Category: prophecy

Posted in charles darwin, end time, mockers and scoffers, prophecy

Was Darwin wrong? a new study asks

Posted on by elizabethprata

Now here’s a headline that ought to brighten the day of any Christian:

Darwin May Have Been WRONG, New Study Argues
“A new study published in Biology Letters argues that Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution may have been wrong. While Darwin argued that competition was the key force driving evolution, a research team from the University of Bristol argues that “living space” is in fact the primary driver. Michael Benton, a co-author of the study, said his team concluded that “competition did not play a big role in the overall pattern of evolution. “Throughout geological time, patterns of global diversity of tetrapod families show 97 per cent correlation with ecological modes,” Sahney writes in the Biology Letters article co-authored by Michael Benton and Paul Ferry.

That Darwin’s theory, and remember it is only a theory, is being challenged at its most basic precept, is not cause for concern. Science almost always goes through iterations. Remember alchemy? Trying for almost a thousand years to turn lead into gold? For a long time scientists used to think the earth was the center of the universe. It was only 150 years ago we began to understand about germs. Even though DNA was discovered in 1859, it wasn’t until the middle of the twentieth century that scientists accepted that DNA was the main part of heredity, not proteins. And every week it seems like, there is a new “missing link” that will solve the issues in evolution. Now there is a new key theory of evolution itself.

Science is not bad. It is good. But science should not be a religion. The failures and problems with the theory of evolution should cause any person, Christian or not, to realize that such a notion could never answer the fundamental question of the universe: where did we come from? We came from God, who formed us with His hands. It is laughable to think that we came from monkeys, or further, that one animal changes into another, as the theory of evolution proposes.

Publicly disbelieving in evolution these days provokes a more severe reaction than ever. People are not holding back their contempt for the notion of a God-formed world, their derision for people who accept it, and their mocking of our submission to His order of things. But we should not be surprised, we were told that in the last days, there would be mockers and scoffers.

2 Peter 3:3-4 states “knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” Jude 18-19 states “how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit…”

Along those lines,  in defending a young earth, faith in Jesus, and creationism, people have said the following to me lately:

“not just you – all believers in any supernatural systems have very simple processes at work.”
“Wow, you are so blissfully ignorant. Have fun with that.”
“I have a big problem when people get hope, meaning etc from a supernatural beings. I would rather they got those things from self-belief, their education and an understanding of the collective power of people.”
“of course you think that. Your brain has engineered itself that way”
“please consider that thinking for yourself and looking around are unsettling but rewarding experiences”

Those are the mild ones. The ones that use profanity or hurl threats or insults, I blocked and/or deleted. Christian, things are going to get worse before they get better. The world will increasingly hate us and love satan. Please pray for your teenagers and young adults who are in college or living away from home and will undoubtedly be enduring such mocking at an overt and a covert level. They are most as risk. Pray for each other to be strong and willing to stand up for bible truths, no matter how unpopular they are in this fallen world. After all, God’s Word is forever, and the fads and mistakes in different theories come and go, sometimes monthly. God’s truth will never pass away, and neither will the Christian who believes!  

Posted in end time, prophecy

Hanging on a tree, Jesus became curse for us

Posted on by elizabethprata

In Deuteronomy 21:23a it is written: “His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;)”

Jesus was hanged up on a tree.

In Acts 5:30: “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree,” Peter reminded the Jews of the curse. The weight of this knowledge would have been very heavy upon them.

Jesus became curse FOR us so that we would not have to endure the curse.

Repeated again in Acts 10:39- “And we are witnesses of all things which He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree.”

The Jewish leaders likely thought that Jesus’ disciples would give up after their leader was killed in such a cursed and embarrassing manner. And it was so. The crucifixion shattered the disciples’ hopes. They were dejected and said, “But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel.” (Luke 24:21a). Can you imagine their confusion? Jesus never had lived like they thought Messiah would live: He ate with sinners, He did not perform ritual washing prior to eating, He spent time with lepers, He rebuked the religious leaders. He was not a conquering King they had surmised, but a quiet shepherd. They had gotten used to all that, His not living the way they had thought, but then Jesus didn’t even die like they thought.

Philippians 2:6-11: “who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

HOW Jesus died is almost as important as the reason He died. He became curse for us, and sin is curse. The apostles preached the crucifixion constantly. One example is in 1 Corinthians 1:23- “but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness…” Sin is something God hates because “the sting of death is sin.” (1 Cor 15:56). He does not want any to perish!

Posted in column of fire, end time, prophecy

Brazil’s rare column of fire

Posted on by elizabethprata

An extremely rare “fire tornado” raged across part of Brazil yesterday. In Aracatuba, in southern Sao Paulo state, a tornado of fire was seen during a brush fire. This is a rare event that occurs when a fire is whipped up by strong, dry air currents to form a vertical whirl. They can consist of a whirlwind of hot air around or within the flames or a vortex of fire itself, as the UK Telegraph explains.  Also known as “fire devils” or “fire whirls”, they can uproot trees up to 49 ft. Fire tornadoes are usually 30-200ft and a few meters wide, and last only a few minutes. But some of the largest can be more than a half a mile tall, contain winds over 100mph, and persist for more than 20 minutes.

There are two things here to consider. First, it is an example of yet another “extremely rare” phenomenon occurring in conjunction with a natural event. Increasingly these days we see headlines that say “unprecedented” or “rare” such as the numerous impact collisions on Jupiter, or floods in a place that gets less than two inches of rain in a year. In Ladakh, Himalayas, “a place where even a few raindrops are extremely rare and houses are flat-roofed and built with clay, the storms has caused the worst natural disaster in the region’s history.” Keep your eyes open for headlines that contain those phrases, or even contain the words “perplexed,” or “stumped.” Jesus said the signs on His return would include increasingly devastating natural events (Mt 24:7-8) and would gain momentum in frequency and intensity. The fire tornado is just such an example of a birth pang sign.

Second, I’d recommend watching the video a second time, while thinking about the LORD’S presence on earth as a column of fire. (Exodus 13:21) Imagine how it as for the Israelites to follow such a wonderful, fearful, and awesome phenomenon! What did they think about as they followed Him, and the fire burned but did not consume the ground beneath it? Were they in continual awe? Or did they become jaded and accepting of this miracle? How wonderful that our God cares about us so much He would lead them into a place of safety and a land perfectly suited for them. Jesus will do it again, He will manifest Himself on earth, smite the rebels, and lead us into a place of safety and love that He, Himself, prepared for us.

As for the news these days, we do not need to be perplexed nor stumped. Paul assured us that if we are walking closely with the Lord, and watching for the signs, “But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.” (1 Thess 5:4)

Maranatha!

Posted in end time, moon, prophecy, signs in the sun

Signs in the sun, moon, stars: Jupiter impact

Posted on by elizabethprata

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

The planet Jupiter has been enduring some spectacular collisions lately. Another one occurred last night. According to spaceweather.com,

“FIREBALL ON JUPITER: On August 20th at 18:22 UT, two amateur astronomers in Japan independently recorded an apparent impact on Jupiter. Masayuki Tachikawa of Kumamoto city was first to report the event. His movie of the fireball shows the fireball scintillating (twinkling) along with other features on the planet — persuasive evidence that this is a genuine event on Jupiter. Soon after Tachikawa made his report, Tokyo amateur astronomer Kazuo Aoki realized that he had recorded the fireball, too:

“The ~800 km separation of the two observers rules out an event near Earth and reinforces the association of the fireball with Jupiter. The most likely explanation: A small comet or asteroid hit the giant planet. This is the third time in only 13 months that amateur astronomers have detected signs of impact on Jupiter. The earlier events occurred on July 19, 2009, and June 3, 2010. Jupiter is getting hit more often than conventional wisdom would suggest, leading many researchers to call for a global network of telescopes to monitor Jupiter 24/7 and measure the impact rate.”

Did you notice that line in there, “hit more often than conventional wisdom would suggest…” That is what birth pangs are all about, God’s increasingly direct intervention into the world until finally at each increase more and more people realize that it is God doing these things. Until the end, when He has done all He will do and there are still some who refuse Him. Then He stops.

Keep looking at the signs! “He answered and said to them, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.” (Matthew 16:2-3)

“Conventional wisdom” is man’s wisdom, which we know is not worth anything compared to God. “For we were born yesterday, and know nothing, Because our days on earth are a shadow.” (Job 8:9)

Our days may be a shadow but He is the Light! And He is shining it increasingly brightly on earth. Are you ready for it to get brighter? The future’s so bright we gotta wear shades!

Posted in end time, prophecy

How long must the Lord tarry? Habakkuk asked the same thing

Posted on by elizabethprata

Any sensitive Christian these days must be feeling what I am feeling. The gravity of the times and the perilousness of the dwindling time for the lost weighs heavily on me. I mourn the lost: the hand of Jesus is outstretched to one and all, but many bat it away, or refuse to see it in the first place. The knowledge that millions will be lost forever is truly an ache in my heart. As the time of rapture grows closer, and their moment of deadline for choice grows nearer, that ache grows worse. Jesus said that many will be lost, the way is broad, and books will be opened (while the saved are so few their names can be contained in one book). Knowing how terrible hell is, and knowing how the perishing have to literally step over Jesus to get there, the pointlessness of their loss is absolutely crushing to me.

But we are told these days would come, and that they would be perilous: “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: “For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power.” (2 Timothy 3:2-5)

The violence in the world is another ache. Some days the ache is only dull, other times, like today, the ache is sharp. The regard for human life is at a low, but I won’t say an ‘all-time low’ because that low regard for life and the high violence will get worse during the Tribulation. In these last days of the Church Age, though, the violence is certainly bad enough. The commonness of child-murder in the form of abortion has lent itself to this low regard for life. Lately there have been so many shootings. Today we read, “A shooting in U.S. state of Virginia left three people dead and four injured, local police said Monday. Lowe said Sponaugle shot dead his own son and a nephew, while wounding four relatives including his wife. One of the wounded, a nephew, suffers life-threatening injuries.” The killing was over property rights. In another mass shooting “[A]t the City Grill restaurant in Buffalo, New York left four people dead and four injured. The AP reports that one of the victims was celebrating his first wedding anniversary at the restaurant in the business in downtown Buffalo.” As for the motivation in the Buffalo shooting, “Nobody knows why,” Martin said. “Somebody else was just shooting in a crowd.” In the Philippines, “A sacked cop hijacks a bus, takes hostages, and kills eight of them.” His reason? He wanted his job back.

I hear of tragedies and shootings and rebellious atheism and hatred of Jesus, and I just weep for Jesus. He is so good, so kind, so patient, dying for us, and we simply spit at Him and His love. I was asking in prayer today “Why, Oh, Lord? Why do you wait so long? Why do the unjust prosper? Why do the children suffer?” and He led me to Habakkuk, an Old Testament prophet asking the same questions 2700 years ago.

O LORD, how long shall I cry,
      And You will not hear?
      Even cry out to You, “Violence!”
      And You will not save.
      Why do You show me iniquity,
      And cause me to see trouble?
      For plundering and violence are before me;
      There is strife, and contention arises.
      (Hab 1:2-3)

The Lord replied:

“ Write the vision
      And make it plain on tablets,
      That he may run who reads it.
      For the vision is yet for an appointed time;*
      But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie.
      Though it tarries, wait for it;
      Because it will surely come,
      It will not tarry.”

The *cross reference in His answer is to Daniel 8:17, which is: “So he came near where I stood, and when he came I was afraid and fell on my face; but he said to me, ‘Understand, son of man, that the vision refers to the time of the end.’ “

The LORD answered Habakkuk in chapter one that He was planning to take care of the immediate problem in Habakkuk’s days, by raising up the Babylonians to punish the Israelites. But more importantly, God said in Chapter 2 that overall justice would come, but in the last days.

I pray that people will come to know Jesus’ love. I also pray that His justice will be done. He will not be mocked. Killings and murders and knifings and beheadings and most important, hatred of God and His glory are equally tragic and troublesome to my spirit as those who refuse His love. He came as the Lamb. He will come again as the Lion. Are you ready? May His will be done.

Posted in defense wall, end time, IDF, prophecy

Jerusalem takes down a defense wall

Posted on by elizabethprata

“And ye have numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses have ye broken down to fortify the wall.” (Isaiah 22:10)

Isaiah 22 depicts a warning to the people of Jerusalem. It begins, “Oracle concerning the Valley of Vision”. Jerusalem was known as the Valley of Vision because that is where God revealed Himself to the people. The People were preparing for war because the Assyrians were coming. They stocked up water in the Lower Pool. They gathered materiel such as weapons and chariots. They strengthened the wall by tearing own houses to use for materials. The people were busy, busy, busy. However, they were not doing the one thing they should have been doing: praying. They had not looked to God as their strength and protection, nor had they repented, and in this chapter God was telling Isaiah to chastise them for it.

From ancient times to now, outer city walls were used as a defense against marauding tribes or attacking armies. They provided a vantage point from which to defend the town, and also to watch out for coming trouble. They were almost always masonry, and thick. In Isaiah 21:6 we are told that a common practice was for a watchman to make rounds atop the wall and report on unusual activity. “Meanwhile, the Lord said to me, “Put a watchman on the city wall. Let him shout out what he sees.” (Also 2 Samuel 13:24). Nineveh’s walls were 100 ft. high, with 1500 towers, and broad enough for three chariots abreast. Walls are important.

“and you will say, ‘I will go up against the land of unwalled villages. I will go against those who are at rest, that live securely, all of them living without walls and having no bars or gates,” (Ezekiel 38:11)

However, by the time the last days arrive, Jerusalem is dwelling “safely”, that is, confidently. Some of this misguided attitude may be due to her mental state because Jerusalem has vanquished Damascus in Syria (Isaiah 17:1) and has defeated a large coalition of neighbors who attack her (perhaps in retribution for Syria’s defeat, Psalm 83). Israel relaxes her guard.

And her guard is not all that relaxes. For whatever reason, she had taken down her walls, bars, and gates. Israel never suspects the next attack, coming from a quarter she most assuredly should have suspected: Iran (Persia) and others: God says “I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws and bring you out with your whole army—your horses, your horsemen fully armed, and a great horde with large and small shields, all of them brandishing their swords. Persia, Cush (Ethiopia) and Put (Libya) will be with them, all with shields and helmets, also Gomer (Turkey) with all its troops, and Beth Togarmah (Armenia) from the far north with all its troops—the many nations with you.” It is a big alliance that also includes Russia. (Ezekiel 38:4-5)

Which is why this article caught my attention:

AFP/Getty Image

Israel takes down wall near West Bank settlement
The Israeli military yesterday began removing part of an eight-year-old concrete wall which once protected an Israeli settlement from gunfire and shelling, citing sharply improved security as the reason. The Palestinian Authority pointed out that the move, which does not affect the much longer 450-mile separation barrier, will have no impact on the lives of local Palestinians. But it seized on it as making the case for a wholesale easing of restrictions on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

I am not a military expert, but it seems to me the situation in and around Israel is more tense than less. Is more fraught with military intrigue and subterfuge, than not. The Gaza Flotilla attack in which Israel Defense Force soldiers were summarily battered with pipes and shot at was only a month ago.  A Lebanese sniper shot an IDF soldier two weeks ago, when the soldier was simply pruning a tree. Yet Israel feels safe enough to remove a wall from behind which for many years snipers had shot and many attacks had come.

The people had fortified the walls in Isaiah’s day when they had not consulted God. Their strength was misplaced. The Assyrians came and they defeated Jerusalem, despite her fortified walls. Today, they are taking down a wall when they had not consulted God, again placing their own strength and abilities in reading the situation above God’s perspective. Israel’s problem today is the same as it was 3000 years ago: they need God. He is their wall, their hedge. And though He is close to them, and will save them from the coming attack of Gog-Magog alliance, they are not close to Him. Yet. The Gog-Magog battle will change all that. But meanwhile, Israel’s penchant for thinking her safe when she isn’t, continues. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!

Posted in end time, false christ, prophecy, vissarion

"For there will come false Christs…" Vissarion is one such false Christ

Posted on by elizabethprata

“Vissarion, who has proclaimed himself a new Christ, conducts a service during the “Holiday of Good Fruit” feast in the village of Obitel Rassveta (Cloister of Sunrise), southeast of Russia’s Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, August 18, 2010. Former police officer Vissarion gave up his original name of Sergei Torop and created a sect in 1991, whose members give up their property to join the construction of a so-called Sun City on the slopes of the mountain where their leader is.”  REUTERS/Ilya Naymushin

Vissarion, who has proclaimed himself a new Christ, conducts a service during the “Holiday of Good Fruit” celebration in the village of Obitel Rassveta (Cloister of Sunrise), southeast of Russia’s Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, August 18, 2010. REUTERS/Ilya Naymushin

Members of the religious sect led by Vissarion, who has proclaimed himself a new Christ, take part in a procession on the eve of the “Holiday of Good Fruit” celebration in the village of Petropavlovka, southeast of Russia’s Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, August 17, 2010.  REUTERS/Ilya Naymushin

Sergey Anatolyevitch Torop (born January 14, 1961) known by his followers as Vissarion (Виссарион), is a Russian mystic. He founded and heads a religious movement known as the Church of the Last Testament with its head church in the Siberian Taiga in the Minusinsk Depression east of Abakan, in the southern Siberia Kuraginsk district of Krasnoyarsk territory. He has around 4,000 followers (called Vissarionites) in around thirty villages in the immediate vicinity of his base at Sun City, while having approximately 10,000 followers around the world. Vissarion claims to be a reincarnation of Jesus. He teaches reincarnation, veganism, and the impending end of the world, or at least of civilization as we know it. His religion combines elements of the Russian Orthodox Church with Buddhism, apocalypticism, collectivism, and ecological values. His followers observe strict regulations, are vegans, and are allowed no vices such as smoking or drinking alcohol. Money is banned. The aim of the group is to unite all religions on Earth.

Jesus told the disciples that “many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many.” (Matthew 24:5) Jesus said this at the beginning of the Olivet Discourse, and these few sentences at the beginning prior to verse 9 or so mark the end time. After verse 9 discusses the Tribulation, but Jesus was speaking in general of the birthpangs at the beginning of the Olivet Discourse. That means now. And it is so, many have come in His name claiming to be Him or from Him when they are not.

“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.” (Col 2:8)

“But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!” (Galatians 1:8)

The lost are easily led to a darker forest that the one they live in already. Please pray that these, and all the lost, are led back to the Light. Holy Spirit, let their eyes be opened!

Posted in earthquakes are increasing, end time, prophecy

The number of earthquakes is on the rise

Posted on by elizabethprata

Ask a scientist at the United States Geological Survey (USGS) “are earthquakes on the rise?” and their answer is “As more and more seismographs are installed in the world, more earthquakes can be and have been located. However, the number of large earthquakes (magnitude 6.0 and greater) has stayed relatively constant.” And: “Although it may seem that we are having more earthquakes, earthquakes of magnitude 7.0 or greater have remained fairly constant.”

This is not true. Data is data. It cannot at the same time be extra sensitive & giving more information, yet be fairly constant and the data really stays the same. Those two statements are at odds with each other. Below their explanation about the number of large quakes staying constant, they present a chart. Not included in the chart data (but is included above it) is the number of average earthquakes for that particular magnitude. For the last eleven years, including this partial year, there would be 44 data points for quakes in the 5, 6, 7, and 8 magnitude. Of those 44, 22 are running above the average. Half of the categories are higher than average, which means it is not “fairly constant.”

They continue: 

“A partial explanation may lie in the fact that in the last twenty years, we have definitely had an increase in the number of earthquakes we have been able to locate each year. This is because of the tremendous increase in the number of seismograph stations in the world and the many improvements in global communications. In 1931, there were about 350 stations operating in the world; today, there are more than 8,000 stations and the data now comes in rapidly from these stations by electronic mail, internet and satellite. This increase in the number of stations and the more timely receipt of data has allowed us and other seismological centers to locate earthquakes more rapidly and to locate many small earthquakes which were undetected in earlier years. The NEIC now locates about 20,000 earthquakes each year or approximately 50 per day.”

If we accept their explanation about advanced sensitive seismological instruments in more places are helping them to locate more earthquakes each year, let’s cut off the data at 2005 and start from 2006 (meaning we look at three and a half years of data). I cannot believe that in the last three years the USGS has placed so many new seisomological pieces of equipment at every station so that the data would be gathered at such a dramatically increased pace. Looking at the last few years, we have 24 data points, and we are still running more than fifty percent above average.

*running ahead of average
red indicates categories exceeding annual average

You can search for yourself. The USGS allows data input by year, depth, magnitude, and intensity. I searched for year and magnitude. The USGS’s insistence that earthquakes are not increasing is not supported by the data. I agree, one year of higher than average earthquakes in a category or two would be an anomaly. However, almost every category running higher than average for several years in a row, is not an anomaly. It is a pattern.

Christians know that one of God’s signature languages is earthquakes. Throughout human history He has used them to demonstrate His power, His wrath, and His promises. A keyword search for “earthquake” in the bible results in many examples, here. One of them is:

“From the LORD of hosts you will be punished with thunder and earthquake and loud noise, With whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a consuming fire.” (Isaiah 29:6)

One of them will be: “And there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder; and there was a great earthquake, such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty.” (Rev 16:18)

We are promised that the signs of the end will contain earthquakes: “For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will also be famines. These things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.” (Mark 13:8)

Who are you going to believe? Man, who says everything is normal and earthquakes are not increasing? Or God, who said He will send earthquakes as a sign of the beginning of the birthpangs? I always believe God and I can see that earthquakes are increasing. This means Jesus will return soon, because we’re promised that as soon as you see these things begin to happen, look up, for your Redemption draws nigh. Are you ready?

Posted in end time, moon shrinking, prophecy

The Incredible Shrinking Moon

Posted on by elizabethprata
The moon is shrinking.

Fox News reports that “14 previously undetected small thrust faults — the physical markers of contraction on the lunar surface — were found to be globally distributed around the moon in thousands of photos returned by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. … The surface is pushed together by internal forces,” Watters told SPACE.com. “When it breaks, it literally thrusts material upward because the surface is contracting. That contraction, we think, is coming from internal cooling of the moon. We now know that’s a global process, so it means the moon is shrinking globally — very likely because it is continuing to cool.”

Oh, really. A normal process? Maybe so. Or maybe not.

Luke 21:25 says that in advance of the Second Coming (not the rapture) there will be signs in the sun and the  moon and the stars. For a while now, the signs in the sun and the stars have been in some state of pre-fulfillment. We know that the prophesied birth pangs Jesus spoke of are the advance warning signals that will come to fruition subsequent to the birth, which is the beginning of the Time of Jacob’s Trouble, AKA the Tribulation. However, that event will not begin suddenly without warning because, well, gestation, birth pangs, and labor are visible and knowable. So are the times of these signs.

I’ve seen signs in the sun in the form of extended and inexplicable solar minimum, a sudden cessation of the minimum to strong geomagnetic storms, sunspots so large they’re visible to the naked eye, activity in the stars such as meteors and fireballs galore. But so far…so far…signs in the moon have been absent. Until this week’s discovery.

At Gather.com, they wrote that “Astronomers say that the moon, which we rely so much upon for a little bit of light at night, is shrinking. The astronomers have spotted wrinkles all over the lunar surface.”

An absent moon is one of the signs we see in Revelation, the book which depicts God’s promised wrath against His people Israel and against unbelievers. In Revelation 8:12, the fourth Trumpet Judgment is, “the fourth angel sounded, and a third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the stars were struck, so that a third of them would be darkened and the day would not shine for a third of it, and the night in the same way.” We DO rely on the moon for light at night as the reporter at Gather.com said. So will the Tribulation folks. Darkening the moon will cause disorientation of all kinds. It will confound scientists. It will interrupt the Believers who must follow the moon to determine the feast-times. And it will cause fear and dread to rise in the hearts of those who are delaying their decision to believe in Jesus or not. (The final decision of whether to take the Mark of the Beast will not come until Rev 13. Until then, people may still choose Jesus. After Rev 13, there will be no more fence-sitters; you will have taken the mark to worship satan, or you will have accepted Jesus blood of salvation.)

The scientist at the Fox News article tries to reassure us through the perspective of man’s theories of science: “The incredible shrinking moon:  According to the study, there has been about 328 feet of change in the moon’s radius over the course of about 1 billion years, said Watters.” That the moon is shrinking is highly likely. That it has taken 1 billion years to do so is, of course, an error.

Soon, after the Rapture, the signs in the moon and sun and stars will be incontrovertible. In Joel 3:15 we know that during the time of Jacob’s Trouble, “The sun and moon grow dark, And the stars lose their brightness.” The God who “made the moon for the seasons; The sun knows the place of its setting” (Psalm 104:19) will no longer know the place of its setting, or, at least, people who dwell on earth will not see it set because it will be dark. Who can make the sun grow dark? Who can shrink the moon? Our Glorious Creator, and He does it for His purposes.

His purpose in this moment now is to show His power and glory in gentle ways as signs of the Trouble to come, so that all may come to repentance. Will you repent? Admit your sins (wrongs) and turn away from them? No one needs to dwell in the darkness of their life for one moment longer, not when the outstretched hand of Jesus is waiting to lift you into His Light.

[HT to Charlie for the heads up on this sign]

Posted in buring koran, dove outreach, end time, prophecy

Conduct unbecoming Christians

Posted on by elizabethprata

Florida Church Forbidden from Burning Quran

“Florida authorities have forbidden a church in Gainesville to burn the Quran on the anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks. If the church burns the Qur’ans it would suffer a financial penalty. This is due to the municipal law in Gainesville, which prohibits the burning of books in public. However, the church has announced that it plans to burn the books on September 11 in any case.”

The church is non-denominational, and their Facebook page has a statement of intent on this day that call “International Burn A Koran Day:” “On September 11th, 2010, from 6pm – 9pm, we will burn the Koran on the property of Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, FL in remembrance of the fallen victims of 9/11 and to stand against the evil of Islam. Islam is of the devil!” They say their mission is “To bring to awareness to the dangers of Islam and that the Koran is leading people to hell. Eternal fire is the only destination the Koran can lead people to so we want to put the Koran in it’s place – the fire!”

How un-Christian can you get. How misguided can you be.

Though it is true that Islam is of the devil, so are all religions that do not acknowledge that Jesus is the one and only path to salvation. The Koran is not leading others to hell, satan is. Islam is not the enemy, satan is. Focusing on the symptom and not the cause is a mistake, and attacking it is worse. We are not to attack, but to resist. We are not to burn and hate, but to love. There is nothing that we as Christians can do that will be worse than the unbeliever’s eternal torment, but engaging in hateful and negative behaviors this side of judgment is only a confirmation of the unbeliever’s suspicion that Christians, under “their God,” are intolerant.

When unbelievers use the word intolerant, they usually mean “unforgiving.” Forgiveness is what marks the Christian from the rest of the intolerant world, because at the root of forgiveness is love. Who can forget the Amish extension of forgiveness to the murderer of their children and the family of the murderer? In 2006, a suicidal killer rounded up girls aged 6 to 13 inside their school, bound them, laid them down, and massacred them execution style. Several of the parents of the slain girls and others went to the father of the killer, and consoled him. The sobbing father of the killer took one hour to be consoled, but in his grief and shame the love of Jesus shined through the arms holding him. When the Amish instead urged all to forgive, it was a remarkable display of Christian love that reverberates to this day. Satan, that old enemy, had gotten inside the killer’s head and influenced him to do a heinous thing, but the Amish response to this terrible event was love, not hate.

If the Amish had responded with pickets, or burnings, or clenched fists waving angrily, the reverberations for the Kingdom of God would not resound in His courts, but instead, be resounding in the hellfire that satan dwells in. Burning Korans is a senseless and pointless activity that only widens the gap between souls needing salvation and souls who should know better.

Muslims are not our enemy. Satan is our enemy. Muslims are simply lost souls waiting to be harvested. Our love and forgiveness could be the seed that the Holy Spirit grows into wheat, and not chaff destined for the fire.

Note the two images on this blog entry, the book burning far above and the prayer circle just above. Our children are watching you, Dove World Outreach Center. What image do you wish to be indelibly imprinted on their minds? One of forgiveness, or one of hate?