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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Posted in minerals, rare earths

Another new rare earths discovery, this time in Afghanistan

Posted on by elizabethprata

The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it;
for he founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the waters.
(Psalm 24:1-2)

Man may explore it, learn its contours, manipulate its seasons, propose theories about it, change the daylight time, but in the end, the earth is the Lord’s. He knows what is on it and what is in it.

For example I wrote in December 2010 of a situation that was worrying the people and corporations making electronics. China has cornered the market in rare earths metals, which are necessary for making computer chips and the like. As their name implies, they are rare and they have to be dug out from the earth. At that time, China manufactured 93% of all rare earth metals, and could essentially hold the rest of the world hostage to a myriad of daily necessities. Try finding something these days that doesn’t have a chip in it…

Seven months later, in July 2011, a stunning discovery was made in shallow waters off Japan. In an article entitled, “Pacific Ocean Mud Holds a Wealth of Suddenly Not-So-Rare Earth Minerals” scientists wrote, “Vast deposits of rare earth minerals, crucial in making high-tech electronics products, have been found on the floor of the Pacific Ocean and can be readily extracted, Japanese scientists said on Monday. … “Just one square kilometer (0.4 square mile) of deposits will be able to provide one-fifth of the current global annual consumption.”

Instantly, the Chinese market was crushed.

Then this week, another rare earths discovery was made, Scientific American reports, “Bounty of Rare Earths Discovered in Afghanistan.” “Recent exploration of rare volcanic rocks in the rugged, dangerous desert of southern Afghanistan has identified world-class concentrations of rare earth elements, the prized group of raw materials that are essential in the manufacture of many modern technologies, from electric cars to solar panels. So far, geologists say, they have mapped one million metric tons of these critical elements, which include lanthanum, cerium and neodymium. That’s enough to supply the world’s rare earth needs for 10 years based on current consumption, points out Robert Tucker, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientist who is the lead author on a report released on September 14.”

The minerals have gone from rare to bounteous in the space of 10 months.

The earth is the Lord’s.

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Posted in encouragement

Short shots of encouragement

Posted on by elizabethprata

I hope you enjoy these (short) blog entries. They are written with sensitivity and thoughtfulness from Christian bloggers. If you need a short shot of encouragement, these will do nicely.

Chris Sanchez, “The Passing of Steve Jobs“

Pastor Paul: “If the Lord Had Not been On Our Side“

Phil Johnson, “Sermon On The Mount in Under 2 Min: (by a child)” charming 95 second video of a child explaining the Lord’s famous sermon.

John MacArthur: “Intimacy with the Father“.

Small World Photo contest: Photographing the Micro. Romans 1:18-21 comes to mind when seeing these gorgeous photos!

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Posted in bible jesus, repentance, salvation, witnessing

KISS: Keep It Simple, Sailor. The Gospel isn’t complicated

Posted on by elizabethprata

I invite you to listen to this very convicting and wonderful sermon on How to Recognize True Repentance by Pastor Don Green. It was delivered last month at the Truth Matters conference. You can listen to the sermon or read a transcript, but listening to it is the best way for you to have the impact. I was deeply moved by it, and was uplifted as always by the true words of Jesus in the Gospels the pastor shared throughout the sermon.

Fall surely is a great time of year. The air is freshened, the colors are out, and the seasons are changing. “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)

Adam Clarke’s commentary of those verses says, “Every thing has its time and season. God by his providence governs the world, and has determined particular things and operations to particular times. In those times such things may be done with propriety and success. However if we neglect the appointed seasons we sin against this providence and become the authors of our own distresses. God has given to man that portion of duration called time; the space in which all the operations of nature, of animals, and intellectual beings, are carried on. But while nature is steady in its course, and animals faithful to their instincts, man devotes it to a great variety of purposes, very frequently to that for which God never made time, space, or opportunity.”

God is our first season and our last season, and He is the season at all times. Make sure your relationship with Jesus is not a seasonal activity, one that comes and goes, but is everlasting and sure. All else comes and goes, His love is eternal. Stay within it in prayerful attitude, grateful for blessings for all the things He sends to us in their own due season.

JESUS AS FORGIVER

The Lord is sovereign. He wields all authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18) and that means our Lord has been given all authority to judge. He specifically said so in John 5:22. Repentance is the simple truth of the Gospel. It isn’t fixing social ills. It isn’t reaching out to have conversations with other religions. It isn’t simply “accepting Christ” as if WE have to find HIM acceptable…. It is personal awareness for your own sins, mourning over those sins, and appealing to Jesus for forgiveness of those sins, and finally, turning from those sins by making Jesus Lord and submitting to His will in us. It is repentance.

When I was living aboard the sailboat with my husband, there is a common adage all sailors know. It’s KISS, “Keep It Simple, Sailor”. When you’re out in the middle of the ocean you depend on each other and the systems aboard your boat to stay alive and make port safely. Everything is stripped away, and it’s just you, the boat, and the wind. KISS meant that the more complicated you make the systems aboard your boat, the more likely it is that they will fail, putting you at risk of death.

The Gospel is simple. Christianity, especially American Christianity, has made it complicated. We have been told that somehow we are failing if we are at odds with Catholics, or Mormons, or Muslims. Repentance isn’t to exhibit a display of hatred of other people’s sins. While it is OK to be upset at homosexuality or gay marriage or abortion, it should not be at the expense of mourning over and hatred of our own sins. We have been told that we must be peaceful and unite in our common love of love. Not so. Jesus is singular. He isn’t to be melded with other religions, He isn’t to be ignored, and He isn’t one of many paths. He is THE way, THE truth, and THE life. “Repent, and ye shall be saved. Refuse to repent, and ye shall perish.” (Luke 13:5) Jesus only, sin, and repentance. Keep it Simple, Sailor. We repent, and then we call others to repentance. That’s it.

Remember to KISS, Keep it Simple, Sailor! It is all about Jesus, our sin and His forgiveness.When was the last time you actually cried over your own sin? When was the last time you were broken and ashamed before God at the creature you used to be, and cried in joy at the grace He has afforded you to become a new creation? Think about it. If it has been too long, a good dose of prayerful repentance does the spiritual body good. “II Corinthians 7:10, NIV. “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.”

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Posted in bees, fingerprint ID, katla, krakatau

Friday round-up: FL schools use biometric fingertip ID for attendance, millions bees drop dead, 7200 quakes/day at Krakatau, Yom Kippur begins

Posted on by elizabethprata

News round-up:

Anytime I see biometrics being used in a widespread way I take notice. Biometric identification “consists of methods for uniquely recognizing humans based upon one or more intrinsic physical or behavioral traits.” The antichrist uses biometrics in the Tribulation to keep track of who may buy or sell. (Rev 13:16-17).

A Florida School District is Taking Attendance by Scanning Students’ Fingers
“Chipley- Roll call is a thing of the past in Washington County Schools. Students now check in with finger scanning devices. School Superintendent Sandra Cook said the old method just wasn’t cutting it. “We got to talking about attendance in our district and how it was inconsistent,” said Cook. The systems have been up and running for two months inside the schools, but since the majority of students ride the bus every day, district officials decided to move the devices there. But the transition hasn’t been easy. One of the biggest challenges they’ve faced is where to put the devices on the buses. State safety codes require the isles to be kept completely clear, so one of the ideas they’ve discussed is to put a laptop on one side of the steering wheel and the finger scan system on the other. The school district plans to test the equipment in a handful of buses in the next week and hopes to have each one operational by November or December at the latest. “When it’s all said and done, we’re going to find that this is going to be one of the most monumental things that Washington County has ever done,” said Cook. The finger scan device costs the school district about $30 per student each year. Parents can still opt for their children to sign in the traditional way.”

No, the following does not have a typo in it. There has been an increase to 7,200 quakes a DAY at Anak Krakatau volcano. I always take note of earthquake activity and seismic increases. Quakes are one of the Lord’s judgments. (Psalms 18:15;60:2; Isaiah 13:13,14;24:19,20;29:6; Nahum 1).

The Lord said that prior tothe Great Tribulation, the beginning of birth pangs, there would be “earthquakes in diverse places…” (Matthew 24:7). For example, a “rare subsea quake rattled Bermuda this week. IWO has the report.

“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 south of Hamilton, the capital of the British overseas territory.”

Not to be outdone, the world’s famous and not so famous volcanoes are waking up, also, with quakes of their own. I’ve written recently about the increase in earthquakes at El Hierro. 9,500 quakes under that active volcano since July and still going strong. There have also been huge numbers of quakes under Iceland’s Katla and under Krakatau. Irish Weather Online reports of Anak Krakatau, “Anak Krakatau’s alert level has been raised to the second-highest level after the number of volcanic tremors soared from 200 a day to 7,200. A 2-kilometre exclusion zone has also been established around the Indonesian volcano prohibiting tourists and fishermen from getting close to the volcanic island, located in the Sunda Strait between the islands of Java and Sumatra in Indonesia.”

One of the Lord’s four sore judgments is beasts. (Ezekiel 14:21). One of the Seal Judgments is death by beasts. (Rev 6:8). This judgment is generally accepted to mean multiplication of beasts to plague the population, but I believe it also could mean the reverse, death of massive numbers of beasts so that the natural order of the cycles of growing and reaping and the balance of predator and prey is upset. My own speculations aside, millions of bees dropped dead in Florida at nearly the same time on the same day. No one knows why. They attribute pesticides as the cause of the deaths. Um, okay… By the way, the headline below from the Daily Mail is theirs in its original form-

The mysterious honeybee apocalypse: Up to 12 million bees found dead and dying in Florida and no one knows why
“Honeybee carcasses coated the ground around hundreds of Florida beehives after a mysterious massacre claimed millions of bees and mutilated a way of life for local bee keepers. Experts have ruled out ‘colony collapse disorder’ and the bee keepers suspect that their bees were poisoned with pesticide. Florida agriculture officials and the local sheriff’s office are both investigating. No one can tell yet what killed as many as 12 million bees from 800 hives this week in Brevard County, on central Florida’s Atlantic coast.”

Israel, more isolated than ever, “took an unusual and rare step, the IDF’s General Staff alerted two reserve divisions as part of an emergency drill in army bases in central and northern Israel. The purpose of the exercise was “to test the soldiers’ level of response and readiness for war. The IDF is taking no chances on the eve of Yom Kippur.”

Yom Kippur, “also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest and most solemn day of the year for the Jews. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue services. Yom Kippur completes the annual period known in Judaism as the High Holy Days or Yamim Nora’im (“Days of Awe”).” Israel is buttoned down, air space closed, and border crossings blocked. This is both so that the Jews can complete their religious duties and also to (hopefully) prevent attacks on their holiest day of the year.

This year Yom Kippur is from sundown Oct 7 to sundown Oct 8. “Yom Kippur commemorates the day that G‑d forgave the Jewish people for the sin of the Golden Calf. Forty days after hearing G‑d say at Mount Sinai: “You shall not have the gods of others in My presence; you shall not make for yourself a graven image,” the Jews committed the cardinal sin of idolatry. Moses spent nearly three months on top of the mountain pleading with G‑d for forgiveness, and on the tenth of Tishrei it was finally granted: “I have pardoned, as you have requested.”

Yom Kippur essentially begins ten days earlier, at Rosh Hashanah. “In Jewish thought, Rosh Hashanah is the most important judgment day, on which all the inhabitants of the world pass for judgment before the Creator. The Talmud states, on Rosh Hashanah that three books of account are opened on Rosh Hashanah, wherein the fate of the wicked, the righteous, and those of an intermediate class are recorded. The names of the righteous are immediately inscribed in the book of life, and they are sealed “to live.” The middle class are allowed a respite of ten days till Yom Kippur, to repent and become righteous; the wicked are “blotted out of the book of the living.” (Psalms 69:29). Eternal fate then hangs in the balance for ten days waiting for all to repent, then they will be “sealed” on Yom Kippur. The assumption is that at the conclusion of Yom Kippur, everyone was sealed for the next year.

Christians know that their fate is not sealed until the moment of death, or upon having rejected Jesus so many times that their heart has been hardened. (Hebrews 3:13; Acts 19:9; Mt 13:4-5). Jesus seeks all who would repent with a sincere heart, calling on Him who is Lord to forgive their sins. (Luke 13:3; Mt 12:30; Romans 10:9).

“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9). We have a wonderful God, a loving and merciful God, who is worthy to be served.

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Posted in theology

Does demon possession exist today? The story of Ursula and Sabina Eriksson, and a man in Italy

Posted on by elizabethprata

Three of the Gospels tell the story of the Gadarene demoniac. Mark’s is the most specific but all three mention the man’s fierceness. (Mt. 8.28-34, Lk. 8.26-39)

Mark 5:1-5
“And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gad’arenes. And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.”

He lived in the tombs so he was homeless, and further, being among the dead made him unclean in a most extreme way to the Jews. He was so strong he could break chains, and no man could subdue him. And his screaming could be heard from mountain to valley, so much so that no one would go that way. In other words, they would walk miles out of their way to avoid this guy.

People think demon-possession is passe. That it only happened in bible times. It is true, Jesus spent a lot of His ministry exorcising demons because there seemed to be so many then and not so many now. But just because the bible times ended does not mean the demons went away. It is hard to think of similar things happening in this sanitized, scientific, hands-off kind of age. But they do.

Satan hates Jesus just as much now as he did then. He hates the Jews just as much now as he did then. He hates the Christians just as much now as he did then. He is still killing, stealing, and destroying. (John 10:10)

If we came up against a demon-possession in these days, what would it look like? I would say that it’d have similar characteristics to what the bible described: unnatural, untameable strength, total disregard for their welfare and the welfare of others, screaming and crying, anger and violence.

Well, the following footage has all that and more. The rest of this blog entry discusses specific demon possession and its effects. It is disturbing and contains video and descriptions of recent demon-possession. Stop reading now if you want to avoid the graphic matter contained in this piece.

Of the footage you are about to see, the synopsis from Youtube says, “In 2008, BBC cameras filmed two Swedish sisters throwing themselves into traffic on the M6. When it was shown on BBC One, nearly 7 million viewers were glued to their screens, and millions more watched it later on YouTube. The footage was shocking. One previewer wrote “On no account miss this documentary. It opens with what is perhaps the most extraordinary footage I’ve seen on TV”. But this amazing footage was only part of an even more incredible story, one which could not be told at the time for legal reasons. Now, two years later, this documentary reveals the full story of the hours just before the cameras captured that motorway footage, and the even more chilling story of what happened over next 72 hours, which left one of the sisters fleeing the scene of a crime, after she had stabbed a man through the chest. Those who were at the centre of this fascinating legal case, including the police and Crown prosecution service, reveal the complex issues involved in both bringing charges and taking this disturbing case to trial. A leading criminal psychiatrist, Dr. Nigel Eastman, explains the difficulties the judicial system has in achieving justice and deciding punishment when dealing with mental illness.”

The following is part 1 of four parts. I watched (through my fingers) part one and part of the second. I warn you, the footage is disturbing. It is graphic. You are warned.

What happened is that the woman, Sabina Eriksson, was frenetically pacing alongside the M6 highway and when approached by police, hurled herself in front of a car. She was run over, but survived and leaped up and ran off to the other lanes to repeat her action. Her twin sister also ran out in front of traffic, she was hit and run over by a the equivalent of an eighteen wheeler, and was thrown like a rag doll. However, both women survived. Police in the video describe the unlikelihood of this happening, ever. Ursula was incapacitated but after regaining consciousness, screamed at the medics attending her and had to be held down. Sabina meanwhile was grabbed on the other side of the roadway but could not be subdued. Several police officers attempted to get her under control, and it was only when several passers by also aided the police that she was subdued and cuffed. It took 6 men to handcuff one small woman.

A friend of the man that she later killed was interviewed in a newspaper article. He said, “When I saw the footage on the internet of her running out in the road it made me feel sick. She looked possessed in that film. I wanted answers from the court case, I wanted to know why she did what she did but I don’t think anyone will ever know.”

‘Heard voices’ — “Psychiatrists told Luton Crown Court that the mother-of-two was suffering from either induced delusional disorder or acute polymorphic disorder, which were both rare. Dr Carol McDaniel said: “Sabina said she heard voices but could not interpret what they were saying.”

The incident occurred in 2008, and after a two-year legal wrangle, in 2010 more information has started to come out. I note that the officials state she has turned to Christianity. This is a good thing. Demon possession would look very much like what happened on the motorway and in the days afterward, with Sabina killing Glenn Hollingshead and stabbing of the passerby who came to help.

In other strange news, another graphic incident happened this week. This one was in Italy, during a Catholic church service. A man worshiping during the service heard a voice and

graphic- stop reading- warning of graphic incident ahead–

pulled both his eyeballs out. According to Italian media, a mentally ill British man literally pulled both his eyes out during a church service. The man’s mother, who was with him when it happened, initially thought he had fallen and banged his head, because of the blood. When parishioners discovered what he had done, many of them fainted or fell ill themselves upon seeing the ghastly sight.

Ursula and Sabina throwing themselves in front of vehicles moving at high speed, a man suddenly plucking out his own eyes…this is what demon possession looks like. During the Tribulation, there will be a lot more if it. There will be things like this that people don’t understand, or are beyond the realm of comprehension.

One thing that is also beyond comprehension but is something to seek and not avoid is Jesus’ love. The Gadarene demoniac saw Jesus and recognized him, falling down to worship him. Jesus has power over the demons. Jesus’ power is unlimited, omniscient and powerful. With all that, He loves us gently and patiently. No sin is too big for Him to forgive. No deed is too bad for Him to wipe away. He seeks you. He sent the Holy Spirit to draw you to Him! He wants you. Please enfold yourself in the loving arms of Jesus today. Otherwise, you leave yourself open to the same demonic possession and harassment the people in this article had left themselves exposed to. And you really don’t want to be left open to be satan’s plaything, not when you can be Jesus’ bride!

Posted in bible, pastors, shepherd

"A Few Good Shepherds"

Posted on by elizabethprata

I read this today on the Grace to You website, by pastor-teacher John MacArthur. It made me think of our pastor. It is pastor appreciation week. I hope that not only you appreciate your pastor but you appreciate the Lord sending you a good one who fulfills all these qualities as the bible outlines. It is increasingly rare for pastors such as the kind described below to even exist in these times of apostasy and coldness, but they do. Tucked into nooks and crannies of good, functioning, loving churches off the highways and byways of America and beyond, humble, loving pastors labor. Our pastor is one of these, and no, you can’t have him!

A Few Good Shepherds
By John MacArthur

Some modern church leaders fancy themselves businessmen, media figures, entertainers, psychologists, philosophers, or lawyers. Those notions contrast sharply with the way Scripture portrays spiritual leaders.

In 2 Timothy 2, for example, Paul uses seven different metaphors to describe the rigors of leadership. He pictures the minister as a teacher (v. 2), a soldier (v. 3), an athlete (v. 5), a farmer (v. 6), a workman (v. 15), a vessel (vv. 20-21), and a slave (v. 24). All those images evoke ideas of sacrifice, labor, service, and hardship. They speak eloquently of the complex and varied responsibilities of spiritual leadership. Not one of them makes leadership out to be glamorous.

That’s because it is not supposed to be glamorous. Leadership in the church–and I’m speaking of every facet of spiritual leadership, not just the pastor’s role–is not a mantle of status to be conferred on the church’s aristocracy. It isn’t earned by seniority, purchased with money, or inherited through family ties. It doesn’t necessarily fall to those who are successful in business or finance. It isn’t doled out on the basis of intelligence or talent. Its requirements are blameless character, spiritual maturity, and above all, a willingness to serve humbly.

Our Lord’s favorite metaphor for spiritual leadership, a figure He often used to describe Himself, was that of a shepherd–one who tends God’s flock. Every church leader is a shepherd. The word pastor itself means “shepherd.” It is appropriate imagery. A shepherd leads, feeds, nurtures, comforts, corrects, and protects. Those are responsibilities of every churchman.

Shepherds are without status. In most cultures, shepherds occupy the lower rungs of society’s ladder. That is fitting, for our Lord said, “Let him who is the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as the servant” (Luke 22:26).

Under the plan God has ordained for the church, leadership is a position of humble, loving service. Church leadership is ministry, not management. Those whom God designates as leaders are called not to be governing monarchs, but humble slaves; not slick celebrities, but laboring servants. Those who would lead God’s people must above all exemplify sacrifice, devotion, submission, and lowliness.

Jesus Himself gave us the pattern when He stooped to wash His disciples’ feet, a task that was customarily done by the lowest of slaves (John 13). If the Lord of the universe would do that, no church leader has a right to think of himself as a bigwig.

Shepherding animals is semi-skilled labor. There are no colleges that offer graduate degrees in shepherding. It isn’t that difficult a job. Even a dog can be trained to guard a flock of sheep. In biblical times, young boys–David, for example–herded sheep while the older men did tasks that required more skill and maturity.

Shepherding a spiritual flock is not so simple. It takes more than an unskilled laborer to be a spiritual shepherd. The standards are high, the requirements hard to satisfy (1 Timothy 3:1- 7). Not everyone can meet the qualifications, and of those who do, few seem to excel at the task. Spiritual shepherdology demands a godly, gifted, multi-skilled man of integrity. Yet he must maintain the humble perspective and demeanor of a boy shepherd.

With the tremendous responsibility of leading God’s flock comes the potential for either great blessing or great judgment. Good leaders are doubly blessed (1 Timothy 5:17), and poor leaders are doubly chastened (v. 20), for “from everyone who has been given much, much will be required” (Luke 12:48). James 3:1 says, “Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.”
end of excerpted article
—————-

Much is required of today’s pastors. They lead cold and apathetic congregations, or congregations that are warm but busy, stressed, tired, and often ill. Fewer people are responding to altar calls, and even fewer are stepping up to serve in ministries. They are put upon, leaned on, counted on and sometimes stepped on. Yet they serve their people lovingly and preach the word faithfully every week. They have the world’s most important job in the most difficult times. Love your pastor and support him. Even better, tell him so, and pray for him.
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