Category: end time

Posted in animal deaths, end of days. prophecy, end time, rapture

More animal die-offs; Pelicans, seals, cows. They’re getting bigger

Posted on by elizabethprata

Pelicans turn up sick, dead off Jacksonville FL coast
Hundreds of Eastern brown pelicans, some with missing wings and frostbite, have been injured or killed in the St. Johns River the past couple of weeks in the Mayport area. The exact reason is unknown but the cold weather could have caused hypothermia when the birds landed in the water.

Yankton (S. Dakota) sees bird kill-off
It is estimated that more than 200 dead starlings were found in downtown Yankton Monday. However, it is not believed the deaths pose a threat to humans. Yankton Animal Control Officer Lisa Brasel estimated that she collected 200 starlings Monday, and employees of the city Parks and Recreation Department were also on the scene picking up deceased birds. The total number of corpses gathered up by city employees has not yet been compiled. “I talked to one of the local vets, and they said there is nothing wrong (with the birds),” said Brasel, who took specimens to a veterinary office.

200 dead cows found on farm in Stockton
“The Portage County Humane Society is trying to figure out what caused 200 cows in the town of Stockton to perish. Deputies were dispatched to the town just after 1 p.m. on Friday after they were notified of numerous dead cows lying in a field in the 8000 block of Fourth Avenue, according to a Portage County Sheriff’s Department news release.”

Hundreds of dead seals in Labrador Canada
People on the north coast of Labrador say scores of dead seals have been washing ashore since early December.  A conservation officer with the area’s Inuit government estimated late last week that hundreds of adult and young seals have died in the area between Hopedale and Makkovik this winter. At the time, a federal seal researcher said the early birth of seal pups in Labrador may be an indication the area’s seal population has grown too large. DFO researcher Garry Stenson said that seal population growth could lead to reproductive problems.

Whether the causes are supernatural or natural why are we surprised when the earth and its animals turn up dead and dying? We use the highly toxic chemical corexit, we spray chemtrails to rain down acid rain, we pollute the waters, we exhaust the water table, we fracture the earth in pursuit of natural gas (fracking). How did we get this way? Well, it wasn’t always like this, but it didn’t take long for things to turn bad.

All of creation groans under the curse. The curse is the curse God laid on the man, the woman, the serpent and all of creation when sin entered the world in the Garden of Eden. Eve, then Adam, ate of the fruit God said not to eat, thanks to the serpent’s influence and goading. Disobedience against God is a crime against God and He will always judge it. His justice then included a curse, and among the things cursed was all of creation.

Up until that time, Adam and Eve existed peacefully with all the animals. Adam named them, each one. The garden was perfect, His creation earth was “Good.” God gave man dominion over the animals to rule gently (Gen 2:15; 19-20). Adam and Eve’s physical life was undemanding, the rain/dew simply sprung up from the ground to water everything. There were no thunderstorms, washouts, or floods. There was no toil. The work was easy, we know this because when God cursed Adam and Eve He said Adam’s work will now be hard, “by the sweat of his brow.” (Gen 3:19)

Animals were gentle and non-carnivorous. After the curse, though, they became useful to man for food and clothing. We know this because the first death in recorded history was not Cain’s murder of his brother Abel. It was an animal. In Genesis 3:21 it is said “The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them” In order for there to be skins, there had to have been an animal it came from.

Is it any wonder that all creation groaneth? Romans 8:22, “For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.” Sin has effects. Whether the strange animal deaths are supernatural from God or natural because of man’s abuse of the earth in sin, it all ends up being the same: curse.

Thankfully, He reverses the curse in the Millennium. Isaiah 11:6 says “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.” Until then, we will suffer the effects of our sin and we will suffer the effects of His warnings prior to judgment. Animals will continue to die, waters will continue to be polluted, the air will continue to smog. The benefits to man of the land and the sea and the waters and the animals evaporated at the curse, and it literally has been downhill ever since.

I have no doubt that we will continue to see these massive animal die-offs spring up around the world. They perplex scientists. The reasons for the die-offs have variously included fireworks, stress, trauma, disorientation, overeating, failure to migrate, the cold, the heat, mass suicide, virus, no explanation, poison, and reproductive anomalies. No scientist has proposed the most likely reason for this happening: GOD. Soon, He says, “I will sweep away both man and beast; I will sweep away the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea— and the idols that cause the wicked to stumble.” (Zephaniah 1:3.) By then it will be too late for many people. Do not let it be too late for you. You see where this is going, He told us the end of the story. It will ALL be wiped away. From where we are now it won’t get any better, only worse. Accept Jesus as your savior for your sins now, repent of them and ask Him to be your Lord. He will do it, and then you will never be wiped away, but you will be one of His children. You will see Him reverse the curse, and restore the earth.
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Posted in end time, giotto, prophecy, renaissance

How can I not speak of Jesus?

Posted on by elizabethprata

I have a set of Italian paintings and photographs over my couch. I’ve always said to myself that eventually I was going to find out the name of the Renaissance artist who painted the piece from which this detail of the little putto is taken. A putto is a Renaissance figure of a toddler with wings, like a human cherub. I used to know what painting the little angel came from, and I keep thinking Caravaggio or Titian, but I’ve never gotten around to searching for the painter’s name of the piece. Until last night.

I have a wealth of Renaissance books and also art-history books, and access to the internet of course. I spent several hours looking high and low for the painter’s name but came up short. I was getting aggravated but as I searched I got interested in art history again and I kept looking through my books at all the beautiful art. I’ve always been interested in Giotto, the painter from the very late Byzantine-early Renaissance period who represents the bridge between the two styles. Giotto was genius. I stumbled across his Lamentation (Mourning of Christ) and I stopped dead in my tracks, sleeping putto forgotten. I looked, I peered, I studied. And then I cried.

What is it about art that can move us so? Giotto’s use of emotion, placement of figures, tenderness of the scene leaped off the page and into my heart. Giotto was the first to use weight and heft in his clothing, suggesting musculature of the bodies underneath, as opposed to the skinny, stylized figures of the Byzantine era. Mary, holding the head of Christ, is seen using her right knee to prop him up. The emotions on the faces of each of the mourners are each unique but all are real, so real, I mourned along with them. The angels swooping, almost writhing in intense display of grief is also quite moving. One is pulling his hair and another is tearing his clothes. I was dumbfounded that a piece could have such an effect on me, and then I remembered.

I spent a great deal of time in Italy throughout the 1990s. I went over there at least 6 times, and in addition, also spent time in Paris, France, Scotland, and other places around the world. I visited the great art museums such as the Uffizi, Met, Louvre, Edinburgh National Museum, British Museum, etc. I’ve gazed upon painting after painting, walked with the crowds along velvet-cordoned rows on one continent or another. I peered at the Mona Lisa, musing at how small she actually is. I craned my neck up at Michaelangelo’s David, amazed at his evocation of movement in marble. I squinted at pointillists and lounged in front of lazy patchwork sunny scenes of lily pads and canoes in Monet’s world. And, shamefully, I griped at how much of the Renaissance art was religiously focused. Not being saved, and being an enemy of Christ, I understood none of it. I admired the technique, I liked the colors, I could discuss composition. But I could not speak to the content. I glanced, grimaced, and hastened to Botticelli’s Primavera, and Birth of Venus, pagan pieces exalting goddesses. And to my now-grief, I missed  the point of all of it.

How I wish, I wish, I wish (if wishes were horses) I could go back to Florence and review those magnificent pieces through the lens my my born-again eyes!! I mourn the lost time in front of art that speaks to the painter’s fervency, his dedication to the moments of Christ’s life. You see, when you’re saved, you cannot help but speak of Christ. There is much to say! His glory, His love, His mercy, His infinite attributes. The artists who paint the scenes that speak to so much of human history is a glorious way to exalt Him. Bringing to life on canvas what is in the imagination as I read the Word is a wonderful way to impress upon the penitent the timelessness of the scenes.

I understand the painter’s urge, because I write of Him. I write because He lives. I write because He loves. I write because of His glory, I write because if I could not write I would shout to the heavens of His mercy and grace. I write because He must be shared.

But in looking at all the art last night, I mourned because of lost time in admiring these masterpieces. Not only lost time in art appreciation, that is just cerebral and emotional. I am mourning the lost time in communing with HIM, in any form. I’m thrilled I am saved, and the adage of “better late than never” applies to me. But He is such a treasure, even one day less of admiring him in painted form, exalting Him in writing, communing with Him in prayer, knowing Him in my heart is such a LOSS. If you are reading this and you are not saved, likely you are thinking that I am silly, nuts, or just ignorant. I used to think those things of saved people too. But knowing Him is an extreme treasure in my life that even one squandered moment I count an immeasurable loss. I pray that the Holy Spirit speaks to you as well and that not another moment goes by before you  capitulate to the Holy Spirit’s drawing you to Him. I’d do anything to go back decades in time just so I could accept Him into my life and know him that much longer. But the glory is, He accepted me, forgave me, so that He and I can spend an eternity together. I’ll be exploring universes, growing in Christlikeness, worshiping Him and serving Him in ways He has not yet revealed.

Thankfully, the story does not end with Giotto’s piece, with a dead Jesus on the ground, being mourned over by followers and family. He is not here, He is risen! He triumphs over death and sin, to rise to heaven, taking His rightful place at the right hand of the Father. Don’t waste another minute, looking at the Story  on canvas but not comprehending. He is waiting for you, and when you ask Him to forgive your sins, He will. And your wasted moments apart from Jesus will fade and your moments ahead with him will stretch into eternity.

[Here is a link to a discussion about the Giotto’s Lamentation painting.]

Posted in 340 year old bible, end time, prophecy, wisconsin

340 year old bible found, reminds me of Hilkiah’s finding the Law in the temple

Posted on by elizabethprata

Here is a small thing that is good and nice. It is a news piece out of Wisconsin, ripped from 2 Kings 22. First, the modern version:

“A centuries old relic has been discovered in a Bonduel (WI) church, tucked away for decades. No one realized it was even there, or what it was. In a cramped, rarely seen safe, no bigger than a kitchen pantry, at St. Paul Lutheran Church are heaps of old books and pamphlets. Many of which are more than 100 years old and in foreign languages. Most of the artifacts wouldn’t fetch a high price at auction, but represent the church’s nearly 150 year history and heritage. Now, one item kept there for an unknown length of time has taken the entire congregation by surprise. “This is an authentic 340-year-old Bible. We don’t know how we got it. We don’t know how it got into the safe. We’ve been asking some of our elderly folks and people in the nursing home and nobody seems to remember,” said Pastor Timothy Shoup.” source

How amazing! A beautiful original bible from over three centuries ago! How could they forget that it was there? Here is a bit more:

“A 340-year-old bible discovery can attest to the fact that they sure don’t make things like they used to. The German bible was discovered by a sixth grade teacher inside an old safe in a small Lutheran church school where she works in Bonduel, Wisconsin. “I was looking for the old baptism records to show my students and then up here in the corner was where the Bible was tucked,” explained Court, not realizing what a rare find she stumbled upon.”

Imagine, in a dusty closet of the church, lay the precious treasure, there all along but quite forgotten.

And a bit more:

“How the book ended up in Bonduel is still a mystery. But either way, Pastor Shoup says the 17th century discovery has brought him closer to his faith.”

How beautiful that the revealing of the Word caused the pastor such a sensitive and blessed reaction.  Did you know that the Old Testament records another, similar instance? I’m not making a huge doctrine out of it, I believe that the news spot out of Wisconsin is a nice event that happens more often than we know. But the similarities with the bible’s discovery and our Sunday School lesson focusing on Hilkiah, Huldah, and King Josiah was too sweet to ignore drawing some parallels. In Josiah’s reign, a long and evil, corrupt line of kingship was coming to an end. Josiah’s grandfather and father were terrible kings that did much evil in the eyes of the LORD and provoked the LORD greatly. His people had not only fallen away, had forgotten Him and His word, but they engaged in perverse and horrible worship practices to other gods. Finally came Josiah, a good king of Israel, was endeavoring to have the Temple repaired. As you can imagine, no one really used the Temple for real worship and had not for a very long time. Here is the biblical piece about it:

The Lost Book (2 Kings 22:8-11)

Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan who read it. Shaphan the scribe came to the king and brought back word to the king and said, “Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the LORD.” Moreover, Shaphan the scribe told the king saying, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it in the presence of the king. When the king heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes…”

As the workmen were moving furniture around and inventorying items, this book of the Law was found! Hilkiah the Priest wasn’t sure what exactly it was, and Shaphan the scribe wasn’t exactly sure, either! The two men, along with three others searched high and low at the king’s command, so they could inquire of the LORD. (2Kings 22:13) They found Huldah the Prophetess, who told them.

Huldah Predicts (2 Kings 22:14)

“So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter); and they spoke to her.”

Ahikam was Shaphan’s son, a helper. Achbor was an officer of Josiah, as was Asaiah. Shaphan was a scribe of King Josiah. It is shame and a testament on the men that though they held lofty positions in the religious hierarchy, none felt they had the ear of the LORD, and they went to find someone who did, ending up with Huldah. Huldah is named as “keeper of the wardrobe”, and wardrobe then is as it is now: a closet for storing clothes. 2 Kings 10:22 is another example of the keeper of the wardrobe: “And Jehu said to the keeper of the wardrobe, “Bring robes for all the ministers of Baal.” So he brought out robes for them.”

The small closet where the bible had been stored

Huldah was also a prophet. She told the men that the LORD said that since Josiah had been repentant and tender in his heart toward the LORD, the LORD would stay His wrath upon Judah until Josiah was laying peacefully in his grave.

It is interesting to note that the King’s faith deepened upon finding the Word. Tearing of clothes was an act that was meant to convey either great grief or great righteous indignation. The custom was also done as a symbolic removal of authority i.e. the tearing of a king’s royal robe. Here is a link to a short study on the biblical act of tearing of clothes, by Wayne Blank. Josiah was immediately convicted upon hearing the words of the LORD, and he tore his clothes. He sent out a search for a person who could relate the meaning of the words and help them come into obedience to them. It is also interesting to note that the Wisconsin Pastor’s faith deepened upon finding the word. Finding the precious treasure that is God’s word is always a blessing.

Josiah’s men found the Scriptures in an old wardrobe when doing routine repairs and inventory, and the School teacher found the word of the Lord while doing routine rummaging in a forgotten closet in search of old records. The LORD reveals Himself when and where He chooses, and at unexpected times!

I think about the bible itself, being twenty pounds. It’s huge! Someone carried that bible all the way from Germany across Europe, across the Atlantic Ocean, across half the American continent! Look at it, its size and heft. Yet, the Word of God meant so much to him that he took the trouble and expense to bring it with him , on horseback, in canoes, in ships, by hand…and protected it so well all along the way!

I hope that if you own several bibles, that none of them are laying on the back of the car window, fading as the sunlight drains the print away. I hope that your bible is meaningful to you and that it is used daily, lovingly, reverently. I hope that you do not travel so far away from the Word that you forget what it says and have trouble even finding a person who can relate its meaning to you.

The Wisconsin Pastor said of the find, “To hold something that tells us in 1670 the same message of God’s grace in Christ, that tell one another other today helps me be even more thankful.” Yes, the best lesson out of all of this is God’s word is eternal! (Mt 24:35)
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Posted in board of education campbell county, end time, prayer, prophecy

TN Board of Education members told they could not pray before meetings

Posted on by elizabethprata

A couple of news stories piqued my interest today.

LaFollette Press (TN): TN Board of Education may not pray, it’s against the law
“During the meeting Attorney Cantrell took the opportunity to make the group aware of legislation that impacts their meeting agendas. According to Cantrell, Tennessee falls into the only United States district that does not allow school boards to have prayer after the meeting begins. “As of right now you cannot pray at a board of education meeting,” Cantrell said noting the Tennessee School Board Association is adamant about strictly following the law.”

“Speaking as a member of the Anderson County Board of Education Cantrell said that board had circumvented the law by gathering 15 minutes prior to the meeting to have prayer and a short devotional given by a member of the local clergy. Board members including J.L. “Sarge” Collins and Josh Parker spoke out in favor of finding a way to protest the law against prayer before board meetings. From the back of the room County Commissioner Rusty Orick stood to offer his opinion on the matter. “I wouldn’t back off from this. This is what has happened to our country,” Orick said of allowing a few to determine the direction of the whole. Parker agreed with Orick’s comments adding “some things are worth fighting for.” Chairman Mike Orick suggested the group follow Anderson County’s lead and meet prior to the start of the next board meeting for a time of prayer.”

1/12/2011 School Board Report By: Boomer Winfrey;
“The Campbell County Board of Education was told Tuesday night that they are going to have to end their tradition of leading off their monthly meetings with a prayer. At a meeting that due to weather and slick roads, was sparsely attended and promised to be both short and routine, this advice from the board attorney had some board members ready to go to war, or at least to court. Attorney Dail Cantrell told board members that the Tennessee School Board Association has notified all local boards that the federal Sixth Judicial District in Cincinnati has ruled that leading public school board meetings with a prayer violates the constitutional separation of church and state.”

“This is not the case nationally, as many federal courts in other areas of the country have allowed prayer at the beginning of meetings, but the Sixth District is one of the most liberal-leaning courts,” Cantrell claimed, adding, “It includes Ohio, which has the largest percentage of atheists of any state in the country.” “You cannot pray immediately before the meeting, the TSBA is adamant that you can’t do it,” Cantrell added. “You can meet before the board meeting begins if you wish but not at the public meeting.” Cantrell, who is also a member of the Anderson County School Board, suggested that Campbell County board members, if they wish, could do what they have decided to do in Anderson County and gather 15 minutes before the meeting for a short prayer. J. L. “Sarge” Collins asked if Congress has passed a law forbidding prayer at board meetings.”

“When told it was a judicial ruling, he asked what would happen if the Campbell County board refused to go along with the ruling. “They could put the board in jail,” Cantrell flatly replied. “There’s a lot of smart people in this room, it seems we could start the protest here in Campbell County,” Collins observed. County Commissioner Rusty Orick, sitting in the audience, told board members, “I wouldn’t back off on this, I’d stand my ground and fight it.” When board members were recognized at the end of the regular agenda, however, Josh Parker insisted, “We should stand our ground on the prayer issue. I’ll go to jail with you. I agree with Sarge, this is worth fighting for.”
————————————-
It IS something worth fighting for. I admire the group of men who are taking a stand for their faith. I ask all of us to pray for these men and to pray for brethren across the country and the world we do not know personally but who may be having their faith infringed upon at this moment.

There is quite a bit of debate these days amongst Christians who are asking if we are going to be persecuted before the Tribulation. It’s a bit myopic to ask that if you are in America, because from the moment Jesus ascended Christians were persecuted. Millions have lost their lives for His name. Christians are being persecuted this minute in Baghdad, Lebanon, Egypt, Indonesia, and many other places. They are being machete’d, burned, hung, and hunted. He said “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.” (John 15:18-20). I still think it is a legitimate question, because we can talk about levels of oppression and persecution. My personal opinion is that I do not think that here in America Christians will be killed for their faith (before the Tribulation begins). But it is increasingly apparent that even in freedom-loving America, Christians are being forced to make hard choices every day.

Our pastor says that we should be ready to make tough choices. The time is now, he says, when we may be faced with that choice. I read these articles and I thought about that statement and I thought about the choices the Board members may indeed have to make within the next few weeks.

They stood firm on their faith and vowed to fight. I applaud that. I applaud the very fact that they get together and have a devotional and a prayer before the meeting,. It is as it should be! They seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance in order to govern well, something that is right and proper. The bible calls for those in power to be wise. “Now therefore, be wise, O kings; Be instructed, you judges of the earth” says Psalm 2:10, and just where are they supposed to get that wisdom? The Holy Spirit of course! And the best way to access the Spirit is through prayer. In Jeremiah 22:16 the LORD says “He [the King] defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?” declares the LORD.” Caring for those who are under you in government with compassion and through the LORD is what it means to be a representative of government.

But when happens when the police come to the next meeting, with warrant and handcuffs, and the Board members must make a choice to pray and face arrest, or succumb to pressure? And make that choice knowing that their family and children depend on his income to eat. Will they still pray? To some people it is given to have a big battle and in that battle the LORD’s name is being erased in big swoops as Christians lose their lives. To other Christians they are given a smaller but still important battle, where the forces of evil are erasing the name of the Lord from public life inch by inch. Defending the Lord means not only dying through a stoning, but it means inch by inch battles in the halls of justice, courts, government, and public life. Whether or not to retreat from that line is a choice we all may have to make. Pray for the Tennessee Board Members named here. I pray that when you and I are faced with that choice, we may stand for Him, unflinchingly, because someone prayed for us.

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Posted in end of days, end time, prophecy, tower of babel

Man is busy re-creating creation in his own image

Posted on by elizabethprata

I’ve been saying constantly that God will judge due to rebellion against Him. One way people rebel and stay in their own sin is to fail to acknowledge Him and His sovereignty over all the universe. Another way to sin is that even if man acknowledges Him, man still elevates himself to His position. Satan did that in his “I will” statements found in Isaiah 14: 12-15 wherein satan vowed to elevate his throng above God’s. It was how and where sin entered into his heart, and then the world.

We have seen what happens when man and angel elevates himself to positions to which he is not entitled. The Tower of Babel is one example where that process comes to mind. (Genesis 11:1-9). God confused the languages and scattered the inhabitants who were building the tower not because He is a killjoy oppressing the people who were trying to make something of themselves. Rather, He knew they were not ready for cities, had told them to go forth and multiply, and they didn’t. Their leader was Nimrod and his name is from the verb ‘let us revolt.’ Nimrod was the world’s first dictator and the tower was being built to worship astrology and to push the envelope of man’s technological achievements (Gen 11:3). Genesis 11:4 says that the people wanted to make a name for themselves. They did not say ‘let us honor God’s name’.

Ever since then, man has been wanting to make a name for himself, supplanting God in his endeavors either by failing to acknowledge His means or by plowing ahead in ambition absent the Holy Spirit. I’ve noticed today four headlines that are examples of this in today’s world:

Man is using DNA to re-imagine warfare…

Dept. of Defense may begin collecting and mapping genome of all military personnel
“A new report from a highly influential group of scientists [The JASON Group] is urging the Department of Defense to begin collecting and mapping the full genome of all military personnel. Pentagon officials believe gene-mapping all military personnel could lower health costs within the military and help scientist learn a great deal about the link between fighting and genetics. So, “what’s the big deal, why does it matter?” The report sneakily inserted the possible idea of the weaponization of genetic information into the report. “It may be beneficial to know the genetic identities of an adversary,” it says. The Department of Defense will be in charge of the giant database housing the soldiers records and will likely benefit by organizing personnel data into phenotypes for the military.” source

JASON is an independent group of scientists which advises the United States government on matters of science and technology. The group was first created as a way to get a younger generation of scientists—that is, not the older Los Alamos and MIT Radiation Laboratory alumni—involved in advising the government. It was established in 1960 and has somewhere between 30 and 60 members. For administrative purposes, JASON’s activities are run through the MITRE Corporation, a non-profit corporation in McLean, Virginia, which contracts with the Defense Department. JASON typically performs most of its work during an annual summer study. Its sponsors include the Department of Defense (frequently DARPA and the United States Navy), the Department of Energy, and the U.S. Intelligence Community. Most of the resulting JASON reports are classified.

Man is using technology to re-create extinct animals for no reason…

Cloning might create live woolly mammoth
The extinct woolly mammoth could be brought back to life in as little as four years thanks to a breakthrough in cloning technology, a Japanese researcher says.

Man is re-engineering one of God’s creatures…

[W]hat if there were a way to breed poultry that are genetically resistant to H5N1 or any other avian flu virus, thus severing a major link in the flu’s evolutionary chain? That’s what a team of scientists in Britain tried to do recently, and they were remarkably successful. The result, reported in a study in the Jan. 13 issue of Science, is genetically engineered chickens that, while they’re still vulnerable to H5N1, don’t seem to pass on the disease to other poultry.
Man is re-wiring human brains…
This minimally invasive method of generating neural plasticity allows us to precisely manipulate brain circuits, which cannot be achieved with drugs. Pairing sounds with VNS provides that precision by rewiring damaged circuits and reversing the abnormal activity that generates the phantom sound.” 

I am not saying technology is bad. I am not saying technology is good. Technology is technology, by itself it’s inherently neither. It is only after man overlays his own uses upon technology that it becomes evil or good. And if the new technology is being managed by a humanity that has no moral compass grounded from the bible, then that technology could go in any direction. It always does.

Secondly, there are always unintended consequences to everything that man produces, but especially in the technological realms. Only God is omniscient, knowing the end from the beginning. We do not know how a new technology will be used in the future. We make all safeguards against improper use but because we are not omniscient, we will miss something. That is why we rely on the omniscient God to guide us in all our ways. Because He knows! Absent His guidance, as God said in Genesis 11 at the conclusion of the tower of Babel incident, “And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them.” (Gem 11:6b). Quite often, we are not ready for what we unleash on the world, yet man must still suffer the unintended consequences. God also takes seriously when we worship created things instead of the Creator and exchange the truth of God for a lie (Romans 1:25; Jeremiah 13:25).

This spate of few is but a tiny fraction of the scientific and technological headlines being published every day around the world. God made creation. But man is busy re-creating it in his own image. This will not be allowed to go on indefinitely. As in Genesis 11:5 states, at a certain point “the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built” he will come down again, and take action. As a globe, we are lost and will be judged. That is prophesied and will come true. The unforgiven will fall on their faces, every tongue confessing He is Lord and every knee bowing in belated acknowledgement that He is King. As individuals, however, we always have the option to turn to Him and acknowledge His sovereignty over creation, and over our souls until the moment we breathe our last! If you repent, and make Him your Lord, when you face Him, you will be able to stand, His forgiveness and love holding you up.

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Posted in cme, end of days. prophecy, end time, SOHO

Huge solar flare amazes

Posted on by elizabethprata

Spaceweather.com:
“An active region on the farside of the sun erupted during the early hours of Jan. 13th and hurled a bright coronal mass ejection (CME) into space. Click on the image to play a movie of the expanding cloud recorded by the Solar and Heliospheric observatory (SOHO). Although the explosion happened on the sun’s farside, one spacecraft had a direct view: STEREO-B is stationed over the sun’s eastern limb almost directly above the blast site. The spacecraft’s extreme UV telescope recorded the entire event. This movie shows the eruption and the shadowy shock wave it propelled through the sun’s atmosphere. The source of the activity, probably a big sunspot, won’t remain on the farside for long. The sun’s rotation is turning it toward Earth, and geoeffective solar activity could commence within days.”

Wikipedia explains, “A coronal mass ejection (CME) is a massive burst of solar wind, other light isotope plasma, and magnetic fields rising above the solar corona or being released into space. Coronal mass ejections are often associated with other forms of solar activity, most notably solar flares…”

With the size of this mass ejection one can see the effects that such eruptions could have upon the earth if the sun happened to be facing the earth when the next one happens. (“geoeffective” means impacting earth). In August 2010, Discovery published an article about the potentialities of such an impact:

Impact! Coronal Mass Ejection Hits Earth
“It’s hard to imagine the magnetic battle that’s ensuing above my head right now, especially during this hot and calm Southern Californian day. But over the last few hours, orbiting space weather observatories and ground-based magnetometers have detected the moment a coronal mass ejection (CME) — fired from the sun on Sunday — slammed into the Earth’s magnetosphere.”

The article goes on to explain what CME’s are and how they are tracked. Their effects, though, while normally in the benign range, producing only Aurora Borealis displays (northern lights), one day will be strong enough to reach earth at the moment the sun is facing earth, and then watch out. This Science Daily article explains:
“When directed toward our planet, these ejections can be breathtakingly beautiful and yet potentially cause damaging effects worldwide. The brightly colored phenomena known as auroras — more commonly called Northern or Southern Lights — are examples of Earth’s upper atmosphere harmlessly being disturbed by a CME. However, ejections can produce a form of solar cosmic rays that can be hazardous to spacecraft, astronauts and technology on Earth. Space weather produces disturbances in electromagnetic fields on Earth that can induce extreme currents in wires, disrupting power lines and causing wide-spread blackouts. These sun storms can interfere with communications between ground controllers and satellites and with airplane pilots flying near Earth’s poles. Radio noise from the storm also can disrupt cell phone service. Space weather has been recognized as causing problems with new technology since the invention of the telegraph in the 19th century.”

In other words, a strong CME reaching earth can zap every electronic, every chip, all electricity. We have become so reliant on the electronic chip to service all our daily needs, from toaster ovens to cars to banking to life-support machines, that we forget that in one stroke, the electricity may not be there to run them. I thought the SOHO picture was dramatic, dramatic enough to post as a reminder that we are tiny dust motes compared to the Almighty, He who controls the entire universe with a word. We have a blessed choice, either we are in the palm of His hand, shielded from all this, or we are exposed to His power and judgment. I know which place I dwell. I hope you make the right choice, too.
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Posted in end time, prophecy

Greenlanders worried: for first time in history, sun rises early

Posted on by elizabethprata

I admit, over the last 2 years when I read commenters claiming that the sun is rising or setting in a different spot than usual, I dismissed it without much investigation. I also dismissed claims that the pole degrees were off. Dismissed it that is, until Tampa International Airport shut down a runway because their degree markers were so out of whack. Dismissed it until Scientific American asked “Why is the magnetic North Pole racing toward Siberia?” and dismissed it until the British Geological Society noted that the South Magnetic Anomaly is enlarging at an incredible pace. Now I’m interested.

Today, from Greenland comes this: “The sun rises two days early in Greenland“
“The sun over Greenland has risen two days early, baffling scientists and sparking fears that Arctic icecaps are melting faster than previously thought.”

OK, before we go any further let’s take a look at the two parts to the lead sentence. First, scientists again are “baffled” over an unexpected celestial event. Second, they again attribute it to global warming. How global warming makes the sun rise at a different time is what is baffling. To continue:

“Experts say the summer sun should have risen over the Arctic nation’s most westerly town, Ilulissat, today. But for the first time in history they say it began creeping over the horizon at around 1pm last Tuesday. The mysterious sunrise has confused astronomers, who have struggled to come up with an explanation for the phenomenon. Wolfgang Lenhardt, director of the department of geophysics at the Central Institute for Meteorology in Vienna, scotched suggestions that the observation could have astronomical reasons. He said: ‘The constellation of the stars has not changed. If that had happened, there would have been an outcry around the world.’ ‘The data of the Earth’s axis and Earth’s rotation are monitored continuously and meticulously and we would know if that had happened.’ Caption from article- Ice caps: One theory is that the ice melts, the horizon lowers giving the impression in Greenland that the sun has risen early.”

Of course astronomers who do not believe in God will ‘scotch suggestions’ that the observation will have astronomical reasons”.  But it absolutely could have astronomical reasons. We are in a time of the end time when we are told by the truthful God that He will (in the Tribulation) shake the stars from the sky, the moon to go dark, the sky to open as a scroll, and the sun to stop shining. (Rev 6:12; Isaiah 34:4; Ez 32:7; Joel 2:10; Rev 8:12;  etc) He is sovereign over all celestial bodies. He created them. He can move them with a word, and in this case, He just might have.

It’s just another sign in the sun, moon, and stars, if you ask me.
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Posted in economic shock, end of days. prophecy, end time, pre-tribulation rapture

World ‘unable to handle any future shocks’

Posted on by elizabethprata

If as the Davos Summit people say, the world is ‘unable to handle any future shocks‘ then they are in for another huge shock: things will get worse. A lot worse. The world will be buffeted so heavily in every realm (economic, financial, production, emotional, spiritual, governmental) that the world itself will crack apart in the end. (Isaiah 24:20). But before all that, let’s see what the Davos/World Economic Summit people actually said:

“The ability of governments to respond to future shocks is at “critically low levels” after the battering of the credit crisis, according to a report from the World Economic Forum (WEF), the organiser of the Davos summit of political and business leaders. Its annual risk assessment gives warning that the unprecedented peacetime debts racked up by governments as they fought to restore growth have left the global economy in a precarious position. … Economists say there are many pressing issues to discuss, and highlighted long-term fiscal problems in the developed world as chief among them. “Current fiscal policies are unsustainable in most industrialised economies,” said Daniel Hofmann, chief economist at Zurich Financial Services. “In the absence of far-reaching structural corrections, there will be a high risk of sovereign defaults.”

‘Sovereign defaults’ is another name for ‘nations going belly-up.’ So it seems that the Economic Summit people are saying we can no longer absorb economic shocks.

Source

We know that by the time the middle of the tribulation rolls around the world is economically struggling. The economy is not only impacted when housing and credit goes bust, like it did in 2008, but also when natural disasters happen. The cost is huge for municipalities and nations struggling to recover when floods wipe away whole communities, earthquakes flatten whole sections of the earth, snow covers deeply, infrastructure is broken. Trying to re-build all of that while the events are still ongoing means that many towns, cities, and countries will go broke. They already are. See here, here, here, here…

So by the point mentioned in the Revelation chapter, the antichrist and the false prophet have come up with an idea to rectify the situation by taking control of the world and the economy, since the whole world follows him anyway (Rev 13:3). He institutes a mark, upon which the false prophet causes all, great and small, to take, otherwise they may not buy nor sell. In other words, to accept this mark is to accept that the antichrist is your god, and because of your assent, he will allow you to participate in the global economy.

In order for the global economy to be co-opted by one man, it must have somehow become broken. That break-up is happening now and began in October of 2008 with the first ‘too big to fail’ crashes. Many will argue that the crash began in the late 90’s at the credit and housing bubble, still others argue it began at 1913 when the bankers slyly created the Federal Reserve, but suffice to say, it really ramped up and manifested in September-October 2008.

The Davos people focus on the economy being impacted by “the possibility of water, energy and food shortages, and the rise of the “illegal economy”. It estimated trade in illicit goods, including drugs and guns, was worth $1.3 trillion in 2009, and said organised crime and official corruption kept countries trapped in poverty” and also currency issues. The hidden costs to the economy of continual natural disasters should also be counted. Let’s start in Australia, where biblical level flooding is taking its toll on, well, just about everything.

Source: crops inundated in Rockhampton Australia.

Way back on January 3, the Queensland State Treasurer said then that the cost to infrastructure in that state alone would be 1 billion dollars. The flooding has continued. It has affected mining in a big way. Coking coal costs, a kind of coal used in making steel and which Australia exports 14 million tonnes annually, will be removed from the market completely. Steelmakers will be severely affected, with steel prices potentially surging 30-40%. The floods in Australia have also affected farming. Millions of acres of farmland are destroyed. The farming disaster zone is the size of  Egypt. Just this week, it is reported that food prices are surging. Tomato prices alone rose 20% in one week, and are predicted to go higher next week. Queensland is simply “stunned” as this AP video reports. The Global Post calls Brisbane a “war zone” with destroyed infrastructure on a mass scale. How will they pay for rebuilding all that? The Davos Economic people said we can’t absorb any more economic shock, and I believe that, yet more shocks to the economic system continue.

Australia certainly isn’t the only nation to be staggering under economic woes, unable to absorb more shocks to their system. Brazil is enduring terrible flooding today. The successive blizzards in the entire half of the US have a cost, too. Overtime for plowers. Lost revenue from shut businesses. Losses in the airline industry. In Massachusetts, the snow cleanup costs “won’t be pretty” said the Governor.

Source

Constant disasters have a cost not only emotionally but also economically. We are constantly wiped out and are constantly spending money to get back to the level we were before. At some point the money will run out. That is what the Davos people were saying. There is only so much employment to go around though, given our population, at least in the US. At an Economic Forum in Washington, DC this week, president and CEO of the American Chamber of Commerce Thomas J. Donohue said “we must create 1.2 million jobs a year just to absorb the new entrants into our workforce.” It’s not going to happen. And with successive disasters that hinder any and all growth, it becomes apparent that attempting to do so is a Sisyphean enterprise. Sisyphus was the guy in ancient times according to myth who was condemned by the ‘gods’ to eternally push a rock up a hill, only to have it roll down just as he got to the top.

The only activity that makes sense and has an ultimate fruitful purpose is to accept that you are a sinner, repent and claim Jesus’ forgiveness of them, and become one of His children. Everything you do after that will have an eternal goodness, purpose, and point to it. You can choose to be stuck on earth and continually dig out like Sisyphus,

only to have more snow immediately drop on you. Or more floods. Or another earthquake. If you feel like you can’t take any more shocks, then turn to Jesus and let HIM absorb the shocks for you!
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Posted in bird deaths, end time, end time. prophecy

Some more animal die-offs today

Posted on by elizabethprata

CA: Mystery bird die-off in Sonoma County
“Days after massive bird die-offs in the south, Sonoma County officials Tuesday had a mystery of their own as more than 100 bird carcasses were discovered near Geyserville. California Highway Patrol Officer Jon Sloat said the birds were discovered on to Independence Lane at about 2:30 p.m. Saturday. The California Department of Fish and Game was notified and a local warden responded. He took several of the birds away to be identified and tested by a biologist, Sloat told the San Rosa Press Democrat. The birds all appeared to be the same species – small in size with brown and black feathers.”

UK: More mass animal deaths: Hundreds of fish meet an icy end in a frozen pond in Manchester
“The bizarre spate of mass animal deaths around the world has continued, with hundreds of fish found dead in a Greater Manchester pond. Experts say the freezing weather caused the deaths, which follow reports of scores of birds falling to their deaths in the US, thousands of fish found floating off the Florida coast and 40,000 devil crabs washing up in Kent. The internet has been awash with conspiracy theories over the mysterious mass deaths but there is nothing sinister about the latest discovery as 500 fish – many thought to be large bream and pike – were simply found frozen in an icy pond. Nature lover Stuart Hall spotted the fish in the pond on Chudleigh Close, Stockport, during a walk near his home. ‘I was shocked, it was awful to see all that life just gone,’ he said. ‘It’s like the “birds dropping from the trees” scenario, but on a much larger scale. ‘When you love nature and the countryside it’s heartbreaking. There is no sign of life here whatsoever – not one duck.’ ” more of the article at link.

Alabama: Hundreds of blackbirds found alongside I-65
“Wednesday morning, we got a handful of emails and phone calls from viewers who said there appeared to be a massive bird kill on the side of Interstate 65 in Limestone County. That’s exactly what we found when we got there. Just south of Athens, near mile marker 347, there were around 300 dead blackbirds just off the side of the northbound lanes. The viewers who called us said the birds seemed to just fall from the sky, but we spoke to a wildlife biologist at the scene who says there is an explanation for what happened. “What it appears to us right now is that the birds were feeding alongside the road,” said Mitchell Marks. “The flock flushed, flew out into a vehicle and we’ve got this kill here along the road.”

MO: Dozens of dead birds found in Sullivan
“Dozens of dead birds are discovered near Sullivan, Missouri about an hour southwest of St. Louis. People in and around Sullivan are calling the whole thing a little weird. The scene is just east of Sullivan along the I-44 south service road at Winsel Creek. The Missouri Department of Conservation is looking into the situation. It was discovered on Monday. Experts there and with the World Bird Sanctuary in Valley Park say the dead birds are Starlings. Starlings are among the dead birds that have been found in several other states recently.”

US widespread: First dead birds, then dead fish, now dead crickets
Paralysis virus has disrupted supplies to pet shops across North America
“A virus has killed millions of crickets raised to feed pet reptiles and those kept in zoos. The cricket paralysis virus has disrupted supplies to pet shops across North America as a handful of operators have seen millions of their insects killed. Some operations have gone bankrupt and others have closed indefinitely until they can rid their facilities of the virus. The virus marks the latest in a recent series of mass animal deaths. Blackbirds fell out of the sky on New Year’s Eve in Arkansas. In the days that followed, 2 million fish died in the Chesapeake Bay, 150 tons of red tilapia in Vietnam, 40,000 crabs in Britain and other places across the world. However, biologists say these mass die-offs happen all the time and usually are unrelated.”
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Posted in end time, prophecy

Are you a true believer in Jesus Christ?

Posted on by elizabethprata

From World View Times, “The Most important true/false test you’ll ever take“. They write:

“The late Dr. Francis Schaeffer was one of the greatest defenders of the Christian faith in the 20th Century. He predicted the American church would become inconsequential because of a false concept of spirituality. Self-professing Christians would talk about God and proclaim a belief in God while rejecting the God of the Bible-instead following a man-made New Age god.”

“I believe one of the main reasons we have a crisis in the American church, that Christians poll no differently from the world, and that students are leaving the church in large numbers is that we have an epidemic of false converts within the American church. Many people today call themselves Christians but do not believe in many, if any, of the essential Christian doctrines.”

“My own study of the Old Testament moral law revealed to me that I was not a good person, but it was when I opened the book of 1 John, took a pen, and underlined every sign of a true convert that I realized I did not meet even half of them. To my dismay, I recognized myself as a false convert.”

“First John 5:13 tells why the book of 1 John was written: “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life”.

“Here are 1 John’s ten signs of a true convert (you might want to compare yourself to make sure you’re where you think you are):”

1. A true convert admits he or she is a sinner. He does not believe he can go to heaven by being a “good” person. She understands her own totally depravity. (1 John 1:8)
2. A true convert lives a life of obedience by keeping God’s commandments more often than breaking them. A true convert is not a habitual sinner. There’s a difference between stumbling into sin and jumping in with both feet. While true converts may continue to sin as part of the struggle with our sin nature, the life of a true convert is marked by a desire to pursue holiness and walk in obedience to God’s Word. (1 John 2:3-6, 3:6, 5:2)
3. A true convert does not harbor hate for his brother but displays forgiveness, love, and compassion. (1 John 2:9, 2:11, 3:15, 4:16, 4:20)
4. A true convert does not love the world or the things of the world, nor the world’s system of evil, ruled by Satan. (1 John 2:15)
5. A true convert proclaims Jesus Christ as the Son of God and defends the exclusivity of Christ in a world of multiple religious systems. (1 John 4:15)
6. A true convert hopes and longs for the return of the Lord. (1 John 3:2-3)
7. A true convert desires to serve and help other Christians. (1 John 3:17, 3:14)
8. A true convert loves being with other believers and hearing the Word taught. (1 John 5:1)
9. A true convert rejects false teaching. (1 John 2:22-23)
10. A true convert remains in the truth and perseveres in the faith. (1 John 2:24)

This article is from Brannon’s newest book, Christian Worldview For Students Vol. II: Your Worldview Notes For Going To College Without Going Astray.

Check yourself, and either way, don’t forget to praise the Holy Spirit for his ministry to you!
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