Boy, 14, killed by train in Covina apparently while texting, listening to music “A 14-year-old boy’s life was cut short in a train accident in Covina on Wednesday. Mitchal Sata of Glendora was killed when he was struck by a Metrolink train traveling east along Glendora Avenue at 48 mph in the evening. Investigators said it appears Sata had his headphones in listening to music as he was walking along Glendora Avenue. Tracy Aaron Anderson, Sata’s mother, said a witness told her the boy may have also been texting at the time. “She said that he stopped, hesitated for a moment, then when she looked again he was gone,” Anderson said. “She was on the other side and I assume that’s when he was struck by the train.” Anderson says her son was a good kid with a big heart.”
This unfortunate incident made me think of another long-ago incident that John Prine sang about, in a song called Bruised Orange (Chain of Sorrow). He sings of an incident that occurred where an altar boy who wasn’t paying attention, was walking along the tracks and was hit by a commuter that was comin’ so slow…
The song deals with senseless tragedy, made all the more bruising when it occurs unexpectedly and worse, upon a child.
We ask, why was a three-year-old mugged in his stroller? The mom who is a witness said the men who tried to take her son’s necklace laughed at her mockingly. She said they would have taken her son just for the necklace if neighbors hadn’t scared them off. Why did a woman break into a house, nail the doors shut and hide in a closet, holding scissors? Police say it is the most bizarre case they have ever seen.
Why are people so broken? Why do these things happen? People have been asking that, and singing about that, since sin began on earth.
Prine sang, “You can gaze out the window get mad and get madder, throw your hands in the air, say ‘What does it matter?’ but it don’t do no good to get angry.”
Why? because “a heart stained in anger grows weak and grows bitter.” The life we have on earth is a hard, awful sinful, broken one. If not in Christ, it is inexplicable that a boy should be hit by a train in broad daylight, in 2010 or in 1977. It seems inexplicable that this would happen or that would happen, but life on earth means sudden tragedy. That’s it. It will happen. Our only hope is in Jesus, who offers a better life.
Our life in Christ is a joy, but even believers moan at the weight of trains barreling down to take a life right in front of us. We can’t let the bitterness overcome us. Each moment on earth is a blessing from Jesus, who allows all life to come and allows all life to go. (Job 1:18; Luke 13:4).
If we ask why bad things happen to good people we might get wrapped up in a chain of sorrow that has no end. If we ask why good things happen to bad people we keep our eyes focused on Jesus, who is the 100% example of all Good, and to whom we belong, and will be living with in eternal joy someday.
If you are not in Christ, these days of sudden tragedy, criminals mocking, bizarre events, and strange intrusions need not trouble you as much as if you are not in Christ. He will accept your repentance of your sins and will open your eyes to the difference between what seeming ‘good’ on earth is and the real good, of heaven and His temple.
I’ve been hearing snippets of lyrics that drive me crazy. Hearing friends talk about books with words that grieve my spirit. I could not figure out why at first, but then it came to me. These words are part of a new paradigm aimed at women, in which Jesus is romanticized as our high school prom date. Is this new trend bad? Oh, yes, it’s bad.
First, some examples of the Romanticism of Jesus. This one is from Beth Moore- I call it “Date night with Jesus at the Zoo”.
“Christ seemed to say, “Let’s go play.” And that we did. I hadn’t been to the zoo in years. I heard about all the improvements, but I never expected the ultimate: Starbucks coffee! (OK, so I don’t have my health issues down pat.) Can you imagine watching a baby koala take a nap in a tree on a rare cold day in Houston with a Starbucks grande cappuccino in your hand? Now that’s a Sabbath moment! God and I had a blast.” (The Beloved Disciple, p. 220)
Or this from Moore:
“After an April snowstorm, Moore writes, “I heard the voice of God speak to my heart: “Come and play.” I love that He said “Come.” Not “Go.” “Come.” That meant He was already there. I also love how I could tell by the sweet tone of His silent voice whispering to my spirit that He was smiling. You know, you can tell that kind of thing in the voices of those you really know. “I built a snowman. I used grapes for eyes, and a half-moon shaped sesame snack for the mouth. I didn’t make a nose. I have enough for the both of us. He’s wearing my hat and scarf, and I rather hope he doesn’t get them wet. I let him borrow them because I was coming back inside. I laughed with God. He laughed with me…. I am so in love with Him. I am so in love with Him.” (When Godly People do Ungodly Things,” p 124).
“I fly to Paris and discover how to make love to God.” This closing chapter, “The Joy of Intimacy,” is her discovery of God through something akin to sexual intimacy. In a chapter laden with intimate imagery she falls in love with God again, but this time hears him urging to respond. She wants more of him. And then at last she experiences some kind of spiritual climax, some understanding of what it means to fully live, of what it means to be one with Christ, to experience the deepest kind of union. “God makes love with grace upon grace, every moment a making of His love for us. [C]ouldn’t I make love to God, making every moment love for Him? To know Him the way Adam knew Eve. Spirit skin to spirit skin?”
EWWWW! It’s bad enough to have date night with Jesus because you are “in love with” Him, but to fantasize about sex with Him skin to skin? Just awful. But that is the natural slide downward where this trend is leading us. Below, I’ll show you why.
So I was going to write a blog entry about how Jesus is not my boyfriend. And then I googled “Jesus is not my boyfriend” and there were lots of hits. LOL, many other better bloggers than I have already written about this trend. I am late to the party. Here are some good examples I offer to you to check out–
The trend began in Christian music, and in Friel’s piece he not only warns about the lyric but also the amorous phrasing and the manner in which they are sung, breathlessly and sexily. All this is a no-no. Unfortunately, the trend has now launched off music and invaded books and other materials mostly aimed at women.
So I got to thinking…why. Why this sudden trend toward Jesus as the hugging boyfriend? In my belief system, Jesus is the KING OF LINGS AND LORD OF LORDS, advocating and adjudicating for us with Yahweh at the throne in the courts of praise where the pillars shake. He is not a Romantic date sliding down a rainbow on a unicorn to give us a cupcake! (I read that somewhere. Isn’t it good? I wish I could give credit). So what’s up with all this? Take a deep breath, here we go.
It is all about the battlefield. We know from many scriptures that we are in a battle. We are fighting the good fight. (1 Timothy 1:18-19; 1 Timothy 6:12; Ephesians 6:12; Jude 1:3; ) We are given armor to help us, the main weapon of which is His word. (Eph 6:13-14).
Nowhere in the scriptures does it say that this battle is for the men only. Lift up the helmet visor. There’s a woman in there! Nowhere does it say the armor is for the men only. Women are in this fight too.
But women are always satan’s first target. He approached Eve in the garden, not Adam. (Gen 3:1). Paul warned Timothy that in the last days false teachers will creep into households to capture weak-willed women (who are laden with sins- yet another reason for frequent confession, ladies!). (2 Tim 3:6). Women are a target. Just look at the havoc wreaked with the Feminist movement.
Just as with so many things of Jesus, the opposite of what we expect in this world is what is actually true: the weak will prevail, the meek shall inherit, the first shall be last. In this case, it is that staying ON the battle field is safer. Therefore Satan’s goal is to get women off the battlefield.
As long as you are a soldier fighting to resist satan all ways and all days, wearing the armor and wielding it in Holy Spirit strength, you are safer than if you’re off the battlefield, relaxing. And yet that is where satan has gotten so many women.
They have taken off their armor and have suspended the fight. Now they are not a warrior, they are a camp follower. Originally a camp follower was a woman married to a soldier who traveled with the soldier. Sometimes his family went along too.
Satan has got the women off the muddy, stinky, dirty battlefield to go into the tent and rearrange the curtains. He’s gotten women off the battlefield and into romanticizing war. We went from this:
To this:
Now that we have dispensed with armor and gotten in touch with our softer side, we did the same to Jesus. No longer the LORD OF LORDS, He is the high school date with which we cuddle in the rocking chair kissing skin to skin with warm embraces. What will be the next progression? You read Beth Moore’s snippets of her date with Jesus. She is “so in love with Him.” What is the next thing that satan will do? He always perverts everything, pollutes it. We have left the Godly relationship behind. We’ve entered into a romantic relationship. The next step is to change from a romantic relationship and to sexualize it. Isn’t that the progression? Always.
Like the lyrics of Hold Me featuring tobyMac (HT Sola Sisters)–
(I love, I love, I love, I love the way You hold me) (I love, I love, I love, I love the way You hold me) (I love, I love, I love, I love the way You hold me) (I love, I love, I love, I love the way You, the way Ya, the way Ya) I’ve had a long day I just wanna relax Don’t have time for my friends, no time to chit-chat Problems at my job, wonderin’ what to do I know I should be working, but I’m thinking of You and Just when I feel this crazy world is gonna bring me down That’s when Your smile comes around Oo, I love the way You hold me, by my side You’ll always be You take each and everyday, make it special in some way I love the way You hold me, in Your arms I’ll always be You take each and everyday, make it special in some way I love You more than the words in my brain can express I can’t imagine even loving You less Lord, I love the way You hold me
What happened to the wifely camp followers? Many women, if their husbands were killed, had to make a living. They entered into sexual relationship with the men. As prostitutes.
Women are going AWOL from the battle, seduced by the violins and lollipops from the army band at the back of the battlefield, to go into the tents and wait out the battle. And while the women are waiting, they yearn for the perfect man to come in and sweep them off their feet, give them the love they always wanted and never had, listen to them, hold them in the rocking chair. Ugh. And then they descend into a perverse sexual relationship and their degradation is complete.
Jesus is not my boyfriend. He is not my lover.
Dear ones, the battle is wearisome. It is dirty. It is bloody.
Battle Hymn of the Republic Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord: He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored; He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword: His truth is marching on.
I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps, They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps; I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps: His day is marching on.
The battle seems to go on, and on, and on, and on…but His day is coming, and we need to be ON the battlefield when He does. We cannot be listening to gross lyrics like “hold me in your arms, never let me go, Lord I want to see your face, feel the warmth of your embrace.” (Hillsong United, Draw me Closer to You). We cannot be off in some snowfield making a snowman and having a blast with God. We cannot be making love to God spirit skin to spirit skin!’ (Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts). Women are seduced off the battlefield and turning into whores for Jesus.
I agree, that is rough language and a rough charge. But what else is a person to make of a trend where perfect agape love of our HOLY GOD has been switched for eros with our prom date Jesus?
“While it is true that the Bible utilizes images of marriage to parallel Christ’s relationship to the church, two things must be taken into account. Firstly, Christ relates to the church as a collective unit. He is married to the community as a whole and not to billions of individuals who claim to serve him–he is not a polygamist. Secondly, the love Christ shares with his church is not defined by the Greek term “eros” from which the English word “erotic” is derived, but is expressed with the noun “agape” (pronounced ah-gah-pay) which denotes love demonstrated in deeds. Those who view themselves as children of God are not called to exercise eros but agape; they are not invited to brief episodes of self gratifying sexual intimacy but to a lifetime of social and spiritual interaction.” (source)
What are the men to make of this sexual imagery with Christ? Does Ann Voskamp’s husband (if she has one) feel comfortable with her sexual allegory and eroto-porn language? How would he feel if it was Justin Bieber she said she wants to enjoy a greater intimacy with spiritual skin to skin? Or worse, the man next door? If he came across her drafts of her book but included in it was language exactly the same as what ended up in her book but instead she used the name of Joe next door? Adultery is not good. That is what I mean by whoring for Jesus!
If you listen to praise music, or read Christian books or studies by women, here are a couple of clues to tune into,
1. Who is the subject of the song? Even the nicest sounding songs or books take ourselves as the subject. Hillsong United’s Draw Me Closer to You is about… ME.
2. How long does it take you to figure out the song is about God? In the Hold Me song where I listed the lyric, the Lord was not mentioned till nearly the end.
3. Does the song have good theology? Can you recognize scriptural verses in there?
“Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty! Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee; Holy, Holy, Holy! Merciful and Mighty! God in Three Persons, blessed Trinity!” Obviously refers to Isaiah 6:3.
Amazing Grace’s ‘blind but now I see’ is from John 9:25.
4. Is the song sung in a straightforward way or are there additional sexy trills and moans added? If it is a book passage or a bible study (God forbid!) then are there words that allude to a fleshly relationship of a more carnal nature, talk of kissing or embracing?
I trust in my Divine and Majestic God as Lord and Savior. He is also my Comforter and my Friend. He is not my boyfriend and He is not my lover. His grace is sufficient for me.
More than 20 people faint at Obama rally “The pool report on President Obama’s trip to Roanoke, Virginia says that more than 20 people fainted during the president’s speech this evening. “TV viewers may have heard POTUS pointed out a couple of faintings during the rally in downtown Roanoke,” writes the pool report. “In fact, fire officials say more than 20 people fell out during the course of the speech. There were waves of exclamation as one person after another swooned.” Paramedics treated 21 people on the scene and took one to the hospital, according to the Roanoke fire department. It was warm out and the crowd of 3,000-plus was packed tightly into the 4-block area, the deputy fire marshal said by way of explanation. Volunteers passed around cups of water but some people didn’t take them, he said.”
One after another fainted? ‘By way of explanation’ is what gets me. They try to explain, but they can’t. It is a phenomenon. I wonder why people faint when Obama looks at them? I have my theories. I am sure you have yours. In any case, I can’t wait for the rapture…
Here is some of today’s interesting prophetic news:
A plague of mice! The US isn’t the only farming nation to recently have a major crop cut by half…
Field mice overrun farms in central Germany “Millions of field mice are overrunning the central German states of Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt, much to the concern of local farmers. The rodents are devastating food crops, cutting yields by up to 50 percent. Getting birds of prey to hunt the critters didn’t help, and now farmers want to be allowed to use a banned rat poison. … “The birds got so fat from eating all the mice that they almost couldn’t fly any more,” Kopp said. “But they still couldn’t keep up.” (Rev 6:8)
Humungous solar flare erupts in our direction The sun unleashed a huge flare Thursday (July 12), the second major solar storm to erupt from our star in less than a week. The solar flare peaked at 12:52 p.m. EDT (1652 GMT) as an X-class sun storm, the most powerful type of flare the sun can have.” (Luke 21:25)
The flare’s effects are due to arrive on earth July 14 at around 4:30 am EDT give or take 7 hours.
Syria’s army foments war of faiths (Google translated from German magazine Spiegel) Berlin – Again, there are gruesome pictures from Syria, and again the question arises as to the perpetrators. Syria’s opposition to the regime is accused of having murdered in the village at Hama Tremseh more than 220 men, women and children. Some are killed by artillery fire from the army, others have been killed by militia from neighboring villages. Kofi Annan said on Friday that it was proven that had been used in Tremseh artillery, helicopters and tanks. This is a clear breach of his peace plan by the Syrian army.” (Isaiah 17:1, Psalm 83 Matthew 24:6).
Syria massacre in Tremseh village shocks Annan “Amateur video footage which appeared to show the corpses of 15 men gave an inkling of the scale of the reported bloodletting in the village of Tremseh after a major onslaught by government forces and pro-regime militiamen. Survivors and activists told of how gunmen went from house to house clinically executing survivors while others were shot dead as they tried to escape through the fields surrounding the village, which lies in Syria’s western province of Hama. The bloodshed marked the third large-scale massacre in Syria since mid-May…”
The situation in Syria really is hazardous. Keeping in mind the Isaiah 17 prophecy, I am not kidding when I saw that one day soon we will wake up to find Damascus doesn’t exist anymore.
Russia Today reports on Obama. I grew up in the age of Russian propaganda via the newspaper Pravda, but now we rely on Russia to reflect back to us the doings of our president because the US press has now become Pravda.
Obama gives himself control of all communication systems in America “US President Barack Obama quietly signed his name to an Executive Order on Friday, allowing the White House to control all private communications in the country in the name of national security. President Obama released his latest Executive Order on Friday, July 6, a 2,205-word statement offered as the “Assignment of National Security and Emergency Preparedness Communications Functions.” And although the president chose not to commemorate the signing with much fanfare, the powers he provides to himself and the federal government under the latest order are among the most far-reaching yet of any of his executive decisions.” Rev 13:16-17).
These kind of power grab plays right into the hands of the coming oppressive regime and ultimate dictator. When the Tribulation happens, and the cataclysmic events begins to occur, control of information will be of utmost importance.
In regards to the coming apostasy, which many say is either here or nearly here, the following is an essay on the roots of the emergent church and how to spot it if it is creeping into yours.
How to spot the emergent church creeping into your church “Here is a short list of authors, teachers and areas of concern that may indicate that the leadership of your church is being influenced to varying extents by Emergent Church philosophy.”
If you are of the kind of Christian who believes (knows) God is sovereign over all the affairs of men, then you know He ordained your birth at this time, now, for a reason. He has planned work for you to do. Ephesians 2:10 tells us this:
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
Therefore, did you ever think about why He planned for you to be born, now, in this era, for just such a time as this? It wasn’t to lay around reaping the benefits of the wealth our nations have produced. It was to do a good work. Will you rise up today in prayer, seeking His face, and appealing to Him to send the work and giving you strength and resolve to perform it? Because that is where joy comes. In knowing Christ and serving Him.
Understanding His word brings joy: “And all the people went their way to eat, and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great mirth, because they had understood the words that were declared unto them.” (Nehemiah 8:12)
God’s presence is joy: “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” (Psalms 16:11)
And doing His work is a joy! “And kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy: for the LORD had made them joyful, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria unto them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.” (Ezra 6:22)
No matter what is going on in the world, there is work to be done in His name and for His glory. Let’s get to it!
A warning from my heart. One thing that strikes me is how few (seemingly) Christians really know how late the hour is. I’m still struck by Pastor James Murphy’s sermon, the raw and pointed one he delivered last Sunday in Johnson City NY. He said that the time has come to stop fooling around. Knowing the Word of God through diligent study and practice of discernment is too important. And he said, shame on them if they didn’t think it was important. It is.
And if we know the word of God we know how late the hour is. Paul said that we are children of the Light and will not be surprised as we see the Day approaching. (1 Thess 5:4.) The writer of Hebrews said that we should not stop assembling together, we should do it all the more as we see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:25). Not as we believe the day is approaching. Not as we pray that the day might be approaching. As we SEE the day approaching.
Knowing the lateness of the hour ties in with this verse: “For where your treasure is, there your heart shall be also.” (Matthew 6:21). Is our treasure Jesus? Or is it this world? At this late hour are we part of a Laodicean church? Jesus had charges against that church-
‘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.” (Rev 3:15-18).
The Worship of Mammon, E. DeMorgan, 1909
Are we buying gold from Mammon? So that we may be comfortable and rich and have need of nothing? And so not have need of Jesus? Are we walking in self-confidence (Beth Moore), satisfied with our best life now (Joel Osteen), doing lukewarm works with Jesus as a footnote (Rick Warren), manipulating God so he will be forced to release the blessing (Joyce Meyer), begging for ‘seed money’ (Jentezen Franklin) and throwing people who “hinder” us off the bus where the bodies are piling up? (Mark Driscoll)?
Or are we the church at Philadelphia, where Jesus said we “have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.” ?
That is the main problem with the global church body today, but especially UK, Canada, Australia and US. We deny Jesus. Oh, sure, a name of Jesus is preached from pulpits, if they even dare to call it a pulpit, some just call it a podium, but it is from a different Gospel and it refers to a different Jesus. THE Jesus of the Bible is denied again and again.
Over 120 years ago Charles Haddon Spurgeon predicted, “A time will come when instead of shepherds feeding the sheep, the church will have clowns entertaining the goats.” Oh, how right he was.
Our generation is “Sacrificing biblical truth for the cause of ecumenical unity and promotion of carnal methodology in churches are the norm of our age” wrote Chris Lawson in his April newsletter, “Clowning around in the pulpit.” He wrote, “Instead of playing fast and loose with God’s church, Christian leaders ought to be discussing Bible prophecy in light of global events and teaching biblical discernment in light of the end-times apostasy.”
Oh how right he is. Are pastors, teachers, and leaders teaching biblical discernment? A few. Praise them, and thank you Lord for raising up the pastors and teachers who are. But they are increasingly few…Grant Jeffrey is home with the Lord now, as is David Wilkerson, Adrian Rogers, and others. I see few discerning elders on the near horizon to take their place. And increasingly, the ones who are still teaching and preaching biblical discernment are not listened to. I wonder what the fallout has been for Pastor James Murphy up in Johnson City.
Thus, today, instead of the norm in our Bible-believing churches being the Prince of Preachers warning 120 years ago about the coming clown parade,
Believers are warned again and again throughout the Old Testament and the New about the dangers of idols, false teaching and false prophets. Are we, in the twenty-first century so smart that we can afford to ignore these? No. Are we who are the generation living in the latter days so advanced that we can ignore the warnings of end of times apostasy? No.
So what are we to do? John MacArthur preached on the verses from Thessalonians 5:21-22, in a series titled “A Call for Discernment.” In part 1 he said, “We cannot for a moment believe that every one who claims to be in Christ and to speak on behalf of Christ is speaking the truth.” But yet so many people do. In 1 Thess 5:16 “starting with verse 16, Paul has been listing the basics of Christian living…rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus, do not quench the Spirit, do not despise Scripture or the revelation of God. And now he comes to this one, examine everything.”
Just because a person says they come in the name of Christ, they may not. Just because they are popular or long-lasting, doesn’t mean they get a pass on whether they should be examined. The Bereans were called noble for examining the scriptures to see if they lined up with what Paul said. And Paul loved it.
The best Resource of all is the Holy Spirit! And the Bible itself.
Brethren, the hour is late. The watchword of the day is not our pits or self or confidence or release or seed or seeker. Repentance is the watchword, because after that, comes wrath.
Regarding the mention made below of the possibility of X-flares due to the large sunspot turning into view: it has occurred. Spaceweather.com reports:
X-FLARE! Big sunspot AR1520 unleashed an X1.4-class solar flare on July 12th at 1653 UT. Because this sunspot is directly facing Earth, everything about the blast was geoeffective. For one thing, it hurled a coronal mass ejection (CME) directly toward our planet. According to a forecast track prepared by analysts at the Goddard Space Weather Lab, the CME will hit Earth on July 14th around 10:20 UT (+/- 7 hours) and could spark strong geomagnetic storms. Sky watchers should be alert for auroras this weekend.
————–end update————–
Here are some news excerpts for you today which I thought were interesting and had a prophetic tinge, if not outright seriously end of days kind of interesting.
The Lord said in His response to the disciples as to when the end of days will come and what shall be the signs, (Luke 21:11) that at the end of days one of the signs would be pestilence. Pestilence is an epidemic disease with a high death rate.
With that in mind, here is a story in the Palm Beach (FL) Post from yesterday-
The Palm Beach Post exposes a hidden menace Government cutbacks and the worst TB epidemic in 20 years “Reporting on tuberculosis is not most reporters’ idea of a glamor assignment. It’s an ancient disease, drug companies aren’t keen to develop blockbuster medicines, and, anyway, few people get it, right? Wrong. A powerful expose by Stacey Singer, the health reporter for The Palm Beach Post, has revealed a serious outbreak of TB in Jacksonville—the worst the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has investigated in 20 years. Thirteen deaths and 99 illnesses are linked to the outbreak so far, which Singer reports, “was, and is far from contained.”
I’ve been worried about TB for a long time, even writing about it as long as three years ago, here. In that blog essay, a news article documented the first case of highly resistant TB in the US. It mentions something I think is an equal menace to the increase of TB itself: secrecy.
“this country’s first case of a contagious, aggressive, especially drug-resistant form of tuberculosis. The Associated Press learned of his case, which until now has not been made public, as part of a six-month look at the soaring global challenge of drug resistance.”
In this week’s article about TB, again mention is made of how the outbreak was hidden. In an unfortunate series of events, the CDC report of a dangerous outbreak in Jacksonville FL was issued at the same time the Governor signed a bill that cutbacks in Florida’s health programs were to be implemented, including closing a Jacksonville hospital 6-months ahead of schedule. None of the right people saw the report that a dangerous TB outbreak was underway. Even today, three months after the CDC report was issued, they still have not circulated it widely.
Keeping important news from the people can happen by collusion, as what happened in the 2007-2008 Obama campaign. Or it can happen through incompetence or too many bureaucratic layers, inhibiting efficiency, as the FL TB case shows us. Either way, this is a dangerous time of history, when the truth can and is suppressed so often and in so many ways.
At least this news of a TB issue in Denver was reported widely. It’s from February 2012: 40% of Longmont students test positive for latent TB. Though man believes he has “advanced” beyond such mundane diseases as tuberculosis, he has not. As Jesus said, pestilence will visit man, and that will likely include all the old diseases we thought we stamped out, or could manage, like TB, influenza, bubonic plague or malaria. It will likely include some new diseases from mutations we haven’t thought of…but God has.
In Roanoke VA, a School Board is being sued for posting the Ten Commandments. The judge handling the case said in an attempt at mediation, could the top four commandments be cut, leaving the bottom six. After all, the thinking went, the first 4 commandments are religious but the bottom 6 are ‘just’ secular and should appease the atheists.
God does become angry. Messing with His word will result in curses. (Revelation 22:18-19; Deuteronomy 4:2). Hebrews 10:26-27 says: “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.
In China, an entire herd of pigs was electrocuted during a thunderstorm. Reminds me a little of the Herd of pigs in Gadara… (Mark 5:1-20). I don’t think there is a prophetic link, but it just reminded me of the same.
“A livestock farmer in southern China recently received a shock when her entire pen of pigs was electrocuted by a bolt of lightning. Austrian Times reports that Chen Lin, a farmer from Loucun in Guangong province, watched her herd of more than 50 pigs die after being shocked with 300,000 volts of electricity. “I saw them all shaking and screaming terribly but there was nothing I could do,” she told the paper. “I was only a few feet away from being electrocuted too. “The incident occurred during a thunderstorm that shattered the roof of the pigs’ enclosure. It’s believe that the lightning struck the sty’s metal frame and a deadly current was carried across the wet floor.”
Iran has continued making her usual belligerent threats, but they are darkening in their pointedness and causing consternation because it seems like they really plan to carry them out. It was revealed that there are 40,000 Iranian agents in the Western Hemisphere waiting to be deployed into terrorism.
Russia is also bringing more and more war ships and marines and weapons to the area, recently docking in Syria. It seems that Russia is seriously intentional about protecting Syria.
And what’s up with the weird vortex on Saturn’s moon? The Lord also said that there would be signs in the sun, moon, and stars. (Luke 21:25). Perhaps this is one.
The article says in part, [Cassini], “the high-powered orbiter captured images of a massive vortex forming at its pole, and scientists can only guess as to why it’s suddenly appeared. The massive collection of swirling gas has gathered at Titan’s south pole, which measures approximately 3,200 miles across. The whirlwind has never before been spotted, and it remains unclear how long it has been forming. Cassini — which first arrived near Saturn in 2004 (and shot the stunning images below) — had been orbiting the moon too far north to have captured it, until now.”
Sunspot AR 1520 is a monster. In size that is. You can see it without a telescope! But it could turn into a rampaging monster, having lots of potential for earth-effective impacts through either flares or Coronal Mass Ejections or aurora.
Spaceweather.com asks, “Calm before the storm? Big sunspot AR1520 has been relatively quiet for the past 48 hours, but this could be the calm before the storm. The sunspot has a delta-class magnetic field that harbors energy for X-class solar flares.” Also auroras, On July 10 Spaceweather reported, “For the second day in a row, Earth’s polar magnetic field is unsettled and glowing with auroras. Paul Zizka sends this picture from Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada:
Pretty! The Lord is so creative. How about this shot from Cassini of Saturn, her rings and a moon?
Earlier today I wrote of a pastor in Johnson City NY who had preached a raw and compelling sermon to his flock on Sunday. The sermon is called The Subtlety of Satan, and it is a blessing and an encouragement to Christians who are fainting at the Tsunami waves of falsity swamping us, and the lack of reaction from brethren, leaders, and pastors who either don’t comment or worse, purposely allow it. In these dangerous times Paul wrote about, we know wolves will infiltrate the church, bringing with them poisonous teachings, false doctrine, myths of men, and much more.
But where are the discerning leaders who are protecting their sheep, speaking out against the false and wrong and dangerous? They are out there, laboring in corners of the nations, in home churches, in large churches, in small churches. Most of the time they are unacknowledged, and in many cases, unappreciated. The strong brother in a church sliding to apostasy may feel lonely, but there are still strong members of the body speaking for truth out there. The Lord is good to raise up strong, discerning, unafraid pastors who stand for truth in a dying, lying world. In this case, one of these strong pastors came to our attention. Thank you Lord.
Deception is subtle. How do I know? Because satan is the liar and the father of lies, (John 8:44), who is out to steal, kill, and destroy. (John 10:10). That is what the Word of God tells us. Further, it tells us that satan is the most subtle creature in the garden. (Genesis 3:1). We must not ignore the many warnings in both testaments about falsity. There is one True God and He is to be held above all else. He died to bring us the true testimony of the Gospel that saves.
Speaking against deception is speaking for Jesus.
Some may ask, OK, that is all well and good, but why does the pastor, or anyone, have to name names? Isn’t that unloving? No. Here is an analogy. We’ll use food. The word feeds us. (I Peter 2:2; Matthew 4:4; Job 23:12). Jesus is the bread of life. We thirst and He is the living water. There is good leaven and bad leaven. Food is the analogy.
So Baptists are known for their covered dish suppers. In the north they’re known as pot luck suppers. Long tables laden with food groan under the weight of all the covered dishes atop them which people brought. Church members gather to have fellowship or to celebrate. They eat together.
Pastor Joe Smith is completely undiscerning. He has no idea that some of the food his flock are about to eat contains worms, dung, and poison. He does not warn them that wolves brought that food, because he does not know they are wolves. Why? If a pastor, teacher or elder fails consistently enough to pursue truth and learn to discern wheat from chaff, and fails to teach his flock how to discern good from evil, sometimes God takes away the discernment of the elders.
“He deprives of speech those who are trusted and takes away the discernment of the elders.” (Job 12:20, ESV).
Gills’ Exposition, “Speech is proper to mankind, and a benefit unto them, whereby they can converse together, and communicate their minds to each other; this is the gift of God.” One of the Spirit’s gifts to men is that we are brought into the Light of His truth by seeking Him through His word. If He gives the gift of discernment, He can also take it away- and He does.
Geneva Bible Study warns of the results of the Job verse, “He causes their words to have no credit, which is when he will punish sin.”
These sheep under Pastor Joe Smith are at great risk. Not only are they not being warned, but they are through passive means being taught not to discern. And so, the students will become like their teacher. (Luke 6:40).
Scenario B1:
Pastor Pete Jones organizes a covered dish supper in his church’s fellowship hall. He knows that some of the people bringing food to the table are wolves, and he knows that some of the food will make his people sick, or even poison them. He has discernment, but he has a skewed view of what being “loving” is. His people eat heartily, pray, and sing, then they go home. Reports start to come in that this one is in the hospital, or that one fell away from church because they got sick, or this one died. Tearful congregants approach the pastor, and bitterly ask him, “You knew some of the food was bad! Why didn’t you warn us?” Pastor Peter replies, “Well, I didn’t want to be unloving. I thought that the wolves would be struck in their heart by our loving and tolerant attitude, seeing that we accept all food equally and in love, and they would convert.”
Scenario B2:
Mindful of the disaster at his previous church, pastor Pete, at a new church now, has grown a bit (a tiny bit) in his discernment. He organizes another covered dish supper. He knows that some of the people bringing food to the table are wolves. He knows which ones are wolves, too. He knows that some of the food will make his people sick, or even poison them. The potato salad has been left in the sun for hours, the hamburgers have e coli, and the apple pie was laced with cyanide. He knows which food is bad but he sees all the good food too. However, not wanting to have a repeat of the disaster that happened before, He prays over the food, and he warns his flock.
“People! Listen! Some of this food is bad for you! Some of it will make you sick. Some of it will kill you. Some of it will be delicious and fill you up. There. I have warned you.”
“But pastor, which food is bad? Who brought the poisonous dishes?”
“People. It would be unloving of me to name names. We might hurt that person’s feelings. It would be unloving of me to point to which food is bad, because they spent a long time making it and they brought it here sincerely today. We must not judge! OK, enough said, Buon Appetit!”
Scenario C:
Pastor Lupus organizes a covered dish supper. Over the course of the week, he had called his Canis friends and asked them to bring poisoned food to the supper. He sees that there are too many people in his congregation loving the Lord. He hates this. He wants to weed those Christians out. So he brings diseased food and knowingly feeds his flock with it. He knows that those strong eaters of the food will soon be gone and he will need his pews filled up. He doesn’t care that the strong ones go away and the weak ones die. He just wants replacements to fill his pews so he will look good. Feeding them evil food is the best way to do it. But he does it slowly and on the sly. He is the wolf, baying to his wolf friends to come into the church. The covered dish supper is the means to break his church because direct poison kills swiftly.
Many people were surprised that John Piper made Pastor Jim Murphy’s list of those who are failing their duty and who are bringing a false word. Piper has been a towering man of the faith for many years. But he is slipping. Not possible you say? Not Piper! Really? Look what happened to Solomon. The wisest man who ever lived became foolish in his old age. Is Piper different, or excused, or immune to the same fate? Are any of us? No.
The Lord God organizes all the affairs of men. He does what He wills. Discernment is a gift from Him, and a mercy and a help. When He sees fit, He takes it away.
Matthew Henry comments on the Job verse about when Lord takes away the discernment of the elders. Think of John Piper when you read it. Or substitute any voice which once was strong but now is not.
“Those that were famed for eloquence, and entrusted with public business, are strangely silenced, and have nothing to say. He removeth away the speech of the trusty, so that they cannot speak as they intended and as they used to do, with freedom and clearness, but blunder, and falter, and make nothing of it.”
“Those that were bold and courageous, and made nothing of dangers, are strangely cowed and dispirited; and this also is the Lord’s doing: He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people, that were their leaders and commanders, and were most famed for their martial fire and great achievements; when any thing is to be done they are heartless, and ready to flee at the shaking of a leaf. Those that were driving on their projects with full speed are strangely bewildered and at a loss; they know not where they are nor what they do, are unsteady in their counsels and uncertain in their motions, off and on, this way and that way, wandering like men in a desert.”
Is John Piper excluded from this danger just because he is an elder of the faith, so successful for so many years? No! As a matter of fact he is more at risk. “The stouthearted were stripped of their spoil; they sank into sleep; all the men of war were unable to use their hands.” (Psalm 76:5).
That is why I keep saying, pray for our pastors! Pray, pray, pray; and then pray some more. He is a gift from God! And the pastors who are not discerning, not bold, not warning us? They are a judgment from God. Which pulpit do you want to sit in front of? Just think about that the next time you go to a covered dish supper. Which food are you being fed? Good healthy food (doctrine)? Or poisonous food (doctrine)? Don’t you want a pastor who will love you enough to feed you good food and to teach you how to tell if the food is good? And don’t you care enough about yourself- you who Jesus died for-to then go out and practice that discernment and growing in strength to detect good doctrine from bad, so you can then turn around and teach others?
Pray for Pastor Jim, if you would. God has blessed him with discernment, strength and fire! Do you see from this lesson how that is a gift and a blessing straight from God? Pray for the ones Pastor Jim named who are false. Pray for each other, “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people” (1 Timothy 2:1 ESV). In all things, pray. (Phil 4:6)
Part two here. Please read it as well, I entreat you.
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I listened to a great sermon on Monday, and I mentioned it in a blog yesterday. I decided to do a stand-alone blog entry about this sermon, because the sermon blessed me to tears and encouraged me beyond measure. Perhaps it will for you too.
Pastor Jim Murphy is pastor at First Baptist Church at Johnson City NY. On Sunday, July 8, 2012, He stood before his congregation resolved and firm. He had been convicted to share with them, and actually reprove them (and himself) of the false teachings that Christian books, curricula, and Bible studies are promoting today. It had permeated his church and he was broken-hearted about that, not the least because he had been worried about these teachings but had done nothing. Well, this is something.
He said he was going to root this stuff out, and purify his local church. He said, “And you’ve heard the rumor, that Pastor Jim killed the Beth Moore trip. Let me clarify that rumor: I killed the Beth Moore trip.”
He spent an hour Sunday laying the context for how the modern church of 2012 has come to be so weak, accepting falsity for true, and being me-oriented instead of God-oriented. Though the slide away from our firm foundation began long ago, in his sermon, he started the trip in the mid-1940s. He educated his congregation about Gnosticism, post modernism, Christian Universalism, Emergent Church, and more. He named the names of the wolves bringing these teachings, and among them were Rick Warren, Beth Moore, John Piper, Bill Hybels, Francis Chan, Rob Bell.
He also chided his congregation for being undiscerning, and that their lack of discernment came from laziness. He charged them. He charged himself. He was strong.
Rather than being unloving, as the liberals claim today, he was being the most loving of a preacher than I’ve heard in a long time. Raw, honest, clear, he was doing what pastors are supposed to do: guard his flock from wolves in sheep’s clothing.
The Sola Sisters were the ones bringing the sermon to our attention, and I thank them for that. It has gained wide notice in our circles, being on the Brannon Howse’s World View Weekend radio program, being linked to by many others, being spoken of in chat rooms. The flavor of all this notice is one of gratitude. As Brannon Howse told his listening audience, ‘I’ve been encouraging you that there are pastors out there who stand against this stuff. They are out there…here is one!’
“Now is the time for clarity. No more messing around. No more experimentation. No more dabbling into these dangerous practices. Now is the time for clarity and that clarity comes through discernment: this ability to think Biblically. The ability to read a book and see what it is saying aside from the warm fuzzy you got from it. Discernment takes time and it takes work and shame on you for not taking the time and effort. shame on you.”
“How do you know it’s not God’s voice if you don’t know the Bible?”
“I’m here to ask your forgiveness. I expressed my concerns along the way in several areas but there were some things that I heard and saw that I was not comfortable with and I thought well, let’s just roll with this. It may be not that bad.”
“Today things change. I’m responsible for this ministry. I will be called a tyrant, a fundamentalist, controlling – you fill in the blanks – I don’t care anymore. We’re going to be making some changes and we’re going to root this stuff out of our ministry because it is unacceptable. It is not biblical Christianity and we’re going to get back to the Bible. I’m not going to make a lot of friends …”
We do NOT need mystical experiences
to validate the Word of God!
“There are pagan books floating around. I’ll be addressing that in writing. When it’s published I’ll give you a copy. You need to learn to be discerning and we’re not. Why? You need to get into your Bible. You don’t know because you don’t read and you don’t study. Number two: You need to connect the dots. The Bible says this. Why this? If the Bible says that you have been given everything for faith and practice in this book, what do you suppose that means? That you have been given everything for faith and practice in that book, which means this: you don’t have to hear voices, and you don’t have to go by experiences. You can know the truth in this book and that truth will set you free. You get that don’t you?”
“What I now have no patience for — I’m kind of at the end of my rope, I’m gonna be honest with you — is the lack of effort. I’ve addressed some of these matters. “Oh it’s no big deal.” How dare you! It is a big deal. It’s a big deal to me, it’s a big deal to God and it’s a big deal to the opposition.”
“What is a Christian according to the contextually relevant teachers of today? “Someone who has made the decision to be an emotionally well adjusted self actualized risk taking leader who knows his purpose, lives a no regret life of significance, has overcome his fears, enjoys a healthy marriage, is an attentive parent, celebrating recovery from all of their lusts, their habits, their hangups and practices biblical stress relief techniques, is financially free from consumer debt, fosters emotionally healthy relationships with his peers, attends a weekly life group, volunteers regularly at his church, tithes off the gross and has taken at least one humanitarian aid trip to a third world country. That’s who a Christian is. What about the Gospel? Never once do you read in that modern contextualization that a Christian is one who sees their sin, confesses their sin, repents of their sin, and receives the gift of salvation in Christ alone. That is how far we have come.”
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This is long so I’m going to make a part two and talk just a tiny bit more about this, using an analogy, and ending with an encouragement. Again, here is the link for the wonderful sermon, “The Subtlety of Satan.” Please take an hour and listen…or break it up into two halves. I am sure that you will learn, be encouraged, and refreshed at listening to a pastor guard his flock.
The searing heat sparked derechos, which shut electrical power off to millions, the heat stayed and with no way to get cool, tempers flared. Millions were displaced. Business stopped.
That was a cascading series of events, which the heat is also causing another series right now: the corn is dying.
The heat is exacerbating the drought problem, and it is impacting corn pollination. The nation’s breadbasket is drying up, and the future for grains looks poor. In fact, the corn is dying all over America.
These are comments from farmers on AgWeb: an interactive board of farmers making crop comments
7/10 – Lyon County, Iowa: Boy, did things change around here. After a wet May the rains shut off. Total of 8 tenths in June and none so far In July.
7/10 – Cass County, Mich.: The fields are dry and in need of rain like everywhere else. Fields being watered are running 24/7 and will be expensive at years end. Feels like the summer of 1988, all dry land corn will be considered a loss and the beans are not far behind the corn, but can hold up a little better at times, WE STILL NEED RAIN.
7/10 – Lincoln County, S.D.: Corn on corn or old alfalfa ground will be zero to 5 bushel. Corn-on-soybean ground maybe 50-80 BPA if it rains soon (at least it tasseled). Soybeans look ok, may still yield above crop insurance if it can rain. We lifted the KP out of the way and put in the grass chutes to start cutting corn silage!
7/10 – Wayne County, Ill.: I am a small farmer, but my crops in Wayne County, Ill., are the worst I have had sine 1952-53. Corn will be lucky to make 10 bu. and beans are going downhill. It’s been over 100 degrees for 11 straight days. Bad crop.
7/10 – DeKalb County, Ind.: Finally got my internet back up and running after the storms last week, lots of people lost power for a few days, lots of wind damage but no rain out of it in my area. We had a high of 110 degrees Thursday and hot winds. I looked at some corn today and its 3 to 5 feet tall, part tasseling and almost no ears forming. Most corn is probably ruined here. I drove into northern Ohio and just as bad, beans, same story: poor stands, short, some trying to blossom.
7/10 – Miami County, Ind.: I was still a bit optimistic a week ago. The heat has eased and the corn is now rolling even with somewhat cooler temps. Also, some firing starting to show in some fields. Spider mites are now being seen in a few bean fields. Ten day forecast doesn’t look good either. How soon before this becomes the top story in the national news?
Corn Belt heat wave breaks, but this week’s rains light “The extreme heat and drought conditions are hitting the core of the U.S. Midwest just as the region’s big corn crop pollinates, the key yield-determining growth phase for corn. Drought conditions intensified the past week across the central United States, causing irrevocable damage to crops in Missouri, Indiana and even southern Illinois, where farmers are cutting stunted corn for silage, a low grade feed for cattle. U.S. crop condition ratings for corn and soybeans fell last week, and grain traders expected the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s weekly report later Monday to show further deterioration. Crops will need rain to have much chance of rebounding, and forecasts looked mostly dry for the next 10 days from the central U.S. Plains across Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois.”
The heat, the lack of rain, the lowering water table, the no-pollination, the loss of power, all combine into factors that will come to fruition at the Tribulation, when wheat will be so scarce that a loaf of bread will cost a day’s pay. Even barley will be no bargain. (Rev 6:6). Can you see how one thing leads to another and the consequences yield up like a clam under the sand spitting water into the air? The whole world is percolating like that now. The consequences from the radiation at Japans’ damaged nuclear reactor Fukushima is coming home to roost a year later in the fish we see off Hawaii.
Anyway, food is a huge issue right now, being so expensive it is unavailable to many in the ‘wealthy’ US never mind around the world. The Lord is constricting us. He is merciful and gives us time to come to a saving knowledge of Him. He is loving and desires no one be lost. Please acknowledge your sins now and turn to the Savior who will save you from eternal condemnation. These happenings are not accidents, they are last stage warning signs of a God whose patience is longsuffering Itself, but is coming to an end.
Calls to Destroy Egypt’s Great Pyramids Begin “According to several reports in the Arabic media, prominent Muslim clerics have begun to call for the demolition of Egypt’s Great Pyramids—or, in the words of Saudi Sheikh Ali bin Said al-Rabi‘i, those “symbols of paganism,” which Egypt’s Salafi party has long planned to cover with wax. Most recently, Bahrain’s “Sheikh of Sunni Sheikhs” and President of National Unity, Abd al-Latif al-Mahmoud, called on Egypt’s new president, Muhammad Morsi, to ‘destroy the Pyramids and accomplish what the Sahabi Amr bin al-As could not.'”In other words, Morsi’s call to release the Blind Sheikh, a terrorist mastermind, may be the tip of the iceberg in coming audacity. From calls to legalize Islamic sex-slave marriage to calls to institute “morality police” to calls to destroy Egypt’s mountain-like monuments, under Muslim Brotherhood tutelage, the bottle has been uncorked, and the genie unleashed in Egypt.”
There are several things to consider here. The bible says there shall be a coming oppression of Egypt by a “cruel master.”
“I will hand the Egyptians over to the power of a cruel master, and a fierce king will rule over them,” declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty.” (Isaiah 19:4)
Whether that cruel master is Morsi, the newly elected President, remains to be seen. But the days for Egypt’s people are going to get a lot darker before they get better. We can see that the persecutions and oppression have already begun in Egypt. They will not slow down, but only get worse. If Morsi isn’t the ‘cruel master’ today, then he is on deck.
The Lord does love His people, and He has special plans for Egypt. At the end of the Tribulation, they come to repentance and cry out to the Lord, and he blesses them as a nation. He only names three nations to be blessed, Assyria and Israel are the other two. This is also a prophecy in Isaiah 19.
In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing[b] on the earth. 25 The Lord Almighty will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance. ”” (Isaiah 19:24-25).
But it will be a very bumpy road till they get there…
The article goes on for two well-researched pages about the past habits of the Muslims who, when they conquer or rule, tend to destroy monuments to their religion that don’t line up with their religion anymore. As the article states, “Under… subsequent Muslim rule, many Egyptian antiquities were destroyed as relics of infidelity.” That in itself is sad. Are they a people so confused and hateful that they repudiate former relics at will? Yes. That is one reason they need Jesus, so they can have peace, and live with the indwelling Spirit who never changes and is constant and true.
Secondly, there is an obscure prophecy regarding a monument at the center of Egypt. Some historians and archaeologists speculate that the Great Pyramid was built as an homage to the One True Lord and is the monument the prophecy in Isaiah refers to. (see below). The Great Pyramid was the one pyramid never used as a tomb. It as also the first Pyramid built. Therefore, if the Isaiah prophecy of a monument to the LORD refers to the Pyramid, then this sudden attention the Islamists are paying to the Pyramid in wanting to tear it down is extremely interesting.
One thing is obvious: the Great Pyramid had supernatural help in its construction. As Jack Kelley explains, the person designing the Great Pyramid would have to know “all the dimensions of Earth and had a command of engineering, astronomy, and mathematics that would be impressive even today. Think of it. This guy knew the weight and curvature of the Earth, the irregularity of that curvature at the poles, the location and size of every land mass and its height above sea level, Earth’s mean temperature, its latitude and longitude scales, the exact direction of true north, the locations of the stars, and the fact that 1300 years later the Earth’s orbit would change, increasing by 5.24 days. He knew how to make things absolutely level, straight, and square, and how to pre-cut and position gigantic pieces of stone so that when in place they fit so perfectly that every course is level and square even today. He knew how to calculate the coefficients of expansion and contraction and compensate for them. The list goes on. If this guy didn’t have supernatural capability himself, he was certainly assisted by Someone who does.”
Great Pyramid of Giza from a 19th century stereopticon card photo. Wiki.
The Great Pyramid is a great monument, and also a great mystery. Is it a pagan monument, or an homage to the One True and Great God? Here is the obscure prophecy about Egypt, the Hebrew name, Mizraim. (Gen 10:6) and a monument. The prophecy is from Isaiah:
“In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the heart of Egypt, and a monument to the LORD at its border. It will be a sign and witness to the LORD Almighty in the land of Egypt. When they cry out to the LORD because of their oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and he will rescue them.” (Isaiah 19:19-20).
The name Mizraim is the Hebrew name for the land of Egypt, with the dual suffix -āyim, perhaps referring to the “two Egypts”: Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt. The land of Egypt used to be in two parts, Upper and Lower Egypt, and the Great Pyramid at Giza stands at the border of these. Nowadays, Egypt is one nation and the Pyramid is in the center. That is how a monument can be at the heart of the nation AND at the border. The Great Pyramid is at the center of the world, actually.
“The Pyramid is located at the exact center of the Earth’s land mass. That is, its East-West axis corresponds to the longest land parallel across the Earth, passing through Africa, Asia, and America. Similarly, the longest land meridian on Earth, through Asia, Africa, Europa, and Antarctica, also passes right through the Pyramid. Only a solid stone mountain could endure the Pyramid’s immense weight. And indeed, a flat solid granite mountain happens to be located just beneath the surface of the ground directly under the Pyramid. It is built to face true North. Since the Earth has enough land area to provide 3 billion possible building sites for the Pyramid, the odds of it having been built where it is are 1 in 3 billion.” (source)
The Great Pyramid is “different from all the other pyramids in Egypt. For one thing it’s made of stone, not bricks, and is the only one that’s not solid. There’s a series of passageways and several chambers inside. All of the 80 or so other pyramids came later, are grossly inferior copies, and unlike the Great Pyramid were used as gigantic headstones covering the tombs of the Pharaohs. (The Great Pyramid never served as a tomb.)” (source)
The Grand Gallery of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Wiki
Jeremiah 32:20 says [O Great and Mighty God]… “who has set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and even to this day both in Israel and among mankind; and You have made a name for Yourself, as at this day.”
Do the Jeremiah verse referencing signs for all mankind even to this day and the prophecy from Isaiah 19:19-20 both reference the Great Pyramid? Is that why satan is influencing the Islamists to tear down the Pyramid?
It is a mystery whether the supernatural help in designing and building the Great Pyramid was from satan or from God. I think God. But it is just an opinion.
But one thing is not an opinion or a mystery: Jesus will come for His Bride. As John McTernan said in his blog today, “If the Lord does not return soon for the church, we are going to see incredible events with great destruction and loss of life. All these issues are coming together at the same time. I much rather be with the Lord Jesus than watch what is coming upon the earth. The Marriage Supper of the Lamb sounds very good me at the moment.”
