Posted in earthquakes in diverse places, end time, prophecy

Guy Arkansas residents sick of three-month quake swarm

On October 15, 2010 I posted a story about an incredible earthquake swarm in Arkansas that had begun in late September. It was a 4.0 quake that caused the story to become of national interest. One news excerpt I posted reported: “Faulkner County residents had a shaky start to their Monday morning as a 4.0-magnitude earthquake rattled throughout the county. The quake, which occurred at 8:33 a.m. and was centered two miles southeast of Guy, was just one of 48 earthquakes reported since Wednesday afternoon. According to Shelia Maxwell with the Faulkner County Office of Emergency Management, the U.S. Geological Survey is looking into the recent earthquake activity in the area. “We’re having them (earthquakes) in places we’ve never had them before,” Maxwell said. “The USGS is looking into why we’re having them and why there have been so many.”

Jesus said that there would be earthquakes in diverse places. To me that means places that do not usually experience earthquakes will have them, and at not only the surface location but the depth. Deep-focus quakes are quakes aren’t supposed to happen, but they do, occurring in the very deepest parts of the earth. Last July, a series of quakes occurred in the Philippines which were 400+ feet deep that scientifically were not supposed to be able to occur. Deep-focus quakes are rare, just as rare as ongoing quake swarms in Arkansas. At one point during the Arkansas swarm, Oklahoma radio jockeys even joked that though they had experienced one strong quake (for them) at a 4.8 magnitude on the Richter scale, they felt left out because neighboring Arkansas was getting all the attention. So, earthquakes in diverse places.

Since last September, the Arkansas tremors have never stopped. The earthquakes have continually shaken, and shaken, and shaken the ground and have never ceased rattling nerves for a second. CNN reports today, “Central Arkansas growing weary of relentless tremors.”

“More than 500 measurable earthquakes have been reported in central Arkansas since September 20, ranging in magnitude from a barely noticeable 1.8 to a very noticeable 4.0 (recorded on October 11), according to the U.S. Geological Survey.Geologists can’t say whether they’ll stop anytime soon. … Meanwhile, Sam Higdon, the mayor of Guy, says the quakes’ novelty is worn out. “I think everyone just kind of figures maybe it’ll just go away,” he said. “And that’s what we’re all hoping.”

The New Madrid Seismic Zone is in the northeast corner of Arkansas and was home to one of the most devastating earthquakes to occur in the continental US, back in 1811-12. Faulkner County’s town of Guy Arkansas is 200 miles away from the New Madrid seismic zone, though the area is historically seismically active in a minimal way. In reviewing the Arkansas Geological Survey spreadsheet on Arkansas seismicity for 2009, Arkansas statewide had 39 measurable earthquakes last year. Eight were in Faulkner county. This year, over 500 occurred in central Arkansas alone.

The disciples asked Jesus when He will come back. “And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. “For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many. “You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.” (Mt 24:4-8) “But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (Luke 21:28).

The Arkansas ongoing quake swarm is another warning to the lost and dying world that He is about to return, in wrath and judgment. But for the believers who are saved and eternal, we know that His sooner arrival for us in the air is even closer. No one needs to perish, all can come to the glory of God even though we fall short. How? By recognizing our sins, that we do sin and each and every sin is an affront to God and creates an incredible rift between us humans and Him Who made us to have a relationship with. Is it a coincidence that just at the time Jesus said there would be famine and wars and earthquakes and signs from heaven that we are experiencing more famine and wars and earthquakes and signs from heaven than ever before? That we are experiencing things that science has no clue as to explain? That the world is in perplexity with no rational explanation yet there are historical events and statistical anomalies occurring all over the place? Daily?

Well, it is not a coincidence. One cannot separate our behavior and our rebellion from God’s promises of warning, then judgment. It is happening: the warnings are continuing this long because of His mercy and His love for us, that none should perish. But eventually many will perish because they refused to heed the signs. Don’t let that be you. Ask Him to forgive your sins and accept that He is your Sovereign King whose glory is immeasurable and who is worthy to be served. His grace abounds and I pray that you will see His light and become one of His lights in the world … before it is too late.
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Posted in end time, high priest, melchizedek, prophecy

Jesus as High Priest

There are many aspects to the Lord’s personality, aspects we have been given through His grace to explore for all eternity. We will never learn all there is to learn about Him, because He is infinite, but the glory will be in the journey, drawing ever closer to Him.

The Christmas season rightly focuses attention to Him as savior, the babe born of a virgin and who lived a sinless life, died as the sacrifice to satisfy God’s Holy righteousness and fulfill the sin-debt that must be paid. We usually focus on Him as Savior, friend, father, and occasionally as judge. But there is another aspect to Him that I would like to explore today: Priest.

David refers to the coming Messiah as a priest on the order of Melchizedek. “The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind. You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.” (Psalm 110:4)

Caption: (Cf. Gen 14:18-20). Here the mysterious figure of Melchizedek (Cf. Heb 7:3), depicted as prophet, priest and king, goes out to meet Abraham after his return from the latter’s defeat of his enemies and offers a sacrifice of bread and wine on his behalf. Melchizedek prefigures the person of Christ who, similarly shrouded in mystery, enjoys the three-fold status of priest, prophet and king and will also offer a similar sacrifice of bread and wine become his Body and Blood for us all.” Source

Who was Melchizedek and why is his Order considered higher than Aaron’s, the first High Priest of the Levites? We read of Melchizedek when he meets with Abraham in Genesis. He is an actual King and an actual Priest, living and walking on the earth in Abraham’s day.

“And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High. He blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; And blessed be God Most High Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” He gave him a tenth of all.” (Gen 14:18-20). 

The city of Salem was later known as Jerusalem.

In Hebrews 7:3 we read again of Melchizedek, and notice that there is an omission. Usually, especially in the Old Testament, people are introduced to the reader by their genealogy. “So-and-so who was the son of so-and-so and father of…” But it is specifically noted that Melchizedek has no genealogy, so we wonder how anyone who claims Melchizedek is actually Shem, for example, and some Talmudic scholars do, learned of Melchizedek’s lineage. No one knows his geneology, as is stated in the Hebrews verse below.

In any case, the personage of Melchizedek is certainly righteous. Anyway, the story of the meeting with Abraham is repeated in Hebrews, and introduced this way:

‘Melchizedek’s Priesthood Like Christ’s‘
“For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham as he was returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham apportioned a tenth part of all the spoils, was first of all, by the translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then also king of Salem, which is king of peace. Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, he remains a priest perpetually.” (Heb 7:1-3).

Melchizedek is referred to again in Hebrews 5:6-10; Hebrews 6:20; Hebrews 7:1-21: “Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek”; and Hebrews 8:1. From his initial introduction at the meeting with Abraham it was another thousand years until David mentioned him and another thousand again until the writer of Hebrews mentioned him, and then Melchizedek disappears from the biblical record. But the notion of Jesus as Priest does not.

High Priests of the Temple died and their office was given to the son. But Jesus is perpetual and His office of High Priest will never die. High Priests in the temple managed the sacrifices, which were daily. Thousands upon thousands of lambs and other animals were killed, blood ran by the buckets all day every day, but Jesus is the once for all sacrifice. He IS our High Priest, forever.

“Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession;” (Hebrews 3:1-3)

So what does a High Priest do? They were compassionate about sins, being human themselves. They participated in the sacrificial system, managing others’ sacrifices. Yet being human, they also had to sacrifice on behalf of their own sins. They represented humans before God.

In Revelation 1:6 we read that we are made to be Kings and Priests. “and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father–to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.” 

Again, in Rev. 5:9b-10 we read that

“Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.”

Peter reveals that we as believers are part of a royal priesthood:

“you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. … But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Pet 2:5,9).

Matthew Henry writes:

“All true believers are a holy priesthood; sacred to God, serviceable to others, endowed with heavenly gifts and graces. But the most spiritual sacrifices of the best in prayer and praise are not acceptable, except through Jesus Christ. Christ is the chief Corner-stone, that unites the whole number of believers into one everlasting temple, and bears the weight of the whole fabric. Elected, or chosen, for a foundation that is everlasting.”

What Grace! What Mercy! He as the Chief Cornerstone as High Priest, elects His priests and unites us in a priesthood to serve Him! We are called privileged and we are. Our duties today and forever are to offer up spiritual sacrifices to Him the Most High. Is this a good gift in your eyes? Better than an X-box or a bike or a diamond bracelet? It is a tremendous gift to be called to a royal priesthood serving the High Priest in heaven. It is a high calling. Are you living a holy life worthy of Him and making spiritual sacrifices so His name is magnified? I am rejoicing! I am singing His praises!

As you ponder the mysteries of His very Being this Christmas season, ponder Him as high Priest representing us before God. What a blessed Gift to be able to serve for Him and with him!

Posted in end time, prophecy

Government sanctioned homosexuality and staggering storms on the west coast. Coincidence? I think not.

Does anyone notice an interesting juxtaposition with Drudge’s latest front page?

When individuals or nations succumb to sin, particularly homosexuality, God warns, then judges. He always has and He always will. We are the formerly blessed nation of America whose light was set up on the hill. As Massachusetts Governor John Winthrop wrote in 1630 aboard the ship Arbella, “For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us. So that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken, and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and a by-word through the world. … But if our hearts shall turn away, so that we will not obey, but shall be seduced, and worship other Gods, our pleasure and profits, and serve them; it is propounded unto us this day, we shall surely perish out of the good land whither we pass over this vast sea to possess it.”

The light upon a hill was a reference to Matthew 5:14-16; “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid… Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

Does it glorify God to formalize and legitimize government-sanctioned homosexuality? No. And so we see just above the photo a series of headlines where unusual rains and staggering storms have arrived in California. And unseen in the photo but contained under it was another headline, “Freak diversion of jet stream paralyzing globe with freezing conditions…” These are not coincidences. They are not. The photo may be worth a thousand words, but the Word of God is the real treasure.

“For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty; how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.” (Hebrews 2:1-4) Take heed!

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Posted in end time, obama lie to pope, pedophilia normal, prophecy

Pope says pedophilia kind of normal

In his Christmas message yesterday, Pope Benedict shook off complete responsibility for the child abuse scandal among priests in the Catholic Church, saying that the culture is partly to blame.

Pope Blames 1970s Society for Pedophile Priests
“Pope Benedict used his annual speech to Rome’s cardinals and bishops on Monday (Dec. 20) to ask them to reflect on the church’s responsibility in the child sex abuse scandals. Benedict qualified his mea culpa by stating that the scandal (in which priests who sexually abused children were often ignored or protected by the Catholic Church) was partly justified by the broader social context. Benedict said that while the church accepted some responsibility, he could not be silent about ”the context of these times…. There is a market in child pornography that seems in some way to be considered more and more normal by society.” Benedict claimed that as recently as the 1970s, “pedophilia was theorized as something fully in conformity with man and even with children.” In this climate, the Catholic Church’s actions were merely reflecting the moral relativism of the times: “It was maintained — even within the realm of Catholic theology — that there is no such thing as evil in itself or good in itself,” Benedict said.”

Source

If there is anything that should wake up the people that Catholicism is a false religion this should be it. First, that there existed a climate of oppression and evil that allowed pedophilia to run rampant to such extent is a healthy indicator that the Holy Spirit Restrainer to a large degree wasn’t and isn’t present within the Catholic church. Man is sinful and we fail by falling into the flesh so often, so we cannot point fingers against individuals who sin unless we remove the log from our own eye first. We all sin. We all stumble. However, and this is a big however, the quantity and extent of the pedophilia is more than a brief stumble, is more than a momentary straying away from the Restrainer, is more than individuals who neglected to die daily and briefly fell prey to sin. It is systematized, organized, and widespread evil.

Secondly, Christians familiar with the bible know that we are told that the world is evil. I do not know why the Pope is surprised by the immoral conditions of the 1970s because we are told the moral conditions of the world are bad and were going to get a lot worse. (2 Timothy 3:1-5; 2 Peter 2:1-3; Jude 1:7 for starters).

I do not know why the Pope is surprised by the cravenness of man and the depth of God’s hatred of sin, particularly homosexuality and child abuse. We are told these things repeatedly. (Lev 18:22-23; 1 Tim 1:9-10; Rom 1:26-27) “But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.” (Mt 18:6)

We are told that the world is given to the evil one, and he rules it. (2 Cor 4:4; John 12:31). We are told that we should not love the world and not to try to blend in with it, we Christians must be apart from it. (1 John 2:15-16)

Jerry Solomon wrote on “Culture and the Bible“, and said,
“[T]he world is hostile toward God; this includes the rebellion of mankind. Second, this hostility was not part of the original created order; the world was created good. Third, this world is also the object of God’s redemptive love and Christ’s sacrifice. Fourth, the world is not to be seen as an end in itself. We are always to view culture in the light of eternity. Fifth, we are to be about the business of transforming the world. “We are not to follow the world’s lead but to cut across it and rise above it to a higher calling and style.”

Corinth was one of the most immoral cities on the planet, and yet Paul’s messages to the Church at Corinth and the believers there are encouraging to them on how to live in a craven culture, and contain proper admonitions on how to remove one’s self from the fallen society yet make a difference for the Lord in the world. For the Pope to blame the culture of forty years ago as ‘partly to blame’ for Priests using children as sex toys is unconscionable.

Th Pope’s normalization of pedophilia is a good example of what happens when we remove our eyes from the standards of God. His Word is all we need to know for the moral barometer of Christian conduct, based on His absolutes. Though those standards are unattainable in our fallen state, He gracefully gives us the Holy Spirit as restrainer of sins. However, if we take our eyes off His attributes, His absolutes and His word, immediately we begin to normalize evil. For those of you who are shocked, saying, ‘surely pedophilia is evil! Anyone should be able to see that!’ I say to you that just as God’s love knows no bounds, sin knows no depths. There is always a worse. There is always another depth to descend to.

Paul warned about the influence of ungodliness in 1 Corinthians 15:33. “[T]his was the second time Paul warned the Corinthians not to be deceived (1 Corinthians 6:9). He cautioned them not to take up the lifestyles of corrupt people—those who will not inherit the kingdom of God. Paul knew how easy it is for people to be influenced by such adverse teachings. If not checked at the very beginning, they could begin to adopt such perverted ideas and behaviors as normal. For this reason, Paul quotes a proverb by the Greek poet Menander: “Bad company corrupts good character.” No doubt this proverb was well known among Greeks of this time. The point Paul makes here is pertinent to all people in all ages. When we associate with or take delight in the company of people with worldly morals, we run the risk of mimicking their behaviors, their language, and their habits. Before long we are no longer of Christ, but of the world with its denial of absolute authority, its rejection of the Bible as the Word of God, and its ideology of relative morality.” (source)

That the Pope knows all this, was biblically warned not to be misled, understands that the world will corrupt absolutely, and still blames the culture for his priests’ child abuse, is the true evil.
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Posted in end time, eu recognize palestinian State, prophecy

Slouching toward Gomorrah: Palestinian state now recognized by 13 nations

I’ve been writing about a troubling notion taking root in the discussions revolving around the Middle East morass known as “peace talks.” In July 2009, then- EU top diplomat Javier Solana cut through all the hyperbole with a simple but devastating statement. Solana-

“called for the United Nations Security Council to recognize a Palestinian State and the two-State solution by a certain deadline even if Israel and others did not. After a fixed deadline, a United Nations Security Council resolution should proclaim the adoption of the two-State solution.”

Since then, Obama has picked up the banner of “just declare it.” A few months after Solana’s proposition to the UN in October 2009, The Asia Times reported in April 2010, “Obama imposing a Palestinian state.” It was reported: “US President Barack Obama’s demands during his meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last Tuesday point to an intention to impose permanent settlement on Israel and the Palestinians in less than two years,” the Israeli daily, Ha’aretz, wrote on Monday. We may draw a similar conclusion from analyses such as the one by Tony Karon in Asia Times Online.”

How about that. Just do it. After all, the European powers created an Israeli state by unilateral decision, so why not do the same for “Palestine”? Never mind the fact that initially the Israeli state contained land that was taken away to be given to the original Palestinian state: Jordan. THAT was supposed to satisfy the peoples calling themselves Palestinians as described in the Balfour Declaration. Jordan IS the Palestinian State. How soon they forget. Since 1917, more land has been taken away from Israel on the false basis that the Palestinians must have their state. Over time, Israel has given the Arabs Sinai Peninsula, Gaza Strip, the southern zone of Lebanon, and partial control of West Bank. The Arabs always ask for more. And it appears that Solana’s dastardly idea may soon come to pass and Israel will be carved up once again.

Sadly, we can say with authority that we know that will happen. It is prophesied. “Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” (Luke 21:24). “But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months.” (Rev 11:2). I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat there I will enter into judgment against them concerning my inheritance, my people Israel, for they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land.” (Joel 3:2)

So therefore we know that dividing Israel into small bits will occur and all or part of Jerusalem will be given over. What we, as the terminal generation are watching, is the prophecy being prepared for fulfillment right before our eyes. There are extremely troubling developments  occurring this week:

On December 13: Erakat Asks EU to Recognize Palestinian State Alongside Israel. Now, Saeb Muhammad Salih Erekat (his surname is spelled both ways) is the Palestinian chief of the Palestinian Liberation Organization Steering and Monitoring Committee. The PLO is a political and paramilitary organization founded in 1964. It is recognized as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. In the above linked article, “Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat formally asked the European Union in a letter to recognize an independent Palestinian state.”

On that same day it was reported in South America that “Brazil and Argentina recognize Palestinian State“
“Many in Latin America and around the world were asking one question following the news that Brazil and Argentina had recognized the state of Palestine in the West Bank: Why now? Among the answers, PLO envoy to Washington Maen Areikat told JTA, was the frustration with the stops and starts in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, which he said created the atmospherics ripe for recognition.”

On December 17 Norway formally moved toward recognition of a Palestinian State. Norway is not part of the European Union. Norway upgrades Palestinian mission
“Oslo says upgrade from ‘general delegation’ to ‘diplomatic mission’ in recognition of Palestinian Authority’s efforts to establish independent state.” From my understanding, an upgrade means that it is a step closer for the representations to enjoy the status of embassies of a sovereign country.

And on December 19: apparently in response to Erekat’s letter, or Obama’s push, or Solana’s idea, that “10 EU states will upgrade their PLO missions”
“Chief PA negotiator says Palestinian missions abroad are step closer to becoming embassies of an “occupied state with defined borders.”

The formalized, diplomatic steps to recognizing a Palestinian State apparently include recognizing diplomats to deploy to any upcoming new State. And that has happened from Southern Hemisphere to Northern, from West to East. Thirteen nations are prepared to recognize a Palestinian State by fiat.

Brazil has even gone a step further today, and donated land for Palestinian embassy: “Palestinian ambassador to Brazil Ibrahim Az-Zein received the title to a piece of land Monday, where the Palestinian embassy in Brazil will stand following that country’s recognition of a Palestinian state earlier in the month.”

In response, “Israel asks its embassies to thwart PA unilateralism” but you can see how this tide is flowing. It is flowing against God’s people, and toward Armageddon, where these nations will be severely judged for their disgraceful rebellion against Him and their intrusion upon His land.
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Posted in chris matthews, end time, prophecy

Chris Matthews’ man-crush on Obama just keeps getting more embarrassing

Remember, he is a NEWS media person, he is supposed to be objective.

http://www.eyeblast.tv/public/eyeblast.swf?v=hd6U8zuzkU

Here is a transcript of the comment:
CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST: You know, whatever you say, I want to talk about the subjective president, Gene, your reaction to this. Subjectively, in his heart, he’s a happy man this weekend. That smile, that cute smile we all love in that guy. That wonderful, boyish smile of his he gave us there after he made his little crack about the holiday spirit. I haven’t seen that in months.

What was even more delicious about this snippet was the look on Robinson’s face when Matthews was swooning:

All the above is courtesy of Newsbusters, a site I HIGHLY recommend.

Can you picture Chet Huntley saying Ike had a ‘boyish smile we all love’? Or Walter Cronkite saying JFK’s  smile was cute? On national television? No. Not a chance.

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Posted in end time, prophecy

Eleven-year-old defends home with a pink rifle

It’s come to this: 11 year olds girls defending their home from armed gunmen.

I think this is just heartbreaking, for all the reasons. That the intruders were young themselves, is terrible. I read of three thirteen year old boys setting an abandoned home on fire in New Gloucester, Maine recently, and it astonishes me that kids so young are committing these high crimes. Only 40 years ago the worst thing my peers did was steal a gumball, or make a prank phone call. Now they stalk fortified homes and burn property. Forty years is considered a generation in the bible, so look how far and how fast we have fallen. And how utterly we have abandoned our children to satan.

The article says that the family knows one of the boys who were subsequently arrested. Imagine, a trust betrayal of that magnitude, knowing the people you are prepared to steal from and perhaps kill.

I feel so heartbroken for that little girl, terrified and hiding behind a couch, then getting up the nerve to lock and load a gun, point it at intruders and be prepared to fire. You never feel the same after you have been on the receiving end of a gun barrel, and I believe you never are the same after looking through a sight at a human being, either. She’ll never feel safe in her home again, knowing that the boldness of criminals means the law isn’t enough to stay them, and her locks are not enough to keep them out.

Our children are at risk from womb to adulthood. In the womb, they are killed by quartering through abortion. For everyone who studies medieval torture and execution methods, you know that they used to tie each limb to a horse and then smack the 4 horses to speed off in 4 directions, tearing the body apart. You say to yourself, “Oh, how horrible! How barbaric!” Abortion is the same. A baby is torn apart, alive. Yet this generation does not say “Oh how terrible! How barbaric!” But the Lord will say it, and to your face. It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Children are aborted, sold, neglected, traded, tortured, prostituted, tossed, tossed some more, and killed.  Yet they are the most precious thing to Jesus. He loves them so very much, and warned us that there will be woes to those who harm them, in Luke 17:1-2. They would be better off having a millstone put round their neck and drowned than causing harm to even one of His little ones.

So I do pray for the rapture because I want to be away from this sinful world. I pray for it because want to be with Jesus. I pray for it because Paul told us to look for Him and be eager for His appearing. But mostly, I pray for it because I want safety and permanent love for the children. I thank Him that He loves us so much and that He takes special care for the children. It will be a glorious reunion for me, but I am eagerly awaiting the children’s reaction to seeing Him. Won’t that be glorious!

Source

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Posted in end time, israel, prophecy

Israel Air Force shoots down UFO

Israel Defense Force reports today: “IAF Intercepted a Suspicious Flying Object“
“An Israel Air Force fighter jet shot down a suspicious object flying near the southern Red Sea on Thursday (Dec. 16), after it was determined that the object posed a threat to buildings in the area including the nearby Dimona (southern Israel) plant. Army Radio stated in a later report that only after the IAF’s southern air-control unit determined the flying object was in a closed airspace, was unmanned and had no reason to be hovering where it was the IAF shot it down.”

Dimona is reputed to be the nuclear plant for Israel, though Israel has in place a firm plan of nuclear ambiguity, neither confirming nor denying the plant’s function. It was only the second time since the Second Lebanon War that the Air Force used interception and comes at a time of heightened tensions between Israel and her neighbors.

We are all on tenterhooks as to when the last battles before the rapture will take place. We know that there will be in the form of Damascus destroyed (Isaiah 17:1) Neighbors of Israel warring (Psalm 83), and Ezekiel 38-39 (Iran, Turkey and Russia et al attack Israel). We just don’t know for sure when, or in what order. But it will happen.

Since Israel is in the forefront of God’s work in the last days before the rapture and all throughout the tribulation, we always look out for that blessed nation and see what is happening. A drone, unmanned balloon, or any flying object over Israel’s nuke plant is something to take note of.  So what is the state of things militarily and otherwise in Israel with her neighbors? We turn to Joel C. Rosenberg, a Christian insider who knows quite a bit of what is going on. He recently attended a conference on “Confronting The Iran Threat,” organized by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank and there, Rosenberg gave his year end threat analysis:

“As we end 2010, my sense is that the Stuxnet computer virus which has infected more than 30,000 Iranian computers and brought Iranian enrichment of uranium almost to a standstill for the time being, the recent assassination of a top Iranian nuclear scientist, the near assassination of another top Iranian nuclear scientist, and the effect of new economic sanctions are all having a significant impact. Anything is possible, of course, but some experts I’m talking to believe that there is a little more breathing room, and an Israeli strike would be generally unlikely before the fall of 2011, at the earliest. That is speculation, to be sure. The threat is very real.”

Iran is chomping at the bit to attack Israel, especially after losing face with the damage done by the Stuxnet computer virus. Hezbollah and Hamas are being armed continually by Iran and Syria continues her chemical warfare experiments.  The Syrian Presidential adviser blames the Iranian nuke scientists’ deaths on Mossad assassinations, we learn that without preconditions, “France to send Lebanon 100 anti-tank missiles” while  Israel’s Haaretz newspaper editors simply wonder “Is the Middle East on the threshold of collapse?“

Why yes, yes it is on the verge of collapse. As a matter of fact the Middle East will collapse- EXCEPT for Israel. It is a near thing, but in the very end of the Tribulation, the LORD saves His nation. The countries and federations listed in Psalm 83 which attack Israel in the last days are her persistent enemies from all time. Richard Ritenbaugh of Bible Tools wrote: “all of these different peoples [listed as attacking Israel in Psalm 83]—Edom, Ishmael, Amalek, Moab, Ammon, Philistia, Tyre, and Assyria—are among the major players in the Middle East today. These are peoples from whom the Jihadists and the Islamic fundamentalists hail, making up what is known as the “Arab” or “Muslim world.” Today, these people inhabit the nations of Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, Libya, Sudan, Morocco, Tunisia, etc., and the pseudo-nation of Palestine.”

It was into this tense atmosphere that an unmanned drone, balloon, or unidentified flying object flew. The Israel Air Force has not found remnants yet, but they sure are looking. They want to know what it was and from that, why it was flying over restricted airspace. The tensions, hatreds, and uncertainties in the Middle East will only worsen, until there will be no doubt to the answer to Haaretz’s question, “Is the Middle East on the threshold of collapse?”
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Posted in edwin ramos, end of the world, end time, harold camping, prophecy

No, the end of the world will likely not be May 2011

Christians like Edwin Ramos are badly misinformed, it is sad to say. I love when Christians study their bible, but this is something gone terribly awry. The New Jersey Star-Ledger article yesterday, Bridgeton billboard: World will end in May 2011, makes me cringe in sorrow. It starts:

“Edwin Ramos wants everybody to know that the world is going to end May 21, 2011. That is why he is leasing billboards across Cumberland County and printing that very message on them. There are currently three billboards, located in front of Ramos’s house on Oak Drive, in Vineland; on Delsea Drive, in Vineland, and in front of the Dollar &; Up store on Route 49 coming into Bridgeton from Millville. They bear the message, “Judgment Day, May 21, 2011, THE BIBLE GUARANTEES IT”, in addition to a crossed out “2012”.

In the past, Mr Ramos has advocated staying away from church and studying the bible on your own. Eschewing church for private study is not biblical, the Lord said we are to gather with other saints to encourage and to learn. (Hebrews 10:25; Romans 12:10 for two of many examples). Gathering with saints is a way to keep us on track, doctrinally and morally. Quiet time in study with the Holy Spirit is desirable and commended, but abandoning gathering with the saints allows incorrect  belief to settle in, and needed corrections to be unmade. Always there needs to be a balance.

The first off-track notion that Mr Ramos propounds on this billboard is the statement that God guarantees the world will end in 2011. It is a good example of a little information going a long way toward misinformation. God does declare that He will burn this world and the heavens with fire and then renew it. (2Peter 3:10; Rev 21:1). But God nor Jesus say when that will be. As a matter of fact, it is repeatedly stated that the last day will not be known to anyone on earth (Matt. 24:36; Matt. 24:42; Matt. 24:44; Matt. 24:50; Matt. 25:13…) How anyone can claim to know when the world will end to such specificity as Mr Ramos is biblically, secularly, morally, intellectually, and in all other ways, impossible.

As for the circle with the year 2012 crossed out, well, we are not competing with secular notions. Worldly culture is false and their notions of just about anything are also false. God is supreme, He needs not bend to our false thoughts, correct secular paradigms, nor scurry to prove one over another. He sent us the bible and that is all the information we need to know to establish a perfect foundation for a good life in Him.

I admire Christians who sacrifice to share the Good News of Jesus and the fact of His imminent return, as Mr Ramos is doing. But to do so on your own strength, without the humility necessary to attend a gathering of the saints and learn from each other and stand for possible correction, is dangerous. In the end, that kind of message does more to close people’s ears than open them. Therein lay the tragedy.

Thirdly, Ramos has absorbed his ideas from a false prophet named Harold Camping, who broadcasts on a cultish radio show. I can safely name Mr Camping as a false prophet because his followers continue to listen to Camping despite the fact that he was wrong in his previous prediction of the end of the world in 1994. The bible says that if one claims to know the secret things of God and to speak for God and is wrong even once, he is false (Deut 18:22). However, this same bible warns us that at the end of the age there will be many false prophets and they will be successful. (Mt 24:11; 2Peter 2:1; 1John 4:1). We are also told that many will follow these false prophets and prefer their false doctrines. True prophets are always in harmony with the scriptures and so will their doctrines be. One has to neglect, forget, abandon, or plainly ignore many bible verses in order to make a claim as to when the end of the world will come, date-specific.

It is a testament to satan’s success that he takes a truth (the world will end) and makes it into a lie (the world will end on May 21, 2011). But again, here the bible forewarns us: “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator–who is forever praised. Amen.” (Romans 1:25).

Other famous false doctrines making the rounds are the world ending on the Blood Moon scenario promoted by Mark Biltz, the false pronouncements that Christians will go through all or part of the rapture (corrected here by bible teacher John MacArthur), and the rapture occurring on the Feast of Tabernacles. As prophetic interest rises among the congregations, and as pastors fumble and fail to preach this important ministry, wayward Christians go off and seek to slake their thirst for the things of the end, which is good,  but fall into snares and pits, which satan lays for them. No one knows when the rapture will be and no one knows when the last moment of earth will be. We can know the season by watching the signs he said would happen, but we will not know the date.

Christian, when you study in your private time, first remember to pray to the Holy Spirit for wisdom. “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.” (John 16:13; 1 Cor 2:13). “He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you” and that is the key. Is what you are promoting really truth that brings glory unto the Father? His glory is all that matters, and our actions must shine back toward Him. As a believing Christian, I want to make sure that what I shine isn’t a dark blot on Him but a light that is from Him. I hope you do the same… Engage in prayerful study, congregate with the saints, and beware false doctrine.
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Posted in end time, if you see something, prophecy, say something

Loose lips SAVE ships?

“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.” (Matthew 10:21)

“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without natural affection, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.” (2Tim 3:1-5)

The climate in the tribulation will be of suspicion, brutality, and guiltiness before innocence. The two verses above indicate that without a doubt, no relationship will be immune to betrayal of the grossest kind. Not only will strangers not care for each other, not only friends will lack compassion for each other, but even the closest familial bonds of parent and child will break down, with finger pointing that will result in death.

Ever since satan approached Eve and not Adam, he has attacked and tried to split the family. His special evils of abortion (Moloch-worship in the Old Testament days) and of homosexuality were attacks against the family unit and of God’s special commandment to be fruitful and multiply. Once the nuclear family unit is broken then society’s most important bond, the glue in its foundation, is fractured beyond repair.

The verses above tell us that such a fracture beyond repair is coming.

Since the Patriot Act’s passage in America after the terrorist event of September 11, 2001, the inexorable slide from the default standard innocent until proven guilty has shifted to a default position of suspicion reigns and you are probably guilty. Even the legitimate act of profiling has fallen by the wayside as a method of identifying likely criminals. (Profiling: “the extrapolation of information about something, based on known qualities.”) The outcome of suspending profiling changes our mentality into thinking of everyone as a possible criminal. After all, if only some are not suspicious, then we all must be suspicious.

One example of the eventual outcome of this is the recent anger toward the Transportation Safety Administration’s (TSA) practice of subjecting all Americans to a naked body scan and/or and enhanced pat down (read: physical molestation). Every American that passes through the airport is now under suspicion, even children, though to my knowledge no child in America has ever been used as a suicide bomber.

Another extension of the new suspicion mentality is the Department of Homeland Security’s new ‘spy on your neighbor’ program. That is not its real name, of course, its real name is “If you see something, say something.” Its aim is to partner with Wal-Mart “to engage the public and key frontline employees to identify and report indicators of terrorism, crime and other threats to the proper transportation and law enforcement authorities.” We are not allowed to profile but we are allowed to be suspicious of anyone and everyone who may indicate that are possibly doing something suspicious. Right.

The civic results of the Patriot Act, the Big Brother Government, Google Street View, The Information Age, and the Surveillance Nation mentality are well-documented. The law enforcement results are also well-documented (tasers). But the mental results of a heightened climate of increased suspicion, pitting neighbor against neighbor and expecting terror at any moment are not well-documented. But today’s climate of suspicion, over-reliance on government and terror before justice are coming home to roost, and the public that is left behind will live those results. Silence used to mean security. Now it means you become a target. We have come a long way from “Loose lips sink ships” to “If you see something, say something.”

This inexorable slide away from civic restraint and individual responsibility leads to mutual and complete suspicion. It is what the Tribulation is all about, the pendulum swinging its full course. The Tribulation a time when the Lord is giving unbelievers their desire: a godless society, free from any restraint. It will be a total moral breakdown, a total societal breakdown and a total familial breakdown. Can you imagine a society where the norm will be what Jesus described in Matthew 10, with son, father, parents betraying each other unto death? Unfortunately, those who do not believe will not have long left to imagine. They will soon live it.

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