Posted in flooding, japan, poland tornadoes, pravda on Obama, prophecy, signs

News: NY Swing Party, Israel snubbed, Poland tornadoes, Meteors, drought, waterfalls of rain in Japan

Posted on by elizabethprata

Here is today’s news for you. —-UPDATED below to include new link of photos and videos of wild tornado outbreak.—-

Swing party interrupted
“Swingers’ sex party in the penthouse of the Mondrian SoHo came to a premature end on Saturday night, following a clash between hotel security and organizers. Sources tell us guests at the “SiN White Party,” thrown by Behind Closed Doors and School of Sex, were just getting into the swing of things when hotel guards demanded to police the event. Once they got a look at the racy goings-on, the party was shut down, and all were ordered to leave — including one overly amorous couple carrying on in the balcony of the penthouse overlooking the New York skyline.”

We are surely ripe for judgment when we engage in public sex and set up schools on how to be perverse and mock God by naming the sex parties Sin. “Sexual sin promises satisfaction, but it can’t deliver. Instead lust leaves you with an unsatisfied, intense, unbridled sexual desire for more. Paul describes it “the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts” (Ephesians 2:3). Where the heart is “darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more” (Ephesians 4:18-19).” (source)

Israel left out of terrorism summit
“If there’s one nation on Earth that knows what it is to be a victim of terrorism — and how best to combat it — it’d be Israel. So you’d think. Unless you’re the Obama administration. Once again, Israel was excluded from one of Team Obama’s pet projects — the Global Counter-Terrorism Forum, a group of 29 nations that met this week in Spain. Israel was not only not invited — Turkey objected — it also was completely ignored.”

It it so weird that no one these days holds Israel as a legitimate nation with something to contribute, but only a minor territory to be carved up and given to the wolves, and otherwise ignored. This thinking is satanic. Look at this picture from Zechariah. Zechariah is given a vision. Remember that one of the LORD’S favorite names for His people is Jerusalem. Using it does not necessarily mean He is only speaking of the city itself. And Joshua here is usually interpreted as symbolic of the Jewish people and not just the man.

“Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him. And the LORD said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?” Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing before the Angel. Then He answered and spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, “Take away the filthy garments from him.” And to him He said, “See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes.” And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head, and they put the clothes on him. And the Angel of the LORD stood by.” (Zechariah 3:1-5).

How beautiful! You know, the Hebrew word for filthy garments means human excrement. That is how sin-filled Israel is. Satan stands by, accusing. He is perpetually maligning God’s people, saying in effect, ‘they’re filthy, what do want with those people anyway?!’ And God rebukes satan, and says ‘I have chosen them, and that’s that!’ he doesn’t go back on His word! But satan has to hope He will, because His word says also that the Lake of Fire is satan’s ultimate destination!

But this brand will go through the fire first,

“Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it.” (Zechariah 12:2-3).

Meteorite Madrid 2012: a falling star lights up the night fragment of the Peninsula
This article is google-translated from Spanish.

“If you live in the center of the peninsula and last night I was awakened by a loud sound and saw how the sky suddenly lit up, it was a dream. About 2:10 in the morning and about 30 or 40 miles above Earth, stellar fragments disintegrated in the atmosphere somewhere between Toledo and Madrid. “Everything points to a fragment of a comet,” he told The Huffington Post Jose Maria Madiedo, professor of the Faculty of Experimental Sciences of Huelva. “It was like a flash in the sky like a beacon light that came from heaven,” said Rafael Rojas, a journalist who saw while working at his flat in Madrid and immediately tweeted what happened in search of an explanation, a little scared. His reaction is not surprising: “It was almost as bright as the sun…”

Cool! Jesus said there shall be signs in the sun, and moon, and stars. (Luke 21:25). I hope people who saw that were reminded of heaven, and remember our Holy God who will return, and prompts them to get right with Him by repenting!

Oh how can the United States not be in prophecy? people ask. How could Russia exceed, outpace and excel over us to be the star player in the Ezekiel Prophecy (Chap 37) and appear so mighty! Here is how. (It’s from Russia’s newspaper Pravda).

Exposing Obama would reveal the depth of US Government corruption
“The solution for the United States is not to elect more “good” people to government because they are quickly co-opted and compromised by the corrupt political system. It may sound cynical, but the solution is to make it politically advantageous for bad people to do the right thing. It is not now politically advantageous for either the Democrat or the Republican Party to tell the truth about Barack Obama; that he is an illegal President and very likely a felon, who has a forged birth certificate, a forged Selective Service registration and is using a Social Security Number not issued to him. Both parties are steadfastly protecting Obama to protect their investment in the corrupt political status quo. The formula is simple. To keep themselves permanently in office, members of Congress collect taxes nationwide, they then use the proceeds to repay wealthy financiers with tax loopholes or government loans and buy constituent votes through local tax-funded projects. The American people have given Congress a credit card with no limit. Rather than themselves being financially penalized for their largesse, members of Congress simply pass the debt along to ordinary Americans and future generations, while they enrich themselves through the power granted them to spend our money. The larger the federal government, the greater the number of opportunities arise for politicians to benefit from the scam.”

Is that not a brilliant synopsis of how things are in the US now? I grew up with Pravda, the Russian propaganda machine publishing lies to oppress the people and maintain Communism. Now it speaks the truth while our media publishes propaganda to oppress the people and maintain Socialism. It is all upside down. We’re done folks. Stick a fork in us.

The ‘freak’ weather continues. The Japanese media reported that the rain was like waterfalls from the sky.

250,000 evacuated in Japan, massive flooding, landslides
“Heavy rains in Japan have triggered the evacuation of a southwestern region, affecting a quarter of a million people. At least 22 people have died in the deluge, which began three days ago, according to Japanese broadcaster NHK. Japan’s meteorological agency is warning of torrential rains this weekend due to a warm mass from the south. In fact, more than 31 inches has fallen on a section of Kumamoto Prefecture since Wednesday. Evacuation orders have been issued for more than 250,000 people in the Japanese island of Kyushu, as rains pounded the region Saturday.”

A quarter of a million people evacuated!!

Freak wave of tornadoes kills 1, injures 10 in Poland
“WARSAW, POLAND (BNO NEWS) — A freak wave of powerful tornadoes tore through northern and western Poland on Saturday evening, killing one person and destroying dozens of buildings, officials said on Monday. Several others were injured. The most powerful of the storms tore through the Tuchola forest in northern Poland, destroying several kilometers (miles) of trees and killing a 60-year-old man when his summer house collapsed on him. The tornado was reported to be some 800 to 1,000 meters (0.5 to 0.6 mile) wide, destroying 21 houses and 13 other buildings. “I’ve been a forester on this land for 37 years, but I’ve never seen anything like this,” resident Janusz Kaczmarek, who was not at home when the tornado hit, told Polskie Radio. “I live in the centre of the damaged area. The whirlwind spared my home, but all of the houses in the area have lost their roofs.” As many as ten other people were also injured as a result of the tornadoes on Saturday. Poland has historically been vulnerable to tornado outbreaks, but they rarely result in casualties or cause significant damage.” Videos and photos her of the wild tornado outbreak

U.S. Declares Drought-Stricken States to Be Largest Natural Disaster Area Ever “The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) declared over 1,000 counties across 26 states to be natural disaster areas. This year has been the one of the worst years since the 1930s for drought in America. Drought, along with extreme heat, has prompted the USDA to declare these territories the largest natural disaster area in American history.”

I was looking at rare photos of the Dust Bowl yesterday. Oh, those poor farmers. No water, drought, winds blowing all the topsoil off. I saw one picture of a worn-looking mom of four hoeing her dusty garden…for the second time. A big wind had came and blown away all her seedlings the first time. I mourned because I know the coming Dust Bowl will be much worse. Our poor groaning earth.

With bible study, prayer, and watchfulness. I can see the pieces the LORD is putting down that will easily lead the the conditions we read about in Revelation. The drought’s continuation into August as predicted will not only allow the corn and soybean crops to fail, but will dry the soil and lead to massive tracts being useless for planting. There will be no food and no way to get food grow food, and likely with power outages, no way to produce or prepare food. Food will soon be an issue. We are seeing the late stages of a prophetic preparation that any ONE event could tip it into the famine category. (Rev 6:6; Matthew 24:7)

The Middle East’s pieces are also coming together. Damascus endured the heaviest fighting yet. Chemical weapons are alleged to be moved around, while the Obama Administration meets with the terrorist Egyptian President Morsi, while Israel is ignored and Turkey wields clout (another Gog Magog participant). All the nations prophesied to have a major part in the Tribulation wars are stepping up to the prophetic plate. All of them. It would not take much to ignite a cataclysm there, and today’s shooting by the US Navy at a small boat in the Persian Gulf won’t be taken lightly.

But as in Zechariah, He chose His people the Jews and he chooses us, His Church. he won’t cast any one of us out and all we need to do is stay strong until the last person fills His church and away we go. What kinds of things are you looking forward to in eternity, after being with Jesus of course? Asking Paul how it felt to be stoned and left for dead?” Or Abraham if he was scared to leave Ur of the Chaldees? Jonah what it was like int he whale? Would you thank your pastor for sharing the Gospel with you? Enjoy fellowship with mission field converts? There is so much we will enjoy in glory.

We are His bride. He dressed us in clean garments, we are no longer filthy. We are waiting the Blessed Hope!

Posted in fifty shades of grey, magic mike, mommy porn, purity

At this UK hotel, Gideon bible is out, 50 Shades of Grey is in the drawer now

Posted on by elizabethprata

I just finished writing a blog entry about how hard it has been for me to find a well-written, non-sentimental Christian fiction book to read. And that secular fiction is even more hopeless. Profanity, blasphemy and immorality is everywhere.

I want to honor Jesus with my eyes and my ears as well as my heart and mind. I don’t want to look at anything or read anything or watch anything or listen to anything that would dishonor him. Therefore blasphemous movies or shows or impure books are out. Why? The bible has the answer–

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things. (Philippians 4:8)

“Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness.” (Luke 11:34)

I want to capture every thought. “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,” (2 Corinthians 10:5)

This means that there are some thoughts which are an enemy of Christ. Some thoughts oppose Christ. If we fail to capture them and demolish them, we allow that thought to grow. It grows from a tiny manageable pet dragon to a huge dragon that will spit fire and consume you, one day. I certainly do not need to entertain thoughts that I KNOW beforehand are going to get me into trouble. It’s hard enough staying pure. Yet thousands of Christian women are flocking to these thoughts they should know better than to entertain. They are hurling themselves at the altar of flesh known as the movie Magic Mike, about strippers and gigolos and hucksters. And the book 50 Shades of Gray is soft-core pornography, pure and simple.

I’ve written again and again how satan targets women. The Mommy Porn industry is going strong. The latest version is a book called Fifty Shades of Grey, spawned from the vampiric Twilight series, another genre seducing women into eroticism and occult.

What are women doing, entertaining thoughts from such God-dishonoring entertainment? I am mightily flummoxed.

The New Zealand Telegraph wrote an opinion piece called “The ‘mommy porn’ seducing women‘” in which it is explained, “The e-book went on to sell 250,000 copies, hitting number one on the New York Times e-book bestseller list and attracting huge publicity. Its apparent housewifely readership inspired the term “mommy porn”.

Jenna Goudreau of Forbes asked, “Will Fifty Shades Of Grey Make ‘Mommy Porn’ The Next Big Thing?” “In early March, it catapulted to the top of the New York Times best-selling e-book fiction list and to No. 3 on Amazon’s best-seller list, leading Knopf Doubleday’s Vintage Books to shell out a seven-figure sum for the three-part series, which it plans to re-release. Surprised and pleased by the sudden interest in the romance sub-genre, publishers are scrambling to ride the wave, saying Fifty Shades will likely generate a fresh cycle of female-targeted erotica packaged for the mainstream reader. “It’s always been around but never caused this kind of excitement,” says Judith Curr, EVP, publisher and founder of Simon and Schuster’s Atria Books, who publishes the successful Zane erotic series. “Now it’s got a credibility that only high sales will give you.” Curr predicts more book stores will now carry and display erotic books, encouraging more traditional publishing and self-publishing of such titles.”

I bet they will, too.

She is right to say that this kind of stuff has been around forever, and mommies have always enjoyed a prurient afternoon reading salacious books. I remember growing up, my circle of high school friends got their hands on Rosemary Rogers’ “Sweet Savage Love” that had been carefully hidden (but not careful enough!) in mom’s bureau drawer. Curious, we’d turn to all the pages where the mommies had crimped the top edge of the page to bookmark it, read it aloud, and collapse into giggles, at once attracted by the licentious passages and repelled that our mothers liked this stuff too. Back then these books were called bodice rippers, and there was a sense of shame to be caught reading one.

Not anymore. Here is today’s news:

’50 Shades Of Grey’ Replaces Bible At British Hotel
“Last month, a hotel in Britain stirred up some controversy when it replaced the traditional bedside bible with a kindle. Well, the Damson Dene hotel near Windermere, Cumbria, is taking things a step further. The hotel is leaving a copy of the erotic novel “50 Shades Of Grey” in the bedside table instead of Gideon’s bible.”

What? But wait! There’s more:

Hotel manager, Wayne Bartholomew told the Daily Mail:

“Fifty Shades of Grey is all that people are talking about at the moment, but I know that some are too shy to buy it for themselves…. I thought it would be a special treat for our guests to find it in their bedside cabinet and that includes the men.” Bartholomew said that the Gideon Bible is full of “sex and violence” so people shouldn’t be too shocked at the contents of “50 Shades Of Grey.” He did add, however, that E.L. James’ steamy novel ”is easier to read” than the bible.”

My heart mourns the dishonor of this situation, one which I am sure is not isolated. As a matter of fact we can generalize, and in all ways apply this incident into the larger picture: toss the bible and all it means, and bring in sin with all that means.

“Woe to those who draw sin along with cords of deceit, and wickedness as with cart ropes,’ (Isaiah 5:18)

Purity is a word not heard much these days. Not only not heard, but mocked. I’m not talking chastity, which is another issue, but purity. Pure mouths that do not swear. Pure hearts have good intentions. Pure thoughts do not dredge your brain through a wash of  “accepted” porn like Magic Mike and 50 Shades.

I believe that women are targets for satan, constant and perpetual, and this latest iteration is one aspect. The Lord’s word told us in the days of the end we would trade good for evil and evil for good. That we would become rebellious and lawless. Oh, my goodness.

In the Garden when the serpent tempted Eve, he beguiled her, and when she saw the fruit she saw that it was pleasant. But the Hebrew word for pleasant is explained. It means “to desire exceedingly, greedily, intensely”. Satan reduced Eve to a slavering, drooling puddle of desire for that fruit. If he can do that to Eve, who had no sin-nature in one conversation, and over fruit, what will he do to us? We’re sitting ducks. And too many women have abdicated their position as warrior and satan is leading so many women down the path of sinful desire… Why invite satan by purposely celebrating and allowing this kind of impurity into your body?

“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” (Isaiah 5:20)

“The LORD detests the thoughts of the wicked, but those of the pure are pleasing to him.” (Proverbs 15:26)

O sweet sister, O holy helpmeet, O precious widow, stay pure for our perfect Savior! Reject those thoughts, capture them. If your friend calls you to go to this kind of movie or to participate in this kind of mommy porn, please say no. And tell them why- you want to honor and please your Lord, who is pleased by a pure bride.

Yes, you may be mocked. If you’re younger, I am not unaware of the pressures of your peers to devolve into this kind of activity and the temptation it presents for you to go along. If you are a lonely wife, bored by the mundanity of motherhood, and I know it is mundane, I encourage you not to lose yourself in a fantasy that will never raise you up but instead will bring you down. It will make you discontent. O aged widow, longing for the touch of a departed husband, remain strong. Secret indulgences are not secret to the One who sees you (Gen 16:13).

He died for your sin of lust. He died for your sin of pornography. He died for your sin of covetousness. Don’t trample the blood on your way to the movies to indulge in those same sins He died to pay for. Instead lift your eyes to the pure, reach for Him, seek him, appeal to Him to resist these impurities and capture each thought.

If you have already indulged, if you are saved in Jesus, you are saved, He won’t cast you out. (John 6:37). But do repent. Too many people out there want you to trade good for evil. Don’t help them along by accepting it.

Posted in christian fiction, classics, good books

Books: I give up! I’m going back to the classics

Posted on by elizabethprata

In a book review I wrote two weeks ago of Carol Balizet’s “The Last Seven Years”, I’d mentioned enjoying it very much. I enjoyed it even more because if you have read my other blog, you know the travails I’ve moaned about in trying to find a good book to read. It seems that the dumbing down of America has afflicted literature, and not only are there often typos and wrong words used, but the books themselves not very well written. If you want a Christian book, the outlook is even worse.

I had written in that book review, “An essay I’d read this morning linked from Challies titled Master craftsmen 2012 Books Issue talks about how Christian novels are not all treacly or badly written, that they can deal with mature themes and have a gritty undercoating but remain moral and sensitive. A list was offered of recommended books. You can click on the master Craftsmen link for that reading list and synopses of each book. I haven’t had much luck with enjoying a recent Christian book lately, except for the classics that are on his list, such as CS Lewis, John Bunyan, Tolkien, and several others. I remain skeptical. But the list is there for you to check out, it’s a long one, and likely there will be something on it for your quality summer reading.”

I still remain skeptical, and I’ve decided to abandon my pursuit of quality recreational reading material if that book has been published in this century. Or even the last. lol. I cry uncle.

Oh, I enjoy the John Grisham legal thrillers. But I’ve read them all. If you enjoy legal thrillers and a good story, Grisham books are well-written, and mostly free from immorality and blasphemy. They always have a moral ending too.

I enjoyed the recent book by William Forschten called One Second After. America is hit with an electro-magnetic pulse and the book realistically chronicles a community’s struggle to stay alive in the chaotic and terrible aftermath. If you like apocalyptic literature, even though this book isn’t  Christian, it will satisfy by giving a glimpse into the struggles of post-civilization. Alas, Babylon is a classic along those same lines. Written in the 1950s, it is about a Florida community struggling to survive after a series of atomic bombs wipe out most of the US and the world.

I loved these non-fiction books. They interwove a good story with a true historical incident. They were also well written!

Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea: The History and Discovery of the World’s Richest Shipwreck
“Ship of Gold tells the story of the sinking of the SS Central America, a side-wheel steamer carrying nearly six hundred passengers returning from the California Gold Rush, two hundred miles off the Carolina coast in September 1857. Over four hundred lives and twenty-one tons of California gold were lost. It was the worst peacetime disaster at sea in American history, a tragedy that remained lost in legend for over a century. In the 1980s, a young engineer from Ohio set out to do what no one, not even the United States Navy, had been able to do: establish a working presence on the deep-ocean floor and open it to science, archaeology, history, medicine, and recovery. The SS Central America became the target of his project.”

Moby-Dick was based on a true incident. This book is about that incident. In my opinion the book lived up to the hype in the following blurb:

In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex
“The ordeal of the whaleship Essex was an event as mythic in the nineteenth century as the sinking of the Titanic was in the twentieth. In 1819, the Essex left Nantucket for the South Pacific with twenty crew members aboard. In the middle of the South Pacific the ship was rammed and sunk by an angry sperm whale. The crew drifted for more than ninety days in three tiny whaleboats, succumbing to weather, hunger, disease, and ultimately turning to drastic measures in the fight for survival. Nathaniel Philbrick uses little-known documents-including a long-lost account written by the ship’s cabin boy-and penetrating details about whaling and the Nantucket community to reveal the chilling events surrounding this epic maritime disaster. An intense and mesmerizing read, In the Heart of the Sea is a monumental work of history forever placing the Essex tragedy in the American historical canon.”

Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage
“The astonishing saga of polar explorer Ernest Shackleton’s survival for over a year on the ice-bound Antarctic seas, as Time magazine put it, “defined heroism.” Alfred Lansing’s scrupulously researched and brilliantly narrated book — with over 200,000 copies sold — has long been acknowledged as the definitive account of the Endurance’s fateful trip. To write their authoritative story, Lansing consulted with ten of the surviving members and gained access to diaries and personal accounts by eight others. The resulting book has all the immediacy of a first-hand account, expanded with maps and illustrations especially for this edition.”

Isaac’s Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History
“September 8, 1900, began innocently in the seaside town of Galveston, Texas. Even Isaac Cline, resident meteorologist for the U.S. Weather Bureau failed to grasp the true meaning of the strange deep-sea swells and peculiar winds that greeted the city that morning. Mere hours later, Galveston found itself submerged in a monster hurricane that completely destroyed the town and killed over six thousand people in what remains the greatest natural disaster in American history–and Isaac Cline found himself the victim of a devastating personal tragedy.”

LOL obviously I like a good ocean yarn. Also enjoyed Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air, a story of the worst season on Mount Everest ever. Sebastian Junger’s The Perfect Storm (made all the more compelling to me because I was living on a sailboat at the time and was IN that storm. Rough.) Dava Sobel’s Longitude, you would think being about the discovery of longitude; would be a boring read but it is NOT! It’s really good.

As far as fiction goes, I can’t think of a single good Christian book I’ve read in the last two years that I enjoyed or even respected. Tracie Peterson/Michael Landon Jr’s One More Sunrise comes to mind, and the slow moving but OK Tides of Truth series are as far as I’ll go with recommending good Christian fiction. Secular fiction is even more of a hopeless genre to me.

I MISS having that book on the coffee table calling out to me. I MISS having that feeling of not being able to wait until evening when my chores and prayers and study and ministries are done and I can steal half an hour or an hour before bed to crack open a good book and get lost in it. I haven’t had that feeling since high school, when I was reading all the classics. I got lost in a Thomas Hardy jag, and Mark Twain, and The Once and Future King and All Creatures Great and Small, and …so…

So I decided to go back to the classics. I first started with the Christian classics. I’ve read Balizet’s book the Last Seven Years and reviewed it here as I noted at the top. I’ve read Pilgrim’s Progress, CS Lewis’s Screwtape Letters, and In His Steps. I’ll review In His Steps tomorrow, and the others after that.

I guess when all else fails, read the classics. And don’t forget to read the most famous classic of all time, THE BIBLE! lol

Posted in bad things good people, boy hit by train, sin

Teenager hit by train, was texting and listening to music (Bruised Orange)

Posted on by elizabethprata

I was moved by this news today,

Boy, 14, killed by train in Covina apparently while texting, listening to music
“A 14-year-old boy’s life was cut short in a train accident in Covina on Wednesday. Mitchal Sata of Glendora was killed when he was struck by a Metrolink train traveling east along Glendora Avenue at 48 mph in the evening. Investigators said it appears Sata had his headphones in listening to music as he was walking along Glendora Avenue. Tracy Aaron Anderson, Sata’s mother, said a witness told her the boy may have also been texting at the time. “She said that he stopped, hesitated for a moment, then when she looked again he was gone,” Anderson said. “She was on the other side and I assume that’s when he was struck by the train.” Anderson says her son was a good kid with a big heart.”

This unfortunate incident made me think of another long-ago incident that John Prine sang about, in a song called Bruised Orange (Chain of Sorrow). He sings of an incident that occurred where an altar boy who wasn’t paying attention, was walking along the tracks and was hit by a commuter that was comin’ so slow…

He tells the story behind the song here.

The song deals with senseless tragedy, made all the more bruising when it occurs unexpectedly and worse, upon a child.

We ask, why was a three-year-old mugged in his stroller? The mom who is a witness said the men who tried to take her son’s necklace laughed at her mockingly. She said they would have taken her son just for the necklace if neighbors hadn’t scared them off. Why did a woman break into a house, nail the doors shut and hide in a closet, holding scissors? Police say it is the most bizarre case they have ever seen.

Why are people so broken? Why do these things happen? People have been asking that, and singing about that, since sin began on earth.

We have a hard time understanding why bad things happen to good people.

But is anyone good? No. We might more properly ask why do good things happen to bad people.

Prine sang, “You can gaze out the window get mad and get madder, throw your hands in the air, say ‘What does it matter?’ but it don’t do no good to get angry.”

Why? because “a heart stained in anger grows weak and grows bitter.” The life we have on earth is a hard, awful sinful, broken one. If not in Christ, it is inexplicable that a boy should be hit by a train in broad daylight, in 2010 or in 1977. It seems inexplicable that this would happen or that would happen, but life on earth means sudden tragedy. That’s it. It will happen. Our only hope is in Jesus, who offers a better life.

Our life in Christ is a joy, but even believers moan at the weight of trains barreling down to take a life right in front of us. We can’t let the bitterness overcome us. Each moment on earth is a blessing from Jesus, who allows all life to come and allows all life to go. (Job 1:18; Luke 13:4).

If we ask why bad things happen to good people we might get wrapped up in a chain of sorrow that has no end. If we ask why good things happen to bad people we keep our eyes focused on Jesus, who is the 100% example of all Good, and to whom we belong, and will be living with in eternal joy someday.

If you are not in Christ, these days of sudden tragedy, criminals mocking, bizarre events, and strange intrusions need not trouble you as much as if you are not in Christ. He will accept your repentance of your sins and will open your eyes to the difference between what seeming ‘good’ on earth is and the real good, of heaven and His temple.

Posted in jesus is not my boyfriend, praise songs

The Romanticizing Jesus movement is turning women into camp followers

Posted on by elizabethprata

I’ve been hearing snippets of lyrics that drive me crazy. Hearing friends talk about books with words that grieve my spirit. I could not figure out why at first, but then it came to me. These words are part of a new paradigm aimed at women, in which Jesus is romanticized as our high school prom date. Is this new trend bad? Oh, yes, it’s bad.

First, some examples of the Romanticism of Jesus. This one is from Beth Moore- I call it “Date night with Jesus at the Zoo”.

“Christ seemed to say, “Let’s go play.” And that we did. I hadn’t been to the zoo in years. I heard about all the improvements, but I never expected the ultimate: Starbucks coffee! (OK, so I don’t have my health issues down pat.) Can you imagine watching a baby koala take a nap in a tree on a rare cold day in Houston with a Starbucks grande cappuccino in your hand? Now that’s a Sabbath moment! God and I had a blast.” (The Beloved Disciple, p. 220)

Or this from Moore:

“After an April snowstorm, Moore writes, “I heard the voice of God speak to my heart: “Come and play.” I love that He said “Come.” Not “Go.” “Come.” That meant He was already there. I also love how I could tell by the sweet tone of His silent voice whispering to my spirit that He was smiling. You know, you can tell that kind of thing in the voices of those you really know. “I built a snowman. I used grapes for eyes, and a half-moon shaped sesame snack for the mouth. I didn’t make a nose. I have enough for the both of us. He’s wearing my hat and scarf, and I rather hope he doesn’t get them wet. I let him borrow them because I was coming back inside. I laughed with God. He laughed with me…. I am so in love with Him. I am so in love with Him.” (When Godly People do Ungodly Things,” p 124).

Or this from Ann Voskamp via book reviewer Tim Challies–

“I fly to Paris and discover how to make love to God.” This closing chapter, “The Joy of Intimacy,” is her discovery of God through something akin to sexual intimacy. In a chapter laden with intimate imagery she falls in love with God again, but this time hears him urging to respond. She wants more of him. And then at last she experiences some kind of spiritual climax, some understanding of what it means to fully live, of what it means to be one with Christ, to experience the deepest kind of union. “God makes love with grace upon grace, every moment a making of His love for us. [C]ouldn’t I make love to God, making every moment love for Him? To know Him the way Adam knew Eve. Spirit skin to spirit skin?”

EWWWW! It’s bad enough to have date night with Jesus because you are “in love with” Him, but to fantasize about sex with Him skin to skin? Just awful. But that is the natural slide downward where this trend is leading us. Below, I’ll show you why.

So I was going to write a blog entry about how Jesus is not my boyfriend. And then I googled “Jesus is not my boyfriend” and there were lots of hits. LOL, many other better bloggers than I have already written about this trend. I am late to the party. Here are some good examples I offer to you to check out–

Internet Monk: Romanticizing Jesus

Do Not Be Surprised: Jesus is not my boyfriend

World View Weekend: Jesus wants to give you a hug?

Slaughter of the Sheep: Jesus is my boyfriend/girlfriend songs

Todd Friel, Wretched Radio, “Warning Against Jesus is My Boyfriend Songs” (video)

Spectrum Magazine: Jesus is not my boyfriend

The trend began in Christian music, and in Friel’s piece he not only warns about the lyric but also the amorous phrasing and the manner in which they are sung, breathlessly and sexily. All this is a no-no. Unfortunately, the trend has now launched off music and invaded books and other materials mostly aimed at women.

So I got to thinking…why. Why this sudden trend toward Jesus as the hugging boyfriend? In my belief system, Jesus is the KING OF LINGS AND LORD OF LORDS, advocating and adjudicating for us with Yahweh at the throne in the courts of praise where the pillars shake. He is not a Romantic date sliding down a rainbow on a unicorn to give us a cupcake! (I read that somewhere. Isn’t it good? I wish I could give credit). So what’s up with all this? Take a deep breath, here we go.

It is all about the battlefield. We know from many scriptures that we are in a battle. We are fighting the good fight. (1 Timothy 1:18-19; 1 Timothy 6:12; Ephesians 6:12; Jude 1:3; ) We are given armor to help us, the main weapon of which is His word. (Eph 6:13-14).

Nowhere in the scriptures does it say that this battle is for the men only. Lift up the helmet visor. There’s a woman in there! Nowhere does it say the armor is for the men only. Women are in this fight too.

But women are always satan’s first target. He approached Eve in the garden, not Adam. (Gen 3:1). Paul warned Timothy that in the last days false teachers will creep into households to capture weak-willed women (who are laden with sins- yet another reason for frequent confession, ladies!). (2 Tim 3:6). Women are a target. Just look at the havoc wreaked with the Feminist movement.

Just as with so many things of Jesus, the opposite of what we expect in this world is what is actually true: the weak will prevail, the meek shall inherit, the first shall be last. In this case, it is that staying ON the battle field is safer. Therefore Satan’s goal is to get women off the battlefield.

As long as you are a soldier fighting to resist satan all ways and all days, wearing the armor and wielding it in Holy Spirit strength, you are safer than if you’re off the battlefield, relaxing. And yet that is where satan has gotten so many women.

They have taken off their armor and have suspended the fight. Now they are not a warrior, they are a camp follower. Originally a camp follower was a woman married to a soldier who traveled with the soldier. Sometimes his family went along too.

Below, Camp Followers: wives and families.

Source

Satan has got the women off the muddy, stinky, dirty battlefield to go into the tent and rearrange the curtains. He’s gotten women off the battlefield and into romanticizing war. We went from this:

To this:

Now that we have dispensed with armor and gotten in touch with our softer side, we did the same to Jesus. No longer the LORD OF LORDS, He is the high school date with which we cuddle in the rocking chair kissing skin to skin with warm embraces. What will be the next progression? You read Beth Moore’s snippets of her date with Jesus. She is “so in love with Him.” What is the next thing that satan will do? He always perverts everything, pollutes it. We have left the Godly relationship behind. We’ve entered into a romantic relationship. The next step is to change from a romantic relationship and to sexualize it. Isn’t that the progression? Always.

Like the lyrics of Hold Me featuring tobyMac (HT Sola Sisters)–

(I love, I love, I love, I love the way You hold me)
(I love, I love, I love, I love the way You hold me)
(I love, I love, I love, I love the way You hold me)
(I love, I love, I love, I love the way You, the way Ya, the way Ya)
I’ve had a long day I just wanna relax
Don’t have time for my friends, no time to chit-chat
Problems at my job, wonderin’ what to do
I know I should be working, but I’m thinking of You and
Just when I feel this crazy world is gonna bring me down
That’s when Your smile comes around
Oo, I love the way You hold me, by my side You’ll always be
You take each and everyday, make it special in some way
I love the way You hold me, in Your arms I’ll always be
You take each and everyday, make it special in some way
I love You more than the words in my brain can express
I can’t imagine even loving You less
Lord, I love the way You hold me

What happened to the wifely camp followers? Many women, if their husbands were killed, had to make a living. They entered into sexual relationship with the men. As prostitutes.

Women are going AWOL from the battle, seduced by the violins and lollipops from the army band at the back of the battlefield, to go into the tents and wait out the battle. And while the women are waiting, they yearn for the perfect man to come in and sweep them off their feet, give them the love they always wanted and never had, listen to them, hold them in the rocking chair. Ugh. And then they descend into a perverse sexual relationship and their degradation is complete.

Jesus is not my boyfriend. He is not my lover.

Dear ones, the battle is wearisome. It is dirty. It is bloody.

Battle Hymn of the Republic
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord:
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword:
His truth is marching on.

I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps,
They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;
I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps:
His day is marching on.

The battle seems to go on, and on, and on, and on…but His day is coming, and we need to be ON the battlefield when He does. We cannot be listening to gross lyrics like “hold me in your arms, never let me go, Lord I want to see your face, feel the warmth of your embrace.” (Hillsong United, Draw me Closer to You). We cannot be off in some snowfield making a snowman and having a blast with God. We cannot be making love to God spirit skin to spirit skin!’ (Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts). Women are seduced off the battlefield and turning into whores for Jesus.

I agree, that is rough language and a rough charge. But what else is a person to make of a trend where perfect agape love of our HOLY GOD has been switched for eros with our prom date Jesus?

“While it is true that the Bible utilizes images of marriage to parallel Christ’s relationship to the church, two things must be taken into account. Firstly, Christ relates to the church as a collective unit. He is married to the community as a whole and not to billions of individuals who claim to serve him–he is not a polygamist. Secondly, the love Christ shares with his church is not defined by the Greek term “eros” from which the English word “erotic” is derived, but is expressed with the noun “agape” (pronounced ah-gah-pay) which denotes love demonstrated in deeds. Those who view themselves as children of God are not called to exercise eros but agape; they are not invited to brief episodes of self gratifying sexual intimacy but to a lifetime of social and spiritual interaction.” (source)

What are the men to make of this sexual imagery with Christ? Does Ann Voskamp’s husband (if she has one) feel comfortable with her sexual allegory and eroto-porn language? How would he feel if it was Justin Bieber she said she wants to enjoy a greater intimacy with spiritual skin to skin? Or worse, the man next door? If he came across her drafts of her book but included in it was language exactly the same as what ended up in her book but instead she used the name of Joe next door? Adultery is not good. That is what I mean by whoring for Jesus!

If you listen to praise music, or read Christian books or studies by women, here are a couple of clues to tune into,

1. Who is the subject of the song? Even the nicest sounding songs or books take ourselves as the subject. Hillsong United’s Draw Me Closer to You is about… ME.

2. How long does it take you to figure out the song is about God? In the Hold Me song where I listed the lyric, the Lord was not mentioned till nearly the end.

3. Does the song have good theology? Can you recognize scriptural verses in there?

“Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty! Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee; Holy, Holy, Holy! Merciful and Mighty! God in Three Persons, blessed Trinity!” Obviously refers to Isaiah 6:3.

Amazing Grace’s ‘blind but now I see’ is from John 9:25.

4. Is the song sung in a straightforward way or are there additional sexy trills and moans added? If it is a book passage or a bible study (God forbid!) then are there words that allude to a fleshly relationship of a more carnal nature, talk of kissing or embracing?

I trust in my Divine and Majestic God as Lord and Savior. He is also my Comforter and my Friend. He is not my boyfriend and He is not my lover. His grace is sufficient for me.

Posted in evil, Obama, women fainting

What’s up with that? 20 people faint at Obama speech

Posted on by elizabethprata

More than 20 people faint at Obama rally
“The pool report on President Obama’s trip to Roanoke, Virginia says that more than 20 people fainted during the president’s speech this evening. “TV viewers may have heard POTUS pointed out a couple of faintings during the rally in downtown Roanoke,” writes the pool report. “In fact, fire officials say more than 20 people fell out during the course of the speech. There were waves of exclamation as one person after another swooned.” Paramedics treated 21 people on the scene and took one to the hospital, according to the Roanoke fire department. It was warm out and the crowd of 3,000-plus was packed tightly into the 4-block area, the deputy fire marshal said by way of explanation. Volunteers passed around cups of water but some people didn’t take them, he said.”

One after another fainted? ‘By way of explanation’ is what gets me. They try to explain, but they can’t. It is a phenomenon. I wonder why people faint when Obama looks at them? I have my theories. I am sure you have yours. In any case, I can’t wait for the rapture…

Also of interest:

Feb 2008: Obama’s swooning supporters

Aug 2008: Stars React To Obama Speech (Oprah: “I Cried My Eyelashes Off!”)

Oct. 2010: Dozens faint or fall ill at Obama campaign rally

Mar 2012: At Obama Rallies, Fainting Spells Resurge

Mar 2012: Mayor who says Obama a ‘carnal manifestation of evil’ won his Mayoral election. I wrote this article, and in it, I lead the reader through a series of documented fainting episodes (mostly from women, but also documented from men), and why this might be happening.

Posted in end of days, news, prophecy

Another massacre in Syria, the prophetic news keeps rolling in

Posted on by elizabethprata

Here is some of today’s interesting prophetic news:

A plague of mice! The US isn’t the only farming nation to recently have a major crop cut by half…

Field mice overrun farms in central Germany
“Millions of field mice are overrunning the central German states of Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt, much to the concern of local farmers. The rodents are devastating food crops, cutting yields by up to 50 percent. Getting birds of prey to hunt the critters didn’t help, and now farmers want to be allowed to use a banned rat poison. … “The birds got so fat from eating all the mice that they almost couldn’t fly any more,” Kopp said. “But they still couldn’t keep up.” (Rev 6:8)

Humungous solar flare erupts in our direction
The sun unleashed a huge flare Thursday (July 12), the second major solar storm to erupt from our star in less than a week. The solar flare peaked at 12:52 p.m. EDT (1652 GMT) as an X-class sun storm, the most powerful type of flare the sun can have.” (Luke 21:25)

The flare’s effects are due to arrive on earth July 14 at around 4:30 am EDT give or take 7 hours.

Syria’s army foments war of faiths (Google translated from German magazine Spiegel)
Berlin – Again, there are gruesome pictures from Syria, and again the question arises as to the perpetrators. Syria’s opposition to the regime is accused of having murdered in the village at Hama Tremseh more than 220 men, women and children. Some are killed by artillery fire from the army, others have been killed by militia from neighboring villages. Kofi Annan said on Friday that it was proven that had been used in Tremseh artillery, helicopters and tanks. This is a clear breach of his peace plan by the Syrian army.” (Isaiah 17:1, Psalm 83 Matthew 24:6).

Syria massacre in Tremseh village shocks Annan
“Amateur video footage which appeared to show the corpses of 15 men gave an inkling of the scale of the reported bloodletting in the village of Tremseh after a major onslaught by government forces and pro-regime militiamen. Survivors and activists told of how gunmen went from house to house clinically executing survivors while others were shot dead as they tried to escape through the fields surrounding the village, which lies in Syria’s western province of Hama. The bloodshed marked the third large-scale massacre in Syria since mid-May…”

Assad may be moving his chemical weapon stockpiles, and make no mistake, he has a lot of them and they are technologically advanced. The question is, is he moving them to safeguard them, or to ready them for use?

The situation in Syria really is hazardous. Keeping in mind the Isaiah 17 prophecy, I am not kidding when I saw that one day soon we will wake up to find Damascus doesn’t exist anymore.

The Midwest drought is sparking food inflation…big time. After all, today’s drought, tomorrow’s higher food prices. (Revelation 6:5-6)

Russia Today reports on Obama. I grew up in the age of Russian propaganda via the newspaper Pravda, but now we rely on Russia to reflect back to us the doings of our president because the US press has now become Pravda.

Obama gives himself control of all communication systems in America
“US President Barack Obama quietly signed his name to an Executive Order on Friday, allowing the White House to control all private communications in the country in the name of national security. President Obama released his latest Executive Order on Friday, July 6, a 2,205-word statement offered as the “Assignment of National Security and Emergency Preparedness Communications Functions.” And although the president chose not to commemorate the signing with much fanfare, the powers he provides to himself and the federal government under the latest order are among the most far-reaching yet of any of his executive decisions.” Rev 13:16-17).

These kind of power grab plays right into the hands of the coming oppressive regime and ultimate dictator. When the Tribulation happens, and the cataclysmic events begins to occur, control of information will be of utmost importance.

Well, that’s gotta hurt- JP Morgan admits to losing 5.5 billion this year. Moody’s downgraded Italy, junk rating awaits, but not just yet.

In regards to the coming apostasy, which many say is either here or nearly here, the following is an essay on the roots of the emergent church and how to spot it if it is creeping into yours.

How to spot the emergent church creeping into your church
“Here is a short list of authors, teachers and areas of concern that may indicate that the leadership of your church is being influenced to varying extents by Emergent Church philosophy.”

If you are of the kind of Christian who believes (knows) God is sovereign over all the affairs of men, then you know He ordained your birth at this time, now, for a reason. He has planned work for you to do. Ephesians 2:10 tells us this:

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

Therefore, did you ever think about why He planned for you to be born, now, in this era, for just such a time as this? It wasn’t to lay around reaping the benefits of the wealth our nations have produced. It was to do a good work. Will you rise up today in prayer, seeking His face, and appealing to Him to send the work and giving you strength and resolve to perform it? Because that is where joy comes. In knowing Christ and serving Him.

Understanding His word brings joy:
“And all the people went their way to eat, and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great mirth, because they had understood the words that were declared unto them.” (Nehemiah 8:12)

God’s presence is joy:
“Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” (Psalms 16:11)

And doing His work is a joy!
“And kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy: for the LORD had made them joyful, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria unto them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.” (Ezra 6:22)

No matter what is going on in the world, there is work to be done in His name and for His glory. Let’s get to it!

Posted in beth moore, discernment, false teachers, james murphy, jentezen franklin, Joyce Meyer, osteen

It is important to be discerning!

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

A warning from my heart. One thing that strikes me is how few (seemingly) Christians really know how late the hour is. I’m still struck by Pastor James Murphy’s sermon, the raw and pointed one he delivered last Sunday in Johnson City NY. He said that the time has come to stop fooling around. Knowing the Word of God through diligent study and practice of discernment is too important. And he said, shame on them if they didn’t think it was important. It is.

And if we know the word of God we know how late the hour is. Paul said that we are children of the Light and will not be surprised as we see the Day approaching. (1 Thess 5:4.) The writer of Hebrews said that we should not stop assembling together, we should do it all the more as we see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:25). Not as we believe the day is approaching. Not as we pray that the day might be approaching. As we SEE the day approaching.

Knowing the lateness of the hour ties in with this verse: “For where your treasure is, there your heart shall be also.” (Matthew 6:21). Is our treasure Jesus? Or is it this world? At this late hour are we part of a Laodicean church? Jesus had charges against that church-

‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.” (Rev 3:15-18).

The Worship of Mammon, E. DeMorgan, 1909

Are we buying gold from Mammon? So that we may be comfortable and rich and have need of nothing? And so not have need of Jesus? Are we walking in self-confidence (Beth Moore), satisfied with our best life now (Joel Osteen), doing lukewarm works with Jesus as a footnote (Rick Warren), manipulating God so he will be forced to release the blessing (Joyce Meyer), begging for ‘seed money’ (Jentezen Franklin) and throwing people who “hinder” us off the bus where the bodies are piling up? (Mark Driscoll)?

Or are we the church at Philadelphia, where Jesus said we “have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.” ?

That is the main problem with the global church body today, but especially UK, Canada, Australia and US. We deny Jesus. Oh, sure, a name of Jesus is preached from pulpits, if they even dare to call it a pulpit, some just call it a podium, but it is from a different Gospel and it refers to a different Jesus. THE Jesus of the Bible is denied again and again.

Over 120 years ago Charles Haddon Spurgeon predicted, “A time will come when instead of shepherds feeding the sheep, the church will have clowns entertaining the goats.” Oh, how right he was.

Our generation is “Sacrificing biblical truth for the cause of ecumenical unity and promotion of carnal methodology in churches are the norm of our age” wrote Chris Lawson in his April newsletter, “Clowning around in the pulpit.” He wrote, “Instead of playing fast and loose with God’s church, Christian leaders ought to be discussing Bible prophecy in light of global events and teaching biblical discernment in light of the end-times apostasy.”

Oh how right he is. Are pastors, teachers, and leaders teaching biblical discernment? A few. Praise them, and thank you Lord for raising up the pastors and teachers who are. But they are increasingly few…Grant Jeffrey is home with the Lord now, as is David Wilkerson, Adrian Rogers, and others. I see few discerning elders on the near horizon to take their place. And increasingly, the ones who are still teaching and preaching biblical discernment are not listened to. I wonder what the fallout has been for Pastor James Murphy up in Johnson City.

Thus, today, instead of the norm in our Bible-believing churches being the Prince of Preachers warning 120 years ago about the coming clown parade,

Believers are warned again and again throughout the Old Testament and the New about the dangers of idols, false teaching and false prophets. Are we, in the twenty-first century so smart that we can afford to ignore these? No. Are we who are the generation living in the latter days so advanced that we can ignore the warnings of end of times apostasy? No.

So what are we to do? John MacArthur preached on the verses from  Thessalonians 5:21-22, in a series titled “A Call for Discernment.” In part 1 he said, “We cannot for a moment believe that every one who claims to be in Christ and to speak on behalf of Christ is speaking the truth.” But yet so many people do. In 1 Thess 5:16 “starting with verse 16, Paul has been listing the basics of Christian living…rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus, do not quench the Spirit, do not despise Scripture or the revelation of God. And now he comes to this one, examine everything.”

Just because a person says they come in the name of Christ, they may not. Just because they are popular or long-lasting, doesn’t mean they get a pass on whether they should be examined. The Bereans were called noble for examining the scriptures to see if they lined up with what Paul said. And Paul loved it.

Here are some discernment resources:

MacArthur Sermons-
A Call For Discernment Part 1
A Call for Discernment Part 2
A Call for Discernment Part 3

Books-
The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment by Tim Challies
A Call for Discernment, Jay Adams

Study-
Discernment is a Commandment
Discernment in the Church
Discernment and the Watchman

The best Resource of all is the Holy Spirit! And the Bible itself.

Brethren, the hour is late. The watchword of the day is not our pits or self or confidence or release or seed or seeker. Repentance is the watchword, because after that, comes wrath.

Posted in iran, prophecy, russia, tb, tuberculosis, vortex

Update: Current news and current prophecy

Posted on by elizabethprata

UPDATED:

Regarding the mention made below of the possibility of X-flares due to the large sunspot turning into view: it has occurred. Spaceweather.com reports:

X-FLARE! Big sunspot AR1520 unleashed an X1.4-class solar flare on July 12th at 1653 UT. Because this sunspot is directly facing Earth, everything about the blast was geoeffective. For one thing, it hurled a coronal mass ejection (CME) directly toward our planet. According to a forecast track prepared by analysts at the Goddard Space Weather Lab, the CME will hit Earth on July 14th around 10:20 UT (+/- 7 hours) and could spark strong geomagnetic storms. Sky watchers should be alert for auroras this weekend.

————–end update————–

Here are some news excerpts for you today which I thought were interesting and had a prophetic tinge, if not outright seriously end of days kind of interesting.

The Lord said in His response to the disciples as to when the end of days will come and what shall be the signs, (Luke 21:11) that at the end of days one of the signs would be pestilence. Pestilence is an epidemic disease with a high death rate.

With that in mind, here is a story in the Palm Beach (FL) Post from yesterday-

The Palm Beach Post exposes a hidden menace
Government cutbacks and the worst TB epidemic in 20 years
“Reporting on tuberculosis is not most reporters’ idea of a glamor assignment. It’s an ancient disease, drug companies aren’t keen to develop blockbuster medicines, and, anyway, few people get it, right? Wrong. A powerful expose by Stacey Singer, the health reporter for The Palm Beach Post, has revealed a serious outbreak of TB in Jacksonville—the worst the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has investigated in 20 years. Thirteen deaths and 99 illnesses are linked to the outbreak so far, which Singer reports, “was, and is far from contained.”

I’ve been worried about TB for a long time, even writing about it as long as three years ago, here. In that blog essay, a news article documented the first case of highly resistant TB in the US. It mentions something I think is an equal menace to the increase of TB itself: secrecy.

“this country’s first case of a contagious, aggressive, especially drug-resistant form of tuberculosis. The Associated Press learned of his case, which until now has not been made public, as part of a six-month look at the soaring global challenge of drug resistance.”

In this week’s article about TB, again mention is made of how the outbreak was hidden. In an unfortunate series of events, the CDC report of a dangerous outbreak in Jacksonville FL was issued at the same time the Governor signed a bill that cutbacks in Florida’s health programs were to be implemented, including closing a Jacksonville hospital 6-months ahead of schedule. None of the right people saw the report that a dangerous TB outbreak was underway. Even today, three months after the CDC report was issued, they still have not circulated it widely.

Keeping important news from the people can happen by collusion, as what happened in the 2007-2008 Obama campaign. Or it can happen through incompetence or too many bureaucratic layers, inhibiting efficiency, as the FL TB case shows us. Either way, this is a dangerous time of history, when the truth can and is suppressed so often and in so many ways.

Not coincidentally, Gallup Poll Finds Confidence In TV News Has Hit A New Low. Really? And this is news? It’s like saying, “Scientists discover we need air to breathe”.

At least this news of a TB issue in Denver was reported widely. It’s from February 2012: 40% of Longmont students test positive for latent TB. Though man believes he has “advanced” beyond such mundane diseases as tuberculosis, he has not. As Jesus said, pestilence will visit man, and that will likely include all the old diseases we thought we stamped out, or could manage, like TB, influenza, bubonic plague or malaria. It will likely include some new diseases from mutations we haven’t thought of…but God has.

In Roanoke VA, a School Board is being sued for posting the Ten Commandments. The judge handling the case said in an attempt at mediation, could the top four commandments be cut, leaving the bottom six. After all, the thinking went, the first 4 commandments are religious but the bottom 6 are ‘just’ secular and should appease the atheists.

Beware appeasing the false idols.

Remember in March, the push in the UK to re-rewrite the Ten Commandments? They updated them in modern language. I wrote about it here.

God does become angry. Messing with His word will result in curses. (Revelation 22:18-19; Deuteronomy 4:2). Hebrews 10:26-27 says: “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.

In China, an entire herd of pigs was electrocuted during a thunderstorm. Reminds me a little of the Herd of pigs in Gadara… (Mark 5:1-20). I don’t think there is a prophetic link, but it just reminded me of the same.

“A livestock farmer in southern China recently received a shock when her entire pen of pigs was electrocuted by a bolt of lightning. Austrian Times reports that Chen Lin, a farmer from Loucun in Guangong province, watched her herd of more than 50 pigs die after being shocked with 300,000 volts of electricity. “I saw them all shaking and screaming terribly but there was nothing I could do,” she told the paper. “I was only a few feet away from being electrocuted too. “The incident occurred during a thunderstorm that shattered the roof of the pigs’ enclosure. It’s believe that the lightning struck the sty’s metal frame and a deadly current was carried across the wet floor.”

Iran has continued making her usual belligerent threats, but they are darkening in their pointedness and causing consternation because it seems like they really plan to carry them out. It was revealed that there are 40,000 Iranian agents in the Western Hemisphere waiting to be deployed into terrorism.

Russia is also bringing more and more war ships and marines and weapons to the area, recently docking in Syria. It seems that Russia is seriously intentional about protecting Syria.

—Is The Russian Navy Really Going To Syria – And Why?
—From Iran, new threats to close key oil route
—Russia: Khamenei urges Iran to prepare for the End of the World

Not to be left out, North Korea makes a new, unusually specific threat.

So the US ramps up too.

—U.S. deploys sea drones to Persian Gulf to clear Iranian mines
—USS Stennis going right back to Mideast

And what’s up with the weird vortex on Saturn’s moon? The Lord also said that there would be signs in the sun, moon, and stars. (Luke 21:25). Perhaps this is one.

Stunning vortex appears on Saturn’s moon, puzzles scientists

The article says in part, [Cassini], “the high-powered orbiter captured images of a massive vortex forming at its pole, and scientists can only guess as to why it’s suddenly appeared. The massive collection of swirling gas has gathered at Titan’s south pole, which measures approximately 3,200 miles across. The whirlwind has never before been spotted, and it remains unclear how long it has been forming. Cassini — which first arrived near Saturn in 2004 (and shot the stunning images below) — had been orbiting the moon too far north to have captured it, until now.”

Sunspot AR 1520 is a monster. In size that is. You can see it without a telescope! But it could turn into a rampaging monster, having lots of potential for earth-effective impacts through either flares or Coronal Mass Ejections or aurora.

Spaceweather.com asks, “Calm before the storm? Big sunspot AR1520 has been relatively quiet for the past 48 hours, but this could be the calm before the storm. The sunspot has a delta-class magnetic field that harbors energy for X-class solar flares.” Also auroras, On July 10 Spaceweather reported, “For the second day in a row, Earth’s polar magnetic field is unsettled and glowing with auroras. Paul Zizka sends this picture from Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada:

Pretty! The Lord is so creative. How about this shot from Cassini of Saturn, her rings and a moon?

The Lord is great!

Posted in discernment, false doctrine, the subtlety of satan

How a Pastor guards his flock: Jim Murphy’s sermon "The Subtlety of Satan" Part 2: God takes away the discernment of the elders

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Earlier today I wrote of a pastor in Johnson City NY who had preached a raw and compelling sermon to his flock on Sunday. The sermon is called The Subtlety of Satan, and it is a blessing and an encouragement to Christians who are fainting at the Tsunami waves of falsity swamping us, and the lack of reaction from brethren, leaders, and pastors who either don’t comment or worse, purposely allow it. In these dangerous times Paul wrote about, we know wolves will infiltrate the church, bringing with them poisonous teachings, false doctrine, myths of men, and much more.

But where are the discerning leaders who are protecting their sheep, speaking out against the false and wrong and dangerous? They are out there, laboring in corners of the nations, in home churches, in large churches, in small churches. Most of the time they are unacknowledged, and in many cases, unappreciated. The strong brother in a church sliding to apostasy may feel lonely, but there are still strong members of the body speaking for truth out there. The Lord is good to raise up strong, discerning, unafraid pastors who stand for truth in a dying, lying world. In this case, one of these strong pastors came to our attention. Thank you Lord.

Pastor Jim preached a sermon that was full of raw faith and strength, fierce for the truth and potent in warnings. It is called The Subtlety of Satan, by Pastor Jim Murphy at First Baptist Church of Johnson City, NY.

Deception is subtle. How do I know? Because satan is the liar and the father of lies, (John 8:44), who is out to steal, kill, and destroy. (John 10:10). That is what the Word of God tells us. Further, it tells us that satan is the most subtle creature in the garden. (Genesis 3:1). We must not ignore the many warnings in both testaments about falsity. There is one True God and He is to be held above all else. He died to bring us the true testimony of the Gospel that saves.

Speaking against deception is speaking for Jesus.

Some may ask, OK, that is all well and good, but why does the pastor, or anyone, have to name names? Isn’t that unloving? No. Here is an analogy. We’ll use food. The word feeds us. (I Peter 2:2; Matthew 4:4; Job 23:12). Jesus is the bread of life. We thirst and He is the living water. There is good leaven and bad leaven. Food is the analogy.

So Baptists are known for their covered dish suppers. In the north they’re known as pot luck suppers. Long tables laden with food groan under the weight of all the covered dishes atop them which people brought. Church members gather to have fellowship or to celebrate. They eat together.

Source Decatur Daily

Scenario A: (names are made up)

Pastor Joe Smith is completely undiscerning. He has no idea that some of the food his flock are about to eat contains worms, dung, and poison. He does not warn them that wolves brought that food, because he does not know they are wolves. Why? If a pastor, teacher or elder fails consistently enough to pursue truth and learn to discern wheat from chaff, and fails to teach his flock how to discern good from evil, sometimes God takes away the discernment of the elders.

“He deprives of speech those who are trusted and takes away the discernment of the elders.” (Job 12:20, ESV).

Gills’ Exposition, “Speech is proper to mankind, and a benefit unto them, whereby they can converse together, and communicate their minds to each other; this is the gift of God.” One of the Spirit’s gifts to men is that we are brought into the Light of His truth by seeking Him through His word. If He gives the gift of discernment, He can also take it away- and He does.

Geneva Bible Study warns of the results of the Job verse, “He causes their words to have no credit, which is when he will punish sin.”

These sheep under Pastor Joe Smith are at great risk. Not only are they not being warned, but they are through passive means being taught not to discern. And so, the students will become like their teacher. (Luke 6:40).

Scenario B1:

Pastor Pete Jones organizes a covered dish supper in his church’s fellowship hall. He knows that some of the people bringing food to the table are wolves, and he knows that some of the food will make his people sick, or even poison them. He has discernment, but he has a skewed view of what being “loving” is. His people eat heartily, pray, and sing, then they go home. Reports start to come in that this one is in the hospital, or that one fell away from church because they got sick, or this one died. Tearful congregants approach the pastor, and bitterly ask him, “You knew some of the food was bad! Why didn’t you warn us?” Pastor Peter replies, “Well, I didn’t want to be unloving. I thought that the wolves would be struck in their heart by our loving and tolerant attitude, seeing that we accept all food equally and in love, and they would convert.”

Scenario B2:

Mindful of the disaster at his previous church, pastor Pete, at a new church now, has grown a bit (a tiny bit) in his discernment. He organizes another covered dish supper. He knows that some of the people bringing food to the table are wolves. He knows which ones are wolves, too. He knows that some of the food will make his people sick, or even poison them. The potato salad has been left in the sun for hours, the hamburgers have e coli, and the apple pie was laced with cyanide. He knows which food is bad but he sees all the good food too. However, not wanting to have a repeat of the disaster that happened before, He prays over the food, and he warns his flock.

“People! Listen! Some of this food is bad for you! Some of it will make you sick. Some of it will kill you. Some of it will be delicious and fill you up. There. I have warned you.”

“But pastor, which food is bad? Who brought the poisonous dishes?”

“People. It would be unloving of me to name names. We might hurt that person’s feelings. It would be unloving of me to point to which food is bad, because they spent a long time making it and they brought it here sincerely today. We must not judge! OK, enough said, Buon Appetit!”

Scenario C:

Pastor Lupus organizes a covered dish supper. Over the course of the week, he had called his Canis friends and asked them to bring poisoned food to the supper. He sees that there are too many people in his congregation loving the Lord. He hates this. He wants to weed those Christians out. So he brings diseased food and knowingly feeds his flock with it. He knows that those strong eaters of the food will soon be gone and he will need his pews filled up. He doesn’t care that the strong ones go away and the weak ones die. He just wants replacements to fill his pews so he will look good. Feeding them evil food is the best way to do it. But he does it slowly and on the sly. He is the wolf, baying to his wolf friends to come into the church. The covered dish supper is the means to break his church because direct poison kills swiftly.

Many people were surprised that John Piper made Pastor Jim Murphy’s list of those who are failing their duty and who are bringing a false word. Piper has been a towering man of the faith for many years. But he is slipping. Not possible you say? Not Piper! Really? Look what happened to Solomon. The wisest man who ever lived became foolish in his old age. Is Piper different, or excused, or immune to the same fate? Are any of us? No.

The Lord God organizes all the affairs of men. He does what He wills. Discernment is a gift from Him, and a  mercy and a help. When He sees fit, He takes it away.

Matthew Henry comments on the Job verse about when Lord takes away the discernment of the elders. Think of John Piper when you read it. Or substitute any voice which once was strong but now is not.

“Those that were famed for eloquence, and entrusted with public business, are strangely silenced, and have nothing to say. He removeth away the speech of the trusty, so that they cannot speak as they intended and as they used to do, with freedom and clearness, but blunder, and falter, and make nothing of it.”

“Those that were bold and courageous, and made nothing of dangers, are strangely cowed and dispirited; and this also is the Lord’s doing: He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people, that were their leaders and commanders, and were most famed for their martial fire and great achievements; when any thing is to be done they are heartless, and ready to flee at the shaking of a leaf. Those that were driving on their projects with full speed are strangely bewildered and at a loss; they know not where they are nor what they do, are unsteady in their counsels and uncertain in their motions, off and on, this way and that way, wandering like men in a desert.”

Is John Piper excluded from this danger just because he is an elder of the faith, so successful for so many years? No! As a matter of fact he is more at risk. “The stouthearted were stripped of their spoil; they sank into sleep; all the men of war were unable to use their hands.” (Psalm 76:5).

That is why I keep saying, pray for our pastors! Pray, pray, pray; and then pray some more. He is a gift from God! And the pastors who are not discerning, not bold, not warning us? They are a judgment from God. Which pulpit do you want to sit in front of? Just think about that the next time you go to a covered dish supper. Which food are you being fed? Good healthy food (doctrine)? Or poisonous food (doctrine)? Don’t you want a pastor who will love you enough to feed you good food and to teach you how to tell if the food is good? And don’t you care enough about yourself- you who Jesus died for-to then go out and practice that discernment and growing in strength to detect good doctrine from bad, so you can then turn around and teach others?

Pray for Pastor Jim, if you would. God has blessed him with discernment, strength and fire! Do you see from this lesson how that is a gift and a blessing straight from God? Pray for the ones Pastor Jim named who are false. Pray for each other, “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people” (1 Timothy 2:1 ESV). In all things, pray. (Phil 4:6)