elizabethprata

Our fragile electrical grid

Posted on June 10, 2012May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

I wrote a piece on June 1 regarding societal collapse. You can read the entire piece here. In it, I mentioned the work of former Soviet Republic citizen Dmitry Orlov, who witnessed the collapse of that society and the breakup of the Republic of Soviet Socialist States, and emigrated to the US, where he has written about it happening here too. He is an astute observer. I have been reading him for about five years. His Five Stages of Collapse article is highly relevant in putting the current collapse in perspective. He updated it this week, in a piece titled “Fragility and Collapse: Slowly at first, then all at once“. I recommend both the pieces I’ve linked to.

In the fragility article, Orlov posted a graph. I was startled by it. Here it is:

No matter how many times I write about prophetic infrastructure and actual infrastructure, and God stripping away man’s achievements to expose our folly to worship them, our need for total reliance on Him, it is still striking when you see it graphically put.

Orlov was right to explore the nation of societal “fragility.” He is coming at it from a sociological perspective and I am from a Christian perspective, but the fragility our civilization is seen when the thin veneer is so easily taken away. We are really not as advanced as we think we are.

gay, homosexual, macarthur, masterchef, prophecy

Is America under judgment?

Posted on June 10, 2012May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

One question Christians are asking frequently these days is whether America is under a judgment. We know we are at the end of the end of days. We know that God’s wrath will pour down upon the rebellious world after the rapture (Rev 6:16). But with all that is going on, are we under a judgment of God now, before the rapture?

The answer is yes.

Here is a transcript from a Q&A held between the pastor of Castle View Baptist Church in Indianapolis, IN and Dr. John MacArthur. At 21:50 the question was asked about the then recent news that Obama had declared his support for homosexual marriage. Dr. MacArthur answered in this way:

“I’d go so far to say that what America is experiencing now is divine judgment. You ask me why do I say that, and I say that because of Romans 1. It says ‘The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness…’ verse 18.

“If there has ever been a nation that has suppressed the truth in unrighteousness, it’s America. We’ve had the truth, we’ve had the gospel truth, we were founded on that … there was a Judeo-Christian approach to law, life, and social behavior.”

“The gospel flourished in America and we have suppressed that at this point so the judgment of God falls.”

“How do you know that? Well, Paul goes on in that same chapter, this is what it will look like, “God gave them over. We go to the verse in Romans 24-26-28, ‘God gave them over’,’God gave them over…’ Here is the sequence,”

“Verse 24, God gave them over to sexual immorality. You know the judgment of God falls on a society is when it is consumed by sexual immorality.”

“Verse 26 says, “and women did that which is unseemly with women, and men with men.” Subsequent to heterosexual revolution is homosexual revolution. When you see that, you know the wrath of God is at work. ‘He gave them over’ that’s a legal term for a sentence. You’re turning someone over to the punishment prescribed for the crime.”

“Verse 28, That’s when God gave them over to reprobate mind. That is when the mind is so far gone you can’t find your way back. That is when the president of the nation declares that he supports homosexual marriage. You know that not only is the behavior corrupt but the thinking is corrupt.”

“The thinking is SO corrupt that the man with the most responsibility in the country advocates immorality at a base, perverse level as normal behavior. So when you ask where America is, America is living in the very chapter of Romans 1. We are watching Romans 1 unfold.”

“In connection with Acts 14, God has allowed all the nations to go their own way. This is the cycle of history, the cycle with Romans 1 is repeated again and again.”

In another question asked of Dr. MacArthur about culture, he responded,

“The generation of young people growing up is learning to see homosexuality as normal, because the most lovable, affable, endearing funny person on every sitcom is a homosexual. Or many of them. So they have a completely different view of these people. They are not outraged by it. They think it’s funny, they’re winsome kinds of people, they are overexposed to these kinds of people, they drive the fashion world, they drive the media world, and so this generation is seriously softened up on this. And it is going to be a challenge for parents to embed in their children what a terribly perverse and tragic kind of life this is. And it is tragic, because they have no future.”

When he said that television is saturated with presentations of homosexuality as a normal lifestyle and that the homosexual characters are presented as engaging and winsome, it made me think of not only the scripted shows, but the reality television shows. I enjoy watching cooking shows and competitions, and also the HGTV design shows. Even a few years ago, it seems, there were not as many homosexual and lesbian competitors who stated up front that they were “out.” One supposes that in the design shows as with fashion, there would be many people who have chosen that lifestyle. But few remarked on it. Now, they do, and right away too.

When Dr. MacArthur said the media invariably shows the homosexual characters as winsome, cuddly, lovable, I thought of the kid on Masterchef, Michael. The very first competitor in Masterchef by Gordon Ramsay was a 19 year old boy named Michael. He is Asian, and completely cute. He really was a winsome kid. The show is a reality show so it is not scripted, but the boy is cuddly and engaging! He’s a total doll. This is part of the conversation he and the judges had as Michael was contesting for a spot in the show:

Got a girlfriend? No. I’m gay, actually.
Got a boyfriend?
No, I am 19 and I don’t believe in dating before high school.
You’re very proper aren’t you?
I try to follow the rules most of the time.
Did you tell your dad on the same day I want to be a chef and by the way I’m gay?
I came out to my dad right before I came to Masterchef. I don’t want to hide my true self.
Embrace it!
You’ve got no reason to, either.

It is this relentless message that the homosexual lobby promotes. The contestant Michael went on to win a spot in the competition/show. The same goes for Hell’s Kitchen and Chopped, Top Chef and Food Network Star. These cooking shows all have contestants who are bold in proclaiming their homosexuality, in introducing their partners, or in mentioning their sexual preference. Since when do we need to know who a person sleeps with in order to learn to make soup?

Dr. MacArthur is right. This generation is de-sensitized to the hopelessness and emptiness of the homosexual lifestyle. They think it is OK.

We are under judgment. The utter depravity in our morals these days from the highest levels, to media, to personal spheres is indicative of how far we have fallen. And God is judging that. Read Romans 1.

As much as He judges, he forgives. He died on the cross as the sacrifice to satisfy God’s wrath for all sins, including homosexuality. The Corinthians were a pagan orgiastic culture, and Paul said some of the worshipers there were greedy, drunkards, thieves, slanderers, swindlers, etc, and some were formerly homosexuals (1 Corinthians 6:9-11) but now all were forgiven:

“But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”

Allow the Lord to forgive you of your sins, no matter what they are. America is under judgment and we know that there is not a lot of time left. Do not delay. Repent. He is willing to forgive whatever lifestyle you have adopted. Do not remain in it, for it has no future. Jesus is your future!

earthquakes in diverse places, judgment, prophecy

Earthquakes in diverse places

Posted on June 10, 2012May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

With half the year gone, I decided to update my earthquake data. My last update was Dec. 31, 2011. With the many prophetic references to the coming earthquakes both as signs (Mark 13:8) and judgment (Is 29:6; Zech 14:5; Rev 6:12), I decided to check the United States Geological Survey data and see how the quake numbers are running. Click to enlarge.

Source

The KIND of quakes have been more worrisome than the sheer number of them. For example:

Mayo (Ireland) quake surprises seismologists
“A leading seismologist has said yesterday’s earthquake off the west coast was “unexpected” and poses “very interesting questions for geologists”. The earthquake, which registered a magnitude of four on the Richter scale, was recorded as 60km west of Belmullet, Co Mayo, at a depth of 3km, at 8.58am. It was the largest local seismic event ever recorded, according to Tom Blake of the Irish National Seismic Network (INSN) and the Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies. It was also the second-largest local earthquake on record in either Britain or Ireland, he said – the first being of 5.4 magnitude on July 19th, 1984…”

Remember the Northern Italy quake two weeks ago that was a thrust quake (which is two plates thrusting one over the other) but the location of the quake was hundreds of miles from the plate boundaries? Seismologists could not figure that one out either. They called it “weird”.

Another earthquake in a diverse place, (Mark 13:8) occurred yesterday in Tamworth Australia

Quakes shake up townships in state’s north
“The centre’s director Kevin McCue said these were the first earthquakes greater than magnitude 4 to strike inland northern NSW since December 1969, when a magnitude 5 quake struck near Coonabarabran. “It’s unusual to have an earthquake of this size.” (They both were 4.2 mag).

How about THIS weird happening? June 4, Lake Erie:

Freak wave sweeps three off beach
“A sudden wave that swept several people off the beach on Sunday, was likely an edge wave, or seiche. The National Weather Service confirms the rare event which almost took the lives of three Lake County teenagers. “It came up on us so fast we didn’t have time to react,” said Connor Bachmann, 15, of Madison, who was standing on the beach with a number of other people Sunday evening about 6 o’clock. “It started pulling on us and when I turned my back it completely covered us and started pulling us out.” Bachman, Molly McGill, and Rachel Pridemore were swept out almost half a mile onto the lake, almost instantly. “I’m a strong swimmer and I never felt that helpless in my life,” Bachmann admitted. “I thought I was going to die.” Jim Channell of Kirtland Hills witnessed the whole thing. He just happened to be on his jet ski, heading for shore, when he saw the seiche crash onto the beach. “It took out the whole beach,” he told WKYC, with amazement still in voice. “I didn’t believe what I was seeing. Then it hit a second time.”

The seiche has happened before, just not frequently. The last one was 1942 and one before that in 1882. It looks like water sloshing around in a goldfish bowl and is thought to occur either when a far off quake happens, or wind and air pressure makes the wave pounce. This one was 7 feet. In but a moment it swept the three teens half a mile out.

“Throughout history, God has used earthquakes in many ways for various reasons. The Bible shows that God used earthquakes in history to show His presence, His deliverance, His wrath and His power. God will also use earthquakes yet in the future to announce Christ’s Return, accompany prophetic events, and reshape the earth’s surface. In Matthew 24, Christ told His disciples of the signs that would precede His Second Coming. In verse 7, He stated, “and there shall be…earthquakes, in diverse places.” This meant earthquakes would take place in various places—scattered throughout the world—and would increase in frequency as the time of His Return drew near (see Mark 13:8 and Luke 21:11). Had earthquakes been as prolific throughout history as they are today, then they would not indicate that the end of the age was near. They are much more common now than at any other time in history. ” (source)

So that is the quick and dirty on quakes lately!

God, new testament, old testament

A Tale of Two Gods?

Posted on June 10, 2012 by elizabethprata

In this corner, with the wizened face and long white beard, God, also known as Ancient of Days and sometimes as simply I AM. Aged, ancient, and some say, outdated, audience, give it up for God in the white robe, the Old Testament God!

In this corner, with the scarred face and hands, smallish stature and nothing beautiful or majestic to attract us to Him, don’t underestimate this Man of Sorrows, Jesus! Give it up for the man in the crimson-stained robe, the New Testament God!

Through this playful anecdote I hoped to bring to your mind a vivid picture of what I see as a problem today in the mainline churches. They see that there are two Gods, an “Old Testament God” and a “New Testament God.” This reveals a basic misunderstanding of who God is in both testaments. He is the same God. The Old Testament God as He has revealed Himself is a holy God concerned with sin, redemption, and righteous living for the sake of His holy name. In many, many OT chapters, He reveals His profound love for His creation, man, in promising a better future and adhering to those promises again and again.

In the New Testament, God as He has revealed Himself through Jesus is a holy God concerned with sin, redemption, and righteous living for the sake of His holy name. While throughout many, many NT chapters, His Spirit reveals Jesus’s profound love for man, His creation, in promising a better future and adhering to those promises again and again by dying on the cross and resurrecting, He also promises wrath. Just read Revelation. It could be just as factually stated that the ‘OT God’ is a God of love and the ‘NT Jesus’ is a God of wrath. Think about it.

In the entire bible there is wrath and there is love. There are plagues and there is redemption. There are covenants kept by God and broken by man. There are prophesies made, fulfilled, and to come and there is a hope and a future. There is no Old Testament God and there is no New Testament God. There is just I AM.

In the New Testament we see that the wrath of God is still “being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness” (Romans 1:18). The God who came to earth and cleansed the Temple with a bullwhip (Mark 11:15-19) is the same God who in the Old Testament “abounds in love and exceeding patience” (Exodus 34:6).

Though the Jesus of the New Testament is depicted all too unfortunately as a meek and mild, politically correct good teacher holding love-ins on the hill while making daisy chains, He was not. He directly confronted evil, He pointed fingers, He spoke hard sayings, and when the people left, and they did, (John 6:66) He let them go.

God is the same God as He lovingly and compassionately reveals Himself throughout the 66 books of the bible. He is love, He is wrath, but utmost, He is HOLY. His concern for His people is of our sin, and repentance. There is no comparative religion, there is only the superlative religion (L. Ravenhill) and there is no OT God and no NT God, there is only God. He is unchanging. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” James 1:15. And deep down, aren’t we relieved that there is no difference in our God from one covenant to the next?

He reveals Himself to us in various ways. We know of Him through the the creation (Rom 1:18), directly person to person (Gen 3:8, Gen 5:22, Ex 33:11; Adam, Eve, Enoch, Moses), through the prophets, (Heb 1:1), through Jesus (Col 2:9), through his Spirit (2 Tim 3:16), through the Word (John 1:1-5). But though He reveals Himself in various ways, the qualities inherent in that revelation of Himself do not change from covenant to covenant, testament to testament. He remains the same.

If you find yourself saying “Old Testament God” stop for a moment and ponder the gravity of those words. He does not change. He reveals Himself to us as He does and as He will. Is it fair to say ‘OT God’ and ‘NT God’? Is it right? Does it send a good message to hearers? It doesn’t. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8). “I the Lord do not change.” (Malachi 3:6) Now go read some Old Testament!

israel, missile, prophecy, UFO

Middle East UFO or meteor sighting turns out to be Russian missile

Posted on June 8, 2012May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Israel was in havoc last night. So was Lebanon, Iran, Syria (for a different reason), Armenia, Turkey, Georgia, Jordan and other countries. Twitter came alive with panic and wonder. Dozens of phone calls were made to police stations. Youtube videos popped up with blaring headlines and triple question marks. Why? At dusk and into dark luminous lights began appearing in the sky over Lebanon. Many thought they were UFOs, others wondered if they were missiles. Some said they were meteorites, but Israel authorities said they were not. Information was conflicting and as long as the lights remained unidentified, panic rose.

Here is one example from Twitter:
BREAKING: Luminous bodies and meteors appear over North #Lebanon, #Marjaayoun and many areas in the #Bekaa.

Twitter/Yfrog/Instagram came alive with photos, some real,

And some fake,

Syrian State News reported “An aerolite piece flickering over the sky of Damascus was observed yesterday around 8:30 P.M. Chairman of the Syrian Society of Astrology, Dr. Mohamad al-Assiri, asserted that a 20 to 30 centimeter diameter aerolite piece burnt in the troposphere near the Earth sending light flickers for about 30 seconds. Al-Assiri added that the aerolite appeared as a strong light spot observed by the inhabitants of Damascus and the sparkles stretched to Aleppo and to some parts of Lebanon. No damage from the aerolite, none of its components fell on the earth, was reported.” Aerolite is another name for meteorite.

But then they inexplicably used the following graphic to illustrate the news story!!!

Ynet News more soberly reported: “Lebanon: Unidentified objects – meteors
Lebanese media also reported that an unidentified object was observed in the sky. They quoted scientists who claimed the “explanation was scientific” and that the object was most likely a “large meteorite.”The LBCI network reported that: “Luminous objects and meteor bursts appeared over north Lebanon, Marjaayoun, the Bekaa and the Syrian-Turkish border.”

And a short while later reported this:
Israelis nationwide report seeing UFO
“Hundreds flood police with reports of UFO in nation’s skies; Astronomical Association chairman says object isn’t a meteor, flew above Lebanon. Similar sighting in Norway in 2009 turned out to be failed missile test.”

RT’s summary is excellent and is accompanied by good photos.

Today, the Kuwait State News reported this:
“Russian military announced Thursday they have successfully test-fired a new version of the TOPOL-M series, code-named RS-12M. The rocket, an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), was test fired from a Russian military base in Southeast Russia, Interfax news quoted military sources as saying. The missile hit its target in Kazakhstan in central Asia precisely…”

Meanwhile, also being Tweeted at the same time the mysterious lights were seen over half the nations in the Middle East, were reports of a white powder drifting down on Syrian citizens. Subsequent reports of people entering emergency rooms with symptoms of burning and choking appeared and it was strongly suspected that Syria officials had used a chemical weapon.

Report: Unidentified gas used in Syria
“Syrian opposition says Assad’s Air Force planes bomb towns with unfamiliar substances he unidentified gas caused suffocation among residents, the activists said.”

The overwhelming feeling as all this chaos was occurring is disorientation. People in the Mid East are living with warfare threats today that will soon be realized. Christians know they will be due to prophecy and the integrity and certainty of God’s Word. For those who do not believe in God’s word, knowing that the multiple threats will likely result in ignition of the Middle East tensions is also a no-brainer. It happened before, and today there are even more threats, more missiles, and less economic stability than ever before. It’s a catastrophe waiting to happen.

When the Mid-East lights up like that, one cannot help but say, “Is it happening now? Is this it?”

After the furor dies down and facts are sorted out, and it becomes apparent that God’s hand has stayed us fallen humans from the brink [for the moment], so the secondary thought turns to man’s hubris. At least it does for me.

As an example, the New York City Municipal Archives were recently opened online and gave access to a gallery of over 870,000 images from the 1880s to the 1980s. One hundred years of municipal photographs include stunning photos of city projects undertaken such as the Manhattan Bridge construction, highways, and subways. As I looked through the NY Municipal Archives and saw photos like this, of the Manhattan bridge under construction in 1909,

Source

Or this photo of the Holland Tunnel power station in 1925,

Source

I could not help but think, “Wow! We have accomplished so much! Man can do anything!” I do have a justifiable feeling of pride that human engineering has made our lives more smooth and transportation more feasible. It seems that man has conquered the seas, the sky, the earth. We dig tunnels and drive under rivers, we build bridges and drive over the air. We go where we want to go and we build what we want to build, the earth is being remade to our specifications. It seems as if everything will go on as before, and that man’s accomplishments will last forever.

This, of course, is untrue. The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it. (Psalm 24:1)

It was real-time events like last nights that really brings home the tension we are all living under, and the fact that one day, soon I think, the events we witness like last night’s will be the last ones we Christians will see on this side of the veil … before we are called home to glory.

Uncategorized

Freak hail in CO, freak quake in Mayo: Freaky times!

Posted on June 7, 2012May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Updated to add a photo:

These are a sample of the hail that fell in southern Colorado Springs on June 6, 2012.

Photo by Skarlet Pike

Eastern Colorado received some heavy weather yesterday. Lots of flooding and then a prolonged period of hail battered parts of Colorado Springs and environs. The hail was so prolonged, and the size so large, that cars were buried up to their doors in some paces. There was so much it looked like snow! Then the tornadoes hit, and the thunder, and the wind.

This storm reminded me of another freaky hailstorm that happened in April in Texas, and also one in China that killed several people.

Here is the news of the Colorado storm:

Flooding, hail rough up eastern Colorado and south metro area
“A storm system that moved through Colorado yesterday brought hail, heavy winds, and even tornadoes to the Denver area. By far, the most visible damage was caused by inches of hail. It was thick cars could not drive through the streets in some neighborhoods.”

Here’s another photo, from Jim Cantore via twitter: “@JimCantore photo from astonishing colorado springs of hail and rain flooding #sad pic.twitter.com/4CmBLNid”

A reader of this blog commented that though hail is common for CO Springs, hail of that size (ping pong ball) is not common at that elevation.

This morning, snowplows were clearing hail off the Denver streets. Here is a CBS photo gallery of the tornadoes, hail, flooding, lightning and thunderstorms that rolled through last night.

They are saying that the storms were “unusual“, “wicked“, and “crazy.”

“And the LORD said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said, “Behold, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel…” (Amos 7:8a).

A plumb line is what surveyors use to ensure the straightness along a vertical plane or a horizontal plane is achieved. It is the baseline standard upon which the work proceeds. The Lord’s plumbline is His statues, and though His mercy is great as we waver, it will not last forever. There is wrath, too, for persisting in wavering from the plumbline. He judges, too, and one of the judgments is hail.

In the rest of the Amos verses, the LORD says he will not pass by His people any more. The end was near, for them at that time. But what of the wicked people all over the world, the ones who rebel against him and refuse His offer of saving grace so they may persist in their depravity now in this time? What of them? What of the church body, filled with doctrinal infection, hypocrites, paganism, and waywardness? Will He tolerate us straying from the plumbline forever? No. Sometimes He sends hail.

“I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line; hail will sweep away your refuge, the lie, and water will overflow your hiding place.” (Isaiah 28:17)

In other news, speaking of unusual, perplexing, even, there was an earthquake at Mayo Ireland.

Mayo earthquake surprises geologists
“A leading seismologist has said yesterday’s earthquake off the west coast was “unexpected” and poses “very interesting questions for geologists”. The earthquake, which registered a magnitude of four on the Richter scale, was recorded as 60km west of Belmullet, Co Mayo, at a depth of 3km, at 8.58am. It was the largest local seismic event ever recorded, according to Tom Blake of the Irish National Seismic Network (INSN) and the Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies. It was also the second-largest local earthquake on record in either Britain or Ireland, he said – the first being of 5.4 magnitude on July 19th, 1984… However, Mr Blake said that while the earthquake was classified as “moderate”, it was “significant” in that it challenged existing information about seismic activity off the west coast.”

Remember a few weeks ago there was an earthquake at northern Italy? There was millions in damage. But scientifically, that earthquake also perplexed the scientists, because it happened in a place where earthquakes ‘should not’ happen.

This Discovery News article simply states; Why Italy’s Earthquake was weird
–The magnitude 6.0 quake was a thrust quake, yet it occurred at a depth of just 3 miles.
–The quake hit about 470 miles north of the plate boundary.
“A strong and unusually shallow earthquake struck northern Italy over the weekend, fracturing pavement, sending torrents of brick and rubble raining down from buildings, and killing seven people. The powerful shaking was a first for the region in centuries — and fairly surprising to seismologists.”

In essence, the article explains that the Italy quake was a thrust quake- which happens when two plates smash together…but it was nearly 500 miles from the place where two plates smash together! And when two plates smash together, it always happens at greater depths, but this one was shallow, nearly atop the earth’s surface! Can’t you see the scientists (UK: boffins) stroking their beards and pacing the lab? The earth is just not behaving as we expect it to … but that refrain is becoming an old piece of news these days, isn’t it? Scientists are perplexed…things happen that they don’t expect or can explain. …

The Lord said that as a sign of His near return, “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.”

Is there any doubt that these are part of the signs of His soon wrathful intervention into human life? The lost do not want to hear the truth, that our sinful actions anger a patient but Holy God.

“Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (Luke 21:28). [emphasis mine]

holy life, mercy, regeneration

A budding stick

Posted on June 6, 2012May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

My kitchen window won’t stay up. So I use a stick to prop it open. I got the stick from the yard a couple of years ago. LOL, I had to be fast because my landlord is diligent and he goes around and picks up all the dead sticks blown down from windstorms.

It’s been cool lately and I’ve enjoyed being able to open my windows and have the breeze go through, rather than having to live in AC air. Yesterday as I raised up the window and grabbed the stick from the well of the sill, I noticed for the first time that the stick was budding.

I thought it was strange, because I’ve had the stick for a couple of years and it has always been dead. It was dead on the ground when I got it, it languished dead in the windowsill through winters, rains, and heat, and it was dead when I used it to prop up the window all this time. Here is a photo:

Looks like a dead stick, doesn’t it? Well, it is!

But then a leaf grew!

Actually, two leaves are growing!

See?

So the stick is like us before we’re saved. We are dead in our sins. We bear no fruit, we have no life. Sure, we are walking around and living and working and marrying and stuff, but we are dead sticks walking.

“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,” (Ephesians 2:1)

But when we are born again, we are first justified. This means being forgiven, we are now having a right relationship with God. It is a legal term of justice, the Judge giving a pardon. Then we are regenerated.

“And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,” (Colossians 2:13)

“…even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:5)

Regeneration means born again, a rebirth, having new life. The next step in His process is sanctification, which means the process of God molding us as His clay to become more Christlike in all we think, say, and do. Sanctification is a long process, a lifetime, and then an eternity. It is the process of living a holy life. We cannot do this apart from Jesus. Justification is a one time event happening in one moment, the moment God forgives you of sins.

Regeneration is the glorious moment of new birth. Paul captures it in chapter Titus 3:5:

“he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,”

If God makes a dead stick bud, then He can make you bud too! Seek Jesus for forgiveness of sins, He will wash them away and renew you as His new creation in a holy rebirth and subsequent sanctifying growth that will last all your life, in this age and the eternal one to come.

discovery, gog magog, israel, oil, prophecy

Prophetic implications of Israel’s latest gas/oil find

Posted on June 5, 2012 by elizabethprata

ANOTHER major oil find in Israel was announced Sunday. I wrote about it briefly here. Now in this blog entry, I am giving more information.

There is an old joke that Moses took the wrong turn from Egypt, leading Israel to sand and leaving oil for the Arabs. Haven’t you ever wondered why the same geology that yields so much oil in Saudi Arabia and Iran and Iraq yields none in Israel? I have. However, the recent discoveries of oil and gas listed below have made that bad joke outdated. Israel produces 4,000 barrels per day, but has a 250,000 barrel per day demand. Therefore they must import, relying on ever-increasingly hostile neighbors and ever more vulnerable pipelines. It appears that reliance will no longer be necessary. I am sure Israel’s enemies will not be happy to contemplate her ever-growing fuel independence.

For decades, scholars and bible students have wondered what “spoil” could the Gog-Magog alliance possibly want. Israel feeds Europe with her fruit, growing oranges and figs and other fruits that are widely exported. I cannot imagine a war fought over figs, however. The verse in Ezekiel 38 says “A great spoil.” Hmmm.

“Thus says the Lord GOD: On that day, thoughts will come into your mind, and you will devise an evil scheme and say, ‘I will go up against the land of unwalled villages. I will fall upon the quiet people who dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having no bars or gates,’ to seize spoil and carry off plunder, to turn your hand against the waste places that are now inhabited, and the people who were gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who dwell at the center of the earth. Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish and all its leaders will say to you, ‘Have you come to seize spoil? Have you assembled your hosts to carry off plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to seize great spoil?'” (Ez 38:10-13) [emphasis mine.]

What could the great spoil be? Until now, Israel has not shown much yield in anything except what she herself can coax from the ground with hard-won irrigation and sweaty toil. And Russia is the oil monster, with an output that until recently was prodigious. “Was” being the key word.

Jan 2009:
Israel Discovers Gas!
Israel’s Delek fuel company has discovered a huge deposit of natural gas west of Haifa that could change the face of Israel’s economy.

Dec 2009:
Israeli company finds oil beneath Rosh Ha’ayin
Givot Olam Oil Exploration Limited Partnership said that more than 60 percent gas was measured in the drill, indicating the first such find in Israel.

Dec 2010:
Gas Field Confirmed Off Coast of Israel
Exploratory drilling off Israel’s northern coast this week has confirmed the existence of a major natural gas field — one of the world’s largest offshore gas finds of the past decade — leading the country’s infrastructure minister to call it “the most important energy news since the founding of the state.”

Aug 2010:
Leviathan Oil Field Could Sustain Israel For Decades
All big oil and gas fields have geopolitical significance, but we haven’t seen a big oil find in recent years that could matter more than the Leviathan field in the Mediterranean Sea off of Israel. 4.3 bn barrels.

March 2011
Oil shale reserves can turn Israel into major world producer
THE JOKE has been told by generations of Jews, most famously Golda Meir, the former prime minister of Israel: ‘Why did Moses lead us to the one place in the Middle East without oil?’ … According to Dr Vinegar, Israel has the second-biggest oil shale deposits in the world, outside the US: “We estimate that there is the equivalent of 250 billion barrels of oil here. To put that in context, there are proven reserves of 260 billion barrels of oil in Saudi Arabia.”

Nov 2011
Russia output dropping
“Lukoil, which accounts for 15 percent of Russia’s 30-stock Micex index, extended its weekly decline to 6.6 percent after reporting third-quarter results that included a 2 percent drop in gas output and a 21 percent slide in net income. Oil production declined as flows from some wells in Western Siberia abated and falling demand from customers cut gas production, the Moscow-based company said in a Nov. 25 regulatory filing.”

Feb 2012
Another Gas Discovery for Delek, Noble Energy!
Noble Energy and the Delek Group announced on Sunday another significant discovery of a natural gas field off the coast of Haifa.The field, located in the Mediterranean waters 120 kilometers (74.5 miles) northwest of Israel’s northern port city, reportedly totals about 1.2 to 1.3 trillion cubic feet.

May 2012:
Forbes: Is Russian oil output plummeting?
“According to a recent Bloomberg story Saudi Arabia displaced Russia as the world’s largest oil producer, producing just about three thousand barrels a day more in March of 2012”

June 2012:
Israel discovers more offshore oil and gas
An Israeli company announced the discovery of another sizable offshore oil and gas field on Sunday.Israel Opportunity Energy Resources LP estimated the newest field at about 1.4 billion barrels of oil and 6.7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.”The quantity of gas discovered in the licenses — and the high probabilities — make it the third largest off-shore discovery to date,” chairman Ronny Halman told Globes.

You see how this is going. You see that the “old joke” about Moses leading the Jews to the one place in the Middle East that doesn’t have oil is actually by this point kind of a blaspheme. God said He would provide for His people and He IS providing for His people. Furthermore, it demonstrates once again how perfect the LORD’S word is, how precise.

I watch with eager wonder and with bated breath as to what will be the tipping point for the Gog Magog prophecy to come true. When will Russia, Iran, Turkey et al get tired of holding back and pounce? At this oil discovery? The next? It can’t be long now…we see prophesies of Egypt in Isaiah 19 coming to pass and the prophesies of Isaiah 17 regarding Syria ready to come to pass. It is like a drawstring purse, the strings pulling the open neck ever closer, a closing which will end up being a noose around the necks of Israel’s enemies. How much more to go until the prophetic foundations are laid? God in His timing knows, but to me, this puny human, it seems ready today.

israel, oil

Israel Discovers New Giant Off-Shore Oil and Gas Field

Posted on June 5, 2012 by elizabethprata

Ed. Note: I wrote another article exploring the prophetic implications of this discovery here. It also lists the major oil/gas discoveries in the last 3 years.
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Israel has been blessed with gas and oil bounty these last three years. Several large discoveries have been made. Sunday another discovery was made, an oil field under the Red Sea off Israel. Officials say this one may surpass all the other finds in quality and in output.

Israel Discovers New Giant Off-Shore Oil and Gas Field
“An Israel energy company announced Sunday it has discovered an off-shore energy field that may even surpass previous finds in terms of the possibilities of developing commercial grade oil. Israel Opportunity Energy Resources LP announced that its Pelagic licenses indicate 6.7 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of gas and 1.4 billion barrels of oil. By comparison, the previously announced Tamar and Leviathan off-shore fields contain an estimated 9 and 17 TCF of natural gas. The amount of commercial oil, if any, has not been finalized, but estimates of possible oil in the Leviathan field have been downsized to 600 million barrels. Discoveries of oil and gas have made outdated the old joke that Moses took the wrong turn from Egypt, leading Israel to sand and leaving oil for the Arabs. … “The quantity of gas discovered in the licenses, and the high probabilities, make it the third largest offshore discovery to date,” according to Israel Opportunity chairman Ronny Halman, quoted by Globes.He added, ”This quantity guarantees Israel’s energy future for decades, and makes it possible to export Israeli gas, and boost the state’s revenues without worrying about gas reserves for domestic consumption.”

They are preparing wells now. It won’t take long to get it up and running with oil pouring out in export, officials say. Will the other exporting oil giant, the Russian Bear, get jealous? The bible has that answer.

In the Gog Magog battle of Ezekiel 38-39, Russia is one of the nations that attack Israel, for the purpose of taking a spoil, of seizing plunder. “Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish and all its leaders will say to you, ‘Have you come to seize spoil? Have you assembled your hosts to carry off plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to seize great spoil?’ ” (Ez 38:13)

Things are surely lining up!

bema seat, laying up treasure

Squirrel fills antenna with acorns

Posted on June 5, 2012 by elizabethprata

I thought this short (1:21) video was amazing. Watch as the operator opens up the antenna, and all those acorns spill out, and spill out, and spill out!

They ended up believing it was a woodpecker that put all the acorns in the microwave antenna. Now for the spiritual application. Oh, there’s a spiritual application. I put this video on The Quiet Life, my secular blog, for fun and yuks, but on this blog there is always a spiritual application!

All people who ever lived will stand before the judgment seat of God. “For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat…so then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.” (Romans 14:10-12). After the 1000 year Kingdom of Jesus on earth ends, and satan is loosed from the pit to gather one final insurrection, (which is quashed by Jesus) unbelievers will be resurrected into a body and judged at the Great White Throne judgment, where everything they ever said or did will be judged by Jesus. (Revelation 20:11-15). Then they will be thrown into the Lake of Fire for their final and eternal placement.

Christians will be “judged” too, but not for sins. Those were forgiven when we repented. This is really an awards ceremony and Jesus will examine everything a believer said or did in Christ to see whether it was for Christ. Anything not deemed worthy will be burned up as hay or stubble. Any of the believer’s works deemed having brought glory to Jesus will be refined in the fire as gold or silver.

“For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.” (1 Corinthians 3:11-15).

We are urged in Matthew 6:20: “but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.”

As Barnes Notes says, “Do not exhaust your strength and spend your days in providing for the life here, but let your chief anxiety be to be prepared for eternity.”

As I look at the acorns spilling and spilling, my first thought was, “That’s one busy woodpecker! What a lot of work he did, flying here and there to bring acorns to the basket. He is really prepared for the future season! He must have been doing that non-stop.” My next thought was, do I do that? Work continuously for Jesus, laying up treasures for the heavenly future?

When I stand before Jesus to give an account of myself, and He opens my basket of works, will there be one tiny acorn that falls to the throne room’s floor in a pitiful ‘clink’, rolling forlornly to stop at Jesus’s foot?

Or will it be like the wonderful overflowing as the operator opened the antenna and the hard work I’ve tirelessly been undertaking spills out in a monumental mountain? I like to think that Paul’s pile is that overflowing, and Moses’s, and Charles Spurgeon’s and our other heroes of the faith… I am sure I have only a few treasures stored up. But my prayer is that as I go forward that I won’t tire of always striving to do more for Him and with the right motivations, too. I want there to be a huge pile of works that Jesus deems acceptable and remains as gold and silver – because that will have meant I lived for Him. I want to be as busy every day as the woodpecker, constantly piling up treasure for the season to come, my eternal season of glory with Jesus.