Posted in Annihilationist, false doctrine, wider mercy

Two options: heaven, or hell

Posted on by elizabethprata

It is pretty simple. There are only two options, accept the Lord’s offer of pardon for sins by repenting and gain heaven, or refuse it and gain hell and eternal judgment. Stay strong. I have observed that the longer people go in Christianity the wobblier they get on the basics. Some of them. For example, here are three quotes from people in their unscriptural beliefs which you may not be aware. Who said it? None of these are from Rob Bell or Joel Osteen or ‘May 21, 2011 rapture guy’ Harold Camping. The answers may surprise you.

This first quote speaks of Annihilationist doctrine, the doctrine that Hell is not eternal and punishment does not happen-
1. “Scripture points in the direction of annihilation, and that ‘eternal conscious torment’ is a tradition which has to yield to the supreme authority of Scripture.”

2. “All who live a just life will be saved even if they do not believe in Jesus Christ … “The gospel teaches us that those who live in accordance with the Beatitudes… ‘the poor in spirit, the pure of heart, those who bear lovingly the sufferings of life’ will enter God’s kingdom.”

3. “…there’s the Body of Christ. This comes from all the Christian groups around the world, outside the Christian groups. I think everybody that loves Christ, or knows Christ, whether they’re conscious of it or not, they’re members of the Body of Christ … And that’s what God is doing today, He’s calling people out of the world for His name, whether they come from the Muslim world, or the Buddhist world, or the Christian world, or the non-believing world, they are members of the Body of Christ, because they’ve been called by God. They may not even know the name of Jesus, but they know in their hearts that they need something that they don’t have, and they turn to the only light that they have, and I think they are saved, and that they’re going to be with us in heaven.”

These are the people who said it:
1. Prominent and influential Evangelist John R.W. Stott, in the book, Essentials pp. 306-326, discussed here.
2. Pope John Paul II, the pope everyone liked.
3.Billy Graham, American evangelist

Are you surprised that Billy Graham, the world’s most famous evangelist, thinks that Muslims who don’t know Christ are in the body of Christ? That people who live a good life with a longing heart knowing they vaguely ‘need something they don’t have’, will meet Jesus as his friend? I listened to the interview where Graham said that. He went on to say that his ‘views had softened with age’, that he ‘used to be more fiery and brimstone-like’, but he’d ‘mellowed’. I think that his statement and his mellowing are a good example of “familiarity breeds contempt” – contempt for God’s holiness, that is! If there is no hell, there is no justice. If there is acceptance of one and all into the Kingdom it means Christ died for nothing!

People who enter the kingdom not knowing Jesus as Graham stated, makes a lie of this verse: ““Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’  And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” (Mt 7:21-23). You HAVE to know Jesus.

It also means, if you believe as Graham does, when Jesus says “I am THE way, THE truth and THE life,” He lied. He did not say that ‘I am the way among many other ways that you can try,’ No, there is no possibility of this position being true. Jesus does not lie. Thank God that there IS a way! It is a good way, bought at a tremendous price, but He extends it to us at only the cost of our repentance.

People who believe that hell isn’t eternal and that there is a way to heaven aside from Jesus suffer from one problem: a high view of sin and a low view of His holiness. It is simple. It all boils down to sin, holiness, repentance and eternal justice for the unrepentant. It began with sin in Genesis 3, it ends with sin in Revelation 20:11-15 at the Great White Throne judgment of sinners for all time. Sin-judgment-repentance-salvation, that is the foundation of His work in the world. Period.

Be careful of incremental chipping away of your faith and belief in the foundational doctrines Jesus taught us in the bible. There is one way to heaven. It is narrow. “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.” Stay praying and stay in the Word and stay being built up by brethren at regular worship services! It is a dangerous time for us all, spiritually.

“The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life…. He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” (Rev 22:17, 20)

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Posted in cumbre vieja, el hierro, end of days, iran, prophecy, volcano

Friday This and That

Posted on by elizabethprata

Confused about prophetic end time events? This 7-part video series, 10 min each, is scripturally accurate and enlightening. Prepare to be educated AND convicted. “The End Time“

Earthquakes this week, 6.1 mag in Russia far east // 6.7 in Papua New Guinea as per United States Geological survey. All eyes are on the volcano at El Hierro, though, which presents a more interesting seismic dilemma. As Professor Erik Klemetti said on his eruptions blog in the essay “Update on the Submarine Eruptions at El Hierro” he wrote that it was “the first eruption in the Canaries in 40 years and the first at El Hierro in possibly 2500 years. After months of preamble, it now looks like two eruptions occurred, both submarine, in depths of a few hundred meters.” What makes this especially interesting is that the island is near the other island in the Canaries chain, La Palma, on which is the infamous Cumbre Vieja volcano. These subsea eruptions are really interesting because of the geologic forecast at nearby Cumbre Vieja. Cumbre Vieja is currently the most volcanically active of the Canary Isles. During the 1949 eruption, three vents—Duraznero, San Juan and Hoyo Negro—opened and lava was erupted. Also during the eruption two earthquakes occurred with epicentres near Jedey. Following the earthquakes a fracture approximately two and half kilometres long, about 1/10 of the exposed length of the Cumbre Vieja, opened and parts of the western half of the Cumbre Vieja ridge moved about 1 metre sideways and 2 metres downwards towards the Atlantic Ocean. (source)

Several geologists have hypothesized that during an eruption at Cumbre Vieja at some future time, the western half of the Cumbre Vieja will catastrophically fail in a massive gravitational landslide and enter the Atlantic Ocean, generating a ‘mega-tsunami’ wiping out the eastern seaboard of the US. A BBC documentary called End Day and a Time Magazine article both followed up on the hypothesis.

With the volcanic eruptions and the seismic activity at the adjacent island, and the attendant rare subsea quakes this week at Bermuda and Iceland, interest in the Cumbre Vieja mega-tsunami hypothesis have picked up again. From a biblical point of view, I personally find this interesting because at some point the judgments will include a quake so bad that all the islands flee away. (Rev 16:20). More specifically, in Revelation 8:8-9 we are told this will happen: “The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.” A lava-flowing volcanic eruption at Cumbre Vieja could fit that description of a ‘mountain, all ablaze’, sliding into the sea, causing a third of the ships to sink in the resultant mega-tsunami.

In still other volcanic news, Iceland Volcano Katla Sparks Fears of Travel Chaos. Remember last year the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull erupted and Russian, European and American air travel ground to a  halt? Well, Katla is worse.

The news reports this week that there is only one Jewish person left in Afghanistan, according to the US State Department.

Science thinks it has figured out a computer program to tell us who wrote the Torah. And it ain’t Moses. “Ghostwriting the Torah.”

Iran and the US broke off diplomatic relations after the revolution of 1979 and currently talk minimally between the mediator of Pakistan. However, the recent plot by the Iranian Quds Guard fomented in Mexico to assassinate the Saudi ambassador on US soil was revealed this week. It is a dangerous escalation of the tensions in the Middle East and here on our own soil, and so the US Administration considers it an act of terrorism. The two nations took the unusual step this week of meeting to talk about it face to face. Remember, Iran is a major military aggressor in attacking Israel in the last days as Ezekiel 38-39 show.

The economic outlook isn’t much better as we closed on the fourth quarter. Bloomberg is reporting that more than dozen banks may get downgraded. UBS AG, Lloyds Banking Group Plc and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc had long-term issuer default grades cut by Fitch Ratings, which put more than a dozen other lenders on watch negative as part of a global review. revelation 13:1`5-17 shows that at the time of the tribulation the economy is completely revamped and managed by one person: the antichrist.

This was a very thought provoking essay on “How Steve Jobs and Christ defeated death and preached the gospel.“

Want some good news? As a girl was finishing top placement in her spelling bee, her soldier dad walks in, surprising her from Afghanistan. Heartwarming. With video.

Like cats? Here is a short video of funny cats in water.

Like earth’s beauty in reverence to our Creator? See 60 stunning satellite photos of the earth.

Have a good weekend everyone. I hope you find yourself a good and solid bible believing church to attend, and there, can praise the Savior with all joy.

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Posted in bible, God

What’s in a name?

Posted on by elizabethprata

What is in a name indeed. If you ever had a child you know the importance of naming the child a name that fits with the family, is consistent with (hopefully) the child’s character, and doesn’t rile up or offend relatives hoping to have their name go into the next generation, lol.

I was named Elizabeth, and my mother made much of that. She said it was after Queen Elizabeth (the first or the second, the story changed). I always liked Elizabeth. She often said how hard it was to get the family to call me by my full name and not a nickname. It turned out that it was a losing battle, because growing up, I was Beth. When I went away to college I introduced myself to people as Elizabeth and the name stayed that way.

As I grew older I looked into the origin of the name. What did it mean? What was its history? There were several biblical references to Elizabeth, all of which perplexed me, because I wasn’t religious at all. In some interpretations, Elizabeth- Elisheba or Elisheva in Hebrew- appears in the Old Testament where Elisheba is the wife of Aaron, while the Greek form appears in the New Testament where Elizabeth is the mother of John the Baptist. It means “God’s promise,” or “I am God’s daughter.” In other interpretations it meant “Consecrated to God.” That one confused me most of all. I was far, far from God and certainly not set aside for a specific religious purpose, which is the definition of consecrated.

I often used to muse about that, why I was named something that meant I’d be set aside to perform a certain religious purpose, when I had no religion and didn’t ever see myself getting one. I used to think, “Ho, that is a big miss!”

Names are important in the bible. In the bible there are certain individuals where the expectant parents are told by a messenger angel from God what to name the child. Specifically named people who come immediately to mind are John the Baptist (Luke 1:13), and of course Jesus. (Luke 1:31).

There are individuals who were specifically renamed by God. Abram was renamed Abraham by God (Gen 17:5). Abram, meaning ‘Father is exalted’ was changed to ‘father of myriads.’ Jacob was renamed Israel by God (Gen 32:28). Jacob meant heel or deceit, and was changed to “to prevail” to become great in number. And of course, Sarai was renamed Sarah by God (Gen 17:15). This renaming usually indicated the start of a covenant with God.

Saul was also known as Paul the Apostle (AKA Acts 13:9) but was not renamed as far as I can tell in the biblical record. He was Saul, known also as Paul. Simon was given an additional name of Peter by Jesus (Mt 16:18) but was referred to as Simon, Peter, and Simon Peter throughout the bible at various times and not specifically renamed. Peter which means ‘rock’ in Greek was a reminder to Simon of how God wanted his behavior to be.

Some people were given nicknames. Barnabas, Paul’s helper and also an apostle (Acts 14:14), was given the name Joseph at birth. He was so encouraging though that he was given the nickname Son of Encouragement. (Acts 4:36). How wonderful to be known in the biblical record for all eternity as so helpful that his very nature was reflected in his nickname. As for James and John, “These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter), James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means “sons of thunder”)…” (Mark 3:16-17). Sons of Thunder is another way of saying ‘hotheads’, lol.

As I mentioned, the giving of a new name usually meant the beginning of a new covenant, as evidenced by Abram, Sarai, and Jacob’s new names. This thought is carried through to eternity, when in Revelation 2:17 we are given a new name by Jesus that only we will know. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.”

So for 42 years I wondered about my name. What it meant, why it had religious overtones, and whether God had anything to do with me ending up with the name I was given. For many years I thought that I could not be further from God if I tried, and I liked it that way. Yet at age 42 what He knew all along came true for me, that I was set aside for a certain religious purpose and I did become God’s daughter. I believe the Lord impressed upon my parents to give me this name. I am so glad that no sin, no distance, and no time period can be too wide or too deep or too long to separate us from Him if we repent. I enjoyed my name for secular reasons and now that I’m saved I enjoy it all the more for His reasons. I am looking forward to being renamed in eternity, too.

You can have a new name if you repent. The first new name will be “Child of God” and “Friend of God” instead of ‘enemy of God.’ He might rename you or you might get a nickname that suits the purposes He has outlined for you. Or you might grow into your name once and for all. The point is, He has a purpose for you and it is a good purpose. His yoke is easy and His burden is light (Matthew 11:30). Jesus is love and He is also your Father ready and eager at you being born again, so much so, that He wants to give you a name He has picked out Himself. “I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth; Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.” (Isaiah 43:6-7)

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Posted in judgment, occupy wall street, sin

Occupy Wall Street: The Entitlement Generation

Posted on by elizabethprata

In 2008, Obama got elected and the economy crashed. Both of those events’ later dissections showed us that there was rampant voter fraud, and rampant government and banking fraud. People may become disappointed when their favored candidate loses, but overall acceptance of the system remains intact for one important reason: they trust it.

In 2009 people started to get angry. Their trust that though the people within the system may be flawed, the overall system is a good one was being tested. Scandals from Lehman Brothers in the form of outrageous bonuses and handouts and bailouts, to other banking institutions’ revelations of rampant corruption, mortgage fraud, insurance fraud, nepotism and favoritism, and general malfeasance took root as a germ of anger in the American psyche. We don’t mind the rich getting richer, as long as they do it fairly. The American Dream was still alive, then.

As more news came out about these things, the American people began to get really angry. CNBC Pundit Rick Santelli seemed to capture the spark of anger and ignite it in his soon to be dubbed “Shout Heard Round the World” a reference to the phrase “The Shot heard Round the World” regarding the historical events at Lexington and Concord which ignited the American Revolution.

Santelli’s rant was 4 minutes of reverberating truth that captured the hard feelings about the injustice and corruption in the American system of governance and finance, and it sparked the Tea Party. For the first time, Americans began to think of a wholesale, instant change to the system, rather than incremental change from within the system. Protests were ongoing from 2009 to 2010.

Then in 2011 a series of other protests started, called “Occupy Wall Street.” Occupy Wall Street is an ongoing series of demonstrations in New York City based in Zuccotti Park, formerly “Liberty Plaza Park”. The protest was originally called for by the Canadian activist group Adbusters; some compare the activity to the Arab Spring movement (particularly the Tahrir Square protests in Cairo, which initiated the 2011 Egyptian revolution). (source Wikipedia).

The suspicion of the inherent corruption in the system had morphed to overt anger and calls for violence, something the Tea Party had never ventured so far as to do. The Occupy Wall Street (OWS) anger is evidently deepening, while at the same time, the focus of the anger is widening from mail in a tea bag to Congress to illustrate that it is still the people in charge, to peaceful protests at known locations against big government, to the OWS general mayhem of protesting against social and economic inequality, corporate greed, and the influence of corporate money and lobbyists on government, among other concerns. Many other concerns.

The OWS protests have been characterized by arrests, poor judgment, and violence and calls for violence. They are growing, and the world leaders are taking notice, as the Washington Post reports. The protests have grown in scope and momentum over the last 3 and a half weeks, spreading across the US and now to other nations.

Speaking of divergent demands, in an ongoing series in the National Review on the Occupy Wall Street protests, the latest posting shows us this:
An Occupy Wall Street protester wants college paid for because that’s what he wants.
“But nothing had prepared me for meeting this gentleman, who wants his college paid for because, well . . . that’s what he wants. He has perfectly articulated a sentiment I have heard repeatedly but was struggling to distill with anything like the clarity he achieved: That being that if there is something someone doesn’t like about their life, someone else somewhere should change it. And if they don’t, well then, the American Dream is dead:”

Though we know that in the Tribulation, peace will be taken from the earth, (Revelation 6:4), and that the very wealthy will live in gross luxury while most of the world starves, (Rev 18), there is a deeper root for the current OWS protests. The Christian Post explains:

“Like most protests, the Occupy Wall Street folks are better at identifying something that is wrong than identifying a way forward that is right. But even if the protesters don’t understand much about financial economics, they have a clear sense that something is wrong. That something, however, lies deeper than the behavior of a relative handful of Wall Street moguls. That something, I believe, is a sense of material entitlement that has crept into the American psyche. This sense of material entitlement has infected our personal choices, our politics, and our financial system.”

“The crisis has spiritual roots. Jesus warns his followers, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions” (Luke 12:15, NIV). But a syncretistic form of Christianity has emerged in our country, a syncretism that mingles genuine New Testament Christianity with the consumer materialism of the American Dream.”

The reality is, ““In America, you are the 99%, but in the rest of the world, you are still the 1%,” reads one image that’s been making the rounds, juxtaposing the protesters with starving African children. … “As it turns out, the bottom 99 percent of the United States doesn’t make the top 1 percent of household incomes worldwide — but it comes surprisingly close. Branko Milanovic, lead economist for the World Bank research group, sent me this comparative analysis based on household income or consumption surveys worldwide, adjusted for purchasing power differences. Those at the 34th percentile of income in the United States are at the 90th percentile globally, and those at the 50th percentile in the United States are at the 93rd percentile globally. Even the very poorest Americans — those at the 2nd percentile of income in the United States — are at the 62nd percentile globally.”

In other words, by world standards, we are rich, even the poorest of us. Yet we want what we want. Like that young man in the video above idling his time away at the protests with a hand made sign asking someone to pay his tuition.

That mindset is not one which sacrifices for others, as the bible calls us to do. That mindset is opposed to the notion that we are poor in spirit and not worthy of anything good except what God in His grace gives us from above. It is the result of a corrupt American spirit rejecting Christianity because Christianity doesn’t give us anything and expects us to give what we have to others. The bible is clear that God does not promise ease to us. The notion of love under trying circumstances, giving, sacrificing, and humility is at odds with what we see on the streets these days. The nobility of a Christian character being purified through a Godly life is anathema to American entitlement culture today.

However, the last shall be first. The persevering will find satisfaction. The troubled will be eased. The tearful shall weep no more. “Shout for joy, you heavens; rejoice, you earth; burst into song, you mountains! For the LORD comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.” (Is 49:13).

Entitlements. Pfffft. I’m only entitled to judgment and hell for my crimes against Jesus. But He pardoned them at the cross and rose again to extend that pardon to me. I believed on Him and now have been adopted into the family of God.

These protests may or may not spark a Second American Revolution, but we know for sure that the Tribulation will bring sin to the fore, and will be rife with violence as peace is taken from the earth. By His grace all believers can remain apart from the corruption of the world, knowing in secure promise that we will one day be living in a perfectly just, pure, and wholesome system of finance, governance and lifestyle for all eternity.

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Posted in repent, science

Two thoughts

Posted on by elizabethprata

“Remember, science, and scientific findings, do not make the bible true. Scripture is always true. It never needs verification. Scientific support of the scripture only means that the science is true, because we know that the scripture already is. My advice to any scientist is to always make sure that his findings coincide with God’s word.”

~From the movie Time Changer. I wholeheartedly agree with that statement. Also, good movie BTW.

Jesus is coming soon to establish His kingdom. He can only accept perfect people into the kingdom, people without sin. Since none of us is perfect and without sin, no, not one, God sent His only begotten Son to come to earth and die in our place. Jesus is the sacrifice to pay the penalty for the judgment we would have gotten for our sin. All we need to do is believe in Jesus as the sacrifice, perfect and sinless, and the only One able to forgive us our sins. We will then be able to enter the kingdom and be with Jesus in joy forever.

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Posted in christian persecution, copts, Obama

Bolton: Obama Calls For Restraint From Egyptian Christians As They’re Being Killed

Posted on by elizabethprata

http://www.mrctv.org/embed/106413
Originally on Breitbart. Ambassador Bolton said:

“This will come as news to the Coptic Christians that they’re supposed to exercise restraint. They’re being attacked, they’re the ones being victimized both by mobs of fellow Egyptian citizens who are Muslims and by the government.”

Ambassador Bolton said that in the last year 100,000 Coptic Christians have fled Egypt. The violence is terrible and tonight’s remarks by Obama leave me at a loss. But I’m not without Hope, because I have Jesus, and He is in control.

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Posted in el hierro, volcano

Possible Subsea Volcanic Eruption Underway Near El Hierro (Canary Islands)

Posted on by elizabethprata

Irish Weather Online is always johnny on the spot when it comes to weather and other natural events. They had reported this weekend that there were several rare, subsea earthquakes near Iceland, home to Eyja, Katla and Hekla volcanoes.

There has been an uptick in the subsea quakes in the region near Iceland. “The European Mediterranean Seismological Center (EMSC) has recorded at least eight subsea earthquakes about 850 kilometres southwest of the Icelandic capital of SW Reykjavík (pop 113,906).The strongest of the quakes, a magnitude 5.7, was located 892 km southwest of the Icelandic capital Reykjavík. It hit at 00:39 GMT and was measured at a depth of just 10km, according to the EMSC. Meanwhile, the Icelandic Meteorological Office noted that an earthquake swarm occurred underneath the Mýrdalsjökull glacier in south Iceland on Wednesday and Thursday.”

And IWO had also reported that there was a rare subsea quake near Bermuda too.

“Rare Subsea Earthquakes Rattle Bermuda Region“
“The western Atlantic Ocean island of Bermuda, which was hit by its first earthquake in over a decade in April, has been rattled by two moderate quakes.The earthquakes, both measuring 4.5 magnitude on the Richter Scale, struck at 10:18 PM and 10:36 PM local time on Monday.The subsea quakes, the strongest to be recorded in the region in more than 20 years, were centred about 80 miles (130 km) south of Hamilton, the capital of the British overseas territory.”

Now they report a subsea possible eruption at the extremely seismically active volcano El Hierro in the Canary Islands. This weekend, “The Instituto Geografico Nacional (IGN) has reported an increase in the intensity of earthquakes recorded on El Hierro, the smallest of The Canary Islands, during the last 24 to 36 hours. The number of earthquakes recorded since July 17 , 2011 on El Hierro has now reached 10,000, figures from the IGN confirm.” Seismologists and volcanologists have been watching El Hierro for a long while now and had just recently raised the alert level.

Now the underwater eruption: “A submarine volcanic eruption has been reported approximately 7 kilometres off the southern coast of El Hierro, the smallest of The Canary Islands. A meeting of PEVOLCA – Actualidad Volcánica de Canarias, comprising representatives of Instituto Geografico Nacional (IGN) and The Canary Islands Government, is presently taking place on the Spanish Island. Initial reports of the eruption were received from crews on board four separate ships. On Monday afternoon, Terra Noticias/Agencia EFE reported that an eruption occurred 2000 metres below sea level in the Las Calmas sea at 10.43 local time (05:43 EDT). Spanish newspaper El Mundo placed the depth of the eruption at 1300 metres.”

Assistant professor of geosciences at Denison University Erik Klemetti posted a quick blurb about it too along with a seismograph.

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Posted in abortions, daily klos, personhood initiative, pride

According to Daily Kos, the poor have no right of self determination

Posted on by elizabethprata

Originally posted at the progressive-extreme liberal media site The Daily Kos, and re-posted at a blog called Reality Check, the following statements were made regarding the Mississippi ballot initiative seeking to define a person as a person from conception I wrote about earlier today: this profane headline speaks to the anger generated when any movement even approaching God’s standards is proposed:

“Occupy My Uterus. My Ass! Fertilized Eggs Are NOT People!”

You’d almost think that it was Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas’s uterus at stake (if he had one).

“Eggs Are NOT People.”

“But, time is running out to fight this, and I’m confident The Great Orange can help reverse the cone of silence around Amendment 26. Mississippi has an unemployment rate of 10.3 percent (9th worse in the nation), consistently ranks in the lowest in education, 17.6 percent of Mississippians have no health insurance, and 21.8 percent of its citizens live below the poverty level. Yet, these yahoos think it’s important to focus on further degrading women by making it impossible to get an abortion instead of taking real action to improve the living conditions in their state. This is also the state that has the strictest abortion TRAP laws of any state. And, this is the state that has only one remaining abortion clinic, the Jackson Women’s Health Organization.”

What the progressive extreme liberals are saying is that we need to help the poor by intruding into their lives unasked until and unless they do something that opposes what the progressive elite believes to be right. Then, the poor do not have the right of self-determination. Their right to self-determination suddenly vanishes and evaporates, and people with more money (and by definition, more brains?) will make the decisions for them. In addition, the uneducated, the poor, and the sick by virtue of their being poor, uneducated and sick, do not have the right to prioritize their ballot initiatives. The Liberal elite will do that for them. Finally, simply because the state has high incidences of poverty, uneducated and the sick, it must also mean that there are NO smart, well, and rich people in the state on a par with the progressive elite.

Do you see how unfounded their arguments are? How angry they get? Why do they get so angry? Anger is a work of the flesh (Gal 5:20). Any person not saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christs is a work of the flesh. We’re all born that way. We are born sinners, blind, fleshly and following the works of the flesh until and unless we are born again. Then Jesus gives us a new spirit and a new heart. Anger is connected to pride, (Proverbs 21:24) which is the first sin and is a sin at the root of all sins. (Is 14:13-15). Pride is a hindrance to seeking God. Psalms 10:4 says “The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.” Their anger is born from their foolishness, for if they were wise, they would turn away wrath. (Proverbs 29:8).

It’s heartbreaking to think that their passion for a cause is so misplaced, but before I was saved I was the same, proud, angry, blind. We can and we should pray for God’s will to be done and that His will includes opening the eyes of the blind so they may see His glory, and the glory of Him in children. Children are graciously given to us (Genesis 33:5). The fruit of the womb is not a lifestyle choice to be destroyed for personal convenience. It is His reward. (Psalms 127:3). The anger we see from people opposing abortion restrictions is from that everlasting struggle between pride of life and submission to His gifts and His will. It is the children caught in the struggle though, literally torn apart in the fight.

I pray for the rapture for many reasons. One is so that all the children will be safe. Another is that all of us saved humans will honor God’s will with one accord. When that struggle and strife between the flesh and His will is removed, what a gracious gift that will be! Until then, we live among anger and hatred against God, encapsulated in the political football that is called abortion.

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Posted in abortions, mississippi

When is a person a person? Mississippi Personhood Initiative will define that

Posted on by elizabethprata

The 1973 Roe v. Wade abortion decision at the Supreme Court held that a “person has a right to abortion up until viability. The Roe decision defined “viable” as the baby being “potentially able to live outside the mother’s womb, albeit with artificial aid,” adding that viability “is usually placed at about seven months (28 weeks) but may occur earlier, even at 24 weeks.” In effect, the Court laid its laurels on the Constitution’s 14th amendment concept of personal liberty (for the mother). By default the baby had no rights to personal liberty until it was “viable.” (my interpretation).

‘Viability’ also goes to personhood. If a baby cannot live on its own outside the womb, it is not really a person. Dehumanizing a child was a stroke of genius for the abortion proponents, lawyers, and judges, because if a person is not a person, you are not murdering him. Though the Court sought to be precise, leaving wiggle room of that month between the 24th week and 28th week shows just how foolish it is that humans attempt to define the creation, growth, and viability of life. Only God can do that.

Mississippi wants to change the definition of a person through a proposed Constitutional amendment.

Ina proposal to change the State’s constitution, the Personhood Initiative seeks to define someone as a person from the moment of conception. “The amendment seeks to define a “person” as beginning at the point of “fertilization,” and Mississippi could become the first state to successfully adopt it. Both major party candidates for governor and attorney general are backing the effort, as well as other state officials and candidates.”

Opponents immediately challenged the initiative all the way to the Mississippi Supreme Court, but “The Mississippi Supreme Court ruled that the proposed amendment can be on the ballot in November.” Opponents say “This is not about pro-life or pro-choice. It’s not about abortion,” said Stan Flint of Mississippians for Healthy Families. “It’s about allowing politicians to reach into personal family decisions.”

However, the Government already reaches into families for personal decisions by deciding on a point that a baby changes from a non-human to a human, defining that a baby is human (viable) after 28 weeks, as Roe V Wade asserted. In the MI Clarion Ledger article, opponents say “But some medical and legal experts say the initiative could have unintended consequences that reach beyond outlawing abortion. “Part of the concern is that it’s not entirely clear what will happen if this passes,” said Mississippi College School of Law professor Jonathan Will, who leads MC’s Bioethics and Health Law Center.”

Of course, where were the thoughtful sober and grave legalists when Roe V Wade changed the law for all the United States and attempted to determine human life’s ‘viability’, 40 years ago? And with the advancement of science, viability has dropped from 28 weeks to in some recent cases, 23 weeks.

The battle in Mississippi is heating up. Depending on how the November 8 proposal to amend the Constitution vote goes, “The measure could appear on ballots in up to 16 states next year, including Arkansas, Florida, Ohio and Oklahoma.”

Man is blinded by his sin nature and thus is foolish concerning the things of God, until and unless he is saved by faith in Jesus the Savior. At that time the blinders fall off, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” (Ez 36:26) At that time a person lives his or her life according to the standards God laid down in the bible. However, even those people who are not born again are still responsible for their actions and their crimes against God. Ignorance of God’s standards is no excuse.

So what does the bible have to say about it? The Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry (CARM) points out:

“The Bible does not specifically mention the word abortion, but it has a number of significant things to say about unborn children. These Biblical statements indicate that the unborn are persons. Therefore, abortion is wrong since it is killing a human being. A simplified form of our argument is the following:

Premise #1: It is wrong to murder a person.
Premise #2: The unborn is a person.
Conclusion: Therefore, it is wrong to murder the unborn.

Premise #1: It is wrong to murder a person.

There are few objections to the notion that it is wrong to murder a person. Murder is the unlawful taking of someone’s life, while killing is the lawful taking of someone’s life. For just a small sample of the Biblical passages forbidding murder, see Gen. 9:6; Mt. 15:19; 19:18; Mk. 10:19; Lk. 18:20; Jn. 8:44; Acts 3:14; and Rom. 1:28-29; 13:9.

Premise #2: The unborn is a person.

It is this premise which is disputed by many in our culture today. However, the Bible clearly teaches that the unborn is a person due to the following reasons.

Possession of Personal Attributes

First, the unborn possesses personal attributes such as sin and joy. In Psalm 51:5, David says, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.” In Luke 1:44, “For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy.”

Described by Personal Pronouns

Second, the Bible also uses personal pronouns to describe unborn children. Jeremiah 1:5 says, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Matthew 1:20-21 states, “But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.’”

Jesus: A Baby at Conception

Third, regarding the conception of Jesus, Matthew 1:20 says, “But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.’” The fact that the angel tells Joseph that “the Child who has been conceived” is “of the Holy Spirit” indicates that Jesus certainly was a person at the moment of conception.”

Called Children

Fourth, the unborn are called children. Luke 1:41 states, “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit (1:44).”

Protected by the same Punishment as for Adults

Fifth, perhaps the strongest argument against abortion from Scripture is the fact that the same punishment is applicable to someone who kills or injures an unborn child as for one who kills or injures an adult. Exodus 21:22-23 states, “If men struggle with each other and strike a woman with child so that she gives birth prematurely, yet there is no injury, he shall surely be fined as the woman’s husband may demand of him, and he shall pay as the judges decide. But if there is any further injury, then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life . . . .” This strongly indicates that the Mosaic Law viewed the unborn as persons worthy of the same protection and rights as adults.

Called by God before Birth

Sixth, the unborn are even called by God before birth. Almost echoing the prophetic commission of Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1:5, Isaiah 49:1 says, “Listen to me, O islands, And pay attention, you peoples from afar, the LORD called me from the womb; from the body of my mother He named me.”

Known Personally by God just like any other Person

Seventh, the unborn are known personally and intimately by God in the same way He would know any other person. Describing David, Psalm 139:15-16 says, “My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written; the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.” Describing the prophet Jeremiah, Jeremiah 1:5 says, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

Conclusion

The Bible definitely teaches that the unborn are persons because the unborn possess personal attributes, are described by personal pronouns, Jesus is called a child at conception, the unborn are called children, are protected by the same punishment as for adults, are called by God before birth, and are known personally by God just like any other person. Since abortion is murdering a person, abortion is morally wrong (Gen. 9:6; Rom. 1:28-29).”

—-end CARM apologetics——-

Please pray for discernment and God’s will about the Personhood Initiative. I believe the bible shows us that a person is a person immediately upon conception. I believe that God’s will is for us to know Him and abide by His standards and morals. I believe killing an unborn child is morally wrong. I pray that the people of Mississippi and other states make this stand as well through voting for the Personhood Initiative.

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Posted in bible, edom, end of days, jesus, jordan, petra, prophecy, tribulation

Obadiah’s future prophecy regarding Jordan

Posted on by elizabethprata

Obadiah is the shortest book in the OT and the least is known about its author. Obadiah was a very common name in those days, and so was its nickname, Obed. Obadiah is a minor prophet but his words were nonetheless striking and powerful.

Through the words the LORD told the prophets to say, we can see clearly that the prophets, minor and major, spoke to all the nations. The prophets were not just speaking to Israel or Judah, they spoke to Edom (Obadiah), to Nineveh (Nahum and Jonah), to the Gentile nations (Zephaniah.) This shows us that God is the God of all nations and peoples.

Obadiah’s prophecy is against Edom. Edom is part of what we know today as Jordan. Jordan is comprised of the three tribes of Edom, Moab, and Ammon. Amman is the capital of Jordan today. Edom was the land founded by Esau, the hated twin brother of Jacob. If you remember, Esau despised his birthright and sold it for a bowl of soup. (Gen. 25:29-34). After that, Esau took off and left his brother.(Gen 36:6). Obadiah’s prophecy is rife with the reap-sow principle, and what Esau did in despising his Godly birthright will come back to him, heaped upon his head. “See, I will make you small among the nations; you will be utterly despised.” (Obadiah 1:2).

Jacob and Esau, “Jacob I have loved, Esau I have hated.” (Romans 9:13) and Malachi 1:2-3 “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” the LORD says. “Yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his mountains into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.”

Edom had always fought against Israel, even in the womb, “And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padan-aram, the sister of Laban the Syrian. And Isaac entreated the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord was entreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived. And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of the Lord.” (Gen 25:20-22). The LORD replied,

“And the Lord said unto her, ‘Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.” (Gen 25:23). And so if you ever wonder why there is always so much hatred against Israel, why the Jews and the Arabs cannot seem to get along, it was that way from the beginning. So saith the LORD.

Edom usually lost the battles and was subjugated to Israel, but when Edom wasn’t fighting against Israel the nation was laughing and taunting its brother, or joining in with pillaging when it seemed safe to do so. God however is not mocked and Edom’s culpability at even standing silent when Israel was raped and pillaged will be judged in the latter days. “On the day you stood aloof while strangers carried off his wealth and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were like one of them. You should not look down on your brother in the day of his misfortune,” (Obadiah 1:11).

And of course, Edom’s culpability at performing violence against Israel will also be judged. “Because of the violence against your brother Jacob, you will be covered with shame; you will be destroyed forever.” (Obadiah 1:10)

None of this has happened yet. Jordan is certainly not destroyed forever. Richard T. Ritenbaugh of Forerunner Commentary writes, “Recognizing the internal time markers in Obadiah is vital to understanding the prophecy. This little book confirms, not only Edom’s part in the confederacy against Israel, but also that the evil alliance is joined at the end time. In Obadiah 1:15, 21, clear indicators of the end time appear:”

“For the day of the Lord upon all the nations is near; as you have done, it shall be done to you; your reprisal shall return upon your own head. . . . Then saviors shall come to Mount Zion to judge the mountains of Esau, and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s. The prophecy will begin to be fulfilled in the years prior to the Day of the Lord, and ends as the millennial reign of Jesus Christ commences.”

Obadiah’s prophecy can be outlined simply, Ritenbaugh says:

» Verses 1-4: God’s pronouncement of judgment on Edom.
» Verses 5-9: How Edom will be annihilated.
» Verses 10-14: Why Edom will be annihilated.
» Verses 15-16: Edom and the Day of the Lord.
» Verses 17-21: Israel’s complete triumph over Edom.

The prophecy upon the twins’ birth that the elder shall serve the younger is seen in the final days prophecy. (Gen 25:23, Rom 9:12)

Jordan today is one of only two Arab nations to hold a peace treaty with Israel, Egypt being the other. Yet both these peace treaties are fast fading pieces of paper. King Abdullah of Jordan has said more than once he wishes they did not have a treaty with Israel. Just last week in a protest in Amman, protesters called for the scrapping of the peace treaty with Israel.

The elder will serve the younger…this will happen in the Tribulation. Daniel 11:41 says that: “He [antichrist] will also invade the Beautiful Land. Many countries will fall, but Edom, Moab and the leaders of Ammon will be delivered from his hand.” Jordan will be a lone nation who escapes conquest of the Antichrist. Why? It is the place that Jesus told the Jews to flee to when they see the Abomination of Desolation: to the mountains. (Mt 24:16). The mountains are the border between Israel and Jordan, and over those mountains is the rose-red city of Petra. I wrote about Petra and its function as sheepfold in the Tribulation, here.

Petra is the city you know from Indiana Jones, where a single person on a horse or in a small jeep can enter the protected cavern where the magnificent city had been carved from red stone. Its impregnability is one thing that gave Edom its pride in thinking they could never be vanquished. They will be vanquished, and the city will remain impregnable for the fleeing remnant, and thus, Esau’s Edom serves the younger brother Jacob in protecting Israel throughout the rest of the Tribulation. The LORD’S word is true!

Ritenbaugh wrote, “Obadiah is a study in God’s punishment of a people for the things that they have done. They will be made to suffer the consequences of their hostile attitudes and aggression against Israel, as well as their constant attempts to impede the purpose of God through Israel.” Yet God’s purposes can never be impeded, hallelujah!

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