Posted in bible jesus, hell, punishment

Back to Basics: What is hell?

Posted on by elizabethprata

This “Back to Basics” series explores some of the more basic doctrines of the Bible Believing faith of Christianity. After the rapture there will be millions of new believers who must come to grips, and quickly, with the basic tenets of our faith. This series is a primer. Other entries in the series are

Hello, Holy Spirit!
What does it mean to be born again?
What’s the Gospel?
What is prayer?

Hell is real. The current American culture doesn’t want to believe that hell is real. Liberal Christians all around the world don’t believe it is real either. Rob Bell recently wrote a book called “Love Wins” in which he says “A staggering number of people have been taught that a select few Christians will spend forever in a peaceful, joyous place called heaven, while the rest of humanity spends forever in torment and punishment in hell with no chance for anything better…. This is misguided and toxic and ultimately subverts the contagious spread of Jesus’ message of love, peace, forgiveness, and joy that our world desperately needs to hear.”

Of course, Mr Bell is completely wrong, at least about the doctrine of hell being a misguided teaching. Jesus taught it. Was Jesus misguided? Certainly not.

Of course, atheists deny hell, but they deny heaven, too. As the famous and recently deceased Mr Christopher Hitchens has said in his book The Portable Atheist, “The only position that leaves me with no cognitive dissonance is atheism. It is not a creed. Death is certain, replacing both the siren-song of Paradise and the dread of Hell.” Unfortunately he, like all atheists, find out too late that God is very real, and so is hell. He is right, death is certain, but after that, the judgment. (Hebrews 9:27).

Some believe that only the fallen angels go there, not us human sinners. After all, God did make hell for the devil and his angels. (Matthew 25:41)

The Catholics believe in a mid-hell or waystation hell called purgatory. They think that you can buy your way out (indulgences) or be prayed out after your final purification is accomplished, because Jesus’ sacrifice was not enough, obviously. Annihilationists believe that your body is just destroyed after death.

Even for bible believers, there are a few different terms for hell that are confusing. There’s  Sheol, Hades, Hell, the lake of fire, Paradise, and Abraham’s bosom? And don’t forget Gehenna and Tartarus.

Paradise means heaven. (2 Corinthians 12:4; Revelation 2:7). It could also mean the heaven that was inside the earth on the other side of Hades with the great gulf between them, known to both Lazarus and the rich man. (Luke 16:23-31)

Abraham’s bosom is a Jewish/Hebrew term for heaven, the place where faithful Israelites went after death. It is typically thought to have been inside the earth and when Jesus ascended to heaven, took all the ones in Abraham’s bosom with Him. He did descend to hell (1 Peter 3:19) after His death to preach to the spirits jailed there, which could be a reference to the lowest dungeons of hell where the sinning angels are being kept. This lowest depth of hell is mentioned in 2 Peter 2:4, “For God did not spare angels when they had sinned, but hurling them down to Tartarus consigned them to caves of darkness, keeping them in readiness for judgement.”

Gehenna is another New Testament word for hell. Sheol is a Hebrew word for the grave.

The Lake of Fire is the final place where all people after the final judgment at the end of time receive their new bodies and are thrown into the Lake, along with death, the devil and his angels, and hades itself. (Revelation 20:14). And there the smoke of their fires go up night and day. (Revelation 14:11).

It is thought that Jesus emptied Abraham’s bosom, or Paradise and took the righteous to heaven with Him when He went up.

With all these names for the place(s) we go to after death and all the confusion about who goes there and why, we can ask, what IS hell? I can answer that. Hell is a place you don’t want to go.

Better than that, hell is a place you don’t have to go!

Hell is a place that is very real. Jesus preached on it more than He preached on heaven. It is an eternal place. Matthew 18:8 speaks of the eternal fire. Matthew 25:46 records Jesus saying that the righteous will go to eternal life and the unrighteous into eternal punishment. There is no escaping the doctrine that hell is forever–

“… the penalty of eternal destruction… (2 Thess. 1:9).
“…the punishment of eternal fire…” (Jude 7).
“… the black darkness has been reserved forever..” (Jude 12-13).
“…and there the smoke of their fires go up night and day…” (Revelation 14:11).
“…everlasting burnings…” (Isaiah 33:14)

Who goes there? Sinners. Now, if you know Romans 3:10 you know that Paul said there is none righteous, no, not one. We are all sinners. So does that mean we all go to hell? In a sense, yes. It is the default condition of every person on this earth who is ever born. It is where we all could go and where we all should go. But it is not where we all have to go.

The glory that is our God is that He made a way for us to escape that eternal fire, that everlasting punishment, that black darkness. He sent Jesus to earth, who came to die as the sacrifice for our sins. His death satisfied the justice required from God to punish sin. His resurrection proves He is God and now He reigns as Savior and Lord. All a person must do is understand this, and repent of our sins. Understand that we sin, we deserve hell, Jesus died to make a way for us to escape it, His sacrifice and resurrection is that Way. He “is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father but by Me,” He said in John 14:6.

That verse means that no matter how many ways and how many times a person scrambles the scriptures, hell is real. It is the destiny of all people who literally push away the body of Jesus.

In the Luke verse it said that between heaven and hell there is a great gulf fixed and no one passes from one to the other. Therefore the Catholic doctrine of Purgatory is false. The only opportunity people have to choose heaven or hell is in this life. You can’t be prayed out later. The Universalists and Liberal Christians who believe that all paths lead to heaven are wrong. Jesus is the way, no one comes to heaven except through Him. The atheists who think that there will be no accountability to a Holy God for their sins against Him are incorrect. There will be a court and there will be justice: Divine, Holy justice. And then hell after.

It is all in the bible. If you believe the bible that is good. It means you likely believe the Good News, which is that Jesus came to make a way for us to be with Him in heaven instead of hell. If you believe the Good News then act upon it, now, because that means hell is real too.

“The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart from hell beneath.” Proverbs 15:24

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Posted in chinese auction, covet, tenth commandment, white elephant, yankee swap

I don’t like Yankee Swap/Chinese Auction/White Elephant gift games and I’ll tell you why

Posted on by elizabethprata

At Christmas time, there is an old game at parties that adults play with gifts. Up north it’s called a Yankee Swap, sometimes White Elephant, and in the south it’s known as Chinese Auctions.

I was not familiar with these kinds of gift-giving games until two years ago, when I attended my Sunday School class’s annual Christmas party and was told to ‘bring a gift for under the tree.’ After dinner, the game began. Here, Wikipedia describes it:

“At a Chinese auction, though not really an auction at all, each participant contributes wrapped prizes of roughly the same value to a pool of prizes. Participants draw numbers to see who gets to choose a prize from the pool of prizes first. The second person may choose their prize from the remaining prizes in the pool, or may take the prize from the first person who chose. The third may take a prize from the pool, or from the first or second person and so on until all participants have chosen. People choosing prizes are not required to open them, so the prize contents may remain unknown to all but the contributor until all participants have chosen.”

This breaks the Tenth Commandment. The Tenth Commandment is found in Exodus 20:17: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

I can hear people now, saying that I’m ‘too picky’, ‘why not have a little innocent fun at Christmas’, ‘it’s a harmless game’, ‘I take the bible way too seriously’…all those things. But I can’t be too picky when it comes to direct commandments from God. Not only do I owe Him my allegiance because He is God, but because He saved me from eternal punishment, also. I owe him everything. So let’s take a peek underneath all that harmless fun and look at the sin-festival that Chinese Auctions are.

My apprehensions about this game were solidified when I heard a good sermon last week on it. Phil Johnson at Grace Life pulpit expounded on the Tenth Commandment in a sermon called “Why covetousness is no small sin.” (transcript here). It was perfect timing for me to understand what it really means to covet and what other sins grow out of that. ALL other sins grow out of that, as a matter of fact. What was the first sin? Eve coveted that which God said she should not have.

Regarding a Chinese auction we could say “You shall not covet the ornament on your neighbor’s lap”.

The Tenth Commandment “requires full contentment with our own condition, with a right and charitable frame of spirit toward our neighbor, and all that is his.” (Phil Johnson). Chinese auctions are the opposite of that.

Chinese auctions are a breeding ground for discontent. Coveting is a desire for something we are not supposed to have and in order to get it, we steal it. Now, not all coveting is evil. “There is a kind of covetousness that is not evil. It’s when we covet that which God Himself esteems worthy of our desires. Desire in and of itself is not wrong; but make sure that you only desire for yourself what God desires for you.”(Johnson).

Does God desire for us to steal our neighbor’s goods from their very lap? Does He desire that we should look with covetousness eyes at $2 trinkets and breed discontent with what we have? Does He desire for us to allow a small root of bitterness that our neighbor took something from us?

We are born with desires, and because we are born sinful, our desires are evil. We can’t tell ourselves NOT to have the desires that we have. We like what we like and we want what we want. Satan knows that. He tempted Jesus in Matthew 4. He had the brazenness to tempt Jesus to covet! Jesus resisted, “was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15). So Jesus understands that satan will tempt us, making mincemeat out of us, easily. He’ll bring desires and coveting to our mind that we must resist. With the Holy Spirit, desires can be resisted. Therefore I don’t want to put myself into a situation where it makes it harder for me to resist. It’s hard enough already!

I attended an auction of this sort last week. The auction was excruciating because I’d heard part of the Phil Johnson sermon before I went and I knew that I was going to be sinning. But I didn’t know what to do or how to get out of it without being rude to the people who were gathered there, who are fine, good people I love very much. It will take some prayer and forethought to determine what to do next year when these auctions come up again. But that is the nature of this sin, most of the time you don’t even know you’re coveting when you’re doing it. And compared to murder, it seems like a small sin. But remember, it is the original one. Therefore coveting is no small sin, and one to be avoided.
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Posted in end of days. prophecy, pope, st. malachy

Pope Benedict’s health failing, St. Malachy’s prophecy comes up again

Posted on by elizabethprata

UPDATE: Pope Benedict resigned today, the first pope to do so in 600 years. Please read this to learn more: “Pope Benedict resigned- will the next pope validate Malachy’s prophecy?“

An interesting article, please click on the headline for more

Pope heads into busy Christmas season tired, weak
“Pope Benedict XVI seems worn out. People who have spent time with him recently say they found him weaker than they’d ever seen him, seemingly too tired to engage with what they were saying. He no longer meets individually with visiting bishops. A few weeks ago he started using a moving platform to spare him the long walk down St. Peter’s Basilica. Benedict turns 85 in the new year, so a slowdown is only natural. Expected. And given his age and continued rigorous work schedule, it’s remarkable he does as much as he does and is in such good health overall: Just this past week he confirmed he would travel to Mexico and Cuba next spring. But a decline has been noted as Benedict prepares for next weekend’s grueling Christmas celebrations, which kick off two weeks of intense public appearances. And that raises questions about the future of the papacy given that Benedict himself has said popes should resign if they can’t do the job.”

Now, this brings up an interesting issue. I am NOT a fan of extra-biblical prophecies. I mean, just look at the hysteria of the Mayan 2012 world-ending prophecy. The bible is the only true standard for testing truth. But there is an interesting prophecy about the Pope that is explained in Jack Kelley’s Q&A section of Grace Thru Faith website. Both Q&A’s are highlighted with a clickable link.

“Only One More Pope?“
Q. The Bible doesn’t say anything about popes so where do we get the idea that this pope is the 2nd to the last one of the End Times?

A. It’s true that the Bible makes no mention of Popes. The view that the current pope is the next to last one comes from a remarkable extra-Biblical prophecy given by an Irish Catholic Bishop named St. Malachy in 1139 AD. He predicted that a total of 112 men would hold the office of Pope from then till the End of the Age and gave cryptic descriptions of each one that have all been reasonably accurate, lending credibility to the prophecy. The last pope, called Peter the Roman, “will feed his flock amid many tribulations; after which the seven-hilled city (Rome) will be destroyed and the dreadful Judge will judge the people.” Pope Benedict is number 111, next to last on St. Malachy’s list, something that caught the public’s attention around the time the Pope was being selected.”

“Verifying Prophecy“
Q. I believe in all the prophesies in the Bible. But what about those extra-biblical predictions like St. Malachy and such? I know in Joel 2:28, God said that there will be people who prophesize. So how do we (Christians) discern which revelation is from God and which isn’t? If I received a vision, how can I be sure that it is from God?

A. Deut. 18:21-22 answers your question. You may say to yourselves, “How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the LORD ?” If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the LORD does not take place or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him. Prophecies from the Lord always come true. Modern day prophecies also have to conform to God’s already revealed word, because He can’t change His mind or contradict Himself. The prophecies of St. Malachy concerning Papal succession are interesting and have historical support for their accuracy. For this reason they bear watching.”

Watch, test all things, dispense with the false and hold fast to the good. And with high levels of skepticism and even with one eye shut, holding your nose, read the “The Prophecy of the Popes” by Saint Malachy, of which “The longest and final motto reads in the original Latin:
“In eſecutione extrema S.R.E. ſedebit. Petrus Romanus, qui paſcet oues in multis tribulationibus: quibus tranſactis ciuitas ſepticollis diruetur, & Iudex tremẽdus iudicabit populum ſuum. Finis.”

This is usually translated into English as:
“In the extreme persecution of the Holy Roman Church, there will sit [i.e., as bishop]. Peter the Roman, who will pasture his sheep in many tribulations: and when these things are finished, the city of seven hills will be destroyed, and the terrible judge will judge his people. The End.”

It IS pretty interesting that a guy in some tiny Irish town a thousand years ago made a list of popes that ends at exactly a time when true believers see the biblical prophecies already coming together. Malachy could have listed 100 popes, or 150 popes, but he didn’t. The list ends…now. That merits a ‘hmmmm’ from me.

Compelling, but don’t build a doctrine out of it. The currently reported weakness of the Pope and the prospect of installing another one is always interesting because by far the Roman Catholic Church is one of  the largest false religion in the world, with roots that can be directly traced back to the first false religion, Babylon. For that reason alone, the Pope is worth watching, because it is highly likely the Catholic religion will have some role to play when true believers are raptured away. As head of that religion, the Pope will need to send assurances to the billion Catholics left behind. The Pope, whoever he is, will be prominent in the news and on the world stage. There are approximately 1.1 billion Catholics, and 1.5 billion Muslims so the number of false religion adherents left behind will undoubtedly inculcate and perpetuate the Lie. (2 Thess 2:11).

The news article continues about Pope Benedict:

“Fessio recalled a day in the 2010 edition that remains with him: “In the Saturday morning session, the pope looked older and weaker than I had ever seen him before. In fact I remarked to someone that it’s the first time I’ve seen him look like the old man that he is. He was speaking in softer tones than even his normally soft speaking voice. His head was bowed. He was pale. He just looked frail.” But then, after lunch and an apparent rest, Benedict returned for the afternoon session. “It was a complete transformation. He was lively, vigorous, attentive, and with his usual good humor,” Fessio said. Clearly, at his age Benedict has good days and bad, even good half-days and bad.”

As we all know, all people’s days are numbered, and God knows the number of them. Psalm 39:4- “Show me, O LORD, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life.”
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Posted in theology

A thank you for doctrinal integrity, by Dan Phillips

Posted on by elizabethprata

Excerpt of Dan Phillips‘  Open Letter to Dr. John MacArthur. I HEARTILY second his sentiments. In a world where the average time a pastor spends “shepherding” his flock has dwindled to (depending on source) 3 to 7 years, Dr. MacArthur’s stay at Grace Community Church for 42 years is extraordinary. Also extraordinary in this tv, short sound byte age, is his biblical preaching verse by verse (expositional) as opposed to topical, or Gospel Lite, or worse, Prosperity/Word-Faith preaching. And most extraordinary of all is that he preached through the entire New Testament, finishing last June. The wealth of sermons, devotionals, and study materials at his website is staggering. I recently listened to a sermon and when it was done I was astounded to see the date was 1969. It had sounded so fresh! So relevant! That is because the bible is fresh. When you preach it and it alone, the Word will always be fresh and relevant. We do not need gimmicks, fads, church growth strategies, or anything else to make it relevant. It already IS.

I’ve also watched Dr. MacArthur on Larry King’s CNN interview show. He is always unequivocal about Jesus, that Jesus is the one true way to heaven, explicit on what happens after we die, and the truth of the bible. I’ve watched Billy Graham and Joel Osteen on the same show when they appeared at different times, and both of those latter men took the opportunity to deny Jesus as the only way. So that speaks volumes. In this increasingly apostate world, we should value, pray for, and support the fewer and fewer true pastors who are unequivocal about doctrine and courageously stand by it. Anyway, here is the Open Letter excerpt from Dan Phillips:
—————-
Dear Dr. MacArthur,

“First, thank you. Thank you for being a model of doctrinal, pastoral, and personal integrity. It means a great deal to me that I can know for certain that if you are given any opportunity anywhere, you will always and only use it as an opening to speak the Word and Gospel of the Lord. That is huge, and I applaud you for that, without reservation. You have set an example of emphatically Biblical preaching and writing to an entire generation. In that vein, you have just concluded preaching through the entire New Testament. God be praised, and thank you.”

Yes, thank you to all good pastors who reliably and loyally feed the sheep the Word, and who love us with a true shepherd’s heart.
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Posted in bible, comfort, contemplative prayer

Let the Man of Sorrows comfort you in your sorrow

Posted on by elizabethprata

Dear friends,

As the times become more cold, and love ekes away, many people may find they are feeling rejected for their faithful witness to Jesus. They may feel sorrow and betrayal. These are hard things to bear. We are all human, and we all want to feel loved for who we are, but sometimes, because we are human, we are rejected instead. Or maligned. Or misunderstood. Or any of the myriad of things that a population of diverse people feel when they are thrown together and have only one common bond: Jesus.

But what a bond!

Isaiah 53:3 says “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.” Recently I was thinking of when He was alone in the Garden and everyone fell asleep even though He had asked for company. And later, how Peter said he didn’t know Him, denying Jesus three times. That had to have hurt. I thought about the universe’s most ultimate betrayal, Judas. I thought of Jesus saying to Judas, “What you must do, do quickly.” (John 13:27).

You see, Jesus KNEW Judas was going to betray Him, but He loved Judas perfectly anyway. That is a powerful model of love. If I knew I was going to be betrayed and rejected ahead of time, would I love the people all the same? I’m human but sinful and Jesus was human and sinless. Therefore I know I would not.

Jesus came to earth SO THAT He could feel these things with us. Did you know that? We focus on the salvation aspect of His time on earth and His sacrifice as the Lamb. But did you know that He is not only Messiah, but also High Priest? He was fully God and fully Man and He came to feel every emotion that we feel. Hebrews 2:17-18 says “For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”

He wanted to feel everything we feel so He could be the most faithful High Priest, not only to save us but to sympathize with us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now let that stop us for a moment. The God of the Universe poured Himself into human skin to live a full life, so that He could save us by dying, but before that, to feel what we feel as we are tempted.

When you are feeling lost, lonely, sad, rejected, tempted, betrayed, angry, bitter, or anything else, remember, that when we pray to Him, He is there. He knows. When we feel betrayed, He knows. He has been there. He serves God as our High Priest, interceding for us in a way that is fully empathetic. He is God, yet He came to us as fully human this so He could empathize with us in our times of sorrow. Are you not floored by knowing this?

Know this also, Psalm 56:8b- “Put my tears into Your bottle; Are they not in Your book?” He not only numbers the hairs on your head but sees and knows every tear shed in His name.

Psalm 34:18- “The LORD is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit.” So, just knowing He WILL do it, helps us until He does it. That is faith.

Are you crying in your own sorrows right now? This from Revelation 21:4 “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Your face may be wet today, but he will dry it Himself on that Day! Isn’t it worth the wait, and the tears, just knowing He will fulfill His promise to wipe them away with His own hand? If your tears feel large to you today, just imagine how small they will be when His hand erases them into oblivion and gives you perfect peace.

And finally, remember the Love chapter from 1 Corinthians 13. Love bears all things. Love means we have to open ourselves to people and love them, even knowing that rejection, betrayal, sadness and hurt will come along with that. We don’t like it, but Jesus said to choose this kind of love as an expression of the Gospel He came to proclaim. His hurt and betrayal was so monstrous, how can we then complain of ours? We cannot.

Begin praying for others. Pray for missionaries in places where their mission will bring them death. Converts in the dangerous places where their faith may bring them imprisonment or worse. Praying for others in worse circumstances helps us put our things into perspective; HIS perspective.

The key is to focus on Jesus. He is the lens through which all trials are put into proportion. He gives comfort and He gives a Kingdom perspective, of eternity. Prayer helps and prayer works, because the Spirit brings to mind his Word, and his Word is always the triumph over all. Why? It is the greatest love letter ever written, and relying on it through submission to and by the strength of the Spirit revives even the poorest, saddest child of Jesus.
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Posted in hide, tribulation

Americans leaving US in record numbers

Posted on by elizabethprata

Dissatisfaction breeds movement. A dissatisfied person is always on the move. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, and all. Isaiah 17:12 likens the sinful and the restless to tides and seas and rushing waters. “Alas, the uproar of many peoples Who roar like the roaring of the seas, And the rumbling of nations Who rush on like the rumbling of mighty waters!” He is even more succinct in verse 57:20: “But the wicked are like the tossing sea, For it cannot be quiet, And its waters toss up refuse and mud.”

In the ten years before I was saved, I spent it traveling over a large part of the world. I traveled in every kind of conveyance; car, Volkswagen camper, ice breaker ferry, yacht, plane, train, motorcycle. I went to nations in the north and south and east and west. I was looking for something, because my spirit was not quite settled. That is because I didn’t have Jesus.

One of the ideas I’d had while traveling was to look for another place to live. Maine wasn’t cutting it anymore. It was expensive, it was cold, it was unfriendly. To quote an old ballad, I wanted to be where the weather suited my clothes. Florida of course, was a possibility, as well as Texas. I also went to Canada, Mexico, Ecuador, Italy, France, England, Scotland, Bahamas, Monaco, and San Marino. I was looking, looking, searching for a place to call home. Ecuador offered possibilities, as well as the Bahamas and Italy. For a long time, the grass was greener.

In times of severe economic hardship, the tendency to search out another country to call home is compelling. The more people are dissatisfied here they want to go there. To and fro. ( “But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time; many will go back and forth, and knowledge will increase.” Daniel 12:4) People looking to escape government intrusion, or for a better exchange rate, or a rural or seaside peacefulness they don’t find in America are all quoted reasons I’ve heard to ditch America. Since times have been sooooo hard, the number of people looking to become expatriates, or expats for short, has increased tremendously, according to this news article:

Americans leaving US in record numbers
“Ever dream of leaving it all behind and heading out of America? You’re not the only one. A new study shows that more US citizens than ever before are living outside of the country. According to statistics from the US State Department, around 6.4 million Americans are either working or studying overseas, which Gallup says is the largest number ever for such statistic. The polling organization came across the number after conducting surveys in 135 outside nations and the information behind the numbers reveal that this isn’t exactly a longtime coming either — numbers have skyrocketed only in recent years.”

Apparently choosing to become an expatriate is on a lot of peoples’ minds. Michael T. Snyder asked the following question on his Economic blog:

What Is The Best Country In The World For Americans To Relocate To In Order To Avoid The Coming Economic Collapse?
“Millions of American citizens have already left the United States in search of a better life. As the economy continues to crumble and as our society slowly falls apart, millions of others are thinking about it. [T]hings have gone downhill so dramatically in the United States that picking up and moving to a foreign nation is being increasingly viewed as a viable alternative by millions of Americans. A lot of people have decided that they simply do not want to be in the United States when the excrement hits the fan. So what is the best country in the world for Americans to relocate to in order to avoid the coming economic collapse?”

The internet forums are abuzz with queries like these. Not just the conspiracy forums, but the vacation boards, and the financial forums are all talking about bug out bags, stocking up, and relocating. In normal times, these are valid bases from which to make a life change. But these are not normal times. Nor will they ever be again.

We are on the downward slide to decidedly NOT normal, but the people seeking relocation and expatriation don’t know that. A person can stock up, move, and hunker down all they want, but the times ahead are times where God will be directly intervening in the world. His eye misses nothing and no matter where you hide, He will find you, and His tribulation will find you. Amos 8:12 comes to mind also. “Men will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the LORD, but they will not find it.” Right now they are looking for a better exchange rate, but when the rubber really hits the road, they will finally wake up to the fact that they need the Word of the Lord. They will search everywhere but not be able to find it.

In Revelation 6:15-17 we read of the reaction of the peoples after the world’s greatest earthquake.

“Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

They know it is the LORD. The understand that it is His wrath. The perceive that there is nowhere they can hide, not even the deepest cave or under the rocks. There will be no bank account, no currency exchange, no stocked up basement that will save them. His wrath will fall on America, and Ecuador, Italy, Canada, Mexico, everywhere. There is no fleeing from the justice of God.

In Amos 9:2-3 we have a wrathful God pronouncing judgment on Israel, promising its destruction (but as always, not without blessing by the end).

“Though they dig down to the depths of the grave, from there my hand will take them. Though they climb up to the heavens, from there I will bring them down. And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them:”

In Carmel there is a series of caves. These are the ones referred to by Amos. Barnes Notes explains, “Through its caves (some say 1,000, some 2,000) with which it is perforated, whose entrance sometimes scarcely admits a single man; so close to each other, that a pursuer would not discern into which the fugitive had vanished; so serpentine within, that, “10 steps apart,” says a traveler, “we could hear each others’ voices, but could not see each other.”  “Carmel is perforated by a hundredfold greater or lesser clefts. Even in the garb of loveliness and richness, the majestic Mount, by its clefts, caves, and rocky battlements, excites in the wanderer who sees them for the first time, a feeling of mingled wonder and fear. A whole army of enemies, as of nature’s terrors, could hide themselves in these rock-clefts.” (photo source)

The caves have long been known to be a preferred location for robbers and fugitives.  Perhaps it is these very caves the Revelation verse is alluding. In the time of the Tribulation, after the church is raptured, every person on earth until or unless they are saved, is a fugitive. They will be hunted by Jesus in His great wrath and zeal for punishment. No cave, no matter how serpentine or deep, will allow any fugitive to escape.

In the Tribulation, there will be no such thing as an expatriate.
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Posted in bible jesus, prophecy, simeon

Simeon: A man of faith, a man of prophecy

Posted on by elizabethprata

During Christmas-time, there are so many wonderful verses to dwell on. Of course, the Annunciation, when Gabriel revealed to Virgin Mary that she was going to be with the Messiah child is a great set of verses to meditate on. Mary’s Magnificat, her prayerful praise to God after hearing the news, brings tears to my eyes. I also love the moment when Mary visited Elizabeth, and John the Baptist leapt in Elizabeth’s womb. The still, cold evening when the angels sang over the field of shepherds at the birth of Jesus is also beautiful. There are many. Luke1-2 is a good place to start.

But the moment in the temple after Jesus was born is often overlooked. Joseph and Mary came to the temple to fulfill their duties to God for having been gifted with a son. They were to make a sacrifice. As they entered, the following happened:

“And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law,  then he took Him into his arms, and blessed God, and said,

“Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace,
According to Your word;
For my eyes have seen Your salvation,
Which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
A LIGHT OF REVELATION TO THE GENTILES,
And the glory of Your people Israel.”

“And His father and mother were amazed at the things which were being said about Him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed— and a sword will pierce even your own soul—to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” (Luke 2:25-35)

Simeon. There are so many scriptural riches to be plumbed here. First, he was a righteous man. He had great faith, so great, the Lord blessed him. What was the reason for his faith? He was looking for the “consolation of Israel”, in other words, the Messiah. The Old Testament people had faith that the promised Messiah would come. The New Testament people (us) have faith that He has come. It is the same faith, just different timing.

The knowledge that Simeon had laid eyes on Messiah must have been a great moment of grace for Simeon. The promise that had come by the Spirit that Simeon would live to see Him had been fulfilled! What a great testament to the surety of the Lord’s promises! And Simeon showed us by his prayer asking to now be released from this life, having had set eyes on the ‘consolation of Israel’, tells us what a great man of faith that Simeon was. He literally lived for the coming of the Savior!

Notice Simeon’s prayer. It is all about Jesus and God’s plan for His people. Simeon was not looking for the Messiah just for himself. I heard a snippet of a sermon this week about the manger. In it, the person preaching the Lord’s coming talked of the manger and the poverty and humility of our Lord being born there. The person speaking these things then went on to make the scriptures be about us, our “manger moments”, our poverty, our disappointments. Be aware of that kind of preaching. Taking what is supposed to be about Jesus and making it about us. Simeon’s prayer is a wonderful, refreshing, proper prayer- because it is about Jesus in praise and devotion.

Then Simeon gives an oft-overlooked prophecy. He said that the opposition to Jesus would be for a sign. That many would rise and fall, and that Mary’s own heart would be pierced to the soul. And finally, that the thoughts of many would be revealed. That is what LIGHT does, it reveals. Jesus the Light was coming in His ministry to seek and save the lost. One of the things he was seeking and saving the lost from is the gross, outward displays of religiosity, in order to renew the personal relationship God wanted to have with His people and making an inward change toward repentance and growth in Jesus.

Now Simeon’s prophecy about opposition and swords and piercing must have been troubling to Mary and Joseph, to say the least. They knew they were carrying the Messiah, Gabriel told Mary, the other angel told Joseph, Elizabeth confirmed it. Zacharias confirmed it, and now Simeon and then Anna. But swords? Trouble? Piercing? Very stomach-clenching indeed.

Jesus said in Luke 12:49-53 that He comes to divide. That is what truth does, Jesus is so precise His truth can separate spirit from soul. “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12).

Simeon was living in apostate times. The Pharisees and Saducees and Scribes had made God into a terrible thing with their perversion of the Law to their own glory. Romans were oppressing the people, it was difficult to practice their faith in truth because truth was hard to find. But Simeon persevered in devoutness and righteousness. That means Simeon had been declared by God to be righteous, a person doesn’t achieve that for themselves. So Simeon was living in the deepest of the dark times just before Jesus began to preach 30 years later. Yet he had faith.

We are living in dark times now too. Our faith is perverted by false doctrines, we are surrounded by falsity. Many of us look up to see if our Redemption draws nigh. Simeon was a special man to have been told that he would not die before he had seen the coming One. Are we the generation that was told we will not pass away before all these things come to pass? (Mt 24:34). May it be so.

Let Jesus divide out the falsity in you and let His pureness and goodness remain. Let you be on the rise and not on the fall, having your heart presented to Him who judges its thoughts, and be declared righteous because of your faith in the Consolation of Israel – who is also the Consolation of the world!
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Posted in aflockalypse, bird die off, crow deaths

(UPDATE) Crow die-off in India reminds people of Aflockalpyse earlier this year

Posted on by elizabethprata

Originally published 12/12/11, I am updating to include another bird die-off: Thousands of grebes crash land in Wal-Mart parking lot in Utah, inexplicably. The article opens: “Authorities were shocked to find more than 4,000 birds scattered across a local Utah Wal-Mart parking lot on Monday night. According to CBS affiliate KUTV in Salt Lake City, Utah, witnesses claimed thousands of the creatures had crash-landed in the parking area. At least 1,500 Eared Grebes, a duck-like aquatic bird, which slammed into the pavement were dead. Fortunately, Utah Department of Wildlife Resource officials and volunteers were able to rescue up to 3,000 of the large flock.” The article says that the birds mistook the parking lot for a body of water. Um. Sure… Wildlife biologists did say this has happened before but never to this degree, with thousands mistaking the parking lot for water.
——-end update————-

When I heard of a spate of sudden bird deaths, with crows suddenly dropping dead to the ground, I made sure to look at the dateline. Was I having deja vu? I remember sudden avian deaths last year at this time. In late December /early January thousands of birds dropped dead in Beebe Arkansas. Experts initially thought that it was New Year’s fireworks that caused the deaths. However those deaths were followed by mysterious deaths in Louisiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, then Turkey,  Manchester UK, and then many other parts of the world. By the end of the first week of January 2011, the event was known as “Aflockalypse” and was being reported by mainstream news. Reasons given were sudden cold spells, fireworks, or magnetism from a sunburst. Avian flu is always a go-to excuse as well. Yet none of the birds had been found to be diseased and the other offered reasons for their deaths seemed to ludicrous to most thinking people.

At that time, the die-offs extended then to fish, seals, and pelicans and throughout January and February people across the world were panicking at this unexplained event. Then the bird and animal die-offs dwindled away, the earthquakes of Christchurch and Japan happened, and the extreme weather of 2011 combined with staggering economic problems soon were at the forefront of people’s minds for the remainder of the year. Now, the bird deaths are back. Perhaps this time it is Avian flu. Time will tell.

Two Indian media outlets are reporting a bird-die off in Hazaribagh, India. One is below from Telegraph India and the other is from Times of India reporting the same thing. I looked up the dateline and this is a current news story, not one that happened in the early part of this year’s Aflockalypse. It may wind up to have an explanation, but the event still brings many people back 11 months to January 2011 and Aflockalypse, and there is once again, panic.

The Telegraph India reports today, “Crow deaths create panic“
“The mysterious epidemic that has claimed hundreds of crows in Jharkhand has now spread to Hazaribagh, with 350-odd scavengers perishing in Vishnugarh and Katkamsandi over the weekend, triggering panic among residents who have been advised by experts not to touch the carcasses. More than 1,000 crows have died in Jamshedpur alone in the past one and a half months, besides a number of deaths in Ghatshila and Giridih. According to villagers, the carcasses of around 250 crows have been spotted in the last two days on the premises of Ram Mandir in Vishnugarh. Mukhiya of Vishnugarh panchayat Arun Rajak said he had informed forest officials about the deaths. Forester Shiv Shankar Prasad suspected that the crows fell prey to avian flu. … Sher Mohammad, a resident, feared it was an indication of something worse. “Villagers are in panic, seeing crows drop dead on the ground suddenly. We have spotted around 100 carcasses in various places so far,” he added.”
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Posted in apocalypse, pope, revelation

Pope highlights Mary’s role as ‘woman of the apocalypse’. Too bad the bible doesn’t.

Posted on by elizabethprata

Well. This is certainly very interesting. The Catholic News Agency on December 8 published the following news piece:

Pope highlights Mary’s role as ‘woman of the apocalypse’
Pope Benedict XVI reflected on the biblical description of a “woman clothed with the sun” in his remarks at Rome’s Spanish Steps on the 2011 Feast of the Immaculate Conception. “What is the meaning of this image? It represents the Church and Our Lady at the same time,” the Pope told the crowd assembled before the nearby statue commemorating the 1854 definition of Mary’s Immaculate Conception. “Before all, the ‘woman’ of the apocalypse is Mary herself.” The 12th chapter of the Biblical Apocalypse – also known as the Book of Revelation – describes the glorification and persecution of “a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.” Though not named, this woman is described as the mother of the Messiah. In poetic language akin to the Bible’s other prophetic books, Saint John says she faced the threat of “a huge red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns,” and “fled into the desert where she had a place prepared by God.”

The Pope is welcome to his interpretation, but since the Catholic Church has misrepresented so much else (hell/purgatory, Mary as perpetual virgin, Mary ascended sinless to heaven, indulgences, justification by works, saint worship and more) then let us view with skepticism that Pope Benedict is right about the woman of Revelation being Mary. If she is not, then what is the more proper exegetical view of the woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head? (Revelation 12:1b).

The woman is not the Church. The woman is Israel.

Remember the dream Joseph had in Genesis 37:9? “And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.” The 12 tribes of Israel were borne through Jacob, his father. The stars refer to the twelve tribes of Israel.

Further, she is giving birth to Messiah. “While it is true that Mary gave birth to Jesus, it is also true that Jesus, the son of David from the tribe of Judah, came from Israel. In a real sense, Israel gave birth—or brought forth—Christ Jesus. Further evidence for this is in 12:5 where the Scripture says that the woman “gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne.” Clearly, this is describing Jesus.” (Source GotQuestions.org)

The lessons here are several. First, even when a supposed spiritual authority makes an interpretation, it may not be correct. Be a Berean and search these things out for yourself. Paul was a spiritual authority, taught by the risen Jesus Himself but still applauded the Bereans for checking what he said against scripture. (Acts 17:11). He called them noble for doing it.

Second, scripture interprets scripture. That may not mean that one verse has to be next to the other in order to give fuller meaning to an understanding. Joseph had his dream in Genesis and the woman is mentioned again in Revelation. But scripture tells us if we appeal to the Holy Spirit for understanding, He will give it without rebuke. (James 1:5).

Third, the Catholic Church is almost obsessively focused on Mary and not nearly enough on Jesus. The lesson here is to make sure to give your focus and attention on the proper spiritual center of the universe, Jesus, in Whom all things hold together. (Col 1:17). It is not by any other name we are saved. (Acts 4:12).

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Posted in cern, large hadron collider, lhc, tower of babel

God is in a particle, or is He?

Posted on by elizabethprata

The physicists under the Alps at a lab called CERN built a machine to enable them to smash particles that will allegedly replicate the moments after the universe was created, an event they call the Big Bang. They say, if they can find this particle, it will prove everything. The particle is the Higgs Boson and its existence has eluded scientists ever since they theorized it four decades ago. The particle is supposed to carry all the mass in matter, and if found to exist would be the basis for all understanding of how the universe works. That is what they call it the “God particle”. The Higgs Boson is allegedly the glue that holds the universe together.

If it is proven to exist, it would provide a bridge across a previously unscalable chasm between the theories of the macro (General Relativity) and the theories of the micro, (Quantum Mechanics) which currently don’t resolve. Here is the Jamaica Observer’s summary of the current excitement from CERN:

“THE world of physics is bubbling with excitement this weekend as scientists await news about the discovery of what some call “The God Particle”. The Higgs boson, a sub-atomic particle that is thought to carry all the mass in ordinary matter, has eluded the boffins (persons engaged in scientific or technical research) since it was proposed nearly half a century ago. But speculation is raging across the Internet that Cern — the European particle physics laboratory that has the world’s largest atom smasher — is about to announce that it has evidence, if not conclusive proof, of the existence of the Higgs. The Higgs, if it has emerged for the first time in Geneva, Switzerland, could help to unify the two great physics theories of the 20th century.”

Einstein hated quantum physics. The Standard Model of physics attempts to resolve all theories into a theory where all actions (whether at the macro or the micro) are harmonized. You see, Einstein had a problem. He hated the emergence of Quantum Physics because the two were not harmonized, but actually were opposed to each other. Einstein spent the rest of his life alternately trying to disprove Quantum Physics or to harmonize the two into his Theory of Everything. To this end, he famously said, “I want to know God’s thoughts, all the rest are details.” In the BBC documentary summary about Einstein’s last days, they wrote, “Einstein’s work was underpinned by the idea that the laws of physics were an expression of the divine. This belief led him to think that everything could be described by simple, elegant mathematics and moreover, that once you knew these laws you could describe the universe with absolute accuracy.”

So by now the CERN particle smashing experiment is concluded and the scientists have been assiduously examining the results. The first surprising result that came out in September is that it seemed that particles can travel at a speed faster than light, something Albert Einstein’s theory of Special Relativity said they cannot do.

A second result is that it seems the scientific community is abuzz with some evidence, if  not conclusive proof, that the God Particle does exist. The Daily Mail’s headline, ‘Significant progress’ made in search for God particle: CERN announcement ignites storm of excitement among physicists doesn’t even come close to the recording palpable excitement of these scientists finding what they call the Holy Grail of particle physics.

So how does this all fit in with bible prophecy? In a couple of ways. The first is a reference back to Einstein’s comment that he wanted to know God’s thoughts, and that He doesn’t play dice with the universe. Einstein overtly thought that if he could find the theories that harmonize it all, he will have found God. God is an orderly God and He does things in an orderly fashion. Einstein was right in that God created the universe and that He controls it. Einstein was wrong in thinking that man could find the key to the theories that will produce God in a neat box and that man will then know all that God does. It doesn’t work that way. If man could understand the universe with “absolute accuracy” as Einstein thought, then man would be equal to God. Though Einstein overtly said and believed these things, the other scientists such as the ones at CERN also believe this. Or else they would not be looking for God in a particle.

Einstein had it backward, as the prophecy said man would. In 2 Timothy 3:7 we are told that in the last perilous days, man will be “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. …But they will not make further progress; for their folly will be obvious to all, just as Jannes’s and Jambres’s folly was also.” Einstein was always in search of the truth of the universe, which God made, but that he and the other scientists want to remake in their image. How could Einstein come that close but never truly see God, which is Jesus in man’s form? The prophecy said it would be so. Ever learning, never able to come to knowledge of what will save a man…Einstein wanted to know God’s thoughts, but those thoughts are already written down for us in the bible, not in a scientific theory. Science shows God’s mind, but learning science doesn’t prove God.

The second biblical principle we can learn from this is one that is seen in Genesis 11. In only two chapters after the flood and the covenant of the rainbow, man was at it again. In verses 1-9 we read of the Tower of Babel affair. The men led by Nimrod had decided to build a city, as Cain had built a city before the flood. Man was not ready to live in a city together, as evidenced today by the fact that man still does not do well living in close proximity to other men. It is God’s intention to build the city for men (New Jerusalem.)

The most famous verse about this affair is the one from Genesis 11:4 , “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

Genesis 10 describes a scattered people and mentions their tribal languages, so the scattering and linguistic diversity had already begun. It is man who resisted God in staying together, and further, they knew it. We also see that the purpose of the tower was religious, they acknowledged God but wanted to remake Him in their own image and on their own terms. This most devastating motive is revealed in the part of the verse, “let us make a name for ourselves.” In sum the Tower of Babel was a sham, mentioning God but in fact sweeping Him aside to pursue man’s name.

I consider CERN’s Large Hadron Collider the modern Tower of Babel. It is a monumental effort mentioning God but in fact sweeping Him aside to pursue man’s name. I’ve written about the Large Hadron Collider at CERN many times, most pointedly in June 2010 in likening it to the Tower of Babel in an article titled “The Sound of Symphony, or Blasphemy?” where the scientists in pursuit of what the God particle looks like, were also attempting to see what the God particle sounds like.

This Tower of Babel attitude is captured in theoretical physicist Michio Kaku’s statements in 2007. At that time, he hosted BBC4’s science documentary series “Visions of the Future.” Of the series, Dr. Kaku said, “we are entering an empowered new era: “We have unlocked the secrets of matter. … “We will have the power to animate the inanimate, the power to create life itself,” says Dr. Kaku. “We will have the power of gods.” In the series, Dr Kaku extols the virtues of man’s soon-ability to have ‘mastery over matter’. Yet, God is the only Being with that ultimate ability and no matter how much we learn, we are not gods.

Just as in the days of the Tower of Babel, when God “came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built” (Genesis 11:5) and thus dramatically and directly intervened, we are also told that when the full number of the church is reached (Romans 11:25) He will personally and dramatically intervene again, calling His bride to Him and then begin the judgments of the remaining people.

Of God’s statement in Gen 11:6, “And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do,” Barnes Notes explains, “In like simplicity is depicted the self-willed, God-defying spirit of combination and ambition which had now budded in the imagination of man. … Now that they have made this notable beginning of concentration, ambition, and renown, there is nothing in this way which they will not imagine or attempt.”

“The Higgs boson is often referred to these days as “the God particle” after the title of Leon Lederman’s book, “The God Particle: If the Universe Is the Answer, What Is the Question?” Lederman initially wanted to call it the “goddamn particle,” but his editor wouldn’t let him.” Well thank goodness for that. The Higgs boson is theorized to be the “force carrier” of the Higgs field — a field believed by physicists to permeate the entire Universe. Yet Jesus is the glue that holds the universe together. (Colossians 1:17). And to answer Mr Lederman’s provocatively titled paper, here is the question, do you believe you are a sinner who needs to appeal to the resurrected Jesus for forgiveness of those sins in order to escape the just wrath that will befall you?

Is the Large Hadron Collider a horizontal Tower that pokes into the universe, sweeping God Himself aside in pursuit of making a name for ourselves? I think so. And we know what happened last time. I am all for science. I love it and I love the intellectual pursuit of answers to the deeper questions of the earth, planets, universe and subatomic worlds God has made. God is not against that either, because look how much man has learned by His allowance and through His hand on the smarter scientists and inventors! But when the Tower of Babel attitude prevails, when we forget God in the process, that is when things get sticky for men. And I believe that man is on the cusp of that Tower of Babel attitude, of sweeping God aside to think we have become our own gods, able to manipulate the universe through our own mastery to our own ends. Maybe it is a goddamn particle after all.
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