Posted in news, prophecy, pulpit, sermons, signs

Should pastors do news-prophecy updates?

Posted on by elizabethprata

I’ve been thinking a lot about pastors who do prophecy updates. This is when pastors speak from the pulpit regarding current events of the day, such as the Syrian civil war, or a major earthquake, or the eclipses coming up, or Egypt’s coups, etc. The speak about this news from the pulpit during service and relate the news back to the bible.

Should pastors do this? Should they refrain from updating their parishioners on the news?? It is a difficult question. As with all hard questions (and easy ones too) let’s look at the bible first. The role of pastor is to include:

–Care to those whom he has been entrusted (1 Peter 5:2-3).
–A pastor is a shepherd of God’s flock who is to instruct, teach, and protect the people under his charge. In John 21:15-17, Jesus said to Peter, feed My sheep, tend My sheep, feed My sheep.
–Acts 6:4 those who lead the church are charged to give themselves continually to prayer and the ministry of the Word.
–Acts 20:27 declare the whole counsel of God
–2 Timothy 4:2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

Though pastors have many duties as defined by the bible, teaching and preaching the word of God to the flock is number one. It is the major way they tend the sheep, and feed the sheep. They also protect the sheep from wolves, by guarding the congregation from false doctrine and the people who bring it. Feeding the lambs with the bread of life is uniquely given to elders/overseers.

Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” Mark 13:31. The only enduring thing in this world are the words of Jesus, and shepherds are entrusted to pass them to the people, to explain, to use as encouragement and rebuke, for training in righteousness.

Prophecy is part of that general mandate. Too few pastors preach the prophetic passages or even mention them in passing. Somehow prophecy has gotten a bad reputation. This is likely because so many crazy people have set dates and brought shame onto Christianity by being a fringe element. Others are too shamefully gleeful at the wrath parts of judgment in prophecy and do not demonstrate the love of Christ by counterbalancing His wrath with talk of His grace and mercy. Or, many pastors don’t want the ‘taint’ that has besmirched prophecy in general to taint them, so they shy away. Oftentimes, it is also because seminaries do not teach pastoral students the importance of prophecy or preaching the prophetic passages, calling them unknowable, or controversial, and they ignore them altogether. Thus, new pastors don’t feel equipped to preach on them and they never do, even as they mature.

Frontspiece to “America A Prophecy”
William Blake 1793

As for the sheep, us, many have gotten discouraged by the hype that too many eager pastors have promoted with prophecy. Or, they have picked up on the general taint and they frown meanly from the pews when or if a pastor preaches it.

Yet the bible says to preach the whole counsel of God. Preaching the prophetic is encouraging because it shows God’s sovereignty, His careful attention to detail, and His everlasting covenants. When was the last time you heard a good sermon from, say, Obadiah? I listened to Phil Johnson preach from Nahum last weekend, and I loved every minute of it.

However that said, there is a difference in preaching prophecy and preaching secular news. As an example, John MacArthur has been preaching for 46 years, 44 of them at one church. All of his sermons he’s preached since 1969 are online. I’ve listened to a healthy sampling of them from each decade, including the ones from 1969, from the 70s, and 80s and 90s and 00s and beyond. In a bare few, he mentions current events. For the most part, he simply does what the bible says, preach the word. The word is always fresh. When he expounds on it, I literally cannot detect which era the sermon is from. It is as fresh as if he delivered it today than when he did 45 years ago. It is all edifying.

I applaud and honor those pastors who occasionally relate something happening in the culture or the world to the bible. John MacArthur did this in 2012 when he preached two sermons pointedly on America’s downward slide into immorality. They were “sermons on the spiritual and moral decline being championed by our country’s leaders.” The introduction to that two-part series states,

“If you’ve followed John MacArthur’s teaching for any length of time, you know he rarely says much about politics, culture, or society. It’s not that he’s uninformed on those topics. It’s that they’re often an intrusion upon the teaching of God’s Word. Evangelical Christians are already too easily distracted from the Great Commission in order to engage in partisan politics.“

However, sometimes mixing the current news and the bible is called for. Dr MacArthur stated

“I’m not one to talk about politics as such, but I was essentially amazed that one of the historic parties here in the United States adopted the sins of Romans 1 as their platform. This is a new day in our country. Parties which used to differ on economics now differ dramatically on issues that invade the realm of God’s law and morality.”

Even at that, the bulk of those two sermons were mainly focused on the Word of God and not the news of culture. And the rest of his sermons are focused totally on the word of God.

In the few cases if a secular news event is mentioned in an older sermon I am listening to, it’s jarring. It dates the sermon and makes it seem old and creaky. It kind of ruins the whole thing. Tying news into preaching is a bad mix, kind of like the iron and clay toes in the statue of Nebuchadnezzar that will not stay together.

There are some pastors who choose to speak a prophecy update each week, or quarterly. I have more concerns about these. I truly thank these preachers for doing weekly prophecy updates, I know their heart is in the right place. I know they love the Lord. But to work news back into the bible and claim meaning from it regularly is a dangerous activity, in my opinion. When a pastor has committed to a weekly prophecy update that includes the news of the world, their attention is necessarily divided.

I believe pastors should walk a fine line when it comes to preaching the news. They spend time reading newspapers instead of reading the bible. Tying news articles to the word means we think we can see what the Lord is doing or that we know his ways. But His ways are far above our ways. The pulpit is for God’s word.

Pastors should be excited about His appearing though, and talk much of our new home based on what the bible says, and look forward to the era to come. But they throw ALL prophecy out with the bathwater and never mention that this earth isn’t our home! Instead of preaching news stories from the pulpit, they go too far in the other direction and never preach the bible’s prophetic passages, either.

As far as news goes, we have come to the prophetic brink so often since 2008 and then the Lord saw fit to retreat the world from the prophetic brink. Russia is rising, Middle East is inflamed, the world economy is tanking, Damascus is dying, Egypt is failing, we can see the prophetic indicators.

The pastor’s role is to preach the word in season and out, ALL of the word, and this is on them- when

St Bernard preaching from a pulpit,
G. Martini, 1470

they do not preach prophecy passages from the bible they are not fulfilling the command to feed His sheep the whole counsel of God. But the word does not command shepherds to feed us news. So many pastors unwittingly get drawn away when they include secular news to their sermons from the pulpit. They start looking at the news and not expending their precious time on learning the word. Satan will take anything, even something good, and make it bad. If they feed us the word then we will understand and see the times. Jesus chastised the Pharisees for being able to tell the weather from signs but not His appearing from the fact of His appearing! (Mt 16:3). And Paul said –

“But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. 5For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. 6So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.” (1 Thess 5:4-5)

So the pastors preach the word, the whole word, and the Spirit illuminates the times for us.

It is a shame that so few are excited about His appearing. Paul mentioned it constantly! I talk about it a lot at church. I think He is coming soon. Not because the news indicates He is coming back soon but the bible says His return for His bride is imminent. It is something to get excited about! Not the news but simply the eagerness of going to our new home or the fact of His coming to get us. It is a sad thing that too few Christians look eagerly to that moment. If Paul and the early Christians did, how much closer is it today! Every NT book except Philemon mentions the prophetic future of our being raptured to Him and the new era. Christians who long for His appearing even earn a crown! And that is a shame, that so many brethren won’t share the joy of anticipation. I speak it from the bible, though, not from the news.

I do believe that the Lord is returning soon. I believe the rapture will be any day. I have believed this since I read it in the bible. The events today look to me like they are pointing to our last moments on earth under the Age of Grace. But, it’s been 7 years since I first thought that and it could be two years from now or another ten or I could die tomorrow and go to heaven anyway. We just don’t know. We look at the seasons and we look for His appearing and this should give us urgency to witness. But when I go to church I want to hear His word explained, there is no better way to spend time than hear the word. It is the only enduring thing on this earth.

What’s your opinion on the matter?

Posted in china, one world economy

The words "USA" and "default" beginning to appear in news headlines: big changes ahead?

Posted on by elizabethprata

The words “USA” and “debt” and the dreaded word “default” are starting to be used in the same headline. The Congressional-Presidential standoff on the budget and the Federal government shutdown has rattled the world. As the dollar is currently the world’s reserve currency this is making everyone else very nervous. The problem is, as USA Today explains,

Source

“Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, who shuttled between the global finance talks and negotiations with Congress over the debt ceiling, has warned that he will exhaust his borrowing authority Thursday and the government will face the prospect of defaulting on its debt unless Congress raises the current $16.7 trillion borrowing limit.”

CNBC explains “Debt is not the only method to finance overspending”
“When our government spends more money than it takes in, as it has been doing both consistently and at an accelerating pace for the past 30 years, it has to find a way to pay for that overspending. As any individual or business knows, there are choices you face when you need more money than you have at hand. You have to find a way to bring in more capital through making more money, selling some assets or securing financing.”

With the current climate of government strangulation of the entrepreneurial spirit and small business death, it’s not likely we will make more money. On a larger scale, we have no assets to sell, except land. Would Russia like Alaska back? The scenario for raising money is unlikely. And as for securing financing, China has already gone to their limit for us in buying our debt and has warned us they are loathe to buy ore. They are also making moves to remove the US dollar as global currency reserve. So that scenario is unlikely too.

CNBC says, “Debt cannot be used as a continual financing solution without dire consequences.”

One dire consequence that is likely with the US and the Chinese is this: invasion. Don’t laugh. Wikipedia explains sovereign default:

“Since a sovereign government, by definition, controls its own affairs, it cannot be obliged to pay back its debt. Nonetheless, governments may face severe pressure from lending countries. In the most extreme cases, a creditor nation may declare war on a debtor nation for failing to pay back debt, in order to enforce creditor’s rights. For example, Britain routinely invaded countries that failed to repay foreign debts, invading Egypt in 1882.”

Members of a Chinese Military Honor Guard. Source Wikipedia

If we can’t pay China back, do you think they will hesitate to come get what is owed them? Something to think about. Even if they do not invade our mainland, they may seize overseas assets.

“Other examples include the United States’ “gunboat diplomacy” in Venezuela in the mid-1890s and the United States occupation of Haiti beginning in 1915. A government which defaults may also be excluded from further credit and some of its overseas assets may be seized“

I think that we think the world is civilized and that finances and war are further apart than they really are. And remember, the second horse of the apocalypse if the fiery red horse of war. “Peace will be taken from the earth.” (Rev 6:4).

Here are three snippets of current news headlines remarking on the US potential for default.

—————————-

World top bankers warn of dire consequences if U.S. defaults
Three of the world’s most powerful bankers warned of terrible consequences if the United States defaults on its debt, with Deutsche Bank chief executive Anshu Jain claiming default would be “utterly catastrophic. This would be a very rapidly spreading, fatal disease,” Jain said on Saturday at a conference hosted by the Institute of International Finance in Washington. “I have no recommendations for this audience…about putting band aids on a gaping wound,” he said.

—————————-

Get your fiscal house in order: China warns US as Asia expresses concern for $1.3tn of investments
“China, the biggest foreign creditor of the United States, has waded into the American budget crisis, warning Congress that it must resolve the political impasse over the debt ceiling without further delay. The Chinese Vice Foreign Minister, Zhu Guangyao, told America’s deadlocked politicians on Monday that “the clock is ticking” and called on them to approve an extension of the national borrowing limit before the federal government is projected to run out of cash on 17 October. We ask that the United States earnestly takes steps to resolve in a timely way the political issues around the debt ceiling and prevent a US debt default to ensure the safety of Chinese investments in the United States,” Mr Zhu told reporters in Beijing. “This is the United States’ responsibility,” he added.”

—————————-

Finance officials press U.S. on default risk
“World finance officials pledged on Saturday to deal with new risks to the global recovery while they kept up pressure on the United States to address the biggest threat of all — a market-rattling default on U.S. debt.”

—————————-

CNBC further explains,

UK Telegraph


“However, a default is hardly the only threat to our credit standing. We lost our AAA credit rating for the first time ever from S&P in 2011 based not on a default (which was threatened but never happened), but instead on our overall accumulation of debt, lack of a credible plan to reduce it and overall problematic policymaking governance. All of those issues have gotten worse. We have more debt than two years ago and there has been no improvement in our political discord, the financial savvy of our lawmakers, or in our governance in general.”

The economy plays a major role in the Tribulation. As a matter of fact, an entire chapter of Revelation is devoted to the Lord’s destruction of the global economy. (Revelation 18).

Revelation’s third horseman, the Black Horse of the Apocalypse, is unleashed by Jesus to wreak economic havoc on the world (Revelation 6:5-6). This happens at the beginning of the Tribulation. The world economy fails, and is restructured as seen in Revelation 13 into a one world economy with one currency. (Revelation 13:16-18)

The world economy picks up and reforms and apparently successfully too, given the luxuries that the merchants lament when it collapses for the final time in Revelation 18. This last, restructured economy is the worst one of all, given that satan has been allowed to thoroughly pollute it to its final length of sin.

Source

“Come out of her, my people,
lest you take part in her sins,
lest you share in her plagues;
for her sins are heaped high as heaven,
and God has remembered her iniquities.” (Revelation 18:4-5)

What I am saying is that there are several characters who play a major role in the final days. There’s the antichrist, the false prophet, satan, his unholy angels, the holy angels and of course Jesus. The final religion and the final economy are major players too. Those last two become judgments upon the people of the earth, vehicles for the pursuing of the length of sin and two of the means by which Jesus judges humanity. Remember, the participating in the economy or not participating in the economy is tied to whether you will worship the beast or not worship the beast. The economy is the tempting fruit and the ultimate dividing line. Those who wish to participate in the final economy will accept the mark of the Beast which is a mark of worship and allegiance to him. Christians who refuse will die of starvation or be hunted down and martyred. (Revelation 13:16).

Drastic, catastrophic changes for the global economy are ahead. You know, it seems that we have always had an economy like this one, but there have always been eras in finance as well. In Mesopotamia archaeologists discovered 5,500 year old clay balls that indicate a record keeping for a thriving economy. This is amazing because they predate the time before writing was invented. (source).

For a long time, bartering was the means by which men traded. Then modern banking was invented in 14th century Florence, Italy. Then we invented bar codes and checks were born and then credit cards and ATMs all the rest we know in this generation. And all along, countries default and hyperinflation comes and goes.

Unveiling of the Statue of Liberty
Enlightening the World
(1886) by Edward Moran.
Museum of the City of New York.

Since 1800, 91 countries have defaulted or had major debt restructuring. The United Kingdom defaulted four times. Twenty have defaulted in this century, since 2000. It’s not an unknown thing and is actually more common than we think. That it can’t happen to the US is ridiculous to even entertain. Of course it can. We are not above the laws of finance and the rules of sound economy. That is is likely to happen to the US is more logical to entertain.

Such huge changes are ahead for us. Keep looking for Jesus, since we are not appointed to wrath (1 Thess 5:9) and will not be present here for any of these devastating earthly changes. I’m looking forward to the wonderful changes in the plan Jesus has for those who love Him: rapture, (1 Cor 15:52) glorification, (1 Cor 15:53) and eternal rest and dwelling in heaven with Him. (1 Thess 4:17). Even so, come soon, Lord Jesus!

Posted in Sunday martyr moment

Sunday Martyr Moment: Persecution under Decius, 249AD

Posted on by elizabethprata

Foxe’s Book of Martyrs. According to this summary from Christian Book Summaries,

Writing in the mid-1500s, John Foxe was living in the midst of intense religious persecution at the hands of the dominant Roman Catholic Church. In graphic detail, he offers accounts of Christians being martyred for their belief in Jesus Christ, describing how God gave them extraordinary courage and stamina to endure unthinkable torture.

From the same link, the book’s purpose was fourfold:

  • Showcase the courage of true believers who have willingly taken a stand for Jesus Christ throughout the ages, even if it meant death,
  • Demonstrate the grace of God in the lives of those martyred for their faith,
  • Expose the ruthlessness of religious and political leaders as they sought to suppress those with differing beliefs,
  • Celebrate the courage of those who risked their lives to translate the Bible into the common language of the people.

Text from Foxe’s Book of Martyrs

The Seventh Persecution, Under Decius, A.D. 249

This was occasioned partly by the hatred he bore to his predecessor Philip, who was deemed a Christian and was partly by his jealousy concerning the amazing increase of Christianity; for the heathen temples began to be forsaken, and the Christian churches thronged.

These reasons stimulated Decius to attempt the very extirpation of the name of Christian; and it was unfortunate for the Gospel, that many errors had, about this time, crept into the Church: the Christians were at variance with each other; self-interest divided those whom social love ought to have united; and the virulence of pride occasioned a variety of factions.

The heathens in general were ambitious to enforce the imperial decrees upon this occasion, and looked upon the murder of a Christian as a merit to themselves. The martyrs, upon this occasion, were innumerable; but the principal we shall give some account of.

Fabian, the bishop of Rome, was the first person of eminence who felt the severity of this persecution. The deceased emperor, Philip, had, on account of his integrity, committed his treasure to the care of this good man. But Decius, not finding as much as his avarice made him expect, determined to wreak his vengeance on the good prelate. He was accordingly seized; and on January 20, A.D. 250, he suffered decapitation.

Julian, a native of Cilicia, as we are informed by Chrysostom, was seized upon for being a Christian. He was put into a leather bag, together with a number of serpents and scorpions, and in that condition thrown into the sea.

Peter, a young man, amiable for the superior qualities of his body and mind, was beheaded for refusing to sacrifice to Venus. He said, “I am astonished you should sacrifice to an infamous woman, whose debaucheries even your own historians record, and whose life consisted of such actions as your laws would punish. No, I shall offer the true God the acceptable sacrifice of praises and prayers.” Optimus, the proconsul of Asia, on hearing this, ordered the prisoner to be stretched upon a wheel, by which all his bones were broken, and then he was sent to be beheaded.

Nichomachus, being brought before the proconsul as a Christian, was ordered to sacrifice to the pagan idols. Nichomachus replied, “I cannot pay that respect to devils, which is only due to the Almighty.” This speech so much enraged the proconsul that Nichomachus was put to the rack. After enduring the torments for a time, he recanted; but scarcely had he given this proof of his frailty, than he fell into the greatest agonies, dropped down on the ground, and expired immediately.

Denisa, a young woman of only sixteen years of age, who beheld this terrible judgment, suddenly exclaimed, “O unhappy wretch, why would you buy a moment’s ease at the expense of a miserable eternity!” Optimus, hearing this, called to her, and Denisa avowing herself to be a Christian, she was beheaded, by his order, soon after.

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

You see the sins of the heathens which inflame the hatred of Jesus and His people. Avarice, jealousy, hatred, anger… these are the lifeblood of the heathen. Yet these same sins and others intrude upon the unwary Christian too. Lack of love, factions, divisions, and jealousies split and fray the sweet unity of the brotherhood of Christ. During times like that, the church looks no different from the world.

In these days of equal hatred and jealousy with heathen all around, let us seek to be the light, distinct from the world and pleasing to our Savior.

Posted in gracelife, Judy Luenebrink, nahum, phil johnson, preaching, tim challies

Three great sermons: Phil Johnson, Tim Challies, Judy Luenebrink

Posted on by elizabethprata

Here are a few good thoughts, AKA God’s word preached from good men and women.

I love a good sermon on the Old Testament prophets. I love a good sermon on wrath every now and then. Wrath is part of God’s attributes, and we must study all of God’s attributes in order to know Him completely. Learning about His wrath also sensitizes me to His grace. The comparison is astounding. You really know grace when you study wrath, and vice versa. I was under His wrath until I was saved, and this compare and contrast exercise always humbles me…and makes me love Him all the more. Old Testament sermons from credible men are hard to come by though. One of my favorite pastors, Pastor Phil Johnson, often preaches from the Old Testament. Recently he preached on Nahum in a sermon titled “Wrath Poured Out Like Fire.” It is tremendous.

I wrote recently about “Finding God’s Will for Your Life“. I mentioned that God’s will is for us is not necessarily to sell all our goods and run off to Burma as a missionary or otherwise to be excessively ‘radical.’ Christians living the regular life is what God calls most of us to do.

The issue was still on my mind as I perused the list of wonderful sermons to choose from at the Grace Community Church. Pastor Tim Challies from Toronto was a guest pastor at the GraceLife pulpit. He preached on “A Life Pleasing to God” from 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12. He directly addresses the Radical craze and the Crazy Love craze and presents a theologically solid and thoroughly enriching sermon on how to please God with your life. Please take a listen, I am sure you will find it comforting.

I posted once before of the Women’s Ministry of MacArthur’s Grace Community Church. Judy Luenebrink is teaching through Hebrews. If you long for the softness of a woman’s voice, teaching credibly with solid oversight, trustworthy content, and a gentle spirit, go through Hebrews with Mrs Judy. She is on her second lesson now, The Superiority of Jesus.
What better way to spend half an hour or so, learning how and why our gracious Savior is superior to all in the universe?

I wrote earlier today on my other blog about television before computers. I mused on whether the advent of computers was a good thing or not. It was both, I concluded. The upside of advanced technology is that I can listen or watch these wonderful edifying sermons. I love particularly on Saturday afternoons to cook soup and while I peel and chop, listen to the richness of God’s word being preached and explained. I hope you find these sermons and the others on the links edifying to you as well.

Posted in apocalypse, blood moon, eclipse, john hagee, mark biltz

Do the four blood moons of 2014-2015 have prophetic meaning? 3/3

Posted on by elizabethprata

All your debunked blood moon information in one place, several links

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

Here is part 3 of 5 looking at the current fascination with the blood moons scenario of 2014-2015. Here, Roy Exum waxes philosophical in his overview/summary in last week’s Chatanoogan.

Roy Exum: Rev. Hagee’s ‘Blood Moons’
The Chatanoogan, Tuesday, October 08, 2013 – by Roy Exum

John Hagee is one of the best-known preachers in America. His Cornerstone Church in San Antonio has 22,000 active members. His radio/television ministry adds another 249 countries around the world every Sunday so it comes as little surprise that Hagee, also a best-seller author, has just written a new book that is rapidly climbing the Christian charts.

What will surprise you is “Four Blood Moons: Something Is About To Change” uses scripture from the Bible, NASA data, and recorded history to conclude the end of the world – as we know it – might be right around the corner. Understand, I’m not a Doomsday kind of guy, and my Bible tells me nobody knows the time nor the hour when the Lord will return to earth.

But you need to know that during the next two years a careful study of NASA tables shows we will have what astronomers call a Tetrad phenomenon – a string of four partial lunar eclipses where the moon will appear blood red on certain Jewish Holy Days. This has only happened three times in history and – every time – the blood moons signaled huge events that affected “God’s Chosen People.”

Consider this: In the Bible’s Book of Joel, Chapter 3:3-4 you can read, “And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come.”

For the record, a blood moon is not that rare. What happens during a total eclipse is when the earth’s shadow covers the moon completely. But, during a partial eclipse, the atmosphere will sometimes bend light around the edge of the earth’s shadow and the light will appear red or orange or yellow. (Think red sunsets.) But Pastor Hagee concludes that ‘when a blood moon coincides with Passover’s Seder Night, history has shown it is a sign that something big is getting ready to happen’.

The first time it happened, in the year 1493,Pastor Hagee writes, the four blood moons occurred on the Hebrew holidays of Passover and the Feast of Trumpets. Pastor Hagee writes, “This signified the beginning of the fall of Spain following the expulsion of the Jews a year earlier and was God’s announcement to the world that ‘the mantle of prosperity had thusly been placed on the shoulders of the infant nation that would become the United States’ since it became a refuge for the Jewish people.”

The second appearance of four blood moons appearing on Hebrew holy days was 1949-1950. They occurred on Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles and the next day Israel was declared a nation. The third time was in 1967-1968, when the Six-Day War took place, uniting the city of Jerusalem for the first time in 2,000 years, “a monumental prophetic event,” according to Hagee’s new book.

Hagee has worked closely with Pastor Mark Biltz of Tacoma, Wash., who discovered that the only Tetrad Phenomenon in the 21st century, according to NASA charts and projections, will be on the exact days of Jewish holiday is 2014 and 2015. On April 15, 2014 will be Passover and on October 8, 2014 will be the Feast of Tabernacles. On April 4, 2015 will be Passover and on September 28, 2015 will be the Feast of Tabernacles. Expect a blood moon all four dates.

And if you want another sign, try this: After the first two blood moons in the sequence, and before the final two blood moons, will be a solar eclipse on March 20, 2015 – the exact date of the Jewish holy day Rosh Hashanah.

So what does that really mean? Rev. Hagee says in his new book, “Over the last 500 years, these lunar events all falling on holy days were an announcement of a time of tears and tribulation that ended in tremendous national triumph for the Jewish people.”

The minister further states, “There are no solar or lunar accidents; every heavenly body is controlled by the unseen hand of God to send signals to humanity of coming events.”

Hagee is convinced God will use the blood moons to signal that He is getting ready to change the course of human history. “No one knows the mind of God but the anticipation of these events tells us something will happen.” There are many Christians, after reading the new book, believe the coming tetrad is hardly happenstance.

That said, whether you want to buy green bananas is entirely up to you.

————————

It has always been safe to buy green bananas. It has never been safe to buy green bananas.

That’s because the rapture has always been imminent.

The problem with tying political or cultural events on earth to whether blood moons were happening is that for it to be truth, absolute and perfect in God’s plan, you have to tie EVERY blood moon that ever occurred to ‘something big happening to the Jews’. How do you decide which events tie in? You can’t. That is where the blood moon scenario falls apart.

Were there ‘tears and tribulation that ended in tremendous national triumph’ for the Jews or the state of Israel on July 1, 1982, when a “20th century doozy” or a red eclipse was reported in the Sarasota FL Journal? No. But Mr Hagee’s phrase has a wonderful alliteration to it. Truly tremendous.

How about on September 26, 1996 when another red doozy occurred over the northern tier of America as reported by the Grand Forks Herald? No. The Sukkot Festival was ending on that day? Still nothing? Nope.

‘Mr Eclipse waxes lyrical over red moon’ on January 21, 2000, as reported in South African news. But January has no feast days, so there wold be no tie-in, you sputter. Well, who said there had to be a tie-in only on Jewish feast days? Where is that written? Yet Pastor Hagee said in his book about the blood moons, “There are no solar or lunar accidents; every heavenly body is controlled by the unseen hand of God to send signals to humanity of coming events.” Well? What was the signal from the January 21, 2000 red eclipse?

You see the difficulty. While it is agreed that the LORD had a plan put in place with fore-thought, back-dating every celestial event as a tie-in with an earthy event to the Jews is precarious at best.

GotQuestions says of the Blood Moon scenario:

Question: “Is Jesus going to return during the blood-red moon of 2015?”
Answer: Gaining in popularity today is the teaching that a series of blood-red moons in the next two years will be a portent of Jesus’ second coming and a fulfillment of biblical prophecy. Astrological charts show four lunar eclipses will occur from 2014 to 2015. Because a full lunar eclipse often makes the moon look red or orange, it is sometimes referred to as a “blood moon” or “blood-red moon.” Some teachers of prophecy say that this tetrad of blood moons will fulfill end-times prophecies in Joel and Revelation.

What has interested prophecy teachers is not just the number of lunar eclipses in the next two years but the timing of the eclipses. In both 2014 and 2015, a full lunar eclipse will occur on the first day of Passover and the first day of Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles). In addition to the two lunar eclipses of 2015, two solar eclipses will also occur. Similar lunar eclipses in back-to-back years have happened seven times since the time of Christ. Some of those have occurred in years of significance for the Jewish people, such as 1948 (when Israel was granted statehood) and 1967 (when the Six-Day War was fought).

References to a moon like “blood” are found in two passages of the Bible. Joel 2:30–31 says, “I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.” In Revelation 6:12, John describes one of the seal judgments of the Tribulation: “I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.” Other passages refer to the moon being “darkened” (Matthew 24:29; Joel 2:10).

A tetrad of lunar eclipses—and the timing of those eclipses in the Jewish calendar—is fairly unusual, but not unprecedented. So the fact of the eclipses, while interesting, is no proof that Jesus will return by 2015. Furthermore, John’s and Joel’s descriptions of the signs of the Day of the Lord could refer to solar and lunar eclipses, but there are other possible explanations for those phenomena, such as changes in the atmosphere (mentioned in Revelation 6:12).

The blood-red moon theory is just that—a theory. Even as a theory, it comes close to doing what the Bible warns against: setting dates for the coming of the Lord. “About that day or hour no one knows” (Mark 13:32).

———————

And with that solid note, I’ll bring us to the next part, a detailed biblical analysis.

Part 1

Part 2

Posted in apocalypse, blood moon, john hagee, mark biltz, second coming, tetrad

Do the four blood moons of 2014-2015 have prophetic meaning? 2/3

Posted on by elizabethprata

All your debunked blood moon information in one place, several links

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In part 1 of this blood moon series, I gave an introduction as to the fact that a new “He’s coming” timing issue is making the rounds in evangelical circles, and mentioned that two men are promoting it: Mark Biltz and John Hagee. When we look at the latest prophetic fad news, we look at the bible, which this series will do, and we also look at the people behind it who are promoting it.

Mark Biltz is one of these men. Mr Biltz is a minister of El Shaddai Ministries. He is part of a new movement called “Hebrew Roots Movement”. The Hebrew Roots movement is a false movement that attempts to revive Judaism and overlay it upon Christianity, essentially, GotQuestions says, their goal is to restore the Jewishness of Christianity, and they are the Judaizers that the Apostle Paul thoroughly refuted in the Epistle to the Galatians. Got Questions says of the Hebrew Roots Movement

“The premise of the Hebrew Roots movement is the belief that the Church has veered far from the true teachings and Hebrew concepts of the Bible. The movement maintains that Christianity has been indoctrinated with the culture and beliefs of Greek and Roman philosophy and that ultimately biblical Christianity, taught in churches today, has been corrupted with a pagan imitation of the New Testament gospels.

 Those of the Hebrew Roots belief hold to the teaching that Christ’s death on the cross did not end the Mosaic Covenant, but instead renewed it, expanded its message, and wrote it on the hearts of His true followers. They teach that the understanding of the New Testament can only come from a Hebrew perspective and that the teachings of the Apostle Paul are not understood clearly or taught correctly by Christian pastors today. Many affirm the existence of an original Hebrew-language New Testament and, in some cases, denigrate the existing New Testament text written in Greek. This becomes a subtle attack on the reliability of the text of our Bible. If the Greek text is unreliable and has been corrupted, as is charged by some, the Church no longer has a standard of truth.

 Although there are many different and diverse Hebrew Roots assemblies with variations in their teachings, they all adhere to a common emphasis on recovering the “original” Jewishness of Christianity. Their assumption is that the Church has lost its Jewish roots and is unaware that Jesus and His disciples were Jews living in obedience to the Torah. For the most part, those involved advocate the need for every believer to walk a Torah-observant life.

On Mark Biltz’s website it states the following:

“El Shaddai Ministries is a Hebrew Roots Resource and Teaching Ministry
We do not want to convert Jews to Christianity or Christians to Judaism”

This in itself should tell you that Mr Biltz is a dangerous false prophet. The millions of Jews are lost. Without conversion to Christianity, Jewish people will endure God’s wrath in hell for all eternity. Can anyone casually put such a disclaimer on their website, that millions of lost people are not candidates for conversion into the grace of Jesus?

Paul wrote:

“Galatians 2:16, “Know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.””

John Hagee is overly Israel-centric in his ministry as well. He picked up on Mark Biltz’s blood moons teaching of several years ago (yes, Mr Biltz predicted via plausible denial the return of Jesus several years ago when several lunar eclipses coincided with a holy day or two. The only thing that is different about the blood moons of 2014-15 is that there are four blood moons, not two.) Mr Hagee has written a book on the tetrad (four) blood moons of 2014-2015. This book is selling like hotcakes right now.

Four Blood Moons: Something Is About to Change by John Hagee

Mr Hagee has also promoted several aberrant doctrines himself. For example, John Hagee denies Jesus claimed to be the Messiah. From Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry, we read,

“The problem, however, is with his new book “In Defense of Israel” where Dr. Hagee apparently states that Jesus was not the Messiah. If you were to go to youtube.com2 you can hear where Dr. Hagee speaks regarding his book and says his book, In Defense of Israel, will prove that “Jesus did not come to Earth to be the Messiah,” (20 seconds in) and that “…since Jesus refused by word and deed to claim to be the Messiah how can the Jews be blamed for rejecting what was never offered?” (32 seconds in). Obviously, this is a huge problem.”

Pastor Matt Slick, The author of the CARM essay on Hagee, then went to get Hagee’s book to more thoroughly research the matter and to confirm whether in context Hagee made these aberrant statements or not. He concludes that there are too many aberrant statements.

In my opinion, Hagee’s book “In Defense of Israel” contains serious theological error, too numerous and detailed to go into here. He has also been accused many times over the years of holding to a dual covenant theology, which he denies but the accusation still clings because Mr Hagee is disingenuous at best in attempting to dispel them. Dual Covenant theology is where Jews have a separate covenant to be saved, distinct from the one that the Gentiles hold. Remember, Peter and Paul and the other apostles were Jews! Yet they came to faith under the one covenant.

Yet Hagee is quoted in the Houston Chronicle newspaper in 1988 as stating

“I’m not trying to convert the Jewish people to the Christian faith.” “In fact, trying to convert Jews is a ‘waste of time,’ he said. ‘The Jewish person who has his roots in Judaism is not going to convert to Christianity. There is no form of Christian evangelism that has failed so miserably as evangelizing the Jewish people. They (already) have a faith structure.’ Everyone else, whether Buddhist or Baha’i, needs to believe in Jesus, he says. But not Jews. Jews already have a covenant with God that has never been replaced by Christianity.” (“San Antonio fundamentalist battles anti-Semitism,” Houston Chronicle, April 30, 1988, sec. 6, p. 1

Suffice to say, neither Biltz or Hagee are solid theologians and in fact have severely clouded judgment about what is the church and what is the Law, and this is being generous to say the least. To say they are dangerously false would not be overstating things. When looking at the blood moons teaching on the next pages, please consider the source.

Part 1 here 
Part 3 here
—————————————-

More information on blood moons here in Answers in Genesis-

Will Lunar Eclipses Cause Four Blood Moons in 2014 and 2015?

Posted in apocalypse, biltz, blood moon, hagee

Do the four blood moons of 2014-2015 have prophetic meaning? 1/3

Posted on by elizabethprata

All your debunked blood moon information in one place, several links

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There is a book which is exciting the hearts and imaginations of many Christians. It is even being remarked upon by secular people,

Death And Taxes: Pastor John Hagee sets new date for Apocalypse, based on ‘blood moons’ and Jewish holidays

By Jews,

Jewish Press: Messianic ‘Blood Moon’ Rising on Passover Seder Night

What is this book?

Four Blood Moons: Something Is About to Change

Pastor Hagee’s subtitle to his book “Something is about to change” is correct. For two thousand years, things have been about to change. Paul wrote about that in 1 Corinthians 15:52, and Titus 2:13, and 1 Thessalonians 1:10, and Philippians 3:20, and Matthew 24:30, and 1 John 2:28, and Philippians 4:5… and so on. Something has always been about to change. The Lord’s return for His bride (rapture) and His return in wrath and judgment (Second Coming, different from the rapture) have always loomed over us. His return is mentioned in every New Testament book except Philemon.

Pastor Hagee wrote a book that things are about to change is because he believes he knows when they are about to change. And therein is the excitement. Someone has a clue! Someone has an inside track! Someone is about to reveal when!

We long for the Lord so it’s natural to long for His return when we can be with Him. (1 Thessalonians 4:18). Christians can know the season but not the hour (1 Thessalonians 5:4). Though the clues for the progress of the Tribulation are spelled out in detail (Rev 6-20, Matthew 24) the appearance of the Lord for His bride, AKA the rapture event, is not known. There are no signals and no signs to determine His coming. However, if we can see certain infrastructure being laid for the Tribulation then we can pray and hope the rapture is even nearer, since it will precede the wrath. (1 Thessalonians 5:9).

Pastor Hagee and Mark Biltz have intuited the times and have forecasted the Lord’s return based on four red eclipse moons that will be appearing in 2014 and 2015. These blood moons, as they are called, are garnering special attention due to the fact that they will be occurring on Jewish feast days. Biltz and Hagee ascribe special significance to this.

Free wallpapers

This will be a three part series. The 2nd piece will offer an overview of the men who are publishing the blood moon scenario: Mark Biltz and John Hagee. The 3rd piece will offer informational overview of the blood moon scenario.
————–

Part 2 here
Part 3 here

Posted in antichrist, jesus, mary worship, pope francis

Pope Francis to consecrate the world to Immaculate Heart of Mary

Posted on by elizabethprata

More Pope Francis news. This man’s rapid departure from age-old Catholic dogma is bringing the world closer to ecumenism in a faster fashion than any other man or philosophy I’ve ever seen. Amazingly bad news just keeps coming from the Vatican

Pope Francis will consecrate the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on October 13. The consecration will take place as part of a pilgrimage that will bring thousands of members of groups promoting Marian piety to the Vatican.

 The statue of Our Lady of Fatima is scheduled to travel to Rome on October 12. It will be only the 11th time since the statue was made in 1920 that it has been removed from the Portuguese Marian shrine.

 Pope Francis and the pilgrims will welcome the statue to St Peter’s Square during an evening prayer service on October 12. The statue will then be taken to the Rome Shrine of Divine Love, where the Diocese of Rome plans an all-night vigil.

 The statue and the pilgrims will return to St Peter’s Square on October 13 for the recitation of the rosary and Mass with Pope Francis. In a press statement, the directors of the Fatima shrine said Pope Francis will consecrate the world to Mary during the event. (source)
—————–

First, this is idolatry in every sense of the word. He is lifting up a man-made statue as an object of worship and as a ‘special sign.’ Secondly, this destroys any straight-face notion that the Catholics do not worship Mary (something they deny by parsing the word ‘venerate’, as in “We don’t worship her, we venerate her”.) The Mary here is of course the mother of Jesus who incubated the Savior in her womb, birthed the sinless Son, and raised him with Joseph until Jesus became of age.

But third, the hubris contained in Francis’s seemingly humble action betrays the man’s pride. Or perhaps his realism- the pope is the only absolute monarch in the world, accountable to no one for as long as he holds the office. Francis’ action is intended to ‘consecrate the world’. According to the Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry, Consecrate means

“To consecrate something is to formally set it apart for special use. Bread was consecrated in the Old Testament (Exodus 25:30; Lev. 25:5-9) as were people (Rom. 1:1; Gal.1:15).”

For the Pope to believe he has the power to set the WORLD apart for any use that he chooses is hubris on the order of the pride that satan himself has, believing he will exalt himself above God’s holy mountain. (Isaiah 14:4).

This is not the first time Pope Francis has been in the news. You remember he became Pope under extremely unusual circumstances. The previous Pope, Benedict, suddenly and abruptly resigned, the first pope to do so in 600 years. This opened the papal monarchy to another candidate. That man was Francis. The resignation event occurred in February of this year. The papacy of Francis began in mid-March of this year, 2013.

The second unusual thing about Francis is that though he has been pope only for 7 short months, he has upended and subverted the entrenched Catholic dogma up on its ear. He has made the news almost constantly since ascending his papacy by uttering liberal policies and teaching what has for thousands of years been anathema to Catholics. For example:

Pope Francis On Gays: Who Am I To Judge Them?

Pope Francis: Gays, Abortion Too Much Of Catholic Church’s Obsession

Pope Francis denies Jesus

Pope says there is no need to convert anyone

and of course Francis displays the usual Catholic Mary-idolatry
Pope Francis prays to Mary in Lampedusa

This is all extraordinary given that if nothing else, the Vatican has always adhered to their false religion and dogma fiercely. It is also unusual in that the Vatican never takes rapid steps or makes abrupt turns. Yet Francis has only been in office for 7 months and seemingly not a monthy gos by without reading of an amazing about-face from the Vatican.

The Vatican is the oldest “international legal personality” in the world, AKA the oldest formed and longest lasting government in the world, established in 480AD.

Take note of the rapidity of the changes Francis is bringing. And always remember that the Catholic religion is a false religion, therefore we are not surprised when the world acts like the world.

Pope Francis’s sudden appearance onto the world stage, his wide promotion as a faithful, humble man, and how clearly he speaks the world’s language is all extremely interesting as it is happening at this juncture in time.

I turn from pope-watching and look instead for my Savior. Is He due at the appointed hour soon to collect His bride? As the world falls further into ecumenism, faithlessness and Christ-less despair, does this mean the soon appearance of our beloved Groom? One hopes so. Even so,

“But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, (Philippians 3:20)

And we wait, patiently enduring, watching the extraordinary events on earth, knowing a better future awaits those who love him.

Posted in new name

Christ’s new name, and our new name

Posted on by elizabethprata

We will have a new name! Jesus will have a new name!

Rev 2:17, He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.’

Rev 3:12, The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.

Rev 19:12, His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself.

Dr. MacArthur has a very short devotional from Philippians 2:9 about the naming thing. Here it is

———————————

“God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name.”, Philippians 2:9 God exalted Christ by giving Him a new name. In today’s verse a question that arises is, What is the name that is above every name? To be consistent with Scripture, it has to be a name that goes beyond merely distinguishing one person from another. It has to be a name that describes Christ’s nature—revealing something of His inner being. Only such a name would cause Him to be clearly ranked above all others.

Paul wasn’t referring to a comparative name, but a superlative name—one that would set Christ above and beyond all comparison. Change of name in Scripture indicates the commencement of a unique relationship. When God established His covenant with Abram, He changed his name to “Abraham” (Gen. 17:5). When God entered into a unique relationship with Jacob, He gave Him the name “Israel” (Gen. 32:22-32). In the New Testament, Jesus called a man named Simon to follow Him, then gave him a new name: Peter (Matt. 16:18). Those names were given to mark a definite stage in a person’s life. God has done that throughout redemptive history. Philippians 2:9 affirms that God gave Christ a name. He already had many names—Jesus, Christ, Son of Man, Son of God, Messiah—but He received a new name. Some assume that the new name is Jesus because verse 10 says, “At the name of Jesus every knee should bow.” But that wasn’t a new name; it was bestowed at birth (see Matt. 1:21).

Nor is the name Jesus above every other name (there have been a lot of people named Jesus). The only name mentioned in Philippians 2:9-11 that is above every name is Lord. In verse 11 Paul says, “Every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” That is the only name God gave Christ that is above every name. Whoever is Lord is in control. Let us exalt Christ our Lord by offering Him praise and living a holy life.
—————————

I listened to a MacArthur sermon a few years ago on our service in the millennium and beyond, where the bible says we will rule and reign. It is called “What Will We Do? Part 1 (and there is a part 2). Here is a quote

“I believe clearly that the Scripture teaches that we will reign with Christ. And what that means is we will have responsibility. We will have oversight. We will have duties with regard to the ongoing operation of the eternal state. Now this is an amazing thing to think about. But in this life here the Lord has given us a role of authority in His church. He has given us responsibility. We have certain duties in this church that we are to carry out. Those offices given to us, those spiritual gifts enabling us to minister in certain ways, those spiritual responsibilities God gives to us are a certain amount of authority that He allows us to have by delegation to represent Him in the ongoing work of His church. We…we do that, we don’t do it perfectly, in fact we do it very imperfectly, but when we get to heaven I believe He will operate His Kingdom there in much the same way He has operated the Kingdom here. And that is by delegating that operation to His own. There, however, we will all be perfect and our operation within that delegated authority will be perfect as well. And so we will then in that time in that place when we go to be with Him and dwell forever in eternity be given a sphere of responsibility, a sphere of authority within the ongoing of that kingdom for which we will be eternally responsible.“

————————————–

I do remember Dr MacArthur explaining that what we do down here will in all likelihood relate to the sphere of authority we are given up there. It was a very interesting sermon series. He indicated that the gifts from the Spirit in this life are a kind of training ground and that when we get there, we will know as we will be known. So that means if I have been given the gifts of teaching, exhortation and discernment, then hopefully that means I will still be privileged to teach and be with young people in the Millennium, teaching about Christ and His work on the cross. This is something that those born in the millennium will have to know, especially since they will be seeing the sacrifices ongoing in the temple. Every person born in that time and place will need to know about Jesus I hope I have a part in sharing that. When MacArthur explained it, it sounded right, that we will be like we are now (as Abraham, Elijah and Moses were seen to be) but are made better in glorification to perform His will perfectly, in His authority.

As an aside, it was an incredible scene, that Moses and Elijah were talking with the Lord, like in casual conversation! It also tells me how thin the veil is, that the two of them suddenly appeared. In one moment Jesus the man-God was with the three disciples on the mountain, and the next second Jesus was glorified and the long-dead two prophets were there, “talking with Him”. Present tense, like an ongoing conversation? Talking with the disciples on earth AND the men in heaven?! Amazing, isn’t it.

I believe our character and nature will be the same also, our individual uniqueness the Lord formed in the womb and the Spirit took so much time to shape while we were here on earth will not be abandoned but perfected. So we will be kind of the same creatures with kind of the same spheres (except that you will be able to walk and I will be able to smell). However our new name will indicate an intimately personal relationship with Jesus. I can’t imagine a MORE intimate one that I have now with the Spirit indwelling me already, but I am looking forward to my new name and His new name, and for it all to start. Whatever name Jesus chooses to reveal Himself, He is worthy to be praised!