Category: end time

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!
http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Posted in end time, end time. prophecy, hezbollah, lebanon, psalm 83

Hezbollah plans to bring down Lebanese government; Israel on war standby

Posted on by elizabethprata
UPDATE: 11 Ministers have indeed resigned, at the moment the Prime Minister Hariri was meeting with Obama, as planned. Subsequently, the Lebanese goverment has collapsed.

A situation in Lebanon ahead of Obama’s meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri seems to be exploding now. Hezbollah and other factions are planning to bring down the Lebanese Government prior to the 10.30AM meeting between Hariri and Obama at the Oval Office through an action of making mass resignations. Saad Hariri’s father was Lebanon’s immediate former premier (Rafiq Hariri) and was assassinated in 2005.

Talks have been negotiated by proxy these last couple of days. They have been insisting that the UN probe into the assassination of former premier Rafiq Hariri. It has been a long-running standoff combined with delays on that request with the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon that seemed to collapse last night. The Saudis arrived on the scene carrying messages from Obama and Clinton. The Syrians arrived on the scene carrying messages from themselves and Iran. Both sides sat around a table and a negotiated settlement collapsed last night. Hezbollah is reporting the failure of talks is due to Hillary Clinton and the Obama administration.

Al jazeera reports, “Syria and Saudi Arabia have failed to broker an agreement aimed at easing political tensions in Lebanon over the international investigation into the assassination of Rafiq al-Hariri, a former prime minister. The efforts by the two regional powers, who have previously backed rival blocs in Lebanon, had been seen as the best chance of avoiding unrest if, as expected, the UN-backed tribunal into the killing indicts members of the Shia Muslim Hezbollah movement. Hezbollah, which has rejected allegations it was involved in the suicide bombing on the Beirut seafront in 2005 that killed Hariri and 22 others, blamed “American intervention and the inability of the other side to overcome American pressure” for the failure to reach a compromise. When asked why the talks collapsed, Mohammed Fneish, a Hezbollah cabinet minister, said: “Ask Mrs Clinton,” referring to the US secretary of state.”

Haaretz is reporting: “Health Minister Mohamad Jawad Khalifeh, whose Amal party is allied with Hezbollah, said 11 ministers would tender their resignations Wednesday afternoon unless the cabinet convenes to discuss” the assassination probe, but truly, while the request is likely genuine, Hezbollah/Iran will use any reason to poke a finger in the eye of the USA. Obama plans to meet Prime Minister Hariri this morning and  Hezbollah hopes to mess with this  by acting ahead of that, thereby meaning that when Hariri and Obama meet, the Lebanese government will have collapsed, and Hariri will have already been deposed from his post as Prime Minister and will carry no weight.

In addition, it seems that Iran is pushing Hezbollah to take over Beirut and take control of Lebanon. Hezbollah is a Shia political party based in Lebanon widely believed to be a terrorist arm of Iran. US Mediterranean forces are on standby to intervene with Marine deployments to prevent a Hezbollah/Iranian coup (The Enterprise Group is in the Med- see below). Israel has gone on to a war footing, Israel will not sit still for a Hzbollah-controlled Lebanon. France has moved military assets into the area too. Right now it is looking like Hezbollah and Iran will make a power play for Lebanon rather than form a new government democratically. If as expected, this likely creates a civil war situation in Lebanon, and Hariri will ask for US military support.

Militarily, the situation is also fluid and explosive. I mentioned above that Israel has gone to a war footing, PressTV reports: “Israel has deployed a naval vessel dangerously close to the Lebanese coast, prompting Beirut to put the Armed Forces on high alert. The development followed yet another Israeli violation of Lebanon’s airspace, which was reported by the Lebanese Army.”

Washington Post reports, “Another official allied to Hezbollah confirmed the resignation plan, which calls for Hezbollah and its allies to step down along with one more minister who would tip the balance and force the government to fall. To bring down the government, Hezbollah needs the backing of more than a third of the ministers. Hezbollah and its allies have 10 ministers in the 30-member Cabinet, and an official close to Hezbollah said an 11th minister close to President Michel Suleiman would also submit his resignation. Violence has been a major concern as tensions rise in Lebanon, where Shiites, Sunnis and Christians each make up about a third of the country’s four million people. In 2008, sectarian clashes killed 81 people and nearly plunged Lebanon into another civil war.”

Please stay tuned to this dangerous situation as events unfold this morning. The lineup is as follows: Lebanese army and anti-Hezbollah Lebanese, France, USA, Israel v. Hezbollah, Iran, and Syria. Link to Psalm 83 here. Isaiah 17:1 says that Damascus will be destroyed, it will become a ruinous heap, never to rise again.
http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Posted in australia floods, end of days, end time, end time. prophecy, julia gillard, pre-tribulation rapture

Is there a connection between Australia electing an atheist PM and their current woes?

Posted on by elizabethprata

Brisbane suburbs, Australia’s third largest city, evacuated!
“Cars and pedestrians were swept away last night when a ‘super rainstorm’ sent water raging through the streets of Toowoomba, west of Brisbane. At least eight people were killed and 72 were missing following the flash floods. Anna Bligh, Queensland’s state premier, said: ‘This has been a night of extraordinary events…. Yesterday’s events brought the overall death toll in Queensland since the two-week-old flood crisis started to 18. Entire towns have been swamped, more than 200,000 people affected, and coal and farming industries virtually shut down. Brisbane Mayor Campbell Newman said some 6,500 homes, businesses and properties would be flooded within the city’s borders by Thursday. … Gary McGowan, a businessman who lives and works in a western suburb of the city, said: ‘It’s taking on new proportions and getting worse by the minute.’

The Wivenhoe Dam’s ability to provide expansive flood protection to the city of Brisbane and surrounding districts was failing today. It is reported that the dam holding back water that protects Brisbane is at 190% of capacity (200% being the limit) and that even with daily water releases of 409,000 megaliters, it is now announced that “the dam could no longer protect the Queensland capital.” Brisbane’s power is out, the flood is predicted to be the worst in 118 years, and the entire city is now bracing.

An anonymous commenter on yesterday’s post regarding the sudden flooding at Toowoomba, shared the following: “Toowoomba is on a mountain; on the Great Dividing Range (a mountain range that extends from Queensland to Victoria). If you can be flooded up there, where are you safe? (what a challenge to our pride, when we cannot rely on common sense, our gold bars or our infrastructure to save us from the unexpected). The authorities weren’t prepared for this because it happened so fast, with rain causing flash floods in Toowoomba’s streets then raging down the valley beneath, demolishing everything in its path. Ipswich and Brisbane are bracing for the highest flooding since 1974.”

The commenter continued: “Brisbane suburbs are being evacuated, and the flood isn’t expected to peak there for two more days. It’s still raining. After ten years of drought, which devastated major farm production, we are now enduring floods that have washed away crops and good farm soil over vast areas. This means farmers losing incomes yet again, and food prices will soar Australia wide. With the amount of topsoil being washed away it will take a long, long time to recover. Queensland’s mines are also underwater. This will affect exports. Unprecedented quantities of rain water are being washed into the sea. The disaster isn’t over by a long shot.”

“Things are changing so fast, the Queensland Premier is holding press briefings every 2 hours. The rain is extending into New South Wales, with residents of several coastal towns warned to seek higher ground. In developed countries like Australia, we cannot imagine famine or other devastation even when we have natural disasters. While we are accustomed to major bush fires and droughts followed by major floods, we have enjoyed efficient primary production and transport systems so we can rely on fresh food supplies from long distances away. Not any more. Roads are destroyed. Rail lines are gone. Nobody knows the extent of infrastructure damage but we expect it to be severe. World wide, I am watching the birth pangs, especially the destruction of food security. Fires, floods, earthquakes, volcanoes, locusts… Truly we need to rely on the LORD because we cannot rely on ourselves anymore. Please pray for Australia and for everywhere else on the planet as we realise how little control we really have over anything. Even so, as Jesus said, it’s time to look up!”

From Toowoomba to Brisbane it is 78 miles.

Now for the biblical exhortation about these events. There are consequences for the things we do. Most people accept that. If you speed on the roads, you get a ticket (or are in an accident). If you are late to work every day you will get fired. If you kill someone, you go to jail. If you don’t study, you fail the class. On the earth, our choices to take certain actions in employment, legally, educationally, and morally,  have outcomes. But people seem to believe that taking spiritual actions have no consequences. People think that they can die in their sins and that they will go to heaven anyway. They think they can deny God but expect Him to be a friend when you knock on heaven’s door. It doesn’t work like that.

I’ve been looking at the ruin Australia is becoming and I wonder what is going on there, spiritually. They have had devastating droughts, biblical plagues of locusts, and now floods that are wrecking everything from industry to infrastructure farming to lives. When I connect the world events to the bible I do it this way: I look at the record of His words and actions (bible) and I see what He has done in the past. Then I look and see what He has promised to do in the future. I draw a mental line and that becomes my benchmark.

In the past, God has always judged for atheism: “For the LORD brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land: “There is no truth or mercy, Or knowledge of God in the land.” (Hosea 4:1)

In the past and in the future, He judges for worshiping false idols: “The names of the idolatrous priests with the pagan priests— Those who worship the host of heaven on the housetops; [astrology/Queen of Heaven worship] Those who worship and swear oaths by the LORD, But who also swear by Milcom…” (Zephaniah 4b-5b). This worship on the house-tops individualized the public idolatry; it was a rebellion against God, family by family; a sort of family-prayer of idolatry.

He judges for faithlessness: “Their heart is faithless; Now they must bear their guilt The LORD will break down their altars And destroy their sacred pillars. Surely now they will say, “We have no king, For we do not revere the LORD.” (Hosea 10:2).

Note that the LORD was judging a nation for their faithlessness, paganism, and apostasy. Individuals are judged for rejecting God but when that rejection becomes institutionalized as a national governmental decision or becomes so widespread it is effectively an entire nation’s outlook, it is another matter entirely. He warns, then He judges. Always.

Australia faced a choice in August 2010. A federal election was held on Saturday, 21 August 2010 for members of the 43rd Parliament of Australia. The incumbent centre-left Australian Labor Party led by Prime Minister Julia Gillard defeated the opposition centre-right Liberal/National Coalition led by Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, after Labor formed a minority government with the support of an Australian Greens MP and three independent MPs. They chose Gillard. Gillard is an avowed atheist. When she was sworn in to her office, she refused to place her hand on the bible or utter any oath to God. [Left, Atheist’s symbol]  This news excerpt is from last July 2010:

“In endorsing Tony Abbott as his preferred PM, Pastor Nalliah wrote on his website last week: ”Ms Gillard is anti-God, pro-abortion, has no Christian moral values and the list goes on. On the other hand Mr Tony Abbott is openly Christian, pro-life and has very good moral values.”

Australia chose a Prime Minister but they also chose someone to lead the nation who is the embodiment of God-rejection. They chose to reject God as a state and as a nation. If the electors thought that selecting an atheist over a God-fearing man has no effect, they were wrong. This choice has consequences.

This Brisbane Times article asked: “Will atheism spell trouble for Gillard?” Yes. But it spells trouble for the nation, too.

“Ever since Ms Gillard declined to put her hand on the Bible when she was sworn in as PM, Australia’s religious and spiritual folk of all persuasions have been praying for, pondering the nature of and, at least in one case, damning her soul. But if Ms Gillard is damned, she will have plenty of company. In the 2006 census, one in five people said they had no religion.

Ms Gillard accepted an invitation from “Melbourne witch and high priestess Lizzy Rose into their magic circle to speak about ”her intentions of where she is taking the country”. Ms Rose says her divinations ”will prove to us whether Julia is going to govern through ego or through her heart space”. Did you know that Wicca is one of the fastest growing religions in Australia?[Left, Wicca pentacle]

Do they not think all this will have a consequence? Lawlessness always has a consequence. You kill someone, you go to jail. Well, paganism, divination, witchcraft, atheism and faithlessness are also lawlessness. God, being the Highest Judge, and Jesus, being given the authority to Judge at God’s right hand, will render a verdict! Right now He is warning us in the world, and it seems He is pointedly warning the residents of Australia. Soon He will come to judge the whole world. As devastating as these droughts, locusts, and floods in Oz are, they are a picnic compared to what is coming.

Choices have consequences. Pray that yours will be to choose Jesus! He will forgive you of your law-breaking. He will clean you from the taint of sin. He will enfold you into His kingdom as a full citizen, Priest, and King! He is waiting. He is speaking. Please listen.
http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Posted in end of days, end time, hole punch cloud, pre-tribulation rapture, prophecy, signs in the sky

Signs in the sky: triple hole punch clouds in SC

Posted on by elizabethprata

Spaceweather “TRIPLE PUNCH HOLE CLOUDS: “I’ve lived by the sea for many years, but never seen anything like this,” reports Wesley Tyler of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. “On Friday, Jan. 7th, there were three punch hole clouds in the same place.” He grabbed his camera and recorded the phenomenon:

In Oct. 2009, a really REALLY weird cloud appeared over Moscow, and the scientific response was that it was a hole punch cloud. At that time, I posted NASA’s explanation of what hole punch clouds are and how they form, leaving it up to the reader as to whether the Moscow cloud was indeed a hole punch or not. I’ll post the NASA explanation of hole punch clouds again, and again leave it up to you as to discerning the odds of the rare hole punch cloud appearing at all, never mind in triplicate…

NASA: “What could create a huge hole in the clouds? Such a hole, likely hundreds of meters across, was photographed last month from a driveway near Mobile, Alabama, USA. Very unusual to see, hole-punch clouds like this are still the topic of meteorological speculation. A leading hypothesis holds that the hole-punch cloud is caused by falling ice-crystals. The ice-crystals could originate in a higher cloud or be facilitated by a passing airplane exhaust. If the air has just the right temperature and moisture content, the falling crystals will absorb water from the air and grow. For this to happen, the water must be so cold that all it needs is a surface to freeze on. The moisture lost from the air increases the evaporation rate from the cloud water droplets so they dissipate to form the hole. The now heavier ice crystals continue to fall and form the more tenuous wispy cloud-like virga seen inside and just below the hole. Water and ice from the virga evaporates before they reach the ground.”

One of the end time signs are: “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea.” (Luke 21:25)

http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Posted in australia, end of days, end time, end time. prophecy, inland tsunami, pre-tribulation rapture

The terrible flooding in Oz continues, PM calls it "an inland tsunami"

Posted on by elizabethprata

Goodness, the language in the usually staid news outlet BBC News is breathless and aghast!

“A massive deluge overwhelmed Toowoomba, a city west of the state capital Brisbane, without warning. Cars were swept away by the torrent of water. State Premier Anna Bligh called the flash floods Queensland’s “darkest hour” since the flood crisis began. “The event that started in Toowoomba can only be described as a complete freak of nature, an extraordinary deluge that almost came out of nowhere,” the Australian Broadcasting Corporation quoted her as saying. “What we have here in Queensland tonight is a very grim and desperate situation.”

The following video is from Australian Broadcasting:

Australia’s third-biggest city under threat from deadly flooding and inland tsunami.
“Australia’s third-largest city is under threat and the nation is bracing for a heartbreaking death toll after an unprecedented flood crisis delivered its most savage blow yet: an “inland instant tsunami” that swept away everything in its path, claiming at least four lives.”

Pray for Australia!

http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Posted in end of days, end time, pre-tribulation rapture, prophecy

Another mass bird death: this time in Karacabey Turkey

Posted on by elizabethprata

In Turkey mass killing birds [google translated from Russian]
“In Turkey, there was a case of an unexplained mass deaths of birds. Dead starlings found residents of the county Karacabey in Bursa province. Promptly reported the incident to local authorities launched an investigation of the incident. Experts are currently conducting the necessary tests. However, while they failed to establish the cause of death of starlings.”

The UK Telegraph grapples with the facts of these worldwide events and explores the spiritual side of it. They do so incorrectly, but still, attempts to reasonably explore whether these mass bird and fish and animal deaths really harbinger the end of days is always a worthy discussion-.

Aflockalypse now: on a wing and a prayer
Were sinister wildlife deaths around the globe foretold in the Bible, asks Philip Sherwell – or just foul play?
But last week, it found itself at the centre of a frenzy of doomsday prophecies and conspiracy theories after some 5,000 dead blackbirds — roughly one for each resident – rained down from the night skies on New Year’s Eve. That was strange enough. But mass deaths of thousands of birds and millions of fish were also reported elsewhere in Arkansas, in nearby states, and finally worldwide, from Scandinavia to the South Pacific. As the world wondered whether celestial or terrestrial factors were at play, the commuter town of Beebe, 35 miles north-east of the state capital, Little Rock, was struggling to recover from its “aflockalypse”. For those outside at about 11pm on New Year’s Eve, it proved a terrifying experience as dead and dying creatures crashed down on to roofs, roads and gardens. The carnage looked even grimmer in daylight…. For the apocalyptically inclined, the answer was obvious. Some Christian fundamentalists claimed the end was nigh, finding biblical justification in Hosea 4:1-3, which reads: “Because of this the land dries up, and all who live in it waste away; the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea are swept away.” That the birds fell from the sky in the southern Bible Belt, where Old Testament plagues of frogs and locusts are often viewed as part of a creationist account of history, only fuelled such interpretations.”

The article ends with the usual conclusions- that mass animal die-offs happen all the time, that because of the instant nature of our information delivery we are just hearing about it more, and the birds got scared and flew into things. However, as the die-offs continue, that explanation will less and less pass the straight-face test, and people will search for an answer. As always, the answer is JESUS. He loves you, He wants none to perish, He knows everything that is in your heart, and loves you anyway. “Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” (Matthew 6:29-31). What comfort!

http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Posted in end of days, end time, loughner, pre-tribulation rapture, prophecy

Alleged Tucson shooter, Loughner, may have been a devil worshiper

Posted on by elizabethprata

Sad news regarding alleged Tuscon shooter Jared Loughner. Here is an excerpt from the NY Daily News:

Source

“A sinister shrine reveals a chilling occult dimension in the mind of the deranged gunman accused of shooting a member of Congress and 19 others. Hidden within a camouflage tent behind Jared Lee Loughner’s home sits an alarming altar with a skull sitting atop a pot filled with shriveled oranges. A row of ceremonial candles and a bag of potting soil lay nearby, photos reveal. Experts on Sunday said the elements are featured in the ceremonies of a number of occult groups. Investigators have focused on Loughner’s online anti-government ramblings as the chief motivation for the shooting Saturday of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.). The discovery of the shrine raises the possibility that Loughner, 22, may have been driven by other forces.”

When the shooting began, people immediately blamed Sarah Palin’s web page which had political targets on it. Then people blamed liberals, then they blamed conservatives, the tea party, and the guns. As a matter of fact, there is a gun control bill in Congress today, already. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY readies gun control bill.

People want to make sense of the world, and one way to make sense of it is to place blame, personalize, and then process it through the filter of our own prejudice, experience, and emotion. But the one place to lay blame is never spoken of: sin and satan who is the father of it. His influence on the world is more dramatic than people give him ‘credit’ for. Satan perverts the Scripture, he opposes God’s work. He hinders the gospel. He works lying wonders. And he roams up and down upon the earth looking for someone to devour.

He is invisible, so it is natural for unbelievers to dismiss him and his effect on the world. It is they who are under his sway, though. He who is not for Jesus is against Jesus (Luke 11:23) and are therefore one of the devil’s children. (1 John 5:19)

But Jesus came to us to break that bondage. The Son of God came to destroy these works of the Devil. (1 John 3:8). Praise Him for loving us, and giving us the ministry of the indwelling Holy Spirit to resist the devil and his influence. If you submit to God and resist the devil he will flee from you! (James 4:7; Eph 6:13; 1Peter 5:9).

God knows the devil and his angels and He also knows what we are capable of. So God told us “not to be ignorant of the schemes, or the plans, or the stratagems, or the tricks of Satan.” (2 Cor 2:11). In his sermon, “Satan: How Does He Operate?” John MacArthur wrote, “It’s amazing that even those who claim to worship Satan are really not worshiping the Satan that exists, but a manufactured Satan that Satan himself uses to trap men. He is a deceiver.” God told us to repent and receive the Spirit, that being the best way to resist the devil and his schemes. He also told us not to practice divination, soothsaying, witchcraft, or to worship false gods and idols. All these are an invitation for the deceiver to enter the heart and mind and eventually drag a person down to bottomless depths of madness. By the way, I HIGHLY recommend the MacArthur sermon series on satan. If, as Paul said, we should not be ignorant, then please take some time to educate yourself or to refresh your knowledge of satan and his schemes. The link above is a good place to start

I am upset that mass shootings like this happen in the world and in our nation. I am saddened that an aunt can’t even safely take her niece to a political function without the child being killed for it. I am aghast at the amount of violence and evil in the world. I hope Mr Loughner gets justice, and swiftly. But I’m also compassionate over him. He is an example of what the devil can do to men’s hearts – and minds. The perversion of thoughts in that young man’s head were twisted beyond belief.

If you are going to blame someone, blame satan, and then accept God. God is pure, holy, loving, and willing to receive sinners unto Himself. Come home to Jesus, and dwell safely in HIS arms.

http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Posted in end of days, end time, end time. prophecy, pre-tribulation rapture

Two of the animal kills sites had "a strange cloud" present

Posted on by elizabethprata

This last week I’ve been awestruck at the amount of spiritually spooky events happening. The dead birds falling from the sky and the fish washing up on beaches all over the world are definitely freaky. I mused long and hard over the plight of mothers in Beebe Arkansas who saw the birds littering their bushes, their streets, and their roads and then were terrified when hazmat vans rolled up and fully suited men walked up and down the street picking up the birds. What must have gone through their minds? Did they wonder, ‘Should I get my children and evacuate?’ ‘Are they a hazard to my health?’ ‘What is happening?’

Thailand bird-kill in orchard

I mused further on the description of the dead doves in Faenza Italy: “There are certainly many hundreds, probably thousands, the collared dove who are dying at this moment in Faenza. They are in heaps in the flower beds, crushed by machinery in the streets, horribly hung from trees like Christmas balls. Over all a mystery. Inside the beak, in some animals, the staining was of a strange blue,” and thought to myself, gracious sakes alive! That is heart-breaking! I’ve written before about the mental state of people in attempting to grapple with events that are completely outside the realm of our experience and outside our ability to understand. As faith wavers, as love grows cold, the brakes on our sinful nature will be unleashed and people will increasingly snap.

Thailand bird kill in Orchard

I drove to church this morning with these matters on my mind. I mused on Ezekiel and Revelation on the LORD’S warning of how sins pile up. I pondered the Hosea and Zephaniah scriptures that show the LORD’S work in judging and sweeping the land of birds and fish. And as I parked and walked to the side door, this greeted me:

I had actually passed it and when I went into the Sunday School room, my friend said “Did you see the dead bird by the door?” I rushed out and saw the little thing, toes up, and went “awww”. Then I went “Oh My Goodness!”

Now most likely this juvenile hawk simply flew into the glass breezeway and fell down dead. But in thinking of the events far away, they were brought home to me in vivid detail. If I was moved, then freaked, by one dead bird, how must have the people of Beebe Arkansas felt when upwards of 8000 fell on them?? How must the residents of Faenza have felt when thousands of dead doves fall stiffly to the ground? It IS freaky, moving, disconcerting, and upsetting to see dead animals, especially vulnerable ones like baby hawks or doves.

In researching these things today, there are two comments that pricked up my ears. One was my already-posted comment from the Russian Wildlife expert discussing the 12,000 antelope kill. He said that there had been an earlier saiga antelope kill in another district, and there, “a strange white cloud” had been seen.

In the Beebe Arkansas 5,000 bird kill, the one that burst this entire issue onto the national and global consciousness, it is now being reported that weather radar captured a “strange cloud” that was NOT precipitation nor was it hail. The “cloud” did not move, as normal clouds do. Weather radar experts simply do not know what the cloud was. Here is the news spot about it:

Radar spots strange cloud where birds died 

In the bible, God comes in a cloud, and a cloud symbolizes the Spirit. Yahweh’s Presence and Glory: “The metaphoric and symbolic uses of clouds are many, and furnish some of the most powerful figures of Scripture. In the Old Testament, Yahweh’s presence is made manifest and His glory shown forth in a cloud. The cloud is usually spoken of as bright and shining, and it could not be fathomed by man: “Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, so that no prayer can pass through” (Lam 3:44). Yahweh Himself was present in the cloud (Ex 19:9; 24:16; 34:5) and His glory filled the places where the cloud was (Ex 16:10; 40:38; Nu 10:34); “The cloud filled the house of Yahweh” (1 Ki 8:10). In the New Testament we often have “the Son of man coming on” or “with clouds” (Mt 24:30; 26:64; Mk 13:26; 14:62; Lk 21:27) and received up by clouds (Acts 1:9). The glory of the second coming is indicated in Rev 1:7 for “he cometh with the clouds” and “we that are alive …. shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord” and dwell with Him (1 Thess 4:17). 2. Pillar of Cloud: The pillar of cloud was a symbol of God’s guidance and presence to the children of Israel in their journeys to the promised land. The Lord appeared in a pillar of cloud and forsook them not (Neh 9:19). They followed the guidance of this cloud (Ex 40:36; Ps 78:14).” There are more definitions of how clouds are used actually and symbolically at the link above.

Just sayin’.

Pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ, and pray for our neighbors who do not know Christ as these events continue to unfold.

http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Posted in end of days, end time, pre-tribulation rapture, prophecy

The end time is not a downer!

Posted on by elizabethprata

Most people think the end of days is a downer. It’s not. The last days assuredly are a downer for non-believers, and trust me, true Christians mourn over the wasted spiritual opportunity and the massive loss of lives that are to come. As each day grows closer to the time when our Savior redeems us and leaves the rest to their fate, it gets easier to mourn over what will happen to the millions and even billions of non-believers that have closed their hearts to Jesus.

But amongst ourselves, we see Him coming, and we hear His footsteps. We listen for the trumpet. And as we do, we see His work in the world. God’s work is always good!

Even as the doves rain down on Faenza, and blackbirds on Beebe, Arkansas, and all the other places the birds have been falling dead down to the ground, it is good. Even as miles and miles of fish go belly-up in China, South Carolina, New Zealand, it is good. How can it be good, you ask?

Because I see it this way: every end time sign Jesus sends is a marker of His constancy of justice. He judges sin. He always has, He always will. I take enormous comfort in His constancy and His eternal attribute of Judge.

With every dead bird that falls, with every fish that dies, I see His sovereign control over all of creation. He made the world, He cursed the world, He will judge the world, and in the end, He will restore the world! He is in control, because He is the Maker, the Creator, the King!

With every sign that sparks fear or awe of consternation, I take comfort in His patience. That He doesn’t judge us now, this instant, is a wonderful testament to His love. With each indicator of His increasing wrath, I take joy that His promises will be fulfilled. He warns, He shakes us out of our apathy, but His long-suffering patience is to be praised!

The end time is the final punctuation mark that began in Genesis 1. It is the fulfillment of all that He has shown Himself to us as, and is the finalization of all that He allows us to be. It is the culmination of all the ages, the point toward which we have been longing ever since the Fall. Judgment Day is supreme in His Plan, with the exception of the death of Jesus on the cross, the moment that allows the rest to occur.

These end times are a magnificent display of the constancy of His justice, His continual sovereignty over creation, the comfort of His patience, the joy in fulfilled promises, and the final punctuation on our hearts as the Redeemed. How can these days NOT be good?

http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Posted in animal deaths, dead birds, end of days, end time, fish kill, pre-tribulation rapture, prophecy

More animal deaths: fish in China, saiga antelope in Kazakhstan

Posted on by elizabethprata

BBC News reports: Mystery over mass antelope deaths in Kazakhstan
A mystery disease has killed more than 12,000 saiga antelope in Kazakhstan. Conservationists are warning that the mass deaths could spell disaster for the saiga, which is already an endangered species. The figure could account for up to a quarter of the global population of the species. “No one can figure out what’s happened. We see dead animals concentrated in a certain area.” A lung disease may be to blame. “The government is baffled.” It is noted in the video that this phenomenon happened in another district, “where a strange white fog was seen.”

In China yesterday, wholesale death on a large scale. Here is news, Google translated from Chinese: “Jiaxing City, about 2.5 millions kg of fish aquatic products wholesale death”
“The day before yesterday morning, is located in Jiaxing Economic Development Zone, integrated logistics park’s aquatic products wholesale market, almost all of the fishmongers have suffered heavy losses – they just wholesale to the number of sudden mass mortality of fish. Even more surprising is that the same group of fish, the river side of the river with the market almost all the deaths raised deposit, with the water the fish are kept safe and sound support.” The translation seems to be saying that all the fish in the fishmongers’ tanks died.  Apparently, as fishmongers arrived to their stalls, they saw that all the fish were dead. “said the fish market in the large-scale emergence of unnatural death. Police rushed to the aquaculture market.” Further, “After the accident, the environmental protection department of Jiaxing City staff quickly rushed to the scene, taking the water samples for testing, yesterday, the reporter learned that, after testing, the environmental protection department did not find water contamination.”

There are also unconfirmed reports of sparrows dead in a Chinese village too, but the video is in Chinese and I can’t translate that.

Here is a Google Map of the animal deaths. I can’t vouch for its complete accuracy, but I believe it does show a close-enough picture of what is going on. When you see the map, you’ll know.

http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js