teacher in our area gave his testimony. He is a quadriplegic. He spoke of the grace of Jesus, His provision, His healing to the extent he was healed physically, and shared a kingdom perspective by sharing his love of the life that Jesus has given him.

There were several points at which I was struck. The entire testimony was compelling, but I am a sucker for a good story about a good marriage. He has one. He also has two adorable children. He and his wife married after he was hurt.

He said he can’t wait to see his beloved and diligent, kind, uncomplaining wife receive her rewards in heaven.

I often think about the rewards of the past martyrs, when they receive the crown of life. (Revelation 2:10). I often think about rejoicing when the faithful pastors of the past, like Spurgeon, Edwards, Calvin,  and the men like them receive their reward. I think or my rewards. But how often do I think of my own contemporaries laboring now, and their rewards, and rejoicing with them in Jesus’ name?

[crickets]

I’m so busted! LOL. His was a tremendous testimony and I’m now rejoicing that I can rejoice in thinking of my peers’ rewards. I now am envisioning my pastors’ rewards ceremony, and my friends’. The bible says

Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling” (1 John 2:9–10).

I love my brethren, and I can’t wait to see them receive blessing from Jesus, and they, and I, send those blessings right back to the One who is glory itself.

Who are you envisioning receiving their reward from Jesus?

Posted in antichrist, bitcoin, jesus, prophecy, quantum computer

Bitcoins and quantum computing

Posted on by elizabethprata

Back in April of this year, I wrote about a quirky new virtual currency called bitcoin. At that time, it was just three years old and amazingly, valued at 1 BN. Forbes magazine at that time called it a “disruptive technology.” They state their opinion in a well-written, understandable piece of logic:

“A financial network is a technological platform that people build businesses on top of. And the traditional banking and credit card networks are closed platforms. If you want to build an e-commerce site, a payment network like Paypal, or any other service that deals in dollars, you need to convince incumbent financial institutions to do business with you. Getting such a partnership is difficult and involves a lot of red tape.

 There’s a good reason for the high barrier to entry: electronic transactions in the conventional banking system are generally reversible. If someone makes a fraudulent charge to your credit card, you can dispute the transaction and in most cases the bank or the merchant, not the customer, will cover the cost. That’s convenient for consumers, but it requires the financial system to be a fairly close-knit web of trust. Allowing a new member into the club creates risks for everyone else. So the incumbents are understandably reluctant to deal with anyone who isn’t well-known and well-capitalized.

 Bitcoin is different. Because transactions are authenticated cryptographically and cannot be reversed, there’s no need to restrict access to the network. There’s no risk to accepting payments from complete strangers. That means people don’t need anyone’s permission or trust to go into business as a Bitcoin-based merchant or financial intermediary.”

So how is bitcoin doing three and a half years after debut, and 7 months after it poked through the ceiling of global consciousness? Pretty durn good. The Verge has a piece on bitcoin from last night.

Source

Bitcoin hits $700 during surprisingly friendly Senate hearing on the virtual currency
“Bitcoin, the decentralized virtual currency that approximates cash on the internet, had a big day today. The four-year-old currency had its first hearing in Congress as experts from the government, the Bitcoin community, and the nonprofit sector appeared to discuss the implications of the growing popularity of virtual currencies. And while that testimony took place, a single Bitcoin soared to $700 on the market at the tail of a two-week climb.”

 “Virtual currencies, perhaps most notably Bitcoin, have captured the imagination of some, struck fear among others, and confused the heck out of many of us,” Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE), chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, told a packed room.”

 “The hearing was the culmination of a three-month investigation into Bitcoin and other virtual currencies, he said. The proceeding was made up of two panels. The first featured Jennifer Shasky Calvery, the director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network; Mythili Raman, an attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice; and Secret Service agent Edward W. Lowery III.”

The above article concluded ended with this “While the hearing was frontloaded with discussion of the potential for virtual currencies to be used for crime, there was no sense of alarm about the strange new world of Bitcoin. “

So far from being disruptively and wild N woolly, the bitcoin is settling into its place in commerce and in governmental mindsets. It is traded on the exchange, and is gaining investors, according to TechCrunch. The Chinese bitcoin exchange “pile onto bitcoin” and is gaining momentum. Bloomberg goes so far as to say it is gaining credibility. Bloomberg reminds us that “Bitcoins … exist as software and aren’t regulated by any country or banking authority,” and this is a remarkable statement because the currency didn’t even exist three years ago.

It is prophesied that the false prophet will force all to accept a mark of worship that will not only ally the recipients with satan via the antichrist but allow the recipients to buy or sell, (Revelation 13:16-17). People who refuse the mark will not be allowed to buy or sell. This is an intriguing prophecy. For millennia, it has been impossible for commenters, theologians and interpreters of the bible to understand how one man could control all of the world’s commerce by regulating its currency and to know instantly at point of sale who is allowed to buy or sell- and who is not. They believed it, they just couldn’t envision it.

However, since technological times in this generation, people have accepted that somehow the world economy will be remade to the point where one currency will circulate, but before the internet was invented the best they could envision was that it’d have something to do with barcodes.

The barcode was invented in 1952 but it wasn’t used commercially  until 1974. That is not so long ago. I was in high school. Since then, technology has made envisioning some of the previously more difficult and obscure prophecies not only clear but almost realized in our lifetime. Whether bitcoin will be THE currency used to fulfill the prophecy, or another one will be, it is increasingly clear that since this generation was born there have been astounding technological advances that not only laid the groundwork for the prophecy to be fulfilled but the details of it to be envisioned with clarity and precision.

Think about it- prior to 1974, no barcodes were in use in commercial economy. Since then we’ve had the advent of the internet, a global economy, and new currencies. One may buy and sell virtual items without ever touching money. A kindle book is one example. eCommerce is de rigueur.

Parallel to the bitcoin’s rise is the necessity for supercomputers to handle the world’s increasingly virtual commerce. And just yesterday, a quantum computing record was set. If there is to be a new currency and if it is to be virtual-based, the world will need faster computers to maintain these commerce and banking records. Enter quantum computing. Instead of using silicon based transistors, a quantum computer “will harness the power of atoms and molecules to perform memory and processing tasks.”

“Notoriously hard to manipulate and even more difficult to maintain Quantum memory states are often best controlled at absolute zero, however this new record has shattered previous estimations by being carried out at room temperature.” (source)

And the record that was “shattered” was that the quantum computer was maintained at room temp for 42 minutes. That’s a huge leap. A quantum leap. Sorry. Couldn’t resist.

With our old global economy on the brink, fiat money increasingly diluted, and new currencies popping up, combined with the convergence of all other prophecies such as the rapid decline of society, rise of apostasy, and Christianity’s great shrinking, it seems to me that we could actually see the Messiah in our lifetimes- if not sooner.

Posted in prophecy, seminary

How to spot a liberal seminary, storms, political discourse

Posted on by elizabethprata

Clint Archer has a good article on How to Spot a Liberal Seminary. If you were wondering how so many false pastors get into churches, and then turn around and corrupt the sheep, this is how. I personally believe we have passed a tipping point, with so many pastors as the tares choking out the real wheat. Pastors who don’t know the bible have to come from somewhere. Liberal seminaries are one place from which they spew.

Do you think there are more huge storms lately? Superstorm Sandy has already been upstaged by “the biggest storm ever, “Typhoon Haiyan. Here is an editorial looking at the last few years’ worth of storms and comparing them to the prophesied birth pangs. Data don’t lie.

Speaking of storms, another usual occurrence occurred. The Huffington Post commented on the recent rash of tornadoes in the Midwest yesterday. Their line, “Illinois was struck the hardest by the unusually powerful late-season tornadoes” contains the by-now usual superlatives I’ve been talking about. With each passing storm, each one larger than the last, or more unusual, or more powerful, we read of superlatives. In the HuffPo piece, we read three at once; ‘Unusual”, “powerful” and “late-season”.

We’ve gone from this:

“The citizens of the U.S. are responsible for the greatest trust ever confided to a political society” ~James Madison

And this:

“The jaws of power are always open to devour, and her arm is always stretched out, if possible, to destroy the freedom of thinking, speaking, and writing.” ~John Adams

To this. This is what passes for public, political discourse lately:
MSNBC’s Bashir Apologizes For Saying Someone Should Defecate on Sarah Palin

The scriptures say-
“Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.” (Proverbs 13:3)

“Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.” (Ephesians 5:4) 

Posted in holy spirit, sanctification

Do you look like Jesus?

Posted on by elizabethprata

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:17-18).

Progressive sanctification means we are continually being transformed by the Holy Spirit into the likeness of Jesus Christ. The Spirit and the sinful, forgiven human are in a partnership. There is responsibility by the forgiven sinner to participate in his sanctification. “Kill the old man” as Paul would say. On the other hand, we cannot accomplish this without the grace and strength of the Holy Spirit. We can’t change ourselves for the good, only He can. But we do bear responsibility. How does this dual union work?

We present our bodies to God for Him to send the Spirit to sanctify. (Romans 6:13; 12:1). We surrender to the Spirit’s work. However we also listen to our consciences, choosing right over wrong. We wash ourselves in the word, actively absorbing His statutes. Like Joseph, we choose to flee immorality. As Philippians 2:2 says, we work out our sanctification in fear and trembling.

In the transformation process of sanctification, we go back to the verse at the top. We are transformed into His likeness. I think of the old married couples who wind up looking like each other. Though Jesus our Groom is not being transformed into the Bride’s likeness, we are being transformed into His.

Anyway, the old married couples looking alike … that is really true. It’s not just perception. Popular Science asked,

American Gothic, Grant Wood, 1930

“FYI: Why Do Old Married Couples Look Alike?“
“Through the years, couples’ wrinkles form in the same places because of a lifetime of shared emotions, he wrote in the journal Motivation and Emotion“.

Why do old couples look alike?
“…[T]he study also offered some answers on why couples may look alike. To start, consider that life experiences can end up being reflected physically. Someone who is happy and smiles more will develop the facial muscles and wrinkles related to smiling. The years of experience of an old couple’s marriage, happy or otherwise, would then be reflected in their faces.“

Just think, if two people in a marriage share enough experiences over time, their experience shows on their faces and they end up looking like each other. If that happens on this sinful earth, through mere biology, what will we look like as we continually submit to the Spirit? What power the word has to transform us! What power the Spirit has to metamorphose us into His likeness! How glorious that he adopts us and transforms us into His image.

“For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” (Romans 8:29)

Posted in circumcision, heart

Don’t follow your heart

Posted on by elizabethprata

In these days of apostasy, secular people and even Christian people claim that their actions are allowed, authorized, or excused because it is a ‘matter of the heart.’ For example, in one recent blog essay I wrote about a Methodist pastor named Frank Schaefer who performed a homosexual wedding (his son’s) in 2007. A few years later a congregant complained, and now the pastor is on trial. Pastor Schaefer wondered,

“What is my crime? I blessed two people that loved each other,” Schaefer, 51, told ABC News.“

Ay, yes. Love. It’s all about what humans want from their heart, which immediately excuses all disobedience to God.

Not.

The bible explains in constant and plain terms what is in our heart. You know the heart is not to be trusted. Yet, so often we hear idioms about the heart, and believe them as if they were true.

Heart-to-heart means a serious conversation between two people in which they talk honestly about their feelings
Best interests at heart means to make decisions based on someone’s best interests
Heart of gold means a person is truly nice, deep down
One can set one’s heart upon something, meaning, one desires and expects something
Out of the goodness of one’s heart means doing something simply because one is kind

All lies. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)

“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.” (Genesis 6:5)

“And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done.” (Genesis 8:21)

“Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” (Proverbs 4:23)

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10)

The Lord our God is merciful. He knows what is in our heart, and He made a way. In the Old Testament, circumcision was a picture of how the heart is covered but the Lord cuts away its foreskin.

“Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn.” (Deuteronomy 10:16)

“And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.” (Deuteronomy 30:6)

Pulpit Commentary explains, “As circumcision was the symbol of purification and sign of consecration to God, so the Israelites are enjoined to realize in fact what that rite symbolized, viz. purity of heart and receptivity for the things of God.”

In the New Testament, Paul spoke about the circumcision of the heart,

“But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.” (Romans 2:29)

Our hearts are desperately wicked from birth and the inclinations of our heart are only evil continually. Only the Holy Spirit can purify the heart. Only Him. Paul is arguing that true circumcision is a matter of the heart, an operation only the Spirit can perform.

Left, Salvador Dali, The Veiled Heart

The beauty and grace of our merciful God is that He does clean us. If we repent, He will purify us and establish us as His adopted heirs, His very children. What Good News!!

Don’t believe your heart, but believe Jesus. The Book of Revelation calls for repentance 10 times. The entire New Testament in the ESV calls for repentance 53 times. The entire bible calls for repentance 75 times. The first word John the Baptist uttered in his public ministry was repent. (Matthew 3:2). The first word Jesus uttered in His public ministry was repent. (Matthew 4:17).

We are NOT “basically good.” Our heart is not something to depend on but contains the things that are evil, things He hates. Sin. Only Jesus can clean our heart, cleaning us from the inside out. He is the Resurrected Savior who shed His blood, died, and rose from the dead to perform this very act: forgiveness.

Posted in prophecy

Headlines indicating prophetic signs of near fulfillment

Posted on by elizabethprata

I’ve been reading some headlines on some Christian sites and the headlines remind me of some prophetic verses. I’ll post the headline and a snippet, and below that, the verse it reminded me of.

Did Israeli gov’t vandalize box that held the bones of Jesus’ brother?
“A limestone box said to have once held the bones of the brother of Jesus was at the center of the most controversial forgery case in decades — and it was allegedly vandalized by the Israeli government before being returned to its owner. … The box will soon go on display for the public to view for the first time since 2002. There’s just one problem: Reddish stains now appear over the inscription, remnants of a silicon substance applied by the Israel Police Forensics Laboratory to help determine the authenticity of the James ossuary. The Israeli police, with permission of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), made a red silicon mold of the inscription — destroying the ‘letter patina’ by pulling out this ‘soft’ patina … thus destroying evidence,” said the geologists who first studied the ossuary in 2002, according to Jerusalem-based journalist Matthew Kalman’ v:shapes=”_x0000_i1025″> who has covered Golan’s trial extensively. “Consequently, the alleged small amount of masking letter patina is absent now and cannot be studied further.”

I have no idea about the allegations on this issue, and I’m not making any correlations or allegations, but it did remind me of the case recorded in the bible. After Jesus rose from the dead,

“While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers and said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.” (Matthew 28:11-15)

I long for the day when Jesus will not be denied in any form from any person.

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Unprecedented Skull Discovery Raises Serious Questions Over Evolutionary Premises
“The discovery of an ancient human skull in the Asian country of Georgia has thrown the proverbial monkey wrench into the theory of human evolution. …For evolutionists, the skull presents a major problem. According to naturalistic dating methods, the specimen is nearly 2 million years old. Yet, despite the alleged ancient age, the skull is similar to today’s cranial structures, with differences that could fit into variation levels of modern humans.“

“For decades, evolutionists have claimed that different human species evolved at different rates in various locations. However, the skull discovery in Georgia shows that there was actually much more continuity than predicted, with only one distinct lineage of humans.”

Well, well, well. God made man. No myth or philosophy will stand on His day when He shows Himself as Faithful and True.

“Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” (Genesis 1:26).

God made man in one day, not over billions of years as evolution states. Evolution is false on the face of it. There are too many logical leaps, gaps, and ridiculous assumptions. As for the science, the steady parade of the missing links and changes in ideas about the missing link should be a major clue that scientists themselves are not settled on the theory of evolution. A paper in Biology Letters just a couple of years ago asked, “Was Darwin Wrong?” No matter what man claims, the only true statements of any lasting value are God’s. (Mark 13:31)

FMI on why or how evolution isn’t true, go here

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NSA Tracks Turned-Off Phones — But Phone Makers Don’t Know How
Tracking a cellphone is easy, especially for the National Security Agency. But can you track a cellphone that’s been turned off? It sounds impossible, but the NSA apparently has been able to track powered-down mobile phones since 2004, as reported by The Washington Post in July 2013. So far, Ericsson, Google, Nokia and Samsung have responded — and, as far as they know or can say, it shouldn’t be possible to track powered-down cellphones. All four companies claimed to be unaware of any exploit or vulnerability that would make tracking a powered-down phone possible, since pressing the “off” button on a phone entirely deactivates its network connectivity.

There are some last days and Tribulation prophecies which refer to technology. Daniel said that in the last days knowledge will increase (Daniel 12:4).  It is a difficult prophecy to interpret because the prophecy isn’t clear on which sphere of knowledge will increase, or all spheres (including religious). We have certainly seen the government’s knowledge increase in both military and scientific applications. It has also increased in illegal knowledge of the citizens. We see many headlines today regarding the government’s knowledge of its people increasing by spying on us. But the plain meaning is that knowledge will increase.

The false prophet will cause all to have a mark on their hand or forehead. This will be a mark of worshiping the beast (antichrist) and it will allow the holder to participate in commerce, in other words, buy or sell.

Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave,e to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. Rev 13:16-17

How the antichrist would be able to track those who are in the commercial sphere and those who are not, given all the points of sale across the world, has perplexed many for thousands of years. Since these words were written by John it has seemed impossible to perform, and yet in the last few years it has been increasingly revealed just how able the government is at tracking its people. That is what the above headline shows.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Coming Betrayal of Israel
In Geneva, Switzerland, the United States and other major powers appeared close to a deal with Iran to curb its nuclear program in exchange for lifting some economic sanctions against the terrorist-sponsoring state. Negotiations, however, fell apart at the last minute when France and Iran balked at the final wording on the interim draft. Talks are expected to resume within a few weeks, but it is worth pausing to consider what was nearly agreed to and what the outcome could likely be. The Coming Betrayal of Israel.President Obama has pledged to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that America has Israel’s “back.” Who knew he had a knife?

The culmination of all things is that on the very last days, Israel will be completely friendless, completely surrounded and completely hated. Satan will have been thrown down from heaven, and his fury will be unleashed on Israel (and the Christians).

“Behold, I am about to make Jerusalem a cup of staggering to all the surrounding peoples. The siege of Jerusalem will also be against Judah. On that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples. All who lift it will surely hurt themselves. And all the nations of the earth will gather against it.” (Zechariah 12:2-3)

“And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child.” (Rev 12:13)

Backing up from that moment a bit, we know that through Israel’s history in biblical times and since 1948, the nation has been hated. Satan hates the nation that bore the male child, who is Jesus of course. Persecution has been the hallmark of the Jewish experience and the constant state of the nation of God. That Israel is increasingly hated today and increasingly isolated is prophetic and indicative of the last of the last days in which we are living. For those who just a few short years ago could not possibly see how the US and Israel would ever break relations, now you know. The bible is always true and it is amazing to me to see His words come alive in the world to the very jot and tittle of fulfillment.

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Brothers and Sisters, Jesus will call for His Bride and then He will return to judge the unbelieving world. These are facts from the bible. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). He will come soon, also a fact from the bible. (1 Thessalonians 1:10; Luke 3:7). His appearing has always been imminent. (John 11:17-27, Hebrews 10:24–25, Titus 2:11–13). I believe Jesus is coming soon because the bible declares it. The inspired writings the Apostles laid down declare it so.

I see the rising apostasy, increasing depravity, and  other partial fulfillments of scripture that herald the nearness of His coming as reported in the news, these are signs, the very signs He said to watch for. I read my bible, I look around, I know in my heart He is faithful and true- and He is coming soon. Whether He is “early” (Matthew 24:44) or whether He is “late” (Matthew 25:5) ,He will be right on time to collect His bride. I pray you are in that group and not the group left behind to face His wrath. Pray for forgiveness to the Resurrected Lamb, who was slain from the beginning of the world. God’s plan is to redeem, and pray your redemption is today, because the Redemption of the World who is also the Judge, draweth nigh.

Posted in charismatic, false doctrine, false teachers

The story of Lucy Nduta: of ravenous false prophets and dead sheep

Posted on by elizabethprata

Readers of this blog are aware that I enjoyed the good biblical preaching at the recent Strange Fire conference. That was a conference that sought to refute the claims of the Charismatic movement, to rebuke the leaders of it, and to urge the brethren to pray for discernment so they will be able to detect falsity if it creeps in to their church (or heart).

The Charismatic movement is a movement which is based on the unbiblical notion that personally delivered prophecies, babbling tongues, and healing by men laying hands on the sick (sign gifts) are still going strong as they were at Pentecost and during the Apostolic era.

These sign gifts have ceased, and the preaching at the conference showed this. One of the speakers was Pastor Conrad Mbewe. Pastor Mbewe is pastor of Kabwata Baptist Church in Zambia, Africa. He spoke at John MacArthur’s Strange Fire conference in Sun Valley, Calif., on Oct. 18, 2013. His first sermon was titled,  The African Import of Charismatic Chaos. He has been observing the growth of the Charismatic movement in his nation and beyond, for over thirty years. He has personally been impacted by it, as he said, not just from books but in every day life.

His second message was titled “Are We Preachers or Witch Doctors?” In this sermon, Pastor Mbewe related how the African mindset of the lost person, having been drenched in witch doctor superstition, will readily accept the unbiblical precepts inherent in the Charismatic movement because the two are extremely similar.

The lost person is desperate. It is the default condition of the lost person. They are wandering, empty, their lives are void of meaning. They also have life issues that may be very difficult to deal with and because they don’t have Christ, they do not have a lasting coping mechanism.

The sick, particularly, look for cures from any quarter: medicines, homeopathic, psychology, or spiritual remedies. The sick are often all too vulnerable and willing to grasp any person who claims to have a way, a cure, a method.

This is where Lucy Nduta comes in.

This woman is from Kenya. She calls herself Prophetess Lucy Nduta, and she preaches. In 2007, Worldwide Religious News printed the following, originally printed in the East African Standard

Churches Sow Miracles
“Nairobi, Kenya – The sprouting of countless charismatic churches in the country has heralded a new breed of church leaders and worshippers with strong faith in the power of miracles. An increasing number of Kenyans are turning to ‘sowing the seed’ (giving huge sums of money for offering and tithe) at the prompting of church ministers who promise them to expect prosperity. However, it appears there are ‘men and women of God’ who are out to take advantage of the unwavering faith and ignorance of worshippers. These are people who hide self-interest under the cloak of religion. They quote biblical verses to suit their intentions and convince the congregation of the need to give more in order to receive more.”

What Lucy Nduta did was, in the name of Jesus, take sick people’s money, supposedly pray for them, and lie to them they were healed. But it gets worse, because it gets more diabolical.

Nduta preyed on people with HIV/AIDS, a scourge that particularly affects the people of the African continent. Nduta would claim that she had the power to heal people suffering from HIV/AIDS through her miracle working prayers, and then herd them to a clinic/lab she had built near her church. The sick people would get tested there, and because Nduta owned the lab, she would have the workers give clean bills of health to these unfortunately trusting people, lab reports that were totally bogus. The people really thought they were cured, and sought no further treatment. And of course in gratitude they tithed heavily to Nduta. Then, they died.

The Africa Report stated, “The police later found out that the clinics were her own creation to lure people. She was consequently sentenced to two years in prison. Despite these revelations, thousands still fill churches each Sunday waiting for miracles to happen in their lives.”

Nduta was sentenced in 2008 and got out of prison in 2010.

False pastors who shred the sheep are a scourge. When the verse says-

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”(Matthew 7:15)

Ravenous means, ‘Extremely hungry; voracious, Rapacious; predatory, Greedy for gratification’. Ravenous predators never stop. They eat and kill and eat and kill. That is what they do.

Nduta and now her son, are at it again. This report is from last week, Nov 4, 2013-

“Self-styled prophetess Lucy Nduta Mwangi has called in to defend her activities and that of her son, another self-declared prophet Victor Kanyari. Nduta says there is nothing wrong with what she and her son have been doing adding that they will continue asking for what is called seed money.

The report above ends with the announcer stating that the Evangelical Alliance of Kenya will convene to discus and strategize how to deal with the sudden rise of fake preachers in Kenya.

Ravenous is what wolves are. So if you believe that opening yourself just a tiny bit to doctrines which false prophets bring, you are very, very wrong.

An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land: the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule at their direction; my people love to have it so, but what will you do when the end comes?  (Jeremiah 5:30-31)

Posted in disasters, prophecy, providence

God’s Providence in the face of mega-disasters

Posted on by elizabethprata
source

In the wake of Typhoon Haiyan decimating much of the Philippines last week, the AP has put together a list of the deadliest disasters of the last decade in which the death toll was higher than Haiyan’s.

I thought it would be interesting to look at the data regarding natural disasters in different aspects. Which are the ten worst natural disasters? Is there a particular nation that has endured the burden of more disasters than neighboring nations? In light of the fact that Jesus and the Apostles said that the times would be getting worse and worse, and the disasters that would come will be like birth pangs (which grow worse in frequency and intensity), let’s take a look.

On a personal note, each time a terrible disaster occurs and people and animals die, or horrible property destruction occurs, it is very hard to watch on the news. Knowing the destiny of those who are saved is a blessing, but alternately, knowing the destiny of those who are not saved, who die in these disasters on a mass scale, is a burden to any Christian’s soul. However, it is as Jesus says. No matter what the data shows, the times will wax worse and worse, and His hand will lift in restraint and then judgment will come.

The exercise to review the disaster data is not just a mental exercise. Each person who dies in a terrible disaster is an immortal soul. (Genesis 2:7; Matthew 10:28). As you consider the last days disasters, please allow the Spirit to increase the urgency in you to witness, live for Christ, and pray.

Comparison of natural disasters of the last decade
Typhoon Haiyan is feared to have killed more than 10,000 people in the Philippines. Here are the natural disasters in the last decade that had higher death tolls:

 — March 11, 2011: A magnitude-9.0 earthquake off northeastern Japan causes a tsunami that sweeps onto the coast. About 19,000 people are killed and three nuclear reactors melt at the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant.

 — Jan. 12, 2010: A 7.0 earthquake devastates Haiti’s capital and surrounding cities, killing 314,000 people.

 — May 12, 2008: A 7.9 temblor in China’s Sichuan province kills 87,000 people. A disproportionate number of them were children killed when their shoddily built schools collapsed.

 — May 2, 2008: The storm surge from Cyclone Nargis washes up densely populated areas around the Irrawaddy River delta in Myanmar, washing away whole farming villages. Around 138,000 people died.

 — Oct. 8, 2005: A 7.6 earthquake kills about 80,000 people in northwestern Pakistan and Kashmir.

 — Dec. 26, 2004: A 9.1 earthquake off western Indonesia triggers a tsunami in the Indian Ocean, killing 230,000 people in a dozen countries.

 — Dec. 26, 2003: A 6.6 earthquake flattens the historic city of Bam in southeastern Iran, and some 26,000 people are killed.

Victims of the flooding in August 1931, Wikipedia

Wikipedia has lists of the worst natural disasters. In the first set, they list the worst ever disasters over all recorded time. I had not known that in 1931, 1 million to 4 million people died in China during floods. As a matter of fact, five of the ten listed worst disasters ever occurred in China. More here.

Of the ten worst disasters since 1900, again, half of those occurred in China, with only two overlapping from the above list. The top one is that aforementioned flood that killed -4 million people. The second worst disaster since 1900 was an earthquake, again in China, that killed 650,000–779,000 people. It was in 1976 in Tangshan.

Did you know that 4,000 people died in 1972 in Iran from the world’s deadliest blizzard? I didn’t either. Of the ten worst blizzards, 50% have occurred in the United States.

Galveston 1900 hurricane aftermath, Wikipedia

Of the worst tropical cyclone, which Typhoon Haiyan doesn’t even come close, half a million people died in 1970 in Bhola, India. As a matter of fact, 60% of the worst cyclones with high death tolls have occurred in India. A majority of these disasters occurred prior to 1900, which it stands to reason because the more primitive weather prediction services and technology didn’t afford much time to evacuate.

The 1900 Galveston Hurricane in Texas USA caused the deaths of about 8,000 and birthed the modern Weather Service. The book Isaac’s Storm was a tremendous non-fiction book covering both the storm and the men who valiantly tracked the storm and the aftermath of the impact on the then-nascent weather service. Many people say it was that storm which lurched the Weather Service into modern times.

Avalanches are a danger and a hazard, too. The 1970 Huascarán avalanche; triggered by the 1970 Ancash earthquake, killed 20,000 people. In 1950-51 The Swiss were held hostage to terror, a winter they still call the “Winter of Terror“.

“The Winter of Terror was the three-month period during the winter of 1950-1951 when a previously unrecorded number of avalanches took place in the Alps. The series of 649 avalanches killed over 265 people and caused large amounts of damage to residential and other human-made structures.”

That is an average of 216 avalanches per month, or an average of 7 per day. Can you imagine living with that much terror and uncertainty? A terror where a mountain full of snow may come sweeping down into your house as you sleep, burying you alive?

Nothing gets people looking for the meaning of life like an earthquake. The hits on my blog rise dramatically when a large earthquake occurs. Maybe it is that primal terror of even the seemingly solid ground under your feet swaying and opening its chasm like hell enlarging its mouth that strikes such fear. (Isaiah 5:14). People go looking for answers in large numbers when an earthquake hits.

source

In any case, here China is the beleaguered recipient of a major disaster, three-times over. Holding the  place for location of the top three worst earthquakes ever is China once again. 830,000 people died in the 1556 Shaanxi earthquake in 1556, 650,000–779,000 died in the 1976 Tangshan earthquake, and 273,400 died in 1920 in the Haiyuan earthquake.

You can go on and look at the Wikipedia page for lists and explanations of the other worst disasters, like floods/landslides (China holds the top 4 places); deadliest heat waves (the top two occurred after 2000); lightning strikes, storms and the like.

I enjoy learning about the Providence of God. I am fascinated with that doctrine. It relates to His sovereignty and how God orders, ordains, or allows everything that occurs to occur, for His plan and His glory. It is a hard concept, especially when you think of all the terrible storms and disasters that occur. It is also hard when you think about evil. Why is there evil? Why do these things happen? Phil Johnson speaks of Providence a lot. He preached about it recently at the Strange Fire conference, but prior to that, he preached on the doctrine of God’s providence the week before the conference as he was preparing. The conference sermon was terrific, I recommend it. I also recommend the sermon he preached to his Sunday School group the week prior. In that sermon, Pastor Johnson specifically addresses questions like the ones I’ve raised today, about evil, and how evil fits into God’s plan, and about all the things that happen, from mega-disasters to the hairs on your head (and when God allows each one to fall out.) God is in the little things as much as He is in the disasters.

His sermon at the conference is called Providence IS Remarkable. There is a transcript available in case you can’t listen or watch video. The sermon that relates more closely with the issues in this essay today is “The Master of My Fate.” Again, there is a transcript.

God is in control. When you see a disaster occur, remember God and obey Him. Also when you don’t see a disaster happen, remember God and obey Him. When a hair falls out of your head, or when your car starts in the morning, or when you eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, remember God and obey Him. Most importantly, remember the lost people who do not have the privilege and comfort of knowing that a loving God hods them in the palm of His hand.

Everyday Providence should make us urgent to witness, but sometimes we grow lax. I know I do. When we see a disaster like Tropical Typhoon Haiyan, it jogs us again. When they occur, floods of souls arrive in hell. Keep that visual in your mind. The ones who arrive in hell during a disaster outnumber greatly the ones who arrive in heaven. Hell must enlarge its mouth to receive them. Therefore, disasters are as much God speaking to Christians as it is to the lost.

Posted in discernment, jesus, last days, prophecy, second coming

The season of the return of Jesus Christ is near

Posted on by elizabethprata

Did you know that the Second Coming of Christ is one of the major themes of the bible?

There are 300 hundred prophecies about the First Coming of Jesus in the Old Testament, but there are 500 — five hundred! — in the Old Testament about His Second Coming! And in the New Testament, one out of every 25 verses has to do with the Second Coming of Jesus. In other words, there are many, many, many more prophecies about the Second Coming of Jesus than His First Coming. Probably twice as many. Why so many? Because Jesus is returning in wrath. The first time He came, He came as a compassionate Savior with tears in His eyes. But when He returns, He is returning as a conquering warrior with eyes like white hot flames because He is returning to judge and make war against the enemies of God. And so, since God does not wish that any should perish, He has given us sign after sign after sign to watch for. (source)

There are many of us who study the bible, including prophecy, and are eager for His return. We believe we are in the season of His return. The reason is not because there is one specific reason or sign, but because the signs are all converging with rapidity and laser focus. It’s happening fast and it is happening intensely.

One of the signs is that there will be apostasy in untold amounts before the Son of Man returns. Some of the verses which speak of this are:

  • “Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,” (2 Thessalonians 2:3) NASB
  • “And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another.”(Matthew 24:10, 12)
  • “Because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth” (Revelation 3:16)
  • “Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,” (1 Timothy 4:1)
  • “the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths.” (2 Timothy 4:3-4)

Can there be any doubt that this time right now has had the greatest falling away from even professed ‘Christians’? Where the foundational precepts that make the faith are ignored or denied? Here is one such example:

Methodist Pastor Frank Schaefer Faces Trial for Son’s Gay Wedding “Schaefer, pastor of Zion United Methodist Church of Iona in South Lebanon Township, told his superiors in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference that he was going to perform at his son’s wedding in 2007 and received no warning or reprimand. It was only this April, when a parishioner filed a complaint, that Schaefer was told he would face discipline for violating church doctrine.”

How sad, that no one said anything for 5 years. Where is the discernment?  

“And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ.” (Philippians 1:9-10). 

 What is my crime? I blessed two people that loved each other,” Schaefer, 51, told ABC News.

Love doesn’t trump God. It’s not a reason nor an excuse. Love is not an indicator of anything, except that the heart is desperately sick and not to be trusted. (Jeremiah 17:9, Genesis 6:5). His crime is that he disobeyed God, and failed his office of pastor.

 “Jesus our Lord and Savior never mentioned homosexuality at all and my point is if it is that important of an issue, why didn’t he mention it?,” Schaefer said.

So we only need to follow the red words in the bible? The rest is chopped liver? Never let it be so! The Old Testament and the New Testament are replete with lists of sins that are abominations to God, homosexuality among them. (Genesis 19:1-13; Leviticus 18:22; 20:13; Romans 1:26-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9, and Romans 1:26-27 shows that homosexuality itself is the judgment for those who had continually disobeyed God.) The minister forgot this verse, which says,

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,” (2 Timothy 3:16)

 Apostasy is so rampant now that it boggles the mind that there are any decent churches left at all. And look, the article nears its conclusion with this statement:

 “On Saturday in Philadelphia, nearly 50 ministers participated in a same-sex wedding at a Methodist church as a symbol of support for their colleague, Schaefer, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer.”

Apostasy now, but come soon, Lord Jesus.