elizabethprata

bible, hanging, jesus, prophecy, sin, suicide

RFK Jr’s wife hanged herself- Suicides in general are increasing

Posted on May 17, 2012 by elizabethprata

There is very sad news. Mary Kennedy, mother of four and estranged wife of Robert Kennedy Jr, was discovered hanged in an out-building on her property. She had taken her own life. The NY Post has a story here, headline RFK Jr.’s wife hangs herself.

At church last night, it was noted that there had been a suicide in a neighboring county, a mother had killed herself. We shared that it seemed that there had been a run of suicides of late. Suicide is unusual around here.

Then when I got home from church, I had received an email from an online buddy who wrote to let me know of a spate of teen suicides by hanging in the UK. There had been 13 suspected suicides in that town in the last year, and 79 since 2007, all by hanging. There were two hangings just this week. This is truly terrible news. It is always crushing to think of anyone, but especially youths, who are so despondent that they feel their only option is to end their life. Apparently People Magazine did a story on the incidents in this town on May 14, 2012 called “A Tragedy in Wales: A Small Town Mystery.”

I don’t feel it is a coincidence that suicide is rising so quickly at this time. I decided to do some further research. I discovered in an article written a month ago that suicides of Canadian youths between ages 10 and 19 are rising. PRE-teens! Babes! Like this boy in India.

I read in another recent article from a month ago that Asian suicides are skyrocketing, too. “Korea’s suicide rate has skyrocketed since the Asian economic crisis and is now 2.3 times higher than the rate of death from traffic accidents. In the 1990s, about 7.3 people for every 100,000 committed suicide, but that has soared especially among women, the elderly, highly educated people, professionals, and divorcees.”

I read in an article that Army “suicides among U.S. soldiers rose 80 percent from 2004 to 2008, an Army study found.” In a February 2012 article in Medical News today I read this headline about the population in general: Suicide Rates Highest In 15 Years, US.

People, suicides are up. Hanging has a 70% mortality rate and is the preferred method.

Let’s take a biblical and a cultural look at suicide by hanging. In the bible, Judas hanged himself. “Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” And they said, “What is that to us? You see to it!” Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself.” (Matthew 27:3-5)

In the book Comprehensive Textbook of Suicidology, author Ronald W. Maris et al, we read “Judas’s suicide was final proof that he completely rejected God’s grace, whereas the robber that was crucified next to Jesus was redeemed and entered Paradise together with the Savior. God’s mercy is endless to those who are willing to accept it but those who reject it, commit the terrible sin of Desperatio. Hanging was therefore regarded as the most abominable way out, because this type of death left one unable to call out for mercy, because one was choked and unable to express a last-minute repentance.”

Desperatio is a Middle Ages term explained this way (this is a definition that explains their thinking a thousand years ago, not a doctrine I am promoting): “Desperatio (doubt) is a sin against the Holy Spirit. When a sinner recognizes his burden of sin, but it does not draw the right conclusion to repentance, confession and penance, but in despair at the magnitude of his sins, it is called desperatio. The sinner can be saved in spite of his great sins, if he would take the prescribed path of repentance. It remains closed to him so, however, as he thinks, could there be for their sin no more forgiveness. He doubts the grace of God. A prime example of Judas desperatio could be considered: When he realizes what a great sin to be a betrayal of Jesus was, and he hanged himself in despair. If he had done penance instead, he could have been saved.”

Here is a rendition of hanging by the early Middle Ages artist Giotto

Giotto: Desperatio, ca. 1305-1306, “Desperation” or “Despair”.

Note the demon whispering in her ear. Though suicide is recorded in the bible, suicide is never of God. Here is a link to a Bible study asking the question, “Is suicide a sin?” The author begins it this way:

“The Bible records 3 well-known incidents of suicide – King Saul in the Old Testament (some also regard Samson’s death as a suicide, however he was actually a prisoner of war who died in the process of killing 3,000 pagan Philistines), Judas Iscariot in the New Testament, and another that we will get to in a moment. Although the circumstances of Saul and Judas were different, they did have something very much in common. Saul was under the influence of an evil spirit (1 Samuel 16:14), and Judas had been directly entered by Satan (John 13:27). And what is the third incident? When Jesus Christ healed a man of demon possession at Gerasenes, He had the demons go out from the man and into a large herd pigs that were grazing nearby (Mark 5:1-12). And what did the pigs do after the demons had entered them? They ran down the bank, into the lake, and drowned themselves (Mark 5:13). With the demons in them, the pigs committed suicide. This is not in any way to suggest that all suicide is demon inspired – it most certainly isn’t. But some clearly are, and of all the rest, Satan and his demons are pleased to see it happen.”

Self mutilation/cutting are also demon inspired. “In the New Testament, cutting oneself was associated with someone who was possessed by demons (Mark 5:2-5). It was characteristic of behavior caused by evil spirits. Today, self-mutilation is rarely used for ritualistic practices or actual demon possession, but instead usually by teen-agers and young adults who have misplaced anger and pain that they are attempting to work out in destructive ways.” (source)

Here are some common suicide risk indicators. If you or a loved one are demonstrating even two of these, please seek help immediately:

Common Suicide Risk Indicators
–A previous suicide attempt, even if it seemed staged or designed to get attention, or boasts of past or secret suicide attempts.
–Talking about being dead or wishing they were dead, how others would be happier if he/she were dead or how much better off others will be when he/she is gone.
–Repeatedly engaging in very risky or dangerous thrill seeking behavior.
–“Getting the house in order” – making plans for the care of loved siblings, parents, relatives or pets and giving away cherished belongings to close friends.
–Extreme mood swings; very depressed episodes followed by happy episodes with no clear reason for the change. –Regular expressions of worthlessness, helplessness, sadness and/or loneliness.
–Drastic changes in habits, friends, or appearance, ie; new friends, skipping school, dropping out of favorite activities, and no longer caring about appearance or cleanliness.
–Changes in weight, sleeping habits, and physical activity. Withdrawing from friends, family, or activities that once gave the person pleasure or a sense of identity.

Here is a link to a checklist of suicide risk behaviors from Air Force Medicine, and on the list is cutting. Please check either link or other good links on the internet if you or a loved one is despondent and talking of ending it all.Precious brethren, suicide is so heartbreaking, and solves nothing. It throws away the precious life that Jesus gave you and it satisfies satan to be successful in pressuring a Christian from the world. It satisfies him even further to send an unsaved person to hell. Jesus loves you with a white hot fervency, he seeks and saves and brings us to His bosom! Nothing is worse than plunging into the gulf that separates us from Him by our own hand, or ending what could be a fulfilling life in Christ by our own hand.

The End Times are here. With apostasy rising and Christianity’s believers moving away from Jesus, and with unbelievers moving further away from offered grace, satan is still and always seeking whom he may devour. (1 Peter 5:8). Let us all be alert for weakening brethren. Though we can never tell with certainty what is going on in another person’s mind, if you see or hear them demonstrate any of the indicators, you will know that the prayer battle is on. Fight for each other! Pray to the Spirit for help. Jesus heals, completely!

“The LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor…to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve…to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” (Isaiah 61:1-3).

It seems all too often the spirit if despair is upon us, but the garment of praise is ours to be had, along with the victory- thanks eternally to His sacrifice and His grace.

bible, prophecy, Uncategorized

How to hear God’s voice, without static

Posted on May 17, 2012May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

I was trundling down the driveway to head out for work this morning and on my Christian radio station was Bach’s Gloria in excelsis Deo. I had to stop at the bottom to let a car go by. The instant I stopped, the music changed from the Christian station to a jazz song.

As I pulled forward to go again the song instantly changed back to Gloria.

I laughed, and got to thinking of how it worked that as long as I was moving I was tuned in perfectly to the Godly frequency. It was only when I’d stopped that the worldly song came in. When we keep moving, we stay on God’s frequency. (Romans 6:4; Eph 4:17; 1 Corinthians 9:24; 2 Timothy 4:7)

It’s funny how there are so many radio stations and yet all of them have their own frequency. It’s rare for one to dominate the other suddenly, it is only when we stop in a dead zone or we go out of range that the signals get crossed. When that happens we hear static, and the message gets lost.

It is exactly like that in our walk with God. When we stop our walk with Him, the world encroaches. When we linger in a dead zone (sin) then the world takes over. All radio signals have their own frequency, and so does God.

The apostasy that is rising so quickly is partly due to the Christians who stop tuning in to God’s channel and seek him on a different one. It is pointless to listen to a jazz station and expect to hear “Are You Washed in the Blood?” You can listen until you’re blue in the face but that song will never come on that station.

Christians of late have been trying to find God on a frequency where He doesn’t broadcast. Bill Hybels is on the whispering station but God is not there. Jesse Duplantis been looking for Him on the visions station but he is not there. Beth Moore has been looking for Him on the contemplative prayer station from the pit but He is not there. Henry Blackaby has been tuning into the experiential station but God is not there. God broadcasts strongly on one station and one station only.

THE BIBLE CHANNEL.

Chris Rosebrough wrote about where to find God’s broadcast 100% of the time, with certainty. His essay, “How to Hear God’s Voice 100% of the Time” is wonderful. He wrote in part:

“Are you struggling to figure out if those whispers that your pastor has told you to listen for are really God’s voice or a case of gastrointestinal hallucinations caused by a bad batch of pepperoni pizza?”

“Are you tired of going through the whole rigmarole of filtering those voices in your head through a six point ‘discernment grid’ to try to ascertain if that’s the Holy Spirit speaking to you or proof that you need to make an appointment with a shrink?”

“Have you read and reread Blackaby and still haven’t got the foggiest notion as to how to tell where God is working in the world so that you can join Him?”

“If you’ve answered yes to one or all of these questions then I’ve got great news for you! I have discovered a simple and sure fire way for you to hear God’s voice. The best part is that its 100% guaranteed and totally Biblical. Here it is.”

Click on the link to read more. It is an excellent essay! Needless to say, God broadcasts on the BIBLE CHANNEL 100% of the time. If you read it, study it, pray about it, let the Spirit lead you into truth, your signals will never get crossed!!

image source

apocalypse, prophecy

This and that

Posted on May 16, 2012May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Hi Folks,

This piece is just a chat. It won’t be a deep theological treatise nor a blurb on the news of the day. We are a day and a half from the end of the school year, and let me tell you, the kindergarteners are restless! I’m pooped.

I usually get most of the blog comments overnight. I wake up at 6:00am and turn on the computer and there will be comments waiting for me to moderate. This morning there were four on one topic. I deleted them all. They were responding to the Jentezen Franklin piece. It’s interesting that the Jentezen Franklin post and its companion piece still gets notice and comment. Amazingly, the Franklin false teacher post gets a lot more comments than the Beth Moore false teacher essays I did. It is usually the opposite, I’m told by other evangelicals. An essay stating Beth Moore is anything except either an angel or a saint usually gets plenty of screed. But my readers, bless them, save their screed for the Franklin post.

I deleted all the Franklin comments this morning because they were screed. Any comments that say such things as “You’re a poopyhead for thinking this” won’t get past the draft screen. I post comments that either support or take issue with my posts that are polite and/or have bible verses to back them up. I won’t write a ‘comment policy’ because commenting is common sense. It is like a conversation- listen, share, be polite. Name calling is never an argument, unless it is an argument for instant delete.

On another topic, I have been thinking about prophecy education. For the last two weeks I’ve been musing about pulling back from the detailed view to share and present the wider view on the blog instead. An overview, even. And this week Pastor JD Farag said he was doing exactly that. And Jack Kelley has started revamping his Revelation overviews and has pulled back the lens. I had been thinking of dong a general overview of what will happen after the rapture, or perhaps a chronology. It seems the Spirit is pressing this idea to me and to others so I’ll pray some more and see how to proceed.

I was asked by the publishers of a new ‘zine to contribute to it. The topic is the Apocalypse, and the name of the zine is Apocalypse This. It will be sold at the Nottingham Zine Fair on May 26. I was asked to share the Christian view. The zine will contain other religions’ views as well. You can find the website for the zine here, and twitter here. Here is the Facebook page for the fair. Prayers are appreciated that the truth of the Word will reach the youths who are curious about a false Apocalypse but are unaware of the looming real one.

Speaking of the looming apocalypse, does it feel like a heavy burden of weight and presence to you? It feels so close. The European financial and economic crisis certainly adds portent to the events. The line-up of hostile nations in the Middle East certainly add portent. But even the news aside, the feeling of imminence is weightier every day. I don’t think it is a feeling of exhaustion that I usually feel this time of year, lol. It just feels like prophecy is speeding up.

Remember, prophecy is set before us in His word so that before it comes to pass, we may be prepared; and so that when it comes to pass, we may believe and worship Him who is outside of time and He who writes history beforehand.

“Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.” (Psalm 90:1-2)

The Creation: God measuring the Universe with a compass, c. 1375, The National Library of The Netherlands

mcnamara, surf, wave

Highest wave surfed, what a rush!

Posted on May 15, 2012May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

I like the ocean and all to do with it. I read a couple of books last vacation by Susan Casey on the topic of the ocean. The first was called The Devil’s Teeth, about the Farallon Islands (their jagged heights make them look like giant foreboding devil’s teeth), which I reviewed on my other blog. Secondly, I read a book by Casey called The Wave: In Pursuit of Rogues and Freaks. It is about big-wave surfing. It is supposedly about the science of freak huge waves, like the one that sank the New Gloucester MA fishing vessel Andrea Gail (The movie The Perfect Storm was about that catastrophe). Instead of the science behind freak waves, Casey spent a lot of time in the book on surfing instead. I’m fascinated by men who would chase a giant wave and ride down the face of it. (Obviously the author was, too). Until I’d read Casey’s book I had no clue about surfing’s big name sponsors and the world wide chasing of these waves, and the competitions to surf the biggest wave for award money and fame.

There was news this week of someone who has broken the record for riding the tallest wave. American Surfer Garrett McNamara did it, on a wave off Portugal. He surfed a 78-foot wave successfully and earned competition dollars to boot. That he lived to tell the tale is another bonus, lol.

The Casey book was ostensibly about the science behind big waves- how they occur, why they occur, how they interact with the sea floor, etc. It was kind of thin on the science but still, there were lots of photos, and who can’t appreciate a great curl? The preciousness and the perfection of coming out of the tube? Or of seeing the sunlight through the tube?

Here is the video of McNamara riding the award winning huge wave:

Here is a random photo from inside a tube:

Here is the math behind waves:

Here is an illustration of the science/maths and waves: (source)

And here is the point:

As I read about these surfers, they all say they love the challenge of the wave. To challenge life itself, to live through sliding down the height of a 6-storey building on a stick. To conquer nature.

Now, it is one thing to admire nature, for God is the architect of it. He is creative, that Creator of ours. We admire His handiwork.

“For the choir director. A Psalm of David. The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.” (Psalm 19:1).

But these surfers, while admiring the handiwork of ‘nature,’ also challenge it. They want to master it. To be superior to it. This is quite another thing. The line is thin between athletic excellence so as to admire God’s handiwork and another thing to see nature as the opponent to be mastered. Mountain climbers, bikers, surfers, skiiers, and other athletes may start out as wanting to hone their body for the betterment of a healthy life, or to be able to see a view God had made from another vantage point, like the top of a mountain or the bottom of the sea, but at some point their admiration may transfer from honoring God’s handiwork to admiring themselves for mastering it. If they even believe God made it at all.

The wave is not the enemy. The wave is a challenge, yes, but satan is the enemy, and he seeks to instill pride in the accomplishment of mastery over God’s creation. As with any non-Godly adrenaline rush, even the most humble or least skillful surfer (climber-biker-kayaker-etc) wants the adrenaline thrill to continue. The only way to do that is to seek higher heights, deeper depths, until one day, death wins. Athleticism for its sake is a glorious thing. Paul likened our faithful path to a race, to runners, to athletes competing for the prize. But as with any sin, seeking the continual glory without God behind it will always lead away from God.

As I finished the Casey book, The Wave, I was struck by the futility of it all. These surfers were always hooked into a phone or text or alarm that would alert them to the storm trough that may produce the next big wave. They were always leaving their families to go rushing off to Portugal or Bora Bora or California to ride the next big wave. It struck me as a completely unfulfilling life, because it was based on adrenaline, and not God.

After Mike Parsons broke the previous big wave record of 77 feet in 2008, now comes McNamara with his 78-foot wave. What next? Will McNamara seek a 79 or 80 foot wave? To what end? What does the mountain climber do after Everest? What will James Cameron do after seeing the earth’s deepest point?

God is an adrenaline rush that never ends. It is infinite, because He is infinite. And His love is infinite.

“Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty? They are higher than the heavens—what can you do? They are deeper than the depths of the grave—what can you know? Their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea.” (Job 11:7-9).

Now HE is a pursuit worth training for!

contract, courageous resolution, prophecy

Is your church doing the "Courageous Resolution"?

Posted on May 15, 2012 by elizabethprata

The movie Courageous sparked another fad driven product. Fireproof’s Love Dare diary is so yesterday. Now it’s all about the Courageous Resolution. You may even be thinking that I’m late to post information on this. See? If you are, then it’s a fad.

The Courageous movie had a scene in which several of the fathers gathered in a living room with a pastor and made a resolution (swore an oath) which emphasized fatherhood, fidelity, and the man as head of the home. The Christian version of ‘man up!’

Like its previous movie, Fireproof, which came with a 40-day love dare diary or some such thing, now this movie has the Resolution For Men or whatever it is called.

It is supposed to mark the moment and celebrate the commitment being made to God and family. Here is the text of the resolution–

THE RESOLUTION
I DO solemnly resolve before God to take full responsibility for myself, my wife, and my children.
I WILL love them, protect them, serve them, and teach them the Word of God as the spiritual leader of my home.
I WILL be faithful to my wife, to love and honor her, and be willing to lay down my life for her as Jesus Christ did for me.
I WILL bless my children and teach them to love God with all of their hearts, all of their minds, and all of their strength.
I WILL train them to honor authority and live responsibly.
I WILL confront evil, pursue justice, and love mercy.
I WILL pray for others and treat them with kindness, respect, and compassion.
I WILL work diligently to provide for the needs of my family.
I WILL forgive those who have wronged me and reconcile with those I have wronged.
I WILL learn from my mistakes, repent of my sins, and walk with integrity as a man answerable to God.
I WILL seek to honor God, be faithful to His church, obey His Word, and do His will.
I WILL courageously work with the strength God provides to fulfill this resolution for the rest of my life and for His glory.

There are a few things to ponder. First, the positive:

I see nothing wrong on the face of it for any of the above statements, because they do not seem to vary with what God told us in the bible. That’s it. I can’t think of any other positive.

Now the negative:

–I see no bible verse addresses with them. Therefore they are man-made.

–At some point we have to take these fads that emerge from Christian movies and put them on the same level as the product fads that emerge from any other movie, like Star Wars light sabers or the Avengers dolls.

–Where is the Love Dare book now? Does anyone still do it? Where will The Courageous Resolution be in 2 years? Will anyone be doing it? Or will they be trailing after the next big thing?

I am a bare bones gal. I think the bible is all we need. Why make a man-made vow and swear on that? Don’t we make a resolution when we repent? Don’t we make a vow when we get married? Don’t we make an oath when we get Baptised? Don’t we make a vow when we present our children on Dedication day? Don’t we make a vow when we partake of the Lord’s Supper? How many vows do we need? How many ordinances? How many resolutions?

Here is the main point: Aren’t men already doing the things that are in the resolution? If not, then they need church discipline. If so, then abandon any man-made vow as unnecessary and extra-biblical.

The New Testament speaks to this oath taking: (from Got Questions)

“[The Jephthah account] shows us is the foolishness of rash vows. Perhaps this is why Jesus gave a new commandment concerning vows. “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.’ But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No ,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one” (Matthew 5:33-37).”

“The principle here is clear for Christians: do not make vows, either to the Lord or to one another. First, we are unable to know for sure whether we will be able to keep vows. The fact that we are prone to the errors in judgment which are part of our fallen nature means that we may make vows foolishly or out of immaturity. Further, we don’t know what the future will bring—only God does. We don’t know what will happen tomorrow (James 4:14), so to make a vow that we will do or not do something is foolish”.

“God is the one in control, not us, and He “works all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). Knowing this, we can see that it is unnecessary to make vows and that it indicates a lack of trust in Him.”

“Finally, Jesus commands that our word be sufficient without making vows. When we say “yes” or “no,” that’s exactly what we should mean. Adding vows or oaths to our words opens us up to the influence of Satan whose desire is to trap us and compromise our Christian testimony. If we have made a vow foolishly and realized we cannot or should not keep it, we should confess it to God, knowing that He is “faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

“A broken vow, while serious, is not an unforgivable matter if taken to the Lord in true confession. God will not hold us to vows made imprudently, but He expects us to obey Jesus and refrain from making vows in the future.”
———end GotQuestions——–

God made it simple and wrote it down for us. We keep editing it… I just think it is better to live by the bible rather than take what is in the bible, mix it with man’s words, and swear an oath by it. To me that seems idolatrous. Submit to the Lord, live by His word, and get on with it, men!! For heaven’s sakes, stop talking about being men and just be men!

If a contract to be honorable fathers was such a good thing then why haven’t we been doing it for 2000 years?

Uncategorized

I don’t have to go to church. I can worship anywhere…

Posted on May 13, 2012 by elizabethprata

On the 9Marks blog, Jonathan Leeman write a piece called What is Church Membership? In part, he wrote,

“Church membership is a formal relationship between a local church and a Christian characterized by the church’s affirmation and oversight of a Christian’s discipleship and the Christian’s submission to living out his or her discipleship in the care of the church. Notice that several elements are present: a church body formally affirms an individual’s profession of faith and baptism as credible; it promises to give oversight to that individual’s discipleship; the individual formally submits his or her discipleship to the service and authority of this body and its leaders. The church body says to the individual, “We recognize your profession of faith, baptism, and discipleship to Christ as valid. Therefore, we publicly affirm and acknowledge you before the nations as belonging to Christ, and we extend the oversight of our fellowship.” Principally, the individual says to the church body, “Insofar as I recognize you as a faithful, gospel-declaring church, I submit my presence and my discipleship to your love and oversight.”

Consequently, failure to regularly attend is a rejection of the above. To all those Christians who say “I can worship in the forest, or anywhere…” To all those Christians who say, “I don’t feel led to staying at one church, but will share myself with one and all by hopping around…” To all those Christians who say, “I don’t need a church, Jesus loves me anyway…”

I say HOGWASH.

What you are really saying is… “I refuse to submit to accountability of the brethren in one corporate body.” You’re actually saying, “I reject oversight of my brothers and sisters.” The fact is, you’re telling Jesus “I selfishly refuse to employ the spiritual gifts You gave me for the edification and encouragement of the body.”

How will iron sharpen iron if one part of the process is sitting at home on Sundays? How can you know what your pastor needs in body and in prayer if you don’t see him week after week? How will you encourage others if you’re off in a forest somewhere (like a Druid)?

You need church. Your church brothers and sisters need you. Because we’re all one body, when one part is missing (and all parts are vital to the health of the organism) we feel the loss of you.

Jesus deserves to be celebrated and worshiped in the way HE designed it. He loves the church. (Ephesians 5:25). He gave His blood for it. (Acts 20:28). He gave us pastors for it (Jeremiah 3:15).

Now I understand that technically, the church is each individual believer, we all make up the church as one body with Christ as the Head. But Hebrews 10:24-25 tells us not to give up meeting together. So your attendance is not respectfully requested, but is demanded by the One who died so you could thank Him with the others who make up this great entity we call the BRIDE OF CHRIST. You’d show up on your wedding day, wouldn’t you? So show up on Sundays and celebrate your Groom.

peace and security, prophecy

While they are saying peace and safety

Posted on May 13, 2012 by elizabethprata

Though there are things we can’t know, there are things we do know with unalterable confidence:

“When people say, “There is peace and security,” destruction will strike them as suddenly as labor pains come to a pregnant woman, and they will not be able to escape.” (1 Thessalonians 5:3).

We know that there is no peace and safety outside of Jesus.

Of this verse, note several things. First, no matter what translation you look at, the verse invariably says ‘when they are saying/while they are saying.’ The verse does not state ‘after they say’.

Additionally, the translations invariably use the phrase ‘peace and safety/peace and security’, which is what they are saying these days! The world is now seeking the increasingly elusive quality of peace and security.

The word security is from the Greek compound, meaning not and totter. The notion behind the word is they will be looking for a ‘firmness that equates to security.’ There is nothing on the earth that offers a foundational firmness that equates to security. There is no treaty, no house, no nation, no leader, no idea, no government that will offer the security that God does. The only security there is, is God.

That is why the drive to find peace and security ratchets up at a frenzied pace, because as the world crumbles into not-peace (war) and not-safety (chaos), they look toward something, anything, that will provide security.

We know war does come. There is no peace. The Tribulation opens with a horseman riding on the waves of war, unleashing it upon the world. (Revelation 6:3-4). Damascus is destroyed, (Isaiah 17), The Middle East goes to war (Psalm 83), Iran attacks Israel (Ezekiel 38-39), and the rest of the world is drawn into war after war (Matthew 24:6).

Now here is an interesting verse: Jeremiah 8:10b-12. Jeremiah speaks of conditions of the Israelites that mirror ours today, “From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit. They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. “Peace, peace,” they say, when there is no peace. Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when they are punished, says the Lord.”

The priests and prophets spoke of superficial things, not getting to the heart of the matter, which was their sin and failure to repent of. We have that today, preachers refusing to speak of sin but instead treating the people with a bandage when what they need is a tourniquet. They dress the wound as if the people are not dying!

They speak of peace but there is no peace, none inside themselves with God and none outside themselves with each other. They are so seared with sin that they don’t even blush anymore. They have no shame at their deeds, and so, that important word “so,” meaning because of their failures before the Lord, they will be brought down and punished. As it was then, it will be again.

gay marriage, Obama, prophecy

What is the big deal about Obama’s change of opinion on gay marriage?

Posted on May 12, 2012 by elizabethprata

This week Obama came out and said openly that he now supports gay marriage. This caused a political earthquake in America and around the world. Some rushed in with money to support him so any potential second term may gain them political advantage of turning their deviancy into law. Some said his stance shows “moral leadership.”

The pressure ramped up on other world leaders, who immediately were pressed into stating, or re-stating their views. At once, the wolves circled the Australia Prime Minister, who had to ‘defend’ her views against gay marriage. The UK was pressed to follow Obama’s ‘lead.’

In all cases though, we know that his open stance set a global precedent. And not just for gay marriage, but also for gay adoption and ultimately for redefinition of the foundational rock of our culture: families united under God.

Now we know that Obama’s change in stance, or “evolution” as he calls it, is simply a crafty accession to a political timing. I mean, everyone could see this coming, and Southern Baptist Preacher and president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Al Mohler said essentially we all knew where Obama stood from the beginning and it was only a matter of time until he came out for gay marriage unequivocally.

So on that last basis, people are saying, since we all knew this was coming, what’s the big deal?

Well, it IS a big deal. Franklin Graham said of Obama’s shift toward public and government support of gay marriage:

““President Obama has, in my view, shaken his fist at the same God who created and defined marriage. It grieves me that our president would now affirm same-sex marriage, though I believe it grieves God even more,” Graham said in a statement. “This is a sad day for America. May God help us,” he said.

Here is why Obama’s change from a likely stance toward acceptance of gay marriage to an affirmed stance of homosexual unions codified under the force of law is a big deal: it’s public sin.

Graham is right when he says America has shaken her fist at God. God does not tolerate flaunted sin. He is grieved over all sin, of course, national and individual, but to openly defy God’s law regarding marriage and the family, affirming sin at the national level, takes it up a notch. God had even made a provision for a distinction between unintentional sin and defiant sin in Old Testament Law and he set rules for atonement for each:

“But if just one person sins unintentionally, he must bring a year-old female goat for a sin offering. The priest is to make atonement before the Lord for the one who erred by sinning unintentionally, and when atonement has been made for him, he will be forgiven. One and the same law applies to everyone who sins unintentionally, whether he is a native-born Israelite or an alien. But anyone who sins defiantly, whether native-born or alien, blasphemes the Lord, and that person must be cut off from his people. Because he has despised the Lord’s word and broken his commands, that person must surely be cut off; his guilt remains on him.” (Numbers 15:27-31).

And no one can say that homosexual unions under government establishment and approval is an unintentional sin. Look at this verse from 2 Peter 2:6-10–

“If he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment. This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful natured and despise authority.”

The authority spoken of here is God’s authority, lordship authority and the celestial hierarchies.

So no one can say they were unaware that homosexuality is a sin. We were given an actual example of what is going to happen to the ungodly, and were then told that this will happen again to the ungodly because they had not heeded that example. In the case of Sodom and Gomorrah (and Admah and Zeboiim as per Deuteronomy 29:23) an entire region was destroyed due to public and flagrant sin. In the case of the US, remember that Obama is an elected representative of the majority of 311 million people and a representative speaks for the majority of the people. So this week Obama publicly and intentionally flouted God’s law for the sanctity of marriage the way He has ordained in the bible.

So you can see that it is not just a matter of one guy changing his mind about how he feels about homosexual marriage. It is a matter of a man who was elected to lead the most blessed nation on earth (after Israel) who represents and speaks for the majority of them, a king of the world, who is supposed to righteously govern according to God’s standards but instead publicly flaunts God’s ordinances. He has shaken his fist at God.

We consistently kill millions of unborn babies despite being told not to pass our children through the fire and sacrifice them. (Leviticus 18:21). We affirm deviancy. We allow ‘no-fault’ divorce. We make empty professions of faith and practice idolatry. When the gay-promoters lash out at the bible believers they call us “intolerant.” They will soon discover how INTOLERANT God Himself is toward sin. Nineveh was smote for wickedness. Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim was smote for homosexuality and wickedness. Israel was punished for empty religion and flouting or abandoning God’s laws. God judged the world because “the wickedness of man was great in the earth” (Genesis 6:5a). America is no different than any other nation or the world.

But let’s bring our attention to a part of the verse that is a promise. The first part of the verse spoke about condemnation. The second part is a promise. Here is 2 Peter 2:6-9a:

He KNOWS how grieved we are to hear these things. He KNOWS how trapped we feel, we who did not elect him and who do not hold to these deviant standards. He KNOWS we are distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men. He KNOWS. He rescues the godly. He rescues.

Did he not rescue Noah, that righteous man, perfect in his generations? Did He not rescue Lot? Does He not promise to rescue us from the coming wrath? (1 Thessalonians 1:10). We are not appointed to wrath. (1 Thessalonians 5:9).

So? What is God waiting for? 2 Peter 3:7-9 has the answer–

“But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

God waited for 400 years to judge the Canaanites. He waited until the fourth generation of the Amorites, until their iniquity was full. (Gen 15:16).

However at a certain point a nation does cross the line. Has America crossed it? As Franklin Graham said, Marriage “was defined not by man, but by God Himself. … This is a sad day for America. May God help us.”

prophecy, rapture

News blurbs: US-led military exercises near Syria, Putin ‘too busy’ to meet with Obama

Posted on May 10, 2012 by elizabethprata

From Hurriyet News, a Turkish Daily

“12000 soldiers from 17 countries carry out a US-led joint military exercise in Jordan amid the ongoing the crisis in Syria. ‘It has nothing to do with Syria. [The timing] is just a coincidence,’ a top US official says“
“The United States military said yesterday that 12,000 soldiers from 17 countries would be taking part in this month’s military exercises in Jordan, designed to enhance their ability to meet “security challenges.” Special action troops, naval and air force units from countries including Turkey, France and Saudi Arabia will carry out the joint training operations, according to the Voice of Russia. “The tactical execution of the Eager Lion 2012 exercises will officially start on May 15,” Major Robert Bockholt, public affairs officer at Special Operations Command Central, told Agence France-Presse. …

Iran, Syria links denied–“Some local media reports have speculated that the war games are linked to the unrest in neighboring Syria, saying the troops were seeking to secure Jordan’s border. “The execution of Eager Lion 2012 is not connected to any real-world event. It has nothing to do with Syria. It is just a coincidence, Bockholt said….”

Sure … and the US sending F22s to a base near Iran has nothing to do with anything either. Anyway, here is an article on the fate of Jordan according to prophecy.

I had written on the blog this week that Russia’s top military officer has threatened to carry out a pre-emptive strike on U.S.-led NATO missile defense facilities in Eastern Europe if Washington goes ahead with its controversial plan to build a missile shield…yet at the same time the US and Russia had agreed to war exercises in which they will be engaging in an anti-terrorism exercise that will involve Russian paratroopers using U.S. weapons to “take and hold” the main facilities of the CIA and Denver International Airport in Colorado and the National Security Agency in Utah.

Now we read this, also in the Hurriyet News– “Putin ‘too busy’ to meet Obama“
“Newly-inaugurated Russian President Putin will not attend next week’s G8 summit in the United States ‘due to his busy schedule.’ The decision raises new questions about Moscow-Washington ties on the eve of the NATO summit.”
“Russian President Vladimir Putin will miss the upcoming G8 summit in the United States as he is busy forming a government, just after starting his third term as head of state, the Kremlin said yesterday, raising new questions about Moscow-Washington ties. Putin will however meet U.S. President Barack Obama at the G20 summit in June in Mexico, the Kremlin added, confirming an earlier statement by the White House.”

Here is an article about Russia and Iran in prophecy, in which Gog, Putin, the Ezekiel 38-39 prophecy and Persia are all covered.

After Prime Minister Netanyahu’s surprise masterstroke of uniting the government and calling off early elections, the “U.S. Concerned Netanyahu, Mofaz May Attack Iran“
U.S. worried that Israel’s new unity government could result in an attack on Iran at any given moment.
“The United States is worried that Shaul Mofaz and his Kadima party’s joining a unity government with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu could result in an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities at any given moment, according to a report on Channel 10 News on Thursday. U.S. government officials told Channel 10 News that they believe a Likud-Kadima joing government could make a decision about an Israeli attack on Iran at any moment and perhaps even before the U.S. presidential elections in November.”

Here is a 2009 article asking whether bible prophecy predicts that Israel attacks Iran The news is dated but the answer is good.

The prophecies of Revelation, Matthew, Psalm 83, Obadiah, Isaiah, and many more books of the bible are soon going to finally be completely fulfilled. As Ron Graham said in his article this week, “A very small amount of discernment is all that is necessary these days as we watch the current state of world affairs becoming more and more unstable.”

For those of us with discernment, a small or a large amount, the burden of the world is both heavy and light. Heavy because we know the left-behind Tribulation dwelling “people of Earth will feel like a prizefighter trapped in a corner of the ring while his opponent pounds him relentlessly” as Jack Kelley phrased it, and Light because Jesus is the Light and our very eternal treasure, whose promises do not fail and who will soon be breaking through the veil to call us up to Him. O come soon, Lord!

9Marks, prophecy