1968: The crew of Apollo 8 delivers a live, televised Christmas Eve broadcast after becoming the first humans to orbit another space body.
http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1
That is so beautiful!
Forty years later:
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Lord, come soon! He is so worthy, the undivided Trinity remains forever, may His name be exalted.
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Today is the day that our Savior was born and lived a life incarnate. How do I even think of the Immeasurable and Infinite God, pouring Himself into a human flesh with all its limitations, and living for three decades on this earth? I can’t, it defies the imagination. Even more so, His sacrifice of becoming flesh so He could die for our sins is for all time. He will never go back to being Spirit, but is the once for all sacrifice (Heb 10:10) and will remain glorified flesh forever. (Luke 24:36-43).
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| Epiphany, by Giotto, circa 1320 |
In His compassion, He seeks you, He draws you, He enlightens your depraved mind (Rom 10:20; John 6:44; Eph 1:18). We are too craven to seek Him on our own (Is 64:6), our hearts are too darkened (Jer 17:9) so instead He draws us to Him. This is another miracle. He seeks us fervently, and in His love, grace, and mercy, He sends the Holy Spirit to draw us to Him.
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| And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 2 Peter 1:19 |
I look back over my life and I clearly see the stepping stones of His drawing me to Him. The first time I really heard the Gospel was when my Aunt shared with me at age ten. She also told me that there would be a day when Jesus returned for His children and the dead will rise from their graves and the living would be caught away into the air, to be with Him always. I puzzled over the physics of that, spiritually drawn to its inherent truth but unable to understand it cognitively. I liked the story, though and I kept it in my heart.
All through my early adulthood, I attended church at times on Christmas Day, because that’s what you did. The Christmas season held opposing emotions for me, at one side I enjoyed the Christmas Carol “O Come All Ye Faithful”, singing it with gusto. At the other hand, I was insulted by things religious. My freshman Philosophy class at State University was held in a room containing a crucifix on the wall. I hated the crucifix. I stared at it and cursed it, wanting to alert the ACLU that there were state funds being spent in a place that had religion in it. Yet for Christmas break I’d happily drive home, go to church, and sing ‘O Come All Ye Faithful, Come let us adore Him’. Who did I think I was singing about?
I can see so well the work the Spirit did to keep my heart open to His truth, until the day when eventually my salvation met up with the destiny God had known about since the foundation of the world.
He pursues you, too. But here’s the thing: He doesn’t beg and He doesn’t pursue you forever. He stands at the door and knocks (Luke 12:36; Rev 3:20). He doesn’t burst in and He doesn’t capture you. He is polite. He knocks. But He will not strive with man’s spirit forever. (Genesis 6:3). At some point, the point at which He knows that you will not answer the knock, He graciously gives you your heart’s desire: to be left alone in your sin. (Rom 1:24; Rom 1:26; Rom 1:28; Acts 19:9; John 12:40). He withdraws His spirit and gives you over to your sin.
Gen 6:3 says “Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years” and the writer of the Geneva Study Bible explains: “Because man could not by won by God’s leniency and patience by which he tried to win him, he would no longer withhold his vengeance.” Do not be so vain as to think He will chase you forever, pleading with you and begging you to open the door. He won’t.
Do NOT be casual about your salvation! Do not attend church today while ignoring the knocking at your heart of hearts by the Holy Spirit. Do not lead a blessing at Christmas dinner without hearing the Spirit’s call to your salvation. Do not commune in love with family members without acknowledging it was Jesus who gave you the family and He asks you to become part of His. He will not strive with you forever. Today is a perfect day to settle your sin-debt to Him. All you have to do is acknowledge your sins and ask Him to forgive them, and in so doing you acknowledge that He is the Sinless Savior who alone has the power to answer your prayer.
What a merry Christmas it would be for you to allow the Spirit’s pursuit to catch up with you and to fold you into Glory with millions of others who opened the door to His offer of salvation.
Peace be with you.
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On October 15, 2010 I posted a story about an incredible earthquake swarm in Arkansas that had begun in late September. It was a 4.0 quake that caused the story to become of national interest. One news excerpt I posted reported: “Faulkner County residents had a shaky start to their Monday morning as a 4.0-magnitude earthquake rattled throughout the county. The quake, which occurred at 8:33 a.m. and was centered two miles southeast of Guy, was just one of 48 earthquakes reported since Wednesday afternoon. According to Shelia Maxwell with the Faulkner County Office of Emergency Management, the U.S. Geological Survey is looking into the recent earthquake activity in the area. “We’re having them (earthquakes) in places we’ve never had them before,” Maxwell said. “The USGS is looking into why we’re having them and why there have been so many.”
Jesus said that there would be earthquakes in diverse places. To me that means places that do not usually experience earthquakes will have them, and at not only the surface location but the depth. Deep-focus quakes are quakes aren’t supposed to happen, but they do, occurring in the very deepest parts of the earth. Last July, a series of quakes occurred in the Philippines which were 400+ feet deep that scientifically were not supposed to be able to occur. Deep-focus quakes are rare, just as rare as ongoing quake swarms in Arkansas. At one point during the Arkansas swarm, Oklahoma radio jockeys even joked that though they had experienced one strong quake (for them) at a 4.8 magnitude on the Richter scale, they felt left out because neighboring Arkansas was getting all the attention. So, earthquakes in diverse places.
Since last September, the Arkansas tremors have never stopped. The earthquakes have continually shaken, and shaken, and shaken the ground and have never ceased rattling nerves for a second. CNN reports today, “Central Arkansas growing weary of relentless tremors.”
“More than 500 measurable earthquakes have been reported in central Arkansas since September 20, ranging in magnitude from a barely noticeable 1.8 to a very noticeable 4.0 (recorded on October 11), according to the U.S. Geological Survey.Geologists can’t say whether they’ll stop anytime soon. … Meanwhile, Sam Higdon, the mayor of Guy, says the quakes’ novelty is worn out. “I think everyone just kind of figures maybe it’ll just go away,” he said. “And that’s what we’re all hoping.”
The New Madrid Seismic Zone is in the northeast corner of Arkansas and was home to one of the most devastating earthquakes to occur in the continental US, back in 1811-12. Faulkner County’s town of Guy Arkansas is 200 miles away from the New Madrid seismic zone, though the area is historically seismically active in a minimal way. In reviewing the Arkansas Geological Survey spreadsheet on Arkansas seismicity for 2009, Arkansas statewide had 39 measurable earthquakes last year. Eight were in Faulkner county. This year, over 500 occurred in central Arkansas alone.
The disciples asked Jesus when He will come back. “And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. “For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many. “You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.” (Mt 24:4-8) “But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (Luke 21:28).
The Arkansas ongoing quake swarm is another warning to the lost and dying world that He is about to return, in wrath and judgment. But for the believers who are saved and eternal, we know that His sooner arrival for us in the air is even closer. No one needs to perish, all can come to the glory of God even though we fall short. How? By recognizing our sins, that we do sin and each and every sin is an affront to God and creates an incredible rift between us humans and Him Who made us to have a relationship with. Is it a coincidence that just at the time Jesus said there would be famine and wars and earthquakes and signs from heaven that we are experiencing more famine and wars and earthquakes and signs from heaven than ever before? That we are experiencing things that science has no clue as to explain? That the world is in perplexity with no rational explanation yet there are historical events and statistical anomalies occurring all over the place? Daily?
Well, it is not a coincidence. One cannot separate our behavior and our rebellion from God’s promises of warning, then judgment. It is happening: the warnings are continuing this long because of His mercy and His love for us, that none should perish. But eventually many will perish because they refused to heed the signs. Don’t let that be you. Ask Him to forgive your sins and accept that He is your Sovereign King whose glory is immeasurable and who is worthy to be served. His grace abounds and I pray that you will see His light and become one of His lights in the world … before it is too late.
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There are many aspects to the Lord’s personality, aspects we have been given through His grace to explore for all eternity. We will never learn all there is to learn about Him, because He is infinite, but the glory will be in the journey, drawing ever closer to Him.
The Christmas season rightly focuses attention to Him as savior, the babe born of a virgin and who lived a sinless life, died as the sacrifice to satisfy God’s Holy righteousness and fulfill the sin-debt that must be paid. We usually focus on Him as Savior, friend, father, and occasionally as judge. But there is another aspect to Him that I would like to explore today: Priest.
David refers to the coming Messiah as a priest on the order of Melchizedek. “The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind. You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.” (Psalm 110:4)
Who was Melchizedek and why is his Order considered higher than Aaron’s, the first High Priest of the Levites? We read of Melchizedek when he meets with Abraham in Genesis. He is an actual King and an actual Priest, living and walking on the earth in Abraham’s day.
“And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High. He blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; And blessed be God Most High Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” He gave him a tenth of all.” (Gen 14:18-20).
The city of Salem was later known as Jerusalem.
In Hebrews 7:3 we read again of Melchizedek, and notice that there is an omission. Usually, especially in the Old Testament, people are introduced to the reader by their genealogy. “So-and-so who was the son of so-and-so and father of…” But it is specifically noted that Melchizedek has no genealogy, so we wonder how anyone who claims Melchizedek is actually Shem, for example, and some Talmudic scholars do, learned of Melchizedek’s lineage. No one knows his geneology, as is stated in the Hebrews verse below.
In any case, the personage of Melchizedek is certainly righteous. Anyway, the story of the meeting with Abraham is repeated in Hebrews, and introduced this way:
‘Melchizedek’s Priesthood Like Christ’s‘
“For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham as he was returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham apportioned a tenth part of all the spoils, was first of all, by the translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then also king of Salem, which is king of peace. Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, he remains a priest perpetually.” (Heb 7:1-3).
Melchizedek is referred to again in Hebrews 5:6-10; Hebrews 6:20; Hebrews 7:1-21: “Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek”; and Hebrews 8:1. From his initial introduction at the meeting with Abraham it was another thousand years until David mentioned him and another thousand again until the writer of Hebrews mentioned him, and then Melchizedek disappears from the biblical record. But the notion of Jesus as Priest does not.
High Priests of the Temple died and their office was given to the son. But Jesus is perpetual and His office of High Priest will never die. High Priests in the temple managed the sacrifices, which were daily. Thousands upon thousands of lambs and other animals were killed, blood ran by the buckets all day every day, but Jesus is the once for all sacrifice. He IS our High Priest, forever.
“Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession;” (Hebrews 3:1-3)
So what does a High Priest do? They were compassionate about sins, being human themselves. They participated in the sacrificial system, managing others’ sacrifices. Yet being human, they also had to sacrifice on behalf of their own sins. They represented humans before God.
In Revelation 1:6 we read that we are made to be Kings and Priests. “and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father–to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
Again, in Rev. 5:9b-10 we read that
“Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.”
Peter reveals that we as believers are part of a royal priesthood:
“you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. … But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Pet 2:5,9).
Matthew Henry writes:
“All true believers are a holy priesthood; sacred to God, serviceable to others, endowed with heavenly gifts and graces. But the most spiritual sacrifices of the best in prayer and praise are not acceptable, except through Jesus Christ. Christ is the chief Corner-stone, that unites the whole number of believers into one everlasting temple, and bears the weight of the whole fabric. Elected, or chosen, for a foundation that is everlasting.”
What Grace! What Mercy! He as the Chief Cornerstone as High Priest, elects His priests and unites us in a priesthood to serve Him! We are called privileged and we are. Our duties today and forever are to offer up spiritual sacrifices to Him the Most High. Is this a good gift in your eyes? Better than an X-box or a bike or a diamond bracelet? It is a tremendous gift to be called to a royal priesthood serving the High Priest in heaven. It is a high calling. Are you living a holy life worthy of Him and making spiritual sacrifices so His name is magnified? I am rejoicing! I am singing His praises!
As you ponder the mysteries of His very Being this Christmas season, ponder Him as high Priest representing us before God. What a blessed Gift to be able to serve for Him and with him!
Does anyone notice an interesting juxtaposition with Drudge’s latest front page?
When individuals or nations succumb to sin, particularly homosexuality, God warns, then judges. He always has and He always will. We are the formerly blessed nation of America whose light was set up on the hill. As Massachusetts Governor John Winthrop wrote in 1630 aboard the ship Arbella, “For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us. So that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken, and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and a by-word through the world. … But if our hearts shall turn away, so that we will not obey, but shall be seduced, and worship other Gods, our pleasure and profits, and serve them; it is propounded unto us this day, we shall surely perish out of the good land whither we pass over this vast sea to possess it.”
The light upon a hill was a reference to Matthew 5:14-16; “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid… Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
Does it glorify God to formalize and legitimize government-sanctioned homosexuality? No. And so we see just above the photo a series of headlines where unusual rains and staggering storms have arrived in California. And unseen in the photo but contained under it was another headline, “Freak diversion of jet stream paralyzing globe with freezing conditions…” These are not coincidences. They are not. The photo may be worth a thousand words, but the Word of God is the real treasure.
“For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty; how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.” (Hebrews 2:1-4) Take heed!
In his Christmas message yesterday, Pope Benedict shook off complete responsibility for the child abuse scandal among priests in the Catholic Church, saying that the culture is partly to blame.
Pope Blames 1970s Society for Pedophile Priests
“Pope Benedict used his annual speech to Rome’s cardinals and bishops on Monday (Dec. 20) to ask them to reflect on the church’s responsibility in the child sex abuse scandals. Benedict qualified his mea culpa by stating that the scandal (in which priests who sexually abused children were often ignored or protected by the Catholic Church) was partly justified by the broader social context. Benedict said that while the church accepted some responsibility, he could not be silent about ”the context of these times…. There is a market in child pornography that seems in some way to be considered more and more normal by society.” Benedict claimed that as recently as the 1970s, “pedophilia was theorized as something fully in conformity with man and even with children.” In this climate, the Catholic Church’s actions were merely reflecting the moral relativism of the times: “It was maintained — even within the realm of Catholic theology — that there is no such thing as evil in itself or good in itself,” Benedict said.”
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If there is anything that should wake up the people that Catholicism is a false religion this should be it. First, that there existed a climate of oppression and evil that allowed pedophilia to run rampant to such extent is a healthy indicator that the Holy Spirit Restrainer to a large degree wasn’t and isn’t present within the Catholic church. Man is sinful and we fail by falling into the flesh so often, so we cannot point fingers against individuals who sin unless we remove the log from our own eye first. We all sin. We all stumble. However, and this is a big however, the quantity and extent of the pedophilia is more than a brief stumble, is more than a momentary straying away from the Restrainer, is more than individuals who neglected to die daily and briefly fell prey to sin. It is systematized, organized, and widespread evil.
Secondly, Christians familiar with the bible know that we are told that the world is evil. I do not know why the Pope is surprised by the immoral conditions of the 1970s because we are told the moral conditions of the world are bad and were going to get a lot worse. (2 Timothy 3:1-5; 2 Peter 2:1-3; Jude 1:7 for starters).
I do not know why the Pope is surprised by the cravenness of man and the depth of God’s hatred of sin, particularly homosexuality and child abuse. We are told these things repeatedly. (Lev 18:22-23; 1 Tim 1:9-10; Rom 1:26-27) “But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.” (Mt 18:6)
We are told that the world is given to the evil one, and he rules it. (2 Cor 4:4; John 12:31). We are told that we should not love the world and not to try to blend in with it, we Christians must be apart from it. (1 John 2:15-16)
Jerry Solomon wrote on “Culture and the Bible“, and said,
“[T]he world is hostile toward God; this includes the rebellion of mankind. Second, this hostility was not part of the original created order; the world was created good. Third, this world is also the object of God’s redemptive love and Christ’s sacrifice. Fourth, the world is not to be seen as an end in itself. We are always to view culture in the light of eternity. Fifth, we are to be about the business of transforming the world. “We are not to follow the world’s lead but to cut across it and rise above it to a higher calling and style.”
Corinth was one of the most immoral cities on the planet, and yet Paul’s messages to the Church at Corinth and the believers there are encouraging to them on how to live in a craven culture, and contain proper admonitions on how to remove one’s self from the fallen society yet make a difference for the Lord in the world. For the Pope to blame the culture of forty years ago as ‘partly to blame’ for Priests using children as sex toys is unconscionable.
Th Pope’s normalization of pedophilia is a good example of what happens when we remove our eyes from the standards of God. His Word is all we need to know for the moral barometer of Christian conduct, based on His absolutes. Though those standards are unattainable in our fallen state, He gracefully gives us the Holy Spirit as restrainer of sins. However, if we take our eyes off His attributes, His absolutes and His word, immediately we begin to normalize evil. For those of you who are shocked, saying, ‘surely pedophilia is evil! Anyone should be able to see that!’ I say to you that just as God’s love knows no bounds, sin knows no depths. There is always a worse. There is always another depth to descend to.
Paul warned about the influence of ungodliness in 1 Corinthians 15:33. “[T]his was the second time Paul warned the Corinthians not to be deceived (1 Corinthians 6:9). He cautioned them not to take up the lifestyles of corrupt people—those who will not inherit the kingdom of God. Paul knew how easy it is for people to be influenced by such adverse teachings. If not checked at the very beginning, they could begin to adopt such perverted ideas and behaviors as normal. For this reason, Paul quotes a proverb by the Greek poet Menander: “Bad company corrupts good character.” No doubt this proverb was well known among Greeks of this time. The point Paul makes here is pertinent to all people in all ages. When we associate with or take delight in the company of people with worldly morals, we run the risk of mimicking their behaviors, their language, and their habits. Before long we are no longer of Christ, but of the world with its denial of absolute authority, its rejection of the Bible as the Word of God, and its ideology of relative morality.” (source)
That the Pope knows all this, was biblically warned not to be misled, understands that the world will corrupt absolutely, and still blames the culture for his priests’ child abuse, is the true evil.
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I’ve been writing about a troubling notion taking root in the discussions revolving around the Middle East morass known as “peace talks.” In July 2009, then- EU top diplomat Javier Solana cut through all the hyperbole with a simple but devastating statement. Solana-
“called for the United Nations Security Council to recognize a Palestinian State and the two-State solution by a certain deadline even if Israel and others did not. After a fixed deadline, a United Nations Security Council resolution should proclaim the adoption of the two-State solution.”
Since then, Obama has picked up the banner of “just declare it.” A few months after Solana’s proposition to the UN in October 2009, The Asia Times reported in April 2010, “Obama imposing a Palestinian state.” It was reported: “US President Barack Obama’s demands during his meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last Tuesday point to an intention to impose permanent settlement on Israel and the Palestinians in less than two years,” the Israeli daily, Ha’aretz, wrote on Monday. We may draw a similar conclusion from analyses such as the one by Tony Karon in Asia Times Online.”
How about that. Just do it. After all, the European powers created an Israeli state by unilateral decision, so why not do the same for “Palestine”? Never mind the fact that initially the Israeli state contained land that was taken away to be given to the original Palestinian state: Jordan. THAT was supposed to satisfy the peoples calling themselves Palestinians as described in the Balfour Declaration. Jordan IS the Palestinian State. How soon they forget. Since 1917, more land has been taken away from Israel on the false basis that the Palestinians must have their state. Over time, Israel has given the Arabs Sinai Peninsula, Gaza Strip, the southern zone of Lebanon, and partial control of West Bank. The Arabs always ask for more. And it appears that Solana’s dastardly idea may soon come to pass and Israel will be carved up once again.
Sadly, we can say with authority that we know that will happen. It is prophesied. “Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” (Luke 21:24). “But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months.” (Rev 11:2). I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat there I will enter into judgment against them concerning my inheritance, my people Israel, for they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land.” (Joel 3:2)
So therefore we know that dividing Israel into small bits will occur and all or part of Jerusalem will be given over. What we, as the terminal generation are watching, is the prophecy being prepared for fulfillment right before our eyes. There are extremely troubling developments occurring this week:
On December 13: Erakat Asks EU to Recognize Palestinian State Alongside Israel. Now, Saeb Muhammad Salih Erekat (his surname is spelled both ways) is the Palestinian chief of the Palestinian Liberation Organization Steering and Monitoring Committee. The PLO is a political and paramilitary organization founded in 1964. It is recognized as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. In the above linked article, “Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat formally asked the European Union in a letter to recognize an independent Palestinian state.”
On that same day it was reported in South America that “Brazil and Argentina recognize Palestinian State“
“Many in Latin America and around the world were asking one question following the news that Brazil and Argentina had recognized the state of Palestine in the West Bank: Why now? Among the answers, PLO envoy to Washington Maen Areikat told JTA, was the frustration with the stops and starts in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, which he said created the atmospherics ripe for recognition.”
On December 17 Norway formally moved toward recognition of a Palestinian State. Norway is not part of the European Union. Norway upgrades Palestinian mission
“Oslo says upgrade from ‘general delegation’ to ‘diplomatic mission’ in recognition of Palestinian Authority’s efforts to establish independent state.” From my understanding, an upgrade means that it is a step closer for the representations to enjoy the status of embassies of a sovereign country.
And on December 19: apparently in response to Erekat’s letter, or Obama’s push, or Solana’s idea, that “10 EU states will upgrade their PLO missions”
“Chief PA negotiator says Palestinian missions abroad are step closer to becoming embassies of an “occupied state with defined borders.”
The formalized, diplomatic steps to recognizing a Palestinian State apparently include recognizing diplomats to deploy to any upcoming new State. And that has happened from Southern Hemisphere to Northern, from West to East. Thirteen nations are prepared to recognize a Palestinian State by fiat.
Brazil has even gone a step further today, and donated land for Palestinian embassy: “Palestinian ambassador to Brazil Ibrahim Az-Zein received the title to a piece of land Monday, where the Palestinian embassy in Brazil will stand following that country’s recognition of a Palestinian state earlier in the month.”
In response, “Israel asks its embassies to thwart PA unilateralism” but you can see how this tide is flowing. It is flowing against God’s people, and toward Armageddon, where these nations will be severely judged for their disgraceful rebellion against Him and their intrusion upon His land.
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Yesterday I posted a blurb about the scientists’ note that 2010 was a seriously wacky weather year. It was noted, “This was the year the Earth struck back. Earthquakes, heat waves, floods, volcanoes, super typhoons, blizzards, landslides and droughts killed at least a quarter million people in 2010 – the deadliest year in more than a generation.” Well, on the heels of that article, I see today that Australia received snow. In summer. It’s summer in Oz, and the height of the wildflower season.
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Wintry weather brings snow to Australia in midsummer
Australia normally experiences temperatures of 86F (30C) at this time of year, but the chances of a rare white Christmas have increased after plunging temperatures and snow swept across the east of the country. “It’s white, everything is white,” Michelle Lovius, the general manager of the Kosciuszko Chalet Hotel at Charlotte Pass, said. “First thing this morning everything was just very still, very peaceful and every single thing was just blanketed in a thick cover of white.” At the ski fields, children in Father Christmas hats, who would usually be sunning themselves on the grassy slopes, made snowballs and rode on sleds. Miss Lovius said such a large amount of snow was unusual for early December, normally the peak of the wild flower season in the mountainous region. “We’re hoping that it (the cold) stays in for five days and we get a white Christmas,” she said. In one part of the state temperatures dropped as low 39.2F, the coldest December morning in 54 years, according to the Weather Channel.”
As I have been saying, weather anomalies are a sometimes, mostly rare, occurrence. Spot weird weather happens across the globe from time to time. But no one can seem to explain why anomalies are occurring as a regular pattern, in many places at once, so demonstrably. Superlatives are constantly being used, “coldest in a generation”, “most snow in 50 years”, “Heaviest winds ever recorded…” Record-breaking is the norm now. Actually, what is happening is opposite of what man thought would and should be happening. To give a taste of how flawed our understanding is of the complicated workings of God-driven weather patterns, just ten years ago, it was reported in the UK Independent,
‘Snowfalls Are Now Just a Thing of the Past’
“Britain’s winter ends tomorrow with further indications of a striking environmental change: snow is starting to disappear from our lives. Sledges, snowmen, snowballs and the excitement of waking to find that the stuff has settled outside are all a rapidly diminishing part of Britain’s culture, as warmer winters – which scientists are attributing to global climate change – produce not only fewer white Christmases, but fewer white Januaries and Februaries.”
OOPS! This winter, the UK has experienced tremendous winter chaos as the heaviest snowfalls ever and the coldest temperatures ever cause everything from simple travel woes, to accidents, lost revenue, chaos, and even deaths.
Eventually, the weather will be completely upended from anything man has known. The last days of the end days, which are now, God is warning us through weather, among other methods. The Scriptures are far from silent on the source of weather disasters, including drought, earthquakes, famines, floods, hailstones, storms, thunder, tornadoes, wind storms, etc. Weather disasters such as the ones mentioned in the article “2010’s world gone wild: Quakes, floods, blizzards” can originate from satan at the permission of God, or they can originate with God. However, God is always fully in control of all that happens on the earth, and if the weather is crazy this winter, well, just turn to Psalm 78:47 and read “He destroyed …their sycamore trees with frost…” or Job 37:6 “For he saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth…” How anyone can say that man is knowledgeable of weather patterns with within one decade we went from “there will be no more snow” to “Forecasters warned the worst was still to come over the next 24 hours as the heaviest December snowfall for 30 years tightened its grip on the nation once more.” (source)
Unusual and inexplicable weather will only get worse. After the rapture when millions of Christians are removed from the earth, the Time of Jacob’s Trouble will begin for the rebellious Jews and unbelieving world. The Seal Judgments are the very first set of judgments, and by the time the sixth seal is opened, no weather will be normal. Even the hardest-hearted will acknowledge that God is in control of it all. It is prophesied:
“I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”(Rev 6:12-17)
Beloved, if you are unsaved and reading this and are prepared to mock His words, be assured that you will be one of those hiding in caves crying out to God, understanding that His day has arrived, and because of the burden of your sin, you cannot stand. The prophecy says every slave and every free man and since the bible is literally true, then that means every, and thus, it means YOU.
You do not have to wait until that day, however. In His mercy He warns us and those warnings are happening now. The crazy weather and unusual things happening in the world are part of His plan to shake us from the complacency of sin. You can acknowledge your sins, and ask Him to forgive the wrongs you have committed against Him and He WILL forgive you. It’s that, or nursing your pride in a cave when the world goes dark and the earth shakes open. Your call.
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Remember, he is a NEWS media person, he is supposed to be objective.
http://www.eyeblast.tv/public/eyeblast.swf?v=hd6U8zuzkU
Here is a transcript of the comment:
CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST: You know, whatever you say, I want to talk about the subjective president, Gene, your reaction to this. Subjectively, in his heart, he’s a happy man this weekend. That smile, that cute smile we all love in that guy. That wonderful, boyish smile of his he gave us there after he made his little crack about the holiday spirit. I haven’t seen that in months.
What was even more delicious about this snippet was the look on Robinson’s face when Matthews was swooning:
All the above is courtesy of Newsbusters, a site I HIGHLY recommend.
Can you picture Chet Huntley saying Ike had a ‘boyish smile we all love’? Or Walter Cronkite saying JFK’s smile was cute? On national television? No. Not a chance.
It’s come to this: 11 year olds girls defending their home from armed gunmen.
I think this is just heartbreaking, for all the reasons. That the intruders were young themselves, is terrible. I read of three thirteen year old boys setting an abandoned home on fire in New Gloucester, Maine recently, and it astonishes me that kids so young are committing these high crimes. Only 40 years ago the worst thing my peers did was steal a gumball, or make a prank phone call. Now they stalk fortified homes and burn property. Forty years is considered a generation in the bible, so look how far and how fast we have fallen. And how utterly we have abandoned our children to satan.
The article says that the family knows one of the boys who were subsequently arrested. Imagine, a trust betrayal of that magnitude, knowing the people you are prepared to steal from and perhaps kill.
I feel so heartbroken for that little girl, terrified and hiding behind a couch, then getting up the nerve to lock and load a gun, point it at intruders and be prepared to fire. You never feel the same after you have been on the receiving end of a gun barrel, and I believe you never are the same after looking through a sight at a human being, either. She’ll never feel safe in her home again, knowing that the boldness of criminals means the law isn’t enough to stay them, and her locks are not enough to keep them out.
Our children are at risk from womb to adulthood. In the womb, they are killed by quartering through abortion. For everyone who studies medieval torture and execution methods, you know that they used to tie each limb to a horse and then smack the 4 horses to speed off in 4 directions, tearing the body apart. You say to yourself, “Oh, how horrible! How barbaric!” Abortion is the same. A baby is torn apart, alive. Yet this generation does not say “Oh how terrible! How barbaric!” But the Lord will say it, and to your face. It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Children are aborted, sold, neglected, traded, tortured, prostituted, tossed, tossed some more, and killed. Yet they are the most precious thing to Jesus. He loves them so very much, and warned us that there will be woes to those who harm them, in Luke 17:1-2. They would be better off having a millstone put round their neck and drowned than causing harm to even one of His little ones.
So I do pray for the rapture because I want to be away from this sinful world. I pray for it because want to be with Jesus. I pray for it because Paul told us to look for Him and be eager for His appearing. But mostly, I pray for it because I want safety and permanent love for the children. I thank Him that He loves us so much and that He takes special care for the children. It will be a glorious reunion for me, but I am eagerly awaiting the children’s reaction to seeing Him. Won’t that be glorious!
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the-end-time.org 