end of days. prophecy

end of days. prophecy, end time, homosexuality

God gave them over…is America under judgment?

Posted on February 9, 2011May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Our culture depicts the Holy God as a “loving God” which by extension means “He would never put us in hell. He will accept all peoples into heaven. He doesn’t discriminate…all paths lead to Him.” I have one word for that philosophy.

No.

God is loving, but He is also Holy. That means He is pure and untainted by sin. Because people refuse to accept His offer of forgiveness through the sacrifice of His son Jesus on the cross, God will judge them for those sins. People these days like to think that they can live free and unfettered by moral constraints, that whatever they do will have no consequence on earth or in heaven. I have one word for that philosophy.

No.

There are consequences. Individually, people who refuse the offer of salvation by Jesus’ substitution death on the cross are in effect, choosing hell, because they are choosing sin. We are all sinners, me, you, all. (Romans 3:23). But those who escape judgment of those sins are the ones who asked Jesus to forgive them, and repented. All others will be eternally separated from God in a place called the Lake of Fire. God doesn’t send you there…you chose it by rejecting the alternative.

That was individuals. God judges nations, also. He is judging America. This is a short commentary from John MacArthur today, about this verse from Romans: “Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, that their bodies might be dishonored among them.” (Romans 1:24-25; 28).

Introduction: “If we chart the spiritual course of America, a distinct pattern of sin emerges. Evolution has become the dominant world view. People live as if God doesn’t even exist. And even the destructive sin of homosexuality has become commonplace. Sounds like Romans chapter 1 where God gave them over to impure lusts, degrading passions, and a depraved mind. Three times in that passage it says “God gave them over.” What does that phrase mean, and what application is there for our nation today?”

MacArthur’s answer: “Giving someone over was actually a legal term that was used in the court to speak of a person who had been found guilty and who was handed over for judgment. And that is exactly its meaning in Romans 1. This is God’s judgment on nations. And what Romans 1 is describing happens over and over though all human history. Nations know the truth about God, they reject the truth about God, they create false gods, they live according to their lusts, and there’s a sequence. First, sexual immorality, second homosexuality, thirdly reprobate minds. When you look at a nation, or a civilization, and you see that nation honoring immorality, honoring homosexuality, and laughing and enjoying the reprobate mind, then you know that nation is under Divine judgment. That is the wrath of God at work in that nation. That’s where we are. We need to pray that God will be gracious to this nation and bring revival.”

A reprobate mind is mentioned three times in the New Testament: Romans 1:28, 2Timothy 3:8 and Titus 1:16. Other translations use the words depraved, disapproved, and worthless. A reprobate mind, no matter what the word used in which translation, adds up to the same thing: a mind rejected by God.

I think no one can argue that this nation is immoral. Licentiousness abounds, even in the simplest of commercials. Abortion doctors make millions. Some Grandmothers pose in short short hot pants in front of the world. Other grandmothers do the same. Homosexual marriage is legal in five states and recognized in three more. Homosexuality is promoted as normal on television, movies, ads, and in this startling report, half of boyfriends say that adultery from their girlfriend is OK as long as it was with another woman.

I think anyone with eyes can see that America is in a terrible moral decline, and not only is approving of it, accepting of homosexuality, but laughing at it with a reprobate mind. As MacArthur showed us in the verses from Romans, God gave us over. And we know what comes next: judgment.

If you are sorry for your sins though, you can ask Jesus to forgive them, and He will. He is loving and gracious that way, taking on all sinners. He died for every sin that was ever committed and will ever be committed. No sin is too big for our Jesus to handle. He loves you and does not want to reject you. But if you persist in choosing sin, He WILL give you over to it, just as He is giving America over to it.
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end of days. prophecy, end time, pre-trib

How to counter when Christians dismiss prophecy

Posted on February 8, 2011 by elizabethprata

Revelation 3 is a letter to the Laodicean Church, and Jesus has nothing good to say about them. He says that He would rather they be cold or hot, but they are lukewarm, saying they are rich and in need of nothing. Jesus knocks at the door, but they do not open. He tells them that since they are neither hot nor cold, that He will vomit them out of His mouth.

He is not saying that He will vomit Christians out, because once we are saved not even the devil can snatch us out of Jesus’ hand, (John 10:28) but He will spit out lukewarm believers. In other words, lukewarm people are those who talk the talk, but never really repented to walk the walk. They make a show of Christianity, but Jesus knows their true spiritual condition, and it is an unrepentant sinner. Belief never reached the heart.

I mentioned the other day on Saturday’s prophecy newsletter, (email me if you want to sign up) that I find it harder to talk with lukewarm Christians than cold atheists. The most common response I get when talking to CHINOS (Christians In Name Only) when I mention prophecy, the rapture, or end times, is “Oh, we don’t know the day or time…” and with a wave of the hand they dismiss all prophecy. Do NOT let them get away with it!

Prophecy is incredibly important. It comprises almost 30% of the entire bible, Old and New Testaments. One could summarize the Old Testament as ‘faith and the promise of a future Messiah’, and the New Testament as ‘salvation and the promise of future judgment’. 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 specifically urges us not to despise the prophesies “Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil.”

No, we do not know the day or the hour, but too many real and fake Christians use that as an excuse not to study prophecy at all. At this late point in God’s timeline, the prophesies left to be fulfilled are all about sin and judgment, and that hits too close to home for too many wobbly Christians, and certainly too close to home for Christians In Name Only. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for not knowing the season: “Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven. He answered and said to them, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.” (Matthew 16:1-3)

When the disciples asked what would be the signs of the end of the age, He gave a long and specific answer. (Matthew 24:1-51; Luke 21:5-38), Mark 13:1-37). Revelation is a letter describing what will happen to the ungodly, unrepentant, unredeemed at the end of the age. It is also the only book that blesses the one who reads it. (Rev. 22:7). Jesus placed a great deal of emphasis on end time prophecy. Why anyone would turn their back something our God thinks is important is beyond me.

When Paul says “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile” I am also not ashamed. I’m not ashamed of any part of the Gospel. The flip side to God’s Holiness is judgment. The flip side to the cross’s salvation is unredeemed sin. I am not ashamed of any part of what is in the bible, and you shouldn’t be either. CHINOS and others attempt to paint a taint onto prophecy, marginalizing it to something less important, less savory. It is not. It is the fulfillment of all that God is, all that He has shown of Himself to us. It is something to cling to, it buttresses our faith and gives us the next pictures in our walk that we clamor for and are blessed to read. Stand firm in your prophetic studies. At the end of his life, Paul said,

“For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day–and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:6-8). We are near the end. Keep proclaiming, Keep studying.Keep longing. And keep looking up!
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church found, end of days. prophecy, laodicean, turkey

The historical Laodicean church has been found

Posted on February 6, 2011May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

From Turkey’s Hurriyet Daily News:

Ancient church discovered in western Turkey
An ancient church mentioned in the Bible has been discovered in western Turkey, according to the head of the excavation. Culture and Tourism Minister Ertuğrul Günay visited the ancient city of Laodicea on Sunday in Denizli province and was briefed by Professor Celal Şimşek, head of the excavation team. The professor said they have discovered the Laodicea Church, one of the seven mentioned in the Bible. Şimşek said the church from the fourth century A.D. was found by underground radar search, a system they have tried this year for the first time. “The major part of the church, which is built on an area of 2,000 square meters, has kept its original [status].” … According to the minister, the baptismal pool at the Laodicea Church is even more exciting than the one at Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.”

If you know the story of the first chapters of Revelation, they are letters sent to actual churches in the world, and they also double for church epochs describing types of churches as the Christian Church Age progressed.

John MacArthur wrote: The study of the seven letters has been important because they reveal what Christ thinks about the church–what He thinks about it today, what He thinks about it in the day that the letters were written, and what He thinks about different types of Christians in any age. Revelation 2–3 could well be titled, “What Christ Thinks About the Church.” As we study the last letter to the church located in Laodicea, let me remind you of the significance of these letters. First, each one of the churches was an actual church existing in an actual city around +A.D. 95. Second, the seven churches represent different types of churches. For example, one was dead; some churches are dead. One was a suffering church; some believers suffer for Christ. Third, they typify different types of churches throughout history. Of the seven churches, Laodicea was the worst. Christ doesn’t have one good thing to say about it. If there were any true believers there, Christ doesn’t say anything about them.” Read more in-depth about the Laodicean church here at MacArthur’s site.

Revelation 3: 14-22 says this about the Laodicean Church, which is also the last church and stands for our church age, now. It is known as the Apostate Church:

“And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write,
‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot,I will vomit you out of My mouth. Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’

Pretty strong language. Jesus is not vomiting Christians out, because once we’re His we are always His. The lukewarm folks are the ones who have not transformed from cold to Christ and Godly things, to fervently hot for Christ and Godly things. They are sort of around Jesus, occasionally attending church and going through the motions, knowing of Jesus, but not believing IN Jesus. [Art: Holman Hunt’s painting The Light of the World inspired by Rev 3:20’s metaphor of Christ knocking at the door of the Laodicean Church.”]

Can you imagine an entire church where Jesus is knocking on a closed door? I don’t have to imagine, I have attended churches where it was that dead. It is getting harder and harder to find churches where the preaching is hot for Jesus, where the congregation is fervent to follow Him. I’ve found it most difficult to reach a lukewarm person who superficially professes Christ than to reach a person cold for Him. It is really hard to talk with a lukewarm “Christian”, if they will talk about Him at all.

So the actual location and building of the Laodicean Church was discovered this week. Coincidence? There are no coincidences in God’s timing. Look up, for your redemption draweth nigh, and I hope you are fervent for Him!
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children, end of days. prophecy, end time

His Light is so bright in the children!

Posted on February 5, 2011 by elizabethprata

At Church Club we started a new unit this Wednesday called “God’s Creation.” I love how the Spirit is so alive in children. I love how they respond.

I told the kids that my unsaved friend didn’t think the bible was right because the bible says the sun moon and stars was made on the 4th day, so there could not have been light on day 1. I said to the kids, listen to what God said, and you tell me the riddle. I read the creation account from Genesis 1.

As each day’s creation was made, I paused to list them on the white board.

Day 1: The heavens, the earth, light and darkness.
Day 2: Heaven
Day 3: Dry land, the seas, and vegetation.
Day 4: The sun, the moon and the stars.
Day 5: Living creatures in the water, birds in the air.
Day 6: Land animals and people.

As the verses were read, the kids were absorbing every scrap. Eyes wide, they hung on the words.

“Here is a riddle”, I said. “If the sun wasn’t made until the 4th day, where did the light on day 1 come from?”

5 seconds beat…

“GOD”! They shouted. “The Holy Spirit!” “Jesus!” “Because He is a light unto my feet and a lamp unto my path!”

Ta-DA! The kids know, they shouted it with no hesitation, and the ones that didn’t know, heard it from their PEERS. 🙂

The Spirit is in these kids. They understand intuitively about God, and creation. I thank all you parents who read the bible with them, and bring them to church, and be a Godly example to them. I thank the grandparents and the relatives and the classroom teachers and the Sunday School teachers for nurturing the seed of the Spirit in them. That no matter how tired you are…no matter how distraught or stressed, it makes SUCH a difference that you take the time to nurture the spark God put in all of us.

We are all born intuitively knowing about God. We immediately comprehend that we are a part of creation that is bigger than us, a creation that that was made and not evolved. Far from “church indoctrinating the children”, they already know. It is the world that beats it OUT of them. You are all making a difference in your children by being a good example in these tumultuous times. May His light shine that brightly in all of us.
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end of days. prophecy, end time, pre-tribulation rapture

The time draws ever closer

Posted on February 5, 2011 by elizabethprata

Hello and welcome to the end time world of Jesus Christ!

End time simply means the time since Jesus ascended into heaven with the promise He would come back, which is the Second Coming. He said that the times would be like birth pangs with certain events to look for as the time got close. Like any gestation, not much happens at first, and then as the time nears and the birth pangs begin, the frequency and intensity of the contractions makes it noticeable, then hurtful, then unbearable. Right now we are at the unbearable stage, as sin washes up against us, as everything we look at all day long in real life, on the computer tv and movies is polluted and decaying. It is unbearable because we can barely feed our families and millions of others really can’t feed their families. We hurt because we see the crumbling of our once glorious nation, we see the deterioration of economic, political, financial, and social systems all over the world. But like any good mother and father, we don’t STOP at focusing on the birth contractions, do we. At all times we look forward to what the birth brings, new life! Fresh, innocent, clean and new! The LORD is birthing the Millennium Kingdom, a time on earth for 1000 years when all will be refreshed, innocent, new.

Rev 21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” 21:5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!”

Birthing is painful, bloody, loud, and messy. But look what it brings! The revealed glory of the Lord! The fulfillment of the Kingdom for the Jews! Him on the throne! Now, that is something to look forward to. You know once the birth is over you do not remember each and every contraction, you don’t remember what you said to your husband or what your wife said to you. You don’t remember any of that the instant you lay eyes on your new little one. That is how it will be when the rapture comes. You know the pangs are necessary to the birth but they are over quickly and then you have the glorious new creation to be with.

Friends, no fooling, the time is close. Check your heart to be sure that you are sure you are saved. “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” (Matthew 7:21-23). If you have ever been on the receiving end of a spouse saying, “honey, we have to talk,” or been on the other side of the doctor’s desk when he says “I have some news…” you know how your heart drops. Well, magnify that dropping feeling infinity times if you are on the receiving end of Jesus saying “Depart from me…”. So check your heart and be sure that you are not just in intellectual agreement with Jesus but really and truly are a believer in the heart and a follower in fact.

If you are not a believer but are simply curious about end time events for whatever reason, now is the time to focus your curiosity on one eternal truth: you are a sinner. Where is your invitation to heaven? Heaven is God’s house, and you need to be invited there. And you HAVE been, Jesus died on the cross for you, your invitation is laying on your doorstep. Jesus has knocked on the door. All you need to do is open the door and pick up your invitation! “‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.” (Revelation 3:20.) Opening the door to Jesus means you acknowledge your sins, and ask Him who is worthy to forgive them. I really, really want to sit next to you at that dinner 🙂

Love,
Elizabeth
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egypt, end of days. prophecy, end time, pre-tribulation rapture

America’s sad decline, prophecy’s joyous rise

Posted on February 2, 2011 by elizabethprata

America’s trajectory is downward. It took a long time, but our decline is speeding up like a snowball down the Alps. Recent examples of the United States’ declining influence are many.

Remember the contretemps between North Korea and South Korea? The US attempted to mediate with them and with China but we got nowhere. North Korea is in our face with declarations of having nukes and we wring our hands. They never would have said that if they knew we would do something about it. China launches a missile barely thirty miles from our mainland and we do nothing. In a response that wasn’t supposed to be a response, we hold military exercises but our missile launch utterly fails. The Army misplaces a highly deadly nerve gas, and there are rumors the biological agent rinderpest has gone missing from Ft. Detrick. And all that was just the last 4 months. We’re done, militarily.

Our economic influence is not faring any better. The G8 and the G20 showed us that. China, the BRIC nations, they pay no attention to us. They murmur about the falling dollar. China does more than murmur. They are a restless landlord grumbling about raising the rent, or worse, calling in their security deposit. Iran starts its own oil bourse. Latin America laughs. Hell, we’re falling apart economically so fast that Cuba may actually outlast us.

America’s diplomatic influence is declining rapidly too. Wikileaks showed the world not only our diplomatic failures, but the way we acted prior to the Wikileaks’ release was far worse. We looked like buffoons. We failed so utterly in the Israeli peace talks everyone acknowledges they are effectively dead. Our response to Egypt tonight with the Obama speech was also a non-event.

This month two pro-American governments were toppled (Tunisia & Lebanon), four pro-American regimes are under siege (Egypt, Jordan, Yemen and Algeria). The end of Hosni Mubarak’s regime in Egypt portends fundamental change throughout the Middle East and the end of the American era in the region.

I’m not down on America. I think our nation is magnificent. It IS a city on a hill. But our atheism, child murder, immorality and worship of pagan gods has chipped away at our core until now, there is barely anything left to stand us up on that hill. We are rolling down it. I believe it must be so. God raised us up and for a long time our influence was so strong in the world. We had the moral clout to speak because we believed in God. He gave us the strength to put moral actions to those words. No? Don’t think so? I have one word for you: D-Day. A generation of brave men got off a boat and waded to shore amid artillery fire to save Europe and the Jews from annihilation. Nowadays men would just twitter about it, then go have a latte.

We stopped believing in God and we no longer have the moral clout to speak. Our influence must be removed. We do not find our nation mentioned in the bible in the end times at all. And why should we be? We were great, but only for a short time, and then we squandered it. Here are some people who are far more eloquent than I who say the same:

Why Washington can’t stop the revolution in Egypt

Five questions about Egypt

Here is a great essay on the Egypt situation from Joel Rosenberg:
Where do we go from here?

and also this one from Joel:

Inside the Egyptian revolution: violence is rising because the Muslim Brotherhood is co-opting the movement: An analysis of the rapidly changing dynamic

Rapture Ready founder and editor Todd Strandberg wrote this week in his weekly opinion essay: “One thing I’ve noticed about Bible prophecy is that end-time progression tends move like earthquake fault lines. Following years of inactivity, everything suddenly moves all at once. Since we have never had such a high level of civil unrest in the Arab world, it’s important for us to remain watchful.”

I’ve noticed that about prophecy too. Although I certainly have not been writing about biblical and prophetic events as long as Mr Strandberg has (20 years) not as long as Hal Linsdey and John Hagee, (50 years), I believe that anyone who reads the bible on a constant basis notices the pattern. Prophecy is given long in advance. Events always move inexorably toward their inevitable conclusion, but as the time nears, the events speed up, and then suddenly they are fulfilled. All I can say is, keep looking up!
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end of days. prophecy, end time, lying signs and wonders, pre-tribulation rapture, ufo jerusalem

UFO hovers over Temple Mount in Jerusalem: UPDATED

Posted on January 30, 2011 by elizabethprata

UPDATE: A third video has been posted, from tourists who were MUCH closer to the Temple Mount. They are American and you can hear their comments in English. Go here to view this 47 second video
———————————
Well, this is something. On January 28 2011, a video of an unidentified flying object was posted on youtube. The object was seen by two young men at the promenade of Armon Hantziv in Jerusalem, overlooking the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock. In the beginning of the video, the men notice a large and bright light hovering low in the sky. An added caption with arrow points to where the Temple Mount is on the night cityscape. The object is obviously pulsing and rotating, so it is immediately identifiable as NOT a planet.

23 seconds into the video, the object plunges straight down at an enormously fast rate, coming to a halt just above the lights of the city. There, it hovers for 20 seconds. At second 52, a white light flashes out of the object like a magnesium flare (remember those from science lab?) and the men exclaim loudly. The object immediately shoots straight back into the air and disappears. In its place, however, are twinkling red lights, about half a dozen. The camera focuses in on those and then the video ends. Watch below:

A day later, a second video appeared. This video is a closer view, though still panoramic, but shakier. In it, you can clearly see though, that as the object descends over the Temple Mount, it is rotating. As the object flashes its light, it is less bright than in video #1 but it is shown to be faster as it hurtles upward. The red twinkling lights are the same.

Let’s think about this logically. First, there is always the distinct possibility that it is a hoax. There’s always that. The world is full of liars who do this kind of thing for kicks. If it is not a hoax, then I have to believe that the Temple Mount and Dome of the Rock are inside the most protected air space on the planet. Further, I do not believe that if it was a human aircraft, it would not have been allowed to hover for the length of time that it did. I also do not believe that we have manufactured air craft that can hover, dive straight down, and dive upward in straight trajectories at the speeds this object evidenced.

Setting aside that it may be a hoax, and taking out of the discussion that it was a human aircraft allowed to hover and dive unhindered over the most contested piece of real estate on the planet, then what was it?

I’ve long contended that UFO’s when unexplained (ergo, not a weather balloon, swamp gas, light pillar etc) are demonic angels. The tribulation is a time of lying wonders. The antichrist will be inhabited by satan (who is an angel, remember) and seemingly resurrect the antichrist from his fatal head wound. Now that’s a lying wonder. If angels can do that, what else can they do? Appearing for a few seconds as a diving light would be child’s play.

Angels are powerful. They exist outside our dimension. They enter and leave our dimension at will. They sometimes look like humans, and sometimes they look like angels. In Revelation angels are mighty workers for God and against God. In one example, Rev 19:17 shows us an angel standing in the sun, speaking in a voice that can be heard on earth. In another example, Revelation 10:11 depicts an angel descending from heaven, the Mighty Angel, who stands with one foot on the sea and one foot on the land. Revelation 7:1 describes 4 angels standing at the 4 compass points of the earth, holding back the wind so that it did not blow on the earth. Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light so it is no surprise that his servants masquerade thus, also. (2 Corinthians 11:14-15). Finally, we are told that “The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders,” (2 Thessalonians 2:9)

I believe that these lights are those prophesied lying signs and wonders perpetrated by satan’s servants, the demonic angels. If this particular UFO turns out to be a hoax, it does not alter the fact that by the time of the tribulation, there will be lying signs and wonders so powerful that almost the whole world will be astonished and follow the beast. (Rev 13:3)
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end of days. prophecy, end time, piano on sandbar

Piano on sandbar, wood block on iceberg. How’d they get there? Strange and funny

Posted on January 26, 2011May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Here are a couple of weird pieces of news that I found oddly synchronous this week. Odd, but of little consequence. Just something to tickle your brain’s funnybone–

Mysterious grand piano found on Biscayne Bay sandbar
“Here’s a mystery that gives a whole new meaning to the phrase “piano bar.” A grand piano recently appeared on a sandbar in Biscayne Bay, about 200 yards from the Quayside condominiums off Northeast 107th Street. Whoever put it there placed it at the highest point of the sandbar so that it’s not underwater during high tide. How and why the piano got there is a mystery. A grand piano weighs at least 650 pounds and is unwieldly to move, said Bob Shapiro, a salesman at Piano Music Center in Pembroke Park. “You don’t take it out there in a rowboat,” Shapiro said. This much is clear: The piano isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Unless it becomes a danger to wildlife or boaters, authorities have no plans to haul it away.” Photo Allison Diaz / for the Herald/ written by Laura Edwins

A chip off the old block
“I’ve heard the Southern Ocean attracts a hardy individual but a block of wood on an iceberg is ridiculous. This lonely piece of timber was spotted on the top of a small berg at 66 degrees south, just north of Commonwealth Bay. Wildlife watchers near Aurora Australis’ bridge first thought it was a relaxing seal but it was soon apparent it was rectangular in shape. How it got to such a prominent position, instead of just floating around, is anyone’s guess.” Photo- Baffling: How did this block of wood end up on top of an iceberg? (Photo Credit: Jodie Smith)

“Since it is lifeless and non-magnetic, its baffling position won’t be due to the fact that we are very close to the south magnetic pole. Yes, we are near the wandering point in the earth’s surface where the geomagnetic field lines are vertical, rather than lying across the planet from pole to pole. Normal compasses don’t work in this region. The one I have brought on board is now confused by all the iron in the ship. The south magnetic pole was positioned on the Antarctic continent 100 years ago. It has since wandered out to sea due to changes in the Earth’s magnetic field.” Article credit, Australia’s ABC News Online reporter Karen Barlow

How about that? Pretty cool, weird, odd, and interest-piquing.
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end of days. prophecy, pre-tribulation rapture

More on the rapture will be pre-tribulation, from John MacArthur

Posted on January 26, 2011 by elizabethprata

I am reading a wonderful book by bible teacher and pastor John MacArthur. MacArthur is a strict bible preacher, preaching the Word verse by verse. He has been a pastor for 50 years, and has preached from the pulpit at Grace Community Church for 40 years. He is the only preacher I can find who has preached the entire New Testament verse by verse. He is just concluding that wonderful work now.

MacArthur has also written many books and commentaries. The book of his that I’m finishing is called “Because the time is near: John MacArthur explains the Book of Revelation.” It is understandable to the mind and uplifting to the spirit. As we near the chapter of Revelation that depicts the second coming, MacArthur takes a moment to explain why the rapture is different from the second coming, and why it will happen prior to the Tribulation:

“The second coming must be distinguished from the rapture of the church prior to the seven-year tribulation. At the rapture, Christ comes for His saints (John 14:3; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). At the second coming, He comes with them. At the rapture, Christ meets His saints in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:17) to take them to heaven (John 14:2-3). At the second coming, He descends with them from heaven to the earth. (Zechariah 14:4).”

“Some attempt to harmonize those two distinctions by arguing that believers meet Christ in the air, then descend to earth to with Him. By so doing, they essentially make the rapture and the second coming the same event. But that view trivializes the rapture. There is not a hint of judgment in passages describing the rapture (John 14:1-3; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, but judgment plays a prominent role in the second coming (Revelation 19:11; Revelation 15, Revelation 17-21.) The dramatic signs accompanying the second coming, such as the darkening of the sun and the moon, and the disruption of the “powers of the heavens” (Matthew 24: 29-30), are not mentioned in the passages describing the rapture. In its description of the second coming, Revelation 19 does not mention a rapture of living believers (1 Corinthians 15:51-52), or a resurrection of dead believers (1 Thessalonians 4:16).”

I hope this educates you, and encourages you.
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dubai, end of days. prophecy, end time, rapture, the world, tower of babel

Dubai unfinished development sinks back into the sea

Posted on January 25, 2011May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Note: the headline is all theirs.

The end of The World: Dubai island development sinks back into sea after being scuppered by financial crisis

It exemplified the booming property market and ambition of Dubai’s entrepreneurs. But after the global financial crisis led to the collapse of the emirate’s home-building market, a unique development known as ‘The World’ is reportedly facing Armageddon. The project, a man-made archipelago designed to resemble a map of the planet, is facing disaster as its islands have begun sinking, a tribunal heard this week. The development, which sits a mile and a half from the mainland, is all but vacant after investors who bought up its ‘nations’ saw their finances collapse after the economic crash.

The end of The World: A near-empty property development in Dubai is sinking

A company that ferries people to the islands is now seeking to withdraw from its contract with Nakheel, developers of The World, due to a lack of business and the erosion of the islands’ sands. Richard Wilmot-Smith QC, a British lawyer for Penguin Marine, told a property tribunal the islands are ‘gradually falling back into the sea’. He added there was evidence of the ‘erosion and deterioration of The World islands’. Only one of the ‘nations’ – Greenland is inhabited currently, with Dubai’s ruler owning a show home on the island. While Nakheel deny penguin Marine’s contention that the project is ‘dead’, the firm admits The World has slipped into ‘a coma’. ‘This is a ten-year project which has slowed down,’ he told the tribunal. ‘This is a project which will be completed.’ He added Penguin would see a return on its investment.

Facing extinction? This virtual photo of the Europe section of The World shows the dream of the Dubai project, not its sad reality

That’s the price Penguin makes to stay in the game,” he said. ‘They have the potential to earn millions.’ The tribunal found for Nakheel on Thursday, with full reasoning to come later. A spokesman for Nakheel insisted the islands were not sinking. ‘Our periodical monitoring survey over the past three years didn’t observe any substantial erosion that requires sand nourishment,’ a statement said. The World has already experienced its fair share of problems, with the businessman who bought the Ireland residence committing suicide after the collapse of his company while a London businessman who paid £43million for the Britain island was jailed for seven years last year for bouncing cheques. The claims of the erosion of The World comes as a Reuters poll showed Dubai’s house prices are set to fall by another 10 per cent over the next two years. Property prices in the emirate have fallen 58 per cent from their peak in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Here is an interesting promo video for The World: