Category: end time. prophecy

Posted in end time, end time. prophecy, revelation, snow in Australia

Crazy weather updated- Australia gets snow- in summer!

Posted on by elizabethprata

Yesterday I posted a blurb about the scientists’ note that 2010 was a seriously wacky weather year. It was noted, “This was the year the Earth struck back. Earthquakes, heat waves, floods, volcanoes, super typhoons, blizzards, landslides and droughts killed at least a quarter million people in 2010 – the deadliest year in more than a generation.” Well, on the heels of that article, I see today that Australia received snow. In summer. It’s summer in Oz, and the height of the wildflower season.

source

Wintry weather brings snow to Australia in midsummer
Australia normally experiences temperatures of 86F (30C) at this time of year, but the chances of a rare white Christmas have increased after plunging temperatures and snow swept across the east of the country. “It’s white, everything is white,” Michelle Lovius, the general manager of the Kosciuszko Chalet Hotel at Charlotte Pass, said. “First thing this morning everything was just very still, very peaceful and every single thing was just blanketed in a thick cover of white.” At the ski fields, children in Father Christmas hats, who would usually be sunning themselves on the grassy slopes, made snowballs and rode on sleds. Miss Lovius said such a large amount of snow was unusual for early December, normally the peak of the wild flower season in the mountainous region. “We’re hoping that it (the cold) stays in for five days and we get a white Christmas,” she said. In one part of the state temperatures dropped as low 39.2F, the coldest December morning in 54 years, according to the Weather Channel.”

As I have been saying, weather anomalies are a sometimes, mostly rare, occurrence. Spot weird weather happens across the globe from time to time. But no one can seem to explain why anomalies are occurring as a regular pattern, in many places at once, so demonstrably. Superlatives are constantly being used, “coldest in a generation”, “most snow in 50 years”, “Heaviest winds ever recorded…” Record-breaking is the norm now. Actually, what is happening is opposite of what man thought would and should be happening. To give a taste of how flawed our understanding is of the complicated workings of God-driven weather patterns, just ten years ago, it was reported in the UK Independent,

‘Snowfalls Are Now Just a Thing of the Past’
“Britain’s winter ends tomorrow with further indications of a striking environmental change: snow is starting to disappear from our lives. Sledges, snowmen, snowballs and the excitement of waking to find that the stuff has settled outside are all a rapidly diminishing part of Britain’s culture, as warmer winters – which scientists are attributing to global climate change – produce not only fewer white Christmases, but fewer white Januaries and Februaries.”

OOPS! This winter, the UK has experienced tremendous winter chaos as the heaviest snowfalls ever and the coldest temperatures ever cause everything from simple travel woes, to accidents, lost revenue, chaos, and even deaths.

Eventually, the weather will be completely upended from anything man has known. The last days of the end days, which are now, God is warning us through weather, among other methods. The Scriptures are far from silent on the source of weather disasters, including drought, earthquakes, famines, floods, hailstones, storms, thunder, tornadoes, wind storms, etc. Weather disasters such as the ones mentioned in the article “2010’s world gone wild: Quakes, floods, blizzards” can originate from satan at the permission of God, or they can originate with God. However, God is always fully in control of all that happens on the earth, and if the weather is crazy this winter, well, just turn to Psalm 78:47 and read “He destroyed …their sycamore trees with frost…”  or Job 37:6 “For he saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth…” How anyone can say that man is knowledgeable of weather patterns with within one decade we went from “there will be no more snow” to “Forecasters warned the worst was still to come over the next 24 hours as the heaviest December snowfall for 30 years tightened its grip on the nation once more.” (source)

Unusual and inexplicable weather will only get worse. After the rapture when millions of Christians are removed from the earth, the Time of Jacob’s Trouble will begin for the rebellious Jews and unbelieving world. The Seal Judgments are the very first set of judgments, and by the time the sixth seal is opened, no weather will be normal. Even the hardest-hearted will acknowledge that God is in control of it all. It is prophesied:

“I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb;  for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”(Rev 6:12-17)

Beloved, if you are unsaved and reading this and are prepared to mock His words, be assured that you will be one of those hiding in caves crying out to God, understanding that His day has arrived, and because of the burden of your sin, you cannot stand. The prophecy says every slave and every free man and since the bible is literally true, then that means every, and thus, it means YOU.

You do not have to wait until that day, however. In His mercy He warns us and those warnings are happening now. The crazy weather and unusual things happening in the world are part of His plan to shake us from the complacency of sin. You can acknowledge your sins, and ask Him to forgive the wrongs you have committed against Him and He WILL forgive you. It’s that, or nursing your pride in a cave when the world goes dark and the earth shakes open. Your call.
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Posted in end time, end time. prophecy, portugal, shortages, sugar

JP Morgan corners the market on copper

Posted on by elizabethprata

Portugal ran out of sugar this week. I am not making this up. No, it is not because everyone is baking for Christmas, although the seasonal baking spike did hasten the predicted shortage. On December 12, Portuguese media reported, “There is no sugar on the shelves of most supermarkets across the country.  A surveillance done by the ‘Journal News’ in Porto, Lisbon, Braga, Aveiro, Viana and Tras-os-Montes brought confirmation: the shelves are empty and nobody knows when it will be replenished the supply. Since Thursday that some supermarkets have not received sugar and rationing does not appear to have been enough to prevent the collapse of stocks.”

Today, it is reported, “Portugal Tries to Prevent Sugar Hoarding Amid Shortage, FT Says”
“Portugal faces a sugar shortage, the first European country to find itself in this position in more than three decades, the Financial Times reported. Agriculture Minister Antonio Serrano asked people not to hoard the commodity after a breakdown in imports to refineries led to a run on supplies in the shops, the newspaper said. Global sugar prices have reached a 30-year high.”

I’ve been noting in my prophecy newsletter (sent by email) of the impact the adverse weather is taking on worldwide basic commodities. Wheat stocks globally have taken a hit as the last two years have seen a dramatic increase in drought and also UG99, a virulent wheat rust pestilence ruining 99% of crops it infects. Prices are derived from what is called a “basket” of basic commodities. The basket contains everyday products such as food, clothing, furniture and financial services. Prices on some of the basics are spiking dramatically, as anyone who has recently purchased milk, bread, eggs, cooking oil, or salt and sugar knows. But now the issue is not only of climbing prices, but a perfect storm (long in the making) of weather, price, unemployment, and shortages coming together to create a new climate of scarcity that has not been seen in First World countries for over 30 or 40 years.

Coffee is in a shortage, and that article asks the question as to whether it is time to start hoarding coffee beans. Cooking oil prices are spiking and there are reports of shortages (palm oil, too). Portugal’s sugar shortage was mentioned above, milk in in shortage in Serbia and Israel, among other places. Israel Faces Worst Butter Shortage In Country’s History. Britain’s egg production has declined by 50% and are in a shortage now. In India’s major rice production area, Bihar, production has declined  50% and spot shortages have appeared.

It’s not just food that is beginning to show strains of short supply. JP Morgan either knows or suspects something. This month it was revealed that the large global financial services firm was revealed as the secret buyer of 1 Billion dollars worth of copper, more than half of the entire copper on the London Metals Exchange. Things that make you go hmmm, for sure. The International Business Times wrote, that there is a “bullish scenario for copper: rising demand, tightening supply.” “Although it might lack the glamour of more heralded commodities like oil and gold, copper is a crucial component of industry and technology and its price typically reflects the health of the underlying global economy. To underscore the concern that the markets have about copper scarcity, consider that last week the British newspaper Daily Telegraph reported that a “mystery buyer” had acquired more than $1 billion of physical copper, representing more than 50 percent of all the metal stored in official London warehouses. It was subsequently reported that the mysterious buyer was none other than U.S. banking giant J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. While this action does not quite constitute “cornering the market,” it suggests how a handful of major players taking aggressive positions in the copper market (as well as certain other commodities like nickel and aluminum alloy). The Wall Street Journal reported that J.P. Morgan said it purchased the copper mostly on behalf of clients. Incidentally, the London Metal Exchange said that its warehouses currently hold about 350,000 tons of copper, down from 555,000 in February. Copper stockpiles have been in sharp decline all year, on schedule for the first annual drop since 2004.”

Edward Yardeni, Chief investment strategist at Yardeni Research, said on Bloomberg TV that copper prices can double in 2011. He thinks there will be a shortage of copper. He calls copper a ‘rare earth metal’ because there are no substitutes for it in products like cars and home appliances. Speaking of rare earth metals, “In 1997, Deng Xiaoping, the former general secretary of the Communist Party in China, announced that China would be, for rare earth metals, what the Middle East was for oil. At the time, it seemed too distant a reality to draw much concern. A draft report form China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released late last month, however, could set off the alarm bells in boardrooms around the world.” China has in fact, cornered the rare earth metals market. The US Energy Department said in a report released today, that it “will Take 15 Years to Break Dependence on Chinese Metals“. We will have to rely on China for the majority of supplies. Since Xiaoping declared China’s intention all those years ago, they now in fact manufacture 93% of all rare earth metals, and can essentially hold the rest of the world hostage to a myriad of daily necessities.

So as you can see, the basic things we need to sustain our lives on earth are becoming scarce, hoarded, or cornered. There will still be wealth on the earth during the Tribulation, but it will be in the hands of the few. Revelation 18 is the judgment chapter, where the world’s false economy finally crumbles. It shows clearly that there had been a vigorous trade in luxury items, but only the wealthy could afford them. As for the poor, they scramble for bread while the oil and wine are not touched. (Rev 6:6)

In Revelation 18:3, we learn that “merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries.” In Revelation 18:11, sales are gone. Rev 8:12a, trade in valuable items are gone. Rev 18:12b, furniture trade is gone. In Revelation 18:13-14,  agriculture of wine, olive oil and other luxury spices and fruit finally goes kaput. And so the rest of the chapter continues in like manner.

So you read of scarcity and shortages and indeed the weather and the Lord’s hand are certainly taking a toll. Death by famine will come for many millions (Rev 6:8). The rich won’t care. (Amos 5:11; James 5:4). Far from the supposed equitable shift in wealth that today’s socialists claim to want to make, in reality, there will be a massive shift in wealth but it will be from most of the world to a few in the world. The poor will die. The rich will laugh. The money transfer has begun. The wealth skew has begun. Shortages have begun. Are you ready?

The wealth of the world will be present during the tribulation but even the rich will weep in the end, for their wealth will have turned to rust (Mt 6:19; James 5:3; Rev 18:14). As for the poor, shortages and pathetic lives spent scrambling for a crumb awaits them. Born-again believers will have wealth unimaginable forever. We will have food and warmth and friendship and a banquet with the King.The grace of Jesus is that He allows you to choose your destiny.The high standard of living of the Church Age is declining. The wealth and luxury of the Tribulation age will be oh-so-fleeting. True wealth: JESUS, lasts forever. Decide soon!
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Posted in amos, end time, end time. prophecy, fires, gray whale Israel coast

Does Amos’s prophecy have application for what’s happening in Israel today?

Posted on by elizabethprata

Did you know that some of biblical prophecy could be interpreted to have a partial fulfillment in the distant past and another completion in the future? Some prophesies were filled only once (Zechariah 9:9). Some were given a long time ago and are pending, they still have only one fulfillment in the future. (Isaiah 17:1). But some prophesies actually have a parallel track that can be applied to modern times. Why? God is the same yesterday, today and forever, and what He was concerned about in the past He is concerned about in these times. If He warned and judged for lackluster worship in the past, He will again. If he warned and judged about greed, truce-breaking, false idols, and oppression in the past, He will again. Just because Amos’s day has passed does not mean no one is an oppressor. Just because prophesies given in the past became fulfilled, does not mean the cycle bad behavior and proper repentance, warning and judgment, cease.

Take Amos, for example. What he warned the Israelites about in 750 BC are things that are again occurring today and so we should be concerned about them today.

Amos prophesied in 750BC or so. He spoke God’s Word at a time when the Israelites were enjoying success, which they equated to wealth. As for wealth, they equated it to God’s favor. Just as today we have the prosperity gospel false ideology, so in the past the Jews mistakenly thought that wealth meant they were all set with God and could coast. They relaxed their spiritual duties and God was not pleased.

God was actually looking unfavorably on them. Their worship had become hollow, it was religiosity without heart. God sent Amos to warn them. Amos 1 begins:

“He said, “The LORD roars from Zion and thunders from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds dry up, and the top of Carmel withers.” (Amos 1:2)

Amos, being a sheepherder, knew the sound of the lion. It was a prevalent predator in his day and many a sheep were lost to it while shepherds stood helplessly by, able to do nothing. When the lion roars, he means business. His roar, notoriously loud, is meant to startle. The metaphor is meant to startle awake the Israelites to the warning of the lion.

The lion “thundering from Jerusalem” has two metaphors. The first is thunder, which acts the same way as the lion’s roar. Thunder presages a storm. When you hear it, you perk up and you know the storm is on its way. Thundering from Jerusalem means that the LORD  is reminding His people from whence true worship stems.

The “pastures of the shepherds dry up” is simply drought. God is not an absentee landlord. He is active and He sends or withholds rain. Israel today has been experiencing the worst drought in their modern history. For five years rainfall has been a record low levels. All the storage tanks indicate below red marks. Just to give an example, the average rainfall for Jerusalem in November is 60mm. This November, they got 7. ‘The pastures of the shepherds dry up…’ Is it a coincidence that their worst drought in the modern era coincides with a fallen Israel, straying from worship? I do not believe so.

Wildfires broke out this week at Mt. Carmel forest. The Carmel forest is a verdant area of Israel. The area is held up in the bible as the ideal of fertility and beauty. For the “top of Carmel to wither” would be devastating indictment indeed.

Amos prophesied that God was about to raise up the pagan nations around Israel to judge her and them. Lebanon had broken treaties and colluded with Jordan (Edom). The LORD’S anger burned against Gaza because they had deported an entire population. God was angry with Syria for their incessant warlike actions. Greed was the watchword of the day and Israel’s enemies had dragged Israel into a sour economy. The Lord would send fire to the walls of Tyre.

Do you see parallels from the time of Amos with Israel today and her spiritual state? Her wealth and success has seduced her into a relaxed or even a non-existent worship. Her worship was flash over substance at best and so it is today. Her enemies are truce-breakers, greedy, deporting entire populations (Gaza) and militaristic. Even after Israel attacked and destroyed Syria’s nuke site three years ago, the Syrians have apparently rebuilt. The Jerusalem Post reported this week that a possible Syrian nuke facility has been identified by satellite. By the way, Syria has never allowed IAEA inspectors in despite pressure and entreaties by the UN to do so.

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, spiritual leader of the ultra-orthodox party Shas, said this week in his address that God is judging faithless Jews who do not keep the sabbath. Iran’s Press TV reports: “An Israeli rabbi has suggested that wildfires still raging in northern Israel were God’s punishment for religious offenses committed by the area residents.” Ynet news reported “Haredi newspapers say disaster ‘a warning sign’, call for personal and public self-scrutiny” and as a result, “ultra-Orthodox newspapers called for self-scrutiny, saying the disaster was a sign from God.”

We do know that God warns before judging. The Tribulation is judgment on non-believers and on Israel. When anything destructive or cataclysmic, or miraculous, occurs in Israel, believers should sit up and take notice. When superlatives are attached to any event in Israel, such as “worst drought”, “uncontrollable wildfires”, or “worst disaster” then we should really attune to what God might be saying. When combined with indicators in the bible as to God’s standards, His warnings, and His judgment, and the events match up as a possible prophetic fulfillment, then spiritual alarm bells should be ringing in every Christian.

I advise four things:

1. Hal Lindsey’s Report this week is an excellent overview of Ezekiel’s prophesies fulfilled in regard to Israel. His 20-minute segment gives a wonderful context from which every believer should then come to the minor prophets. Part one of Hal’s segment this week, titled “Ezekiel’s Enigma,” is here and part 2 is here. If that link expires then go to Hal’s web page here.

2. Read Amos 1 with an eye toward a possible fulfillment of the prophesies today that Amos was burdened with speaking back then. If you are not of the ilk that believes in prophetic fulfillment twice, then examine the principles exhibited. Is what is happening in Israel with the drought and the fires a warning from God? If it is a warning, what were the people doing that caused God to warn them? Are we as individuals or as a nation doing those same things today? It is always worth checking ourselves to see how our walk with the Lord is going. Are we wandering? Or are we close to Him?

3. Pray for Israel! Not only are we commanded to in Psalm 122, but Jack Kelley also has an explanation of what you are really doing when you pray for the peace of Jerusalem, here. Joel C. Rosenberg has specific prayer needs listed at his website, here. I copied the ones listed for 12/5/10 below:

4. Consider. Amos is written to stir the soul to action. Whether you believe that Amos’s prophesies were fulfilled once for all, or have an imminent fulfillment application for today, the bible is God’s word and it stands for all time. If you have fallen into a prosperity gospel mentality, get out. If you have succumbed to allowing your thoughts to accept division of Israel for peace, stop. If your worship has become flash over substance, shake yourself out of it. The Rabbi’s call to private and public self-scrutiny is good advice, no matter where you stand on fulfillment of prophetic theology (eschatology).

And keep looking up, for your Redemption draweth nigh!

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Posted in end time, end time. prophecy, fires, israel

O, Israel! Her fires rage on

Posted on by elizabethprata

Precious Israel, about to become the burden of the world and undergo a time of Trouble for Jacob that the world has never seen, no, nor shall ever see again, is undergoing a heartbreaking trial even now:

Fires break out in northern Israel
“HAIFA, Israel – Help streamed in from across the world Friday to help Israel battle a forest fire that’s already killed at least 42 people and ranks among the nation’s worst natural disasters. … Many Israelis said they’re still shocked by the bus tragedy, which happened during the first hours of the inferno. According to rescue workers, the bus, carrying trainee prison guards to help evacuate a low-security jail, was caught by flames travelling 100 mph down a hillside. None of them could escape.”

The fires rage on…and on…and on:

Flames out of control, firemen rescued
“Israel’s deadliest fire, which claimed the lives of at least 41 people, continues to rage for second night in a row: Several firefighters were rescued from the flames in the northern community of Nir Etzion, where paramedics continued to search for possible casualties in the area.”

Israels more overt enemies are demonstrably happy at her misfortune:

Hezbollah overjoyed by fire
“Arab networks celebrate fire disaster: Many Arab media outlets have been taking advantage of Israel’s fire disaster to disparage the Jewish state and rejoice over its misfortune.”

Israel’s less demonstrable enemies are perceiving her as weak…perhaps a weakness that includes vulnerabilities which make her ripe for attack?

World perception: Israel is weak
“Meanwhile, officials in Jerusalem presented a grim assessment of the public relations damage suffered by Israel as result of its inability to effectively fight the fire.” The PR damage in the world is huge; Israel is perceived as fully incompetent,” one source said.”

Yes, lovers of Israel pray! Let us pray for her!

Fires spawn international prayer response
“The United States, Bulgaria, Russia, Egypt and Turkey are among the nations rushing to help Israel in its time of need. The international emergency aid to a country that rarely accepts or receives foreign help may be a result of international prayer for the safety of Israel. John Hagee, founder and national chairman of Christians United for Israel (CUFI), is among many leaders who have issued a prayer alert for the nation. His prayer asks God to “comfort those who mourn for their precious loved ones who are injured or have lost their lives in the midst of the raging fires” and to “protect Your land which You have given to Your people as their inheritance.” (You can read the rest of Hagee’s prayer on the CUFI Facebook page.) Martin and Norma Sarvis, Christian artists and intercessors who live in Israel, have also issued a prayer alert about the fire on Mount Carmel.”

Psalm 122 says for us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem.  Jack Kelley asked, Why Pray For The Peace Of Jerusalem?

“On several occasions I’ve been asked something like, “If this is a great cosmic problem that won’t ever be solved until the 2nd coming, how can our prayers help?” Here are some good reasons why we should pray for the peace of Jerusalem.”

“1st, speaking of the Jewish people the Lord said, “Whoever touches you touches the apple of my eye” (Zech. 2:9) and to tribulation survivors He’ll say, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matt 25:40). I know it breaks His heart to see the way His city has been defiled by hate and bloodshed. As Bob Pierce, founder of World Vision has said, “Let my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God.” It’s good for us to be on the Lord’s side.”

“2nd, He has commanded it and rewards us for obedience. All of Psalm 122 speaks of the special nature of Jerusalem, the one place on Earth God specifically chose for His dwelling, and promises prosperity to those who pray for its peace. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee. (Psalm 122:6 KJV)”

“And 3rd, when you pray for the peace of Jerusalem, you’re praying for the Messiah to come and establish His Kingdom. Maybe that’s the best reason of all.”

Selah!
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Posted in end time. prophecy, mono lake, pestilence, revelation

New life form found, on earth

Posted on by elizabethprata

Be sure to read the partner piece to this entry, “What does the discovery of new life form at Mono Lake mean?”

Discovery of “Arsenic-bug” Expands Definition of Life
NASA-supported researchers have discovered the first known microorganism on Earth able to thrive and reproduce using the toxic chemical arsenic. The microorganism, which lives in California’s Mono Lake, substitutes arsenic for phosphorus in the backbone of its DNA and other cellular components. “The definition of life has just expanded,” said Ed Weiler, NASA’s associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at the agency’s Headquarters in Washington. “As we pursue our efforts to seek signs of life in the solar system, we have to think more broadly, more diversely and consider life as we do not know it.” This finding of an alternative biochemistry makeup will alter biology textbooks and expand the scope of the search for life beyond Earth. The research is published in this week’s edition of Science Express.”

Mono Lake is here: 

How will this discovery impact science? How will it interplay with evolution? Will it destroy the false concept of evolution because the phylogenetic tree has no branch for this life form? Or will it buttress it, there now being a life form that emerged from a chemical soup as the evolutionists insist man did?

Alternately, being a bacteria, is it the emergence of a one of the pestilences that are unleashed to kill a quarter of the earth in Revelation 6:8? Curiouser and curiouser. The Lord’s work is so far above our ways!
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Posted in a little child shall lead them, end time, end time. prophecy, faith

An interesting conversation

Posted on by elizabethprata

An interesting thing happened yesterday. I work at an elementary school and after the children leave at the end of the day, I remain, and continue working in the After School program. It is a less academic environment, where the kids rotate into different settings. One is play time in the gym, another is homework room, a third is games in the cafeteria, and the fourth is the computer lab.

I am the leader in the computer lab. It’s quiet, the kids like it in there, and for the first few minutes we get to chat, before they tell me their choice of educational computer software they want to use for the 30 minutes they are present.

Yesterday I noticed that after chatting and when all the kids were settled and sitting on their stools with headphones on and working busily way at the keyboards, a fourth grade boy who rarely talks had turned sideways from his computer and said he didn’t feel like doing computer any more. I asked him if he was feeling OK and he said yes. I asked him if he’d like to read a book and he said no. I said all right, let me know if you need anything.

A few minutes later he got up and sat next to me at my computer. I turned to chat with him and it was like pulling teeth. He gave one word answers to the usual questions, “Did you have a nice Thanksgiving? Yes. Did you have a good day at school? Yes. Was there anything special you learned today you would like to share? No. I gave wait times, and nada. So we just sat quietly, giving him space to ponder his thoughts, work up his courage, or whatever was obviously on his mind to come out.

After a moment, he said that he really doesn’t like it when his friends keep saying the world will end in 2012. He said that the Maya were a people that were either predicting a new phase of life and time, or that they were saying they themselves would be phased out as a people, was his interpretation. But the thought that the world was ending in 2012 was false. He said that one day recently he had to defend his point of view for a while in talking with a friend, even though his “throat hurt so bad it felt like a cat scratched it.” He spoke for a while, and it was the longest I’d ever heard him talk. Eventually, when he wound down, I asked, “Do you think that the world will ever really end?”

“Sure, when Jesus comes,” he replied.

Ah! I asked him to share with me his ideas on that. What ensued was the most balanced, theological, and confident conversation about the end times I’d ever had with anyone, adults included. He knew about the earth being melted in a fervent heat. He knew about the moment when satan is thrown into a gloomy dungeon with a chain. He knew that the tribulation will be horrific, and that after that Jesus comes back in glory “and all will see him.” He knew about the rapture and that it could occur at any moment, “even before we finish this sentence, or years from now. You just don’t know,” he said.

I was proud of him. He was confident in the Lord’s work, but impatient with those who turn to other predictions or philosophical structures. I wish the conversations I have with adults were this way. Most “Christians” I speak with never bring it up on their own. If I do, they invariably edge away, or change the subject. Most say they are scared, or that it is a scary subject. Many spout incorrect doctrine. One lady I spoke with was a holy roller, bible-thumping self-stated believer. When I mentioned the rapture, she said, “Oh, that’s just a made-up doctrine from the 1800s.” I showed her the 1st Thessalonians verses where Paul reveals the rapture doctrine, and she still wouldn’t believe. Adults pollute their beliefs with personal wishes, refusals to study, and stubbornness. Children have an innocent belief, a pure belief. Perhaps this is what Jesus meant when he said:

“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of Godlike a little child will never enter it.”And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.” Mark 10:13-16

The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.” (Is 11:6)

This ten-year-old’s steady and clear-eyed view of Jesus, the end time, false doctrine, and sin is something that should be expressed by every adult. But it is not. It’s sad that many adult “Christians” are so weak and pale in their faith. Perhaps this is what Jesus meant when he said in Revelation 3:16 “So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” These believers are not hot nor are they cold. They are lukewarm believers who will be discovered not to have been believers at all.

PS: I know there are detractors who will say, “That kid was forced to believe, it was shoved down his throat.” But all children are under the tutelage of their parents. Their ideas and outlook into the world are through the lens of their parents: for good or for bad. Children who grow up liberal, on welfare, feminist, homosexual, Buddhist, Mormon, whatever, have learned it. But Christianity is the only truth where it is written: “Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” (Prov 22:6). No matter what you are, your parents taught you, either by word or by deed. They “shoved it down your throat,” as it were. The children are watching. What do YOU believe? How do you demonstrate it? Time is short. It may be as short as until the end of this sentence.

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Posted in end time. prophecy, julian assange, turkey, wikileaks

Wikileaks dump imminent: US-Israel relationship may be forever changed

Posted on by elizabethprata

Julian Assange is a whistleblower activist who started a website called WikiLeaks. Somehow he obtains confidential, sensitive documents and he publishes them online. Sometimes this is good, in the case of exposing torture, assassination, and corruption. He has been awarded for this. Assange says that Wikileaks has released more classified documents than the rest of the world press combined: “That’s not something I say as a way of saying how successful we are – rather, that shows you the parlous state of the rest of the media. How is it that a team of five people has managed to release to the public more suppressed information, at that level, than the rest of the world press combined? It’s disgraceful.” (source)

Before working with the website, he was a physics and mathematics student, hacker, and computer programmer. Then Assange founded WikiLeaks in 2006. He has come to widespread public attention for his recent role in the release of classified material documenting the involvement of the United States in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Then the world got word that he is about to release 2.7 million documents detailing conversations conducted confidentially regarding the US and Israel, probably this weekend.

Time Mag: WikiLeaks: could become as important a journalistic tool as the Freedom of Information Act”

AFP French News Agency: US warns Israel of WikiLeaks release
Washington has warned its ally Israel of potential embarrassment from the expected release of US diplomatic cables on whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks, an Israeli newspaper said on Thursday. A senior Israeli official, quoted in Haaretz, said it has been informed that WikiLeaks plans to release hundreds of thousands of diplomatic cables, some of which could include confidential reports from the US embassy in Tel Aviv. “The Americans said they view the leak very seriously,” he told the paper, on condition of anonymity.

Haaretz: Israel, U.S. tense as WikiLeaks set to release classified bilateral communiques
“Sources in Washington said the documents would be coming out soon, perhaps even today. And it is not only Israel being warned about US documents. The US Ambassador in London made a special visit also…”

UK Daily Mail: U.S. warns Britain over new WikiLeaks revelations that will ‘expose corruption between allies’
“David Cameron was warned last night by America that damaging secrets of the ‘special relationship’ are about to be laid bare. The U.S. ambassador to London made an unprecedented personal visit to Downing Street to warn that whistleblower website WikiLeaks is about to publish secret assessments of what Washington really thinks of Britain. The website is on the verge of revealing almost 3million documents, including thousands of sensitive diplomatic cables sent to Washington from the American embassy in London. In total, around 2.7 million confidential messages between the U.S. government and its embassies around the world are to be released. The U.S. State Department warned that the leaks would damage relationships around the world. Spokesman P J Crowley said: ‘These revelations are harmful to the U.S. and our interests. They are going to create tension in relationships between our diplomats and our friends around the world.’”

The UK Daily Mail says, “U.S. diplomats face being kicked out of countries in backlash … Corrupt politicians expected to be named and shamed.”

As the dump became imminent, it simply became obvious the US was running around in damage control mode. “Wikileaks document dump has United States working damage control to stem potential embarrassment“.
“The U.S. is already in damage-control mode ahead of the latest classified documents expected to be released by whistle-blowing website Wikileaks.  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke with the leaders of several countries, warning her counterparts of what the documents may contain, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said.  There is speculation that the documents will reveal sensitive and embarrassing details of American diplomacy with foreign countries, The Associated Press reports.”

Besides Britain and India, the US has warned the governments of Canada, Australia, Denmark, Norway, Israel, Iraq, China, Turkey, Russia and Iceland in advance of the release. On this already tense earth, the situation between US and UK, and US and Israel will be stirred immeasurably by whatever the world reads in those documents. Though bombs may be going off in the Koreas, there is another bomb ticking and about to explode when WikiLeaks documents hit the internet. Like this one: “Did Turkey help al-Qaeda in Iraq?“
“According to the London-based daily al-Hayat, the WikiLeaks release includes documents showing Turkey has helped al-Qaeda in Iraq, reports Reuters.”

That would make Turkey unquestioningly an enemy. The Gog-Magog battle of Ezekiel 38-39 shows Turkey siding with Iran and Russian in attacking Israel. Unmasking Turkey’s real stance may spur that battle along.

The UK is taking the importance of the leaks so seriously that all the news media outlets in the UK have just now received a DA-notice. A DA-Notice or Defence Advisory Notice (called a Defence Notice or D-Notice until 1993) is an official request to news editors not to publish or broadcast items on specified subjects for reasons of national security. The system is still in use in Britain. As of 2008 there are five standing DA-Notices. On 25 November 2010, the Government issued a DA-Notice (types 1 and 5) in relation to sensitive documents expected to be imminently released on the website WikiLeaks.

DA-Notice 01: Military Operations, Plans Capabilities
DA-Notice 02: Nuclear and Non-Nuclear Weapons and Equipment
DA-Notice 03: Ciphers and Secure Communications
DA-Notice 04: Sensitive Installations and Home Addresses
DA-Notice 05: United Kingdom Security Intelligence Special Services

State Department Spokesman PJ Crowley said, “These revelations are harmful to the United States and our interests,” Crowley said. “They are going to create tension in relationships between our diplomats and our friends around the world.” MORE tension than there already is? Hard to imagine.

And we wait, holding our breath to see which flames get fanned. And where they get fanned to.
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Posted in end time, end time. prophecy, NASA

NASA to anounce discovery of "exceptional object" in our cosmic neighborhood (UPDATED)

Posted on by elizabethprata

Update at bottom
The discovery  is from Chandra X-ray, not the discovery of Fermi’s Gamma Ray bubbles (Fermi is a gamma ray telescope). So I wonder what it could be? Now, I’ve hung in with NASA on several of these announcements. They always turn out to be discovery of an ice ball circling Pluto, or something. But I always get sucked in anyway, and especially now with the worl turning upside down and knowing what the LORD is planning for the heavens, soon, I thought I’d post again and then keep you updated when it turns out to be a discovery of the cosmos’s smallest asteroid or something, lol.

NASA Announces Televised Chandra News Conference

“WASHINGTON — NASA will hold a news conference at 12:30 p.m. EST on Monday, Nov. 15, to discuss the Chandra X-ray Observatory’s discovery of an exceptional object in our cosmic neighborhood. The news conference will originate from NASA Headquarters’ television studio, 300 E St. SW in Washington and carried live on NASA TV.  Media representatives may attend the conference, join by phone or ask questions from participating NASA locations. To RSVP or obtain dial-in information, journalists must send their name, affiliation and telephone number to Trent Perrotto at: trent.j.perrotto@nasa.gov by 10 a.m. EST on Nov. 15. Reporters wishing to attend the conference in-person must have a valid press credential for access. Non-U.S. media also must bring passports.”

UPDATE: well, it turned out NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory has picked up what appears to be the youngest black hole we’ve discovered near our planet. This object could however instead be the youngest documented neutron star. Either way, it’s an exciting find.

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Posted in canada, end time. prophecy, merapi mega eruption, NASA

Great Balls of fire swooping over Canada: NASA investigates. Merapi warning of mega-eruption

Posted on by elizabethprata

I work with 5-year-olds every day, for 11 hours each day. When I get home, I’m tired. It is a commitment and a struggle to pray and read the bible at that point, because I am so wiped out, and THEN I begin The End Time essays for the night.

Writing those usually takes me from 2-4 hours. I take the time because good writing takes time. But more importantly, it takes prayer, biblical research and triple-checking, because we are handling the Word of God here.

So tonight, I’m tired. But I’m even more tired because of the news. It is getting crazy nuts to keep up with it, because there are so many things happening. My poor, beleaguered brain can hardly take it all in, what the Lord is doing. This morning I saw the headline that “Great balls of fire over Canada: NASA investigates“

“Great balls of fire have been reported swooping over Eastern Canada and several U.S. states. Even NASA’s on the case. There are different theories about what was behind the sighting of those fireballs. A NASA spacecraft got a closer look at one of the possible sources today. The spacecraft flew past Hartley 2 — taking closeup pictures after the comet made one of its closest passes by Earth this week. But one expert is skeptical of reports that any fireballs came from Hartley — which is roughly 1.2 kilometres wide and spews deadly cyanide gas. Scientist Peter Brown says his meteor group at the University of Western Ontario tracked one of two fireballs while the other was tracked by NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office.”

Saying that the fireballs are from comet Hartley is akin to the old chestnut from the 1950s when every weird UFO in the sky was attributed to a “weather balloon” or “swamp gas.” But my layman’s suspicions are baseless…unless there is a legitimate scientist saying the same thing. Oh, look, there is: In another article about the event, a scientist stated “The position where they came from the sky, however, was a bit different and their orbit was only in a vague sense similar to Hartley 2.”

The key word is “swooping.” In both articles, it is stated that the fireballs, or lights, swooped. Meteors travel on an orderly trajectory. They don’t backtrack. They don’t deviate. They certainly don’t “swoop.”

Then this afternoon I saw this headline from Der Spiegel: “Geologists Warning Of Merapi “Mega-Eruption.” The link goes to the German language article but here is an English-language essay on the situation from P Gosselin’s Climate Science News And Free Commentary From Germany:

“Der Spiegel reports on the growling-ever-louder Indonesian Merapi volcano in an article titled: Geologists Warning of Mega-Eruption of Merapi. Hat-tip to reader Ike.”

“The Merapi eruptions are becoming more violent – and the big bang could be just ahead. The Indonesian volcano has been spewing 800°C ash clouds for days.”

“According to Der Spiegel, 122 people have been killed, most on Friday. “Merapi is among the most dangerous volcanoes,” says geo-scientist Volker Steinbach of the German Federal Administration for Geoscience and Raw Materials (BGR). Der Spiegel adds:”

“Friday’s eruption is its worst this decade, says the chief geologist of the Energy Administration, Raden Sukhyiar, in the “Jakarta Post”. The biggest known eruptions occurred in 1006, 1369, 1786, 1822, 1872 – destroying a large number of villages – and 1930 when 1300 people perished.”

“Investigations of the volcano have revealed that an unprecedented Magma reservoir lurks underneath it, says Birger Lühr, a volcano researcher at the GFZ in Potsdam, Germany.”

“A rough estimate indicates that there is three times more magma than what was ejected by the Indonesian volcano Tambora in 1815 – the biggest eruption in the last 10,000 years, which led to a cooling of the climate globally.”

“Geoscientists aren’t sure what to make of this huge magma reservoir. As Der Spiegel reports, they are hesitant to make predictions of catastrophe (That’s only done in climate science, even though the odds are far less).”
“Word of a ‘mega-eruption’ is making the rounds among scientists. But apparently they are avoiding the use of the word to avoid being labelled preachers of disasters. ‘We can only speculate what the volcano will do,’ says Birger Lühr. Merapi is hardly predictable.”

The bible says in Revelation 6:12 of the Sixth Seal judgment that as the seal was opened the sun turned black like sackcloth. I wrote about the sun as sackcloth in the essay titled “Of volcanoes, dry fog, and sun as sackcloth” in more depth here. I posited the idea that the sun turning black may be from mega-eruptions, in turn, caused by the prophesied earthquakes we’re told will occur in the Tribulation. The Seals are judgments, and the Church is not destined for judgment, so the sackcloth event it depicts will likely not occur until after the rapture – if indeed the sun as sackcloth occurs because of volcanic ash darkening the sun in the first place.

Scientists saying things like “unprecedented magma” and ‘worst eruption this decade’ ‘we can only speculate’ are hardly comforting phrases. Yesterday I mentioned that the events are unfolding so fast along the active ring of fire in Indonesia that the scientists are simply throwing up their hands and saying ‘we don’t know what’s going on.” At some point the world will reach a tipping point and the events unfolding will exceed the scientists’ knowledge base to explain them. That is because God exceeds science. The swooping lights from Canada to imminent mega-eruptions to currency wars to gold reaching $1400/oz to mass UFO sightings to…well, it’s dizzying.

The tiredness I feel is not just from long workdays and bewildering news – it is from the burden of sin upon the whole world. We groan. We groan! For what do we groan?

“For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.”(2 Corinthians 5:4)

We groan because “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.” (Romans 8:22). The entire creation groans! And we humans, children of God all, groan because we are part of the creation, and the burden of sin weighs on us heavily. We may even lament, but certainly God again is ahead of us, telling us we would feel that way in these end days of the end time:

“And when they ask you, ‘Why are you groaning?’ you shall say, ‘Because of the news that is coming. Every heart will melt with fear and every hand go limp; every spirit will become faint and every leg will be wet with urine.’ It is coming! It will surely take place, declares the Sovereign LORD.” (Ezekiel 21:7)

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Posted in end time, end time. prophecy, israel, palestinian state, treaty

Is a Palestinian State in the near future?

Posted on by elizabethprata

Over the last year, I’ve written twice about a troubling turn in philosophy in terms of Middle East Peace. Up until last November, the notion of peace in the Middle East hinged on Israel and the “Palestinians” coming to a jointly agreed upon treaty. It was assumed that the treaty, or agreement, would contain mutually acceptable and previously negotiated criteria for a permanent cease-fire and cessation in hostilities. That’s how peace treaties are usually negotiated.

However, I wrote in November that the then-EU top diplomat Javier Solana essentially has said a few months prior, let’s cut through the red tape, quit the talk, and walk the walk. How about creating a Palestinian State! “The United Nations Security Council should “proclaim the adoption of the two-state solution.” Obama took the idea to heart at that time. Though not much was reported for five months, I considered it a ground-breaking, ominous and terrible development. But five months after the news that Solana was initiating an idea to force a Palestinian State, in April 2010 the following news report surfaced: The Asia Times reported  “Obama imposing a Palestinian state”.

The idea that the Palestinians can get a state by enforced imposition is not a new one: that is how Israel was formed. Now the idea is, why not cut through the red tape, and just DO this thing? Hey, we did ti before with Israel! Since last November the brilliance of this seemingly simple idea has grown in the back rooms until now when it is quietly being touted as THE solution. Even by the ‘Christian” Science Monitor:

Obama can let Palestinians seek state recognition at the UN
“President Obama may soon have an unusual chance to serve the cause of Middle East peace by remaining silent. He could quietly acquiesce to a move being considered by Palestinian leaders to ask the United Nations to recognize a state of Palestine…. Mr. Obama has good reason to give a quiet wink to such a Palestinian request. He is deeply frustrated that Israel renewed its settlement construction last month. That move forced Palestinians to quit bilateral peace talks. It also caused them to contemplate the prospect that the US is no longer a reliable mediator or able to press Israel to make concessions.”

Apparently, the notion of just creating a Palestinian State and be done with it is serious enough that 115 US Representatives are urging Obama not to go down that road.

Reps urge Obama to oppose Palestinian state declaration
The chairman of a major Republican congressional caucus is urging US President Barack Obama to oppose any UN effort to recognize a unilaterally declared Palestinian state. Rep. Tom Price of Georgia wrote Obama on behalf of the 115-member Republican Study Committee on Thursday, asking the president to push back against reports suggesting that Palestinians are considering appealing to the UN rather than negotiating with Israel.”

Leaving the nation of Israel to fend for itself among the wolves of the UN and the wolves of the world is a losing proposition and Netanyahu is no dummy. Here is another recent shift in conception, this time in what constitutes a treaty:

The notion that an agreement in principle can be reached but the nuts and bolts can be ironed out at a later date. The Jerusalem Post reported an hour ago, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is making efforts to convince the Obama administration to accept a plan by which a Palestinian State would be established within temporary borders for a period of ten years, leaving difficult issues such as refugees and Jerusalem to be decided in future negotiations, London-based Arabic language daily Al-Hayat reported on Saturday.”

God takes His Land very seriously. He gave it to the Nation, and He intends for it to remain so. He was so specific, He even outlined the borders:

“On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates— the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites …,”

At some point, the Land is divided

“I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.” (Joel 3:2)

There, the LORD promises, He will judge.

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