Giving new life to a Vatican sculpture “Rome’s unseasonably warm weather is giving the Vatican time to erect scaffolding and start a serious cleaning of Pericle Fazzini’s sculpture, “The Resurrection.” Work began today on the piece, which towers over the stage in the Vatican’s Paul VI audience hall. Since it’s plenty warm enough to hold the pope’s weekly general audience outdoors, visitors won’t even notice. The sculpture, dedicated in 1977, is almost 66 feet wide and more than 23 feet tall. According to L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, the bronze piece weighs about 15 tons. It depicts Christ “rising from a tomb in the Garden of Olives, while the earth is shaken by an enormous storm.” During the work — in case the weather does turn cold — a tarp with a reproduction of the sculpture will hang over the scaffolding, so the audience hall still can be used. The work is expected to be completed in early December.”
The depiction is of Jesus emerging out of an atomic bomb crater with resurrected souls. You can read more about the sculptor and the sculpture here in the NY Times Obituary of him. His name was Pericle Fazzini. He died in 1987.
“Pericle Fazzini, the sculptor whose monumental statue ”The Resurrection” is the backdrop for Pope John Paul II’s weekly general audiences, died today. He was 74 years old. The sculptor, a native of Grottammare on the eastern Italian coast, began his career as an exponent of the Roman school of the 1930’s. His early wooden pieces, characterized by their simple style, led to the starker later figures, which he fashioned almost exclusively in metal, particularly bronze.”
“The Vatican commissioned Mr. Fazzini to provide a work for its modern auditorium. The result was ”The Resurrection,” a statue depicting Jesus rising from a nuclear bomb crater.”
”Suddenly there came to me the idea of Christ preaching peace for 2,000 years, and the place where He prayed for the last time: the olive grove of Gethsemane,” said Mr. Fazzini in a book about the work. ”I had the idea of depicting Christ as if He were rising again from the explosion of this large olive grove, peaceful site of His last prayers. Christ rises from this crater torn open by a nuclear bomb; an atrocious explosion, a vortex of violence and energy.”’ ”The Resurrection” is molded in red bronze and yellow brass and measures 66 feet by 23 feet by 10 feet.
“It was unveiled by Pope Paul VI in 1977 and dominates the stage of the Vatican hall where the pope’s general audiences are held. Among Mr. Fazzini’s works is the bronze ”Sybil” at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and a giant sculpture of a sea shell commissioned by the City of Dallas. Mr. Fazzini is survived by his wife, Anita, and a daughter.”
You wonder what goes through a man’s mind to come up with a horrifyingly evil looking depiction such as that. Remember, Catholics adhere to doctrines and traditions that are not biblical so the likelihood exists that Fazzini was not saved and therefore had a blinded, depraved mind. (2 Corinthians 4:4; John 12:40). It seems evident that he could not rightly see Christ, (Mark 4:12) nor could the Pope that commissioned it nor the Popes that sit before it. Here is a very short news piece about the sculpture.
Imagine sitting in front of that evilly horrific sculpture week after week conducting ‘religious’ services, with a serpent-looking Christ coming out of a man-made bomb crater carrying sooty souls. Images are important. The scene speaks volumes.
Bangor Daily News publishes the following genteel headline:
Take this job and shove it: Fed-up Bangor TV anchors quit on air “Citing a longstanding battle with upper management over journalistic practices at their Bangor TV stations, news co-anchors Cindy Michaels and Tony Consiglio announced their resignations at the end of Tuesday’s 6 p.m. newscast. … “I just wanted to know that I was doing the best job I could and was being honest and ethical as a journalist, and I thought there were times when I wasn’t able to do that,” said Consiglio, a northeastern Connecticut native who broke in with WVII as a sports reporter in April 2006. … [S]he explained, “It’s a little complicated, but we were expected to do somewhat unbalanced news, politically, in general.” Neither Michaels nor Consiglio would say what specific political leaning they were expected to adopt. Consiglio, who also was executive producer, said the balanced journalistic approach they use for all their stories was sometimes frowned upon.”
So two veteran and apparently ethical journalists resigned because being ethical and balanced and unbiased was allegedly not the preferred approach to news. The following is my editorial opinion regarding the state of the media and the coming quest for truth in the antichrist regime.
I grew up with Huntley and Brinkley and the Huntley-Brinkley Report. Theirs was the NBC television network’s flagship evening news program from October 29, 1956, until July 31, 1970. Each newscast ended with “Good night, Chet. Good night, David. And good night, for NBC News.” I was born in 1960 so the first ten years of my life involved absorbing their sonorous voices. As a matter of fact, critics considered Huntley to possess one of the best broadcast voices ever heard. The duo was filled with gravitas, and I was caught up in watching my parents’ absorbed attention to them. So I paid attention too. They looked like newscasters, they sounded like newscasters. They were newscasters.
In their final broadcast, Chet Huntley said, “I might also remind you that American journalism, all of it, is the best anywhere in the world.” And at that time, it was still true. After them came Walter Cronkite, dubbed ‘the most trusted man in America.’As Howard Kurtz said of early Cronkite, “I watched his image flickering on a small black-and-white set, the voice of authority in an age when we still revered, without a trace of cynicism, those who spoon-fed us the news.”
Huntley could say in all truth that American journalism was the best, and we could listen to him say that without laughing. Cronkite’s liberal bias and questionable ethics didn’t come to the fore until many years later. The 1950s and 60s and even the 70s era Watergate of Woodward & Bernstein and aggressive investigative journalism of 60 minutes were golden years for many in America of eagerly waiting to hear truthful news without bias.
In Huntley’s final broadcast, Huntley went on to say, “But you have bolstered my conviction that this land contains incredible quality and quantity of good, common sense, and it’s in no danger of being led down a primrose path by a journalist” but that statement unfortunately has not held up. Look where we are today.
The nature of sin and the nature of greed in politics has wound us down to the recent election and status we now endure- a grasping American public reliant on handouts and voting for the one who will subsidize them the most, a craven political system spawning politicians only to happy to comply as long as it lines their own pockets too, and a colluding Fourth Estate eager to get in on the action.
I think there would be little disagreement if I said there is a severe lack of common sense in society today and that we have gone far down the primrose path.
The Fourth Estate, or journalism, is important because a truthfully informed electorate can make the best decisions, and the best decisions benefit us all. Journalism also reflects us back to ourselves and if we do not like what we see we can take steps to change it. Journalism is both the mirror and the means to a healthy civilization within the confines of a vigorous democracy.
America’s national face has become a horror to many.
There was an old Twilight Zone episode called The Masks. A millionaire in New Orleans is about to die, and he summons his buffoonish, narcissistic, cowardly and miserly family members to be with him as he does. He tells them they get all his money if they do one final thing: put on the Mardi Gras masks ‘made special by an old Cajun’, and wear them until midnight. He sarcastically tells them that the personalities depicted on the mask are the opposite of their true personality. They are reluctant, but they are eager to get the money so in the end they don the masks.
As the hours tick by, the kindly patriarch bristles at having to be with his worm-like family members and he insults them. The family members are in pain as the masks, they tell him, are unbearable. At midnight the old feller makes one final tirade and expires. The family, caring less for their grandfather and more for themselves, take off the masks, but to their horror they discover that their faces have transformed to the personality depicted on their on unique mask: narcissist, coward, sadistic buffoon, and miser. Their outward personality is now seen plainly on their faces. They are no longer hidden by the mask they once wore of outward moral righteousness. The inward cravenness and the outward face presented to the world now match. Finally, they wore no mask.
This could be an allegory for America. It’s sort of like the chicken and the egg question- did the media’s constant portrayal of us as craven greedy gimme culture spark the culture, or is the media’s portrayal of us as such simply the drawing out of what had long been there, whereupon we finally wear no mask?
I’m not speaking literally of course, because not every single person in America is a wastrel. Jesus’s bride is spotless and shining, a moral example of HIS righteousness. However, with the recent election, it is clear that the media’s reflection of ourselves back to us has stripped off any semblance of moral righteousness or even political courage, and shown us that what the majority prefers is homosexual perversion, child murder, adultery, moral relativism, greed, and no accountability for any of it. Pardon me, but our inward horror is showing.
In leaving off the Fourth Estate for a moment and turning to the general media, I am daily getting more sick at watching television. Just the sheer number of commercials is outrageous, but the subject of them is atrocious. In attempting to watch even the most innocuous of shows, a quiet cooking show called Chopped, the ads in between the show segments made me sick. In successive turn, I saw an ad for vaginal mesh, male enhancement for more fun in the bedroom, and a housewife pole dancing around an upright vacuum. I turned the TV off.
It is nice to read that there are heroes, still. The two newscasters who resigned on the basis of desiring to present the news pure and unadulterated without management bias or political leanings are to be commended. Neither of them have a job lined up. Their stand is acknowledged and appreciated.
But the mask is set. We are a craven nation, who, even if given an unbiased newscast, would flee, because the truth is not to be found in hearts so laden with sin. In the near future, when the antichrist reigns, his ability to seduce by counterfeit miracles and the readiness of the already-prepared media to embrace untruth will only serve to advance his agenda. The truth can no longer be found in the media, almost universally.
Just as God is stripping Israel of her stability to the point at the outset of the Gog Magog war Israel finds when she cannot even rely on her own vaunted military- and they appeal to Him, He is stripping away reliance on man’s truth for decision-making. The media is not to be trusted, anywhere, even in a small northern city like Bangor. No place is unadulterated.
Our God is so great, that the antichrist and most of the people on earth will not even realize that it is GOD who is allowing this lying agenda to advance. It is His will and design to show us that as John said of Jesus in the beginning,
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14).
The truth cannot be found on earth. Jesus is the only truth and it can be found in His word. It contains all that we need to reflect ourselves back to ourselves: we are sinners in need of a Savior, and being perfectly holy, He has the answers.
“and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32).
Joel C. Rosenberg tweeted this morning, @JoelCRosenberg, “Air raid sirens sounded in Jerusalem. All clear now. Missile hit near Bethlehem. No casualties reported. Keep praying. #PillarOfDefense”
“Michael Lawrence, @IsraelSpeaker, reacted this way, “This afternoon’s long-range Hamas missile fell near Bethlehem, holy town for the Christian world. Why is this allowed?”
I didn’t think my spiritual pain could worsen when I’d read the other day that Hamas launched a rocket at Jerusalem but it did when I’d read that the little town of Bethlehem was hit. I admit I began to cry. I honestly don’t know why it hit me so hard.
There are many protests and clashes going on in Bethlehem right now, too. Jerusalem Post reports-
W. Bank: Palestinians protest, clash with IDF troops “More anti-Israel protests erupted in the West Bank Tuesday as Palestinians took to the streets and clashed with IDF troops. The worst clashes took place in Bethlehem and Hebron, where IDF soldiers used rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse stone-throwers.”
As we approach the season of our Holy Savior’s birth in that tiny village, we always envision this kind of peaceful scene–
Phillips Brooks wrote the lyrics to O Little Town of Bethlehem. He described his horseback journey from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, where he assisted with the midnight service on Christmas Eve, 1865:
“I remember standing in the old church in Bethlehem, close to the spot where Jesus was born, when the whole church was ringing hour after hour with splendid hymns of praise to God, how again and again it seemed as if I could hear voices I knew well, telling each other of the Wonderful Night of the Savior’s birth.”
And we never envision this kind of violent scene-
Palestinian youths throw stones at Israeli security forces Friday in a West Bank village near Bethlehem. source
On Twitter, a Stephanie Bond wrote “Oh little town of Bethlehem how still we see thee riot!” And she posted this photo —
As for the present clashes between Israel and Gaza, there are rumors flying around that change every minute. There is a cease-fire about to be announced. There is no cease fire. Israel does not want a cease-fire. Gaza does not want a cease fire. They are under pressure to accept a cease fire…and on and on it goes. Credible news outlets like CNN, Reuters, JPost and others on Twitter tweet all the above and sometimes at the same time. All I can say for sure is that things are changing by the minute.
The only thing that does not change is Christ’s love for His people- all people, for now. The IDF soldiers, the Muslim rock throwers and the Christians in the little town of Bethlehem. This is the time of Grace. Soon it will be the time of wrath, where there is no grace.
Micah 5:2 spoke of Bethlehem where the savior would be born. We associate the swaddling babe with that city and rightly so. But the same Micah reminds us just a few verses later that Jesus
“in anger and wrath I will execute vengeance on the nations that did not obey.” (Micah 5:15)
The day of grace will end.
Acts 17:30-31 reminds us of that fact-
“The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”
In Revelation 6 we read that the souls of the slain cry for vengeance upon the earth.
“When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” ” (Revelation 6:9-10)
MacArthur explains this thirst for vengeance, and it is not what it seems–
“These prayers are not personal vendettas, they’re not thirst for personal revenge. Their holy desire is for the end of iniquity. Their holy desire is for the destruction of Satan. Their holy desire is for the devastation of Antichrist and the false prophet and all who followed him. Iniquity has reached its height in the slaughter, how long until You avenge our blood on…then this phrase, “Those who dwell on the earth?” … Now as we look at Revelation chapter 6 tonight, we are going to come face to face with God’s vengeance. The time of grace is really coming to its end.”
For all those who think that the grace will continue to those who dwell on the earth forever, you’re wrong. I do not know how long our Holy Savior will patiently endure the attacks at Jerusalem and on the people of the apple of His eye. Appeal to Him now while grace is still here. (Isaiah 55:6). Be His recipient of it now!
Here, the Vienna Boys Choir sings O Little Town of Bethlehem. It is grace, grace, grace Who came to us wrapped in flesh to save the world and those who dwell in it. I cry today because they bomb it and throw stones at it and spit on it. How long, O Lord? The Lord uses Zechariah to remind them and us that His patience will not remain forever–
“For thus said the Lord of hosts, after his glory sent me to the nations who plundered you, for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye: “Behold, I will shake my hand over them, and they shall become plunder for those who served them. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me. Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord. And many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. And the Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem.” (Zechariah 2:8-13)
Such glorious promises! But Zechariah ends the verse with this:
“Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.”
And what a day that will be!! A day of wrath and not of grace. Therefore “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15b)
I am having laptop troubles, which is why I did not post yesterday. I am waiting for a new hard drive and a fan, hoping the laptop doesn’t die in the meantime. If it does and I am not posting, that’s why. 🙂 I am also writing quickly and using the computer sparingly, so if you see more typos than usual, that is why 🙂
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In the days immediately prior to Obama’s first election, the language and photography describing or depicting him was Messianic in the extreme. I wrote about it 2010, saying-
“Obama has even been called a Pharaoh three times in his short tenure as President. “Expectations raised by Obama’s brief visit to Cairo are almost messianic. Souvenir shops are selling pendants with the caption “Obama – new Tutankhamen of the world.”
(Above, An Egyptian vendor displays a handmade copper plaque reading “Obama, New Tutankhamun of the World” at his shop in the Khan el-Khalili market area in Cairo on Monday. AFP/Getty Images) The image was named “Obamatut”.
The messianic name was attributed to him many times, as here- “A messiah won’t be landing at the Heliopolis airport Thursday. Nonetheless, the expectations raised by Obama’s brief visit to Cairo are almost messianic.”
And again in 2012, I noted the overuse of messianic language in relation to Obama.
“Obama didn’t call himself Messiah, but he certainly didn’t make any attempt to dispel the notion.” Or here, “Obama, a junior senator, the son of a white mother and a Kenyan father, has been happy to run as a black man and, more important, as America’s new messiah.”
He was depicted as such in paintings, here, for example.
Now after the second election a spate of unusual and frankly, weird, statements have emerged that surpass the language, visual depictions and opinions of Obama as Messiah from the first time around. Once again we are dealing once with messianic language. For example, there is a new book comparing Obama to Jesus and Martin Luther King. The Daily Caller has the story.
“Looking for something to read as Thanksgiving approaches? Or a unique take on what has made President Barack Obama such a successful politician? Or perhaps an explanation of Obama as an apostle and his “politics as religion?” You could check out “The Gospel According to Apostle Barack” by Barbara Thompson (AuthorHouse 2012). The mouthful of the book’s subtitle is: “In Search of a More Perfect Political Union as Heaven Here on Earth.” The book’s thesis is that Obama is not just the 43rd president of the United States. Much more than that, he’s an apostle akin to Martin Luther King, Jr. or even Jesus Christ.”
And some stores selling nativity sets are including figures of Obama to insert into the holy scene. “”Every time a major event occurs we create a new figurine, and today after Obama’s victory, we have made a new figurine of Obama and will put him in our ideal Nativity scene,” Ferrigno said.”
One is coming who will surpass the world’s marveling at this Messiah, this Apostle, this Pharaoh. He will be the antichrist and will engender even more love, adoration, and wonder than Obama.
“One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?” ” (Revelation 13:3-4)
This present run-up to the world’s looking for a man to solve all the problems, and the idolatry of their love for that man will be unlike any other time before. The antichrist will make Hitler seem like a boy playing Tonka trucks compared to the real antichrist. The antichrist will make Obama seem like a toddler waddling around with his diaper hanging to the floor.
But one thing you can see now: the gullibility of people. As one lifted-up leader shows his true colors after another, the world does not learn its lesson and turn to the real Light, the one carrying a rod of iron with which to rule the nations: JESUS. No, they keep seeking him who will fail, him who is only man, and him who is evil. They fall for flowery talk every time.
“In his place shall arise a contemptible person to whom royal majesty has not been given. He shall come in without warning and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.” (Daniel 11:21).
They will fall for a silver tongued devil, the antichrist, just as Adam and Eve fell for the silver tongued devil in the beginning. (Genesis 3:1-5)
The Good News is that this will be just about the last time satan will be allowed to deceive the nations (once more, for a moment, in the Millennium Kingdom, Rev. 20:7, but than that’s it). Jesus will rule and we will rule with Him (Rev 1:5-6, Matthew 19:28). We are grateful to know the REAL ruler with everlasting words and love, not evil, in his heart!
I was thinking about fortresses today. Fortresses of both the spiritual and the military kind.
Some years ago, my husband and I traveled to Italy. We rented a car and spent a month bumming around. We wound up visiting the tiny nation of San Marino, a separate nation inside of Italy. I never forgot our day there.
I like military history, weapons advancement and development, (San Marino is known for its expertise in medieval crossbows) and forts. Therefore, San Marino was a gold mine for me in spending time learning its history and culture! This micronation at just 24 sq/mi. in size is intensely fortified and almost impregnable.
Legend has it that a man named Marinus, later a saint (San Marino) fled Christian persecution in 296 AD and founded a small community atop Mount Titiano. There, his little community flourished. They built a tower and a wall, as was the custom of the day. The geography also affords a natural protection. The cliffs look like devil’s teeth and the height (2400/ft) gives a spectacular view across the plains to the east all the way to the Adriatic. You can spot an advancing army coming hundreds of miles off. To the west, the Appenines butt up against the Mount in extremely close proximity. There’s literally no way to sneak up on them and nowhere to hide.
As the community grew, they built a second ring wall around the expanded community and then eventually, a third. Each has a tower. The place is known as the City of Three Towers.
The Fortress Guards, called the Guard of the Rock
The bible tells us “For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, (2 Corinthians 10:4–5)”
“To successfully fight the spiritual war requires weapons from the heavenly arsenal. Only those divinely powerful weapons are suited for the destruction of the enemies’ fortresses. That term would convey to the New Testament reader the thought of a formidable stronghold.”
“Fleshly weapons cannot successfully assault the formidable strongholds in which sinners have entrenched themselves. Such impotent weapons cannot bring about the destruction of those fortresses, which Paul defined specifically as speculations (logismos), a general word referring to any and all human or demonic thoughts, opinions, reasonings, philosophies, theories, psychologies, perspectives, viewpoints, and religions. The fortresses in view here are not demons, but ideologies. The notion that spiritual warfare involves direct confrontation with demons is foreign to Scripture. Christians who verbally confront demons waste energy and demonstrate ignorance of the real war. We are not called to convert demons, but sinners. The battle is rather with the false ideologies men and demons propagate so that the world believes them. Doomed souls are inside their fortresses of ideas, which become their prisons and eventually their tombs—unless they are delivered from them by belief in the truth.”
So if you picture the fortress itself as an ideology and the people living in the fortress of Tower 1, they are raising up every lofty thing as a speculation, which the wind will simply carry away because it has no substance. And the people living inside the wall in Tower 2 are likewise imprisoned by their own empty reasonings. And the same for tower 3, yet another vain thought system satan has raised up, and put a wall around so they cannot escape. They think they are secure in their strong tower but they are not, they are actually imprisoned and will eventually die and their fortress becomes their tomb.
“Here’s the picture: the Christian, wearing his spiritual armor and bearing his spiritual weapons, sets out to “conquer” the world for Christ, but he soon finds obstacles. The enemy has erected strongly fortified garrisons to resist the Truth and attempt to thwart God’s plan of redemption. There is the fortress of human reasoning, reinforced with many subtle arguments and the pretense of logic. There is the castle of passion, with flaming battlements defended by lust, pleasure, and greed. And there is the pinnacle of pride, in which the human heart sits enthroned and revels in thoughts of its own excellence and sufficiency.
The enemy is firmly entrenched; these strongholds have been guarded for thousands of years, presenting a great wall of resistance to the Truth. None of this deters the Christian warrior, however. Using the weapons of God’s choosing, he attacks the strongholds, and by the miraculous power of Christ, the walls are breached, and the bastions of sin and error are battered down. The victorious Christian enters the ruins and leads captive, as it were, every false theory and every human philosophy that had once proudly asserted its independence from God.
If this sounds a lot like Joshua fighting the battle of Jericho, you’re right. What a great illustration of spiritual truth that story is (Joshua 6)!”
So cool, huh?! Proclaim the Gospel. Speak of Jesus. Commit His word to your heart. It is those weapons that demolish even the strongest looking fortress. Even a fortress as impregnable as San Marino does not stand a chance against the piercing weapon of the truth of Jesus and His Gospel!
Two separate newscasts report that the town of Seaside Heights NJ is under martial law.
1:08 minute in
50 seconds in
The reaction on Twitter-verse was the usual wit laced with some Macabre humor:
“As fun as it is watching NJ steadily creep toward martial law after Sandy, I think I’ll try to fly to Columbus today. Football is the cure.” Ramzy Nasrallah @ramzy
“NJ declares martial law in desperate attempt to stop me as I collect fallen branches to throw on cars of those who doubted me in high school.” Cory snearofwushjki @corysnearowski
“Martial law is the imposition of military rule by military authorities over designated regions on an emergency basis.Martial law is usually imposed on a temporary basis when the civilian government or civilian authorities fail to function effectively (e.g., maintain order and security, or provide essential services), when there are extensive riots and protests, or when the disobedience of the law becomes widespread.”
“In most cases, military forces are deployed to subdue the crowds, to secure government buildings and key or sensitive locations, and to maintain order. Generally, military personnel replace civil authorities and perform some or all of their functions. In full-scale martial law, the highest-ranking military officer would take over, or be installed, as the military governor or as head of the government, thus removing all power from the previous executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government.”
The situation in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy is dire. Many places look like a war zone, and what comes with war zones is chaos. Hence, the Martial Law to restore order. Extraordinary times require extraordinary measures, I guess.
“Hurricane Sandy is another reminder of just how incredibly fragile the thin veneer of civilization that we all take for granted on a daily basis really is.”
One twitter comment along those same lines struck me:
M. @MKriegbaumJr: “Seeing what essentially is martial law surrounding gas situation in NYC/NJ area is what the world will be like if catastrophic event hits.”
Indeed. One hurricane and a few days later, people are reduced to animals, pooping, fighting, scrambling for food. I had written last Tuesday in the height of the storm, “Anyway, as millions upon millions are discovering now, living on any floor above, say fifth, means a lot of walking up and down stairs. No elevators. No running water. That means you have to lug water up, if you can even find any. No flushing, unless you stored water ahead of time and can use it to flush the toilet. No food, or if you find some, you have to lug it up. If you go out on the street there are a lot of other tired, desperate, hungry, thirsty people. There were twitter meet ups planning a mass looting, so it is even more dangerous than usual to be out and about. Then cabin fever sets in. What to do with the kids for days on end inside an apartment with no internet, tv, or PlayStation? And where would you even go? The subways aren’t running, along with bus and most likely, cabs. The streets are littered with tree limbs, flood sludge, dangling electrical wires, and debris. Even if you want to get out and about it is impossible and dangerous. … So the city is a bad place in the best of times. It is downright survival UNfriendly in the worst of times.”
That wasn’t a prophetic statement. It was a realistic statement.
The LORD knew we were not ready for cities. He told Adam and Eve to be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth. (Genesis 1:28). But they didn’t. After the flood Noah to go throughout the world and be fruitful and multiply. (Genesis 9:1). But they didn’t. In one famous case, Noah’s great-grandson Nimrod collected the people into one city, Babel. So God He stopped the city-making at Babel and disbanded the people. (Gen 11:5-7).
With a veneer of civilization over us we tend to forget how full of sin we are. We forget how close to the surface it is. We do not think of how easily our sin will come out. All the imaginations of the unrenewed heart are sinful. (Genesis 6:5, Genesis 8:21). All.
Did that man in the gas line who pulled a gun think that a week ago he would be tempted to take another man’s life? Did he envision any circumstance in which he would be arrested and awaiting trial for his crime? Likely not. The Queens blog says that the man allegedly pulled a gun just because he didn’t want to wait in line. He allegedly wanted to cut, so he could fill up his BMW before everyone else.
We’re sinners. When pressed, and not too much either, sin comes out fast and hard.
So for this next thought, as we transition into this part of my essay, is to think about some words I’ve already used, anarchy and chaos.
“A presidential transition or presidential interregnum refers to the period of time between the end of a presidential election and the inauguration of a new President of a country. During this time the incoming President usually designates new government personnel, including selecting new Cabinet positions and government department or agency heads.In the United States, during a presidential transition, the outgoing “lame duck” President has lost many of the intangible benefits of a Presidency (e.g., being perceived as the default leader on issues of national importance) but the incoming President-elect is not yet legally empowered to effect policy. This ambiguity in the roles of the President-elect and outgoing President creates the potential for a leadership vacuum, which may be most acutely felt during wartime or times of economic crisis.” [emphasis mine]
Our nation has been a beacon of light in terms of what democracy can do with the support of the people and an informed electorate. We have shown the world that no matter what happens to our President, we can institute an orderly transition from one man to the next. Whether from assassination, unexpected death, impeachment, voting irregularities, or resignation, we have always gone from one President to the other without civil unrest, chaos, or the application of martial law.
I believe that time is over.
I usually don’t speculate on the blog because I want to stay biblically grounded. Also, I don’t like to add to the general confusion and anxiety. But in my opinion this is a serious time.
I read people saying things like ‘I can’t wait for this election to be over and Obama is out.’ Given the nature of sin, the nature of the times, and the nature of the man we have come to know as Obama, do we actually think that if Obama loses he will participate in an orderly transition from the most highest position in the world down to obscurity? Really? I don’t. I think the times are over when we can expect anything that has gone before to continue going as before, and this includes political processes.
When was the last time Congress really worked? When anything got accomplished? They haven’t even passed a Federal budget in years.
Do we really think that Obama, the most arrogant man in the world, the most hateful in terms of actively destroying America, will actually leave office with the job unfinished? Do we really think that a little piece of paper, or historical tradition, will stop him from simply enacting martial law and staying in power?
I hope it does not happen. I really do. I am proud of our hundreds of years of orderly transitions in both Congress and the Presidential office. But we need to stop thinking that these are normal times. Men are increasingly sinful. If a NY Yuppie would pull a gun just so he could get gas into his BMW what would the most evil president we’ve ever had do to get what he wants?
This is the man who campaigned on instituting civil national security force. He said in 2008, “We cannot continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we’ve set. We’ve got to have a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded.” (July 2, 2008, in Colorado Springs, Colorado).
Now one reason I don’t like to speculate is that people take conspiracies and run with them. Viral emails are even now circulating that claim that Obama has signed 900 Executive Orders, that they add up to creating a platform to an easily implemented martial law. Liberal sites claim that Obama is doing no such thing. Somewhere in the middle lies the truth. But the truth is hard to find these days.
But even the site FactCheck.org admits that “It’s true that President Obama is increasingly using his executive powers in the face of staunch Republican opposition in Congress. He’s changed federal policies on immigration and welfare and appointed officials without congressional approval.” However the site claims that “Obama’s executive actions have nothing to do with martial law.”
FactCheck.org (an extremely liberal site, remember) does state that Obama is “sidestepping Congress through his ‘We Can’t Wait’ initiative, a series of executive actions that he says benefit the middle class through infrastructure projects and economic policy changes.” He did the same when he created the DREAM Act.
A new Executive Order that was signed last week adds fuel to the fire. On October 26, 2012, Obama signed, “Establishing the White House Homeland Security Partnership Council“. The Order tightens Department of Homeland Security ties with local law enforcement and other federal agencies.
Joseph Farah of World Net Daily (a conservative site I do not usually cite or read or use), said of this Order,
“I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: If Barack Obama is re-elected Nov. 6 for a second term, he will declare a full-scale war on his domestic opposition. There may not be another free and fair election in America. I would expect due process to go the way of the horse and buggy. I think he will move to shut down and destroy all independent media. In fact, I think his biggest critics will be rounded up in the name of national security. Last week, for instance, with little fanfare, Obama issued an executive order establishing something that sounds so innocent on the surface – but it could prove to be a vehicle for the kind of political putsch I am describing.”
“It establishes the “White House Homeland Security Partnership Council.” What’s the purpose? As Obama put it, to advance the federal government’s use of local partnerships to address homeland-security challenges. He claims to be doing it under the authority of the Constitution. Why is such a council needed? Don’t we already have a Department of Homeland Security that works with local governments? Of course we do.”
As I’ve said, I don’t like to run with conspiracies. However, we have to be realistic. If Martial Law was called in some parts of New Jersey after just a couple of days without power and fuel, what might happen if Popocatépetl Volcano in Mexico were to erupt and millions of Mexican citizens were to stream north as refugees to America? Or if the New Madrid fault were to let go and millions of Americans in the central US were to be facing a worse catastrophic situation than NY/NJ in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy? Or if the earthquakes along the western coastline and British Columbia were to raze Seattle? Or if an EMP were to be loosed over the United States in a terror attack? If any of these situations that we are currently facing were to happen imminently, what are the chances of an orderly transition? The catastrophes are going to keep coming, and they will only increase. There is already a Nor’easter forecast to soon hit Hurricane ravaged areas, though it will not be as severe. It is forecast to bring cold rain and high winds, with snow further inland. Those are woes to people already cold and hungry, and worse still for those without shelter.
As I’ve said before, it is a long time between November 6th and any inauguration that would install the successful candidate. And it would be a long, long four years if Obama were to be re-elected. (If the rapture doesn’t take us first).
It is a hard ministry, this. On the one hand I am called to watch and warn. To report what I see and point to impending doom. On the other hand I point to Jesus and assure believers that they need not worry. In sum, what I do is to say “Doom is coming! But don’t worry!” It is a fine line. But it is also a fact, the bible says that things will go from bad to worse. (2 Timothy 3:13; 2 Timothy 2:16, Matthew 24:12)
In Matthew 24:12 Jesus said that love will grow cold. The Greek here is plēthýnō – properly, made full, especially to maximum capacity (potential); hence, “multiplied; to increase, multiply”.
In other words, as the end time nears its conclusion, coldness in our hearts will increase until its full capacity. People are never going to get nicer than they are today. Tomorrow they will be worse. And worse, and worse, until they are completely mean in the Tribulation when the Holy Spirit does not even restrain their sin any longer. (2 Thessalonians 2:7).
We have every reason to claim that this period of election and power transfer might not go as expected according to law or tradition. Alternately, we have every reason to claim that that no matter what happens, Jesus is in control.
So on the one hand we have legitimate biblical reasons to be pessimists on earth. On the other, we have eternal reasons to be optimists; for heaven is our hope!
We have the Gospel which brings joy:
“And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10-11).
We have the Word which brings joy:
“Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.” (Jeremiah 15:16).
We have His promises of joy which bring us joy:
“I will also clothe her priests with salvation: and her saints shall shout aloud for joy.” (Psalms 132:16)
And we have joy because of JESUS!
“And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.” (Romans 5:11)
So though we expect worse and waxing worse because the bible says this will occur, we hope for the best, which is our Holy Jesus delivering us out of this present world into His beautiful heaven. Maranatha!
The bible is full of examples of people given time to repent but they refused.
One that comes to mind is in Jeremiah 5:
“O LORD, do not your eyes look for truth? You have struck them down, but they felt no anguish; you have consumed them, but they refused to take correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to repent.” (Jeremiah 5:3)
The situation in this chapter is dire. Isaiah had prophesied doom for 50 years in the century before Jeremiah’s prophesying. The people did not take it seriously enough. By the time Jeremiah came along, they did not know it but the prophecies of destruction and abandonment were almost upon them. It happened in Jeremiah’s lifetime. The LORD is patient, giving time to repent!
God’s willingness to spare and bless the nation if the people repent is a theme throughout the bible. He is patient, too. He says repent, and waits in Amos 4:6, Zephaniah 3:2, and Zechariah 7:11 to name just a few examples. In the New Testament Jesus called for repentance to the false prophetess He calls a ‘Jezebel’. In Rev 2:21 it is written, “I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality.”
They refused to repent.
The Lord is gracious and kind, always calling for us to repent and giving us time to do so. Seems amazing, doesn’t it? That they refuse. Even after prophets prophesy a direct word from the LORD, they don’t. Even after they receive a direct letter from the Lord as in Revelation, they refuse.
Lest we think that the refusals to repent are an Old Testament, bygone behavior, here is an update from two dedicated servants of the Lord on mission in a South American jungle. Though they are seeing some harvest, they sadly report heartbreaking news. As they were welcomed into homes and they presented the Gospel, they saw some commit their lives to Christ. Praise the Lord for that! Every single soul added to heaven is a praise to the Lord in His loving-kindness. Yet…
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Some say ‘no’.
“After we clearly presented the Gospel, we asked, “Do you understand what we are sharing?” and several responded that they did understand. When asked if they were ready to receive Jesus as their Savior and Lord, they said “No.”
“Why would they respond this way? The local believers said it is because they find pleasure in their sin and are not ready to forsake their sinful ways. They understand that in following Christ, they will have to leave their lives of immorality, drunkenness, and other sinful ways. They are not willing to give up their sin.”
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They understood but refused, preferring to remain in their sin.
Paul wrote, “But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.” (Romans 2:5).
That Day is fast approaching. Please do not reject any Gospel message you hear. As Wesley said, “man may refuse it; God will not compel.” The fact that the Gospel exists is a praise to the Lord who died as the substitution for our sin, becoming sin who knew no sin and enduring all of God’s wrath as punishment for it. And it is a praise to Him who was resurrected and who now sends witnesses, ambassadors, and missionaries to proclaim His beautiful truth- that He loves you and He wants you to become part of His family. As in the OT times, God’s willingness to spare and bless the nation and spare and bless and individuals who repent still stands. But equally true, as Paul said, there will come a day when His righteous judgment will be revealed. I can’t imagine how it will be for those who have heard but who have consciously and willfully rejected Him. Worse still, having rejected Him for the reason they they want to extend their season of sin is a terrible reason.
Sin is actual rebellion against God. It is not a matter of taking pleasure in alcohol, adultery, homosexuality, carousing, thievery or what have you. No. In fact, each of those acts and all sins are a direct poke in God’s eye.
So as you pray tonight, pray for all those who have heard the Gospel message and have refused to repent. Our missionaries asked, “pray with us that they will desire the hope that is only in Christ, obey the conviction of the Holy Spirit, and receive Jesus as the Savior and Lord of their lives.”
“Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! Why would you have the day of the Lord? It is darkness, and not light, as if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him, or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall, and a serpent bit him. Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it?” (Amos 5:18-20)
First, the earthly hardships that go along with a storm of this size are incredible. Frankly, when the Tribulation hits, the last place you want to be is in a city. Bug OUT if you want to survive.
Anyway, as millions upon millions are discovering now, living on any floor above, say fifth, means a lot of walking up and down stairs. No elevators. No running water. That means you have to lug water up, if you can even find any. No flushing, unless you stored water ahead of time and can use it to flush the toilet. No food, or if you find some, you have to lug it up. If you go out on the street there are a lot of other tired, desperate, hungry, thirsty people. There were twitter meet ups planning a mass looting, so it is even more dangerous than usual to be out and about. Then cabin fever sets in. What to do with the kids for days on end inside an apartment with no internet, tv, or PlayStation? And where would you even go? The subways aren’t running, along with bus and most likely, cabs. The streets are littered with tree limbs, flood sludge, dangling electrical wires, and debris. Even if you want to get out and about it is impossible and dangerous.
And then the rats arrive. The UK Daily Mail helpfully reminds us that “Rats are highly social individuals and live in a fairly stable social structure. If this storm disturbs that, rats could start infesting areas they never did before.’ There are precedents for rats being displaced by floods and forced into buildings. In the UK this summer washed out rats began infesting homes. ‘It’s not just about the high winds and rain,’ said Ostfeld. ‘A rat disturbance is something we should be concerned about.’ “
So the city is a bad place in the best of times. It is downright survival UNfriendly in the worst of times.
But what about spiritual survival? I pray that those who know Jesus have remained peaceful even in the face of terrible fear, adrenaline-pumping protection of your children, in evacuation, or even in the face of loss of all you owned. Jesus is the rock who will provide help to you spiritually to work through these hard times. (Psalm 9:9). What a Savior we have who promises help in times of trouble! Before I was saved I used to mock Jesus because I thought, wrongly, that if you were a Christian that meant you would never have trouble. So when trouble inevitably came to His believers, I thought he was powerless and ineffectual to protect them.
I know different now. Jesus said that in this world you will have trouble,
“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”’ (John 16:33)
The difference now is that my faith in Him has shifted my perspective from one of clinging to temporal, earthly things, like a house and clothes and a car or a job, to Him in eternity. I have an eternal perspective and the treasures I am heaping up are hopefully faith, patience, love, kindness and other fruits of the Spirit that point to HIM. If I go through trouble (and I do) I rely on His peace and His grace and His Spirit to get me through. He is my Light. Being in the Light is warm and safe and peaceful. Nothing can trouble me when I am in the Light.
But for those who do not know the Light and are in the dark, it is a dark place indeed. Having an earthly perspective means that we see only to the end of our lifespan on earth, 40 or 70 or 80 years. That is not long. Anyone who is over 50 knows how short life is! And when some of that is taken away, a job or a car or a house, unbelievers get frantic because it takes time to build back up and if all you see are a few short years of life then there is no time!
Back to Manhattan being dark. Imagine the lost people in New York in the dark as the people in Amos’s verse, stumbling around in the dark during the Tribulation, AKA The Day of the Lord.
“Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! Why would you have the day of the Lord? It is darkness, and not light, as if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him, or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall, and a serpent bit him. Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it?” (Amos 5:18-20)
They reel from one calamity to another, in gloom with no brightness.
The NYC photo of darkness is a real and scary event that is happening to millions right now. But it is also a spiritual metaphor for those who are stumbling around with no hope, they are in spiritual darkness. After the rapture there will be only darkness. Sin will have its day and the gates of hell will be allowed to prevail and overcome the world and the saints. (Revelation 13:7)
Repent now and be in His Light! In Him was the Light of men and in Him there is no darkness at all. (John 1:4-5). I’m not saying that if you repent of your sins and ask Jesus to forgive them, and become a born again (John 3:14) that you won’t have a tornado slam into your house or a flood carry your car away or that other disasters won’t touch you. Not at all. But you will be able to handle them with the Holy Spirit in you giving you strength, and the forgiveness and sanctification of Jesus giving you peace.
“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)
Please come into the Light, the Light of Jesus and His outstretched hand offering forgiveness of your sins. Repent and believe, for the time is short.
I was reading a weather report regarding Hurricane Sandy Frankenstorm. The CT Post calls it a “freakish and unprecedented monster.” This is the storm of mega-proportions that due to its combined elements of tropical storm, arctic nor’easter and unusual trajectory have made an historic storm of never-before-seen power. Millions will be affected by this Sunday-Tuesday with wind, rain, and snow. The impacts are expected to linger well into the weeks or even months. Power is expected to be out for days along the most populated segment of the nation: Washington DC to Boston Mass or even as far north as Portland, Maine. That is according to current weather analyses.
It seems that the storms have been coming one upon the other, almost. This is true for the entire globe, but especially true for America. It was a year ago May that the tornado outbreak at Joplin MO hit, wiping out the town and a good many other towns too. Then we had severe drought, wildfires, snow, derechos, floods and more in a non-stop train of disasters and storms. In addition, there have been thwarted terrorist attacks, mass shootings, Molotov cocktails, and unparallelled violence in Detroit and other cities. Then we had wars, cyberwars, and overseas involvement in successful and failed missions (Benghazi, anyone? WHO left them to DIE?).
People are weary. Just when we got over one set of disasters or near disasters, another one occurs that is worse. The Frankenstorm is a case in point.
I was reading an article about the coming storm that called it a hybrid, 800 mile storm set to impact millions and tens of millions of people. In the midst of the hubbub of the actual event, so large the mind can hardly contain what may be coming, one man’s tears moved me.
“Across the street, Douglas Jumper, whose first floor took on nearly 5 feet of water during Irene, was tying down his patio furniture on Friday and moving items in his wood shop to higher ground. “I’m tired. I am tired,” Jumper, who turns 58 on Saturday, said through tears. “We don’t need this again.”
What is happening in the world is a battle. It always has been a fight since the fall, but because we are close to the end the battle is more furious, more visible, and more potent against the humans who dwell on the earth.
Christians know we’re in a spiritual battle. Secular people don’t, but we do. Satan rages against God and against His children. God rages against sin. The Christian battles his own personal sin, and each of suffers from the effects of it and from the effect of others’ sins. It is a fight all the time. We must be constantly vigilant, (James 4:7) on guard (1 Peter 5:8) and wearing our armor. (Ephesians 6:10-17). Even having the Holy Spirit in us to energize us, it is a weary thing to always be on guard against a relentless and intelligent enemy bent on our destruction. Ask any soldier. (Illustration: artist unknown, Illustrator of Henry Davenport Northrop’s ‘Treasures of the Bible’, 1894)
The bible warns us against growing tired and losing heart.
“Let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not lose heart.” (Galatians 6:9)
Notice the word IF. This says to me that it is possible to lose heart. The verse is talking about not getting tired of being kind and patient and loving. We become appalled at obstacles, disheartened at betrayals, grief-stricken over sin, and sometimes we just plain tire of the battle.
Jeremiah said in chapter 45:3 “You said, ‘Woe to me! The LORD has added sorrow to my pain; I am worn out with groaning and find no rest.'”
Imagine how hard it is for those people who do not have the Holy Spirit in them to help restrain their sin, grow in Christ-likeness, and in doing well to others. How is it for them who do not know Christ and wonder at the storms. I awaken this morning to news of a 7.7 quake in British Columbia (Mark 13:8) and a tsunami warning for Hawaii and small tsunami waves already hitting the American west coast. So both the east of America and the west are being pummeled.
The man from the article, Mr. Jumper, comes to mind. I do not know if he is saved or not, but his weariness just struck me. I can empathize. The battle against the worldly elements must seem insurmountable…one storm after another means that there is constant activity to protect, board, evacuate, adrenaline flowing, family members to be rounded up, cared for, evacuated. Then the waiting through the storms, never knowing if your home will even be there after it is all said and done. Then afterwards the constant activity expended to get back up and running, repairs, insurance calls, re-building….
And then it happens again. And then again.
We are told that the end time is like a woman giving birth. The long gestation began when Jesus ascended and will end when He returns in glory. As the pregnancy nears its bloody conclusion the discomfort grows as the pressure increases to unbearable levels. And when the labor pangs begin the pain only increases in frequency and intensity. The brief periods of respite between the pangs grow shorter in duration and soon before one can catch one’s breath the next pang comes crashing down. It is like that with the Frankenstorm and the major earthquake. And the Tribulation will be so much worse. We need more than ever to carry each other’s burdens. (Galatians 6:2).
Annie Vallotton, Gal 6:2
Without the Lord, I don’t know how people even cope. Perhaps they are not coping.
Battle fatigue:
Wikipedia explains, ‘Now called “Combat stress reaction (CSR), is a term used within the military to describe acute behavioral disorganization seen by medical personnel as a direct result of the trauma of war. Also known as “combat fatigue”, historically, it has some link to shell shock. Combat stress reaction is an acute reaction including a range of behaviours resulting from the stress of battle which decrease the combatant’s fighting efficiency. The most common symptoms are fatigue, slower reaction times, indecision, disconnection from one’s surroundings, and inability to prioritize.”
Satan brings disorder into our physical world by afflicting humans (Job 1-2; 2 Corinthians 12:7; Hebrews 2:14). The disorder is not just external but internal also. In my opinion I believe the symptoms many people are feeling, whether they know they are in a battle or not, are symptoms of battle fatigue.
Image from World War I taken in an Australian dressing station near Ypres in 1917. The wounded soldier in the lower left of the photo has a dazed thousand-yard stare, a frequent symptom of “shell-shock”. (Wikipedia)
Literally, I awaken each morning wondering what dread thing might have happened overnight. Is Damascus destroyed? The verses in Isaiah 17 say that it will happen suddenly. Destruction comes quickly, was there an earthquake? A volcanic explosion? The labor pangs are increasing to a degree where their effects cannot help but be felt in the world by the people. People are internalizing the stress of the economic times, the moral times, and the potential for natural disaster. These internalizations, fears, tragedies, worries have an effect on the mind and the body.
Franz von Stuck, “War,” c. 1894
The underlying root cause of all this is a spiritual battle over the deed to the earth. (Satan has already lost and our Savior owns the earth and everything in it (Revelation 5:5; Psalm 24:1), but satan refuses to believe that, so he presses on, and God lets Him, until the time is right for us to be taken up and the times to end.)
“Fret not yourself because of evildoers, and be not envious of the wicked, for the evil man has no future; the lamp of the wicked will be put out.” (Proverbs 242:19-20)
Gill’s Exposition explains that verse so well: “For their calamity shall rise suddenly,…. And come upon those that fear not God, and rebel against the king and the state, and innovate in matters of religion; and especially that bring in damnable heresies, and, while they cry Peace, peace, and are pleasing themselves with their new schemes and prosperous success, swift and sudden destruction comes upon them.”
We rejoice in our Holy Savior who does these holy things. There will be much singing in heaven over His conquering of sin. But watching the world be warned and punished is HARD. And it has its effects. We are battle weary too! Those who do not have Jesus are even more battle weary. At least we know the time is short. They don’t know when this will ever end, and for many who do not heed the warnings, it never will.
Be aware that the spiritual battle of this world is taking its very real and physical toll on people. Brethren, do not grow weary. The writer of Hebrews said,
“not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:25).
I believe this is why: battle fatigue. Its effects are real. Do not grow weary. It is the last hour! The Lord is near, indeed, He is a very present help in times of trouble. (Psalm 46:1)
“but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (Isaiah 40:31)
Here is some news for you. There really is too much these days to cover comprehensively. The nearness of the Tribulation is truly astonishing, and getting closer each second. The events lining up in the Middle East, the deepening financial depression with no solutions in sight, the earth events such as quakes, sinkhole, storms etc, the X-flares from the sun, hatred of Israel and the Jews worldwide, the sinful behavior of people with all their violence, the false teachers and tickled ears that refuse to hear the Gospel, … I am shaking my head in amazement.
You know that the United States is rapidly becoming a Third World country, don’t you? Our debt, lack of manufacturing, loss of influence and stature in the world, shrinking military…all have combined to bring the wolves to the door. A Russian sub patrolled our shores in the Gulf of Mexico for almost a month and we didn’t notice. Or if we did, we didn’t say anything.
All I can say is, the election won’t solve our problems. And besides, even if Romney wins, it is a long time until the inauguration. Anything could happen.
In addition to foreign former superpowers nosing around our shores undetected, and global monitoring teams watching our elections, we have had a spate of Molotov cocktail throwing incidents. “The Molotov cocktail is a generic name used for a variety of improvised incendiary weapons. Due to the relative ease of production, they are frequently used by amateur protesters and non-professionally equipped fighters in urban guerrilla warfares. They are primarily intended to set targets ablaze rather than instantly destroy them.” (Wikipedia)
A Molotov cocktail was thrown in a Virginia Mall this week. “Leon Alphans Traille, Jr., 29, has been charged with committing arson for allegedly throwing a Molotov cocktail into the food court area of the Ballston Common Mall in Arlington, Virginia.” He threw it from the second floor balcony into the food court. It did not explode but it did ignite. The flames were extinguished. There is no more innocuous place in America than a mall food court. Can you imagine sitting there, munching on an Orange Julius or a Au Bon Pain croissant and suddenly the floor next to you is aflame and you’re running screaming down the hall?
This news piece is graphic. A Molotov cocktail was thrown onto a guy and it did light up, burning the man. “Police in the United States have released shocking video of a 54-year-old man being set on fire as he was sitting outside a market in the state of California. “The victim was waiting for his father to get food, minding his own business, when the suspect came from an alley and threw an object at him, a bottle,” Sergeant Aaron Eaton of the Long Beach Police Department told local media. The graphic surveillance video, released on Sunday, shows the suspect tossing a Molotov cocktail at the victim, who was sitting on the ground outside a Long Beach, California market on Friday evening. The victim, engulfed in flames, runs into the nearby parking lot, where witnesses helped put out the fire. He is in serious condition with burns to the lower part of his body, his hands and his face, and his name is being withheld.”
This one is out of Hurst TX. “Federal agents are trying to identify who threw small explosive devices at a lawyer’s office and an oil company in Hurst. Firefighters discovered Molotov cocktails when they responded to a report of a fire in the 1200-block of Southridge Court on Sunday morning, said Andrew Young, a spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.”
Throwing an incendiary device on an innocent bystander is horrible! Unconscionable!! As this writer said,
“Increase of Wickedness” – There is a pattern of lawlessness dominating our society today that throughout history was found in civilizations in the process of decline. It is a pattern evident in nations that rejected God’s Word as ultimate authority in their lives and is a pattern prevailing in many Americans today. Scripture tells us that… Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold. [Matthew 24:12]. I believe America’s rejection of Christ’s lordship is the reason behind all the bloodshed, violence, racial hatred, moral decay, drug abuse and outbreak of deadly sexual diseases in our society. Lawmakers, educators and the media have made God an unspeakable subject…
So now there’s this Frankenstorm looming. I wrote about it on Tuesday when the computer models were first showing something that would be worse that 1991’as Perfect Storm. Then I updated it early this morning. Since then, the computer models have lined up and there seems to be something of a 90% chance that this storm will be as bad as they feared. Forecasters warn East Coast about ‘Frankenstorm‘:
“It’s looking like a very serious storm that could be historic,” said Jeff Masters, meteorology director of the forecasting service Weather Underground. “Mother Nature is not saying ‘trick-or-treat.’ It’s just going to give tricks.” National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecaster Jim Cisco, who coined the nickname Frankenstorm, said: “We don’t have many modern precedents for what the models are suggesting. … It’s almost a weeklong, five-day, six-day event,” he said from a NOAA forecast center in College Park, Md. “It’s going to be a widespread, serious storm. … Some have compared the tempest to the so-called Perfect Storm that struck off the coast of New England in 1991, but that one didn’t hit as populated an area. Nor is this one like last year’s Halloween storm, which was merely an early snowfall. “The Perfect Storm only did $200 million of damage and I’m thinking a billion,” Masters said. “Yeah, it will be worse.”
Regarding the Louisiana sinkhole I’ve been reporting about, the people near it have been evacuated, but the sinkhole keeps growing and the return-home date is not in sight. Officials: Math doesn’t work; end to evacuation is unclear “The math isn’t adding up in Assumption Parish, and some parish officials are worried about what might be happening underground near a Bayou Corne area sinkhole. … With this uncertainty as well as other factors — such as the natural gas still trapped underground — officials said the end date of the evacuation of the Bayou Corne and Grand Bayou communities remains unclear. “Until we figure out what is going on below the surface, it would be very negligent on our part to ask these people to come back into their homes,” Assumption Parish Sheriff Mike Waguespack said. The evacuation has been in place since the evening of Aug. 3, hours after the sinkhole was found south of La. 70 South on Texas Brine’s leased property. The evacuation affects about 150 homes.” …
“A sharp tremor was recorded by USGS monitors just after 9 p.m. Wednesday at the site of the giant Louisiana sinkhole in Assumption Parish.”
Gazans fire 80 rockets at Israel in last 24 hours “Eighty rockets and mortar shells hit the western Negev on Wednesday, in the second day of one of the most severe rocket barrages on southern Israel in recent years.”
UN expert: Boycott companies in Israel settlements “UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. special investigator on human rights in the Palestinian territories called Wednesday for a boycott of all companies that have dealings with Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem…”
Sudan angry, defiant after attack that it blames on Israel “Sudan remained defiant and angry Thursday after a fatal late-night bombing of a weapons factory in that east African country – a sophisticated attack a Sudanese official continued to blame on Israel.”
The sun is pretty active. Spaceweather.com reports magnetic froth. Sounds pretty! But it packs a punch. “MAGNETIC FROTH: Sunspot AR1598 has quieted down since unleashing an X1-class solar flare on Oct. 23rd. It might be the calm before the storm. The sunspot is still large and apparently potent, as shown in this image captured by amateur astronomer Sergio Castillo of Inglewood, California:”…
This is a very good essay by Randy Alcorn on the upcoming election. he deals with all our objections, lol. Personally I am hoping for the rapture prior to election. Obama can HAVE the world, then.
“But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.’ (Hebrews 11:16)
the-end-time.org 