Et tu, Fox News? From Breitbart:
FOX NEWS LEAVES ISRAEL OFF MIDDLE EAST MAP
“During a segment on the political purge in Syria, Fox News identified nearly every Middle East nation, even a territory labeled “Gaza,” but not Israel.”
Psalm 83:4- “They have said, “Come, and let us wipe them out as a nation, That the name of Israel be remembered no more.”” You can rest assured that GOD has not forgotten them as a nation nor has He left Israel off HIS map.
I wrote a piece on June 1 regarding societal collapse. You can read the entire piece here. In it, I mentioned the work of former Soviet Republic citizen Dmitry Orlov, who witnessed the collapse of that society and the breakup of the Republic of Soviet Socialist States, and emigrated to the US, where he has written about it happening here too. He is an astute observer. I have been reading him for about five years. His Five Stages of Collapse article is highly relevant in putting the current collapse in perspective. He updated it this week, in a piece titled “Fragility and Collapse: Slowly at first, then all at once“. I recommend both the pieces I’ve linked to.
In the fragility article, Orlov posted a graph. I was startled by it. Here it is:
No matter how many times I write about prophetic infrastructure and actual infrastructure, and God stripping away man’s achievements to expose our folly to worship them, our need for total reliance on Him, it is still striking when you see it graphically put.
Orlov was right to explore the nation of societal “fragility.” He is coming at it from a sociological perspective and I am from a Christian perspective, but the fragility our civilization is seen when the thin veneer is so easily taken away. We are really not as advanced as we think we are.
One question Christians are asking frequently these days is whether America is under a judgment. We know we are at the end of the end of days. We know that God’s wrath will pour down upon the rebellious world after the rapture (Rev 6:16). But with all that is going on, are we under a judgment of God now, before the rapture?
The answer is yes.
Here is a transcript from a Q&A held between the pastor of Castle View Baptist Church in Indianapolis, IN and Dr. John MacArthur. At 21:50 the question was asked about the then recent news that Obama had declared his support for homosexual marriage. Dr. MacArthur answered in this way:
“I’d go so far to say that what America is experiencing now is divine judgment. You ask me why do I say that, and I say that because of Romans 1. It says ‘The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness…’ verse 18.
“If there has ever been a nation that has suppressed the truth in unrighteousness, it’s America. We’ve had the truth, we’ve had the gospel truth, we were founded on that … there was a Judeo-Christian approach to law, life, and social behavior.”
“The gospel flourished in America and we have suppressed that at this point so the judgment of God falls.”
“How do you know that? Well, Paul goes on in that same chapter, this is what it will look like, “God gave them over. We go to the verse in Romans 24-26-28, ‘God gave them over’,’God gave them over…’ Here is the sequence,”
“Verse 24, God gave them over to sexual immorality. You know the judgment of God falls on a society is when it is consumed by sexual immorality.”
“Verse 26 says, “and women did that which is unseemly with women, and men with men.” Subsequent to heterosexual revolution is homosexual revolution. When you see that, you know the wrath of God is at work. ‘He gave them over’ that’s a legal term for a sentence. You’re turning someone over to the punishment prescribed for the crime.”
“Verse 28, That’s when God gave them over to reprobate mind. That is when the mind is so far gone you can’t find your way back. That is when the president of the nation declares that he supports homosexual marriage. You know that not only is the behavior corrupt but the thinking is corrupt.”
“The thinking is SO corrupt that the man with the most responsibility in the country advocates immorality at a base, perverse level as normal behavior. So when you ask where America is, America is living in the very chapter of Romans 1. We are watching Romans 1 unfold.”
“In connection with Acts 14, God has allowed all the nations to go their own way. This is the cycle of history, the cycle with Romans 1 is repeated again and again.”
In another question asked of Dr. MacArthur about culture, he responded,
“The generation of young people growing up is learning to see homosexuality as normal, because the most lovable, affable, endearing funny person on every sitcom is a homosexual. Or many of them. So they have a completely different view of these people. They are not outraged by it. They think it’s funny, they’re winsome kinds of people, they are overexposed to these kinds of people, they drive the fashion world, they drive the media world, and so this generation is seriously softened up on this. And it is going to be a challenge for parents to embed in their children what a terribly perverse and tragic kind of life this is. And it is tragic, because they have no future.”
When he said that television is saturated with presentations of homosexuality as a normal lifestyle and that the homosexual characters are presented as engaging and winsome, it made me think of not only the scripted shows, but the reality television shows. I enjoy watching cooking shows and competitions, and also the HGTV design shows. Even a few years ago, it seems, there were not as many homosexual and lesbian competitors who stated up front that they were “out.” One supposes that in the design shows as with fashion, there would be many people who have chosen that lifestyle. But few remarked on it. Now, they do, and right away too.
When Dr. MacArthur said the media invariably shows the homosexual characters as winsome, cuddly, lovable, I thought of the kid on Masterchef, Michael. The very first competitor in Masterchef by Gordon Ramsay was a 19 year old boy named Michael. He is Asian, and completely cute. He really was a winsome kid. The show is a reality show so it is not scripted, but the boy is cuddly and engaging! He’s a total doll. This is part of the conversation he and the judges had as Michael was contesting for a spot in the show:
Got a girlfriend? No. I’m gay, actually.
Got a boyfriend?
No, I am 19 and I don’t believe in dating before high school.
You’re very proper aren’t you?
I try to follow the rules most of the time.
Did you tell your dad on the same day I want to be a chef and by the way I’m gay?
I came out to my dad right before I came to Masterchef. I don’t want to hide my true self.
Embrace it!
You’ve got no reason to, either.
It is this relentless message that the homosexual lobby promotes. The contestant Michael went on to win a spot in the competition/show. The same goes for Hell’s Kitchen and Chopped, Top Chef and Food Network Star. These cooking shows all have contestants who are bold in proclaiming their homosexuality, in introducing their partners, or in mentioning their sexual preference. Since when do we need to know who a person sleeps with in order to learn to make soup?
Dr. MacArthur is right. This generation is de-sensitized to the hopelessness and emptiness of the homosexual lifestyle. They think it is OK.
We are under judgment. The utter depravity in our morals these days from the highest levels, to media, to personal spheres is indicative of how far we have fallen. And God is judging that. Read Romans 1.
As much as He judges, he forgives. He died on the cross as the sacrifice to satisfy God’s wrath for all sins, including homosexuality. The Corinthians were a pagan orgiastic culture, and Paul said some of the worshipers there were greedy, drunkards, thieves, slanderers, swindlers, etc, and some were formerly homosexuals (1 Corinthians 6:9-11) but now all were forgiven:
“But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
Allow the Lord to forgive you of your sins, no matter what they are. America is under judgment and we know that there is not a lot of time left. Do not delay. Repent. He is willing to forgive whatever lifestyle you have adopted. Do not remain in it, for it has no future. Jesus is your future!
With half the year gone, I decided to update my earthquake data. My last update was Dec. 31, 2011. With the many prophetic references to the coming earthquakes both as signs (Mark 13:8) and judgment (Is 29:6; Zech 14:5; Rev 6:12), I decided to check the United States Geological Survey data and see how the quake numbers are running. Click to enlarge.
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The KIND of quakes have been more worrisome than the sheer number of them. For example:
Mayo (Ireland) quake surprises seismologists
“A leading seismologist has said yesterday’s earthquake off the west coast was “unexpected” and poses “very interesting questions for geologists”. The earthquake, which registered a magnitude of four on the Richter scale, was recorded as 60km west of Belmullet, Co Mayo, at a depth of 3km, at 8.58am. It was the largest local seismic event ever recorded, according to Tom Blake of the Irish National Seismic Network (INSN) and the Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies. It was also the second-largest local earthquake on record in either Britain or Ireland, he said – the first being of 5.4 magnitude on July 19th, 1984…”
Remember the Northern Italy quake two weeks ago that was a thrust quake (which is two plates thrusting one over the other) but the location of the quake was hundreds of miles from the plate boundaries? Seismologists could not figure that one out either. They called it “weird”.
Another earthquake in a diverse place, (Mark 13:8) occurred yesterday in Tamworth Australia
Quakes shake up townships in state’s north
“The centre’s director Kevin McCue said these were the first earthquakes greater than magnitude 4 to strike inland northern NSW since December 1969, when a magnitude 5 quake struck near Coonabarabran. “It’s unusual to have an earthquake of this size.” (They both were 4.2 mag).
How about THIS weird happening? June 4, Lake Erie:
Freak wave sweeps three off beach
“A sudden wave that swept several people off the beach on Sunday, was likely an edge wave, or seiche. The National Weather Service confirms the rare event which almost took the lives of three Lake County teenagers. “It came up on us so fast we didn’t have time to react,” said Connor Bachmann, 15, of Madison, who was standing on the beach with a number of other people Sunday evening about 6 o’clock. “It started pulling on us and when I turned my back it completely covered us and started pulling us out.” Bachman, Molly McGill, and Rachel Pridemore were swept out almost half a mile onto the lake, almost instantly. “I’m a strong swimmer and I never felt that helpless in my life,” Bachmann admitted. “I thought I was going to die.” Jim Channell of Kirtland Hills witnessed the whole thing. He just happened to be on his jet ski, heading for shore, when he saw the seiche crash onto the beach. “It took out the whole beach,” he told WKYC, with amazement still in voice. “I didn’t believe what I was seeing. Then it hit a second time.”
The seiche has happened before, just not frequently. The last one was 1942 and one before that in 1882. It looks like water sloshing around in a goldfish bowl and is thought to occur either when a far off quake happens, or wind and air pressure makes the wave pounce. This one was 7 feet. In but a moment it swept the three teens half a mile out.
“Throughout history, God has used earthquakes in many ways for various reasons. The Bible shows that God used earthquakes in history to show His presence, His deliverance, His wrath and His power. God will also use earthquakes yet in the future to announce Christ’s Return, accompany prophetic events, and reshape the earth’s surface. In Matthew 24, Christ told His disciples of the signs that would precede His Second Coming. In verse 7, He stated, “and there shall be…earthquakes, in diverse places.” This meant earthquakes would take place in various places—scattered throughout the world—and would increase in frequency as the time of His Return drew near (see Mark 13:8 and Luke 21:11). Had earthquakes been as prolific throughout history as they are today, then they would not indicate that the end of the age was near. They are much more common now than at any other time in history. ” (source)
So that is the quick and dirty on quakes lately!
Israel was in havoc last night. So was Lebanon, Iran, Syria (for a different reason), Armenia, Turkey, Georgia, Jordan and other countries. Twitter came alive with panic and wonder. Dozens of phone calls were made to police stations. Youtube videos popped up with blaring headlines and triple question marks. Why? At dusk and into dark luminous lights began appearing in the sky over Lebanon. Many thought they were UFOs, others wondered if they were missiles. Some said they were meteorites, but Israel authorities said they were not. Information was conflicting and as long as the lights remained unidentified, panic rose.
Here is one example from Twitter:
BREAKING: Luminous bodies and meteors appear over North #Lebanon, #Marjaayoun and many areas in the #Bekaa.
Twitter/Yfrog/Instagram came alive with photos, some real,
And some fake,
Syrian State News reported “An aerolite piece flickering over the sky of Damascus was observed yesterday around 8:30 P.M. Chairman of the Syrian Society of Astrology, Dr. Mohamad al-Assiri, asserted that a 20 to 30 centimeter diameter aerolite piece burnt in the troposphere near the Earth sending light flickers for about 30 seconds. Al-Assiri added that the aerolite appeared as a strong light spot observed by the inhabitants of Damascus and the sparkles stretched to Aleppo and to some parts of Lebanon. No damage from the aerolite, none of its components fell on the earth, was reported.” Aerolite is another name for meteorite.
But then they inexplicably used the following graphic to illustrate the news story!!!
Ynet News more soberly reported: “Lebanon: Unidentified objects – meteors
Lebanese media also reported that an unidentified object was observed in the sky. They quoted scientists who claimed the “explanation was scientific” and that the object was most likely a “large meteorite.”The LBCI network reported that: “Luminous objects and meteor bursts appeared over north Lebanon, Marjaayoun, the Bekaa and the Syrian-Turkish border.”
And a short while later reported this:
Israelis nationwide report seeing UFO
“Hundreds flood police with reports of UFO in nation’s skies; Astronomical Association chairman says object isn’t a meteor, flew above Lebanon. Similar sighting in Norway in 2009 turned out to be failed missile test.”
RT’s summary is excellent and is accompanied by good photos.
Today, the Kuwait State News reported this:
“Russian military announced Thursday they have successfully test-fired a new version of the TOPOL-M series, code-named RS-12M. The rocket, an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), was test fired from a Russian military base in Southeast Russia, Interfax news quoted military sources as saying. The missile hit its target in Kazakhstan in central Asia precisely…”
Meanwhile, also being Tweeted at the same time the mysterious lights were seen over half the nations in the Middle East, were reports of a white powder drifting down on Syrian citizens. Subsequent reports of people entering emergency rooms with symptoms of burning and choking appeared and it was strongly suspected that Syria officials had used a chemical weapon.
Report: Unidentified gas used in Syria
“Syrian opposition says Assad’s Air Force planes bomb towns with unfamiliar substances he unidentified gas caused suffocation among residents, the activists said.”
The overwhelming feeling as all this chaos was occurring is disorientation. People in the Mid East are living with warfare threats today that will soon be realized. Christians know they will be due to prophecy and the integrity and certainty of God’s Word. For those who do not believe in God’s word, knowing that the multiple threats will likely result in ignition of the Middle East tensions is also a no-brainer. It happened before, and today there are even more threats, more missiles, and less economic stability than ever before. It’s a catastrophe waiting to happen.
When the Mid-East lights up like that, one cannot help but say, “Is it happening now? Is this it?”
After the furor dies down and facts are sorted out, and it becomes apparent that God’s hand has stayed us fallen humans from the brink [for the moment], so the secondary thought turns to man’s hubris. At least it does for me.
As an example, the New York City Municipal Archives were recently opened online and gave access to a gallery of over 870,000 images from the 1880s to the 1980s. One hundred years of municipal photographs include stunning photos of city projects undertaken such as the Manhattan Bridge construction, highways, and subways. As I looked through the NY Municipal Archives and saw photos like this, of the Manhattan bridge under construction in 1909,
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Or this photo of the Holland Tunnel power station in 1925,
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I could not help but think, “Wow! We have accomplished so much! Man can do anything!” I do have a justifiable feeling of pride that human engineering has made our lives more smooth and transportation more feasible. It seems that man has conquered the seas, the sky, the earth. We dig tunnels and drive under rivers, we build bridges and drive over the air. We go where we want to go and we build what we want to build, the earth is being remade to our specifications. It seems as if everything will go on as before, and that man’s accomplishments will last forever.
This, of course, is untrue. The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it. (Psalm 24:1)
It was real-time events like last nights that really brings home the tension we are all living under, and the fact that one day, soon I think, the events we witness like last night’s will be the last ones we Christians will see on this side of the veil … before we are called home to glory.
ANOTHER major oil find in Israel was announced Sunday. I wrote about it briefly here. Now in this blog entry, I am giving more information.
There is an old joke that Moses took the wrong turn from Egypt, leading Israel to sand and leaving oil for the Arabs. Haven’t you ever wondered why the same geology that yields so much oil in Saudi Arabia and Iran and Iraq yields none in Israel? I have. However, the recent discoveries of oil and gas listed below have made that bad joke outdated. Israel produces 4,000 barrels per day, but has a 250,000 barrel per day demand. Therefore they must import, relying on ever-increasingly hostile neighbors and ever more vulnerable pipelines. It appears that reliance will no longer be necessary. I am sure Israel’s enemies will not be happy to contemplate her ever-growing fuel independence.
For decades, scholars and bible students have wondered what “spoil” could the Gog-Magog alliance possibly want. Israel feeds Europe with her fruit, growing oranges and figs and other fruits that are widely exported. I cannot imagine a war fought over figs, however. The verse in Ezekiel 38 says “A great spoil.” Hmmm.
“Thus says the Lord GOD: On that day, thoughts will come into your mind, and you will devise an evil scheme and say, ‘I will go up against the land of unwalled villages. I will fall upon the quiet people who dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having no bars or gates,’ to seize spoil and carry off plunder, to turn your hand against the waste places that are now inhabited, and the people who were gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who dwell at the center of the earth. Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish and all its leaders will say to you, ‘Have you come to seize spoil? Have you assembled your hosts to carry off plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to seize great spoil?'” (Ez 38:10-13) [emphasis mine.]
What could the great spoil be? Until now, Israel has not shown much yield in anything except what she herself can coax from the ground with hard-won irrigation and sweaty toil. And Russia is the oil monster, with an output that until recently was prodigious. “Was” being the key word.
Jan 2009:
Israel Discovers Gas!
Israel’s Delek fuel company has discovered a huge deposit of natural gas west of Haifa that could change the face of Israel’s economy.
Dec 2009:
Israeli company finds oil beneath Rosh Ha’ayin
Givot Olam Oil Exploration Limited Partnership said that more than 60 percent gas was measured in the drill, indicating the first such find in Israel.
Dec 2010:
Gas Field Confirmed Off Coast of Israel
Exploratory drilling off Israel’s northern coast this week has confirmed the existence of a major natural gas field — one of the world’s largest offshore gas finds of the past decade — leading the country’s infrastructure minister to call it “the most important energy news since the founding of the state.”
Aug 2010:
Leviathan Oil Field Could Sustain Israel For Decades
All big oil and gas fields have geopolitical significance, but we haven’t seen a big oil find in recent years that could matter more than the Leviathan field in the Mediterranean Sea off of Israel. 4.3 bn barrels.
March 2011
Oil shale reserves can turn Israel into major world producer
THE JOKE has been told by generations of Jews, most famously Golda Meir, the former prime minister of Israel: ‘Why did Moses lead us to the one place in the Middle East without oil?’ … According to Dr Vinegar, Israel has the second-biggest oil shale deposits in the world, outside the US: “We estimate that there is the equivalent of 250 billion barrels of oil here. To put that in context, there are proven reserves of 260 billion barrels of oil in Saudi Arabia.”
Nov 2011
Russia output dropping
“Lukoil, which accounts for 15 percent of Russia’s 30-stock Micex index, extended its weekly decline to 6.6 percent after reporting third-quarter results that included a 2 percent drop in gas output and a 21 percent slide in net income. Oil production declined as flows from some wells in Western Siberia abated and falling demand from customers cut gas production, the Moscow-based company said in a Nov. 25 regulatory filing.”
Feb 2012
Another Gas Discovery for Delek, Noble Energy!
Noble Energy and the Delek Group announced on Sunday another significant discovery of a natural gas field off the coast of Haifa.The field, located in the Mediterranean waters 120 kilometers (74.5 miles) northwest of Israel’s northern port city, reportedly totals about 1.2 to 1.3 trillion cubic feet.
May 2012:
Forbes: Is Russian oil output plummeting?
“According to a recent Bloomberg story Saudi Arabia displaced Russia as the world’s largest oil producer, producing just about three thousand barrels a day more in March of 2012”
June 2012:
Israel discovers more offshore oil and gas
An Israeli company announced the discovery of another sizable offshore oil and gas field on Sunday.Israel Opportunity Energy Resources LP estimated the newest field at about 1.4 billion barrels of oil and 6.7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.”The quantity of gas discovered in the licenses — and the high probabilities — make it the third largest off-shore discovery to date,” chairman Ronny Halman told Globes.
You see how this is going. You see that the “old joke” about Moses leading the Jews to the one place in the Middle East that doesn’t have oil is actually by this point kind of a blaspheme. God said He would provide for His people and He IS providing for His people. Furthermore, it demonstrates once again how perfect the LORD’S word is, how precise.
I watch with eager wonder and with bated breath as to what will be the tipping point for the Gog Magog prophecy to come true. When will Russia, Iran, Turkey et al get tired of holding back and pounce? At this oil discovery? The next? It can’t be long now…we see prophesies of Egypt in Isaiah 19 coming to pass and the prophesies of Isaiah 17 regarding Syria ready to come to pass. It is like a drawstring purse, the strings pulling the open neck ever closer, a closing which will end up being a noose around the necks of Israel’s enemies. How much more to go until the prophetic foundations are laid? God in His timing knows, but to me, this puny human, it seems ready today.
Word of the week: Collapse.
Societal, cultural, financial, economic, political. The world as we know it is ending. And now we really see that this is so. This week’s news brought the world ever closer to the consciousness that things will not remain as they have been. And still, as much as the world sees that the events we are experiencing in the aforementioned realms are changing, for the worse, and perhaps to never be the same again, they still insist that this has nothing to do with Christ. They say, ‘Oh, the world is changing, and the Zombie/Mayan/Cayce/Nostradamus apocalypse may be near, but it has nothing to do with that guy, Jesus.’
A prophecy from Peter: “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.”” (2 Peter 3:4).
They say such things because they believe them. Satan has blinded the lost to the things of Christ. It has always been so. The Israelites taunted Jeremiah with the same:
“Behold, they say unto me, Where is the word of the LORD? let it come now.” (Jeremiah 17:15)
And why do they believe the Zombie/Mayan/Cayce/Nostradamus apocalypse and not the Christian Revelation of the promised Apocalypse? Because the aforementioned are from satan. Now satan, they’ll believe.
Technically, the world has been ending since Genesis 3, but the feeling of chaotic flying apart has increased dramatically in the last two weeks. Pundits are talking openly of a Euro collapse, and at one point Bloomberg’s market screens showed Greek drachma! Panic calls to the institution yielded a short statement that they were ‘just practicing’ and ended with a please move along, nothing to see here.
I’m enjoying the Spirit’s sweet presence every day. I enjoy my walk with Jesus in increasing amounts of awe and joy. I am encouraged by knowledge of the sovereignty of the Father. Far from being depressed personally, I am more joyous all the time. Seeing these world events and understanding where we are on the timetable of God’s prophetic clock, I’m slain with wonder at the vastness of His intelligence and the scope of human history- and grateful that I am a part of His kingdom.
Yes, the days are difficult, and I mourn for people who are lost in sin and for my own sins. But the events we read about here and elsewhere far from saddening me, make me think of Exodus 15:11.
“Who among the gods is like you, LORD? Who is like you—majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?”
In the current phase of Christianity, many have lost that sense of awe. I think it is because many popular teachers and preachers have taught and preached a raised up man. The excessive focus on our prosperity, our self-esteem, our pits, our problems, combined emphasis of His love to us, His friendship with us, His Bridal “romance” of us, has resulted in a lowered God.
Too often Western Christianity looks to Him as a friend, (which He is) but in looking at Him only as friend, through that one facet, and not so much as Sovereign King, Judge, and Holy God. This looking exclusively at Jesus through one facet has allowed many to devolve His status in their minds from friend to ‘old buddy, pal o’ mine.’
A sense of awe in Him was heightened in me this week as I read the unfortunate incidences of cannibalism (the South Beach Miami event was not the only one! And the problem is in Maritime Canada, too.) But as read some of these headlines- not purposely- but even as my eye caught them as they were listed on a page with other headlines, and I averted my eyes in disgust, I was amazed in realizing that the lower society sinks the higher I see Him. It is as if He is stripping away the layers and revealing us to be the depraved sinners we are and by contrast, we can’t help but see Him as August Holy One.
Quite simply, western Christianity does not have a transcendent view of God anymore, and thus a sense of awe is lost. This particularly applies to prophecy. Only a Sovereign God expressing His will upon the world knows the end from the beginning. Only He at His will and pleasure states what will happen in a thousand years, or six thousand years, and it comes to pass exactly as He said! We are living in the times of Romans 1. Our nation is being judged, Romans 1 IS the judgment as He gives them over to their depraved minds. This is an awe inspiring thing- to see the bible pages ripped from its bindings and come to life on earth in the news. It makes me fear Him and it makes me love Him.
That He stays His hand of execution despite seeing the perversity in the world makes me love Him even more. He said in Luke 13:6-9
The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree
“And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.'”
The vineyard owner is God who rightly wants to see fruit in His tree. The gardener is Jesus who came to sow seed and tend it. He pleads with the Vineyard owner (God) for a bit more time. The parable relates to both the nation of Israel that God had planted and also to the fruit-bearing individual. Jesus had been preaching for three years, but even after He ascended the tree was not uprooted- yet. That happened in 70AD when Jerusalem was sacked by Rome and the inhabitants scattered.
So when I write of judgments to come and the signs that indicate their nearness, rather than be completely sad, I also focus on how compassionate He has already been. “It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.” (Lamentations 3:22) He has been giving the Spirit time to grow seeds, waiting for us to repent, bringing many sons to come to Glory! (Hebrews 2:10). His wrath is tinged with patience, and I am in awe of this God who loves us despite the perversity and rebellion we see in the world today!! THAT is how I stay positive. I hope you do too.
Habakkuk finally got it, saying in chapter three:
“Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble to come upon people who invade us.” and then he said,
“Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. GOD, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places.”
No matter how low the world gets, the Lord makes me tread on high places. My Holy awe of Him is a reverence mixed with fear: “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our ’God is a consuming fire.’” Hebrews 12:28-29
Today is the day the Apocalypse This zine goes on sale at the Nottingham Zine Fair. I was asked to contribute a piece for the magazine. Here is the backstory. Below is the article I wrote for the zine.
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The Apocalypse has been the source behind some of the greatest poetry, art, and writing. One of Yeats’s greatest poems is called The Second Coming, most of Renaissance art contain Apocalyptic or biblical scenes, and many films these days have apocalyptic storylines. It all comes from the bible, the world’s greatest selling book. That’s pretty amazing when the fact is the bible is unreadable to any person who doesn’t know Christ.
You heard me. More on that in a second.
But first, what IS Apocalypse?
The word apocalypse comes from the Greek for “revelation,” or “unveiling.” It’s about future things dealing with the return of Christ and the events of the end time. Do you know that a third of the bible is prophecy? Did you know that every book in the NT except Philemon speaks about the end times? It’s not just a Revelation thing. It’s a Jesus thing, and Jesus is throughout the entire bible.
So what IS going to happen? Jesus is going to punish sin, plain and simple. Punishment is never pleasant, and Jesus said that the Apocalypse will be the worst time on earth there will ever be. (Matthew 24:21; Daniel 12:1b). Daniel 9:24 explains the 6 things God will do during the Apocalypse punishments. God, who is loving, wants us to be righteous so we can be with Him in heaven, so He sent Jesus. God, who is holy, is going to punish the unholy, who reject Jesus.
There will be earthquakes so bad that entire mountains crumble and islands flee away. One hundred pound hailstones will squash men. Plagues (and wars and beasts) will kill 1/3 of people. Demons will be let out of the abyss to inflict a painful bite so bad that people want to die: but can’t. They’ll chew their tongues in agony. Starving people will die in the streets, but no one will care. Things will come upon the earth so frightening that people have heart attacks on the spot. The sun and moon go dark, stars fall from the sky. Jesus said it will be so bad that if He let it go longer nobody would survive. As it is, 4 billion die within the 7 years. (Revelation 6-19).
Sin is real. God’s judgment of sin is real. Satan is real. Hell is real. The coming Antichrist is real. Everything in the bible is real. Not any other book. Apocalypse will happen. The rapture will be the signal that it’s beginning.
How can I be so sure? Because for 43 years I had everything I ever wanted. Money, fame, comforts, ease, professional recognition, world travel, and yet I felt empty. I felt in my soul that there had to be something more. What was this longing? This hole I felt within me? (Ecclesiastes 3:1). Is this all there is? Live a life and then die? It seemed like a lot of trouble to go through just to die. Is there a heaven? Will I go there? I wondered all these things.
It was the lack of knowing Jesus that was the problem. He created us. (Rev 4:11) and because we are born with a sin-nature, I was separate from him. THAT’S what I was feeling. I had been trying to fill that hole with temporary and unfulfilling things. I finally found the answer, at middle age without ever having gone to a church (so I’m not brainwashed into Christianity, lol). When you confess your sins and repent to Jesus, He forgives you and He brings you to fellowship with Him. He sends the Holy Spirit to make the things of God understandable, like the bible. (2 Corinthians 3:14). Before I was saved, the bible made no sense. I thought it was stupid. I thought bible thumpers and Jesus followers were stupid. After I repented, the bible made total sense and I loved Jesus.
I now see death differently from all the rest of the world that has no hope. It is simply a transition, from something tiring and full of struggle, to something wondrous and glorious beyond compare. I have no fears of the Apocalypse, because I won’t be here to experience it. Those in Christ will be taken out of the way, because He is not angry with us. We’re forgiven sinners. He is angry with unrepentant sinners. O, it is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of an angry God!
I am very sure this age will come to a terrible end. I am sure that time is not long away. I am very sure that I will be lifted bodily away from earth to meet Jesus in the air at the rapture to live with Him forever. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Corinthians 15:50-54.) If you want that certainty too, then repent of your sins and turn to Jesus. Believe He is Lord, who sacrificially died to satisfy God’s wrath about sin and who was raised on the third day. I will be in heaven. I hope you will be too.
A little while back, UK graphic designer, fashion student and editor Loren Kristie Aldridge asked me to contribute an article to her zine which would be sold at the 2nd Annual Nottingham Zine Fair. She was putting together a ‘zine about the apocalypse and wanted me to contribute something from the Christian point of view. She asked me for a bio and also to spend 800 or so words describing what is going to happen according to the Christian version of the apocalypse, and why I believe the Apocalypse is going to happen. It was a tall order to be that broad but have so few words to say it all in, but the Holy Spirit was gracious and led me to what I feel is a good product.
Her product came out great, I really like it from what I could glean from photos. Here is her final version of the zine:
This is an article about the Nottingham Zine Fair: “The rise of online publishing’s all very well, if you’re into all that technical rammel but for those with more tactile ambitions, who still hanker after old school printing and the smell of yer actual paper, you might want to get ye sens down to Spanky Van Dykes on the 26 May where the Raw Print Club will host it’s 2nd annual ‘Nottingham Zine Fair’. The event will be a mecca for lovers of zines, indie magazines and artist books of all shapes and sizes. According to Matt Gill, university lecturer, graphic designer and founder of Raw Print Club the day is ‘all about showcasing creativity and also bringing lots of different people together who have a love for print…So don’t tek our word for it, go along and have a proper good day out, read and buy some zines, talk to like minded people over a few jars of ale and dance your self silly at the aftershow party.”
It sounds like a lot of fun, actually. I wish I was going.
For the folks who aren’t in the zine world, a zine – pronounced zeen – as derived from magazine – is defined by Wiki as an independently- or self-published booklet, often created by a single person. Zines are customarily created by physically cutting and gluing text and images together onto a master flat for photocopying, but it is also common to produce the master by typing and formatting pages on a computer. The end product is usually folded and stapled. Zines can be printed and bound in any manner. Offset printing is a relatively common alternative to photocopying…” I remember putting together small print zines myself by ditto machine and staples, lol.
Zines are most commonly a small circulation publication of original or appropriated texts and images. More broadly, the term encompasses any self-published work of minority interest usually reproduced via photocopier.
Martin Luther and early American Revolution pamphleteers such as Thomas Paine were technically zinesters. A zine is simply a self-published print medium of focused theme and small circulation. Often there was only one edition. More often, the minority interest contained in the zine was of a more alternative nature.
In Thomas Paine’s and Martin Luther’s day the minority interest of alternative nature was anti-government or anti-pope, a dangerous position indeed, often carrying with it a death sentence for treason or heresy. This was because small pamphlets had the potential of having a huge impact on capturing the vox populi despite large corporate or governmental control of information and thus perception of the status quo. Just think the moment on October 31, 1517, when, according to traditional accounts, Luther’s 95 Theses were nailed to the door of the Castle Church. It turned the world upside down. Just think of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, it having the effect of galvanizing the Colonies toward revolution.
In the modern era of the 1900s and especially by the 1960s and onward, the subject was often was prurient, such as touting homosexuality, lesbianism, or BDSM lifestyles, subjects no standard publishing house would touch. One HAD to self-publish in those days.
I was always involved with print, as a journalist, academic, short story writer and general lover of all things print in the three dimensional media. I was born in 1960, with personal computers coming on the scene soon but before the internet. Getting something published was a hard go, because the NY publishing houses had a lock on the print media in terms of magazines and books, so zines were often the only alternative for the enterprising writer with something to say. As with anything first-generation, self-publishing was crude but satisfying. The 1980s brought punk zines, and computer bulletin boards, and then in the 1990s we had the explosion of self-publishing due to the widespread connectivity of the internet and easily obtained word processing software. In the early 2000s the blog was born. Now we have Facebook, Youtube, blogs, Twitter, personal websites and more. Self-Publishing has had a huge impact on the industry. Now, anyone with a computer can have a voice that may impact the world.
Nowadays, sophisticated software such as Adobe Illustrator allows for more aesthetically pleasing products, such as you see with Ms Aldridge’s Apocalypse This zine above.
As time has gone on, I note that these days, the minority interest subject is often Christianity. The subjects no self-respecting publishing house would touch before 1980, 1970, 1960 are now deemed ‘normal’, such as homosexuality, alternative lifestyles etc. Publishers and broadcasters only produce things with subjects that have wide appeal and thus will make them money. On television we regularly view shows promoting perverted structures of family, showing open sexual acts, and worse subjects, such as cannibalism or serial killing as entertainment, subjects one never even discussed inside a home, never mind touted on a global medium. But it sells. Christianity doesn’t.
I know that in the days to come and after the rapture when the antichrist will control media & information and thus perception, and that self-published small zines, or even portions of the bible will once again attain underground status and will have to be circulated stealthily. The openly circulated is the perverse and the stealthily circulated will be the pure.
Isaiah 5:20 warns, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” Jesus warned in Matthew 6:22-23, “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”
I am humbled and grateful to have been asked to contribute to Apocalypse This zine. Due to the alternative nature of zines these days, having a piece about Jesus in and amongst the other subjects means that people will read the Gospel who don’t normally come across it. Please pray that the Spirit sends all the right people to today’s Nottingham Zine Fair whose heart is ready to receive the truth.
I’ll post what I wrote for the zine and link to it. And also here. Meanwhile, right now there are hordes of youths ambling through aisles under the sun at Nottingham, looking for…something. I pray they find Jesus.
Three Four people from Georgia have now been infected and are being treated for the dread flesh-eating bacterial infection.
1. Aimee Copeland was riding a homemade zip line near the Little Tallapoosa River near Carollton, Georgia May 1st when the line snapped, causing a gash in her left calf. The bacteria thought to have triggered the infection, Aeromonas hydrophila, thrives in warm climates and fresh (brackish) water, like the river where Copeland was kayaking and zip lining with friends.
2. Lana Kuykendall was infected on May 7th after she gave birth to twins at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.
3. Bobby Vaughn of Cartersville, Georgia’s story– “Reports emerge of third flesh-eating bacteria victim with ties to Georgia.” Vaughn is a Cartersville landscaper who was injured at work May 4th when he fell from a tree and suffered a cut to his side.
4. UPDATE, A grandfather from Milledgeville (also not so far from Atlanta) is battling an infection of flesh eating bacteria. Shudderrrrrr…
The scale of miles between each location where the patient became infected is that each side of the triangle is roughly 50 miles from each destination. The distances are not long.
OK, one is a freak thing, two is something that makes me go HMMM, but three is a pattern. Three from the Atlanta area is just too close for comfort!
But now there is one in Long Island NY, a veteran fought for his life from a hospital bed warding off this weird bacteria. He survived. The article says that the bacteria “is rare”. I think they need to look up the definition of “rare” again. Four in the news in one week, suddenly, is not rare. It’s freaky…
I think of the verse that will be fulfilled in the Tribulation, the one where Jesus promised that there will be pestilences, (Luke 21:11; Rev 6:8). He created the entire world and all that is within it in 6 days. He can create a disease that will kill a fourth of mankind. Or He will allow a mutation of a disease that man in his own sin created, to kill a fourth of mankind. Or both.
What we have today is a flesh eating bacteria that is hard to handle in these relatively calm times with all the focus of the practicing experts brought to bear, with a total focus of curing the patient afflicted with it. A cure is almost too hard for them to manage now. Imagine when things are really chaotic and a quarter of the world is dying from plagues and wars and other deathly afflictions. If a person in the Tribulation catches this bacteria you will watch your flesh rot off while doctors are performing triage on patients worse off than you, until even they are overwhelmed with the flood of medical emergencies and finally practicing medicine as we know it sputters to a halt. If you believe I am overstating things, look what happened during Katrina.
I bring these unpalatable things to mind for you so as to think on His mercy. THIS is the age of grace, when repentance will bring joy and redemption to the penitent. Submitting to the loving care of the Savior brings to fruition for each individual all the promises of glory, peace, eternal joy with Him in heaven. Rejecting His offer of grace brings pain, death, and eternal separation from all his promises in hellish agony.
He said that he told us these things head of time so that when they came to pass you would believe. This presently ending of the Age of Grace is the last lead-time you will have to make these choices. (John 13:19). You can choose Jesus during the Tribulation, IF you survive any part of it, IF you don’t wait too long before all the world becomes deluded by the antichrist, IF Jesus doesn’t give you over to your perversions first, IF……
No, do it NOW. He loves you and wants you. He wants YOU.
the-end-time.org 