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australia, fire devils, tornado, tornado of fire

Rare Fire Devil tornado amazes: "Dance of Giants"

Posted on September 19, 2012 by elizabethprata

Another rare phenomenon occurs, this one in Australia’s outback. Very interesting and cool.

“A fire tornado has hit the Outback of Australia in recent days, creating an amazing sight as it tore through the brush near Alice Springs. North America has had to deal with its deadly wildfire season, as well as a devastating tornado season, often creating amazing yet destructive images. Australia also has its fair share of bushfires that often devastate its wild lands. However, a rare fire tornado was also caught in video footage in recent days, adding to the dramatic and devastating conditions.”

“The fire tornado in this case was seen tearing through the Outback for as long as 40 minutes, sending anyone nearby running for cover. Fire tornadoes, which are also sometimes called fire devils, are rare and occur when heated air from a bush fire rises and rotates. The column of air pulls the fire into it and draws it upwards, offering a spectacular sight.”

“The recent fire tornado was caught by filmmaker Chris Tangey. It has been reported that he was searching out locations for a new film near Alice Springs, and was taking some footage of a nearby brushfire. However, suddenly the fire shot upwards, creating a fierce fire tornado less than 300 meters away from him.”

“Tangey has reported that the fire tornado reached up to 100 foot in the air. According to 7News Tangey reported, “There was no wind but the tornado sounded just like a fighter jet. My jaw just dropped.”

“The fire tornado lasted 40 minutes, which is relatively long compared to other occurrences of this phenomena. In previous incidences of fire tornadoes some have been recorded as being up to half a mile aide, and have produced powerful winds of up to 100 mph.”

anglican, dancing, praise dancing

Dancing Bishops on the Titanic

Posted on September 18, 2012 by elizabethprata

From Anglican Samizdat,

Dancing with the bishops
“Anglican Primate Fred Hiltz and Lutheran Bishop Susan Johnson attest that the Anglican Church of Canada and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada are simpatico by giving a demonstration of ballroom dancing during the Eucharist. I don’t know about you, but I find this Anglican-Lutheran mating ritual very moving – although, if Fred must clap, I do wish he’d learn to clap off the beat.”

Hmmm, so pastors are praise dancing now?

As one commenter at the Anglican Samizdat blog said, “Dancing on the Titanic.”

BTW, the Eucharist according to Anglican tradition is described,

“For the vast majority of Anglicans, the Eucharist (also called “Holy Communion”, “Mass” or the “Lord’s Supper”), is the central act of gathered worship and is the means by which Christ becomes present to the Christian community gathered in his name. For the majority of Anglicans this event constitutes the renewal of the Body of Christ as the Church through the reception of the Body of Christ as the Blessed Sacrament, his spiritual body and blood. In this sacrament, Christ is both encountered and incorporated.” (source)

“And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” (Luke 22:19)

Dance in remembrance of Me? I think not.

gnostics, gospel of jesus wife, gospel of mary, gospel of thomas

UPDATED. A Faded Piece of Papyrus Refers to Jesus’ Wife

Posted on September 18, 2012 by elizabethprata

UPDATE: a good article from Thomas White, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s vice president of student services and communications, titled, “What pastors need to know about the Jesus wife fragment“. He says essentially what I reported here. But better.
————————-
LOL, the Gnostics are at it again, this time from Harvard Divinity School. News just in, a “new” fragment purporting to have the real information on Jesus is said to contain a writing referring to Jesus’ wife and a female disciple.

“The Gospel of Jesus’s Wife”
“The faded papyrus fragment is smaller than a business card, with eight lines on one side, in black ink legible under a magnifying glass. Just below the line about Jesus having a wife, the papyrus includes a second provocative clause that purportedly says, “she will be able to be my disciple.”

“Much of the context, therefore, is missing. But Dr. King was struck by phrases in the fragment like “My mother gave to me life,” and “Mary is worthy of it,” which resemble snippets from the Gospels of Thomas and Mary. Experts believe those were written in the late second century and translated into Coptic.”

“The provenance of the papyrus fragment is a mystery, and its owner has asked to remain anonymous.”

Provenance means origin and the owner is secret. Well.

Yet many will take this fragment and run with it. They will be doing something akin to this medical metaphor: “Expert doctor says “I have a drug. I can’t tell you where it comes from and I can’t tell you where it was developed and I can’t tell you what’s in it. But if you take it, you will be healed.”

Would you eat it? Not on your life! But that is the fragmentary information liberal, mystical, gnostic Christians will cling to, as a validation that feminism was right all along, and that the Gospels that the Holy Spirit inspired are incomplete. Hath God said…?

The article goes on to make the spurious statement that the fragment will re-ignite the second century controversy ‘on whether Jesus was married, caught up with a debate about whether Christians should marry and have sex.’

I guess those “Christians” never read 1 Corinthians 7.

The Gospel of Jesus’s Wife article is here.

Information on
The Gospel of Thomas
The Gospel of Mary

Michael Lawrence on Harvard Divinity, from 9Marks:
How to become a liberal without going to Harvard Divinity School
“The liberal theology of Harvard Divinity traded the knowledge of God for the knowledge of man. God’s revelation in Jesus Christ ceased to be the measure of truth, and in its place was substituted a lesser measure, one of our own devising. … May God protect us from such a mindset, and instead give us the mind of Christ, who laid down his life for the sheep, but not to their judgment. Instead, like the Good Shepherd, let us entrust ourselves “to Him who judges justly,” and from him “receive the crown of glory that will never fade away” (1 Pet. 2:23, 5:4).”

false doctrine, gnostic, gnosticism

Gnosticism: Conclusion

Posted on September 18, 2012 by elizabethprata

This is the conclusion to a series exploring the ancient philosophy of Gnosticism. Gnosticism was the main source of heresy in New Testament times. The Apostles’ writings in John, 1 Corinthians, Galatians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Jude, and 1 John all combat various elements of it.

The philosophy of the Gnostics is re-emerging today, and it doesn’t look that much different from the Gnosticism in the former days, either. It is a wide-ranging philosophy, with different aspects appearing in Hinduism, Buddhism, New Age, Liberal Christianity, Catholicism, Wicca, Psychology, and many other false religions and secular practices. However, there is a set of main elements that do regularly appear in Gnosticism. They are:

1. secret knowledge,
2. asceticism,
3. depreciation of Christ (lowering Him in name and in glory),
4. strict rule-keeping, ceremonies, or rituals
5. worship of angels,
6. and reliance on human wisdom and traditions

In my opinion, the most telling element is the promotion of secret knowledge. After all, Gnosis means knowledge.

“Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up.” (1 Cor 8:1). Strong’s explains the word knowledge as used here, “Gnostics boasted of their “applied knowledge” gained by their personal spiritual experiences – and it was (is) disastrous!” Gnosticism is literally, “the cult based on having special, personal knowledge.”

Many people today boast they have personal knowledge gained directly from God, and they have been charged with sharing it. Even some so-called reformed or Southern Baptist teachers, preachers and authors do this in these apostate days. There is no religious corner, no denomination, no church that is free from the possibility of this infection.

Such false doctrine will spread like gangrene, as Paul said in 2 Timothy 2:16-17. Gangrene spreads fast. If you believe that your church can withstand a false teaching once it has infected, Paul’s deliberate use of the word gangrene via inspiration of the Holy Spirit should shake that notion right from your head.

The Spirit didn’t say false teaching is like leprosy, or like influenza, or like syphilis. He said gangrene. So what are the properties of a gangrenous infection?

First, the medical definition states, “Gangrene is the death of tissue in part of the body.” We know the global born-again church is a body. Jesus uses the metaphor of us being the body and He being the head. (Colossians 1:18). Gangrene is literally the death of some of the living tissue. How much gangrene does it take to kill living tissue? A pinprick. Further, gangrene is described as occurring when the affected tissue loses its blood supply. In the metaphor, when a person is apart from Jesus they do not have His blood covering, washing them clean from sin. The wages of sin is death, and gangrene is a disease that kills if left unattended.

Third, gangrene spreads fast. If you have been reading about the ‘new’ flesh-eating bacteria that has killed several people, this disease is really a form of gangrene. Within a day or so of the infections’ spread, large amounts of tissue must be excised in order to save the body. So in continuing the metaphor, if the infectious doctrine is not excised immediately, it will spread like a toxic wildfire and consume the flesh of all who absorb it.

The most famous recent example of this is the sermon Pastor Jim Murphy of First Baptist Church of Johnson City NY last July. One blogger summed up his sermon this way,

“Murphy clearly traces the disintegration of Christianity and its falling away from the truth of the gospel and into more and more error through history – from the attacks on the authority of scripture in the late 1940s, through 1960s liberalism, to modern day mysticism and contemplative spirituality. But in the final ten minutes of the message it becomes crystal clear that this is not mere academics for Pastor Murphy, he is brokenhearted by the error he sees within his own church body and frustrated by the lack of discernment which is due entirely to people not knowing and studying the Bible.”

In his sermon, Pastor Murphy said, “I’m here to ask your forgiveness. I expressed my concerns along the way in several areas but there were some things that I heard and saw that I was not comfortable with and I thought well, let’s just roll with this. It may be not that bad.”

It is that bad. Pastor Jim lamented that left unattended, the vines of false doctrine began choking their church library, the teaching curricula used in Sunday School, and eventually infected the minds and hearts of those in his congregation. They were being strangled by the kudzu tendrils of mysticism, gnosticism, paganism and every other -ism inching their way around their necks, stifling the life out of them. Pr. Murphy said he was rooting all that stuff out, and he was starting right then. I wrote about him and his sermon, The Subtlety of Satan, here, and here.

We started this series by mentioning the first Gnostic, satan, and his deception in the Garden. We end with it too. MacArthur said in his sermon The Danger of False Teaching,

“The people of God have always been plagued with false doctrine. The invasion of false prophets, false teachers, false apostles, false Christs has been something which the people of God have endured through all the ages of time. Satan attempts to oversow the truth with lies. He attempts to confuse the world so that they cannot perceive the truth of God by drowning them in a sea of deceit. It was Satan’s evil intended and clever misrepresentation of truth to Eve that plunged the whole of the human race into sin.”

People all want to be ‘in the know.’ The quest for secret knowledge is alluring, hence the success of satan in the Garden, and the success of Gnostics around the world. Yet what did the LORD say?

He says “the secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.” (Deuteronomy 29:29)

For example, John the Revelator was caught up to heaven and shown the things of the Day of the Lord. We know this as the book of Revelation. Because the Lord showed John, told John to write these things down, and they are now in the bible, we are supposed to know them. (Revelation 1:1-3). As a matter of fact, a person who hears the things in Revelation and takes them to heart is blessed. Therefore, we do not need to run after modern day prophets or Neo-Gnostics who claim they have an additional word to share, or a special prophecy about the end time, or have had a visit to heaven and must now tell others. I’d much rather stick with the promised blessing Jesus gave than some internet person or Christian celebrity who says he had an experience that is as authoritative as divine revelation.

Secondly: as to the secret knowledge, what is secret is secret! Even though John was given a thoroughly detailed prophecy, there is still a secret in Revelation.

“And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.” (Revelation 10:4)

If it is secret, it belongs to God. If it is revealed in the bible, it is for us to know. Period. How rebellious it is to continue to seek what is God’s!

I hope this series has illuminated to you the importance of seeking knowledge from Whom the one who has all knowledge. His knowledge does not puff up, but instead awes us and humbles us. The truth is in the Word, not a person’s experience … not secret knowledge privately gained (2 Peter 2:20), not an emotional response to an event. At root, Gnosticism is a self-religion, and isn’t that exactly what the first lie is, anyway? Hath God said…? indicating that his word is not sufficent and we must do other things to gain the knowledge that will make us be like Him. (Genesis 3:4-5).

How wrongheaded this is!

If someone tells you they have the secret key to anything regarding God, run in the other direction. We are not God and no amount of secret information will make us be like Him. The saving knowledge is only repentance and trust in the death and resurrection of Jesus is, and that’s the Gospel truth.

——————-

For further study related to this topic:

What Is Spiritual Formation and Why Does It Matter?
John MacArthur on Spiritual Formation and Biblical Sanctification
The Steps of Biblical Sanctification
The Importance of Careful Bible Study
The Pitfalls of Biblical (Mis)Interpretation, Part 1

Pastor Jim Murphy’s sermon The Subtlety of Satan

Previous Gnosticism entries:

Introduction
Part 1: Secret Knowledge
Part 2: Asceticism
Part 3: Depreciation of Jesus
Part 4: Ceremonies & Rituals
Part 5: Worship of Angels
Part 6: Human traditions

hard times, persecution, rapture, survival, trials

Prepping: what should a Christian do?

Posted on September 18, 2012 by elizabethprata

“Prepare.” We hear that word constantly these days. The Department of Homeland Security regularly promotes the wisdom of individual and community preparedness before disasters hit. The Centers for Disease Control have been issuing readiness bulletins. There’s National Preparedness Month. And even in the chain stores like the Dollar Store, little tags next to the price of tuna remind us of which items are good to stock in readiness bags. Have you seen those? I have.

Preparedness only makes sense. The US and other nations have been hammered with constant man-made and natural disasters. Evacuations are called, electricity goes off, banks are closed, tornadoes, typhoons, hurricanes, volcanoes, and riots/protests have disrupted much of daily life, everywhere, at some point. Having food, water, and knowledge of an evacuation route prepared in advance is a practical and life-saving measure for any family.

Culturally, prepping hit the mainstream just a few years ago. While there have always been survivalists, much of Middle America considered them extreme. Eschewing the “survival gear, off the grid, Berky, arsenal, hands off my generator, shoot to kill” kind of prepping, the numerous disasters hitting the world have caused many lay-people to re-think their casual attitude toward the amenities we have taken for granted.

Now at least a light form of prepping is on everyone’s lips. Recently we’ve even seen television shows about “prepping.” Preparing for doom is now entertainment? I guess so.

Preppers abound now, and there are websites dedicated to the preparations one needs to make in order to survive whatever your flavor of doom in your opinion is coming. There are even church groups promoting preparation for coming disaster. (Christian Emergency Preparedness Network) The entering into the fray of a Christian group seems to have unnerved the run of the mill preppers a little. Maybe this is getting serious, people think.

Yes. It is.

The Christian Emergency Preparedness Network says that their focus on preparedness is different from the survivalist or the layman prepper. CEPN member David Pike said,

“The thing that is so disturbing about so many of the preppers is that they have all of the food for themselves and they figure on taking care of their immediate family and oftentimes they’ll have lots of firearms. Don’t mistake me, I’m a firearms proponent, but it’s like they’re going to be shooting at the neighbors to protect their own food supply. That doesn’t last very long,” said Pike, a former president of the Champaign County Rifle Association. “You have to be part of a community. You have to have business continue to operate. You have to interact with your neighbors because that’s what civilization is all about. You give and in exchange they give back. You maintain some kind of sense of community. “This is very much Christ-centered. You want to extend yourself in charity to others. You can’t do that without limits, but you want to maintain as much sense of community as possible.”

When Joel Rosenberg writes, Pray for peace, but prepare for war, what does that mean exactly? In Israel, it means buying gas masks, keeping eyes open for terror activity, and staying up to the minute with government-issued bulletins. In America, that admonition by our country’s most famous ‘not-prophet’ is a little murkier.

Certainly we see that no place in the US is immune from a ‘natural’ disaster. Floods, drought, hurricanes, earthquakes and even volcanic activity has emerged as a constant companion here on America’s shores. FBI and DHS warnings of terrorist activity on our soil have been issued. Riots, strikes, and protests have disrupted cities. It is a fact that we need to be prepared.

The point of this article is to ponder, to what extent? And prepare, for what purpose?

If we prepare as the survivalists do, we are taking our eyes off Jesus, who is our provider. The story of the man in Las Vegas who died holding a grudge against the government and a deep distrust of everything, having hidden 7M in gold in and around his house comes to mind. Hoarding is not living.

The Christian group up above mentioned preparing so that we can connect as community in the wake of disaster and to help our neighbor is a better approach, in my opinion. However, I’d like to caution us all very much here. We may be Christian but we live with a sin nature. That nature is permeated with selfishness, greed, and an instinct for self-preservation. That is why when a person or family is faced with a disaster that has overturned their life, such as a hurricane or martial law or terrorist bombing, it will take a strong and mature Christian to apply the Godly principles of loving your neighbor as yourself. Jesus said that there is no greater love than laying down one’s life for his friends (John 15:12-13.) Yet people today- even Christians- get ticked off if someone cuts in front of us on the highway or enters the 10 item check out lane with 12 items. Are you strong enough in Jesus to offer your neighbor your last piece of bread?

This means that no matter you or your family’s decision on the level of personal preparedness you’ve undertaken, we have to be prepared in the Word. Christian maturity is the best preparation for what is coming. No matter how many canned goods you have, the only way to be prepared to give them to a neighbor will be to have allowed the Lord to strengthen you in sanctification. All the preps you want and all the good intentions you hold will matter nothing of your faith is a wisp that allows for quick entry of selfishness and greed and fear- at the expense of your application of Godly principles.

I say this for a reason. In March 2010 I’d written that I felt America’s point of no return had been reached. That God’s judgment would be falling soon. Not just warnings- judgment. I feel this even more strongly now than I did then. I do not know when we will be raptured, though it feels soon. However I really do not know the Lord’s plan for us on earth until that point. We may escape all these things, or we may be on earth when the Psalm 83 war, Isaiah 17 destruction, Isaiah 19 violence, or other wars and terror occur. And a war in the Middle East will definitely affect us all. Would you be ready for $10/gallon gas? He may send more natural disasters upon our shores that even destroy cities as did Katrina or 9/11. Hatred of Christians is rising, even in America. I don’t know. But it feels like things will get rough until we are called home.

You may be thinking you’re strong enough to withstand trials and will certainly give your last piece of bread to your neighbor. Really? Peter was with Jesus for three years, was the first one to acknowledge Him as Lord, was the only one to get out of the boat, he cut off the soldier’s ear in defense of Jesus, but when it came time to preserve his own life, he denied Jesus three times in quick succession. Are you stronger than Peter?

A big difference between us and Peter at that terrible moment is that we have the Holy Spirit inside us. Denying the Spirit the opportunity to have grown us while times have been good will ultimately be our disappointment when times get hard. Peter’s life ended well. A martyr, he lived life after Pentecost in submission to Jesus and relied on Him for everything- including Godly integrity when times got very hard, even unto death. Are we weaker than Peter? I hope so, for when we are weak, we are strong. (2 Corinthians 12:10).

Ron Graham recently had a very good essay about this. I feel the same as he does. His article is called “Judgment, Not Warning.” He wrote,

“Many Christians see the gloom on the horizon but believe that the Rapture of the Ekklesia will occur before any serious consequences ensue. This is flawed thinking at best. The word of God tells us that the saints will be removed prior to the wrath of God to come, but we are never told that we won’t go through trials and tribulations prior to the Rapture. On the contrary, we are told by our Lord Himself that we will face much persecution, hatred, and menacing times.”

“People, what is happening in America today is not a symptom of the times or even a “warning” of coming judgment. Judgment is here, America, and it’s not going to get easier to contend with. It’s growing exponentially worse every day. It may seem like I’m harping on this issue but as a watchman I have a responsibility to my brethren – and to my God. All God’s watchmen have been entrusted with godly discernment. So we step out into the front lines, place our focus on the coming storms, and then ride back to town and lay out a scenario of what we see coming – to all who will listen.”

Well said, Brother.

Your own earthly preparation should be prayerfully approached based on your means, location, and family situation. Preparations should be enacted now. However, what is more important is your spiritual preparation. That should be deepening, and deepening fast. Do not take your prayer life casually. Do not take your bible study haphazardly. Do not forgo assembling with the saints. We must seek all the more to assemble together as we see the day approaching! (Hebrews 10:25). Preparation in Christ not only strengthens us spiritually as individuals, but Christian maturity in sanctification will allow us to apply Jesus’s principles when the trials come.

We are told there will be Godlessness in the last days. This set of verses applies not to the unsaved, but to those people sitting next to you in the pew. They may be only holding to a form of Godliness, which will evaporate like a wisp the moment times get hard.

“But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power” (2 Timothy 3:1-5).

Prepare yourself to be IN Christ very firmly for when the day comes when you may be tested by a choice to hoard food for yourself or to offer it to your neighbor at the expense of yourself. Yet always look to but through the hard times we’re experiencing now and view the glory ahead. Look to Jesus! The best prepping is going on at this moment! Jesus is the ultimate prepper!

“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” (John 14:3).

jesus, monkeys, salvation, skelton, storing up treasure

$7 million in gold found in dead Nevada man’s home

Posted on September 18, 2012 by elizabethprata

An odd story, and a sad one. The scripture that comes immediately to mind is:

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21)

$7 million in gold found in dead Nevada man’s home
“When Walter Samaszko Jr. died at his home in Carson City, Nev., he had $200 in a bank account. But as officials later discovered, Samaszko had about $7 million stored neatly around his home, the Nevada Appeal reported. In late June, neighbors called authorities because of a smell emanating from Samaszko’s home. He was a recluse who had told them he hated the government and feared getting shots, but still, it had been a while since they had seen him, according to the Appeal. According to the coroner, Samaszko, 69, had been dead for at least a month.”

“He died of heart problems, the Las Vegas Sun reported. In came the cleanup crews, which discovered boxes of gold in the garage. “At that point, we took the house apart,” said Carson City clerk-recorder Alan Glover. They found gold coins and bullion, tiny dos-pesos, $20 gold pieces, Austrian ducats, Kruggerrands and English Sovereigns dating to the 1840s – enough gold to fill two wheelbarrows. Samaszko and his mother had lived in the three-bedroom home since the 1970s, which is around the time they started collecting gold. Glover told the Appeal that the two kept detailed records of the gold they had purchased.”

“As for who can lay claim to the riches — Glover said the Internal Revenue Service will take a sizable amount in taxes — about $750,000 — and that the rest will likely go to a first cousin, a substitute teacher in San Rafael, Calif.”

I think of what it must have been like for that old man…piling up gold, worrying about it, attending to his records of it, thinking up hiding places for it. Yet he died alone, and no one noticed for a month, until his body had decomposed and the death smell wafted out to the street. How sad!

What did he put his trust in? He didn’t trust government. He didn’t trust doctors. He didn’t trust neighbors. He had no family to confide in. What was his heart condition? The bible tells us–

“Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint.” (Proverbs 23:4)

“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” (1 Timothy 6:10)

“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5).

Jesus does not condemn riches. Job and Abraham were massively wealthy and they are noted as men of integrity and faith. Yet their first priority was God. They clung to Him, His ways, and His statutes.

We should do the same. People who are not saved do not realize the utter fulfillment of knowing Jesus, no matter what the external circumstances. Whether I have money or whether I don’t have money, I am rich. When we take our eyes off ourselves and our earthly belongings, and focus on Him, perspective immediately shifts to eternal treasures and immeasurable wealth of eternal life in glory. The richness is life with Him, and the treasure IS Him. Yet the unsaved senselessly cling to what will eventually disappear.

There is an old story missionary Arnold Skelton told of the natives in the jungle who discovered a way to trap monkeys. They dried and hollowed out a gourd, hung it from a tree, and in it, they placed peanuts. The monkeys would come and slither their hand into the gourd’s narrow neck seeking the delicious treat. The monkey would grab a handful and clenching it, try to remove its hand from the gourd. The hole was too small for a clenched fist to go through. If they let go the peanuts, they would be free. But it would never occur to the monkeys to let go the treasure they had found. Eventually the hunter came back and killed them. Their own greed and selfishness ensnared them in a trap.

It is the same with people. Are you ensnared in a trap of your own making? Let go the gourd, and look up over the top of the trees. Jesus is in the clouds and He will return soon to claim HIS treasures: us. Please be part of that group. Repent and believe on the Gospel, and you shall be saved.

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

Diaoyu islands, kings of the east, prophecy, Senkaku islands

UPDATED. China protests turning violent: Kings of the East now in play

Posted on September 17, 2012May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

UPDATE: Today in an unusual move, a Chinese General today said ‘Prepare for Combat‘. Top Chinese general in unusual move tells troops to ready for combat with Japan
———————————–
It’s amazing to see the Lord work His sovereign will in the world. Over the last few years we have seen the Gog-Magog alliance shape up, Russia’s return to power, the incendiary fanaticism of Iran, the abandonment of Israel, The emergence of the Arab Spring and Muslim brotherhood’s rise to power, Egypt and Jordan breaking their peace treaties with Israel (or almost), the inclusion of Libya and Sudan on the world prophetic stage, the near-collapse of the EU, and the decline of the US. The nations He intends to use in the very last days prior to the rapture and during the Tribulation are in play.

The only arena left out is Asia. Where are the Kings of the East? Well, they showed up, big time.

You might remember on August 18 I’d posted about an obscure standoff between Japan and China over even more obscure islands. I thought it was something at the time, and it has turned into something indeed. Here is the August news excerpt.

The latest dispute began in August, with Japan detaining 14 Chinese activists who clambered onto a bleak little islet claimed and controlled by Tokyo. The activists, who had set sail from Hong Kong, dodged Japanese coast guard vessels and planted Chinese and Taiwanese flags on one of the Senkaku islands, which are also claimed by China and Taiwan. The Chinese call them the Diaoyu islands. Map is from Wikipedia.

“The incident has the region in something of an uproar, especially in China. Global Times, a mainland newspaper with a nationalist bent that is affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party, ran a photo on its front page on Thursday of an activist standing on an outcrop and waving the Taiwanese flag. A state-run media outlet showing the flag of China’s “breakaway republic,” well, it’s almost unimaginable.’ “

The article makes the case that the dispute is “not about oil, gas, or fish, it is about World War II. It is about national pride. And they’re about historical scar tissue that refuses to heal.”

Well the issue has flared up a lot the past two days. The Voice of Russia reports-

1,000 Chinese fishing boats make for disputed islands
“A flotilla of one thousand Chinese fishing boats is on their way to the Senkaku, or Diaoyu, Islands, which are at the heart of a dispute between Tokyo and Beijing. The news has been reported by Japan’s Kyodo news agency with reference to the Internet site of China’s government radio. Japanese Coast Guard frigates are currently on naval alert in the disputed island area, in the East China Sea. Tokyo does not rule out that the Chinese may attempt to land on the Senkaku archipelago. Meanwhile, mass-scale anti-Japanese protests have been on in China for a week now. The protests flared up after Tokyo bought out the islands from private owners last week. The dispute over the islands was aggravated after oil and gas fields were discovered on the islands in the 1970s.”

on the mainland, protests by the Chinese against the Japanese are like a prairie fire, popping up everywhere.

China-Japan hostilities are always simmering. This latest flare-up over the islands is only a pretext, much like the alleged Muslim protests against the West is a pretext based on the youtube low-budget film they claim insulted Muhammad.

The protests in China against the Japanese are taking on a disturbingly violent tone. BBC reports,

“Never forget the national humiliation,” and “Protect China’s inseparable territory,” read some. More disturbing: “Let’s kill all Japanese,” and “Nuclear extermination for wild Japanese dogs.” Those are some of the sentiments irate Chinese are displaying on protest banners across the country, as demonstrators in more than a dozen cities including Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and Nanjing take to the streets, angry about Japanese control of the disputed Senkaku islands—known as Diaoyu in China—an uninhabited but possibly resource-rich atoll in the East China Sea.”

The Chinese protests are getting so violent that today several major businesses packed up and closed for a few days, hoping it would all blow over. Temporarily suspending operations were Panasonic, Canon, Honda, Mazda and Nissan

Now, why they would burn a US flag, I don’t know. The caption from the article says it is a combination US-Japan flag… A person on twitter stated that the Chinese writing on the banner next to the flag burners is “a taoist curse hurled at U.S. & Japan, claiming their rage is that of Supreme Lord.” I don’t know if that is true but there you have it.

These are not small demonstrations!

So what do massive protests in China against the Japanese (and the US) have to do with prophecy? Because an important arena of influence and military might in the Tribulation is from the East, the Orient. And until now, they had seemed to be escaping the fray of global general violent anger and protest against the current system.

Revelation 16:12 says, “The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east.”

A parallel verse to this one is in Isaiah, the LORD will dry up the Euphrates.

“The LORD will dry up the gulf of the Egyptian sea; with a scorching wind he will sweep his hand over the Euphrates River. He will break it up into seven streams so that men can cross over in sandals” (Isaiah 11:15 NIV).

The Euphrates is a great river and is mentioned many times in the bible. The eastern border of the land originally intended for Israel was from the Mediterranean all the way over to the Euphrates at the east. (Genesis 15:18, Deuteronomy 1:7, Joshua 1:4, Deuteronomy 11:24).

So the Kings of the East will unite and march to the Battle at Armageddon. It is demonic spirits that induce them to come at that future time. Now, we see the beginning of that inducement. The world is going crazy and that is not a coincidence. Individuals everywhere and whole nations are violently turning on other individuals and other nations. The violence is over small and stupid things, like the rocky outcrop of the contended islands, a youtube video, slashed salaries or even wants for higher salaries.

The Orient is now having their share of irrational violence, and it is evident that the Lord is allowing satan to heighten their anger, in preparation for the First and Second seals being broken in the Tribulation (Revelation 6:1-4).

It may sound strange to anyone reading this that I speak of satanically induced anger, or demons and their whipping up of violence. But the bible tells us that the god of this world is satan (2 Corinthians 4:4) and that we believers “do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12).

For the most part, the struggle has been invisible, with a few exceptions, such as when satan appears as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). But in the Tribulation the battle will become visible as God allows hell on earth to be unleashed. That the Chinese are whipped up and their multitudes are violently protesting a few rocks in the East China Sea just tells me that the latest player in God’s prophetic timeline has arrived.

imminent, jesus, rapture

If we’re getting so excited at the nearing of the Groom…

Posted on September 17, 2012 by elizabethprata

Imagine how excited JESUS is! I like to think that He is excited as any groom who awaits his bride would be. As the moment draws closer the more excited any groom becomes. He is eager, thinking of all the love he has for his soon to be bride, and chomps at the bit.

Jesus is the ultimate bridegroom, so His love and excitement is superlative and perfect, excellently outpacing our excitement at His soon return!

I know we sense the nearness of the time. We know the rapture can happen imminently, it has always been imminent. But the time is so close, and we’re excited to see our Groom.

Our Groom is even more excited to claim His Bride, I am sure!

Don’t you think so too?!

“And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.” (Matthew 9:15).

The long dry spell of life without Him bodily on earth is almost over.

John the Baptist said,

“The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.” (John 3:29).

O, we long to hear His voice, but He longs for His Bride, and waits for the Father to tell the Son:

“GO GET YOUR BRIDE.”

“For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18).

Be encouraged! We are one day closer to that moment than we were yesterday!

abu islam, cleric, graveyard, israel, jesus, muslim

Iranian cleric boasting that Jerusalem will be world’s biggest graveyard unknowngly predicts the future for his own people

Posted on September 17, 2012May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Hatred of Christians and Jews is rising absolutely demonically now, as per Zechariah 12:2-3.

The Assyrian International News Agency reports:

Muslim Cleric Tears Bible At Protest Outside the US Embassy in Cairo
“During the demonstration which was held in front of the American Embassy in Cairo on Tuesday, 9/11, a Muslim cleric named Abu Islam tore and burned the Holy Bible in front of thousands of Muslims. His action was met with applause and anti-Christian cheers from the demonstrators. Before leaving the demonstration and getting into his car, he told the crowds “next time I will urinate on it.”

Abu Islam also said, “This is the book the dog Terry believes in, as well as those dogs with him the Egyptian Christians in America. 1.19 Abu Islam: Today I can only TEAR IT APART. He starts tearing the bible and throwing the leaves towards the mob, amid chants of Allahu Akbar and “Khaybar, Khaybar, O Jews, the army of Mohammad is coming.”

What does the bible say?

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:2-3)

“They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” (Jude 1:18). “knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires,” (2 Pet 3:3).

Though it can be said that the frenzy against Jesus has gone from mocking and scoffing toward drunken, irrational frenzy as Zechariah prophesied in Zechariah 12:2-3. Muslim hatred against Jews and Christians really is hatred of Jesus. Muslims don’t go after Hindus or Buddhists, do they? Aren’t they apostate, too? God said on that day He will make it so that all who try to come against his Great City will injure themselves.

How will they injure themselves? See the final outcome of the Muslim hatred, particularly the Iranian hatred, below.

Oh how sad for him and those who jeer and mock our precious Holy God on the Day they face Jesus…sad! Don’t be angry with these people. Instead mourn their sad and tortured souls! Pray for them.

Iran: Jerusalem will be Israeli ‘graveyard‘

An Iranian analyst posted on his blog that Jerusalem will become the biggest graveyard in the world. The blog page is in Persian. Reza Kahlili translated the page and brought it to the West’s attention, writing, “Iranian analyst Alireza Forghani boasted today [on his blog] that Jerusalem, which he claims was invaded over 50 years ago by the “pig-faced” Jews, will soon become a mass “graveyard” for the Israeli people.”

“Forghani, a strategy specialist in the camp of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, boasted that every city in Israel will turn into a killing ground and the longsuffering of Muslims worldwide “will be justified by the mighty Islamic Iran.” No one then will listen to the cries of the women and children of Israel, the author warned, when Jerusalem becomes “the biggest graveyard in the world.”

Below are screenshots of the aforementioned Iranian analyst’s blog-

What does the bible say? Ezekiel 38:5 lists the participants in the Gog-Magog battle. Persia, now known as Iran, is one of ‘the multitudes’ will will meet their doom in Israel.

“On that day I will give to Gog a place for burial in Israel, the Valley of the Travelers, east of the sea. It will block the travelers, for there Gog and all his multitude will be buried. It will be called the Valley of Hamon-gog. For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them, in order to cleanse the land. All the people of the land will bury them, and it will bring them renown on the day that I show my glory, declares the Lord God.” (Ezekiel 39:11-13)

The Iranian analyst is right, near to Jerusalem, just to the south near the Dead Sea where Sodom used to be, will be a graveyard. His own people’s graveyard! It will gravesites for the Iranians who ally with Turkey and Russia and surprise-invade Israel at the Gog-Magog battle depicted in Ezekiel 38-39. The graveyard will be so large that the well-worn travel route will be blocked. The Iranian Muslims prophecy and predict and boast of making Jerusalem and Israel into a graveyard, but in truth they are speaking their own doom. It will take 7 months to bury all the bodies, it will be so large. The LORD is mighty.

gnostic, new age, one world religion

I think the last religion will be Mystical Gnosticism, not Islam

Posted on September 16, 2012 by elizabethprata

This is just some opinion-speculation. I’ve been thinking about Islam, the Tribulation, and Gnosticism.

I am about to conclude an 8-part series on Gnosticism past and present. I’ve been studying Colossians and Paul makes quite a refutation of it…without ever mentioning it by name, lol. That study, plus what I’ve been seeing happen to our precious Protestant church lately is what was the impetus for looking at what Gnosticism is and why it is returning so definitely in Protestant denominations.

What I see is a terrible carnality drenching the precious church. There’s the carnality of the wants and desires. The Prosperity Gosplite preachers are tickling those ears quite successfully. They preach higher church numbers, bigger churches, coffee bars. They preach the desire for more money, cars, clothes, and Mall of America consumables is what ‘God really wants’ for you, nay, must give you according to the Law of Attraction.

And there is the carnality of the body that is infiltrating church, too. There are many things that are all about the body. There is contemporary concert performance which passes for praise music that offer throbbing beats and incites a carnal reaction. The praise dance craze is simply a performance of maidens in tights- carnality of the body- which is not worship. There are clothing choices which are designed to show off the body and are worn in church. Modesty is out the window. Tattoos, nose rings, questionable art, sexual sin…carnality of the body drenches the church.

Taking a detour for a moment to today’s news of the Muslim uprising… Islam has grown incredibly in the last ten years. Terrorism by Muslims has risen too. In this week’s Hal Lindsey Report, Mr Lindsey said, “The majority of Muslims may not be terrorists, but the majority of terrorists disturbing the world today are Muslims.” This is for a sovereign reason-

God said, “I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling.” (Zechariah 12:2a). The NLT says, “I will make Jerusalem like an intoxicating drink that makes the nearby nations stagger …” What we see in the Muslim frenzy against Israel these days certainly looks like drunken craziness and demonic anger the LORD said He would send. It is sobering to think (pun intended) that this demonic anger is only a flicker compared to what will occur in the Tribulation.

It’s hard to deny that the people who think that Islam will take over the world as the one world religion prophesied to happen as per Revelation 13:15-17 may be right. However, I tend to think that will not be the case. I think that pagan religion has always been a problem. Though in a sense Islam is pagan because it is false, I think the Gnostic pagan religion will be the one world lie at the end.

The first false religion was self-oriented. Tower of Babel exemplified that. I think what we’re seeing with Gnosticism/Mysticism is the beginning of the final lie religion the world will embrace.

Why not Islam? Because I think that the prophesied events of Isaiah 17, Isaiah 19, Obadiah, Ezekiel 38-39, and Psalm 83 will vanquish it. All those prophecies involve Muslim nations, neighbors of Israel who claim Allah and have vowed to destroy her. Each time, Israel will win. Each time,she will claim the land of the vanquished one. I think Israel’s success, rather, the LORD showing Himself holy in those victories on behalf of His people, will either break Islam completely or reduce it so such a whimper that all Muslims will be able to do is lick their wounds and feebly clamber aboard the Pagan train when it comes by.

So I don’t think the Antichrist will be Muslim…I think he will be someone who is a secret pagan now and once the Holy Spirit ceases His restraining ministry, will emerge as a soft, emergent, pagan, Gnostic whose appeal to the masses will coalesce the groundwork of that global church that has already been laid by Prosperity Gospel, Word-Faith, Legalist, Mystical New Age, Emergent pop-psychology preachers and teachers these last 2 millennia.

What do you think?