prophecy – Page 59

daniel, end time, future shock, many shall run to and fro, prophecy

Space jumping and Daniel’s prophecy

Posted on October 20, 2012May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

“But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.” (Daniel 12:4).

Does this prophecy, the famous one in Daniel, mean that technology and science and widespread travel are a sign of the end times? Yes and no.

First of all, the end time has been since Jesus ascended and will end when He returns. In that case, the advances of the Romans in installing indoor plumbing, aqueducts, hot and cold running water, as many roads as are equivalent with the United States Interstate system, and the Colosseum are indicators of the end time as much as our current Interstate, the Houston Superdome, and Kohler’s no-touch kitchen faucet are.

As a matter of fact, no one still knows the how the ancients came up with the technology behind the Great Pyramid at Giza, as mathematically, architecturally, and astronomically perfect as it is.

So what does the verse in Daniel mean? Barnes’ Notes proposes one interpretation:

“Many shall run to and fro – Shall pass up and down in the world, or shall go from place to place. The reference is clearly to those who should thus go to impart knowledge; to give information; to call the attention of men to great and important matters. The language is applicable to any methods of imparting important knowledge, and it refers to a time when this would be the characteristic of the age. There is nothing else to which it can be so well applied as to the labors of Christian missionaries, and ministers of the gospel, and others who, in the cause of Christian truth, go about to rouse the attention of men to the great subjects of religion; and the natural application of the language is to refer it to the times when the gospel would be preached to the world at large.”

MacArthur explains it this way:
“At that time, many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall be increased.” Now this is a most interesting phrase, been interpreted many ways. Let me give you what is the basic interpretation, the words, the context that I think makes real sense. It is not talking about the increase of scientific knowledge primarily, although that may be an allusion or an implication that could be drawn. What it is talking about is this, many people in the Tribulation, the time of the end, are going to run to and fro trying to find out answers to what’s going on. And they’re going to find the book of Daniel and at that point, their knowledge will be increased.”

So I don’t think we can be dogmatic that this or that is definitely what the verse means. After all, the Lord said to seal it up until the end. If we are still debating what it means then obviously He hasn’t unsealed the meaning to us yet, though we do have more of a clue today than in Daniel’s day, I believe, because we are so close to the end

Francis Bacon, English philosopher of the 1600s Restoration was influential in insisting that the advances in science currently underway should be for the betterment of man. He urged a more utilitarian approach instead of a contemplative one, and thus, he was a forerunner of the Industrial Revolution. However, just as ominously, Bacon said in his major work, “Novum Organum” (the second part of the Instauration), he stated his view that the restoration of science was part of the “partial returning of mankind to the state it lived before the fall”, restoring its dominion over creation, while religion and faith would partially restore mankind’s original state of innocence and purity.” (source)

In this way, Bacon kicked us into high gear in replacing God with science.

Bacon’s motto was “Multi pertransibunt & augebitur scientia” = “many will pass through and knowledge will be the greater”, as seen on the frontspiece of his major work. It is a direct reference to Daniel’s verse.

The title page of Novum Organum depicts a galleon passing between the mythical Pillars of Hercules that stand either side of the Strait of Gibraltar, marking the exit from the well-charted waters of the Mediterranean into the Atlantic Ocean. The Pillars, as the boundary of the Mediterranean, have been smashed through opening a new world to exploration. Men have been unleashed to sail new waters of thought, science, and technology. Bacon hoped that empirical investigation will, similarly, smash the old scientific ideas and lead to greater understanding of the world and heavens. The Latin tag across the bottom is taken from the Book of Daniel 12:4. Bacon is thought of as the father of empiricism.

So each age has been amazed by science and technological advances. However up above I said ‘yes and no’ to the question as to whether technological advances are a sign of the end time. I don’t think it can be related firmly to the Daniel verse but I also think it can be seen as a mirror of man’s status a la Tower of Babel.

As man’s achievements grow, his pride grows too. The prouder man gets of his works the more he says he doesn’t need God. I also believe this generation has seen the most growth in God-dishonoring science and technology than any generation before. “Safe abortions”? What an oxymoron. Safe for whom, exactly?? We go into space to prove God is not there. Though we have heeded Bacon’s plea to create things from science and technology for the betterment of man, we have also gone far away from God with it.

“Future Shock is a book written by the futurist Alvin Toffler in 1970. In the book, Toffler defines the term “future shock” as a certain psychological state of individuals and entire societies. His shortest definition for the term is a personal perception of “too much change in too short a period of time”. Toffler argued that society is undergoing an enormous structural change, a revolution from an industrial society to a “super-industrial society”. This change overwhelms people, he believed, the accelerated rate of technological and social change leaving people disconnected and suffering from “shattering stress and disorientation”—future shocked.” (Wiki)

I believe that we are in a state of future shock now.

Though things did change dramatically between 1950 and 1970 when Toffler observed and prompted him to write of the advances and their impacts in society, that change has accelerated even more dramatically from 1970 to now. This isn’t just a feeling. It is actually related to technological change, and has been observed in Moore’s Law.

Moore’s law is the observation that over the history of computing hardware, the number of transistors on integrated circuits doubles approximately every two years.

“The capabilities of many digital electronic devices are strongly linked to Moore’s law: processing speed, memory capacity, sensors and even the number and size of pixels in digital cameras. All of these are improving at (roughly) exponential rates as well. This exponential improvement has dramatically enhanced the impact of digital electronics in nearly every segment of the world economy. Moore’s law describes a driving force of technological and social change in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.” (source)

Vernor Vinge popularized his ideas about exponentially accelerating technological change in the SF novel Marooned in Realtime (1986), set in a world of rapidly accelerating progress leading to the emergence of more and more sophisticated technologies separated by shorter and shorter time intervals, until a point beyond human comprehension is reached.

This accelerating trend has continued for more than half a century.

My half a century.

When I was born, man had not gone into space yet. Now a man jumped from space to the earth. I believe this most rapid change in technology and science has been due to the birth of the modern computer age in 1970. The world’s first general microprocessor came out on Nov. 1971 and we have never been the same.

In this bewildering world of advanced quantum technology, iPhones, space jumping, Mars roving pace, please remember that the Lord never changes. He is steady constant, and eternal. His timing is perfect. At just the right moment He will call us home, and our joy will be complete. Personally, I’m looking forward to a world without cell phones 🙂

earthquakes, fiscal overlord, middle east, prophecy

EU goes for Fiscal Overlord, Tensions in Mid-East, earthwquakes in diverse places, more news

Posted on October 20, 2012May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Here is some news I feel is of prophetic importance.

Yesterday I posted a piece about how the world is bent on uniting. The unification of world’s religions (ecumenism), and the unification of world economies rampant. The pace at which economies are melding into one is breathtaking. I had posted a quote from an article: “The competition Czar is the arch-enforcer of the EU machine, with powers to launch dawn raids, deploy SWAT teams, and block mergers on his own authority.”

Wow, that is a lot of power. But that wasn’t the point of the article. In addition to the Competition Czar, the call for a European Union Fiscal Overlord shocked many in Europe: “EU “currency commissioner” with sweeping powers to strike down national budgets; a “large step towards fiscal union.”

Well, today they decided to go for it. They are going to make one man be Europe’s Fiscal Overlord. UPI reports, “EU leaders agreed to create a single banking overseer for the eurozone that could aid ailing banks…” Germany and the UK hassled over some details, but it looks like it will be a done deal. The timeline is as follows: “The 27 EU heads of state and government agreed “on a political framework for the end of 2012 and a gradual implementation in 2013” of a new EU single supervisory mechanism

As I had mentioned in the previous blog about this topic, The Tower of Babel is an object lesson on how mans evil is magnified when man congregates. His pride and his rebellion always comes out when man unites. Further, there is a problem when one man wields tremendous power: there are fewer, if any, checks and balances.

Here is some more news:

WEATHER

Dust storm shuts down interstate in northern Okla.
“A massive dust storm swirling reddish-brown clouds over northern Oklahoma triggered a multi-vehicle accident along a major interstate Thursday, forcing police to shut down part of the heavily traveled roadway amid near blackout conditions. In a scene reminiscent of the Dust Bowl days, choking dust suspended on strong wind gusts shrouded Interstate 35, which links Dallas and Oklahoma City to Kansas City, Mo. Video from television station helicopters showed the four-lane highway virtually disappearing into billowing dust on the harsh landscape near Blackwell, plus dozens of vehicles scattered in the median and on the shoulders. “I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Jodi Palmer, a dispatcher with the Kay County Sheriff’s Office.”

Small earthquake rattles western Nebraska
” An earthquake has rattled western Nebraska, but local officials aren’t reporting any injuries or property damage.The U.S. Geological Survey says a magnitude 3.6 earthquake happened at 11:21 p.m. Wednesday. It was centered about 18 miles northwest of Hyannis.

Moderate earthquake rattles Egypt, felt in Israel
5.0-magnitude quake comes two days ahead of Israel’s large-scale preparedness drill
“A moderate earthquake rattled Egypt early Friday morning and was felt as far as Israel, two days before a scheduled nationwide earthquake-preparedness drill here.The tremor, measuring a magnitude of 5.0 on the Richter scale, occurred at approximately 5:30 a.m. local time. It did not cause any injuries or damage, according to initial reports.The epicenter of the quake was approximately 95 miles (150 kilometers) north of the Egyptian coastal city of Alexandria.”

Tornadoes, severe storms swat Southeast; 7 hurt
“At least four tornadoes were part of the storm system that raked northern and central Mississippi on Wednesday night and Thursday morning, injuring at least seven people, the National Weather Service said. … Radar weather maps overnight showed a huge, arcing front that swept across Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, and parts of states such as Louisiana and Alabama on its march eastward on a jagged slant.”

CULTURE

Feminist Agenda

A self-stated feminist Christian woman wrote this- which is an oxymoron. One cannot be a feminist AND a Christian.

Woman Lives Biblically: Feminist Calls Husband “Master”
“A woman who decided to live “biblically” for one year and wrote a book about her findings is garnering heaps of praise and criticism for her decision.

“Rachel Held Evans, who describes herself as a feminist Christian, says her end goal had everything to do with being a woman, despite what her critics are saying. “Evans says she wanted “To call into question that there is a single blueprint of how to be a woman. There’s no single model in the Bible – as soon as you think you have found it a woman comes along and breaks it. Everyone picks and chooses. There are verses that say ‘submit to your husband’, but also those that say ‘submit to one another’. The more women know about the bible the more they can respond when people try to silence them.”

“During what she calls “The Womanhood Project“, Evans made her own clothes, grew her hair out, lived outside her home in a tent when she was having her period, called her husband “Master”, and sat alone on the roof of her home as penance after deciding she had been gossiping or nagging, which comes from the Bible verse “it is better to live in a corner of a roof than in a house shared with a contentious woman”. In doing so, she hoped to gain a greater understanding of the Bible and a woman’s role according to it, which is sometimes presented as contradictory passages.”

For Denny Burk’s take on the book’s premise (he wrote it before the book was published) go here.

Homosexual Agenda

Marriage Law likely headed to Supreme Court
A federal appeals court ruling on Thursday has catapulted a New York case to the head of the line, as the Supreme Court considers which of many cases it should use to decide whether the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is constitutional. For more than a year, the lower courts have been issuing decisions striking down DOMA, declaring the law’s provisions to be unconstitutional discrimination. The statute defines marriage as being only between a man and a woman, meaning that the federal government is barred from recognizing same-sex marriages even when they are legal and recognized by state law. So, if a same-sex couple is legally married in any of the six states where gay marriage is authorized, that marriage is not recognized by the federal government.”

Abortion Agenda

“Republican U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh backtracked slightly on his controversial remarks about abortion, saying today that there are “very rare circumstances” in which a pregnant woman may need to undergo an abortion to save her life. The comment stood in contrast to the tea party icon’s declaration following a Thursday night debate that medical advances had rendered it unnecessary to ever perform an abortion to save a mother’s life.”

Google “backlash,” “Walsh” and “abortion” and you will see the ruckus the abortion pushers made. It caused the staunch pro-life politician to “backtrack slightly” which really means he tucked tail and ran like a scalded dog.

MIDDLE EAST

Lebanon spy chief killed as Syria tensions spill over border
“A massive bomb ripped through a crowded Beirut street killed Lebanon’s most senior intelligence official and at least seven others as Lebanon divisions over Syria’s civil war spills over into factional conflict.”

Turkey fires on Syria in retaliation following shell launch
“Turkey’s army fired on Syria on Friday after two shells launched from Syria landed in Turkish territory, Turkish state broadcaster TRT reported, underlining how tension between the two neighbors remains dangerously high.”

Smoke is seen after a Syrian jet dropped a bomb in Idlib province, as seen from the Turkish border Friday.

Clashes erupt at Greek anti-austerity protests
“Greek police clashed with anti-austerity protesters hurling stones and petrol bombs on the day of a general strike that brought much of the near-bankrupt country to a standstill.In the second major walkout in three weeks on Thursday, almost 40,000 protesters marched in Athens in a bid to show EU leaders meeting in Brussels that new wage and pension cuts will only worsen their plight after five years of recession.Tensions mounted when a small group of protesters began throwing pieces of marble, bottles and petrol bombs at police barricading part of the square in front of parliament, prompting riot police to fire several rounds of teargas to disperse them.”

You see fires like that and read that it was caused by someone throwing a Molotov cocktail in Greece and you don’t gasp because people just don’t do that in the US. But when we read of a Molotov cocktail being thrown at a Virginia Mall, now we gasp.

Arson charge after Molotov cocktail
“The man accused of throwing a Molotov cocktail into the food court at a northern Virginia mail stood silently and refused to answer any questions at an initial court appearance Friday.Leon Alphans Traille Jr., 29, of no fixed address, was charged Friday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria with arson. … A court affidavit says that a man matching Traille’s description threw a Molotov cocktail — in this case a brown glass bottle holding at least 16 ounces of flammable liquid with matches taped to the bottle — into the mall’s food court shortly after noon Thursday. The device did not explode but produced a flame that was extinguished, according to the affidavit. Traille then went to second floor of the mall and left behind three similar bottles before leaving, according to the affidavit.”

That is just a bit of the news for you. I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and pray always. Jesus is our Savior and our Sustainer, Far from being disheartened by these things, we take comfort in knowing the things He told us would happen are happening, so His word is true. We love that He is coming soon. Be listening fo the Trumpet while always loving one another in spirit and in truth.

Till next time, if there is one…

false teachers, merchandise, priscilla shirer, prophecy, rob bell

Peter’s prophecy fulfilled: False teachers who make merchandise of you

Posted on October 17, 2012 by elizabethprata

Here is a prophecy in 2 Peter 2:3 that has recently come to my attention. Read it in different translations:

“In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.” (NIV)

“And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.” (ESV)

And my favorite translation of the verse;

“And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.” (KJV)

Looking at the verse in context, Peter is warning about false teachers to come. The ESV’s heading for the entire chapter is called “False Prophets and Teachers” and the chapter goes on to describe all the qualities of false teachers and prophets who are prophesied to come. Peter opens with chapter 1 in reminding the brethren that our salvation is sure, and that Christ’s word in the prophetic is glorious. He tells us in chapter 2 about those prophecies, namely focusing on the false teachers and prophets, and then continues the thought in chapter 3, reminding the brethren to think on these things and be duly warned. He then reassures the church that the Day of the Lord will come, and all the false teachers and prophets will be dealt with in due time.

We are told in His word that what will happen is that false teachers will make the Word a merchandise and they will exploit the believers. They do this because they are greedy. When it happens it will not be because they made a mistake, or briefly had a period of a wayward interpretations, or due to Christian immaturity. The bible says they do it on purpose and they do because they want money.

So back to the verse. Are the brethren exploited? Is the word being merchandised? Yes.

The consumerism in current Christianity bothered me when I attended the Beth Moore live weekend “bible study” at the Time Warner Arena. The slickness of the extravaganza was shocking, and the prices of food the vendors were charging really made me think of the moneylenders in the temple.

When the Fireproof movie came out I was struck by the push to buy the DVD, the books, the “Love Dare” diary. I mentioned that in another blog post, that fads in Christianity seem to come with their own cottage industry or marketing and merchandising of trinkets.

Same with the Courageous merchandise. You can buy a pack, complete with The Resolution For Men Book, the Resolution Certificate print (as seen in the movie) and the FREE Bonus I Resolve/I Will wristband. Hurry while supplies last.

Then I read of all these mega-church pastors who quit their post at a church to go on book tours.

There is nothing wrong with a pastor writing a book. Nothing. What the prophecy says is that they will be false, they will write false things, and make merchandise out of the false words and they will exploit the people who support them. And that, my brethren, is exactly what is happening today.

Rob Bell, founder of Mars Hill Bible Church in MI, recently released the heretical book, Love Wins. Love Wins impugns the character of God by saying that hell is not real.

After the book was a runaway success, Bell resigned the ministry and went on a tour. An article in Crosswalk noted, “Bell’s resignation makes him the latest in a string a celebrity pastors who have said goodbye to weekly sermons, potluck dinners and other staples of church life. “A New Kind of Christianity” author Brian McLaren, “Crazy Love” author Francis Chan, “Deep Church” author Jim Belcher and the popular British Bible scholar N.T. Wright have all left their church leadership positions in recent years.”

Bell left his church “to pursue a growing number of strategic opportunities.”

The article states, “For pastors with ambitions to reach huge audiences, there’s often no better platform than the megachurch, which has given rise to powerhouse media empires from T.D. Jakes to Max Lucado to Joel Osteen and many others. But some high-profile pastors are opting to leave congregational ministry altogether to pursue publishing and other media ventures full time.”

Media empires is right. And the article correctly noted that the mega-church has become a ‘platform’ from which to launch that media empire, make a lot of money, and go on tour, leaving the picked-over flock behind.

Speaking of cottage industry, never mind the packets, kits, trinkets, and books, there are new businesses springing up to support the business of Christianity. For example, Alive Communications is a Colorado Springs, Colo., literary agency that represents megachurch pastors. Now pastors need agents? Apparently so.

Even the woman are getting in on it. Priscilla Shirer, daughter of popular preacher Tony Evans, is also her own cottage industry. “Conservative Bible teachers like Shirer have built a new paradigm for feminine preaching, an ingenious blend of traditional revivalism, modern therapeutic culture and the gabby intimacy of Oprah. … This theology has spawned a subculture of Bible studies, conferences, ministries, religious retreats and literature ranging from Christian fitness books to Christian romance novels, all produced by and for evangelical women.” (source)

Above, Priscilla Shirer, source

For the women who go on tour, this cottage industry is at the expense of biblical womanhood. The article notes that Mr Shirer spends much of the day negotiating Priscilla’s speaking invitations and her book contracts. In the afternoon it’s often Mr Shirer who collects the boys from school. Back home, Priscilla and Jerry divide chores and child care equally. “Jerry quit his job to run his wife’s ministry. Priscilla now accepts about 20 out of some 300 speaking invitations each year, and she publishes a stream of Bible studies, workbooks and corresponding DVDs intended for women to read and watch with their girlfriends from church. Jerry does his share of housework and child care so that Priscilla can study and write. He travels with his wife everywhere. Whenever possible, they take their sons along on her speaking trips, but they often deposit the boys with Jerry’s mother.”

And don’t forget to pick up your Shirer “I Am Resolved” tee shirt on your way out.

After Rob Bell left in a cloud of dust for his book and speaking tour, the remaining pastor at Mars Hill shortly decided to leave also. Shane Hipps said he enjoys “serving the broader church” by speaking and writing. The ‘broader church’ is code for, well, the world. Hipps worried that if he accepted the new role as main teacher after Rob Bell’s departure to serve the world, (they don’t call them preachers at Mars Hill), “I would have to dramatically reduce my service to the broader church which is an integral part of my sense of call.” Translation: I will have to be accountable to the elders and I’d have to curtail my book tours. Ix-nay on the teaching-ay. Who wants to be stuck at a podium preaching week after week when you can be a media darling and start an empire? Good bye Mars Hill, hello new book, “Selling Water by the River: A book about the Life Jesus Promised and the Religion that Gets in the Way.”

This writer below in the next article asks a good question, many good questions as a matter of fact. Who decided that these particular teachers speak for the local church?

None dare Call It Marketing: Lifeway, Beth Moore and the conspiracy to take over your church

“The idea of a celebrity Bible teacher, a teacher who teaches thousands and thousands of people through media, isn’t antithetical to the Bible’s presentation of discipleship, but it certainly isn’t normative. It’s not what the Bible has in mind. And one of the reasons is this: The ministry of the “celebrity” Bible teacher tends to undermine the ministry of the local church pastor.” … “What I will ask, however, is whether my fellow Christians have the courage to admit that Beth Moore and Rick Warren and the next publishing superstars are, in large part, promoted by Lifeway for profits? Not chosen by God, but chosen by Lifeway and other publishers for potential book sales? Lifeway would say chosen and promoted for the good of my church. Well, if it’s profitable. If you can’t see that, you’re naive.” … I’m distressed that Christian media’s capitalistic agenda has become the source of an unquestioned spiritual authority in so many churches.”

Me too.

John MacArthur exposits the Peter verse, “The operating motive, the underlying cause. Verse 3, “And in greed they will exploit you with false words.” Here’s another component that you need to know about. What drives them on the inside to do what they do? Listen very carefully. They’re not driven by immorality. They’re not driven by aselgeia, sexual immorality. You can do that by yourself. That’s not going to make you a false teacher. You can be immoral all alone in your own little world with just the people you choose to be immoral with, you don’t need to be a false teacher to be immoral. And if all they wanted to do was fulfill their sensual desire, they wouldn’t need to be a false teacher. But there’s another component. What is it? Greed…greed.”

“The driving force of their enterprise to be teachers is not the love of the truth, it’s not submission to the Lord, it’s not even sexual immorality, they can do that in the pew. The driving force is money. The word pleonexiameans uncontrolled greed. They’re expert at it. They’re in it to accumulate money. And watch them, they do. Verse 14 of the same chapter, “Their eyes are full of adultery…obviously…they never cease from sin, they never submit to lordship, they entice unstable souls…why do they do that?…because their hearts…boy, this is really graphic..are trained in…what?…greed.” They’re experts at it. They can con money out of anybody. They want money. They want money. They want your money. They want anybody’s money.’ … “They exploit you, they get rich off you with false words.”

Now you might deduce that I am offended at Christian merchandising of God’s word. That I am concerned with women who have their own cottage industries of tours of ‘bible studies” and products at the expense of their children, their husbands and their husbands’ jobs. But this next bit really gets me.

“Bell’s 2009 project, Drops Like Stars, explores the links between creativity and suffering. Drops Like Stars was an international tour and a book, initially handwritten by Bell, with photographs. The title of the project comes from a young child’s view of raindrops on a window at night. Rather than focusing on the conundrum of why an all-powerful God would allow suffering, Bell instead looks at the creativity, empathy, new connections, and growth that can spring from suffering. When asked in an interview how he had become interested in suffering, Bell replied that as a pastor he had been given a front row seat in the most poignant moment’s of people’s lives. At the same time he was doing lectures on creativity and realized, “There was a connection between these two halves of my life – all these connections between suffering and art-making.” (source)

He had a ‘front row seat’ to people’s spiritual and emotional pain, and decided to make money off it. This right there is a fulfillment of the worst kind of the prophecy Peter warned us about.

Though Bell’s book is a sad instance of the merchandising of God’s word and exploitation of His people, this one is just plain silly and ridiculous:

Pastors, at a loss for how to lead your church? Call Will Mancini, Clarity Evangelist. He will help you discover a unique vision for your church, and sell you a Unique Vision Kit, to boot.

Your church’s Unique Vision Kit
CHURCH UNIQUE BOOK: (1) Written to help you find your Church Unique and live a vision that creates a stunningly unique, movement-oriented church. (The Church Unique Vision Kit includes one copy of the book.)
LEADERS GUIDE: (1) Step by step instructions for the leader of the Church Unique Vision Pathway process. Everything you need to lead 8 vision clarifying team sessions.
DVD: (1) Video teaching from Will Mancini provides insight, encouragement, and inspiration.
PARTICIPANT GUIDE: (9) Map, journal, and sketch book to help each team member participate effectively in the vision clarification process. (Pick up your own 3 ring binders at your favorite office supply retailer.)
VISION DECK: (1) 52 optional exercises to inspire visionary teams.
JOE GROW: (9) Bendable figure empowers teams to explore the impact of vision on real people.
COMPASS KEY CHAIN: (9) Take home object lesson for team members.
COLLABORATION CUBES: (9) Table top team interaction style reminders for team members.
VISION FRAMES: (9) Customizable frame for team participants to record the vision outcomes.
ALIGNMENT RING: (1) Illustrates the power of a unified vision and momentum.
ROLE CARDS: (9) One laminated role card with key responsibilities for each team member.
MISSION CARDS: (9) One wallet sized card for each person to record your unique mission.
WALL CHARTS: (18) Posters that illustrate key concepts in the Vision Pathway Process as well as charts to capture your unique vision. (Pick up additional flip charts or blank sheets of newsprint to record ideas at your favorite office supply retailer.)

The 2 Peter 2:3 verse says “they will exploit you” or “they will make merchandise of you” and the Greek word for exploit is emporeusontai, from which we get the English word emporium. Emporium is a term used for a store selling a wide variety of goods, and for marketplaces or trading centers.

Making money is no problem. Writing a book is no problem. Having money is no problem. Being a megachurch pastor is not a problem (usually). But false teachers will come in, and not sparing the flock, they will exploit the Word and the people for their greedy purposes. I believe it is clear that it is happening to a high degree today. All I can say is,

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15)

end time, judgment, prophecy, revelation

Why is there silence in heaven for half an hour?

Posted on October 9, 2012 by elizabethprata

Here is some news that caught my eye. Prophetic mention after each news excerpt and a prophetic discussion below.

Raccoons taking over, hissing at New Yorkers
“A turf battle of sorts is taking place in some neighborhoods. Raccoons are invading. They’re getting into garbage cans, backyards and even breaking into homes. And what’s more, these resourceful raccoons are outsmarting the most determined of trappers, CBS 2’s Dave Carlin reported. Clinton Hill, Brooklyn resident Susan DeBrango snapped pictures of the suspects, their faces masked, trying to get inside her home. “They are adorable but not in your backyard when they impact your life,” DeBrango said. “When he saw at me he stood up on two legs and hissed at me.” They are getting more brazen on Washington Avenue, rummaging through trash, and running right up to neighbors. One even went face-to-face with Barbara Mattocks on her own front stoop. “I don’t want that feeling ever again. I was petrified,” Mattocks said. It’s gotten so bad, one 3-year-old Maltese named ‘Snowball,’ who used to love to play outside, is now a prisoner in his own home, according to his owner. “He refuses to go out in the yard,” Mattocks said.

One of the coming judgments will be the plague of animals. When the Pale Horse of death is unleashed, authority is given to “kill [a fourth of the earth] with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.” (Rev 6:6-8). A quarter of the earth will die from 4 methods and one of them will be by animal. [shudder]

Scientist predicts major earthquake in Middle East The Middle East may not possess the same reputation for seismic disasters as some other parts of the world, but that is of little comfort to the people of north-west Iran, over 300 of whom were killed when a twin earthquake struck the country’s mountainous region earlier this year. Destroying villages and injuring many thousands, the two six-plus magnitude quakes – striking the same location north-east of the city of Tabriz and spaced just 11 minutes apart – were among the worst to hit Iran since 2003, when an earthquake killed 25,000 people in the city of Bam. … We fear that a major earthquake in the Holy Land is imminent,” says Marco, whose research led him to conclude that following four major earthquakes in the region some 300 to 400 years apart in roughly the first millennium, the last 1,000 years of quiescence are a matter of grave concern for all in the Holy Land.”

“For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.” (Matthew 24:7).

God has always used earthquakes to warn, to judge, to demonstrate His power. It will be the same, but even more so, in the Tribulation.

Universe Today: Curiosity Finds…SOMETHING…on Martian Surface

“While scooping its first samples of Martian soil, NASA’s Curiosity rover captured the image above, which shows what seems to be a small, seemingly metallic sliver or chip of… something… resting on the ground. Is it a piece of the rover? Or some other discarded fleck of the MSL descent mechanisms? Or perhaps an exotic Martian pebble of some sort? Nobody knows for sure yet, but needless to say the soil samples have taken a back seat to this new finding for the time being.”

Large asteroid to pass by earth Friday Morning “An asteroid the size of a 7-to-10 story office building is expected to slide past the Earth early Friday at an altitude of 35,000 miles from the surface. The asteroid, designated 2012 TC4, was discovered less than a week ago by scientists. Experts said they do not expect any adverse effects from the asteroid. According to NASA, the 20-to-30 meter wide asteroid will pass Earth at 20 percent of the distance from the Earth to the moon, or 0.2 LD.”

Just discovered a week ago?!?! Passing by with a few miles? Oy.

The bible says “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” (Luke 21:25-26).

Personally I think the thing on Mars is a chip or a flake from Curiosity flying off in the descent. It is a stretch to say that the news of ‘something’ on Mars is a sign, because it isn’t, but it certainly does add to the sense of foreboding, and enhances the public’s proclivity to see aliens around every corner and conspiracy theories behind every water cooler. Especially when asteroids pop up out of nowhere. The truth is, society IS perplexed and in a state of foreboding, so news like this will only rattle the cages and pound the hearts all the more.

You know that war between Syria and Turkey is one mortar away, don’t you? Turkey has the 2nd largest army in NATO, after the US. Turks and Syrians have been exchanging shelling for over a week, Turkey is still burning due to Syria shooting down the Turkish war plane earlier this summer, and troops on both sides are mobilizing at the border. Syria’s Assad is thinking of making a national call-up to all soldiers. If they go to war, NATO will get involved. If NATO gets involved, the US will too. We’re part of NATO.

Turkish president says “worst case” unfolding in Syria “Turkish President Abdullah Gul said on Monday the “worst-case scenarios” were now playing out in Syria and Turkey would do everything necessary to protect itself, as its army fired back for a sixth day after a shell from Syria flew over the border. Gul said the violence in Turkey’s southern neighbor, where a revolt against President Bashar al-Assad has evolved into a civil war that threatens to draw in regional powers, could not go on indefinitely and Assad’s fall was inevitable. “The worst-case scenarios are taking place right now in Syria … Our government is in constant consultation with the Turkish military. Whatever is needed is being done immediately as you see, and it will continue to be done,” Gul said.”

The bible says, “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.” (Matthew 24:6) “And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.” (Revelation 6:4).

These are signs of the end, in one way or another. But people who mock and scoff say, ‘Wars and rumors of wars and earthquakes have always happened! And the raccoons are probably either rabid or sick! And so what there’s a metal flake was on Mars, that has nothing to do with anything!”

This kind of denial is rampant. It is also easy to deny because the quakes and animals and wars, though more intense and frequent, are “normal.” Even the catastrophes in Revelation 6 during the Tribulation are “normal” insofar as the society of those that dwell on the earth will explain them away just as people are attempting to do now. Bah, they will say, Wars and quakes and storms and disease are part of life on earth. But then Revelation 8 happens…

“When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.” (Revelation 8:1-5).

Why the silence? And what does that have to do with hissing raccoons, earthquakes, and Turkish war drums? Learn the Bible says, “There is a distinction between the seven seals [of Revelation 6] and the seven trumpets that indicates a shift in God’s dealings with man in the midst of the tribulation period. The seven seals bring judgment through either manmade or seemingly natural events. They are the judgment of God, but could be dismissed as natural events. The seven trumpets, on the other hand, are clearly supernatural in cause. They are clearly the pouring out of God’s wrath upon the earth. Revelation 8 describes a pause in heaven before this shift in judgment occurs.”

The essay at LTB goes on to describe more on why there is silence and what it has to do with worship. It is a good article, and sobering.

Do not wait for those times to repent. Repent now. Believe on the name of Jesus and the sacrifice for sins and which was accepted by God. God was pleased to crush His Son: “Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.’ (Isaiah 53:10).

The name of Jesus is the only name by which ye may be saved. “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)

bible study, end time, prophecy

How can I go deeper into the bible?

Posted on October 8, 2012May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

This is a lesson oriented lesson blog entry about how I go deeper from the bible. This morning I posted an essay about the parable of the wheat and the tares. Another word for tares in some translations is weed, and they both refer to darnel.

How did I know it was referring to darnel? I didn’t. But I did notice that in my bible there is a little footnote for verse 25. It led me to the bottom of the page, where the note said “c- 25 Probably darnel, a wheat-like weed.”

Darnel (left) is a weed that’s wheat-like? Hmmm. In going deeper in study, don’t stop there. Find out about darnel. I find it useful to ask questions. “Why darnel? Why not dandelion weed? What is it about darnel that the Spirit decided to use that representation for the weed in the parable, and not another? What does darnel look like?” And so on.

You notice later on in Matthew 13, the disciples went to Jesus and asked questions. They wanted to know the deeper meaning of the parable they’d heard. “Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” They took the initiative. The Holy Spirit delivers wisdom without reproach to all who ask, according to James 1:5.

I’ve found that having a book on the natural history of Israel is very helpful. Occasionally I check it out from the library. Someday I’d like to buy one for myself to have on hand all the time. I’ve looked up references to the animals, trees, birds, topography, and so on, many times. It always helps deepen my understanding of the Word, and also grounds me in the location.

So in pursuing the information about the qualities about darnel, I go to the Jewish Virtual Encyclopedia, or just Google ‘darnel’, and click on the sites that result in the search list that look credible.

I read a lot about darnel. I learned its agricultural properties and also the history of its use in either sowing an enemy’s field and the legal ramifications and also the medicinal properties of it that cause a poison-like reaction in people who consume it warm.

There are a multitude of parables, metaphors, and examples in the bible that are agriculturally related. America is an industrial society. Without looking deeper into the natural history references and understanding the agriculture, we miss so much. Here are some quick examples:

In Psalm 29:5 where it says “The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.” If you know that the cedars of Lebanon are exceptionally tall, straight and strong, (up to 130 ft high and 8 ft in diameter) it deepens the passage to understand that the LORD’S voice is quite powerful indeed to break such a sturdy tree.

The parable of the mustard seed means more when you learn that the seed is the smallest seed but grows the largest bush.

Knowing the topography of the Sermon on the Mount, that it is a natural grassy ampitheatre where the acoustics would have carried Jesus’s voice very far without amplification, is an interesting fact. Modern sound engineers have tested the place and concluded that a crowd of 7,000 would have had no trouble hearing Jesus’s words. According to the website See The Holy Land,

Salvadora Persica, Mustard tree

“About 1km northeast of Tabgha is a small bay with exceptional acoustic qualities. Here it is believed Jesus taught the Parable of the Sower (Mark 4:1-9) from a boat moored in the bay. The semicircular bay, at the foot of the Mount of Beatitudes, is one of the most attractive places along the shoreline. It is called Sower’s Cove or the Bay of the Parables. The slope of the hill forms a natural amphitheatre, rather like a Roman theatre. Acoustical research has demonstrated that as many as 7000 people could hear a person speaking from a boat in the bay. Pilgrims who test the acoustics, usually by reading the Gospel account, are amazed at how far the voice carries. This location was also an appropriate setting for the story of the sower and his seeds. There is fertile black earth, rocky ground and plenty of thorns and thistles.”

So to sum up about going deeper:

–ask questions to yourself about the passage, verse, or word. Not to doubt, but to enhance. Ask yourself why this word, what are the qualities of the tree/animal/plant that is being used as an example, etc. Get in the habit of asking questions. If you don’t have time to follow up then, keep a notebook next to your bible and just jot the questions down to look up later. For example, Acts 16:14 describes Lydia as “And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira…was a worshiper of God” so of course you would ask, “what is a seller of purple?” “What does it mean to be a worshiper of God (it meant something different in those days than it does now).

–Read the cross-references, and the footnotes. If a cross-reference sparks a memory or another verse but you do not have time to follow it up right then, jot it in the notebook- and then really look it up later.

–Use maps to see where the events took place, and note the place names around it. For example it helps to know that the ancient name for Damascus is Rabbah, and Salem is another name for Jerusalem.

–Take time to study the natural history, topography, and agriculture of ancient Israel. Knowing how they winnow, thresh, make olive oil, ferment wine, etc enhances the picture for you. In the Proverbs, there are four inconspicuous animals/insects that are lauded; the ant, the rock badger, the locust (grasshopper), and the spider. It would be fun to compare the real-world behaviors of each to see why the Lord applauds what these animals do.

Just yesterday in studying winnowing, I learned that the threshing-floor David bought from Ornan is atop Mr Moriah where the Temple was…and that it is also the place where Abraham (almost) sacrificed Isaac. Doesn’t it resonate, knowing that the the son of Abraham was almost sacrificed on the spot where the Son of Man actually was sacrificed? And that the threshing floor became the temple which will also be the spot that Jesus lands at the Second Coming?

This short lesson only discusses the agriculture, natural history or topography. Going deeper also involves looking at the original language, the historical context, and always accompanying prayer, among many other methods of going deeper. And at the most basic, just reading the text for what it is, a gift and a pleasure!

What do you do to go deeper into the bible?

gas, prophecy, secede, secession, tribulation

What the current secession movements have to do with gas in CA

Posted on October 6, 2012May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

I read the news and when I spot a pattern, I think about why a pattern of something has emerged. One news items is just a news item. Two on the same subject is a coincidence. Three, now that makes a pattern. When the pattern relates to prophecy, then I write about it.

The pattern is secession. There are three secession movements in the works, one of the three is not a threat but completed. Would you have thought that secession of Venice from Italy, the Lakota Nation from America and Catalonia from Spain are related to the California refinery problems and also to prophecy?

Here is the secession news.

The Lakota Sioux have been seeking independence from the Union since 2007 when they declared independence. This week (again) they announced secession.

“We are no longer citizens of the United States of America and all those who live in the five-state area that encompasses our country are free to join us,” long-time Native American radical leader Russell Means said. The move potentially impacts the states of Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana and Wyoming. … This time, [Activist Russell] Means detailed reasons for the secession including a long list of problems facing the Lakota, such as unemployment, healthcare and life expectancy as well use of natural resources. In a rambling video, he also added a massive number of reasons for why his new nation would be both strong and lawful – talking about everything from credit card companies to global warming as problems they aim to escape.”

The UK Telegraph is reporting today that Venice Italy is holding a mass rally to push for secession from Italy. Italy actually only became a nation in 1861. “Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north, it borders France, Switzerland, Austria, and Slovenia along the Alps. To the south, it consists of the entirety of the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Sardinia–the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea–and many other smaller islands. The independent nation-states of San Marino and the Vatican City are fully sovereign enclaved microstates within Italy, while Campione d’Italia is an Italian exclave in Switzerland.” [source]

Mass rally in Venice to call for independence from Italy
“Inspired by the nationalist aspirations of Scotland and Catalonia, pro-independence campaigners will hold a mass rally in the heart of the lagoon city on Saturday, calling for an urgent referendum to be held on the issue. Indipendenza Veneta, a newly-founded pro-independence movement, says it expects several thousand people to turn up for the rally. They will be ferried across the Grand Canal in gondolas to deliver a “declaration of independence” to the headquarters of the Veneto regional government. It may sound fanciful, and it will be fiercely resisted by Rome, but activists want to carve out a new country in north-eastern Italy which would comprise Venice, the surrounding region of Veneto and parts of Lombardy, Trentino and Friuli-Venezia Giulia. The “Repubblica Veneta”, as it would be known, would encompass about five million people.”

The Venetians were inspired by Catalonia, so here is the story of Catalonia, Spain’s secession issue. “Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, with the official status of a “nationality”.” (source). The map below shows the territory of Catalonia in red. The manila colored section to the west is Portugal. Spain is bordered to the north by France.

Spain: Catalonia increases push to secede
“Spain’s economic powerhouse Catalonia took its first step toward independence – and threatened to proceed unilaterally if necessary – in a serious challenge to Madrid’s already besieged central government, which is struggling with social turmoil and economic uncertainty. Catalonia’s conservative regional leader Artur Mas moved up local elections to Nov. 25 in an effort to secure the political mandate he needs to press the central government to authorize a referendum on independence. But he said that Catalonia could proceed with a referendum even if Madrid didn’t authorize one.”

The key reminder here regarding prophecy is that man’s boundaries fail. They look solid on a map, but they are fluid. If you know history you know that Europe changed dramatically after WWI. It changed dramatically again after WWII. In the 1990s it seemed that there was a new country every day, with the breakup of the Soviet Republic, the Czech states, Yugoslavia, and Bosnia.

The main idea is fragility. Man’s infrastructure of boundaries, nations, and governments are just that, man’s. When man sets boundaries, they eventually change or fail. Do not get too attached to the idea of “America” or the world continuing on as it always has been, or the idea of a unified Europe. It is shocking when things change fast, but if you are attached to Jesus you know He is permanent. Everything else dissolves away. Have compassion on those who are clinging to that which dissolves. They are disoriented and upset.

The secession movements we read about here may or may not come to something, but I’ll tell you one fact: eventually, and soon, all the nations will be carved up and re-knit together into a new world order of ten kingdoms, and then one final kingdom. Things are going to shift dramatically. (Revelation 13:1; Daniel 7:16-24; Daniel 2:41-42). That change has begun and is even well underway.

Now what does all this have to do with the price of gas in California? It is still about man’s infrastructure and its resultant fragility.

Refinery problems keep gas prices surging in California
“California gas prices continued surging Friday, adding another 17 cents per gallon on average, and the increases are expected to continue for at least several more days, ensuring long lines and short tempers at pumps around the state. A week of soaring costs has led some stations to close and others to charge record prices … Among the recent disruptions, an Aug. 6 fire at a Chevron Corp. refinery in Richmond left one of the region’s largest refineries producing at a reduced capacity, and a Chevron pipeline that moves crude oil to Northern California also was shut down.”

So two refineries were shot down and the nation’s largest economy and the world’s 8th largest economy overall is in total disarray. Hmmm. Man’s infrastructure is soooo fragile.

What is going on in CA is a micro-picture of what is going to happen when war breaks out in the Middle East. We know that war does break out eventually, because the bible clearly shows us that in the last days Syria, Egypt, Israel, Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Russia, Iran, etc go to war. Oil prices will skyrocket, if it is available at all. Just as the CA troubles show us, gas prices skyrocketed within days, where it is even available. And that is with just two refineries impacting the oil delivery system. When the oil is choked off at the source, the world will go bananas, and daily life as we know it will change instantly.

One example is in the article I linked to above. “Rebecca Olson, 43, of Irvine, drove to a Costco in Tustin hoping to find lower prices than the $4.65 in her neighborhood, but the pumps were closed. The part-time preschool teacher said her husband already spends $500 a month on gas, in part because he commutes nearly 100 miles a day to a new sales job after being unemployed for a year. They’ve already parked their GMC Yukon SUV indefinitely. If gas prices keep rising, Olson said they’ll sell her husband’s Infiniti G35 that requires premium fuel and buy a more efficient car, while making their children ride their bikes to their activities.”

You’ll see mules, donkeys, bikes, golf carts, mopeds and horses on the road again. Cars will be jettisoned to the side like dying dinosaurs.

Man has put an overlay of civilization down on the earth through artificial national boundaries, and criss-crossed it with electrical wires, roads, and pipelines, and then dotted the skies with satellites. All this will be wiped out. The coming earthquakes & tsunamis will take care of the pipelines and wires. Electro-magnetic pulses and sun-storms will zap the satellites and computer chips (which are in cars, too). Civil unrest will re-arrange the colorful swathes on the maps with names like America and Italy, and Canada like so many jigsaw puzzle pieces.

The new word for the era is “fragile”. And there is nothing we can do about the coming changes.

Except to repent and have faith in Christ! Trust Christ and you will have security of your soul forever, and you will become a citizen of the New Jerusalem in the New Earth. (Revelation 21:1-4). HIS boundary lines will never fail! HIS Light will never go out! (Rev 21:23). Become a Christian and get a new perspective about the coming changes, and you will not fear but rejoice.

jesus, middle east, prophecy, syria, turkey

UPDATED. The Obama debate failure, and Turkey-Syria tensions climb to unbearable levels

Posted on October 4, 2012 by elizabethprata

Another mortar has fallen into Turkish territory, and Turkey is even more incensed now. Turkey is a member of NATO. NATO nations are allied by treaty and must come to each other’s defense if attacked. The Lebanon Daily Star reports this afternoon, “Israel says Syrian mortar strike was attack on NATO. Says attack on one NATO member attack on all“

“PARIS: Israel’s Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor said on Thursday a deadly Syrian mortar strike on a Turkish town had to be considered an attack on a member of the NATO alliance. Israel is technically at war with Damascus and occupies the Golan Heights that it seized in the 1967 war and later annexed, but it has generally taken a cautious line on the uprising in its Arab neighbour. “One has to say that according to the NATO treaty, it was an attack on a member of NATO, and that means France,” Meridor told reporters during a visit to Paris, referring to France’s membership of NATO. Syria and Israel have not exchanged fire in three decades, and a parliamentary briefing in July by the Israeli armed forces chief about the risk of “uncontrollable deterioration” in Syria were interpreted by local media as a caution against opening a new fighting front with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.”

—————
As reaction to the Presidential candidate debate last night, The Washington Times reports,

HURT: Obama the debater: Making Jimmy Carter look awesome
“Bewildered and lost without his teleprompter, President Obama flailed all around the debate stage last night. He was stuttering, nervous and petulant. It was like he had been called in front of the principal after goofing around for four years and blowing off all his homework.”

It is so interesting to see what the Lord has in store for us here in America through these next weeks and months (Until January’s inauguration). Which king will he set up for us? Which King will he take down? How will we give an account to Him, individually, for our decisions?

It is also interesting to see the Lord’s work in the Middle East. This past June, Syria downed a Turkish jet. Turkey was angry and with their hair-trigger, almost retaliated militarily. NATO and the UN calmed Turkey down. The Reuters article about the June incident opened this way:

“Syria shot down a Turkish warplane over the Mediterranean on Friday and Ankara warned it would respond decisively to the incident that threatened to open a new international dimension in the 16-month revolt against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Syria said the Turkish aircraft was flying low, well inside Syrian territorial waters when it was shot down. With the second biggest army in NATO, a force hardened by nearly 30 years of fighting Kurdish rebels, Turkey would be a formidable foe for the Syrian army which is already struggling to put down a 16-month-old revolt.”

Always remember that. Turkey has the 2nd largest military in NATO, after America. They are hardened from fighting Kurds in the desert and they are less and less secular as each year goes on. The country is Muslim.

Then yesterday Syria shot mortars into Turkey. The spill-over of the revolution in Syria has affected Turkish citizens along the border. Turkey had been wary these last two years of the Syrian unrest, and then became inflamed ever since the June jet incident. The Turkish Parliament and the President became incensed after the shelling crossed into Turkey this weekend, and have been consistently retaliating.

map

The BBC reports, “Turkey’s territory has been hit by fire from Syria on several occasions since the uprising against Mr Assad began, but Wednesday’s incident was the most serious…. The Turkish parliament is discussing authorising troops to cross into Syria. But government sources say Turkey is not planning to declare war on Syria. … Nato has held an urgent meeting to support Turkey, demanding “the immediate cessation of such aggressive acts against an ally”. The US, the UK and the European Union have already condemned Syria’s actions.”

In Isaiah 17 it is prophesied that Damascus is destroyed in one night, Poof, it’s done, razed to the ground and uninhabitable. The rest of Syria becomes desolate. It is interesting that the prophecy doesn’t say how Syria becomes desolate, nor who does it. It could be Israel, making sure that chemical weapons don’t get released into the hands of Hezbollah. It could be the rebels themselves, on purpose or accidentally. It could be Turkey, now that we see this new tension. We just don’t know how it happens. Some have speculated that Damascus’s demise happens via nuclear bomb, because what other weapon can raze a thriving, ancient city of 3 million so quickly and so permanently? On the other hand, maybe it will be a ‘natural’ incident, like an earthquake. With the current tension in the area ongoing, we just don’t know the details or the timing. Only the results. And that is what makes it so unbearable.

In the Gog Magog war prophesied by Ezekiel in chapters 37-38, Turkey is one of the participants which take part in a surprise attack on Israel. Other nations in the military alliance are Russia, Iran, and parts of northern Africa, including Libya, Ethiopia, and Sudan. Syria is not mentioned in that battle, nor are they mentioned in the Psalm 83 war. It is therefore thought that the prophecy about Syria’s destruction prophesied in Isaiah 17 had already come about. It is thought that something has to happen to ally these disparate nations, which are enemies now (Russia is on Syria’s side and has asked that Turkey remain neutral in this latest cross-border military incident.)

But something has to change to make these nations that are culturally and religiously opposed, come together and attack their common enemy, Israel.

In the Middle East, Turkey and Iran are the two powerhouses, each with a different flavor of Islam and each vying for top dog status in the region. Just because they are Muslim, or are neighbors, does not make them friends. They have their cultural differences, internal and external skirmishes, and ego-driven needs, too.

The region was already stressed to the max from the Arab Spring, a shift from the US to China for world’s dominating superpower, and internal unrest they have had to deal with. The tectonic plates of geo-political power have been shifting under their feet (as well as ours) and they are trying to deal with a new world order that is being formed before our eyes. That is why I say it is so interesting to see what the Lord is doing.

In the region, the trigger fingers of each President or Leader already itching. The Turkey-Syria shelling deepens the tension to a degree I feel is worth noting. If things were teetering before, this incident pushed it to crazy teetering.

The Jerusalem Post reports this morning, “Turkey strikes back at Syria, vows to protect its borders.”
“Ankara seeks parliamentary approval for foreign military operations after a mortar shell kills five in Turkish border town; NATO ambassadors meet to discuss the threat to a member state.”

Please continue to pray for our Christian friends in the affected regions. Also pray for the lost over there, who are close their eternal destiny of death and separation from Jesus forever every day. The area is going to erupt any moment, and we will see (or not see, if the rapture comes first) Isaiah 17 lived out, and Damascus destroyed. Psalm 83 lived out, and Israel victorious. Perhaps we will even see the beginning of the Gog Magog battle, should the Lord tarry.

Though times are stressful and tense, we do rejoice that the Lord is in control. It is all happening exactly as He said it would, lo those thousands of years ago!

bible, enemy, media, prophecy

"Infomercials for dictators", or How the Media is now our Enemy

Posted on October 3, 2012 by elizabethprata

I read a headline the other day I didn’t follow up on. I’m following up on it now, because I read a second headline that startled me even more. The first headline was from Pat Caddell, who said that the “press is the enemy of the American people”. Pat Caddell is a former Democratic pollster. He said in his speech in part,

“it is one thing for the news to have a biased view, but It is another thing to specifically decide that you will not tell the American people information they have a right to know.”

“But all I want to conclude to this is that we face a fundamental danger here. The fundamental danger is this: I talked about the defense of the First Amendment. The press’s job is to stand in the ramparts and protect the liberty and freedom of all of us from a government and from organized governmental power. When they desert those ramparts and decide that they will now become active participants, that their job is not simply to tell you who you may vote for, and who you may not, but, worse—and this is the danger of the last two weeks—what truth that you may know, as an American, and what truth you are not allowed to know, they have, then, made themselves a fundamental threat to the democracy, and, in my opinion, made themselves the enemy of the American people. And it is a threat to the very future of this country if that—we allow this stuff to go on. We have crossed a whole new and frightening slide on the slippery slope this last two weeks, and it needs to be talked about.”

The reference to “the last two weeks was about the terrorist attack in Libya, killing an American Ambassador, and the subsequent refusal of the White House to admit it was a terrorist attack, the collusion of the media to not press the issue, nor even report on the many embassy attacks after the Libyan attack.

I agree with Caddell that the media is the Peoples’ enemy. The Media is colluding with the ones the media is supposed to inform us about and protect us from by giving good information. We cannot make informed choices if we are not informed. We saw that clearly in the 2007-2008 Presidential campaign. Just ask Joe the Plumber.

I lived in a small town in the 90s. There was one weekly newspaper in addition to the daily big city paper. The little paper reported on the doings around town, the activities of the council and school board, had a religious column in it, as well as the obits and lunch menus. You know the kind of paper.

Well, when it started in the 70s, it was a good, activist, journalistic paper. It did its job with courage and without favor. But as the 80s wore on it became tame and innocuous, but at least it did no harm. When the paper was taken over by its new editor in the 90s, it became a lapdog organ for local government and a club to browbeat active citizens. It published without impunity innuendo, sarcasm, and outright lies, if it thought it would help their friends in town hall. The paper even moved into a town building, where it got its rent for free! The whole thing sucked swamp water.

Well, I was not active nor interested in town doings for most of the decade. I traveled widely with my husband and much of the time we were not at home. When I was, I didn’t read the rag.

But then I did get involved through no volition of my own. The government came to us, and it wasn’t here to help us. So we sought redress for our grievance through the regular means available to all citizens, committee advocacy, positive change through petitioning, and began a process of a charter change. [The charter was the governing document of the town]. All this was outlined in normal methods available to any citizen, However, most normal citizens never availed themselves of those means, due to the browbeating they’d get in the paper. We ignored that and went forward.

As the issues wore on and I knew the truth because I was living it, and read the lies the paper was producing, and wondered about the gap, I mulled over what to do. As soon as our government issue was concluded (satisfactorily to my side), I decided I’d start a newspaper to compete with the monopoly-stranglehold going on in my town. Citizens were being hurt, freedom of speech was not allowed, and the government and media had too close a relationship. This is never a good thing for a democracy. I started my paper to shoehorn in a crowbar between the coziness of the other paper and the local government, which was run by the way, via nepotism and patronage.

My paper was successful and won awards. It grew economically as the advertiser base expanded. In content, I sought to educate the citizenry as to their rights and duties, to put the local government on notice they were being watched, fairly, but watched nonetheless, to show what journalistic standards should be, and to reflect a vibrant and lovely community back to itself.

The other paper did not go gently into that good night. They employed every dirty trick, every lowbrow act, and every mean thing they could to subdue us. I would not be cowed, and eventually I ran the other paper into the ground. They sold out and then I sold the paper and moved to GA. My work there was done, lol.

I was saved by Jesus during that 8 years. As I grew in faith I began to realize the Lord’s provision was such that the event (and there was much more I haven’t told you, including spiritual warfare!) was a microcosm for what went on nationally in 2007-2008. During the first Obama campaign, we saw a media abdicate its responsibility to the citizens, collude with government, exist by nepotism, monopoly, and patronage, fail to properly vet the candidates or inform the electorate as to the issues in a fair manner, and browbeat citizens, companies, or candidates who didn’t conform to the media’s standards or ideals. Just ask Joe the Plumber.

When you have a media that refuses to reflect the society back to itself you have a society with a skewed view. An uninformed society. An apathetic society. All these things are anathema to an active democracy. In that sense, the media as the Fourth Estate has become the enemy of freedom, a treasonous entity set to destroy us. I am convinced of this. Just look at the words of Mr Caddell.

Now I want to bring you to another article I read today. As you read the excerpt I’ll post, keep in mind that America’s Fifth Fleet docks at Bahrain. We NEED Bahrain to maintain our presence in the Gulf. On Russia Today’s website, they published the following:

‘Bahrain buys favorable CNN content’
“Amid a violent crackdown on a popular uprising, Bahrain paid CNN to get favorable coverage, says a former reporter who believes her documentary on the protests there was censored by the network. What CNN is doing is they are essentially creating what some people have termed “infomercials for dictators.” And that’s the sponsored content that they are airing on CNN International that is actually being paid for by regimes and governments. And this violates every principle of journalistic ethics, because we’re supposed to be watchdogs on these governments. We are not supposed to allow them to be a paying customer as journalists. And that’s the issue here – that CNN is feeding, then, this propaganda to the public and not fairly disclosing to the public that this is sponsored content.”

I’ve often thought about the Tribulation and media. As we watched the Iran uprising and then the Arab Spring on Twitter, Youtube, and Facebook, I know, and you know, that the unfettered access to citizen journalism will be the first thing to go. The Main Stream Media is already gone. Dear ones, do not even trust Fox News. Pastor JD Farag noticed a distinct shift in tone regarding Israel over the last year and a half, and he noted this may be due to the fact that News Corp.’s second-largest shareholder, after the Murdoch family, is Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the nephew of Saudi Arabian King Abdullah, and one of the world’s richest men.

The powers that be will NOT allow people to express themselves. Christians certainly will be shut off.

I read an article about Duck Dynasty today. Duck Dynasty is a reality TV show on A&E that follows the Robertson family, makers of duck calls. The family has a staunch faith in Jesus. Each show ends with a prayer around the family dinner table, and though each and every prayer is ended with the phrase, “In Jesus’ name” each and every time, the editors chop that part out. Hardly any depiction of their faith is given light of day. The folks on the show do not swear, so to spice things up, the editors bleeped a couple of non-curse words anyway! The article is here, and it is really good in showing how the Robertsons, fervent and relentless evangelizers, plan to get around the censorship.

If media won’t even allow a faithful family, on a hit show (which means America WANTS to see the Robertsons) to express their faith by saying Jesus, what do you think it will be like during the time of total sin, the Tribulation? Total censorship. Total collusion with power-brokers, and what you see on tv and in the movies and in the papers will be at your peril. Satan has surely claimed Hollywood. I think we all recognize that. The media IS our enemy.

The Tribulation will be a time for total sin to saturate the world. That means every organization will also be total sin. Media included. Revelation 18 shows the mourning of the world’s merchants, kings, captains, and seafarers at the fall of Babylon. Revelation 17 shows the death of the world’s religious system. So if the economic organization is total sin, media will not escape that economic death. Their collusion by filthy lucre to the governments will be exposed and the cause of death on their certificate will be “FORNICATION.” Their prostituting of themselves may seem sweet to them now, but it will cost them heavily on the LORD’S Day.

The media is an enemy of the state, taking money from dictators to produce infomercials. Read/watch/listen at your own risk.

How wonderful we can turn to the bible for all truth! I find it exhilarating that the world’s headlines are in the bible right now. The things the dictators are saying are almost word for word in the bible. The events we see happening are lining up exactly. We can take heart that His word is not polluted, but pure. He is the Sinless Groom, glowing and holy, and His word is the same. The bible is the enemy of the world but is the friend, comforter, and sustainer of the Christian who seeks truth. Seek it not in the news media, but in the holy scriptures. It does a body good!

earthquakes, end time, jesus, prophecy

Major Earthquake in Columbia, how many earthquakes have we had this year so far?

Posted on September 30, 2012May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Here is some information regarding earthquakes. The year is not over so we cannot compare this year to previous years…unless we compare the exact same time frame, January 1 to Sept 30, which is what I did.

What did the data reveal? How is the number of earthquakes running so far this year, compared to previous years? How is the number running, compared to annual averages by United States Geological Survey? (USGS gives annual averages from Jan-Dec., so the time frame is not exact but you can get an idea of the running total to see if this year is under, the same as, or over expected number of quakes.)

This first chart is the major magnitudes and the annual number of each magnitude of quake, from Jan 1 to Dec 30 for each year, USGS source.

This next chart is one I generated by using USGS search engine to find total of quakes between January 1-Sept 30. I highlighted in red the years where each magnitude of quake exceeded the annual average by Sept 30.

This chart is straight from USGS (though I cropped off the lesser magnitudes). Click to enlarge.

As for quakes in diverse places, there were two just north of Dallas Texas which rattled windows, and nerves. The magnitude was 3.4 with a 3.1 aftershock.

A 7.3 occurred in Columbia today, which was a very strong one, but so far thankfully no deaths are reported. Here is a news story about it, but the current reporting of the magnitude is 7.1 which is wrong. Initially USGS posted the magnitude of the Colombian quake at 7.4. Then USGS downgraded it to 7.1, and that is where most news reports came in. But then USGS upped the magnitude again to 7.3, where it is currently staying.

The other strong quakes this week were:
6.2 at the Gulf of California
6.4 at Andreanof Islands, Alaska
6.0 Solomon Islands

There have been 167 quakes of small size at or just north of the Virgin Islands. They all range roughly from 2.5 to 3.5 in magnitude.

Jesus said, as a sign of His soon return, “There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.” (Matthew 24:7b). Not every quake by itself is an indicator of His soon return. However, the totality of the signs He told us would be present is a better barometer of the times. Israel being in the land existing as its own nation is sign number one, given the focus of God upon Israel as the major eschatological component.

However also included but not limited to the signs on the list are earthquakes, famines, diseases, false teaching, false prophets, and sin rising to levels that make the times absolutely perilous.

God either causes or allows each and every thing to happen on this earth, and if an earthquake has occurred, it is of God and from God, as part of His plan in some way. In other words, He is speaking. Are we listening?

end time, falling away, jesus, prophecy

Apostasy and the Remnant Church, part 2

Posted on September 30, 2012May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Yesterday I wrote how the remnant church is like a peanut M&M. I think anyone with eyes to see understands that the global body of believers in Jesus Christ is persecuted, surrounded, discriminated against, and generally derided. I think it’s obvious that the church in the West has been thoroughly polluted by Gnosticism, Phariseeism, ecumenism, and prosperity gospel. The church, especially in the west, is largely apostate.

This is prophesied. We read in Luke 18:8 that Jesus asked the disciples, “I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” He had just finished telling them the parable of the unrighteous judge, and He warned them that at the end the oppressed will get justice, but it won’t be on earth. He was speaking of the time of the Tribulation, but we see that apostasy being set up now.

At the last day, there will be faith on the earth in the form of Tribulation saints, but they will be so few in number and there will be so many who don’t believe, that realistically speaking the believer’s influence will be statistically negligible.

Apostasy will abound in the last days, and that means not only in the tribulation, but now, too. (Matthew 24:12; 2 Thessalonians 2:3; 1 Timothy 4:1-3). But what does that apostasy look like? How does it begin?

First, let’s look at apostasy in the person who has never believed. How can a life-long unbeliever be an apostate, you say? Because we all know God from the beginning. Any unbeliever, whether they have never believed or they seemed to have believed for a while and fallen away, are apostate.

You see, we all start out on equal footing when we are born. We all have a sin-nature. (Genesis 5:3; Psalms 51:5). And as we grow, we all see the glory of God made manifest in the world through His creation. All.(Romans 1:19). Romans 1 continues by showing us the process of how people end up dead in their sins for all their lives.

First, they deliberately suppress the truth. (Romans 1:19). Then, though they know God, they refuse to give Him honor. As a result, their hearts are darkened. (Romans 1:21). Still needing to honor something greater than themselves, though, they trade giving honor to God for giving honor to idols. (Romans 1:22). That’s the end of the mental portion of the process.

If a person has come this far without repenting, then they start dishonoring God with their bodies. (Romans 1:24). The tipping point seems to be the moment when they actively start worshiping nature or idols. If they continue without repentance, then their bodily dishonor deepens and they become homosexuals. (Romans 1:26-27).

At the last, their mind becomes so polluted due to their having suppressed the truth and dishonored God with their bodies, their minds are given over to total debasement. (Romans 1:28.) You notice in the next verse it says they were “filled” with all manner of unrighteousness. The Greek word used here is defined “to make full, to complete”. God allows all sins to flood into them and they are capable of anything at that point.

But what about apostates, you ask. I described the unbeliever’s process, but an apostate is someone who falls away from the faith, right? Yes and no. Yes they fall away from the faith, but they were never IN the faith to begin with. They were an unbeliever the same as those I described above, they just happened to have made a little foray into the church for a while.

It is important to understand that Jesus will never lose one of His sheep. (John 10:28; John 6:39). Those He brings into the faith will never leave. John wrote:

“They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.” (1 John 2:19).

How they leave may take a long time or a short time, but they never were in the faith. They only looked like it on the outside.

An apostate could be someone who came forward at an altar call, who responded to the pastor’s plea for “the sinner’s prayer” to be answered. Maybe they were even baptized. But after that week you never saw them again. They never came back. That was a false convert, an apostate who fell away.

An apostate could be someone who had served as deacon for thirty years. Who had been a long-time member of a church, dong all the right things, saying all the right things, but slowly began drifting away. Their church attendance became spotty, and they gave up on Wednesday night teaching. Then their absences became longer and longer and when asked about it, they said they needed a break. Eventually you realize, they never did come back. They stopped leading devotionals at home…they quit praying… That is apostate also.

So how does apostasy happen to a person who looked like a believer? The exact same way as Romans describes.

In 2 Peter 3:3 Peter reminds us that we should remember the predictions of the prophets of old, that in the last days, “knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires.” The Greek word used here for scoffers implies a false teacher. These mockers will be false teachers, who look like they are in the faith, but they mock and scoff at His coming and at the doctrines surrounding His coming, such as pre-tribulation rapture, literal Millennium Kingdom, or even his second coming at all.

Jude 1:18 says the exact same thing. “They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” Haven’t we seen a steady chipping away of the truth of these doctrines? Some even claim that there is no rapture.

But look at this, Peter goes on after reminding them that there will be scoffers, to say in verse 4-5: “They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God,” [emphasis mine]

We saw in Romans 1 that the process begins with knowledge of God, even for the overt unbeliever. Of those who claim to be in the faith, and by definition have some familiarity with the bible and the history of our faith, they deliberately overlook the facts that they know. When a person deliberately suppresses the truth, they are on dangerous ground! Whether it is an unbeliever suppressing general revelation of God by His creation or a false believer suppressing biblical fact & history, they purposely suppress. That is the first step for the apostate.

So first the apostate suppresses knowledge. Then they begin to mock and scoff at those in the faith, or aim their ire at who hold to certain doctrines that are evidence of His sovereignty. Then they abandon the faith, either abruptly or slowly.

Picture a hot air balloon anchored to the ground. Those who are in the basket are those who are solidly in the faith. They are being sanctified, going higher and higher by God’s process of Spirit-filled consecrating. Sanctification means we are becoming more Christlike every day.

Some people are around the basket, tying ropes and filling the balloon. They are easy to spot as people who will never get into the basket and allow the Spirit to lift them higher and higher. They are hangers-on, doing works that look Godly in form but they have no solidity. Some people hang on to the basket, even as it rises. Some hang on for a long time. But the further a person goes in sanctification, and the higher the Spirit takes them, the harder it is for the apostate to hang on. Eventually they drop off. They drop off because they were never IN the basket of faith. The hand of Jesus was never holding them (otherwise they never would have fallen away!)

Source

Though it is painful to see our church swamped with apostates, flooded with ungodliness, and surrounded by false doctrines, it is part of the process! The apostasy we see now is a mini-version of what will happen at the end of the 1000 year reign of Christ. At the end of the Millennium Jesus will allow satan out of the abyss for a short while. Satan will gather the nations and like the sand of the sea they will march against the beloved city. (Revelation 20:7-9).

How can this be, you wonder!? The people will have lived for a long, peaceful life, on earth when Jesus made everything perfect, and there was no war nor high degree of sin, because Jesus ruled with a rod of iron. How could satan gather rebellious ones so fast, and so many of them, too! It will have been be a pure theocracy for a thousand years!

Because those people will have been born during the millennium with a sin nature, and the last rebellion is to weed them out. For hundreds of years of their lives, they looked the part, they acted the part, they said all the right things on the outside, but Jesus knew their heart was not inclined towards Him.

Satan’s drawing out of them is an opportunity to give them one last chance to decide for him or against Him. Satan was the magnet that drew out the apostates.

This apostasy is a weeding out, too. Though we may feel surrounded at times by encroachment of false teachers, false pastors who strike the sheep, mockers and scoffers even sitting next to us in the pew, the fact that “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons” (1 Timothy 4:1), means these things must be so.

Don’t worry, peanuts! At the rapture, the brittle candy exterior will be cracked, the chocolate confection melted away, and the peanuts who had been the core of the church will burst out and up. We’ll be brushed off, cleaned up, and forever will be in the presence of Jesus! We’ll be shot out of all that sickening sweetness like a cannonball!

As we strive toward the goal, the balloon is rising higher and higher in our process of sanctification, those who are just hanging on are exposed, and they fall away.

Even so, come Lord Jesus!