elizabethprata

Curiosity Rover about to land on Mars

Posted on June 26, 2012 by elizabethprata

Did you know that another Rover is about to land on Mars? Its name is “Curiosity.” The following is an amazing short video of NASA technicians and engineers explaining the challenges in creating a machine that will go through space and land on Mars, successfully. On Aug 5, the rover “Curiosity” will land on Mars after what the scientists call the “7 Minutes of Terror”.

“From the top of Mars’ atmosphere to the planet surface takes seven minutes. Engineers at the California Institute of Technology’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory have the challenge of going from 13,000 miles per hour to zero in seven minutes to safely touch down on Mars. Those closest to the project have dubbed this entry sequence window “7 minutes of terror.” It is the most critical time in the years-long journey and there is zero margin for error. Further complicating the challenge to rapidly reducing entry into the Martian atmosphere is the fact that Mars’ atmosphere is 100 times less dense than Earth.” (source)

http://cdn-akm.vmixcore.com/vmixcore/js?auto_play=0&cc_default_off=1&player_name=uvp&width=512&height=332&player_id=1aa0b90d7d31305a75d7fa03bc403f5a&t=V0klYOaUyJ5RL3Go9w5dZzumrSYmccwIHo
It is an interesting and amazing video in which the scientists who worked on Curiosity describe the sequence of events that has to happen for the small vehicle to hurtle through vast oceans of space, encounter an atmosphere, and make a precision landing. Interspersed with their comments is a computer model video showing what they are describing. As I watched the 5-minute video, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride, awe, and gladness that I’m alive to witness such marvels of achievement. I was also thinking about the universe God created, and humankind that He created too, to do these things and to be conscious and sentient and have a mind, unlike ALL the other animals he made.

The video ended with a black screen and three words:

DARE MIGHTY THINGS

While I felt pride in humankind’s ambition and achievements on these astronomy and technical matters, my bubble of elation and awe was eventually burst. Of course God wants us to be proud of what we have accomplished, but to achieve such a technological marvel and not to acknowledge the One who gave us the mind, means, and opportunity makes the video more of a Tower of Babel moment than a Parting of the Red Seas moment. Moses was the visible manifestation of the power to part the sea but God was the power! Achievement without being grateful to God is empty. Pursuit of the wonders of the universe without acknowledging the One who created it is not daring nor mighty, but only judgment-worthy.

“because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.” (Rom 1:25)

Why pursue the universe and not its Creator? because they have exchanged the truth with a lie. And in so doing, they may “dare mighty things” but as 2 Timothy 3:4 says, in the last days men will be “treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.”

The word conceited there means “I puff up, make haughty: I am puffed up, am haughty.”

Of many of these mighty men doing mighty deeds, unless they are saved by Grace, they will say “Many will tell me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, in your name cast out demons, and in your name do many mighty works?’ (Matthew 7:22).

“And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;” (Revelation 6:15)

“For he who is mighty has done great things for me. Holy is his name.” (Luke 1:49).

For Jesus, in His power and through His Spirit, that where is the daring to do mighty things comes from. On its own, no matter how cool the feat is at the time, it will be shown to be puffed up and paltry. Not mighty. Poor and worthless. As long as the focus of our eyes, mind, heart, and strength is Jesus, and that we do all for Him, we will be blessed. What a poor and empty life to dare mighty things but not have the Rock at the center of it? It will simply implode, like a collapsing souffle.

Jesus is the prize. He is the treasure. He is the mighty One! And He is coming in might and in glory!

“I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” (Mark 14:62).

frontline missions, grace, missionaries

The Gospel is advancing

Posted on June 25, 2012 by elizabethprata

Though the world is dark and satan prowls, the Gospel’s power to transform lives and enlarge the kindgom is advancing!

As you shake your head is dismay at the darkness that is covering the world, remember the Light is advancing MORE because Jesus is the power! I dare you to watch these two trailers from the DVD Dispatches from the Front series and not be moved by the Gospel’s power and awed at the grace and love of our Savior. THIS is what it is all about: salvation

“Frontline Missions is an amazing ministry that produces the Dispatches from the Front DVD series. Here is what the ministry is all about: Frontline’s key objective is to advance the Gospel, forming vibrant, Word-centered, disciple-making churches, especially in those regions of the world that have the least Light. We are driven by the same desire that animated the apostle Paul who said it was always his ambition to preach the Gospel where Christ was not known (Romans 15:20). We pursue this goal by equipping Christians on the frontlines to reach their own people for Christ, by forming strategic partnerships with them, and by developing creative platforms in countries closed to traditional missions.”

Please support missionaries with your prayers and your money. They are on the frontlines. And lives are being changed, eternally.

false teacher, narcissism, night of hope

Salon.com review of Night of Hope: "Joel Osteen worships himself"

Posted on June 25, 2012May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Somehow I missed this last April:

Joel Osteen worships himself
At a D.C. rally, it’s clear that the megachurch pastor’s childlike faith is really about the power of narcissism
The article is from Salon.com, a fairly liberal media outlet. I found it interesting that Mr Osteen’s obvious narcissism is apparent even to someone who may be liberal and may be an outsider to the faith.

Pastor Mike Abendroth at No Compromise Radio says that when people realize he is a pastor, they try and make an attempt at spiritual connection with him by saying, “I listen to Joel Osteen.” He said as an example to one lady who’d shared that, he had replied,

“Joel Osteen doesn’t like to talk about sin because he says we all know about it and we all get enough about that so let’s talk about other positive things. Paul talked about sin first. Peter talked about sin first. John the Baptist talked about sin first. All the prophets talked about sin first. And Jesus even talked about sin first. If you don’t know you’re a sinner, you don’t need to know about your savior. If you know how great your sin is, you don’t need a greater Savior than all your sin.”

The Salon.com author Mr Chris Lehmann stated in the article that it’s obvious Osteen “subtly downgrades” the magnificent and transcendent God “into a glorified lifestyle concierge”…into a “genial cruise director,” “through talismanic faith in positive utterance.”

He wrote, “The believer’s chief task is to ratify the preexisting divine script of success in his or her individual life — and then to bear testimony to that joyous transformation in a community of like-minded success believers.’

He’s right, that is what Mr Osteen preaches, and it is a far cry from true worship of the Living God.

So what IS worship of the True and Living God? Exodus 15:2 gives one example: “The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.”

Psalm 66:4: “All the earth bows down to you; they sing praise to you, they sing praise to your name.’

Rather, in the article, Lehmann states, Osteen has the “outlook of someone possessed of grandiose fantasies about the imperial reach of the self.”

It is not about us. I don’t recall David preaching or writing one psalm that says we can have our best life now. I don’t recall Jeremiah the weeping prophet pronouncing that ‘it’s your time’. Mr Lehmann ends devastatingly with this thought on Mr Osteen’s approach, which is:

“theology-free success gospel, pitched exclusively to tales of individual triumph. Osteen’s sermons all begin with a self-empowering chant from believers. “This is my Bible,” it goes in part; “I am what it says I am. I have what it says I have.” But there are legions of dead — now confined by definition, it’s true, in the hated past — who come bearing the testimony that the Bible is not actually about you.”

It is about the Holy One of Israel, the Word made flesh!!

Woodcut, 1695, Title, “Word” by artist Johann Christoph Weigel. Source

Fear God! Keep your vows! “Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.” (Ecclesiastes 5:1)

NATO, plane, prophecy, syria, turkey

NEW aviation incident between Turkey-Syria

Posted on June 25, 2012 by elizabethprata

UPDATE #1:
Turkey reveals inside information for the first time. From Hurriyet Daily News in Turkey–
“Turkey has found out that the order to down a Turkish jet was given by the Bashar al-Assad administration, while a ranking Turkish source said the Syrian regime “should pay” for the attack…Breaking its silence about the incident yesterday, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu provided detailed information on how the incident took place and accused of Syria misinforming the international community. ”

——-end update. more at link above————-

Le Figaro, the nearly 200-year-old well respected French newspaper, reports the following today. It has been Google-translated:

“A new air incident between Syria and Turkey , which has no injury or property damage, occurred over the Mediterranean after the crash of a fighter aircraft F-4 Turkish killed Friday by Syria, today said a European diplomatic source. A Casa CN-235 aircraft search and rescue of the Turkish army who participated in the research of the two pilots of the F-4 has been pointed to by a system of Syrian air defense, the last step before opening fire, the source said. This defense system includes a radar and missiles. “When an aircraft is pointed to by a system of defense, he is warned by his instruments, and that’s what happened,” the source said. It is unclear whether the aircraft was at the time of this incident in Syrian airspace, or within 12 nautical miles (approx. 22 km) from the Syrian coast, or in the international arena. This incident, which held on Friday or Saturday, was reported by the Turkish Foreign Ministry diplomats of the countries of the European Union and NATO at a meeting Sunday in Ankara, the source said. A fighter plane F- 4 Turkey was shot dead Friday by Syrian air defense , while, according to Ankara, he made a training mission, was unarmed, and was in international airspace, after a brief foray into space Syrian. Both drivers are missing. Following this incident, Turkey requested an urgent meeting with his allies of NATO , which will take place tomorrow in Brussels.’

Now the fact that Turkey is calling an urgent meeting of NATO is very interesting. The entire point of the North Atlantic Treaty Organizations is that it provides umbrella defense for each of its members. “The organization constitutes a system of collective defence whereby its member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party’ NATO has added new members seven times since first forming in 1949, and now comprises 28 nations,” according to Wikipedia. The member nations are: Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Rep, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States.

Did Turkey call an urgent NATO meeting for the purpose of requesting military defense? Turkey has promised to answer the Syrian attack definitively.

Washington Post reports, “NATO will discuss downing of Turkish plane by Syria; Turkey considers retaliation“

But the Post reports in its opening sentence that NATO will likely not respond militarily. There seems to be little appetite for yet another military intervention. However, the second incident, reported today of the missile radar locking onto the Turkish search and rescue jet, does not bode well for a peaceful outcome, or even of Syria passing a straight-face test about wanting to remain “neighborly.“

Meanwhile, 38 Syrian officers defected to Turkey overnight, escalating tensions yet again.

With Turkey and Syria at odds in the north, Egypt and Israel in the south are at a low point in relations. With the election of a hardened Islamist to the Egyptian Presidency, on the back of a successful campaign that had vowed to march to Jerusalem and take it over, Israel is understandably worried. The rocket attacks from Gaza have been increasing. Yet another truce has been formed but Israeli PM Netanyahu vowed to hit Gaza if this one is broken.With Hamas’s track record in keeping truces (the one agreed to earlier in the week lasted only a few hours) I am not holding out hope that Israel’s patience will remain forbearing forever.

While hatred in Egypt is rising against Israel, at the same time, the new President Morsi wants closer ties to Iran.

What to do? Keep looking up for our Redemption, He is in total control. Don’t you think it is amazing that the ancient, centuries old prophecies of Isaiah 17, Isaiah 19, Ezekiel 38-39, Psalm 83 are all unfolding so precisely?

Yet this is the very time for fervent prayer that people in the path of these prophecies to have their eyes and heart opened to the truth of Jesus’s soon return. Pray, pray, pray, Don’t just pray once a week, or once a day, fervent prayer at this tumultuous time at the very END of the age is called for.

There was a persistent widow, you see,

“Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’” Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? 8 I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”’ (Luke 18:1-8)

The disciples had asked when the Kingdom would come. Jesus answered in this parable, saying in the example that they should not ever, ever, ever give up praying. If an unjust judge responds to persistence, how much MORE so will the Righteous Branch of the Protector of Israel respond? Here is a preached explanation of the kind of faith Jesus will be looking for at His return:

“However, when the Son of Man comes will He find faith on the earth?” Will He find this kind of persevering faith? Will He find this kind of persevering prayer? Will He find this kind of enduring confidence? This is definitely eschatological praying. No one of us knows the time of the Rapture. We don’t know when the events that are the Second Coming will be launched. We don’t know when the day of the Lord is going to come, but two thousand years have passed by, believers have been waiting and waiting, and suffering at the hand of sinners. Sin escalates, evil men grow worse and worse and worse. We see the pollution inside and outside Christendom. False teachers abound everywhere. We’re endeavoring to endure true and faithful, trusting in the Word of God. We have been promised that He will come. We believe that He will come. And here He says, “Keep praying for that event.” He will come but part of the means of that coming is our prayer life. Prayer moves God to accomplish His work and therefore having accomplished His work, bringing it to its great culmination in His Second Coming. He will come. He promises He will come. He will be faithful to His elect. He will bring judgment to the ungodly. He will vindicate the saints. He will exalt Himself. He will establish His throne on earth. He will reign in a Kingdom on earth and He will establish the new heaven and the new earth. And that is what we are to pray for relentlessly.” (source)

So pray for hearts to be changed. Pray for repentance. Pray for eyes to be opened to the nearness of the times. Pray for sins to be forgiven. Pray Pray Pray!

capital of united states of arabs, jerusalem, morsi, mursi, prophecy

New Egyptian President wants Jerusalem capital of United States of Arabs

Posted on June 24, 2012May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

I have such a burden for Egypt. I am so glad that in the end of the end, they will be blessed by God, (Is 19:25), but the road ahead for them is a tremendously difficult one, because a 40-year desolation is prophesied (Ez 29:9).

The road ahead for Jerusalem is not paved with glitter, either. In Jerusalem, the houses will be ransacked, and the women raped. Half of the city will go into exile…” (Zechariah 14:2).

This convergence is getting closer all the time. The man who just won the Egyptian presidency is so anti-Israel it is quite serious. His ascension to the power of this nation prophesied to be a great part of the last days’ events is ominous in the extreme. Andrew Breitbart’s site reports the following:

The man behind the new President’s now successful campaign, Egyptian cleric Safwat Higazi, introduced Morsi’s campaign on May 1. Higazi said, “OUR CAPITAL ‘SHALL BE JERUSALEM, ALLAH WILLING’

Safwat Higazi: Our capital shall not be Cairo, Mecca, or Medina. It shall be Jerusalem, Allah willing. Our cry shall be: “Millions of martyrs march toward Jerusalem.” Millions of martyrs march toward Jerusalem.

Crowds : Millions of martyrs march toward Jerusalem.

Safwat Higazi : Millions of martyrs march toward Jerusalem.

Crowds : Millions of martyrs march toward Jerusalem.

Ceremony leader : Banish the sleep from the eyes of all Jews.

Leaders: Brandish your weapons… Say your prayers…

Transcript of clip here at Middle East Research Institute.

Video of clip here:”Egyptian Cleric Safwat Higazi Launches MB Candidate Muhammad Mursi’s Campaign: Mursi Will Restore the “United States of the Arabs” with Jerusalem as Its Capital”

Stills of video:

Uncategorized

What I think…

Posted on June 24, 2012May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

This is very true for me

insanity, leprechauns

Man claims he was attacked by a bunch of leprechauns

Posted on June 24, 2012 by elizabethprata

Doesn’t it feel as if the whole world has simply gone insane? Well, it has. God is giving us over to our sins. To some, He is giving over to a reprobate (depraved) mind in homosexuality and lesbianism. Others, He is giving over to their rebellion against Him in apostasy and atheism. (2 Thess 2:3). Still others, He is giving over to their addictions, porn, drugs, alcohol. He is giving us over- individually and nationally. You can read more about that process here, and how it is called the Wrath of Divine Abandonment (Romans 1:18-32).

Oh, and zombies are so yesterday.

Move over zombies: Man left bloodied and screaming in pain after attack by ‘bunch of leprechauns’

(File picture) A Seattle man claims he was attacked by a bunch of Leprechauns after they caught him dancing with the wrong girl

“Just as the Zombie threat appears to finally be lifting it seems America could be at the mercy of an even deadlier menace. A mob of Leprechauns are carrying out vicious attacks in and around the city of Seattle, according to a man who claims to be one of their latest victims. The pint-sized brutes were allegedly hopping mad after catching the man dancing with the wrong girl at a Belltown bar. Officers arrived at the scene of a bar fight to find the man covered in blood and screaming in pain with his head held in his hands. When officers asked who had attacked him, the man replied: ‘It was a bunch of leprechauns.’ According to the victim the one of his assailants was wearing a white tank top. There were no additional reports of merry jigs turning ugly or stolen pots of gold. The man was taken to Harborview Medical Center with multiple head injuries and cuts and bruises on his face, back, knuckles and elbows.”

Gawker wrote, “Following the recent proliferation of zombie-related news stories, it appears America has now moved on to attacks by other fantastical characters. … Typically, leprechauns are not seen outside of the weeks before and after St. Patrick’s Day, March 17. The fact that these leprechauns were spotted in June, and so far from their native Ireland, suggests that perhaps they are rabid or otherwise deranged. The victim claims the leprechauns in question were angry at him for dancing with a woman (possibly a banshee?) at the bar. One of them one was reportedly wearing “a white tank top.” A witness on the scene told cops that a group of men was responsible for the attack, which is exactly what the bleeding man said, so thank you, redundant witness.The man was taken to a local hospital and treated for injuries. The leprechauns have yet to be apprehended. Be vigilant all ye travelers.”

Well, let’s take this logically. Yes. it can be done. In recent times-say the last ten years- we have had a cultural saturation of all kinds of occult and supernatural beings. I mean, of course they were present in the culture prior to this, in books and movies etc. Bram Stoker’s famous book, Dracula, was published in 1897. But I’m talking a saturation, with total fascination, cultural demand and clamor for more. We had the Harry Potter phenomenon first. The series of books, movies and Harry Potter brand is now worth 15 BILLION dollars. And Harry is such a NICE warlock, isn’t he?

Then along came vampires. Edward and Bella and the Twilight series. Edward is such a nice vampire, isn’t he? And of course the werewolf. As of October 2010, the series has sold over 116 million copies worldwide with translations into at least 38 different languages around the globe. The four Twilight books have consecutively set records as the biggest selling novels of 2008 on the USA Today Best-Selling Books list and have spent over 235 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list for Children’s Series Books. Children’s books!

Twilight spawned an entire book and movie genre: Teen Paranormal Romance.

“Charmed” was a popular TV show ten years ago about the three Halliwell sisters, the world’s most powerful good witches (“The Charmed Ones”), who must collectively use their innate magical powers to defend the “innocents” of San Francisco from various demons, warlocks and other evil beings, and usher in the next generation of good witches.”

Now we have the reignited interest in Zombies. Wiki says “A zombie is an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means, such as witchcraft. Zombie fiction is now a sizeable sub-genre of horror, usually describing a breakdown of civilization occurring when most of the population become flesh-eating zombies — a zombie apocalypse.”

The real-life zombie apocalypse event with the cannibalism incident in Miami and the others that followed in the US and Canada certainly gives impetus to the notion that civilization is breaking down only to reveal a pack of zombies waiting to feast on you.

Now leprechauns. What else is in the pantheon? We’ve had witches and warlocks, zombies, vampires and werewolves. Maybe next to emerge will be imps, goblins, gremlins, elves?

Mary sightings! Mary sightings go on unabated, as always. She is popping up everywhere. Not the Mary of the Magnficat, the beloved and obedient – human- Mary mother of Jesus as shown to us in Luke. I’m talking the Catholic version of Mary, who to them is the Queen of Heaven and answerer of prayers, sinless and ascended just like Jesus. THAT Mary is being sighted all over. She has been apparently spotted so often that the Vatican just published new rules for Mary sightings. I am not making that up.

headlines, prophecy

Ominous headlines this morning

Posted on June 24, 2012 by elizabethprata

My what a morning. We are on the cusp, so many things converging, all in the air, none landed, holding our breath, in suspended animation…

Sandusky on suicide watch
Egypt braces [for election results]
Islamist president or army rule?
IDF Update: Fire from Gaza won’t stop: 3 more rockets hit southern Israel. Over 150 rockets during the last week endangering over 1mill lives
Today’s 22 rockets bring the total number of rockets fired into Israel over the past six days to 150. We pray for an end to the violence.
Turkey Calls for NATO Mtg Over Syria Attack on Jet
Tropical Storm Debby continuing to move slowly northward and is expected to strengthen – National Hurricane Center
Turkey files official protest to Syria about shooting down of plane in international airspace – @AP
Stop asking for more help, Germany tells Greece
Oil platforms evacuated

Watching…waiting…praying!

Obama, prophecy, registry

Obama’s Messiah complex continues: he’s now the National Groom

Posted on June 23, 2012 by elizabethprata

Obama didn’t call himself Messiah, but he certainly didn’t make any attempt to dispel the notion. The name was attributed to him many times, as here, “A messiah won’t be landing at the Heliopolis airport Thursday. Nonetheless, the expectations raised by Obama’s brief visit to Cairo are almost messianic.”

Or here, “Obama, a junior senator, the son of a white mother and a Kenyan father, has been happy to run as a black man and, more important, as America’s new messiah.”

He was depicted as such in paintings, here, for example.

He was photographed as such, here, for example.

Lately a spate of unusual and frankly, weird, statements have emerged that surpass the language, visual depictions and opinions of Obama as Messiah. News bloggers and editorialists can’t figure out how or why this new language is now entering the pantheon of Obama-descriptors. But I can. Any Christian would spot it a mile away.

First, here is the new stuff coming out:

Dan Collins wrote at the Weekly Standard,
OBAMA: OH, HE’S MORE THAN JUST MILD; YOU’RE MARRIED TO HIM, TOO
“I put off blogging about this latest bizarre emanation from the desperate Obama campaign, because I had other things to write about it, and other bloggers covered what was to be covered well enough, I thought; but the more I think about it, the stranger it gets. In a campaign fund-raising mailer, Michelle Obama asserts that Barack is all the ladies’ husband.”

Obama is the National Husband?

The Obama Event Resigtry
“What this involves is a plea from the Obama campaign for brides to request that guests send money to Obama instead of buying the new couple some gifts. “Let your friends know how important this election is to you—register with Obama 2012, and ask for a donation in lieu of a gift. It’s a great way to support the President on your big day. Plus, it’s a gift that we can all appreciate—and goes a lot further than a gravy bowl.”

Obama is the National husband, and we’re all getting married to him?

Why not? Isn’t the Messiah also known as the GROOM? (Isaiah 54:5,6; Jeremiah 3:14;31:32; Hosea 2:19-20; Revelation 21:2). And we aren’t all going to have a marriage supper? It is a perfectly logical (blasphemous) continuation of the prophetic/biblical language Obama likes to employ.

iran, kings of the east, prophecy, turkey

Enter the Kings of the East into prophetic play

Posted on June 23, 2012May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

I saw the following news article and I though, “Hmmm, that’s a little strange.”

Jerusalem Post: ‘Iran, Russia, China, Syria plan ‘largest’ war game‘
“Syrian, Iranian media reports say air, ground and naval forces to conduct ‘Middle East’s largest ever military exercise.’ “

China? I can see Iran and Russia and Syria, they are prophesied to ally in the Gog Magog war. Russia has a port in Syria and Syria is the proxy nation for Iran. But China? Where’s their stake in it?

Of course the next day Russia, Syria deny war games with China, Iran. But the inclusion of China into the prophetic mix perked up my ears.

Then I see the following by an an energy media outlet synopsizing from the Wall Street Journal:

“Saudi Arabia, China Sign Nuclear Cooperation Pact“:

“With its energy consumption surging and its own power supply under threat, Saudi Arabia will rely increasingly on nuclear generation. To help it along, it has turned to the country that is emerging as the world leader in nuclear technology: China. The Wall Street Journal reports that the two countries have agreed to jointly develop nuclear power plants, reactors, fuel and maintenance. The agreement follows a 6-day visit to Saudi Arabia by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.” [Photo above from Lebanon Daily Star, released by Saudi Press Agency, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, left, meets with Saudi King Abdullah, right, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012.”]

This deal, Saudi’s oil free flowing to China in exchange for nuclear technology, is already shaping up to be be responsible for a dramatic shift of the security environment of the Middle East, not to mention the future of the petrodollar.

The Washington Times explained it this way:
“U.S. intelligence agencies are closely watching Saudi Arabia for signs that the oil-rich kingdom will seek to develop nuclear weapons, amid tensions in the region centered on Iran’s nuclear program. One key warning sign was the cooperation agreement signed Sunday in Riyadh by China and Saudi Arabia. According to the Saudi Jidda News, the agreement will seek joint development of “atomic energy for peaceful purposes, which will help to meet the kingdom’s rising demand for energy and cut its growing dependence on depleting resources.” The agreement was signed by King Abdullah and Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao ”

The Asia Times simply said: Saudi Arabia pivots toward Asia

I kept thinking…hmmm, enter the Kings of the East. It wasn’t until last night when this week’s Hal Lindsey’s report dropped the last penny for me and the pieces fell into place. He opened his weekly report by bluntly saying:

“Why is no one in the mainstream media talking about the latest deal between Saudi Arabia and China? In case you haven’t heard, the Saudis recently offered to guarantee the Chinese unlimited oil until 2035. In exchange for Chinese off-the–shelf nuclear missiles. … [Here, Lindsey cites the source DebkaFile, which is a dubious source, but the following is true:] “The raw fact, which the West does not want to acknowledge, is that the Saudis fear Iran and want nuclear weapons as a counterbalance to Iran’s growing nuclear potential.”

Lindsey continues:
“This is what the Israel has been warning the West about for years now. If Iran is allowed to acquire nuclear weapons, not only would it pose a direct threat to Israel, but it will force other nations in the Middle East to acquire nuclear weapons for heir own self defense. It will ignite an arms race in a rough neighborhood. I think it is interesting that even though most nations in the Middle East have long suspected that Israel possessed nuclear weapons, none of them felt threatened enough to seek their own arsenals. But now that is almost a guarantee that one of their own Muslim brothers is going nuclear, some of them suddenly feel the need for a nuclear deterrent.”

Lindsey widens the picture from the looming new nuclear arms race in the unstable regions to the wider view of additional prophetic pieces entering the picture. It begins to bring into focus a long puzzling question: how or why China would be drawn into the war of Armageddon.

Revelation 16:12 says “The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East.”

Revelation chapter 9 describes the preparation for that war. It involves the King of the North and the King of the South. In Daniel’s prophecy of “the time of the end” beginning in Daniel 11:35, a king is pictured in the Mediterranean area who engages in a military conflict with the king of the south, the king of the north, and a military force from the east. A question that has always puzzled Lindsey is why would the kings of the East cross the Euphrates with a 200 million man army? Daniel 11:40-45 describes the battle plan of this final war.

‘“At the time of the end the king of the South will engage him in battle, and the king of the North will storm out against him with chariots and cavalry and a great fleet of ships. He will invade many countries and sweep through them like a flood. He will also invade the Beautiful Land. Many countries will fall, but Edom, Moab and the leaders of Ammon will be delivered from his hand. He will extend his power over many countries; Egypt will not escape. He will gain control of the treasures of gold and silver and all the riches of Egypt, with the Libyans and Cushites in submission. But reports from the east and the north will alarm him, and he will set out in a great rage to destroy and annihilate many. He will pitch his royal tents between the seas at the beautiful holy mountain. Yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him.’ “

Now, I don’t understand all that. And by the disagreement over who, exactly, is the King of the South, others aren’t sure either. But from what I have read on Bible.org, Hal Lindsey and Jack Kelley, there seems consensus that it looks like Iran and Turkey both want to be seen as the King of the North, while Egypt is the front-runner for King of the South, supported by Saudi Arabia.

Jack Kelley describes the final power struggle:
“According to Daniel 11 the End of the Age would see two Middle Eastern power blocks, which he called the King of the North and the King of the South. Today, although they appear to be allies, two countries from the former Seleucid Empire, the first King of the North, are openly competing for the right to be the Bible’s End Times King of the North. They are Turkey and Iran. … Until recently it seemed like Syria and Iran would combine to take the title King of the North, but now there’s a new kid in town due to Turkish PM Erdogan’s vision of resurrecting the Ottoman Empire into the leader of the Moslem world.”

If you have seen the news of Turkey’s shift away from the West over the last five years, Prime Minister Erdogan’s call for the reclusive but powerful Imam currently living in Pennsylvania to come home and take his place in the faith and in the nation, and the issue with Syria downing a Turkish jet fighter and Turkey’s declaration that it will not be ignored, you know that Turkey’s rise as a powerful player over these last few years is incredibly prophetic.

As we sort out the prophetic kings and the final pieces of prophecy, one consensus seems clear. The Kings of the East seem generally acknowledged to be an Oriental Confederacy, which includes the 200 million man army of China. China is now considered to have the most powerful army ever assembled in world history.

North Korea: Kim Jong Il’s funeral

I used the photo above to demonstrate that the Oriental kings already have the ability to mass not only the military but their civilian populations, with ease. As we go forward on this day and this week and this month…let’s remember Jesus. he is the King, Prophet, and Priest into whose hands God has delivered all authority. (Matthew 28:18). His hand is passing over the earth to bring these events about. He is in control, and nothing is out of control. All is progressing exactly as He ordained. The best thing we can do is obey him and be joyful in His works, which are to the good of those who love Him. (Romans 8:28).

We witness, sharing His peace with one and all, even in the face of mounting war. As Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8:

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.

First, war. Then, eternal peace.

Do you love Jesus? Do you want to? Here is what you must do. And here is a simple, concise explanation of the Gospel. Please read it, if you are not saved. We’re experiencing a moral, spiritual, financial, and cultural implosion as we speak. Please don’t be caught in the rubble. Jesus will forgive you, lift you, and bring you to heaven to feast with Him as part of His bride. You will be born (again), heal, build up, laugh, dance, embrace, seek, speak, and have peace.