rapture – Page 5

encouragement, man of sin, rapture, sin, statler brothers

When the roll is called up yonder, will you be there?

Posted on March 1, 2014May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

There are two tracks. There is sin and death, and there is repentance and life. That’s it.

Because we are not God and we cannot see what is in a man, and man hides his sins well, we think there is a middle ground. That middle ground man calls “sort of good.” Or, “pretty good.” Well, we’re not pretty good. We’re not good at all.

Man is totally depraved.

Total Depravity is the doctrine that fallen man is completely touched by sin and that he is completely a sinner. He is not as bad as he could be, but in all areas of his being, body, soul, spirit, mind, emotions, etc., he is touched by sin. In that sense he is totally depraved. (source)

Not all men are as bad as they can be. So do not be surprised when a Hitler comes along, because he was simply a little further along on the spectrum than many. Or a Pol Pot. Or a Jeffrey Dahmer. Or an Idi Amin. Or a Stalin. Or Vlad the Impaler. Hm, I guess there are many more men that are worse than we thought it was possible to be.

There is a reason why not all men on earth are all totally bad. The Spirit restrains men.

And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. (2 Thessalonians 2:7-8)

Wikipedia, USAF, Tech Sgt., restraining an attack dog

The Spirit is restraining the antichrist. The Spirit restrains sin. The Spirit fights sin. (Acts 7:51) The Spirit will not do this forever.

And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. (Genesis 6:3)

Matthew Henry says of that verse,

“But the Lord declared that his Spirit should not thus strive with men always; he would leave them to be hardened in sin, and ripened for destruction.“

That moment will be the one Paul spoke of in Thessalonians, when the Spirit will leave off His restraining ministry and sin will be unleashed. God is about to unleash the attack dog of sin.

You know sometimes it is best to let a fever run its course? It is the same plan God has for sin. It is going to be allowed to run its course, with no intervention or remedy. He will allow sin to burst forth as a rabid dog unleashed on the world. It will not be restrained. At that time men WILL be the worst they can be.

The model for this will be the antichrist. He is called The Man of Sin for a reason. I’d posted the Thessalonians verse above, speaking of the restraining ministry of the Spirit who restrains sin and particularly restrains the antichrist. Back up to verse 3, Paul calls him by a name in which the main qualifier is his sin, not only permeated through every molecule of his body as we all have, but actually active and working in every molecule of his body. Man. of. Sin.

“Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction” (2 Thessalonians 2:3)

At that time, sin will roll over the world like a tsunami. There will be no middle ground, no “pretty good” people. Man will be released to his independence, which in fact is slavery to satan. It will be abundantly clear that except for the Tribulation saints in Christ exhibiting Christ’s goodness, no one is good. Which is the point. Jesus knew what was in a man

“But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people.” (John 2:24)

But during the Tribulation what is in a man will be seen, evidently, clearly and clearly. No middle ground. No hidden evil, no coy sin. Only obvious Good, and total Evil.

1930 census roll, Wikipedia CC

The Good News is that if you repent of your sins, and trust Jesus you will be made a new creature. That’s part two of the two tracks. There are the sinners, waxing worse and worse, and the righteousness ones, made ever more beautifully transformed into His image through sanctification and finally glorification when the resurrection of the saints occurs.The old man of sin in you will be made a slave to righteousness and the Spirit in you will transform you into an image of Christ. You will be raptured into heaven alive or raised from the dead if you die before then, given a glory body and taken to the place Jesus is preparing for us. When the roll is called from the Lamb’s Book of Life, you will be there! Not one spot of sin will ever be in us again! Best of all, we will celebrate the glory of His resurrection! His propitiation! His Sinlessness and righteousness and sacrifice and love!

There’s an old Christian song called “When the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there.” By God’s grace I’ll be there! Thank you Lord, your mercy is boundless. And for the record, I can’t wait.

earthquake, oman, prophecy, rapture, signs

First of its kind earthquake hits Oman

Posted on February 21, 2014May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

This news from the Times of Oman:

Muscat: A tremor which occurred in a Muscat suburb on Tuesday evening was the first of its kind and can be classified as a “non-warning” earthquake, the Director of the Earthquake Monitoring Centre at Sultan Qaboos University said in an interview. … The epicentre of the tremor, which occurred at 08:06 p.m. on Tuesday, was about 30 km from the city of Muscat and felt by part of the population because it was shallow,” Dr. Issa Al Hussein said. The earthquake was recorded 2 on Richter Scale by the Seismological Centre of the Sultan Qaboos University.

I don’t know what is meant by “non-warning” earthquake, unless it means the residents don’t need to be warned because another quake is not expected…but then again, quakes never are expected. And I don’t know what they mean by first of its kind in the headline when the article later says that the mountain range in the area had experienced tremors in 2010. If you go to the short article, you’ll see.

However, there was a concerted effort to collect data as to the seismicity of Oman and “through these efforts, it has been established that a major fault exists in the Gulf of Oman (offshore Muscat).” (source .pdf paper, Earthquake Hazard Potential in Oman). The paper goes on to report,

“There are practically no instrumentally-recorded earthquakes in Oman. The global database, however, lists an earthquake of magnitude 5.1 (Richter Scale) in AI-Kamil area in 1971. There are numerous reports of felt earthquakes in Oman (Table 1).”

I’m focusing on Oman because seismicity, or any activity, in the prophetic epicenter is always highly interesting and important to monitor. You might recall in Dec. 2011 I reported a new island had emerged in the Red Sea. In June of 2011 a spectacular volcanic eruption took place in Eritrea, where the previous eruption had occurred way back in 1861. To say the 2011 eruption was sudden and surprising is an understatement

In other earthquake news, there was a quake in the UK today.

Devon earthquake: Biggest tremor in the UK for SIX YEARS shakes the South West
“The nation was hit by its biggest earthquake in six years today, shaking homes and leaving residents frightened and confused. The 4.1 magnitude quake was felt over hundreds of miles, with thousands of people caught in the tremors across the West Country and South Wales.“

As always I believe that earthquakes are an important warning sign from God- whether He directly caused it or allowed it to happen. Keep watching the signs. Yes I know I’m a broken record, but even a broken clock is right twice a day. One of these days the rapture will happen. Meanwhile the anticipation of both living for Christ on earth and looking forward to glorified life with Him in heaven is what it’s all about. Do you long for His appearing? I hope so.

————————————-
Further reading

Why does God allow natural disasters, i.e. earthquakes, hurricanes, and tsunamis?”

end time, imminence, prophecy, rapture

What’s going to happen in the end time?

Posted on January 25, 2014 by elizabethprata

The world is going crazy. Things are deteriorating at a pace that older people have never seen happen so fast in previous generations. People who don’t believe in Jesus even are noticing this. Many people are asking, “What’s going on?”

This is where prophecy comes in. Prophecy is the future told in advance. In order for the future to be told with such detail accuracy in its fulfillment, only God, who is outside of time and the author of history, can do so.

“There is no way to explain the Bible’s ability to predict the future unless we see God as its Author. For example, the Old Testament contains more than three hundred references to the Messiah of Israel that were precisely fulfilled by JesusChrist (Christ is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word Messiah). Peter Stoner, a scientist in the area of mathematical probabilities, said in his book Science Speaks that if we take just eight of the Old Testament prophecies Christ fulfilled, we find that the probability of their coming to pass is one in 10¹⁷.” (source)

God said that this world will end. This affects every human being living at the time of when it happens. During the Tribulation, it will be a time of UNcreation, when the orderly creation account we read in Genesis is reversed but in a chaotic and horrific way. For example, every island will flee away and every mountain will be thrown down. (Revelation 16:20). This prophesied event will affect every person living on the planet. For those who are not alive during this period when God’s wrath descends to earth, affecting everyone on it, He said that some will be awakened to everlasting life and others to everlasting wrath. (Daniel 12:2). Either way, prophecy has meaning for every person who ever lived or is living at the time of fulfillment, believer in Jesus or not a believer. Therefore, prophecy is of utmost importance.

The purpose of prophecy

Considering such weighty emphasis upon prophecy in the Scriptures, we may properly ask regarding its purpose in God’s unfolding plan. Why did our heavenly Father cause so much of his word and revelation to consist of prophetic utterances that spoke of future times, circumstances, and events? All Scripture, we understand, “is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16). But what is the special role that prophecy holds in influencing the life of the believer?” (source)

All scripture is profitable. (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Since two-thirds of the bible is prophecy, it is obvious that God put the words of prophecy in the bible to profit us for His purposes.

Prophecy exists to reveal the glory of God:
“I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done” (Isa. 46:9, 10).

Prophecy exists to establish the bible’s credibility and to authenticate the biblical speakers of prophecy, including the Triune God and the men that God designated to speak His words. (2 Peter 1:21).

Prophecy exists to enlighten the believer and to stimulate to activity. (Mark 13:23). (source)

I hope you understand by now how important prophecy is to the believer and non-believer alike. So the next question is,

What does God say is going to happen?

God has been working since before the foundation of the world. He is still working. (John 5:17). After He created humans there was an entire span of time He was doing works that will result in His glory. But then Jesus came. In the days of His flesh (Hebrews 5:7) Jesus taught and performed signs and miracles to prove who He was. Then He was killed and nailed to a cross and absorbed all God’s wrath for sinners. (2 Corinthians 5:21, Isaiah 53:5-6).

Pleased with His son’s obedience, God raised Jesus on the third day and soon after, Jesus ascended to heaven to be at the right hand of the Father. (Hebrews 12:2). When Jesus ascended, the Spirit came and thus began this present age, the age where Jesus is building His church. (Matthew 16:18).

When the church is complete, Jesus will call His church to heaven in an event known as the rapture. (Romans 11:25, 2 Thess 2:1-12, 1 Thess 4:16, 1 Corinthians 15:52). All those who have come to saving faith in Him since He began building His church will arise from their graves or from their live bodies, be glorified instantly and meet Jesus in the air. He will lead us to heaven, where we will enjoy the Bema Rewards ceremony where our works we performed while int he flesh will be tested. Then we’ll having received our crowns for works done in His name on earth that stood the test.

During that time in heaven there will be ceremonies and activities and hallelujahs and praise. But back on earth, there will be Tribulation. (Matthew 24:21). This tribulation will involve Israel, and the whole world. Since all believers will have been taken to heaven at the rapture, and along with them, the indwelling Holy Spirit, His restraining ministry will cease.

Did you know that the Spirit restrains man from the worst they can do? Did you ever wonder why there isn’t a Hitler or a Jeffrey Dahmer every day? Man are totally depraved and sinful, but they don’t do their worst because the Spirit restrains us. (Genesis 6:3). When Jesus calls us to Him in heaven the Spirit will still draw men to belief but He won’t restrain sin. Sin will be loosed to run fully rampant. (Daniel 9:27).

It will be a time of unparalleled evil in the world. Murders and heinous acts and death and disease and horror and hell on earth. It will be a time of the uncreation of the world. Volcanoes, earthquakes, heat, hail, drought, bloody waters, and more. Demons marauding and putrid corpses. Hell.

This tribulation will begin immediately after the rapture. It will last 7 years. Most of the world will die.

Then at the end of the Tribulation, Jesus will return. He will rescue His remnant left on earth, kill the armies assembled against Him at Armageddon, and install His throne on earth. peace will reign for 1000 years. This is called the Millennial Kingdom, because it will last 1000 years. Ezekiel 41 onward has the scene.

At the end of that time, satan who had been bound for the 1000 years, will be loosed so as to deceive the nations one last time, and many will follow him. Jesus will squash the rebellion, he will be thrown into the Lake of Fire, and all who ever lived will be resurrected to face their judgment. This is known as the Great White Throne Judgment (Revelation 20:11-15) and it will occur at the end of time. Glorified bodies will be given to those who are raised from death, so that those who are destined for hell can withstand their eternal punishment, and those who are destined for eternity with Jesus can withstand looking Him full in the face with all His glory. The eternal state will begin as the earth melts away. (2 Peter 3:10). The bible doesn’t say what comes next.

So if you have followed along, the rapture is the next event in God’s long, long plan for humankind. Please be on board with all that is required to join Jesus in the air. You don’t need your money. You don’t need your works. You don’t need baggage or clothes, those will be provided. All you need is faith in the work and person of Jesus Christ, to lay your sin down at His feet, sorrowful for your blasphemies against Him. This is called repentance. He will forgive you of those crimes and invite you to His abode in heaven, He will give you His spirit as a seal of the guarantee of your place.

“Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober” (1 Thess 5:6).

“But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer” (1 Peter 4:7).

homosexuality, jesus, legalism, rapture

Debit v Credit cards; Solar flare, The Rapture is a Necessary Inference, Homosexuality IS different

Posted on January 8, 2014May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Here are a few items of interest for you:

In this first one I was drawn in by the illustration. It is the best visual representation of the rapture I’ve seen. Then I read the article and it is excellent too.

The Rapture—A Necessary Inference
By Dr. Steven Hayes

“…This new (or renewed) consistency in the use of a literal hermeneutic naturally led to new insights in many areas of theology. As an example, a literal hermeneutic applied to prophetic passages in the New Testament led students of the Bible to conclude that the Rapture of the Church was a phase of the return of Christ that had to be distinguished from the 2nd Coming. That is, the yet future return of Christ will actually be comprised of two distinct events separated in time: 1) the Rapture of the Church, in which Christ comes in the air to receive His Bride and take her back to heaven with Him (e.g., John 14:1-3; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18), and 2) the 2nd Coming, in which Christ comes from heaven with all His saints to establish His kingdom on this present earth and personally reign over it for a thousand years (e.g., Matthew 24:30; Revelation 19:11-16; 20:4-6).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FIRST-PERSON: Why homosexuality IS different Mike Goeke
“…Many churches have taken to heart the level nature of sin and clearly acknowledge that sin is sin, be it gossip, envy, lust, gluttony or homosexual behavior. The level nature of sin, however, makes many reticent to discuss or address the issues surrounding homosexuality in more detail or with any special emphasis. “We don’t want to highlight any one sin,” they reason. The truth is that homosexuality IS different. It is not different as a “sin.” God sees the sin of homosexual expression as He sees all sin. It is different, however, in that no other sin (or, better said, an identity based primarily on sinful behavior) has impacted, or is likely to impact, culture in the dramatic way that homosexuality has done and will do.“

An interesting secular article on the debate over credit cards vs. debit cards. How we spend is a good topic for the Christian to think about carefully.

Debit Cards vs. Credit Cards: Your Best Arguments
Credit cards and debit cards both have their advantages, but one must emerge victorious in an all-out battle of financial usefulness and security. Which will it be? Here are your best arguments.

Stormy spaceweather, large sunspot and an X-flare. Spaceweather.com has the story
STORMY SPACE WEATHER: Giant sunspot AR1944 is directly facing Earth and crackling with solar flares. Yesterday, Jan. 7th, an X1-class explosion in the sunspot’s magnetic canopy hurled a CME in our direction.

Here is the quote I read on Twitter that I liked so much. It’s from pastor JD Hall: JD Hall ‏@PulpitAndPen

“Want to know if someone is an idolater? Speak ill of their idol. You’ll find out really quickly.”

And another quote to get us going today:

From Jimmy Needham ‏@JimmyNeedham

Don’t mistake obedience for legalism. Legalism seeks to justify self. Obedience celebrates the justification of Christ.

curse, earth, planes, prophecy, rapture, to and fro, travel

Planes in the air, to and fro

Posted on December 4, 2013May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

I saw a graphic on Thanksgiving Day and it struck me deeply. My jaw dropped open I think. Here it is. It is from Planes in the Air Now-

Now, tell me, what does that picture remind you of? Anything? Anything? How about this one?

Pic from Mark J Norman ‏Twitter handle, @markjnewsman, shot Nov 27 with the caption: “Penn Station is hell right now”:

It reminded me of the prophecy in Daniel 12:4,

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

Speaking of to and fro, many people go back and forth on exactly what this prophecy means. I believe the consensus among scholars is similar to what Pulpit Commentary explains:

“Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. This is to be looked upon as a description of the last time, when circumstance shall remove the seal from the book. The translator of the Septuagint has been led away by the idea of the time as one of sorrow. The verb, however, translated “going to and fro” may be rendered, as it is by Ewald, as “to peruse.” The veil then shall be removed, the seals broken when men peruse the prophecy carefully, and knowledge is increased.”

Or as Gill’s explains,

“many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased; that is, towards the end of the time appointed, many persons will be stirred up to inquire into these things delivered in this book,”

Or as John MacArthur explains,

“run to and fro- The Hebrew movement always refers to the movement of a person searching for something. In the Tribulation, people will search for answers to the devastation and will discover increased knowledge through Daniel’s preserved book.”

However, in seeing the graphic of all the planes in the air over the US on Thanksgiving Day, and seeing the crammed people at Penn Station, it just strikes me how overburdened the earth is. I’m not talking overcrowding, like the eco-hippies talk about. I know there are many places with room to spare. But overburdened, as in sins piled up to heaven. Tottering sins piling up to heaven. I read Ezra’s prayer:

“saying: “O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens.” (Ezra 9:6).

I read Isaiah 59:12, “For our transgressions are multiplied before you, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us, and we know our iniquities:“

I think of all those planes and all those people crammed in at the station and I think of all that sin. All those sinners traveling to and fro, carrying their sin with them, and so many people and so much sin, the earth groans!

“For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.” (Romans 8:19-22)

More people on the earth just means more and more sin.

Doesn’t it feel like the earth would be groaning under all that bursting pressure and sins and people and to and fro and activity and curse?

Sometimes I wonder how much more the balloon can be filled up before it pops. Seeing an airplane graphic like this one makes me wonder how soon the rapture will be here.

The promise of the glory that awaits is compelling. It draws my thoughts often. I so long to worship the risen Jesus in person, in glory, seeing Him full in the face! I can’t wait to sing with the brethren and the angels of His holiness and purity. Sure, I’m tired of this world and I’m tired of my own sin, but that’s not the total reason for all this longing. It’s to be with Jesus, in His place He has prepared for us! It is to finally sing hallelujah for His work on earth and praise and exalt Him to the utmost, with no sin nature in me to pollute it.

Scenes like these flood my thoughts:

“At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal.” (Revelation 4:2-6)

O, that emerald rainbow!

Or this, in Revelation 5:11-12,

Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice,

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and blessing!”

We will be there, singing with them someday! Singing TO the Risen Jesus.

When I drag my mind back from the heavenly scenes and think of all those planes in the air, pointlessly going to and fro for sinful reasons and craven reasons and all the sin we carry, who wouldn’t want to be in the purity of a heavenly abode, so beautiful?

“But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— (1 Corinthians 2:9)

Someday it will be us in the air. Come soon, Lord Jesus.

encouragement, rapture

The anchor holds, my ship has come in: rapture

Posted on October 29, 2013 by elizabethprata

I lived by the water growing up and most of my adult life, mainly the ocean. Some years were spent on a lake. I loved it.

The ocean has moods, a personality, mystery, and power. Who doesn’t love a day at the beach? Even better, who doesn’t love a day ON the water? When we got a chance, we got on a boat. After a while, we had a boat. LOL, back in the day, a bunch of teenagers zooming around the bay on a 20 foot Boston Whaler wasn’t unusual.

We grew up knowing how to use our knees to ride the waves, could look at the rocks to spot the state of the tide, knew how to anchor, dock or throttle up to reach plane. We kept a weather eye on the clouds, watched the whitecaps, and had a grand time.

Despite having such familiarity with the water, and were so comfortable on it, we knew its dangers. On Narragansett Bay there was a navigational hazard called “boiler awash”.

It is a shallow patch of water near Hope Island near Prudence Island. A Navy tug sank there and its boiler, being tall, presented a hazard to the keels of boats passing over it. To make the shallow water issue worse, its boilers came to just under the surface of the water at low tide. It was a hazard all right. We always gave it a wide berth.

As an adult, I lived on a sailing yacht for two years and we sailed from Maine to Florida, crossed the Gulf Stream, and went on to the central Bahamas. We returned with the weather following the same route. Our route took us on almost every coastal river, sound, bay, and canal along the entire eastern seaboard as well as the Atlantic ocean waters off it.

Because we lived on the boat and were no longer teenagers messing around near shore, we well knew the hazards. Our VHF radio was full of calls from mariners in distress, the squawk of the marine weather station, and calls from the Coast Guard to alert to hazards (container awash, drifting and disabled boat, etc). Sailing in New England meant having intimate knowledge of reefs, shoals and rocks, and sailing in Florida meant having intimate knowledge of drunken fools, wannabe mariners and rich guy weekend warriors. In between, we learned to respect the fishermen, shrimpers, oystermen, and all the others trying to make a living.

We quickly acclimated to the water living and became respectful of the hazards. When you are underway, you are always on guard, even if it’s familiar water. Always, every second. Because any second, anything could happen, and since your boat was both your home and your transportation as well as your life, well, if it required being vigilant, that is what you did.

That is why, when the anchor was set and the engine turned off, you breathed a special sigh of relief. Oh, anything could still happen, but the ratcheting down of the vigilance was considerable. As long as the anchor held, you were all set.

I remember feeling a wonderful sense of relief when the day’s run was ended and we anchored. The engine turned off and all we could hear were the sounds of the birds and the waves. We were still, secure, and finished for the day. I hadn’t realized how much tension I’d carried in my shoulders until the engine went off and the anchor was finally set. Day’s movement done. Day’s diligence concluded. Phew, we made it.

In bible days there were only three ways to travel. You got there by walking, riding an animal, or boat. Paul traveled a lot and because of that, he was on a boat a lot. He used many marine references in his letters, examples the people of the era would know well and understand immediately. Here are a few examples Paul and the other Apostles used:

But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. (James 1:6)

…tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine (Ephesians 4:14)

These are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds (Jude 1:12)

holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, (1 Timothy 1:19)

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. (Hebrews 2:1)

The interesting thing about that last one is that the drifting away in the Greek literally means from God’s anchor.

Strong’s explains, to “drift away from,”pararrhyéō, only occurs in Heb 2:1 where it refers to going spiritually adrift – “sinning by slipping away” (from God’s anchor). It means to “lapse” into spiritual defeat, describing how we slowly move away from our moorings in Christ.”

Friends, stay moored to Christ. He is our anchor. Though our journey is tense, and long, imagine the sweet relief we will feel when we get there! When all storms are over, and there are no more hidden reefs. The empty clouds deceive us no more, and our friends and family’s spiritual shipwrecks (so hard to watch!) are but a distant memory gentle Christ wipes from our mind. The sweetness and rest awaiting us beside the glassy sea is unimaginably wondrous. Rest in that assurance 🙂

Here is “The Story Behind – “The Anchor Holds” written and performed by Lawrence Chewning“

Mr Chewning shares about the year his father died, his burnout as pastor, division in his church, his wife’s three miscarriages, his discouragement, sabbatical. It is tearfully affecting. Friends, if you are also going through a storm, rely on the anchor!

I have journeyed
Through the long, dark night
Out on the open sea

By faith alone
Sight unknown
And yet His eyes were watching me

The anchor holds
Though the ship is battered
The anchor holds
Though the sails are torn

I have fallen on my knees
As I faced the raging seas
The anchor holds
In spite of the storm

I’ve had visions
I’ve had dreams
I’ve even held them in my hand

But I never knew
Those dreams would slip right through
Like they were only grains of sand

The anchor holds
Though the ship is battered
The anchor holds
Though the sails are torn

I have fallen on my knees
As I faced the raging seas
The anchor holds
In spite of the storm

I have been young
But I am older now
And there has been beauty
That these eyes have seen

But it was in the night
Through the storms of my life
Oh, that’s where God proved
His love to me

The anchor holds
Though the ship is battered
The anchor holds
Though the sails are torn

I have fallen on my knees
As I faced the raging seas
The anchor holds
In spite of the storm

Songwriters
CHEWNING, LAWRENCE / BOLTZ, RAY

Read more: Ray Boltz – The Anchor Holds Lyrics | MetroLyrics

antibiotics, grace, jesus, rapture, tribulation, wrath

The end of antibiotics: the beginning of biblical plagues?

Posted on October 28, 2013 by elizabethprata

SEM depicting methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus bacteria

I read an interesting article linked on Drudge to the UK Daily Mail, and discussed over at the American Thinker. It is that we have come to the end of the era of antibiotics.

Here is the American Thinker’s take on it
They’ve been predicting this for years and it looks like it’s finally come to pass.
In our human hubris, we think we can outsmart or defeat Mother Nature. It’s things like this that remind us how our pitiful efforts to control the natural world usually go for naught.

Daily Mail:
A high-ranking official with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has declared in an interview with PBS that the age of antibiotics has come to an end. ‘For a long time, there have been newspaper stories and covers of magazines that talked about “The end of antibiotics, question mark?”‘ said Dr Arjun Srinivasan. ‘Well, now I would say you can change the title to “The end of antibiotics, period.”‘

The associate director of the CDC sat down with Frontline over the summer for a lengthy interview about the growing problem of antibacterial resistance.

I suffered from bronchitis and pneumonia quite bit growing up and into my 20s. In my 40s I suffered from sinusitis, and in my 50s, various ailments that run the gamut of all of the above now that I’m working in a school again.

I’m allergic to sulfa drugs so that limits the number and variety of antibiotics I could take. After a couple of times in my 40s I never went to the doctor again for relief of any of them. I was always worried that the doctors were overprescribing. I was worried I’d build an immunity to them and that when the chips were really down, that they wouldn’t work as well for me.

My suspicions have been confirmed. The doctor went on in the interview saying,

‘We’re in the post-antibiotic era,’ he said. ‘There are patients for whom we have no therapy, and we are literally in a position of having a patient in a bed who has an infection, something that five years ago even we could have treated, but now we can’t.’.

It’s the era of the superbugs. This story from NPR six days ago tells more.

“Many people are familiar with the type of resistant infections often acquired in hospitals, caused by MRSA, the acronym for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. But most people don’t know about the entirely different group of resistant bacteria that Hoffman reports on in , airing Tuesday on PBS’ Frontline. The show explores an outbreak of resistant bacteria at one of the most prestigious hospitals in the U.S., and explains why there is surprisingly little research being conducted into new antibiotics to combat these new superbugs.“

In the days before antibiotics, men died from the merest cut. That is one of the wonderful things about antibiotics, that people no longer die from simple injuries like they did for thousands of years. In this 2010 article by Rustam Aminov titled A Brief History of the Antibiotic Era, from the journal Frontiers of Microbiology, it is stated,

“Antimicrobials are probably one of the most successful forms of chemotherapy in the history of medicine. It is not necessary to reiterate here how many lives they have saved and how significantly they have contributed to the control of infectious diseases that were the leading causes of human morbidity and mortality for most of human existence.”

“We usually associate the beginning of the modern “antibiotic era” with the names of Paul Ehrlich and Alexander Fleming. Ehrlich’s idea of a “magic bullet” that selectively targets only disease-causing microbes and not the host was based on an observation that aniline and other synthetic dyes, which first became available at that time, could stain specific microbes but not others. Ehrlich argued that chemical compounds could be synthesized that would “be able to exert their full action exclusively on the parasite harbored within the organism.” This idea led him to begin a large-scale and systematic screening program (as we would call it today) in 1904 to find a drug against syphilis, a disease that was endemic and almost incurable at that time.“

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The September 3, 1928 event that led to the penicillin discovery by Fleming a year later was synthesized as Fleming and Erlich had done, and by 1945, penicillin was being mass produced and distributed.

I was born in 1960, a preemie by 5 weeks. I had pneumonia and no doubt penicillin saved my life. I grew up entirely in the era of widely available medicines for any variety of illnesses, cuts, or injuries. I see that that era is coming to a close, or as the doctor in the Daily Mail article stated, has already closed. Widely available antibiotics are not widely available any more, and where they are, oftentimes the patients with the infections are showing a disheartening resistance to their effectiveness. This is serious, because people are dying.

“The mortality rates due to multidrug-resistant bacterial infections are high. Each year, about 25,000 patients in the EU die from an infection with the selected multidrug-resistant bacteria (ECDC/EMEA Joint Working Group, 2009), and more than 63,000 patients in the United States die every year from hospital-acquired bacterial infections.” (source)

So what is to be done about this? It seems that the superbugs are rising fast. The answer is complex and involves societies, government, mass behavior change, widespread education, research and mass distribution. In other words, nothing will happen fast that will help, and a lot can happen fast that will hurt. This is where I see prophecy coming in.

Jesus said that many will die by pestilence.

“Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.”(Luke 21:10-12)

“When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.” (Revelation 6:7-8)

Soldiers from Fort Riley, Kansas,
ill with Spanish influenza at a hospital ward at Camp Funston.

The time is ripe for any superbug to cover the world quickly. The verse in Revelation says a fourth of the earth will be killed by famine and beasts and pestilence. Assuming a billion are raptured away as Christians (I am being generous, I don’t think there will even be that many), that leaves 6 billion people, so that leaves one billion five hundred million dead from the variety given in the verse. By contrast, the number killed in one of history’s worst pandemics, the Spanish Influenza outbreak of 1918-19 killed 100 million in the largest estimate.

If the Spanish Influenza killed that many and so quickly prior tot he age of travel, what will a superbug do? Well, what the bible shows us.

Now, you may ask, why am I bringing this up? Why speculate on what hasn’t happened? Why camp on gloom and doom? Because it is a matter of scale.

People first of all don’t take judgment seriously. Look at Lot’s sons-in-law. When Lot said the angels in their home were there to render judgment on the city, the men thought Lot was joking. (Genesis 19:14). But just because the Lord is long-suffering does not mean He won’t punish sin- and sinners. (Numbers 14:18, 2 Peter 3:9). He will.

Secondly, the scale of the judgments shown to us in revelation are unknown to any in the history of the world. (Matthew 24:21). Heaps of dead, masses of dead, hospitals overrun, entire communities with dead in the streets. The blood running and running. The police simply unable to keep up, whole neighborhoods will burn, whole oceans become as blood.

it is good to dwell on the might of the Lord and the power of His wrath. it is good not to think ones self able to withstand the torments from heaven that will over take the whole world (Daniel 7:23) and would ave overcome all flesh if Jesus had not elected to shorten the days. (Matthew 24:22). Do not think that you will wait to make a decision about Jesus when you see the rapture happening. It will happen in the blink of an eye. (1 Corinthians 15:52). Death will then ensue on a scale no man or era has ever seen or written about. You will be as a mote on a violent tsunami wave, disappearing in an instant into the gaping maw of hell if you have not repented. Hell is enlarging its mouth even now.

“Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.” (Isaiah 5:14)

Do not cockily think you have “the stuff” to endure, even as you delay repentance and submitting to Jesus. Do not think that you will be able to handle it. Men will drop dead on the spot from fear and terror. (Luke 21:26). You will be no different.

The scale of what is coming and even as I see it on the horizon is something to fear and respect. God’s long-suffering hand has been stayed these long epochs. It will descend one day on an unsuspecting world, and the scale of the horrors will be unlike anything a person can even rationally comprehend.

The era of antibiotics is ending. The era of the Tribulation may be soon on the horizon. But the Age of Grace is NOW. Jesus has come in the flesh to live the sinless life as the spotless lamb, to die sacrificially and be resurrected by the power of God. He substituted Himself for our place for on the cross, so that any person who believes in Him will not have to endure the wrath that is to come!

That is the reason I focus on this, the prophetic, from time to time. It is the end of days and Jesus will return. His long-suffering, mercy, and patience is one of the miraculous characteristics He shows us daily. William S. Plumer wrote in 1865 in his wonderful essay on Providence,

“Truly, it is astonishing that such sinners as we are should be spared; but surely it is not astonishing that if spared at all, it should be under the government of such a God. “The Lord is long-suffering, not willing that any should perish.” God never punishes with delight. He does not will, or plan, or seek the ruin of his bitterest and most inveterate enemies. In the esteem of God the death of a sinner is a dreadful thing. “Many a time he turns his anger away” (Psalm 78:38) before he strikes a blow or crushes a sinful worm. The reason is, “God is love.” None else would bear so long—would so long avert deserved and terrible punishments from the heads of the rebellious. Truly, the prophet told us of the glorious nature of God, when he said, “The Lord does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men.”

Come to Jesus now, under His grace. Repent, and live.

“Shall your repentance be unto life and salvation? Or shall it be but the fruitless relenting of a soul in an undone eternity? O accept the mercy offered to you now. Embrace the Savior, while he waits to be gracious.”

end of days, end time, last days, rapture, repent

A Simple Plea: please repent, the end is near

Posted on September 23, 2013 by elizabethprata

It’s the end of the end times.

“You’re stupid. You people have been saying it’s the end times, like, forever.”

True. That is because it HAS been the end times like forever. At least two thousand years. They began when Jesus ascended, and will end when Jesus returns. (Acts 2:17, Hebrews 1:2)

The last days is like a woman who is pregnant. Her baby grows inside her, and as the weeks progress, she shows more and more evidence of her imminent state. (in today’s terms, ‘baby bump’.) As she nears the end of her pregnancy, she develops other signs that her term is nearing the end. Her body aches. Her stomach grows. Her doctor visits become more frequent.

Then there is a final sign, the final sign that the baby’s birth is nearing. The pregnant mom’s water breaks. This is the moment when it becomes evident in the long gestation that the final phase has been entered. There is pain, blood, mess, and screaming.

Then the baby is born. New life has arrived. (Revelation 21:1)

The gestation is the end time, or last days. This is the time that Jesus is building His church. (Matthew 16:18, Romans 11:25, Luke 21:24). The water breaking is the rapture. The blood, mess and screaming (labor pangs) is the Tribulation. (Matthew 24:8). The new baby is the new earth and the Kingdom, fresh and new.

Jesus likened the last days as to the woman’s pregnancy, and specifically to labor pangs. In Matthew 24, Jesus answered the disciples specifically as to three three things they were wondering:

“As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray.” (Matthew 24:3-5).

They asked —

1. When will it happen?
2. What will be the sign of your coming?
3. What will be the sign of the end of the age?

Jesus said no on knows when, so we can get that question out of the way fast. The disciples were waiting for Messiah and of the Kingdom that had been promised them. They had learned as Jews that when Messiah came, He would institute the covenant promises, so naturally the disciples were eager for it all to start. What they did not know (but should have) is that His coming would be in two phases, Lamb and Lion. Suffering Servant and Sovereign King. So they asked excitedly in Matthew 24 and several other times too, “Is it now? When? When? When?”

What we know from our vantage point is that Jesus has been building the church, growing His bride for these last two thousand years. The disciples thought it was all going to take place right then, and they didn’t have the church on their radar.

As for question #2, Jesus went on in Matthew 24 with all the signs. These are signs of His immediate coming, His return after the 7 year Tribulation. Matthew 24 is a Tribulation chapter relating to the Jews. These are signs the Tribulation saints will be looking at and waiting for His return on the Day of the LORD.

I think we are moments away from the water breaking. I really do. I think we are in the last moments of the last days.

I could be wrong. But the rapture is always imminent. Always has been, always will be, until it happens.

“And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.” (Romans 16:20)

“Looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus” (Titus 2:13).

“Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the Day approaching” (Heb 10:24-25).

“For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry” (Heb 10:37).

Here is the plea:

Do you know where you would go if you were to die in the next few moment of time?

Do you know what would be happening if all the true Christians suddenly disappeared and the world went to hell (literally. That’s not a swear. The Tribulation is a time hell comes to earth). Well, do you?

No?

You can. You can know where you will go when you die. If you repent of your sins (be sorry for them, truly sorry that you’ve done things that disobey Holy God), you can ask Jesus to forgive them. He is the resurrected Lamb, whom God exhausted all His wrath for sins. Pleased with Jesus’s sacrificial death, He raised Jesus from the dead and set Him at His right hand in heaven. Now people who are sorry for their sins can come into heaven under Jesus, since He already took your wrath for your sins for you.

Once you do that you become born again, born from above, you will go to heaven when you die.

Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3)

If you do not repent, and do not ask Jesus to forgive your sins, and are not born again, when you die you will go to hell. That’s because you still have a debt to pay- that wrath. You didn’t want to come in under Jesus, who already blocked God’s wrath from you. So now you have to take it, and that will happen forever in hell.

It’s much better to get your sin-debt to Jesus taken care of now, before you die. Christians have been saying this for two thousand years, and how much closer is the kingdom today than yesterday? Closer.

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

“You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. (James 5:8)

Don’t wait until tomorrow. You may not have a tomorrow.

“Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” (James 4:14)

Eternity is long.

“It is everlasting wrath. It would be dreadful to suffer this fierceness and wrath of Almighty God one moment; but you must suffer it to all eternity. There will be no end to this exquisite horrible misery. When you look forward, you shall see a long for ever, a boundless duration before you, which will swallow up your thoughts, and amaze your soul; and you will absolutely despair of ever having any deliverance, any end, any mitigation, any rest at all. You will know certainly that you must wear out long ages, millions of millions of ages, in wrestling and conflicting with this almighty merciless vengeance; and then when you have so done, when so many ages have actually been spent by you in this manner, you will know that all is but a point to what remains. So that your punishment will indeed be infinite. Oh, who can express what the state of a soul in such circumstances is! All that we can possibly say about it, gives but a very feeble, faint representation of it; it is inexpressible and inconceivable: For “who knows the power of God’s anger?” Jonathan Edwards, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, excerpt)

Repent. The end is near.

ezekiel battle, gog magog, prophecy, rapture, tribulation

Is the Ezekiel 38-39 Gog-Magog battle imminent?

Posted on September 7, 2013May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

photo credit: a l-ust for all things pointless via photopin cc

God is setting the stage to bring Himself glory.

Hallelujah!

Here is the story:

In Ezekiel 38 and 39 a battle occurs. It is the most lengthy and detailed prophetic battle in the entire bible, even more than Armageddon. This future battle is a coalition which has never formed before in quite the configuration described. For this reason, bible scholars believe the battle to be yet future. I use the term battle and not war deliberately, because this seems to be a very short military foray. As a matter of fact, hardly any weapons are loosed, it is over so quick. It is a battle, and God wins it decisively.
In addition, the battle is not between nations. It is between this coalition of nations and God Himself. The coalition of nations doesn’t know it, because they think they are marching against Israel. But it is God who intervenes and protects Israel by smiting the advancing army.

He does this in demonstrable and vivid ways. He wins the battle for Israel so clearly that the nations know it is God who is doing the fighting. More on those details below.

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via photopin cc

The coalition which is prophesied to come against Israel includes Iran, Turkey, Russia, Armenia, Libya, Ethiopia, Sudan (i.e. northern tier of North Africa). Also Sheba and Dedan (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Yemen? most likely). The merchants of Tarshish (no one quite knows who those people are) and all its leaders stand by. They don’t participate in the evil coalition, but they don’t help Israel either. They are interested sidelines quarterbacks. (Ezekiel 38:13).

The LORD said that He will plan this and execute it. He said in Ezekiel 38:4- “And I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great host, all of them with buckler and shield, wielding swords”.

He will do this to show the world that HE IS ISRAEL’S PROTECTOR! And to bring himself glory!!

“And I will set my glory among the nations, and all the nations shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid on them. The house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God, from that day forward. And the nations shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity, because they dealt so treacherously with me that I hid my face from them and gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and they all fell by the sword. I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and their transgressions, and hid my face from them.” (Ezekiel 39:22-24)

He shows His protection of Israel and His glory by doing things that only God does:

“In my zeal and fiery wrath I declare that at that time there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. The fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the beasts of the field, every creature that moves along the ground, and all the people on the face of the earth will tremble at my presence. The mountains will be overturned, the cliffs will crumble and every wall will fall to the ground. I will summon a sword against Gog on all my mountains, declares the Sovereign Lord. Every man’s sword will be against his brother. I will execute judgment on him with plague and bloodshed; I will pour down torrents of rain, hailstones and burning sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him. And so I will show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord.” (Ezekiel 38:19-22)

All the people on the face of the earth tremble at His presence??!?! Even the birds?! He rains brimstone down! Turns over mountains! He sends plague! Some estimate the number of dead invaders at three quarters of a million up to a billion dead. All the earth will know God is on the scene. It will be a momentous day. His wrath is a fearful thing.

Remember when the Japan 9.0 quake happened in March 2011? It was a powerful enough quake that it jolted the earth off its axis 8 feet. The quake in Ezekiel’s Gog-Magog battle will be ten times worse. A hundred times worse. I can’t quantify it because my brain can’t comprehend all the mountains on earth turning over and every cliff and every wall falling down.

photo credit: chany14 via photopin cc

I am so thrilled when the LORD receives Glory and He magnifies Himself. He has been doing that in the Church Age the last 2000 years by redeeming lost sinners, cleansing them with His Son’s blood. In the future Gog-Magog battle Ezekiel describes, He will give Himself glory by demonstrating both His raw power and His seriousness about keeping His covenant promise with Israel.

When does this Gog-Magog battle happen? No one is sure where it falls on the schedule of prophesied events, and there are a lot of opinions on this topic. The only collective thought is that it happens at or after the tribulation. All the stances have some biblical credibility, but some stances are weaker than others and some are stronger. Personally, I used to think it will happen at or just after the rapture. But in reading the verse about every mountain falling down, I am not so sure. In Revelation 6:14 we read that:

“The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.”

So the Ezekiel earthquake removes every mountain by overturning them but then the Revelation earthquake crumbles them … again?

If the Ezekiel battle happens at the outset of the Tribulation, then the verse where God says in Ezekiel 39:7 that “I will not let my Holy name be profaned any more” would not be true, since His holy name is continually profaned throughout the Tribulation. The antichrist is especially blasphemous. The verse mentions blasphemy three times in succession:

“And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling,a that is, those who dwell in heaven.” (Revelation 13:5-6).

Many have said that since the Ezekiel battle mentions in chapter 39 a special crew of buriers burying the dead over the course of 7 months, marking bones with a flag to identify another part of another body from the army God vanquished. And the people of Israel shall use the weapons for fuel for 7 years, so people believe the 7 years means the battle occurs at the outset of the Tribulation and Israel burns fuel for the duration of it, which is 7 years. However, there is no reason the 7 years could not refer to a battle toward the end of the Tribulation, and the fuel burning overlapping into the Millennium. Or it could occur at the end of the Millennium, a more likely prospect since during that 1000 years God’s name is not profaned, AND Israel is dwelling peacefully and securely without walls (Ezekiel 38:11, Ezekiel 39:25).

In other words, the timing of this prophesied battle cannot be clearly and dogmatically stated.

In any case, it seems that the world stage is active and lively right now with prophetic implications of these battles to come. We see a potential Gog in Putin, and Russia rising. We see an isolated Israel, bemoaning they only have God and their military to rely on. God is stripping Israel of all, and when Israel finally says, ‘we have ONLY God’, He will bring them back to His bosom.

photo credit: Wessex Archaeology
via photopin cc

Since the chapters of Ezekiel 38-39 show the LORD bringing His people back into personal dealing again, the Gog-Magog battle cannot occur while the church is on earth. Since His program for the church and the nation Israel are separate, it seems the church will be gone when He resumes dealing with the nation of Jews.

During this Church Age, God is dealing with people via His Spirit and through Resurrected Jesus who is in heaven. It is an age of grace, not of wrath. During the Tribulation He parts the veil and personally intervenes on earth again- in wrath and not in grace.

Here are several progressive essays which examine the timing of the Gog-Magog battle. They are from Nathan Jones of Lamb and Lion Ministries, and one is from John MacArthur, who believes the Ezekiel battle will occur at the Millennium’s close. As always, check out these things for yourself, pray, and think.

1. The Gog-Magog Battle – Search For Timing

2. The Gog-Magog Battle – Before the Tribulation?

3. The Gog-Magog Battle – During the Tribulation?

4. The Gog-Magog Battle – During the Millennium?

5. The Gog-Magog Battle – Unfolding; (their stance on the timing)

6. Twelve attributes of God the study of the Ezekiel Battle yields

John MacArthur: The Gog Magog battle timing- at the end of the Millennium

I hope that when you read those essays and especially when you read the bible, do so with a notion that God is great, and His purpose for all of it is to bring glory to Himself, and to bring people to holiness. End time studies are meant to revive our hearts in love and awe for a great and holy God, to make us aware of the temporal and fleeting time and body in which we live, and the eternal importance of souls.

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A credible threat from al-Qaeda’s frankenbombers worries officials. Embassies closed

Posted on August 5, 2013May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

London bombings, WWII. Source

The world is not a safe place. The world is not our home, thank goodness. But until it is time to go to our new home (New Jerusalem), Christians are enduring the same dangers as everyone else.

There is a credible threat from al-Qaeda which has officials worried. This time, they seem really worried and have a good reason to be concerned.

Chicago Tribune reports, “The al Qaeda threat that closed U.S. embassies in the Middle East on Sunday is the most serious in years and the “chatter” among suspected terrorists is reminiscent of what preceded the Sept. 11 attacks, a U.S. lawmaker who is briefed on intelligence said.”
“What is your opinion about surgeries through which I can implant the bomb … inside the operative’s body?” one writer asked.

First, let’s turn to prophecy. We read in the bible that we can know the end. We know what will happen and how history will turn out. That is what prophecy is, foretelling history in advance. That is because the author of history has revealed it to us.

We know who will be in power at a given time (Jesus as King, Prophet and Priest). We know how the geology of the earth will change (Temple Mount splits, islands flee away, etc). We know the economy, (no one will be poor, there will be 100% employment rate). We know the sun will go away and the glory of Jesus will be the light by which we live and thrive. We know the name of what will be the largest city on earth, “New Jerusalem”. We know all that and much more.

Working backward a bit, we know what will precede those events. Wars, diseases, plagues, starvation, violence, weather, poverty…sin! The Tribulation AKA The Time of Jacob’s Trouble.

Working backward from that a bit, we are in this time now. A time where grace has come, and salvation by Jesus is available, but a time of increasingly sinful acts that compete for the human’s soul and combats His grace.

photo credit: ashley rose, via photopin cc

Since before the foundation of the world, (Ephesians 1:4) God has had a plan for His children. He set names in His Book of Life (Revelation 20:15) and set forth a stage upon which to carry out His plan, earth, heaven and the universe. (Genesis 1). He desired to display His glory, (Psalm 19:1; 8:1; 50:6; 89:5), to commune with man who He made in His image. Since the beginning, He has communicated with us! This communication is to show us who He is and how to glorify Him. It is to have us align with His holy will and through His will, He has brought many children home to be with Him. And the spectacular thing is that He told us what will happen, since the beginning. (Genesis 3:15).

Since Man’s fall in Genesis 3, His intention has always been to bring all things to fulfillment.

“Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’ calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.” (Isaiah 46:8–11)

So one could safely say that all known history since ‘the beginning’ has hurtled forward, propelled on a track toward a finish, a fulfillment, a conclusion. There is a vanishing point.

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I always like to ponder, “where are we on that track?” Now, it is a dangerous and silly thing to state for certain. It is a pointless thing to think one can know for sure. But we can know gradations of darkness and wavelengths of light. (1 Thessalonians 5:4-5).

Prophecy has been defined as a “miracle of knowledge, a declaration or description or representation of something future, beyond the power of human sagacity to foresee, discern, or conjecture.” (Easton’s Bible Dictionary )

We are not in the Tribulation now but we see it coming. There are a number of prophecies which are just about visible. Where are we on the track? Close, I think.

God may take a long time to set up and begin to fulfill His plan, but when He decides the time is right it all happens quickly. I look at Sodom. At dawn, the angels told Lot and his wife and daughters to get out of the city. By the time the sun had risen, Sodom was no more!

Landscape with Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
Artist, Joachim Patinir, c.1520

“The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar. Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven.” (Genesis 19:23-24).

The outcry against Sodom had grown and grown and grown over time. We know this because in Genesis 13:12-13 Abram and Lot separate and Lot chose all the Jordan Valley to settle in, but pitched his tent close to Sodom. He had the whole valley to pick from but he chose to dwell close to sin. We know ten years passed, because Genesis 16:3 says Abraham dwelled ten years in Canaan. Then He had Ishmael by Hagar and he was 86. Then in the next chapter Abram was 99. (Genesis 17:1).

Next we see that the angels went to Sodom and saw Lot sitting at the gate. This is a place where judicial decisions are rendered, men transact business, and they watch for spies, armies and visitors. It is a place of leisure but also of importance. The fact that Lot was there indicates that he had stature of some kind. The verse doesn’t say for sure what his position was, but given his association with the well known and regarded Abraham, it is likely he was sitting there in some official capacity. (source). It takes time to grow to credibility and stature within a city. So, time has passed and Sodom’s sin had grown. We also see that Lot was no longer living in a tent near the city but in a house IN the city. (Genesis 19:3).

All this to say that during the whole time, Sodom had been growing in sin. There were outcries. Years passed. More outcries made. The outcries “had become great.” (Genesis 19:13). Yet the people were oblivious at their looming vanishing point. They went on in their sins day after day and year after year, until suddenly, the city was flattened into ashes. In one moment!

God’s Promises to Abram, James Tissot c.1896

It takes a long time for prophecy to build but when the wheels are set in motion, it happens fast. And there is ‘no pause button’, as Pastor JD Farag likes to say. Though Abram lobbied for Lot, he could not and did not dissuade the Angel from his plan to destroy Sodom.

Personally I believe we see so many of the almost-fulfilled prophecies that there is no pause button. That we passed the point of no return. There have been many times in the last decades where we approached the brink. The 1990 Oslo Accords was a major brink. September 11, 2001 was a major brink. The 2008 election, economic crash, and Japan tsunami were major brinks. The overthrow of Gaddafi and Mubarak were major brinks. But each time we’ve ratcheted back and things calmed down a bit. But the overall trajectory has been forward motion. Over the last two years especially, I believe it has gone even faster. This is my opinion.

Damascus is being destroyed as is Syria, the peace talks (covenant?) are gaining traction, the weather has been strange long enough so that many nations’ grain reserves are low or nil, new diseases are popping up every day, Jerusalem is truly isolated diplomatically, Iran just about has the bomb, Russia is once again strong and pugnacious…

Could God pull back on all those and calm the tone and then ratchet it all back up in ten years? Sure. But will He? I personally believe no.

Now to the news which is causing concern, and I believe shows just how easy it would be to ignite it all. Just as sulfur rained down on Sodom one sunny morning, so could the terrorists’ bombs ignite the final confrontations. Since 9/11, technology has advanced to incredible proportions. We have robot drones, Google street view, clear satellite photos, internet spying…and now this:

19 US posts to remain closed this week, as lawmakers say terror threat ‘specific’ and ‘serious’
The State Department has announced that it will keep 19 embassies and consulates in the Middle East and Africa closed throughout the week “out of an abundance of caution” in the wake of terror threats that shut them down. Posts in Abu Dhabi, Amman, Cairo, Riyadh, Dhahran, Jeddah, Doha, Dubai, Kuwait, Manama, Muscat, Sanaa, Tripoli, Antanarivo, Bujumbura, Djibouti, Khartoum, Kigali and Port Louis have been instructed to close for normal operations from Monday through Saturday, department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. …

Rooney suggested Sunday the travel warning will not be lifted soon. “If I had plans to travel to certain places in the Middle East, I would probably go ahead and cancel them,” he said. Rooney’s comments followed Georgia Sen. Saxby Chambliss, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, telling NBC’s “Meet the Press” that the threats are “very reminiscent of what we saw pre-9/11.” He also described the threats as “the most serious … I’ve seen in a number of years.” …

New York Republican Rep. Pete King, who leads the House Homeland Security subcommittee on counterterrorism and intelligence, said the threat included dates but not locations of possible attacks. “The threat was specific as to how enormous it was going to be and also that certain dates were given,” he said on ABC.

They seem very serious about this. More so than the run of the mill “oh no!”

ABC news reports, “The senior U.S. official said there is concern about devices that could be implanted inside the body of a terrorist. “We are concerned about surgically implanted devices,” they said. “These are guys who have developed the techniques to defeat our detection methods.” The official also said authorities were stunned that the group broke “operational security” — meaning they talked likely knowing it would be picked up by intercepts.”

Implanted in the body?? There is no way to defeat that. This Slate report from July 7 of 2011 has more.

“By year’s end, the SITE Intelligence Group had captured a detailed online exchange among al-Qaida followers. “What is your opinion about surgeries through which I can implant the bomb … inside the operative’s body?” one writer asked. Others advised him to stitch plastic or liquid explosives into the martyr’s abdominal cavity.”

This site reports even more specifics back from 2010.

“I am waiting for the interaction of the experienced brothers [doctors and scientists] to connect the two sciences together and produce a new kind of terrorism, Allah willing,” he wrote, according to a translation by terror experts at the SITE Intelligence Group.” (source).

It appears that the last few years the terrorists’ focus on creating ‘Frankenbombers’ has been successful. Hence, the renewed concern and focus of the stated and credible threat today.

Given the size and magnitude of the threats, the new technology, and stunning confidence of the terrorists, and their satanic, singular intent to wreak havoc, it is going to happen. It is just a question of when.

So that brings us back to the vanishing point track line. Where are we on the track? Given all that we see happening, and given that the outcry today is so very great as it was in Lot’s time, (Genesis 18:20-21, 19:13), is the Day near? It could well be. Just remember, that it begins suddenly.

If the Day is not today, my faith will not be shaken. I have a kingdom perspective. What this means that the time counts as nothing. I am an eternal person and I know my eternity is with Jesus. Eternity is a long time. Another year, or five years or ten years before He comes is a vapor compared to that. (Or I might die tomorrow, for I know not what tomorrow holds, Proverbs 27:1).

If indeed the time is near, (and it is, James 5:8), then the question becomes, “Am I ready?” Am I ready to be taken bodily up to heaven to be with Jesus?” What will make you ready is that you recognize you are a sinner, and that your sins disqualify you from being with God in heaven. Since everyone sins, everyone is disqualified. Jesus came to earth to live the perfect life as the Spotless Lamb (1 Peter 1:19) and then to shed His blood to cover our sins. He did this on the cross where He absorbed all Gods wrath for sin. God His Father, pleased with His Son’s sacrifice, accepted it, exhausted His wrath, and raised Jesus from the dead. Now all one needs to do is believe the aforementioned, repent of your sins and believe on the name of Jesus for eternal life.

“because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9).

“They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved–you and your household.” (Acts 16:31)

“but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness–for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.” (Romans 4:24)

“Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:1-4)

Please consider these things. The time is near.