Jesus is coming soon to judge sin, and to establish His Kingdom. (Daniel 2:44). It is going to last 1000 years and it is known as the Millennial Kingdom. (Isaiah 2:4, 42:1). He is also preparing a place called New Jerusalem for His church Age believers to dwell in. It will be established after the Tribulation and before eternity. It is a real kingdom, with real people, lands, and a ruler, namely Jesus and it will be on earth. (Luke 1:32-33). Jesus will have put satan in jail already for the entire duration, so there will be no devil tempting the un-glorified people re-populating the earth who live in the Kingdom. If you ever prayed The Lord’s Prayer, you have prayed for His kingdom to come:
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:9-10).
GotQuestions explains, “The purpose of the 1000-year reign is to fulfill promises God made to the world that cannot be fulfilled while Satan is free and humans have political authority. Some of these promises, called covenants, were given specifically to Israel. Others were given to Jesus, the nations of the world, and creation. All of these will be fulfilled during Jesus’ 1000-year reign.”
However, it is an exclusive kingdom. Not all people will be allowed into it. Any person can claim citizenship, but if citizenship is rejected, they will be denied entry to this wonderful kingdom! Jesus will only allow people who have been cleansed from sin to enter, people who have repented of their sins and asked Jesus to forgive them. Refusing to repent is in fact rejecting of your citizenship into this kingdom of perfect peace and love.
He is preparing us to understand that the time is nigh. He said He would send signs of the end of the age, and those signs are getting stronger with each passing day. The hatred and rejection of Jesus is one of those signs (2 Peter 3:3-4), as well as the love of one another growing cold (2 Timothy 3:2-4) and the falling away of Christians from solid doctrine. (1 Timothy 4:1). There are many other signs.
God said He will open up end time prophecy for all to understand and interpret so we can prepare for His Second Coming. (Daniel 12:9-10). That is why you have been hearing so MUCH lately about the end times, and the rapture and it is why there are so many Christians are saying “repent, the end is nigh”. He is opening up prophecy and opening the hearts of Christians to understand prophecy because the time IS nigh. It is the Holy Spirit opening up the hidden things because it is now the time to know them.
Now, the rapture is not the Second Coming, they are two different events. The rapture happens at the beginning of the final 7 years of Tribulation, and the Second Coming happens at the very end of that final 7 years. Then Jesus sets up His kingdom to fulfill the promises He has made throughout the bible, as mentioned above.
He wants one and all to enter His kingdom and His city but He cannot allow the wicked unrepentant to come in. He even sets angels at the gates of New Jerusalem so that nothing impure will ever enter. (Rev 21:12, Rev 21:27). Please consider your lives carefully, and understand that this decision for Jesus or against Jesus (which is the same as saying you decide for your own sin or reject your own sin) is a permanent one. Jesus loves each and every single person on this earth from the beginning to now. He knows the name of each person who is living, all 7 billion of us, and He knows the names of each person who has already lived and died. He wants all of us in His kingdom, either on earth or in New Jerusalem, but if you have rejected Him then you will not be allowed to dwell in glory with Him.
Do you really have so much pride that you refuse to ever say, ‘I do wrong and that wrong is against a Holy God’? All the wrongs done in your mind or on your tongue or by your hands are deeds that are crimes against Jesus, and He will judge those sins. However, He died on the cross and shed His blood as the atoning sacrifice for your sins and thereby has pardoned them. That is how you claim your citizenship- by accepting His blood as a covering for your sins and accepting Him as your Lord.
While geologists have been monitoring the quake swarm in Arkansas, which has renewed lately, a surprise series of quakes shook up Oklahoma overnight. First, Arkansas:
Geologists closely monitoring surge in central Arkansas quakes Official: Layout of quakes might suggest larger tremor coming “The Arkansas Geological Survey says it is stepping up its monitoring of seismic activity in central Arkansas after dozens of small earthquakes in the region. Six minor quakes were recorded Friday near Quitman, the latest of more than 50 temblors in October. The Friday tremors began with a 2.0-magnitude quake around 7:45 a.m. and peaked with a 2.5 quake later in the morning.The shaking follows more than 1,000 earthquakes centered between Guy and Greenbrier from September 2010 to July of this year.”
The result of the research into the issue was to stop fracking. Fracking involves injecting pressurized liquid into the ground and geologists thought that was likely contributing to the shaking. Guess what? It wasn’t. The article continues:
“The quakes between Guy and Greenbrier tailed off significantly in August, but more quakes began occurring in October closer to Quitman. It sits about 10 miles northeast of Guy.That distance is potentially concerning, warned Scott Ausbrooks, geohazards supervisor for the Arkansas Geological Survey. The Quitman quakes are occurring along the same line as the Guy-Greenbrier ones, but there’s a miles-long gap between Guy and Quitman in which no quakes have been recorded. … So why is the shaking continuing if the drilling has stopped?”
But surprising residents in a large swathe of the Midwest last night a series of quakes occurred in Oklahoma, shaking up the state.
Quakes shake up state NORMAN — Oklahoma was rocked by a series of earthquakes this weekend, with quakes being reported both early Saturday morning and late Saturday evening. The earthquakes knocked pictures off walls and woke people and pets as they shook an area that stretched into Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Texas. The U.S. Geological Survey said on its website Saturday that at 10:53 p.m., a 5.2 magnitude earthquake struck approximately 21 miles northeast of Shawnee in Pottawatomie County, approximately 44 miles northeast of Oklahoma City. “We all felt it down here, and right after we felt it we were inundated with 911 calls,” Norman Police Lt. Lance Arnold said immediately following the earthquake Saturday evening. “So far, we’ve not had any structural damage or injuries reported, just people calling to verify what they felt was an earthquake. We took hundreds of calls in a matter of minutes.” Earlier in the day, a 4.7 magnitude earthquake struck at 2:12 a.m., with an epicenter about six miles north of Prague in Lincoln County. That’s about 50 miles east of Oklahoma City. A 3.4 magnitude aftershock was reported at 2:27 a.m. from the same location, as well as a 2.7 magnitude aftershock at 2:44 a.m.” article continues at link.
USGS officials in this article simply state of the Oklahoma quakes that while they are not on a plate boundary and some quakes do occur in OK, “We’re unsure what that origin is,” McCarthy said.”
Update “Crews in central Oklahoma were out early Sunday morning assessing for damage from the largest quake to hit the state since record-keeping began. … [T]he quake caused at least three sections of U.S. Route 62 to buckle, said Aaron Bennett of the Lincoln County 911 and emergency management. … “They’re reporting that all the houses look like they’ve been ransacked,” Bennett said of the assessment crews.”
The last years in this age on earth will be ruled by an evil dictator over a global economic empire: The Antichrist and the one world economic system. The current economic turmoil, riots, ‘occupations, and wealth transfer is part of that last days scene, soon to be fulfilled. Before we look forward to examine these things, let’s take a look back.
First, let us go to 2008. Obama is a Presidential candidate, campaigning. Many people suspected his socialist leanings from having been associated with socialists, (duh), allied with ACORN, with community organizing, and when he said to Joe the Plumber, “let’s spread the wealth around.” There was a severe pooh-poohing when the normal-thinking people said “AHA! Socialist! We knew it!” Socialism was dismissed as passe and Obama’s connection with it ignored.
Nowadays, socialism is far from passe. It has become de rigueur. Imagine that. It is accepted, desired even, by these thousands of ‘Occupy’ folk. In just three short years, capitalism and corporation have become dirty words while socialism has been dusted off and given a new shine.
Let’s go back even further to 1919-1920 and the rise of Italy’s Benito Mussolini. Mussolini became a dictator at home and an international ally of Germany’s Hitler throughout the Thirties and the Second World War.
“The Socialists, which by then had become the largest party, spoke theoretically of revolution, alarmed the conservatives, who quickly associated them with Communists. Thousands of agricultural and industrial strikes in 1919 and 1920 created a climate of class warfare and continual violence. Mussolini quickly shifted from leftist to rightist politics and began to gain support from middle-class industrialists who were fearful of working-class agitation and who objected to the agricultural strikes.” Sound familiar? (Source: “Western Civilization: Since 1300 By Jackson J. Spielvogel.”)
What is socialism? And what is its connection to the current violence in the Occupy Wall Street protests and riots? More importantly, is there a connection to the Tribulation and the last economic system yet to be fulfilled?
First, what is Socialism? “It is an economic doctrine, egalitarianism is the driving force behind socialism and communism. It is economic egalitarianism that seeks to remove the barriers of economic inequality by means of redistribution of wealth. … The problem with this doctrine is … a mistaken premise in economic egalitarianism which asserts that the rich have gotten their wealth by the exploitation of the poor.” (source GotQuestions.org). We’ve certainly heard enough about that lately. They say “greedy corporations” are to blame for the mess we’re in. They say ‘evil banksters’ put us here and we need socialism to get us out, because capitalism ain’t working, they say.
The Tribulation will have a one world economic system. There will be very poor people, working all day just to buy a loaf of bread. (Rev 6:6). There will be the very rich possessing vast wealth, (Rev 18:17a) able to live luxuriously and trade in luxuries at will. (Rev 18.) The Occupy Wall Street protesters’ hated “1%” will not disappear, but get wealthier and stronger.
The problem is, the Occupy Wall Street misguided are barking up the wrong tree, and in the end will not bring about their desired reforms but are in fact providing the platform for the Antichrist to appeal to the masses who clamor for ‘social justice” (code for ‘I want your money’). They will simply be on the losing end of a great wealth transfer, which history shows us happens every time socialism is attempted. Their grimy faces, currently spouting Hate Capitalism at filthy parks will soon be grimier, clutching the bars of the estate begging for scraps, much as Lazarus did at the Rich Man’s gate, and the dig licked his sores. (Luke 16:19-31). Such will be the fate of Occupiers who call for evil corporations to be done away with. The Antichrist will comply- and then take the money for himself. But I get ahead of the story.
The connection to the current violence in the Occupy Wall Street protests & riots to the end time is seen in the following videos. Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. (Winston Churchill)
THEN
You didn’t know that America was engaged in violent class warfare in the Depression-era, did you? It was about Labor gaining a foothold, then a stranglehold on corporations. But it was not just about that. The Cleveland riots began as protests against foreclosures and evictions in a depressed housing market. By February of 1931 “Food riots” begin to break out in parts of the U.S. In Minneapolis, several hundred men and women smashed the windows of a grocery market and make off with fruit, canned goods, bacon, and ham. One of the store’s owners pulls out a gun to stop the looters, but is leapt upon and has his arm broken. The “riot” is brought under control by 100 policemen. Seven people are arrested. The Humboldt Park 1932 riot was over rotten food.
The point is, and this should come as no surprise, “Research Shows That Austerity Can Lead to Riots“. Writer Alain Sherter said in that article of austerity and anarchy, “Such events have many causes, of course. But one key contributing factor is economic shocks.”
NOW
Even the language is the same. Skulls cracked then, skulls cracked now. Though ostensibly these altruistic Occupiers want financial justice for all, what they are really showing us is that they’re poor (in their own eyes), or they’re lazy, (relying on government programs which are now in danger of being cut, and/or a simple refusal to work for their wage) and they want what you have. And they’re gonna get it, even if they have to break the law to do it.
I’d posed three questions, What is socialism? What is its connection to the current violence in the Occupy Wall Street protests and riots? Is there a connection to the Tribulation and the last economic system yet to be fulfilled?
In the third question, yes, there is a connection. The Tribulation is about wealth transfer, because the time period is first ruled by the antichrist under the influence of the devil, (Rev 13:5-8) and later is ruled by the devil himself. The devil wants to kill, steal, and destroy. (John 10:10). So of course he wants to steal your money, your comfort, your hope, and eventually your life. So, yes, he wants to destroy all the world’s governments, economic systems, values, and finances. His plan for your life is to either take all from you or get you to sacrifice God’s blessings on you. The protests in America now are not directed against the President, they are directed against God’s blessings on this nation.
This effort will culminate in the Mark of the Beast, (Rev 13:16-17) which forces a person to accept the mark of worship and be able to participate in the last economy, or to refuse the mark of worship and starve or be beheaded, whichever comes first.
Between now and then, the economic situation will become more dire, which sparks more people to violence, which diverts resources of police and municipalities, which allows for higher crime elsewhere, while thousands are occupying parks and refusing to contribute to the very economy they want to become healthy again, and end up in freeloading and perversity, yearning for a leader with an answer. It is a downward cycle we saw with Mussolini, Hitler, and will find its culmination in the antichrist. It is not only started already, it is well on its way toward that imminent fulfillment:
This week the Pope called for economic justice and a centralized world bank. Funny, because the Vatican already IS a vastly wealthy centralized government. However, corporatism and big government go hand in hand. “The Vatican called on Monday for the establishment of a “global public authority” and a “central world bank” to rule over financial institutions that have become outdated and often ineffective in dealing fairly with crises. A major document from the Vatican’s Justice and Peace department should be music to the ears of the “Occupy Wall Street” demonstrators and similar movements around the world who have protested against the economic downturn.”
As for the violence, Jesus said, “Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold.” (Mt 24:12). The rise of flash mobs and the helplessness of store owners to stop them is a smaller version of what has been given rise now: Occupy Wall Street mobs who practice lawlessness in an entire city or large parts of cities, and outnumber the police. Instead of fifty unruly teens storming the store against one store owner, it is 5000 unruly freeloaders storming a city block against an entire police force. Even HotAir said that resistance is futile. Futile was their word.
“The fences came down at Oakland’s Frank Ogawa Plaza Wednesday evening during a general assembly meeting among “Occupy Oakland” protesters. At least 500 protesters gathered at the plaza to reclaim the site of their encampment, which was raided by police early Tuesday morning… At 7 p.m., around 50 to 100 protesters succeed in tearing down sections of the fence on the opposite side of the plaza from where the meeting is taking place. … With public officials facing pressure from all sides in Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, and other “occupied” cities, the lesson from Oakland will most likely be that action will largely be futile without a large police presence extending for considerable time to come.”
So we have economic depression, austerity abhorrence, riots, impotent municipal government to keep law and order, calls for wealth re-distribution, and disdain of capitalism. These conditions gave rise to evil dictators in the past, only too willing to exploit the misguidedness and greed of the people in prior times, and it will do so again. Except this last dictator will be the personification of evil.
Wouldn’t you rather get to know the personification of Goodness? Jesus is that personification, literally incarnating into humanity to teach us what is needed to be cleansed from our misguidedness and our sins. Doing so is very simple. Not easy, but simple. “Believe on the One He has sent”, and be saved. (John 6:29; John 3:16-17). Salvation means you’re saved from hell, and to be saved you must first recognize what will send you to hell: your sins. If you want Jesus to forgive those sins, then be sorry you committed them and ask Him to cleanse you. He will. But don’t wait too long. The antichrist is knocking at the door, and soon, Jesus will let him in. Tweethttp://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jshttp://www.facebook.com/widgets/like.php?href=http://the-end-time.blogspot.com/2011/10/occupy-wall-street-class-warfare-plus.html
I usually do a ‘Friday This and That’ of random or disconnected ideas in list and excerpt form, because I’m really tired on Friday nights and have little cognitive ‘get up and go’ by that time. But this Friday I’m going to be fine, because we’re off from school. And, I’m tired tonight so here are some this and that thoughts. And the news, you know? Even though it’s only Tuesday, it is pretty heavy already. Gaddafi and sharia and suddenly inflating volcanoes and Thailand inundated and a hurricane at the doorstep and Turkey quake and [drawing breath] I could go on but I won’t. So here are a few thoughts.
We know that New Jerusalem is transparent. “having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper.” (Rev 21:11). “The material of the wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass.” (Rev 21:18). Recently scientists learned that gold, when reduced to the nano level, becomes clear. Not opaque, but transparent. This scientific article explains: “If, however, you shrink gold down to a nanoparticle, its properties change dramatically. Its color changes, it becomes a very good catalyst, and is no longer a metal – instead it turns into a semiconductor.” I wrote more about it here.
I personally believe that the city is transparent so that the glory of God can be seen at all times.
But what about privacy? Max Lucado says of the transparent city, “Arguments will cease, for jealousy won’t exist. Suspicions won’t surface, for there will be no secrets. Every sin is gone. Every insecurity is forgotten.”
Remember, before the fall Adam and Eve were naked and they were not ashamed. We will not be naked. The Tribulation saints are given garments of white (Rev 6:11) and so are the elders, (Rev 4:4). I believe we will have white robes too. Even still, there will be no need for privacy because there will be no shame. We will see God’s glory everywhere, bright and sparkling.
I watched a very good half hour prophecy update from a very good pastor. Pastor JD Faraq in Hawaii made an interesting connection to something in his latest videocast. I’ve often said that making connections to things that exist is one thing, but making a connection to things that do not exist is another. But what isn’t seen, or what isn’t said is just as important as what is seen and what does exist. Pastor JD said that when Saddam Hussein was killed there were many effigies of President Bush that angry Muslims burned. However, there have not been any effigies burned of Obama after Bin Laden and Gaddafi were killed. Have you noticed that? I hadn’t but when Pastor JD said it I suddenly realized that he is right. No effigies.
He also said that the Occupy Wall Street protest isn’t protesting the leader of America. They are protesting the blessings on America.
Why do we learn prophecy? What is it good for anyway? “And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe.” So you may believe! (John 14:29).
Do not lose heart. Many prophesies have been fulfilled. Many more will be. The church has been redeemed but we are waiting for full repossession. We will be claimed though. How do we know this? The sure word of God.
“Remember the former things of old, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,’ Calling a bird of prey from the east, The man who executes My counsel, from a far country. Indeed I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it.” (Isaiah 46:9-11) Tweethttp://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jshttp://www.facebook.com/widgets/like.php?href=http://the-end-time.blogspot.com/2011/10/some-thoughts.html
God speaks to us in many ways. He speaks foremost though His son’s Word. (Hebrews 1:2). Sometimes He speaks through another person, oftentimes if they are speaking of a verse themselves. He speaks through circumstances, such as through tragedy or chastisement. (James 1:2-5). Personally, I enjoy the song service at church or on the radio in listening to traditional hymns. (Ephesians 5:19). Most hymns are based on scripture, either directly or paraphrased. Listening to these hymns gives me an opportunity to meditate on them all day, (Joshua 1:8; Psalm 1:2).
Tremble, and do not sin; Meditate in your heart upon your bed, and be still. Psalm 4:4
Sometimes I hear a hymn playing in the background of my dreams as I slumber at night. When I wake up, the song and its lyrics are strongly in my head, and I wake up humming. Aside from the fact that it is a joy to wake up with thoughts of Jesus on my mind, and gentle words that uplift and exalt Him, I also enjoy when these things happen for another reason.
I take it as a prompt to investigate what the Spirit wants to say. Therefore I go to my computer and bring up YouTube and listen to the song that was in my head, and read and sing the lyrics. Then I pray for the Spirit to open me up to a deeper understanding of the practical application of what He wants from me. Sometimes as I read a devotional or a bible chapter that day, or even a year later, the Spirit will then make a connection. It is how He grows us. It took me a long time to learn to pay attention to these prompts. It is the way He conforms us to His thoughts. (Romans 12:2).
So today I was blessed with the hymn “I Surrender All” in my head as I awoke. I got up and I listened to it on YouTube. I thought about the word surrender in relation to my life with Jesus. I prayed, asking Jesus to root out areas where I have not surrendered, where I would be holding onto flesh and selfishness. I hummed it as I made French Toast for breakfast. I then let the day begin and other thoughts come into my head as the more pragmatic things of the day crowded out the spiritual thoughts. ‘Change the sheets’, ‘it’s a nice day I think I’ll go out and take some fall pictures’, ‘what am I going to put in the Prophecy Newsletter today?’ And so on. But before I got up to do these things I decided to put on Pandora radio so I could listen to it as I made the bed and went about the morning chores.
I have had a computer problem for the last two weeks and only got my laptop back from repair a few days ago. I haven’t used Pandora for all that time.
I have ten stations. The way Pandora works is that the last station I’ve left it on will begin playing a mix of songs related to the theme I’d chosen. There is an endless amount of songs on each station, I can listen all day and rarely is one repeated. I brought the station up and pushed back my chair to start chores. The first song was “I SURRENDER ALL.”
I cried in awe and humility. I love how the Spirit works.
Texas has been enduring a terrible drought. “With drought, Texas can expect more dust storms,” “Despite recent rains, the Texas drought lingers — and experts say the number of irritating and dangerous dust storms could increase across the state, especially in West Texas and the Panhandle.
The story was in the Westtexas.com media outlet, on Sunday. Unfortunately that prediction did not take too long to come true. Tonight a massive storm rolled through Lubbock, blotting out the sky and sparking lots of “WTF?!” comments on twitter.
Posted by Tom Fornelli – “That photo above is not doctored in any way, and was taken by Texas Tech’s associate director/athletics communications for football Scott Lacefield. It’s of a giant dust storm that has hit Lubbock, Texas and is literally blocking out the sky. This really doesn’t have an effect on the Texas Tech football team, as the Red Raiders play in Oklahoma this weekend, but I figured the picture is just so amazing I had to share it here with the rest of you.”
Above from From Twitter @JuliaCopeland
ABC News says ‘Cold front responsible for bad dust storm in Lubbock’. Pastor John Wagner writes on twitter, “Strongest dust storm in 70 years – 51mph sustained winds & 75mph gusts! Complete darkness at 5:45pm.”
“People could see the menacing clouds methodically moving toward town. It wouldn’t be long before darkness settled in, and it was still the middle of the day. Tornado? Not this time. It was another weather phenomenon all too familiar to West Texans: the dust storm. “They were awful,” said Alta Cates, who moved to Lubbock from rural Scurry County in 1938. “They would come rolling in, and in some rare cases, the dust in the air was so thick you couldn’t see your radiator cap.” While today’s South Plains residents weather occasional dusty days, severe droughts and less sophisticated agricultural techniques were the primary reasons for numerous howling dust storms that occurred throughout the 1930s and into the early 1950s.”
Apparently the storms are back, even with today’s advanced agricultural technology. As the end time storms progress, they will be getting larger and larger. When the Tribulation occurs, the storms will be incomprehensibly large, with people in shock at being unable to understand the proportions and the scope of the devastation.
Fortunately, remember that Jesus is always larger than any storm, either the one you’re having inside yourself or the one you’re enduring in life or in nature. He will save you instantly if you repent. You might still have to go through a dust storm, but you’ll be calm knowing that no matter what, Jesus is with you always, even to the end of the age. (Mt 28:20).
Before I was saved, I used to think that churches were a racket. “All they want is your money,” I’d parrot, like so many other people say without thinking. LOL, I have no idea how I thought the church building electric bills got paid, or who paid for the gas in the church bus that takes meals to shut-ins.
On a less practical and a more spiritual level, tithing and making offerings should be a joy and a blessing to perform, just as any other service to the Lord. It is an act of offering to give something back to Him, who has given us and will continue to give us so much. GotQuestions.org has a good essay on tithing here, with scriptures.
When I ran my newspaper, it was paid for by advertising. The paper didn’t cost anything to buy, so the local businesses that placed ads in the paper paid for the printing, mailing, circulation, insurance, and salaries. When a business was feeling the pinch, they would look for ways to cut back. Of course, advertising was often the first to go. There was an intangible benefit to advertising that couldn’t be quantified and was rarely demonstrable. Frugal business owners would cut back anyway and their ads would stop. The benefit was there, it just couldn’t be seen.
Tithing is like that. Taking the spiritual obedience away, on the practical side, people who are iffy on tithing often don’t see an immediate benefit, so when their household budget gets pinched, they quit. It is like advertising in the paper: an activity containing an intangible reward that goes out the window when money gets tight. They want the tangible reward and they want the payoff now, not later.
But just as money gets tight, people want more for their money. In Christian churches these days, they want and expect entertainment. So churches spend more to hold on to their church-hopping congregants. It is a downward cycle.
This article from the Christian Post reports on that downward cycle we’re seeing so much of these days. “Tithing Hits Record Low; Churches Spend More to Make Congregants Happy“ “Are churches spending more on themselves than on the needs of those outside the church? According to a new report they are, with churches keeping a larger share of their tithe-generated income for their own in-house needs. In a report, titled “The State of Church Giving Through 2009,” released Friday by Empty Tomb inc., a Christian service and research organization, authors found that “benevolences” – or funds used for giving outside the church including giving to charities and seminary training – hit new lows compared to their first report in 1968. Understandably, with the tithing amount greatly reduced over the past few years because of a bad economy, a drop in benevolences was only normal. The report, which used data from evangelical and mainline churches including Lutheran, Presbyterians and Episcopalian churches, in fact revealed that tithing as a percentage of income was at its lowest level in 41 years, Religion News Service noted. Parishioners were only giving about 2.38 percent of their income to the church in 2009, down from 2.43 percent in 2008 – shockingly low percentages.” More at link.
One can only wonder what the levels are now, three years into the terrible depression we are living through. The article continues in the same sad vein:
“If Americans who identify with the historically Christian church had chosen to give 10 percent to their congregation in 2008, rather than the 2.43 percent given that year, there would have been an additional $172 billion available for work through the church,” the Empty Tomb website noted. Though the greatly reduced tithing rates garnered much attention, what remained more surprising to the authors was the church’s distribution of parishioner income. While only 0.34 percent went toward benevolences, over 2 percent was used on congregational finances. If the percentage of income for benevolences was at the level it was back in 1968 – 0.66 percent – there would have been an additional $3.1 billion in benevolence giving. “Churches on the whole are continuing to spend more on current members and less on the larger mission of the church and cutting back on missionaries,” Sylvia Ronsvalle, Empty Tomb’s executive vice president, told RNS.”
Wow. What is our prime directive from Jesus? What was the last thing He said to the people before he ascended to the right hand of the Father? “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:16-20)
Our job as humans is to submit to God’s will for us. That will includes first and foremost, repentance to the Lord leading to salvation and a deep love of Him. After that, we’re told that the next greatest commandment is to love one another, and finally to witness to the ends of the earth. For those who can’t go, they finance those who can and do go. Failing to support missions, failing to support benevolences fails the two most basic things He told us we are put on this earth to do: love one another and witness to His glorious Gospel.
Far from being an intangible reward, the rewards we receive are very real: only delayed. Though we do not give in benevolent fashion only to receive a reward, but to honor Jesus, we do receive them. Here are a few of the verses which state this, as a reminder:
“Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.” (Colossians 3:24)
“And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.” (Acts 20:32)
The reward is great: “Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you” (Matthew 5:12)
It is so great we cannot even conceive of what it is: “For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.” (Isaiah 64:4)
When we make offerings to Him, do we do it in like attitude as David?: “And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD.” (Psalms 27:6)
Because after all, He sacrificed Himself, freely, for us: “And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.” (Ephesians 5:2)
Please do not let your church be one of these that expects entertainment while at the same time you are withholding a tithe or an offering to the Lord Jesus. Give, give joyfully and plentifully in love to Him and on behalf of others. And sing gladly.
Lady filming the turkey, which apparently had been terrorizing a CA neighborhood, backs away from large turkey that approaches her in her yard. As she backs away more quickly, it approaches faster. She runs. It runs. A mail truck scoots between them and shoos the bird away, which simply circles around and runs after the lady again. She quits filming and runs to her car, whereupon the turkey circles menacingly, looking for her, its head periodically popping up at the hood and the window.
I wrote about the increasing boldness of animals, that they are attacking and penetrating human habitation in aggressive ways. You can search this blog for the term ‘plague of beasts’ and a lot will come up. My main entry discussing the bible verses related to this plague is here. It begins this way:
“I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth. (Revelation 6:8).”
“Consider those words for a moment…we are all familiar with plagues such as THE Plague, as in bubonic, Swine Flu and Dengue Fever and Malaria and all the other diseases and plagues throughout the centuries as well as biblical plagues of locusts and the ten plagues of Egypt. But one of the plagues loosed in Revelation 6 as the 4th seal is opened will be death by wild beasts.’ “
Though the video shows one determined turkey, one turkey terrorizing one neighborhood does not an end time make. But the aggressive and unusual behavior of this and other animals lately does give cause for concern. Remember the whale that deliberately smashed a yachting couple’s boat? The 500 bats attacking people in Peru? The monkeys that took over a village in South Africa? Turkeys attacking and trapping people int heir cars in Brooklyn? And many other stories. Animal behavior has gotten strange lately, with many people noticing the lack of inhibition and unusual pattern of aggressiveness of animals that do not usually appear in the attacking locations, or attack unprovoked. More examples and more scripture discussion at link above.
I invite you to listen to this very convicting and wonderful sermon on How to Recognize True Repentance by Pastor Don Green. It was delivered last month at the Truth Matters conference. You can listen to the sermon or read a transcript, but listening to it is the best way for you to have the impact. I was deeply moved by it, and was uplifted as always by the true words of Jesus in the Gospels the pastor shared throughout the sermon.
Fall surely is a great time of year. The air is freshened, the colors are out, and the seasons are changing. “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which 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 get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, 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 of war, and a time of peace.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)
Adam Clarke’s commentary of those verses says, “Every thing has its time and season. God by his providence governs the world, and has determined particular things and operations to particular times. In those times such things may be done with propriety and success. However if we neglect the appointed seasons we sin against this providence and become the authors of our own distresses. God has given to man that portion of duration called time; the space in which all the operations of nature, of animals, and intellectual beings, are carried on. But while nature is steady in its course, and animals faithful to their instincts, man devotes it to a great variety of purposes, very frequently to that for which God never made time, space, or opportunity.”
God is our first season and our last season, and He is the season at all times. Make sure your relationship with Jesus is not a seasonal activity, one that comes and goes, but is everlasting and sure. All else comes and goes, His love is eternal. Stay within it in prayerful attitude, grateful for blessings for all the things He sends to us in their own due season.
JESUS AS FORGIVER
The Lord is sovereign. He wields all authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18) and that means our Lord has been given all authority to judge. He specifically said so in John 5:22. Repentance is the simple truth of the Gospel. It isn’t fixing social ills. It isn’t reaching out to have conversations with other religions. It isn’t simply “accepting Christ” as if WE have to find HIM acceptable…. It is personal awareness for your own sins, mourning over those sins, and appealing to Jesus for forgiveness of those sins, and finally, turning from those sins by making Jesus Lord and submitting to His will in us. It is repentance.
When I was living aboard the sailboat with my husband, there is a common adage all sailors know. It’s KISS, “Keep It Simple, Sailor”. When you’re out in the middle of the ocean you depend on each other and the systems aboard your boat to stay alive and make port safely. Everything is stripped away, and it’s just you, the boat, and the wind. KISS meant that the more complicated you make the systems aboard your boat, the more likely it is that they will fail, putting you at risk of death.
The Gospel is simple. Christianity, especially American Christianity, has made it complicated. We have been told that somehow we are failing if we are at odds with Catholics, or Mormons, or Muslims. Repentance isn’t to exhibit a display of hatred of other people’s sins. While it is OK to be upset at homosexuality or gay marriage or abortion, it should not be at the expense of mourning over and hatred of our own sins. We have been told that we must be peaceful and unite in our common love of love. Not so. Jesus is singular. He isn’t to be melded with other religions, He isn’t to be ignored, and He isn’t one of many paths. He is THE way, THE truth, and THE life. “Repent, and ye shall be saved. Refuse to repent, and ye shall perish.” (Luke 13:5) Jesus only, sin, and repentance. Keep it Simple, Sailor. We repent, and then we call others to repentance. That’s it.
Remember to KISS, Keep it Simple, Sailor! It is all about Jesus, our sin and His forgiveness.When was the last time you actually cried over your own sin? When was the last time you were broken and ashamed before God at the creature you used to be, and cried in joy at the grace He has afforded you to become a new creation? Think about it. If it has been too long, a good dose of prayerful repentance does the spiritual body good. “II Corinthians 7:10, NIV. “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.”
It’s a tough crowd these days, isn’t it? Lots of people are hard of hearing when it comes to Jesus, sin, and things of faith. Atheists and agnostics are heart-hardened, and even more so these days. Liberal Christians are hardened to Jesus, too. They want to stop talking about hell, sin, judgment, and courts, but only speak of love, peace, joy, and freedom. They, and their mouth-pieces, the ACLU and the like, tell Christians to sit down and shut up. Others simply warn, “stop saying that!” But we won’t.
Consider Bartimaeus— [Blind Bartimaeus]began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Many were sternly telling him to be quiet, but he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him here.” So they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take courage, stand up! He is calling for you.” Throwing aside his cloak, he jumped up and came to Jesus. And answering him, Jesus said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” And the blind man said to Him, “Rabboni, I want to regain my sight!” And Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” (Mark 10:47-52)
Son of David was a Messianic title. The blind man’s choice to address Jesus that way was an immediate indicator that the blind man knew who Jesus is. His very next comment was a plea for mercy. Sinners know they need mercy, and this blind man knew he was a sinner, and that Jesus could dispense mercy to him.
But the people were shouting loudly for the blind beggar to sit down and shut up. I can just hear them say, “Hush! You’re making a scene“…when the crowd and the noise and the scene around Jesus must have been unlike any other near Jerusalem, ever! And they were telling the blind man to be quiet, over all that noise…that is how inappropriate they though he was being. But would the blind man be quiet? No. He shouted LOUDER.
Jesus stopped, and He called for them to bring the man to Him. Just as He told the disciples not to shush the children but bring them to Him instead, (Mark 10:14) He ignored the people’s warnings for the man to be quiet and said for him to be brought.
In the end, the man’s faith had made him well. His faith had saved him.
The world will call for evangelical Christians to be quiet and that is precisely the time when the world most needs to hear of sin, and the remedy for it, Jesus. Keep shouting, make a joyful noise, sing, rejoice, make a clamor! We shout redemption! We shout pardon from sin’s judgment! We shout the cross and Him crucified! Told to be quiet, we shout louder! We have the Good News, we see Jesus coming, we call out, take courage, stand up!
“Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” (Zech 9:9)
“O clap your hands, all peoples; Shout to God with the voice of joy.” (Psalm 47:1)
“They raise their voices, they shout for joy; from the west they acclaim the LORD’s majesty” (Isaiah 24:14)
the-end-time.org 