Category: prophecy

Posted in austere, end of days. Austere Challenge, israel, prophecy

JPost reports US-Israel war games canceled

Posted on by elizabethprata

Today, on January 15, the Washington Post reports-
Israeli and US troops gear up for major missile defense drill after Iran maneuvers
“The Israeli military is gearing up together with U.S. forces for a major missile defense exercise, the Israeli military announced Thursday, as tension between Iran and the international community escalates. The drill is called “Austere Challenge 12” and is designed to improve defense systems and cooperation between the U.S. and Israeli forces. It follows a 10-day Iranian naval exercise near the strategic Strait of Hormuz.”

The military exercises were scheduled for April. “A senior military official said it would be in the next few weeks. He said it would be the biggest missile defense drill ever held,” the WaPo reported.

However, tensions between Israel and the US have escalated recently into an open rift over the red lines at which the nations would take decisive action against Iran in that nation’s pursuit of nuclear armament building. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said that an attack against Iran over nuclear arms would send the Middle East spiraling into a conflict we would regret, Israel went ballistic behind the scenes. Which weren’t really so much behind the scenes, as the rift between the US and Israel is noticeable by now.

Today the Jerusalem Post reports-

“Israel, US discuss canceling missile defense drill“
“Israel and the US are in talks about the possibility of canceling a missile defense drill, billed as the largest ever in the country’s history, planned for the spring. Senior military officers told The Jerusalem Post that the drill scheduled for April has been canceled, while defense officials said that it was possible that it would be held later in 2012. Initially scheduled for April and called “Austere Challenge,” the drill was supposed to see the deployment of thousands of US troops and various sophisticated US military equipment in Israel.”

Are the military exercises on, or off? Which news report is true? It’s like Schrodinger’s Cat– we’re in a state of both being true and we won’t know until the box is opened.

Prophecy tells us that by the end of the end, “On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves.” (Zechariah 12:3). Israel will be hated, have no friends and be constantly attacked. The United States’ slow terrible slide away from Israel has accelerated markedly in these last three years, and that is a woe to us. Because God said in Genesis 12:3, “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

It is plain and simple: any nation who curses Israel is cursed in turn by God. It seems to me that planning for years, then canceling the largest military war games ever held with Israel, abandoning her in her time of need, is a curse that will be judged harshly by Jesus.
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Posted in gog and magog, iran, prophecy, psalm 83

Russia: ‘an attack on Iran is an attack on Moscow’ and other Middle East news

Posted on by elizabethprata

Iran has been pretty bellicose lately, daring to threaten nations and assume power it does not have. Two weeks ago Iran threatened the United States by telling the USS John C. Stennis aircraft carrier to leave the Strait of Hormuz and not come back. That was pretty startling to hear. Stennis’s tour was up and they were about to leave anyway, relieved by the USS Carl Vinson, but Stennis did an about-face in the Arabian sea and there it is to this day. Iran also threatened to close the Strait, but that was an overstep because it is Iran and Oman whose territorial waters extend into the Strait. I wonder what Oman thinks about their neighbor’s threat to close waters upon which Oman depends.

Now Iran warns Gulf states not to compensate for oil shortfalls after Western sanctions
“Iran has warned its Gulf neighbors to not compensate for any shortfall in its oil exports after it has been hit with Western sanctions, the Iranian OPEC representative said on Sunday. “If the oil producing nations on the Persian Gulf decide to substitute Iran’s oil, then they will be held responsible for what happens,” Mohammad Ali Khatibi was quoted as saying by Sharq newspaper. “We would not consider these actions to be friendly,” Khatibi added.”

He was really speaking about Saudi Arabia not making up the shortfall…

“Sanctions have been imposed on Iran when European Union countries agreed in principle to embargo imports of Iranian oil as part of the latest Western efforts to step up heat on Tehran. These countries will look to other oil exporters to increase output to make up for the shortfall and Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said on Saturday his country was ready to meet any increase in consumer countries’ demand. Iran is the second-largest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries cartel, after Saudi Arabia which currently exports some 6.2 million barrels per day (bpd) and has an output of about 3.5 million bpd, according to OPEC estimates.”

So not only is Iran threatening Israel, not only is Iran threatening the West, now they are throwing their weight around to their neighbors, their brothers in the Arab League.

Maybe Iran feels safe enough to do that because Russia is their new best friend.

Russia: ‘An attack on Iran is an attack on Moscow’
“Russia has given Iran its bear hug and warns Israel and the West that an attack on Tehran would be considered an attack on Moscow. The threat heightens the prospect of World War III in the event of a military strike on Iran. “Iran is our neighbor,” Russia’s outgoing ambassador to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, told reporters in Brussels. “And if Iran is involved in any military action, it’s a direct threat to our security.”

Neighbors? Not in the geographic sense. Two nations are between them, Georgia and Azerbaijan. Moscow is 1600 miles from Tehran.

Maybe Russia is still thinking Georgia and Azerbaijan are still part of the old Soviet Union. Yeah, that’s it.

On the map, look for Israel. See how tiny it is. See all the looming geography surrounding that tiny nation, the size of New Jersey. They ALL want her wiped out. In this Al Jazeera article, we see the quotes again about wiping Israel out. “The Islamic Republic of Iran has a solid history of tough talk, but it has escalated its provocative rhetoric in recent months. Sardar Mohamad Reza Naghdi, the commander of the Basij armed group, has said his organisation is “counting the moments” and waiting for an excuse to “put an end to the Zionist agenda”.

But that’s not news. Psalm 83:2-4 tells us this exactly:
“For behold, Your enemies make a tumult;
And those who hate You have lifted up their head.
They have taken crafty counsel against Your people,
And consulted together against Your sheltered ones.
They have said, “Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation,
That the name of Israel may be remembered no more.”

In that same Al Jazeera article, the question is asked,

“What is motivating Iran’s tough talk of enriching uranium and shutting down a major global oil chokepoint?” Why all this ramped up rhetoric? Here is what has gone down recently:

–September 2010 the Stuxnet computer virus attacked Iran’s nuclear power plant in Bushehr.
–December, a high-altitude stealth reconnaissance drone was downed in Iran, and images of the drone were broadcast on Iranian TV with banners hanging off of its wings which read: “We’ll crush America underfoot” and “US can’t mess with us”.
–Several mysterious explosions at key locations in Iran. In October 2010, a blast at a military base in the western province of Lorestan killed “several” and was dubbed “an accident” by the government.
–Explosion in November killed 17 at an arms depot west of Tehran. Later that month, a blast was heard near the city of Isfahan.
–Although the US navy has twice in the past week rescued Iranian crews in Gulf waters – once from Somali pirates, once from a wrecked vessel – its presence in the Gulf is nonetheless unwelcome and seen as a threat by Tehran.
–Strings of deaths, disappearances, and, in one case -reappearance – of Iranian physicists continues to deepen the acrimony and mistrust between Iran and the US and Israel.

What is driving Iran, at root? Secular nations look for secular answers, but at root is Iran’s goal of preparing the world for the final Mahdi’s arrival. Therefore at root is a religious reason that is the polar opposite of biblical truth. That is because satan is behind it, and we know that satan is a liar and the father of lies, and a murderer from the beginning. (John 8:44). It seems that the demonic prince of Persia is still holding on to Iran for his stronghold. (Daniel 10:13)

As Jack Kelley explained in his weekly essay last night:

“It’s no secret that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is preoccupied with the coming of a Shiite Islamic messiah figure, al Mahdi. This continues to raise concern that a nuclear-armed Iran would create the kind of global chaos he believes will be necessary to set the stage for the Mahdi’s return. Recent events seem to confirm this. For example, after years of promising that their nuclear ambitions are purely peaceful, Iran just announced their intention to test a 1 kiloton nuclear warhead this year. Iran’s Supreme Leader is thought to favor announcing Iran’s nuclear capability as an accomplished fact as soon as possible.”

“Al Mahdi, which means the guided one, is said to have gone into “occlusion” (disappeared) in the year 941 AD, at the age of five. Shiite Moslems believe he will reappear at the end of the Age. They say his reappearance will be preceded by chaos, war and bloodshed. When he comes he’ll establish a world wide Islamic caliphate, and following a cataclysmic confrontation with evil and darkness that lasts 7 years, the Mahdi will lead the world to an era of universal peace.”

“As he has publicly explained, Ahmadinejad believes he’s been called to “pave the path for the glorious reappearance of Imam Mahdi, may Allah hasten his reappearance.” To some, this means creating the chaos necessary to bring al Mahdi back.”

Another motivating factor is the plunder. Perhaps that plunder is oil. After the Psalm 83 war occurs and Israel defeats the coalition of Lebanon, Hamas, Hezbollah, Jordan, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, they occupy all those lands again. Remember, the LORD had promised Abraham certain lands and described the borders of it in Genesis 15:18-21. This is a part of the Abrahamic Covenant, specifically outlining the dimensions of the land God promised to Abraham and his descendants. Israel hasn’t occupied them all yet. But they will. (Ezekiel 20:33–37, 40–42; 36:1–37:28).

Here is a map of the Genesis 15 covenant lands:

See the scriptures that talk of the plunder being the motivation for Iran, Russia, Turkey et al to attack Israel:

“[Have you come] … to take plunder and to take booty, to stretch out your hand against the waste places that are again inhabited, and against a people gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who dwell in the midst of the land.  Sheba, Dedan, the merchants of Tarshish, and all their young lions will say to you, ‘Have you come to take plunder? Have you gathered your army to take booty, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great plunder?’” (Ezekiel 38:12-13)

Saudi Arabia has a lot of oil. According to Wikipedia, “Saudi Arabia has the largest oil reserves in the world. It is the world’s top oil exporter and producer. Oil actually accounts for “90% of the country’s exports and nearly 75% government revenues.” On the Abrahamic Covenant map, Saudi Arabia is the pink one.

With all the war rhetoric, drumbeats, and tension, I am reminded of Henry Kissinger’s old adage, coming to fruition in these last days–

“Control oil and you control nations; control food and you control the people.”

These heated words from Iran are emanating from the epicenter of all the world’s attention and tension right now: Middle East, where the oil (plunder?) is. The major problems in the world right now are there, as Isaiah 17, Psalm 83, and Ezekiel 38-39 tell us, and also Europe, the place where the revived roman empire will spit out the Antichrist. (Daniel 7:23-24). Did you know that Germany, currently Europe’s economic engine, is flirting with leaving the Euro currency and union? The news from Europe, the last empire in Daniel’s dream, is dire. The antichrist will control the world through food: access to it through purchase and through participation in the economy is denied unless the consumer wears the Mark of the Beast. The Gog Magog war happens because of plunder/ treasure, that the enemies have come to steal.

It is all shrinking down to oil & food, Middle East and Europe. Just as Jesus said it would.

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Posted in biometric, india universal ID, mark of the beast, prophecy

India: World’s biggest biometric identity plan progressing fast

Posted on by elizabethprata

The bible says that in the Tribulation all peoples will have a mark on their hand or forehead as a mark of allegiance to the antichrist, without which no one may buy nor sell. This is an astounding prophecy, because there are currently 7 billion people in the world. Even after the initial judgments where a third of the world is killed it is still a lot of people to keep track of. How is it done? Why would people join such a privacy-invading scheme? I’ll take a guess. Money.

The contractors hired to sign up people are paid by the sign-up. Once enrolled, the signees have the benefit of welfare rolling straight into their bank accounts. The pace of sign up in some places is astonishing. Read an excerpt below. Detractors say that though the program is currently voluntary, it could easily turn mandatory, and that the private biometric information on each enrolee is not secure. Well, we know how that turns out. They are right.

“He [antichrist] causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.” (Revelation 13:16-18).

I recommend the entire article from The Economist. It is fascinating.

India’s Universal ID scheme: reform by numbers
“FOR a country that fails to meet its most basic challenges—feeding the hungry, piping clean water, fixing roads—it seems incredible that India is rapidly building the world’s biggest, most advanced, biometric database of personal identities. Launched in 2010, under a genial ex-tycoon, Nandan Nilekani, the “unique identity” (UID) scheme is supposed to roll out trustworthy, unduplicated identity numbers based on biometric and other data.”

“Any resident who wants one can volunteer. The scheme combines work by central and state governments and a number of other partners—largely technology firms that capture and process individuals’ data. The goal, says Mr Nilekani, is to help India cope with the past decade’s expansion of welfare provision, the fastest in its history: “it is essentially about better public services”.

“All that should have been the recipe for a project mired in delays, infighting, empire-building, graft and bad results. Few expected UID to hit its ambitious targets. A year ago, only a few million had enrolled and barely 1m identity numbers had been issued. Warnings about fragile technology, overwhelmed data-processing centres and surging costs suggested slow progress.”

“Instead this week saw the 110-millionth UID number issued. Enrolments (which precede issued numbers by some months) should reach 200m in a couple of weeks. Mr Nilekani, eagerly hopping about his office to call up data on his laptop, says that over 20m people are now being signed up every month. He expects to get to 400m by the year’s end.”

“That is an astonishing outcome. For a government that has achieved almost nothing since re-election in May 2009, the scheme is emerging as an example of real progress. By 2014, the likely date of the next general election, over half of all Indians could be signed up. If welfare also starts flowing direct into their accounts, the electoral consequences could be profound.”

“To get a sense of the scale of UID’s achievement, linger at a mosquito-ridden enrolment centre in Uttan Gaon, a coastal village north of Mumbai. Huddled in a damp fire-station a young man connects a laptop, a binocular-style iris scanner and a glowing green machine that records 30 points from a set of fingerprints. In the gloom, his contraption could be a robot from an early Star Wars film.”

“Employed by Wipro, a technology firm and agent for the UID project, he has to get through 40 to 50 residents a day. His hassles, and those of armies of others deployed all across India, look endless. At times no one comes to enroll. Local government is supposed to run campaigns to lure them in, but indifference, bad weather and non-stop religious festivals keep them at home or partying.”

Another article on the subject from The Eocnomist. This one tales the slant that India’s poor economy and general bureaucratic incompetence (their words) were thought to be hindrances to the ID plan’s success. They weren’t. In my opinion this shows that no matter how disparate the people or the geography, no matter how much in disarray the economy is or will be, a massive governmental ID scheme can have rapid success. The article is titled, “The Magic Number“
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Posted in blood guilt, prophecy

Is there blood on your hands?

Posted on by elizabethprata

In Acts 18:5-6 Paul said that blood will be on their heads.

“But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the word, solemnly testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. But when they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

So, what did he mean by that? He was referring to the prophecy in Ezekiel 33:1-9, a passage known as The Watchman’s Duty

“And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, speak to the sons of your people and say to them, ‘If I bring a sword upon a land, and the people of the land take one man from among them and make him their watchman, and he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows on the trumpet and warns the people, then he who hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, and a sword comes and takes him away, his blood will be on his own head. ‘He heard the sound of the trumpet but did not take warning; his blood will be on himself. But had he taken warning, he would have delivered his life. ‘But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet and the people are not warned, and a sword comes and takes a person from them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require from the watchman’s hand.’

“Now as for you, son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel; so you will hear a message from My mouth and give them warning from Me. “When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require from your hand. “But if you on your part warn a wicked man to turn from his way and he does not turn from his way, he will die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your life.’

What does this mean?

Matthew Henry Commentary, Ezekiel 33:1-9
“The prophet is a watchman to the house of Israel. His business is to warn sinners of their misery and danger. He must warn the wicked to turn from their way, that they may live. If souls perish through his neglect of duty, he brings guilt upon himself. See what those have to answer for, who make excuses for sin, flatter sinners, and encourage them to believe they shall have peace, though they go on. How much wiser are men in their temporal than in their spiritual concerns! They set watchmen to guard their houses, and sentinels to warn of the enemies’ approach, but where the everlasting happiness or misery of the soul is at stake, they are offended if ministers obey their Master’s command, and give a faithful warning; they would rather perish, listening to smooth things.”

Last question, does this apply to us today? We are not God-ordained prophets as in the Old Testament,  and we are not apostles like Paul. Are we under an obligation that failure to meet will result in our own blood? Or theirs?

Here is how John MacArthur answered that question in his sermon on the passage:
“People say to me, “John, do you believe the Bible teaches individual responsibility?” There it is, my friend. If you die without Jesus Christ, your blood is on your own head. And I can say to you this morning what Paul said: “I’m clean. I presented you the Gospel. What you do with it will determine your eternal destiny, and the responsibility is your own.”

Now, our own salvation is assured, secure and eternal. Nothing we do can cause it to be lost.

“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” (Ephesians 4:30)

“Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a deposit.” (2 Corinthians 1:21)

“Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.” (Matthew 18:14).

And the LORD’S election of those whom he will have in His kingdom are sure. Nothing we do, or fail to do, will cause one of His sheep to be lost. Nothing hinges on us. However, we are, after all, under a specific commission to witness.

“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”” (Matthew 28:16-20)

Go. Make. Baptize. Teach. Obey. Command. Pretty strong imperative and verbs there.

I don’t know the final answer. I do know that we cannot claim Old Testament irrelevancy just because there are no God-ordained prophets any more, because the statement Paul made about blood-guilt in Acts 6 is New Testament, and it was not the only time he said it. He also said he was clean of blood guilt in Acts 20:26-27.

I think it all comes down to indifference. It comes down to the level of indifference we have for the commands of God, and for the destiny of the lost. And the risks we are willing to take in disappointing the one who shed His own blood for us. That’s all. I have no answers. Just food for thought.
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Posted in prophecy

About prophecy:

Posted on by elizabethprata

“But they do not know the thoughts of the LORD, And they do not understand His purpose; For He has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor.” Micah 4:12

When God reveals the future, His purpose goes beyond satisfying our curiosity. He wants us to change our present behavior because of what we know about the future. Forever begins now; and a glimpse of God’s plan for His followers should motivate us to serve Him, no matter what the rest of the world may do.

NIV Life Application Study Bible, p. 1460, RE Micah 4:12

Posted in godly, jesus, prophecy

Church: Of retina burning light shows and beds on the stage

Posted on by elizabethprata

I have been posting on and off for six months on the topic of the state of the American church. In July I posted about my experience attending a two-day Beth Moore Living Proof Convention in Charlotte NC. In part two of the series containing my (negative) reaction, I’d written,

“As the lights went down other lights flared up. It was a light show that accompanied the first drum beat. And that percussion was LOUD. I’d estimate they were about 115-120 decibels. Pain begins at 125 decibels. Between the green and red lights sweeping the arena, and the beats that made the floors shake, I was already overwhelmed. And I was only one minute into it. All the women were standing and the captions to the songs were crawling across the jumbo-trons, several of which were stationed adjacent to the stage. The Time Warner Arena doorposts and thresholds shook, and they shook hard. I decided right away that I’d spend Saturday’s musical worship time outside the arena in the lobby. The songs were a mixture of contemporary praise and hymns, but the hymns were blended into the contemporary. So as we were singing a modern song it would blend into an old-fashioned one. I don’t even remember, now which songs were sung, because I was too overcome by the noise and the lights. The session lasted about 20 minutes and it had a mood all its own. The cadence would begin slow and soft, and rise and rise to a climactic moment when those drum beats would shake the house, and then slowly descend back into soft. This method was repeated several times. Rather than be moved by the music, I had a bad emotional and spiritual reaction.”

I know that people may think I’m a fuddy duddy for writing that. People say ‘New generations listen to new music’, ‘it’s only music’, ‘people can be discriminating about the lyrics’, etc etc. But it is a bad trajectory. It is becoming more common than not as a method of worship. It is becoming more accepted as worship.

I came across the following video of church worship. They did not take place in a convention hall during a one-time workshop as Beth Moore’s event was. These are in church. This is Steven Furtick’s Elevation Church: (video HT Do Not Be Surprised)

If you can’t watch video, here is a screen shot from one of the moments:

I do not believe church, class, bible study or youth group should be a rock concert because the emotions and the senses (carnality) are incited, not to mention that Jesus is not central.

I have not been a church-goer for all that long. I came to faith in Jan 2004 and didn’t begin going to church until 18 months later, in Oct 2006 when I moved to GA. I’ve attended two Baptist churches in that time, five revivals, several Kay Arthur bible studies and two ladies retreats. I’ve taught children’s bible study on Wednesday nights the entire time, I’ve taught the Good News Club for two years, led the church’s Sunday School program, and also taught Vacation Bible School for four years. I’ve led an adult small home bible study for its 8 month course. It’s a lot in five and a half years but not so much that I have the same perspective of a long-term Christian. However, because of the shortness of the time I’ve been involved in different ministries, I’ve come to it with no preconceived church cultural view, and I’ve been dismayed at several things.

As a teacher for my profession, I’m used to over-developed curricular materials. I was dismayed to find the same problem in church curriculum. In all the materials I’ve been given, there are a host of activities, games, and side-tracking bustle that could not possibly be completed in the half hour or one hour time frame most children’s bible study is designed for. Vacation Bible School (VBS) was a surprise for me. The energy and money spent on elaborate decorations, curricular materials, food and crafts was a shock. There are constant songs with elaborate lyrics and dance moves. I& believe the ever increasing complexity and distraction of VBS materials directly mirrors what we see in Youth Ministries and now at last, in regular church for adults. I felt somewhat a rebel when I was asked to teach VBS and I emphasized that all I wanted was an empty room, a bible, and a bunch of kids. No songs, no props, no nothing. It is a beautiful thing when you teach the bible to children, they soak it up and they are a LOT more sophisticated in their questions and their thinking. In every activity or ministry, from small group to church sanctuary, I believe Jesus should be central with minimal distractions. For children and youth especially for the very reason they are bombarded with multimedia all day every day. Quieting things down for them to study the bible should be a no-brainer. Instead, we ramp it up.

Here is something speaking to the issue I’d written about regarding dignity at the pulpit:

“I enjoy a good laugh as much as anyone. I love fun, a good time, and yukking it up. However, I do not believe those things are appropriate for church, for bible study, for ecclesiastical conferences, or for prayer meetings. The call to dignity is both overt and inferred in the scriptures.”

So Ed Young brings a bed onto the pulpit.

Ed Young wrote of the event, “Thursday night, we have an opportunity to share God’s BIG TRUTH about BIG SEX with an international audience! I say “we” because this is our chance as a church to join together and pray for God to connect His truth to culture in a unique fashion.”

So a bed AND television cameras. Talk about inciting the senses.

Ed Young said his approach was in “unique fashion…” Beware the pastors who are proud of using “unorthodox approaches.” Like, Jesus needs unorthodox approaches? What happened to the orthodox approaches? Why do pastors feel the need to re-write the orthodox approach that Jesus laid down in the bible, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Rom. 10:17) to a man-made UNorthodox approach? I soundly criticize “unorthodox approaches.” They are unnecessary. Why?

Because “By mouth you hear the Gospel and then believe.” (Acts 15:7). “I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard?” (Galatians 3:2). “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.” (Colossians 3:16). That verse, means that the singing is supposed to proffer truth set to music as a kind of teaching. We should be singing with both the spirit and the mind so as to produce understanding. (1 Corinthians 14:15-16).

Introducing salacious thoughts into people’s minds by using ALL CAPS to highlight the word ‘sex’, placing the bible on the podium where a bed is also displayed, are all beyond the pale.

You may be thinking, “MY church would never do that. I attend a solid Southern Baptist Church/Evangelical Methodist/Lutheran…etc church.” But are “unorthodox approaches” being introduced even now? Apostasy is a slippery slope. “The ride down this slippery slope can begin very slowly, and with very subtle and seemingly harmless compromises. … Apostasy often begins by subtly de-emphasizing the fact that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant, infallible Word of God.” (source). THIS is where ‘unorthodox approaches’ lead to:

Can ‘Small’ Doctrinal Compromises Lead to Large-Scale Disaster?
“Jesus warned His disciples to “beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” By this, He meant their heretical doctrine (Matthew 16:5-12). Their doctrine, like much that is found in today’s Evangelical church, was founded primarily on two false principles: preaching a counterfeit salvation by adding works to faith, and debasing the authority of Scripture by subordinating it to the words of fallible men. Why was it necessary for even these men, the twelve who were closest to Christ, to “beware”? It was because they were men of sinful flesh, as we are. It is easy to be deceived.”

In that same article, Dr. Paul Elliott goes on to say,

“The word that perhaps best describes error in the church is one seldom used today: It is pernicious. … Once error is accepted in one area of foundational doctrine, departure from the truth in other areas becomes probable. … Compromise may have small beginnings, but it is like the breaching of a great dam. The breach may begin as a fingertip-sized hole allowing only a trickle to pass. But left to itself, the breach opens ever wider. The trickle eventually becomes a flood, and those responsible for the original breach are powerless to stop it. They themselves are often swept away, and others with them. Or, the flood of error may not come until after those who were originally responsible pass from the scene. But the damage will be done to succeeding generations.”

“Unorthodox approaches” …the breaching of a dam that leads to apostasy.

If you notice your church straying from doctrine at the pulpit in small ways, beware. It starts small. It ends with a retina-burning laser light show and a bed on the stage.

But remember, the Lord will not lose any one of His sheep. “Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness.” (2 Timothy 2:19). Paul’s statement came on the heels of the previous verses that decried the false teachings of ones like Philetus and Hymenaeus, whose doctrines were like gangrene already infecting the church. He wrote the letter in approximately AD 67, where witnesses to the resurrection were still alive. If the first generation church could fall prey to false teachings and “men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of some,” (2 Tim 2:18) then imagine the apostasy of our generation 2000 years later and our going away from the faith. Paul was in jail and knew this letter were likely his last words. He was tired, lonely and felt abandoned. Yet his focus was on Timothy and the next generation church, because Paul knew the strength of the Holy Word.

“Paul encourages Timothy to remain passionate for Christ and to remain firm in sound doctrine (2 Timothy 1:1-2, 13-14). Paul reminds Timothy to avoid ungodly beliefs and practices and to flee from anything immoral (2 Timothy 2:14-26). In the end times there will be both intense persecution and apostasy from the Christian faith (2 Timothy 3:1-17). Paul closes with an intense plea for believers to stand firm in the faith and to finish the race strong (2 Timothy 4:1-8).” (source)

“It is easy to get side-tracked in the Christian life. We have to keep our eyes on the prize—being rewarded in heaven by Jesus Christ (2 Timothy 4:8). We must strive to avoid both false doctrine and ungodly practices. This can only be accomplished by being grounded in our knowledge of God’s Word and firm in our refusal to accept anything that is unbiblical.” (source)

“Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work. Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.” (2 timothy 2:21-22).
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Posted in hamas, jordan, prophecy, psalm 83

Looking at Psalm 83’s nearness, remember Obadiah’s prophecy of Jordan destroyed

Posted on by elizabethprata

A lot of nations are mentioned by name in the end time schedule of events. Egypt (Mizraim), Russia (Magog, Rosh), Turkey (Gomer, beth-Togarmah), Iran (Persia, Elam), Ethiopia & Libya (Cush & Phut), Lebanon (Canaan which included No. Israel) and of course, Israel. Here is a look at ancient and modern names in the bible, or here in list form. The map below enlarges if you click on it.

But what of Jordan (Moab, Amman, Edom)? Is Jordan, with which Israel shares a border and a brother, mentioned?(Gen 25:23) Yes. Obadiah is all about Jordan and its doom. But first, the news. There are two things happening this week which fit into prophecy. Overlaying both pieces of news is this fact to be kept in mind: Only Egypt and Jordan currently have a peace treaty with Israel. And with the Muslim Brotherhood’s ascendancy lately, winning the elections, they have said in December that they will not honor the peace treaty currently in force:

“Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood will not recognize Israel under any circumstances and might put the peace treaty with the Jewish state up to a referendum, the movement’s second in command told the Al-Hayat newspaper in an interview that was published Sunday. The announcement comes days before the final round in the first parliamentary elections in post-uprising Egypt. The Islamist movement has emerged as the biggest winner in polls, capturing nearly half of the seats so far.”

So that is not good news for Israel. Worse, is this. Here is some important news. As Syria devolves, Hamas leadership (Hamas terrorist organization sworn to destroy Israel) in Syria has been making frequent visits to Jordan. Jordan’s King Abdullah has always liked to characterize Jordan as being reasonable and stable. They hold a peace treaty with Israel. They have sworn not to ally with terrorists and booted Hamas out 12 years ago. And yet…there’s this from three days ago:

“Jordanian government spokesman Rakan al-Majali confirmed Friday that Jordan is expecting a visit from Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mashaal and Qatari Heir Apparent Sheikh Tamim bin Hamas al-Thani, the London-based al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper reported.”

Is this visit in advance of a decision to make an entire shift in Hamas’ seat of leadership from Damascus to Jordan? The article goes on to say

“Al-Majali added that Jordan welcomes its guests as fellow brothers from Qatar and Hamas. He noted that the visit will be followed by a discussion on Jordan’s ties with Hamas and the interests of the Jordanian and Palestinian people. The spokesman also addressed Israeli reports suggesting that Qatar was pressuring Amman to take in Hamas in exchange for financial incentives…” but the official denied it, of course. Several Hamas senior officials recently left Damascus in the wake of the Assad regime’s violent crackdown. Some conjectured that the movement will seek refuge in Jordan which expelled it 12 years ago.”

It seems that Jordan is friendly with Hamas again. On Dec 6 the WSJ reported “Hamas ordered the departure of nearly all its staff at its Damascus headquarters by next week following pressure from Turkey and Qatar, two regional allies trying to isolate Syrian President Bashar al-Assad amid an eight-month crackdown on antiregime protests, according to a Hamas official. … Hamas will establish new headquarters in Cairo and Qatar to replace its operations in Syria, the official added. At the same time, Hamas leader Khaled Meshal is scheduled to meet with King Abdullah II of Jordan to discuss upgrading its presence in the kingdom.”

Since Dec 6 and with the confirmation of the highest Hamas official meeting with highest Jordanian officials three days ago, it seemed to lend credence to the reports that Hamas is changing venues back to its old home of Jordan.

Here is the second item I’d wanted to share:

Israel building a wall against Jordan
“Israel is carrying out a policy of “good fences make good neighbors” and will build a security fence along the Jordanian border, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced on Sunday. “When the security barrier along the Egyptian border is finished, one will be built along the border with Jordan,” the Prime Minister said at the weekly Cabinet meeting. The border on the south will stretch 240 kilometers (nearly 150 miles) and is scheduled to be completed before the end of 2012, at a cost of $360 million.”

You see the geo-physical problem with Egypt’s effective abandonment of the peace treaty with Israel, and the border of Jordan, where Egyptian extremists are said to be smuggling arms to Jordan…and the recent softening of relations between King Adullah and Hamas…

In his Gog Magog FAQ Joel Rosenberg asked “Bernard Lewis—the renowned Middle East scholar and author of numerous important books about the region including The Crisis of Islam—to assess the potential impact of Hamas coming to power in the post-Arafat environment. “The Hamas-Palestinian government may pose more of a danger to Jordan than to Israel,” he said.14 Lewis is right. Some 70 percent of Jordanian citizens are Palestinians, and Hamas would love to radicalize them and use them to help overthrow the king and unify Jordan, the West Bank, and Gaza into one jihadist state poised at Israel’s throat.”

Hamas and Jordan are definitely not a good mix. Whether it is the radicalization of Jordanian Palestinians by Hamas’s influence or some other measure, we know that at some point Jordan becomes rabid with hate, or at least weak enough to be unable to withstand hatred of Israel, and pitches in to the Psalm 83 confederacy that attacks Israel in the last days.

Now, the prophecy about Jordan says something startling. Jordan’s life as a nation will be completely wiped out. Obadiah is the shortest book in the OT and it’s entirely about “The Coming Judgment on Edom”. That judgment has not occurred yet, so it is still future. Remember, Jacob and Esau were twin brothers of Rebekah and Isaac and the older was prophesied to serve the younger. Esau sold his birthright for a bowl of red stew, and further, was tricked out of his blessing by Jacob at Rebekah’s insistence. For this, Esau has always hated Jacob. And Jordan (Idumea, Ammon, Moab, Edom) has always treated Israel harshly. They will be judged for it, and more, the LORD will use Jordan mightily in the process for His plan and glory.

First, Ob 1:18 says “The house of Jacob shall be a fire, And the house of Joseph a flame; But the house of Esau shall be stubble;They shall kindle them and devour them, And no survivor shall remain of the house of Esau,”

That is pretty startling. None will survive? What does that mean? I should tell you that a thorough and clear interpretation of Obadiah’s prophesies has eluded the most diligent and brilliant difficult scholars, therefore I will not even come close.

In my studies I take the plain meaning when it is clear that no other meaning should be taken (the writer is not using a metaphor or it’s not a parable).

Gill’s Exposition seems to say this too: ‘and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; that is, the Israelites shall fall upon the Edomites, who will be no more able to withstand them than stubble can stand before devouring flames of fire, and shall utterly waste and destroy them: and there shall not be any remaining of the house or Esau; … the Edomites shall be all consumed, and the Israelites shall inherit their land:’

But Clarke’s Commentary differs: “There shall not be any remaining – As a people and a nation they shall be totally destroyed. This is the meaning; it does not signify that every individual shall be destroyed.”

In any case, the land of Jordan will be destroyed as a nation, and the land will become Israel’s. It is in Jordan, in the area of Bozrah and likely the city of Petra, the remnant shall be protected. They are protected because Jordan is the one nation the antichrist is not able to conquer!

“He will also enter the Beautiful Land, and many countries will fall; but these will be rescued out of his hand: Edom, Moab and the foremost of the sons of Ammon.” (Daniel 11:41).

Amazing isn’t it?!

So in Matthew 24:16 when Jesus warns the people to flee when they see the antichrist coming, He tells them to flee to the the mountains. The only way to do that is east to Jericho (15 miles, 6.5 hours’ walk) and then south down the King’s Highway to the mountainous area at the south end of the Dead Sea to Petra, approximately 125 miles.

In Psalm 83 Jordan is mentioned as an enemy of Israel conspiring toward her obliteration. The list below is from an article last Feb 2011 by Bill Salus, titled “Jordan soon to sever ties with Israel.” It is a good article.

Here is the Psalm 83 verse, “For they have consulted together with one consent; They form a confederacy against You: The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab and the Hagrites; Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assyria also has joined with them;They have helped the children of Lot. Selah” (Ps 83:5-8).

You notice that all of Jordan from north to south, Ammon, Moab and Edom are mentioned. Perhaps it is this battle, yet to occur, that destroys Jordan as Obadiah prophesied.

Time till tell. Meanwhile, whenever Jordan is in the news in a way that casts it as an enemy or potential enemy of Israel, perk up, our Redemption draws nigh!
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Posted in judgment, prophecy, rapture

Back to Basics: What is the Rapture?

Posted on by elizabethprata

In this Back to Basics series, I strive to ask and answer common questions of a more basic nature, rather than do what I normally do, which is to study the nuances of scripture in light of current events. I do the latter because we seem to be very far along on God’s timeline in advancing toward the end of the Church Age, and I want bible believing Christians to be aware of the fact of the Church Age’s end, and to be aware of their responsibilities in light of this end. However, because we are so close to the end of the Church Age, that means when we are raptured, billions will be left behind, and a few of those will turn to Christian websites looking for answers. These people will not care about the nuances of prophecy, because a great deal of it will have already come to pass and as for the rest, they will need catching up on, FAST. It is these people for whom I write the Back to Basics series.

The rapture is not mentioned explicitly in much of the bible, though it is hinted at throughout, such as this from Isaiah 26:19: “But your dead will live; their bodies will rise. You who dwell in the dust, wake up and shout for joy. Your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead.” The most explicit verses are in:

–1 Thessalonians 4:16-18, “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.”

–1 Corinthians 15:20-23, “But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. 21 For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming.”

–1 Cor. 15:51-52, “Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.”

The rapture will be a supernatural event taking place at a date and time no one knows. The 1 Thessalonians verse mentions a trumpet and a shout, but these noises will not be heard by those who are not being called. For these, they will simply be going about their day, perhaps talking directly to a bible-believing Christian, and the believer will simply go ‘poof’ and disappear.

That is the rapture. What the rapture is NOT is Jesus’s Second Coming. In that supernatural event which takes place at the end of the Tribulation (7-year period of judgment on earth), He will physically arrive on earth at the end of the Tribulation to finish the transgression and put an end to sin Himself. In the rapture, Jesus comes to meet us in the air, He does not touch down to earth. He isn’t seen by all, only the believers who are dead and alive.

Where did we go? We were called to heaven by Jesus to be sequestered during the coming Tribulation, another supernatural time in which earth dwellers will experience hell on earth as judgment for their sins. (Isaiah 26:20, Daniel 9:24, John 14:3).

Why did we go? We were called by Jesus to the place He has been preparing for us (John 14:3). We get to go there because of our of belief in the Gospel (that Jesus came to earth to live a sinless life, die on the cross as the sacrificial lamb taking the penalty for our sins, and was resurrected on the third day proving He is God). He has rewarded us for this faith by removing us out of harm’s way before the judgments on sinners begins. Because the Tribulation time after the rapture is a period of judgment of sins, and our sins were forgiven because we believed on Jesus and Gospel, then it stands to reason we would not be here when the wrath begins. He isn’t angry at us. Indeed, we are told told we are not appointed to wrath (1 Thessalonians 5:9). The people who were left behind are the ones who refused to believe on Jesus despite all the evidence, and thus remained in their sins, an enemy of God. He will now judge those people and their sins.

You may be surprised by who is left behind. Not all people who went to church, or seemed devout, or had a big position in church such as deacon, or pastor, or bishop, or even pope, are true believers. Actually the bible tells us there will be few real believers. That is because we can only see the outside of a person but Jesus sees the inside. He knows who has truly repented. Many have only made an outward show if it, and that is why they were left behind, They were not really believers in Jesus’s eyes.

The rapture marks the end of the Church Age’s invisible supernatural and the beginning of the visible supernatural. For millennia, the powers, principalities, and princes of the air (demons and their kingdom Ephesians 2:2, Ephesians 6:12), the good angels (Hebrews 13:2), and also Jesus glorified, remained behind the veil invisible to human eyes. Jesus was in heaven and we were on earth and for the most part, the two remained mingled but invisible- but very active! In one case, the Lord in the Old Testament showed Elisha’s servant just how potent and vigorous the activity behind the veil is:

“Now when the attendant of the man of God had risen early and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was circling the city. And his servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then Elisha prayed and said, “O LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” And the LORD opened the servant’s eyes and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” (2 Kings 6:15-17).

In the Old Testament there were occasional eruptions of the supernatural, the Flood, miracles such as the parting of the Red Sea, the ten plagues of Egypt, Elijah and the Widow at Zarephath where the wheat never ran out, and other examples. We also see the supernatural in Jesus’s ministry on earth for three and a half years and His resurrection, then the Apostles’ miracles. After that, for 2000 years the miraculous and the demonic have largely been invisible from human eyes. But make no mistake, just because they have been invisible, it doesn’t mean they have not been active. At the rapture, the supernatural becomes visible in the form of millions who have instantly disappeared, likely leaving behind their clothes, their vehicles, their glasses, their teeth filings, etc. The remaining 7 years the supernatural will be visible, and in an horrific way, too.

For example, the coming of the antichrist is in full power of false signs and wonders, (21 Thessalonians 2:9), in Revelation 9 demons are let out of the bottomless pit to plague the people on earth, 144,000 Jews are supernaturally sealed and thus protected during this time so they can continue the work of spreading the Gospel (Revelation 7:3-4), rivers and streams will turn to blood, (Revelation 16:4) the sun will go dark (Matthew 24:29-30)…etc. These supernatural events will be seen by one and all.

If you are reading this and are left behind, wondering what happened, you have made an excellent start by turning to a Christian site. However, do not delay in deciding whether what is written here is true or false. The Lord will send a great delusion upon the whole world, “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12).

No one knows exactly what that delusion is, but you can see from the verse that it is bad. “Those who perish’ means people who don’t believe in Jesus. It is phrased that way because unforgiven sin in a person means they are spiritually dead and destined for hell. Perishing. This delusion will cause a person to be unable to turn to Jesus in belief for salvation. Since it is so complete and final, and since no on knows exactly when God will send this delusion, don’t wait! The biggest sign that you could receive is the fact that millions are inexplicably missing!! The best and only explanation that fills the bill are the scriptures that foretell this event’s occurrence. What other proof does a person need?

Here are further resources for your study:
GotQuestions.org: What is the rapture of the church?
Bible.org: When Christ comes for His church

Bibles online:
Bible Gateway
Online Parallel Bible

Dictionary of biblical terms. If you want to know what ‘salvation; means, or ‘repent’, or ‘sin’, go to that link for short explanations.

I wrote this because it seems the rapture may be close. How can I know this if the event is signless and imminent (dependent on nothing else for it to occur?) because the prophesies we know will occur during the Tribulation are nearing readiness for fulfillment. On Friday, Dec 30, 2011, I wrote that “The Prophetic Infrastructure is Almost Complete.” In that essay I’d written,

“The infrastructure is being laid. Remember, the Tribulation is only 7 years long. In that time, the global economy is completely changed. The global political structure is completely changed. The temple will be rebuilt and sacrifices ongoing. Old hatreds must be ignited and hot for war. We see that now. Seven years is a short period. In my opinion the infrastructure is being laid now so that when the rapture happens it all will be put together almost instantly.”

In his January 1 sermon and prophecy video, Pastor JD Farag said,referring to the Tribulation judgments on the near-horizon and the current prophetic acceleration, “Everything that is happening, is happening swiftly and even simultaneously. And if you think about it, it really has to happen this fast. Because, there is no way that the antichrist would have enough time during the 7-year tribulation to get everything, to set everything in place. It has to already be in place and ready to go by the time he comes on the scene.” [min 2:35-3:10 approx)

And later in the video at 13:40,

“I think this is about to come to pass. And if we see this now, at this stage, as we reach the end of the age, and it ultimately finds its fulfillment in the 7-year Tribulation, how close are we?” Luke 21:28 says, after listing the signs and the judgments, “Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.”

When these things begin to happen… do not put off deciding on eternity. Jesus is real, He is alive, and He wants to forgive your sins. It is your sin that makes you an enemy of our Holy God.

The website at Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry says “Sin is anything that is contrary to the law or will of God. For example: if you lie, you have sinned. Why? Because God has said not to lie (Exodus 20:16). If you do what God has forbidden, then you have sinned. In addition, if you do not do what God has commanded, you sin (James 4:17). Either way, the result is eternal separation from God (Isaiah 59:2). Sin is lawlessness (1 John 1:3) and unrighteousness (1 John 5:17). Sin leads to bondage (Rom. 6:14-20) and death (Rom. 6:23). Paul, in the book of Romans, discusses sin. He shows that everyone, both Jew and Greek, is under sin (Rom. 3:9). He shows that sin is not simply something that is done, but a condition of the heart (Rom. 3:10-12). In Ephesians Paul says that we are “by nature children of wrath” (Eph. 2:3). Yet, “while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly,” (Rom. 5:6).”

What do you need to do to get saved, preferably NOW before the rapture happens? Here is an explanation

What do I need to do to get saved?
What is salvation?

The best New Year’s resolution you can make is to pray to the Holy Spirit for understanding and conviction of your sins. Conviction just means you consciously know your sins and you feel really bad about them because you know they are crimes against Holy Jesus. Do not delay. Things are happening fast now.

Please feel free to share this essay liberally, and even go to the links I provided because they are better written and sourced. Jesus is the answer. He always has been. Please do not delay so long that you come to understand this after the rapture, or worse, after you die. After the rapture it will be harder to be saved and you likely will die before you’re saved anyway, because the second judgment is war everywhere in the world, and the fourth judgment is death to 1/4 of people in the world. And if you wait so long deciding that you die without having repented, your position is fixed eternally. Join us NOW in salvation, and then join us in looking up, for our Redemption draws nigh!
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Posted in 2011 natural disasters, prophecy

Top five weather events of 2011

Posted on by elizabethprata

The following is an excerpted transcript from a CBS report on year end review of US disasters. Full video below.

Newscasters: “This is a record year for disasters. There were 96 declared disasters in the US, costing billions of dollars lost, and killing more than 1000 people. …  So, 2011, how bad was it?”

Scientist: “Pretty bad. This isn’t the media hyping something. It really was a lot worse. About three to four times as worse in terms of big disasters than we’ve ever seen before.”

#5: Drought: 600,000 cattle were sold off in TX. “It was was the costliest disaster because it went on so long and affected lots of us in various ways.”
#4: Arizona wildfires
#3: Heat wave. Every state hit a record of some kind of record in July. Texas had 100 consecutive days of 100 degree weather. It was not just a US phenomenon, it was a global phenomenon.
#2: Hurricane Irene: It was not the wind, but the rain and floods. “It shut down NY. For the first time ever, all transit was shut down in NYC.”
#1: Tornadoes: 300 people died on one day. Alabama/Missouri hardest hit.

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This review doesn’t mention disasters outside the US, such as the volcanoes, which erupted with sudden and depressing frequency last year. The US wasn’t alone in experiencing flooding. Thailand, Cambodia, Bihar, Orissa, Pakistan, Dublin also had severe floods, and Brazil’s rains spawned deathly mudslides, as this Yahoo year in review reminds us. This article from NY1 says, “Just days after the New Year, a series of mudslides and floods in Brazil bury parts of cities under layers of earth. Nearly 1,000 poor people who live in shacks perched on steep hillsides with no foundations become victims. Heavy, earth-moving rains reportedly bury residents as they sleep in an area about 40 miles north of Rio, making it the worst natural disaster in Brazil’s history.”

The New Zealand Herald reported, “The wrath of nature dominated the start of the year, when the worst floods in Queensland’s history swamped much of the state, displacing hundreds of thousands of people and claiming more than a dozen lives in the Lockyer Valley, west of Brisbane, before inundating the city itself.”

‘The wrath of nature,’ eh?

There was the Chile volcano deadly eruptions that affected both Chile and Argentina, the bird and animal deaths in January-February-March, and though not a natural disaster, it caused a disaster ecologically, the BP oil leak. New islands popped up overnight at Anak Krakatau and in the Red Sea, and almost overnight at El Hierro. There were weird sinkholes, rifts, and ground noises and sky rumbles. Birds fell from the sky and fish washed ashore. Comet Lovejoy passed through the searing heat of the sun’s corona, and survived. The term ‘Coronal Mass Ejection’ was absorbed into the common vocabulary, with its attendant companion, ‘zapped grid.’ There were unusual eclipses of the sun and the moon, meteors and comets weird clouds and weird lights.

Comet Elenin was my most-read post of the year, followed closely by the fake May 21 rapture post and then the Ghost Horse of Tahrir Square.

2012 will be worse. Am I pessimist? No a realist. Jesus said the signs would be as birth pangs. (Matthew 24:8) As any mother knows, birth pangs don’t slow down once they get going. They certainly don’t reverse. No, they press on inexorably toward the inevitable conclusion: birth. What is being birthed here is the rule of Christ on earth in the millennial kingdom, (Rev. 20:4-6). It is the 1000 years of peace He has promised the Jews where Jesus rules and reigns with them. (Isaiah 9:7, 11:4). Ezekiel has much to say about the Millennium Kingdom. Chapters 40-46 describe the Temple and its offerings in detail. These chapters also describe the Priests and the Prince. Chapters 47-48 discuss the land in general, and its distribution among the tribes during the Millennium.

The birth will be bloody and horrible, painful and tortuous. Even now as we take a look back over 2011, we see how terrible the times were and are. But it will birth the full flower of the promises of Jesus to David through covenant. And it will be beautiful. Between now and then, times will be dark, but then they will be Light! I can see through the dark time toward the Light because I have hope in me. I rest with assurance on His promises. “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” (Titus 2:13). If you don’t have Jesus, your view begins and ends in the dark. If you do have Jesus your view is all light, even when it is dark.

Therefore I am happy. Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God. (Psalms 146:5).
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Posted in end time, prophecy

Iran to fire long-range missiles during naval war games

Posted on by elizabethprata

I wrote extensively yesterday about the Iran war games in the Strait of Hormuz. It is a tense situation. One spark could catapult the world into a catastrophic series of circumstances. If the Iranians close the Strait then oil prices would double overnight. If one Navy ship from either Iran or the US makes a wrong move within that constricted area, then the entire Fifth Fleet, NATO, UK, France and Iranian ships would be engaged in a battle that would undoubtedly spill over to the nearby Arab states. Anything could go wrong. This week’s escalating situations is not only rhetoric this time. Oh, to be sure, the rhetoric is very heated, there is war of words going on that contain threats very close to actions. Iran has threatened to close the Strait. They have threatened to attack ships that come too close. But actual events are occurring too. Iran is engaged in the biggest naval war games they ever executed.

Now, we learn from Reuters, that “Iran to fire long-range missiles in drill“
“Iran will fire long-range missiles during a naval drill in the Gulf on Saturday, a semi-official news agency reported, a show of force at a time when Iran has threatened to close shipping lanes if the West imposes sanctions on its oil exports. … Iran began a 10-day naval drill in the Gulf last Saturday to show its resolve to counter any attack by foes such as Israel or the United States. Iranian media have said the exercise differed from previous ones in terms of “the vastness of the area of action and the military equipment and tactics that are being employed”.

Haaretz also reported on it: “The testing of the missiles is part of ongoing navy maneuvers in the Persian Gulf and, according to Moussavi, the main and final phase is preparing the navy for confronting the enemy in a warlike situation.”

Meanwhile, In Syria, protesters are making a momentous show of defense. “Hundreds of thousands of Syrians protest; activists say at least 19 killed“
“Hundreds of thousands of Syrians poured into the streets across the nation Friday in the largest protests in months, shouting for the downfall of the regime in a defiant display invigorated by the presence of Arab observers, activists said.Despite the presence of the monitors, activists said Syrian forces killed at least 19 people, most of them shot during anti-government protests.”

They say that the number of Syrian protesters is up to half a million now.

MoneyMorning reported last week that there is an ongoing back door bank run happening in Europe. “On Wednesday, Fitch Ratings Inc. downgraded its credit ratings on five of Europe’s biggest banks, and while that decision made headlines, it’s not the most important story to come out of Europe this week. The real story, which the mainstream media is neglecting, is that there are signs of an underground run on Europe’s banks. Almost nobody’s talking about it, but there are indications money is already moving out of the European Union (EU) faster than rats abandoning a sinking ship. Not through the front door, mind you. There are no lines, no distraught customers and no teller windows being boarded up – not yet, anyway. For now the run is through the back door, and there are four things that make me think so:”

“-Italy’s planned ban on cash transactions over 1,000 euros, or about $1,300.
-French, Spanish, and Italian banks have run out of collateral and are now pledging real assets.
-Swiss officials are preparing for the end of the euro with capital control measures.
-Europe’s CEOs are actively preparing for the end of the euro despite governmental reassurances.”

I wrote about the laying of the prophetic infrastructure earlier today, and how though the rapture is a signless and imminent event and has been throughout all of history, we can see by looking at how close the prophetic infrastructure is to being complete how close we may be to the rapture. Of course, this way of thinking may be all wrong, I am fallible and see through a glass darkly. But with Syria, the global economy, and Iran so heavy in the news it seems to me to be a hopeful portent for Christians, and an ominous portent for unbelievers. Please keep praying with all urgency, please keep living the Godliest life that you can in these dark times. Being holy and sanctified in the face of pessimism, perversion, and hate will stand out like a beacon of light that we are called to be.
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