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Costa Concordia: Paul’s prediction of perilous times due to behavior finds an exemplar in the cruise liner tragedy

Posted on January 18, 2012 by elizabethprata

Paul advised Timothy that in the last days men would be exhibiting all sorts of negative behaviors. The plethora of these would be an indicator of the last days, making them very perilous.

“But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!”

You may be thinking, ‘It doesn’t matter to me what the guy down the street is doing. So what if he’s boasting. I’m not affected.” Yes you are. You most certainly are affected. Look what happened this weekend:

The captain of the world’s longest passenger vessel, a multi million dollar ship, decided to make a “bravura” move and sail close to shore and show off.

The ship crashed, and people died. The ship is foundered and thousands are traumatized. That’s what verses 1-5 in 2 Timothy look like!

Here is the story:
“The ship foundered after striking a rock as dinner was being served on Friday night. The owners say the captain swung inshore to “make a bow” to the islanders, who included a retired Italian admiral. Investigators say it was within 150 meters of shore.” Some reports say the Costa Concordia was taking a “bow” specifically to the house of the ship’s chief steward, the lone member of the crew to hail from the island of Giglio. “Captain Francesco Schettino has been allowed to leave jail but is under house arrest, blamed by his employer for risking thousands of lives and half a billion dollars of ship in a reckless display of bravado.”

WHAT?? Using a multi-million dollar vessel containing thousands of precious souls to make a show of bravado? How selfish is that? What a display of lack of self-control. Other reports coming out show that allegedly the captain displayed the height of cowardice. He was among the first to leave the ship.

The Costa Concordia tragedy was just that, a tragedy. The world is riveted, saddened at the apparently unnecessary loss of life. That this is all happened allegedly due to the captain’s inexplicable error makes it an even worse tragedy. Now, comes reports of his cowardice.

Italian cruise captain committed ‘mortal sin’ by disembarking early, American Maritime Officers Union official says
“The captain of a capsized cruise ship made repeated excuses as an Italian coast guard official repeatedly ordered him to get back on the vessel potentially still packed with thousands of frightened passengers and crew, a recording released Tuesday reveals.”

“Italian coastguards pleaded angrily with the captain of a stricken super-liner to return to his ship, according to recordings released on Tuesday as divers found five more bodies in the half-submerged wreck of the Costa Concordia. … Captain Francesco Schettino has been allowed to leave jail but is under house arrest, blamed by his employer for risking thousands of lives and half a billion dollars of ship in a reckless display of bravado. … Schettino is accused of multiple manslaughter, causing a shipwreck by sailing too close to shore and abandoning ship before all his passengers and crew scrambled off.”

“GO BACK ON BOARD!”
“Listen Schettino, perhaps you have saved yourself from the sea, but I will make you look very bad. I will make you pay for this. Dammit, go back on board!” one coastguard says. Speaking by radio from a lifeboat, Schettino pleads: “Do you realize that it is dark and we can’t see anything?” The coastguard shouts back: “So, what do you want to do, to go home, Schettino?! It’s dark and you want to go home? Go to the bow of the ship where the ladder is and tell me what needs to be done, how many people there are, and what they need! Now!”

How far we have descended since the Titanic’s ‘women and children first’ policy. “Women and children first” is a saying that asserts that the lives of women and children are to be saved first if the lives of a group of people are at stake. The saying is most famously associated with the sinking of RMS Titanic in 1912. The practice arose from the chivalrous actions of soldiers during sinking of HMS Birkenhead in 1852, though the phrase was not coined until 1860. Although never part of international maritime law, the phrase was popularised by its usage on the RMS Titanic, where, as a consequence of this practice, 74% of the women on board were saved and 52% of the children, but only 20% of the men.” (Source)

Yet in the Costa Concordia disaster, “Retired British cop tells how men pushed past women and children to reach lifeboats“.

Men showing off by swinging a multi-million dollar boat toward a rocky shore just because they feel like it, captain who violates the oldest moral law of the seas: captain stays with the ship. Bill Fowler, Maritime historian at Mystic Seaport, observed in another case, not the Costa Concordia, that “it’s very, very unusual for the captain to leave his vessel in a moment of crisis. He has to set the example of courage and moral standing.” Source: A Captain’s Duty on a sinking ship, Law at Washington University, By Craig Allen, Coast Guard Attorney, who concludes, “A captain must remain in command at all times and do his best to ensure the safety of any passengers and crew are evacuated and accounted for.”

Selfish behavior, brutish pushing women and children aside, putting others in danger because of a whimsical decision by the captain on a lark, all point to the beginnings of the worst kind of behavior Paul said is going to be evident on a wider scale from then to now on until and through in the Tribulation.
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astronomy, creator, God, planets

Discovered: Billions of other planets

Posted on January 16, 2012 by elizabethprata

Here are three excerpts from three different media outlets, all saying the same thing: there’s billions of planets. Huh. Who knew?

An Otherworldly Discovery: Billions of Other Planets
“Astronomers said Wednesday that each of the 100 billion stars in the Milky Way probably has at least one companion planet, on average, adding credence to the notion that planets are as common in the cosmos as grains of sand on the beach. The finding underscores a fundamental shift in scientific understanding of planetary systems in the cosmos. Our own solar system, considered unique not so long ago, turns out to be just one among billions.”

Milky Way may be home to billions of planets
“The Milky Way is awash in planets by the billions, and astronomers are finding more every day. There’s a tiny solar system way out there with three planets smaller than Earth, and at least three other new-found ones with a single planet flying around two suns at once. And now an international team of astronomers calculates that there must be more than 10 billion rocky planets the size of Earth within the Milky Way, perhaps even more, if planets of all kinds were counted – small ones, big ones and “gas giants” bigger than Jupiter.”

Galaxy Has 100 Billion Planets, Including ‘Star Wars’ Lookalike
“Planets orbiting other stars may be a dime a dozen in the Milky Way, but cheap hardly means boring. From a new pair of planets like Tatooine of “Star Wars” fame, each with its own pair of suns, to a trio of small rocky planets zipping around a red-dwarf star, the cosmos presents a breathtaking plethora of planetary systems. A new estimate suggests that the Milky Way’s population of planets exceeds 100 billion.”

Who knew? God knew. Now, the first article above said that the discovery engendered a “fundamental shift” in understanding about how the cosmos operates. So, humans have spent 6000 years in a misunderstanding. Billions of planets have been out there all this time, yet not only have humans not seen them, we never even knew they were there.

Why would God make so many planets if for all of human history, now at the end, we learn of their existence? Why would God do that?

I don’t know the mind of God but perhaps we could say, for His good pleasure? Because He is prolific? Because His mind is infinite and therefore infinitely creative? For our good pleasure that after we are glorified and in heaven we can see them and praise His handiwork?

Isn’t that just like a Creator God to lavish upon Himself and upon us a sparkling array of planetary jewels across the black velvet of the universe.

Teeming with life? This artist’s impression shows how common planets are around the stars in the Milky Way

Genesis 1:1-10

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.

Then God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.

Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

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austere, end of days. Austere Challenge, israel, prophecy

JPost reports US-Israel war games canceled

Posted on January 15, 2012 by elizabethprata

Today, on January 15, the Washington Post reports-
Israeli and US troops gear up for major missile defense drill after Iran maneuvers
“The Israeli military is gearing up together with U.S. forces for a major missile defense exercise, the Israeli military announced Thursday, as tension between Iran and the international community escalates. The drill is called “Austere Challenge 12” and is designed to improve defense systems and cooperation between the U.S. and Israeli forces. It follows a 10-day Iranian naval exercise near the strategic Strait of Hormuz.”

The military exercises were scheduled for April. “A senior military official said it would be in the next few weeks. He said it would be the biggest missile defense drill ever held,” the WaPo reported.

However, tensions between Israel and the US have escalated recently into an open rift over the red lines at which the nations would take decisive action against Iran in that nation’s pursuit of nuclear armament building. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said that an attack against Iran over nuclear arms would send the Middle East spiraling into a conflict we would regret, Israel went ballistic behind the scenes. Which weren’t really so much behind the scenes, as the rift between the US and Israel is noticeable by now.

Today the Jerusalem Post reports-

“Israel, US discuss canceling missile defense drill“
“Israel and the US are in talks about the possibility of canceling a missile defense drill, billed as the largest ever in the country’s history, planned for the spring. Senior military officers told The Jerusalem Post that the drill scheduled for April has been canceled, while defense officials said that it was possible that it would be held later in 2012. Initially scheduled for April and called “Austere Challenge,” the drill was supposed to see the deployment of thousands of US troops and various sophisticated US military equipment in Israel.”

Are the military exercises on, or off? Which news report is true? It’s like Schrodinger’s Cat– we’re in a state of both being true and we won’t know until the box is opened.

Prophecy tells us that by the end of the end, “On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves.” (Zechariah 12:3). Israel will be hated, have no friends and be constantly attacked. The United States’ slow terrible slide away from Israel has accelerated markedly in these last three years, and that is a woe to us. Because God said in Genesis 12:3, “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

It is plain and simple: any nation who curses Israel is cursed in turn by God. It seems to me that planning for years, then canceling the largest military war games ever held with Israel, abandoning her in her time of need, is a curse that will be judged harshly by Jesus.
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gog and magog, iran, prophecy, psalm 83

Russia: ‘an attack on Iran is an attack on Moscow’ and other Middle East news

Posted on January 15, 2012May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Iran has been pretty bellicose lately, daring to threaten nations and assume power it does not have. Two weeks ago Iran threatened the United States by telling the USS John C. Stennis aircraft carrier to leave the Strait of Hormuz and not come back. That was pretty startling to hear. Stennis’s tour was up and they were about to leave anyway, relieved by the USS Carl Vinson, but Stennis did an about-face in the Arabian sea and there it is to this day. Iran also threatened to close the Strait, but that was an overstep because it is Iran and Oman whose territorial waters extend into the Strait. I wonder what Oman thinks about their neighbor’s threat to close waters upon which Oman depends.

Now Iran warns Gulf states not to compensate for oil shortfalls after Western sanctions
“Iran has warned its Gulf neighbors to not compensate for any shortfall in its oil exports after it has been hit with Western sanctions, the Iranian OPEC representative said on Sunday. “If the oil producing nations on the Persian Gulf decide to substitute Iran’s oil, then they will be held responsible for what happens,” Mohammad Ali Khatibi was quoted as saying by Sharq newspaper. “We would not consider these actions to be friendly,” Khatibi added.”

He was really speaking about Saudi Arabia not making up the shortfall…

“Sanctions have been imposed on Iran when European Union countries agreed in principle to embargo imports of Iranian oil as part of the latest Western efforts to step up heat on Tehran. These countries will look to other oil exporters to increase output to make up for the shortfall and Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said on Saturday his country was ready to meet any increase in consumer countries’ demand. Iran is the second-largest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries cartel, after Saudi Arabia which currently exports some 6.2 million barrels per day (bpd) and has an output of about 3.5 million bpd, according to OPEC estimates.”

So not only is Iran threatening Israel, not only is Iran threatening the West, now they are throwing their weight around to their neighbors, their brothers in the Arab League.

Maybe Iran feels safe enough to do that because Russia is their new best friend.

Russia: ‘An attack on Iran is an attack on Moscow’
“Russia has given Iran its bear hug and warns Israel and the West that an attack on Tehran would be considered an attack on Moscow. The threat heightens the prospect of World War III in the event of a military strike on Iran. “Iran is our neighbor,” Russia’s outgoing ambassador to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, told reporters in Brussels. “And if Iran is involved in any military action, it’s a direct threat to our security.”

Neighbors? Not in the geographic sense. Two nations are between them, Georgia and Azerbaijan. Moscow is 1600 miles from Tehran.

Maybe Russia is still thinking Georgia and Azerbaijan are still part of the old Soviet Union. Yeah, that’s it.

On the map, look for Israel. See how tiny it is. See all the looming geography surrounding that tiny nation, the size of New Jersey. They ALL want her wiped out. In this Al Jazeera article, we see the quotes again about wiping Israel out. “The Islamic Republic of Iran has a solid history of tough talk, but it has escalated its provocative rhetoric in recent months. Sardar Mohamad Reza Naghdi, the commander of the Basij armed group, has said his organisation is “counting the moments” and waiting for an excuse to “put an end to the Zionist agenda”.

But that’s not news. Psalm 83:2-4 tells us this exactly:
“For behold, Your enemies make a tumult;
And those who hate You have lifted up their head.
They have taken crafty counsel against Your people,
And consulted together against Your sheltered ones.
They have said, “Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation,
That the name of Israel may be remembered no more.”

In that same Al Jazeera article, the question is asked,

“What is motivating Iran’s tough talk of enriching uranium and shutting down a major global oil chokepoint?” Why all this ramped up rhetoric? Here is what has gone down recently:

–September 2010 the Stuxnet computer virus attacked Iran’s nuclear power plant in Bushehr.
–December, a high-altitude stealth reconnaissance drone was downed in Iran, and images of the drone were broadcast on Iranian TV with banners hanging off of its wings which read: “We’ll crush America underfoot” and “US can’t mess with us”.
–Several mysterious explosions at key locations in Iran. In October 2010, a blast at a military base in the western province of Lorestan killed “several” and was dubbed “an accident” by the government.
–Explosion in November killed 17 at an arms depot west of Tehran. Later that month, a blast was heard near the city of Isfahan.
–Although the US navy has twice in the past week rescued Iranian crews in Gulf waters – once from Somali pirates, once from a wrecked vessel – its presence in the Gulf is nonetheless unwelcome and seen as a threat by Tehran.
–Strings of deaths, disappearances, and, in one case -reappearance – of Iranian physicists continues to deepen the acrimony and mistrust between Iran and the US and Israel.

What is driving Iran, at root? Secular nations look for secular answers, but at root is Iran’s goal of preparing the world for the final Mahdi’s arrival. Therefore at root is a religious reason that is the polar opposite of biblical truth. That is because satan is behind it, and we know that satan is a liar and the father of lies, and a murderer from the beginning. (John 8:44). It seems that the demonic prince of Persia is still holding on to Iran for his stronghold. (Daniel 10:13)

As Jack Kelley explained in his weekly essay last night:

“It’s no secret that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is preoccupied with the coming of a Shiite Islamic messiah figure, al Mahdi. This continues to raise concern that a nuclear-armed Iran would create the kind of global chaos he believes will be necessary to set the stage for the Mahdi’s return. Recent events seem to confirm this. For example, after years of promising that their nuclear ambitions are purely peaceful, Iran just announced their intention to test a 1 kiloton nuclear warhead this year. Iran’s Supreme Leader is thought to favor announcing Iran’s nuclear capability as an accomplished fact as soon as possible.”

“Al Mahdi, which means the guided one, is said to have gone into “occlusion” (disappeared) in the year 941 AD, at the age of five. Shiite Moslems believe he will reappear at the end of the Age. They say his reappearance will be preceded by chaos, war and bloodshed. When he comes he’ll establish a world wide Islamic caliphate, and following a cataclysmic confrontation with evil and darkness that lasts 7 years, the Mahdi will lead the world to an era of universal peace.”

“As he has publicly explained, Ahmadinejad believes he’s been called to “pave the path for the glorious reappearance of Imam Mahdi, may Allah hasten his reappearance.” To some, this means creating the chaos necessary to bring al Mahdi back.”

Another motivating factor is the plunder. Perhaps that plunder is oil. After the Psalm 83 war occurs and Israel defeats the coalition of Lebanon, Hamas, Hezbollah, Jordan, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, they occupy all those lands again. Remember, the LORD had promised Abraham certain lands and described the borders of it in Genesis 15:18-21. This is a part of the Abrahamic Covenant, specifically outlining the dimensions of the land God promised to Abraham and his descendants. Israel hasn’t occupied them all yet. But they will. (Ezekiel 20:33–37, 40–42; 36:1–37:28).

Here is a map of the Genesis 15 covenant lands:

See the scriptures that talk of the plunder being the motivation for Iran, Russia, Turkey et al to attack Israel:

“[Have you come] … to take plunder and to take booty, to stretch out your hand against the waste places that are again inhabited, and against a people gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who dwell in the midst of the land. Sheba, Dedan, the merchants of Tarshish, and all their young lions will say to you, ‘Have you come to take plunder? Have you gathered your army to take booty, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great plunder?’” (Ezekiel 38:12-13)

Saudi Arabia has a lot of oil. According to Wikipedia, “Saudi Arabia has the largest oil reserves in the world. It is the world’s top oil exporter and producer. Oil actually accounts for “90% of the country’s exports and nearly 75% government revenues.” On the Abrahamic Covenant map, Saudi Arabia is the pink one.

With all the war rhetoric, drumbeats, and tension, I am reminded of Henry Kissinger’s old adage, coming to fruition in these last days–

“Control oil and you control nations; control food and you control the people.”

These heated words from Iran are emanating from the epicenter of all the world’s attention and tension right now: Middle East, where the oil (plunder?) is. The major problems in the world right now are there, as Isaiah 17, Psalm 83, and Ezekiel 38-39 tell us, and also Europe, the place where the revived roman empire will spit out the Antichrist. (Daniel 7:23-24). Did you know that Germany, currently Europe’s economic engine, is flirting with leaving the Euro currency and union? The news from Europe, the last empire in Daniel’s dream, is dire. The antichrist will control the world through food: access to it through purchase and through participation in the economy is denied unless the consumer wears the Mark of the Beast. The Gog Magog war happens because of plunder/ treasure, that the enemies have come to steal.

It is all shrinking down to oil & food, Middle East and Europe. Just as Jesus said it would.

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biometric, india universal ID, mark of the beast, prophecy

India: World’s biggest biometric identity plan progressing fast

Posted on January 14, 2012 by elizabethprata

The bible says that in the Tribulation all peoples will have a mark on their hand or forehead as a mark of allegiance to the antichrist, without which no one may buy nor sell. This is an astounding prophecy, because there are currently 7 billion people in the world. Even after the initial judgments where a third of the world is killed it is still a lot of people to keep track of. How is it done? Why would people join such a privacy-invading scheme? I’ll take a guess. Money.

The contractors hired to sign up people are paid by the sign-up. Once enrolled, the signees have the benefit of welfare rolling straight into their bank accounts. The pace of sign up in some places is astonishing. Read an excerpt below. Detractors say that though the program is currently voluntary, it could easily turn mandatory, and that the private biometric information on each enrolee is not secure. Well, we know how that turns out. They are right.

“He [antichrist] causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.” (Revelation 13:16-18).

I recommend the entire article from The Economist. It is fascinating.

India’s Universal ID scheme: reform by numbers
“FOR a country that fails to meet its most basic challenges—feeding the hungry, piping clean water, fixing roads—it seems incredible that India is rapidly building the world’s biggest, most advanced, biometric database of personal identities. Launched in 2010, under a genial ex-tycoon, Nandan Nilekani, the “unique identity” (UID) scheme is supposed to roll out trustworthy, unduplicated identity numbers based on biometric and other data.”

“Any resident who wants one can volunteer. The scheme combines work by central and state governments and a number of other partners—largely technology firms that capture and process individuals’ data. The goal, says Mr Nilekani, is to help India cope with the past decade’s expansion of welfare provision, the fastest in its history: “it is essentially about better public services”.

“All that should have been the recipe for a project mired in delays, infighting, empire-building, graft and bad results. Few expected UID to hit its ambitious targets. A year ago, only a few million had enrolled and barely 1m identity numbers had been issued. Warnings about fragile technology, overwhelmed data-processing centres and surging costs suggested slow progress.”

“Instead this week saw the 110-millionth UID number issued. Enrolments (which precede issued numbers by some months) should reach 200m in a couple of weeks. Mr Nilekani, eagerly hopping about his office to call up data on his laptop, says that over 20m people are now being signed up every month. He expects to get to 400m by the year’s end.”

“That is an astonishing outcome. For a government that has achieved almost nothing since re-election in May 2009, the scheme is emerging as an example of real progress. By 2014, the likely date of the next general election, over half of all Indians could be signed up. If welfare also starts flowing direct into their accounts, the electoral consequences could be profound.”

“To get a sense of the scale of UID’s achievement, linger at a mosquito-ridden enrolment centre in Uttan Gaon, a coastal village north of Mumbai. Huddled in a damp fire-station a young man connects a laptop, a binocular-style iris scanner and a glowing green machine that records 30 points from a set of fingerprints. In the gloom, his contraption could be a robot from an early Star Wars film.”

“Employed by Wipro, a technology firm and agent for the UID project, he has to get through 40 to 50 residents a day. His hassles, and those of armies of others deployed all across India, look endless. At times no one comes to enroll. Local government is supposed to run campaigns to lure them in, but indifference, bad weather and non-stop religious festivals keep them at home or partying.”

Another article on the subject from The Eocnomist. This one tales the slant that India’s poor economy and general bureaucratic incompetence (their words) were thought to be hindrances to the ID plan’s success. They weren’t. In my opinion this shows that no matter how disparate the people or the geography, no matter how much in disarray the economy is or will be, a massive governmental ID scheme can have rapid success. The article is titled, “The Magic Number“
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costa rica, sky rumblings, the hum

Costa Rica volcanic eruption and strange hum

Posted on January 14, 2012 by elizabethprata

I’ve noted for a while now some certain strange noises happening. Some call it “sky rumbles” while others simply call it “the hum”. From Canada to Britain, these sky hums have been happening more frequently. They also have been happening over a wider area when they do occur. Last week one happened in Costa Rica that the entire nation heard. When I saw the news come across the alternative news sites, I was startled by how penetrating the hum seemed to have been, and how utterly startled the whole country was. After a day or so, the regular, mainstream news sites and newspapers started carrying news of the strange boom.

Strange sonic rumble perplexes Costa Rica
“Early Monday morning, [January 9] an unknown hum reverberated across Costa Rica, leaving citizens and experts throughly confused. According to OVSICORI, the Costa Rica Volcanologist and Seismologist Organization, there was no tectonic activity at the time. Volcanologists discounted a volcanic eruption; nor was it a supersonic aircraft, because the powerful radar at Juan Santamaría International Airport outside of San José picked up no planes at the time, not even subsonic ones. Also, there were no climatological phenomena or strange weather conditions. By nightfall Monday, the speculation was still going along briskly with the major vote going to fireworks at the festival at Zapote, in San José.”

Oh, those pesky fireworks, being blamed for the January 2011 AND the January 2012 bird deaths, and also the source of the strange halo over Mile High Stadium as the Broncos played last weekend.

One Costa Rican website report, its staff presumably familiar with the geography of the area, posed the inevitable question-

“[On] January 9, 2012, Costa Ricans awoke to a strange loud sound that emanated from the sky.
The frightened residents called the authorities to report the strange-sounding hum. The explanation they received, left many of them suspicious. No way was the thunderous sound anywhere near what fireworks sound like. The authorities though, remained steadfast in pushing their fireworks explanation to the nervous callers. According to a local newspaper, it was described as a “a strange audible booming or humming sound.” “Local news channels are leaning in the direction of fireworks but many remain skeptical,” according to the article. The article goes on to read:”

Now, it’s important to note that the reports of the strange sound in the Costa Rica skies Monday…came from as far as Perez Zeledon – what is the likelihood of anyone in Perez Zeledon, some 170kms from Zapote over the tallest mountain range in the country, hearing fireworks from Zapote? Not likely.”

The Costa Rican weekly Newspaper Tico Times reported on it three days later as a follow-up:

Mysterious explosions still unexplained
“Authorities say the boom was not a volcanic eruption or a supersonic aircraft”
“Monday morning started off with a bang for residents of the Central Valley when a loud, as yet unidentified, series of booms rattled windows about 30 minutes after midnight. Many did not hear it, but enough people did to cause a firestorm of comment on social media such as Facebook and Twitter. The strange sound was prolonged – many described it as lasting for five minutes or so. Perhaps the only one making no comments were scientists and government authorities, who were reticent about commenting or speculating. A few things it wasn’t: Volcanologists discounted a volcanic eruption; nor was it a supersonic aircraft, because the powerful radar at Juan Santamaría International Airport outside of San José picked up no planes at the time, not even subsonic ones.”

So four days after the inexplicable sky noise heard over hundreds of miles of Costa Rican area, where all the populace was perplexed but assured that no tectonic of volcanic activity was present, a volcano erupted.

To be sure, Costa Rica’s volcano Turrialba is an active volcano. The Smithsonian Global Volcanism program states that “Fumarolic activity continues at the central and SW summit craters.” Local news reports that “yesterday, January 12, 2012 from noon, the Turrialba volcano began a profuse emission of fly ash, gases and aerosols from an area between the central and southwestern crater, where it opened a new gap of several meters diameter around 3 pm.”

I don’t know how frequent or infrequent it is to have a new gap open up on an active volcano, or to have a new area of volcanic activity emerge when the previous activity had always been centered elsewhere. But I am interested in all anomalies because Jesus said they would happen and to look up when we begin to see them.

As for the hum…I’m frankly fascinated by them. They are a phenomenon, as this BBC article discusses: “According to sufferers, it is as if someone has parked next to your house and left the engine running. ‘The Hum’ is a mystery low frequency noise, a phenomenon that has been reported across Britain, North America and Australia in the past four decades.”

Some of the ‘hums’ have been discovered to be produced by an industrial cause, one, a diesel engine and another, industrial fans. The others, no one ever found what the hum was caused by.

I like to think about ‘the other side’. Jesus appeared in the midst of them in the Upper Room. (Lk 24:36-43). How did He materialize? Do you ever wonder about that? I do. Or when the crowd was incited to a riot intending to push Him over the cliff, He simply walked out from among them. (Luke 4:29-30). Where did He go? How were His molecules operating to allow Him to appear and disappear, through thin air?

I think of the veil, the veneer between us and the powers, principalities and dominions (Eph 1:21, Col 1:16; Eph 6:12) and I wonder, how thin is it? Elisha prayed to God for Him to give Elisha’s servant a glimpse of it, and the servant’s eyes were opened and he saw the multitudes of angels right there hovering and ready to do battle. (2 Kings 6:17). It reminds me of the problem in quantum physics: The Measurement Problem. This problem is described thus: an atom only appears in a particular place if you measure it. An atom is spread out all over the place until a conscious observer decides to look at it. It is the act of measurement, observing, that creates the entire universe.” (Physicist Jim Al-Khalili, BBC’s Atom). So when the atom isn’t being observed, where does it go? Is it still there but invisible, like the army Elisha’s servant couldn’t see?

Are the two sides so close together that an occasional co-mingling occurs? Sounds leak from one to the other? I don’t know of course, but I wonder about these things.

Traveling in Scotland was amazing. I loved it. I’ve always been spiritually sensitive, and I noticed that in Scotland, land of standing stones, Celtic Druids, foggy moors and crumbling castles, that the veil felt particularly thin. It wasn’t the Godly I was feeling nearby, but the eerie or demonic, particularly in standing stone circles. It is a place where legends of giants still persist. Other places where I felt that was the Salton Sea in California, and Gray Maine. Did you ever feel that, a place that gave you the willies for no reason? Or a place that was so pure you felt you could drink it in forever?

What I’m trying to say is that when a populace hears a strange hum, it is interesting to think that it might be a sound from the other side.

When I read that the volcano began its newest eruption I thought of the strange hum in that same nation. I thought of the veil, and all the activity that is going on behind it. The principalities, powers, and dominions are fighting furiously for control of the earth. The demonic powers know the bible’s outcome but their evil is that they refuse to believe it. So they fight. God sends angels to do His bidding, and ultimately, we know that God is sovereign and will prevail. The conclusion is foregone. But the activity behind our realm of hearing and seeing is furious and ongoing. What is that hum? I do not know. But it was heard by many, and as God lifts His protective hand from the world perhaps the earth’s people will be hearing more.
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end time, rapture

Will today be the day?

Posted on January 12, 2012May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Will today be the day my faith becomes sight?
Will today be the day I am reunited with my Savior and Lord to worship Him perfectly?
Will today be the day I sing praises to Him with the angels and the multitudes?
Will today be the day I am glorified and my struggle against sin ends forevermore?
Will today be the day I see the place He prepared for me?
Will today be the day I step through the veil and enter eternity?
Will today be the day I stand by the Crystal Sea?
Will today be the day I see His face?
Will today be the day I praise Him at His feet for saving me?
Will today be the day I understand fully, knowing even as I am known?
Will today be the day the tears will be wiped from my eyes?
Will today be the day I come into my inheritance?
Will today be the day I thank my ministering angels?
Will today be the day my faith becomes sight?

Do you have this fervency in your heart? Do you pray these things every day? Are you eager to put aside this tent, this life, these earthly concerns, in anticipation of His call? He rewards this eagerness:

“Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day–and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:8)

Our home is not here. Christians tell me every day, either casually or seriously, they aren’t ready for the rapture, because they have this to do or that to do. Because they want this or need to finish that. My mouth always falls to the floor.

If you were fortunate enough to have a vacation house growing up, or rented one for the summer, you know that they are usually a more rudimentary kind of dwelling. You were “roughing it”. The furniture wasn’t as comfortable, it sagged and maybe was a bit ripped. There weren’t the amenities you were used to like a washer or dryer. You cheerfully hung the towels from swimming up to dry. It was a novelty from regular life. All your cousins crammed in to the cabin with you, sometimes you had to sleep on the floor because the family ran out of beds. You didn’t mind, it was fun, for a while.

Earth is our temporary home. It is roughing it here. We put up with what we have to put up with in the way of inconveniences because the real home awaiting us when we return to it is so fabulous. When you were at camp during the summer or on a sleepover you had a good time but weren’t you happy to get back to your Dad? Your home?

He came to earth to die, as the atoning sacrifice for sin of the world, to be resurrected by the power of God, proving He is God, and lives in heaven now, waiting for the time He will call His bride to Him. He came “To guide our feet into the way of peace.” (Luke 1:79b). We are at peace, knowing we are reconciled to Him, no longer His enemy but His children.

That is how we should feel. This is not our home. When will we see our real home? I don’t know. Will today be the day?

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end of days. prophecy, end time, gog and magog, psalm 83

Psalm 83, Gog-Magog nations lining up as bible said they would

Posted on January 12, 2012May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

No one knows when the Lord will descend and call us up to Him in the Rapture. That is because Romans 11:25 says the rapture will happen when the full number of the church God has in mind has been reached. “I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.”(NIV) No one knows the number nor how close we are to it.

However the Lord told us that we will not be in the dark, as the unbelievers are, “But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.” (1 Thess 5:4). While we do not know the day nor hour, we will sense the Tribulation season approaching because Jesus gave a long discourse listing the signs that will herald the beginning of the birth pangs of the Tribulation (Matthew 24:8), and He gave a list of signs that will occur during the Tribulation (Matthew 24:9-35; Revelation 6-19) In addition to that, the Holy Spirit inspired the bible writers to herald some signs too, in 2 Timothy 3:1-9; 2 Peter 3, for just a few examples). Finally, He gave us the Prophets. Some OT prophecy is fulfilled, and some of it is not. Parts of Isaiah 17 are not, parts of Isaiah 19 are not. Part of Obadiah is not. Ezekiel 38-47 is not. Isaiah 65 Psalm 83 is not. Those prophesies and many others are still to come.

Therefore here is the first admonition of this blog post. Please do not despise the prophesies. Paul’s final warnings in his letter to the Thessalonians contained this plea: “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.” (1 Thess 5:19-22). Paul is saying the prophesies are there for a reason. They may not contain things that you want to hear, but do not hate them because of that. The Holy Spirit and Jesus spent a lot of ink preparing for our edification the warnings of the last days. They should not be dismissed.

Secondly, because we study the prophecies, and study the Word in total, we can glean a chronology from them. There are certain things in history that have not happened yet, so of course if they have not occurred, that means they will. God’s Word is sure.

“We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts.” (2 Peter 1:19).

Studious scholars have come to an interpretation of the chronology that seems consistent across the board. Most seem to agree that the Gog Magog battle of Ezekiel 38-39 will occur at or just inches over the threshold of the rapture- at latest. One reason is that the detailed directions from the Lord as to how to handle the aftermath (Ez 39) state that Israel will burn the fuel from the weapons for 7 years. The battle must take place at the outset of the Tribulation at latest because the Tribulation is 7 years, and no one will need fuel after that in the Millennium. (Rev. 22:5). I don’t have room in this post, nor is it the point of the post, to delve into all the reasons why but that was just one.

So given that we see things coming together prophetically in, say, the Gog Magog battle, how much closer would the rapture be to us in time? Close.

Here is news of what is happening to ready the immediate fulfillment of the Gog Magog Battle (Russia, Turkey, Iran, et al attack Israel), Isaiah 17:1 (Damascus destroyed) and Psalm 83 battle (Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt attack Israel). These three prophecies in particular are considered threshold events to the Tribulation. I include these news excerpts without commentary. They all point to the rapid fulfillment of the verses mentioned above. They all are indicative of conditions that will be present when the missiles fly. In my opinion, they are all pretty heavy. However, there are many other news excerpts I could link to, but you get the idea.

Iranian war fears spark closure of Israel reactor
“ISRAEL is preparing to shut its nuclear reactor at Dimona, where it makes nuclear weapons, because of the site’s vulnerability in a war with Iran.The decision, taken by the Israel Atomic Energy Commission and the country’s civil defence authorities, follows a realisation that the facility could be vulnerable to a missile attack.”

I think Israel closing its only nuclear plant is a very big deal. We have the bible and know an attack is coming. They must have intelligence that points to an attack they believe may happen soon.

Russia docks flotilla at at Tartus Syria
“DAMASCUS: A large Russian naval flotilla led by an aircraft carrier has docked in the Syrian port of Tartus in what Damascus state media hailed on Sunday as a show of solidarity by close ally Moscow.”

Russian Navy to base warships at Syrian port after 2012
“Russia’s naval supply and maintenance site near Syria’s Mediterranean port of Tartus will be modernized to accommodate heavy warships after 2012, the Russian Navy chief said on Monday. “Tartus will be developed as a naval base. The first stage of development and modernization will be completed in 2012,” Adm. Vladimir Vysotsky said, adding it could then serve as a base for guided-missile cruisers and even aircraft carriers.”

Report: Iran begins uranium enrichment at underground site
“A hardline newspaper close to Iran’s rulers says the country has begun uranium enrichment at a well-protected underground facility.”

Hugo Chavez jokes about having an atomic bomb during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visit to Venezuela
“Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and his Iranian ally Mahmoud Ahmadinejad met in Caracas on Monday, where they expressed their love for one another, took jabs at the United States and joked about having an atomic bomb.”That hill will open up and a big atomic bomb will come out,” Chavez said, pointing to an area in front of the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, according to a report from Reuters.”The imperialist spokesmen say… Ahmadinejad and I are going into the Miraflroes basement now to set our sights on Washington and launch cannons and missiles,” Chavez continued.”

Another Iranian nuclear scientist killed: Israel blamed
“An Iranian scientist working at a key nuclear facility in that country was killed Wednesday in Tehran, the latest act in what appears to be a widening covert effort to disrupt Iran’s nuclear program.”

IDF official: Iran, Hezbollah stepping up efforts to save Assad regime in Syria
“Military Intelligence chief says face of Middle East is changing in such a way that it is no longer recognizable. “Iran and Hezbollah are strengthening their efforts to ensure the survival of the Bashar Assad regime in Syria, Military Intelligence Chief Major General Aviv Kochavi said on Wednesday.”They are providing [Assad] with knowledge, weapons and other means and recently with active involvement,” Kochavi said. Kochavi also said that the face of the Middle East is changing in such a way that it is no longer recognizable. “It may be that the winds of change carry opportunities and promise, but in the short and medium term the risks are increasing,” he stated. On Tuesday, IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz said that the turmoil in Syria could cause Assad to seek military confrontation with Israel. “Assad cannot continue holding on to power and his downfall is expected to cause a crack in the radical axis,” Gantz said.”

Pastor JD Farag’s prophecy update this Sunday included a graphic I present here. Listen to the 30 minutes update here. It is well worth your time.

This graphic below shows nations that are listed as part of the Psalm 83 battle. Israel soundly defeats them all and occupies the land. (Obadiah 1:15-21)

The graphic below lists the Gog Magog nations that ally to attack Israel. Those are the white arrows.

It is all coming together, accelerating, even. The prophecies are combining to a near fulfillment that is ready to ignite at any moment.

Joel C. Rosenberg wrote yesterday, “The blunt truth is this: We are in deep trouble as a nation. We are facing the horrific and accelerating breakdown of the family — infidelity, divorce, abuse. We are seeing accelerating apostasy within the Church. People are turning away from God, betraying family and friends and ignoring the life-changing message of the Bible. Crime is surging, especially violent crime. The pornography industry now makes more than ABC, CBS and NBC combined. Our national debt has shot past $15 trillion — 100% of our GDP — and there is no end of runaway spending in sight. Washington and Wall Street are rife with corruption. The number one highest-grossing film in the nation right now is called The Devil Inside. Tragically, the list goes on and on.” He continued with a startling statement. He said “that America is not simply in decline; we are actually headed for collapse — an implosion — unless we make fundamental and sweeping changes soon.”

He made a plea for people to repent and believe the Gospel. It is a plea we are all making with increasing urgency these days. I made it just today – again – with a family member – again. I ended the dialog by saying “Heed these words. Time is short,” the same ending Joel Rosenberg concluded his essay with.

Rosenberg linked to a simple Gospel web animation. It is here. Please share it widely and often. Why? Because time is short.
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birth pangs, millennium kingdom

Encouragement

Posted on January 11, 2012 by elizabethprata

These days are hard. They are hard in every which way. Christians are being persecuted at increasing pace and increasingly horrific ways. Of the ones who are not being persecuted, we are grieving them, and praying for them too. It’s hard to read of brethren being killed for their faith.

Economic times are hard. It is a struggle to put food on the table, and Americans are living well compared to other nations. More people are living hand to mouth and that gets wearing fast.

These times are spiritually hardest of all. It grieves me, and many others, to see the apostasy rising so fast. Beloved pastors, brethren, whole denominations and entire churches slitting away under falsity or being chewed up by wolves.

Politics, oy. What can we say about politics and government. Trusting the process is nigh impossible given the election frauds we’ve seen lately, and the government is at best dysfunctional and at worst simply rapacious against the people it is supposed to serve.

We are seeing the dismantling of every system and we mourn the slide of America into the abyss. Where did our country go?? I am convinced that the rapture will be the event that tips America and also the world into the economic abyss and also decimates America so much by gutting it of born-again Christians that we won’t be more than a blip in prophetic action from that moment on.

It occurs to me that we are grieving, saying goodbye to this world as we know it. People get stuck there, though. They obsess on America’s decline, the world’s unraveling, the fact that “we’re not mentioned in prophecy.” They wonder if things will get back to normal, ever.

Remember something important though. Jesus said the end time will be as birthpangs. The end time started when He ascended and will end when He returns. But birth pangs increase in immediate advance of the birth after having begun almost unknowingly and benignly. Birth pangs are painful and we can all attest to how painful these days are. (They will get worse, and bloodier, though)

But the birth pains bring…new birth. Look forward! New birth is a blessing. New birth yields a sweet, innocent new life. When a woman is pregnant, we never say, ‘Gee, I hate to let these backaches go.’ Or, “I’ll miss that morning sickness.’ Or, ‘I loved swelling feet and high blood pressure!’ No, pregnancy is a time to be endured, not clung to, because it harbors the gestation of a promise: new life in a new start.

Look forward, people. Jesus is coming! He will renew all, reverse the curse, and we shall be with him always. As in a pregnancy, this body we are in will be made new after the baby Kingdom is born. We won’t be carrying this weight, this pain. All will be well, for our Savior will come. We shall be with Him always.

We are grieving and that is all right. But don’t stay in the grief. We don’t mourn the end of the pregnancy. We are preparing to welcome the blessed arrival of the King and His Kingdom!
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halo, mile high stadium, tebow

Mile High halo over Mile High Stadium

Posted on January 9, 2012 by elizabethprata

Excerpt from the Huffington Post:
“Let’s all try to be calm and rational about this. In addition to Tim Tebow throwing 316 yards in the Broncos’ upset over the Steelers (Tebow painted Bible verse John 3:16 under his eyes in college) and fans replacing “Tebow” with “Jesus” on their jerseys, apparently a halo-like smoke ring formed over Mile High yesterday after the Broncos scored their first field goal. Mark Neuman-Lee, an attendee of the Steelers/Broncos game and photographer of the “Mile High Halo,” tells HuffPost he’d never seen the ring prior to yesterday’s NFL upset. Two season pass ticket-holders also told HuffPost the halo seems to be an anomaly.”

I don’t want to read too much into it. But I do like that strange clouds are happening and that people are starting to think of God when they do.

In other unusual sky happenings, there have been triple hole punch clouds in South Carolina, where one hole punch cloud is an assured rarity, never mind three. (Thanks to the anonymous commenter who tipped me off about the halo cloud over Denver.) Two weeks ago there were rare Kelvin-Helmholtz clouds in Alabama. People are still talking about the strange cloud over Moscow two years ago. A few months ago a strange bubble in the sky over Beijing mystified.

Was it a sundog? I remember seeing one last year at school. I took photos and wrote about it here. The scientific name for those are parhelion which from the Greek means next to or near the sun. The Mile High halo wasn’t. I’m sure someone will come up with an explanation. Or not. Jesus said, “And there will be strange signs in the sun, moon, and stars” in Luke 21:25 Keep looking up for our Redemption, he said that strange things will be seen in the sky. He also said people who love Him will be hated. (Mt 10:22; John 15:19)

NFL Analysts: Tim Tebow Hated Because of His Faith
“Outspoken Christian athlete Tim Tebow, now the starting quarterback for the Denver Broncos, has been widely criticized by many in the media. NFL analysts are starting to admit that criticism, in large part, has been because of his faith.”

Shame on them, but at least they are starting to admit it. I am positive that if Tebow had gone down to pray to Allah at sunset, the NFL analysts would have complimented him on his faith.

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