Posted in quantum levitation

Video wows with quantum levitation

Posted on by elizabethprata

Wow!

MSN explains:
http://futureoftech.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/10/19/8398355-video-wows-with-quantum-levitation
Quantum physics is the mind-bending study of matter and energy at its smallest scales. It can be difficult to grasp, no doubt. But this video of a smoking cold disk that appears to float in midair just might make you try.
The trick works due to something called quantum levitation, explain the scientists from Tel Aviv University in Israel. And they hope you’ll ask: what’s that? The apparently floating disk is a sapphire crystal that has been coated with a very thin layer of ceramic material called yttrium barium copper oxide. At room temperature, it has no interesting magnetic or electrical properties, the group explains. However, when cooled below minus 301 degrees F, it becomes a superconductor, which means it conducts electricity without resistance. No energy is lost. Now, it turns out that superconductors and magnetic fields don’t play nice with each other. Usually, the superconductor will expel the magnetic field, something called the Meissner effect. But when the superconductor is really thin, such as the one in this video, the magnetic field penetrates. Of course, since we are talking about quantum physics here, it does so in a strange way. It creates flux tubes. These tubes, in turn, trap the superconductor in midair. The result is called quantum locking, that is the superconductor is locked in space.”

I have to go to work but I’ve been thinking about some quantum mechanics with relation to Einstein, (“Einstein’s Unfinished Symphony”) Feynman, and Al-Khalili, i.e. “The Measurement Problem”, “Gravity doesn’t exist”, and “The Illusion of Reality” with relation to unsolved issues in quantum mechanics, and the superconductivity of gold- and I’ll discuss later today. It’s related to the bible, lol. Come back later for update. Meanwhile, cool video clip!!

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Posted in theology

One eyed albino shark sparks internet frenzy

Posted on by elizabethprata

Later or tomorrow I am going to post a carefully considered, thoughtful theological essay on the decline of American cities as evidenced by what is happening in Camden NJ. Maybe not tonight because I have church and I don’t think I can get it done in time. When I post it, it may be well received and get a decent number of hits.

But nothing will get people’s attention like this story today from MyFox Orlando:

One eyed albino shark sparks internet frenzy

“(NewsCore) – An incredible picture of an albino baby one-eyed shark was going viral Tuesday amid reports that, despite looking like a sci-fi spoof, the creature had been verified as real by researchers. The white fetus was reportedly cut from the belly of a dusky shark by a commercial fisherman in the Gulf of California earlier this year and the picture posted on the blog of Pisces Fleet Sportfishing, based in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. However, the website cited shark expert Felipe Galvan Magana, of Mexico’s Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias del Mar, who told Pisces Fleet, “This is extremely rare. As far as I know, less than 50 examples of an abnormality like this have been recorded.” Researchers said they had examined the shark and found that its eye was made of functional optical tissue. Magana and his colleagues are to publish a scientific paper about the find. Seth Romans, a spokesman for Pisces Fleet, told LiveScience that the fisherman who caught the shark was “amazed and fascinated” by the attention and was hanging on to its remains.”

The thing that gets me is the level of sin in the world is so corrupting that God’s creation doesn’t even look like itself any more. The other thing that gets me is that posts on cryptozoology (weird animals) and earthquakes/volcanoes/natural disasters always get the highest amount of hits. The Dust Storm of Lubbock the other day got a massive number of views. The Elenin post is still going strong even though the comet is dissolved by the sun and no longer in existence.

I guess we all want to know why weird things happen and huge natural disasters are always an attention-getter. Maybe because they feel so out of our control. As many dams as we put up, rivers still flood. As much as we learn about volcanoes, they still explode unpredictably. As many zoning codes and engineering strengths we place on buildings, they still fall down in a quake.

My hope and prayer is that people allow the Holy Spirit to draw them to the Father, and once converted, have the same thirst for information about Him as they do about the weird stuff. I personally believe that the Rapture will be not only the culmination of one of the Lord’s plans, but a sign unto itself to many who have heard the Good News and put off deciding whether to believe it. Of course, it is not good to wait that long. God’s mercy has room for all repentant sinners whether they repent before or after the tribulation. However, living through what Jesus Himself described as the worst time there shall ever be is something I don’t wish on my worst enemy.

Be “filled with the knowledge of [God’s] will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding” (Col 1:9), even as you take some time to read about the one-eyed baby shark, meditate on your eternal status as well.
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Posted in american, end of days. prophecy, last days, US decline

"America must manage its decline"

Posted on by elizabethprata

This article was in the UK Financial Times today. Such discussions would likely never appear in US media. Article author Gideon Rachman wrote:

“Recently I met a retired British diplomat who claimed with some pride that he was the man who had invented the phrase, “the management of decline”, to describe the central task of British foreign policy after 1945. “I got criticised,” he said, “but I think it was an accurate description of our task and I think we did it pretty well.” No modern American diplomat – let alone politician – could ever risk making a similar statement. That is a shame. If America were able openly to acknowledge that its global power is in decline, it would be much easier to have a rational debate about what to do about it. Denial is not a strategy.”

No, but it seems to be working for most Americans nonetheless. The author continued:

“What is not permissible, in mainstream debate, is to suggest that there may be no “coming back” – and that the decline of American power is neither a fad nor a choice but a fact. Admittedly, America’s relative decline is likely to be much less abrupt than the falling-off experienced by Britain after 1945. The US is still the world’s largest economy and is easily its pre-eminent military and diplomatic power. However, the moment at which China becomes the world’s largest economy is coming into view – the end of the decade seems a likely passing point. Of course, it is true that China has its own grave political and economic problems. Yet the fact that there are roughly four times as many Chinese as Americans means that – even allowing for a sharp slowdown in Chinese growth – at some point, China will become “number one”. —end—

A few years ago, people asked me quite often, “Where is America in the end days?” “Is the US mentioned in prophecy?” The US had been a superpower for so long and seemed so solidly in charge that it was unthinkable that we would not be a major player in the last days events, and unthinkable that we’d be omitted even from mention as one of those players.

Some end time watchmen twist the plain meaning of the scriptures to include the US as part of the events. For example, a famous Tribulation dream that Daniel had in Daniel 7:4 talks about four beasts, or one beast with four heads, “The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle” and some say that because the lion is the emblem the UK uses, that the lion stands for the UK, and that since America came out of the UK and our emblem is an eagle, that America is the eagle. That’s a stretch.

The nations mentioned are Iran, Russia, Turkey, Lebanon, Israel, Syria…and others. These are all thousands of years old and the center of the beginning of hatred between Jacob and Esau, the location of the Garden of Eden, and the birthplace of Abraham. There is no reason the US should be mentioned any more than Canada or Mexico or Australia. The last days is not about us. We’ll be judged as a nation like all the others, but not have any prominent role.

As for America’s decline, the bible does have a strong reap-sow philosophy, remember. The Bible talks about reaping and sowing; blessing and cursing. Job 4:8 says, “As I have observed, those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it.” Psalm 126:5 says, “Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy.” In each of these examples, as well as all the many other references to reaping and sowing,  (Proverbs 22:8; Hosea 8:7; Galatians 6:8…) the act of receiving the rewards of our actions takes place in this life.

In Genesis 12:3 God said to Abraham, “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

The US was blessed mightily in geography, in military, in wisdom, in generosity and in economic bounty and finances. Then we squandered it. Even that is not as gross an insult to the Creator of our nation (Isaiah 14:26) as removing Him from all spheres of life. We accept His gifts but reject the Giver. We will pay.

“He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the LORD. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel. If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.” (Jeremiah 18:6-10)

I think it is pretty arrogant that the US even thinks it can control its decline. As He set up our nation, He can destroy it. There is only repentance, obedience, and submission (blessing), or apostasy and atheism, rebellion, and lawlessness (cursing).

That China is mentioned in the article as on the horizon for the new superpower is no surprise. We know the end before it happens. The Kings of the East mentioned in Revelation 12 will come with a huge army. Some tie the vision John had in verse in Revelation 12 with the one in Rev 9:

“And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.” (Revelation 9:13-16). That’s 2 hundred million. China has an army that large right now.

Suffice it to say that we are in decline, no it cannot be ‘managed’, and no we’re not part of prophecy other than being blessed or judged like everyone else. It took the UK about 30+ years to decline. Ours has come in 3. Rather than a carefully ‘managed’ decline the speed with which we are hurtling down seems to me to be more of an avalanche. Anthony Walton said of the US, “America’s greatest strength, and its greatest weakness, is our belief in second chances, our belief that we can always start over, that things can be made better.” I have a strong suspicion that like the author of the news opinion piece, there will be no ‘coming back.’
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Posted in bible jesus, dust storm, end time, prophecy

Massive Dust Storm hits Lubbock

Posted on by elizabethprata

Texas has been enduring a terrible drought. “With drought, Texas can expect more dust storms,” “Despite recent rains, the Texas drought lingers — and experts say the number of irritating and dangerous dust storms could increase across the state, especially in West Texas and the Panhandle.

The story was in the Westtexas.com media outlet, on Sunday. Unfortunately that prediction did not take too long to come true. Tonight a massive storm rolled through Lubbock, blotting out the sky and sparking lots of “WTF?!” comments on twitter.

Posted by Tom Fornelli – “That photo above is not doctored in any way, and was taken by Texas Tech’s associate director/athletics communications for football Scott Lacefield. It’s of a giant dust storm that has hit Lubbock, Texas and is literally blocking out the sky. This really doesn’t have an effect on the Texas Tech football team, as the Red Raiders play in Oklahoma this weekend, but I figured the picture is just so amazing I had to share it here with the rest of you.”

Above from From Twitter @JuliaCopeland

ABC News says ‘Cold front responsible for bad dust storm in Lubbock’. Pastor John Wagner writes on twitter, “Strongest dust storm in 70 years – 51mph sustained winds & 75mph gusts! Complete darkness at 5:45pm.”

Massive, blinding dust storms have plagued Lubbock’s past

“People could see the menacing clouds methodically moving toward town. It wouldn’t be long before darkness settled in, and it was still the middle of the day. Tornado? Not this time. It was another weather phenomenon all too familiar to West Texans: the dust storm. “They were awful,” said Alta Cates, who moved to Lubbock from rural Scurry County in 1938. “They would come rolling in, and in some rare cases, the dust in the air was so thick you couldn’t see your radiator cap.” While today’s South Plains residents weather occasional dusty days, severe droughts and less sophisticated agricultural techniques were the primary reasons for numerous howling dust storms that occurred throughout the 1930s and into the early 1950s.”

Apparently the storms are back, even with today’s advanced agricultural technology. As the end time storms progress, they will be getting larger and larger. When the Tribulation occurs, the storms will be incomprehensibly large, with people in shock at being unable to understand the proportions and the scope of the devastation.

Fortunately, remember that Jesus is always larger than any storm, either the one you’re having inside yourself or the one you’re enduring in life or in nature. He will save you instantly if you repent. You might still have to go through a dust storm, but you’ll be calm knowing that no matter what, Jesus is with you always, even to the end of the age. (Mt 28:20).

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Posted in bible jesus, end of days. prophecy, end time, tithing

Tithing is way down, entertainment expectations way up

Posted on by elizabethprata

Before I was saved, I used to think that churches were a racket. “All they want is your money,” I’d parrot, like so many other people say without thinking. LOL, I have no idea how I thought the church building electric bills got paid, or who paid for the gas in the church bus that takes meals to shut-ins.

On a less practical and a more spiritual level, tithing and making offerings should be a joy and a blessing to perform, just as any other service to the Lord. It is an act of offering to give something back to Him, who has given us and will continue to give us so much. GotQuestions.org has a good essay on tithing here, with scriptures.

When I ran my newspaper, it was paid for by advertising. The paper didn’t cost anything to buy, so the local businesses that placed ads in the paper paid for the printing, mailing, circulation, insurance, and salaries. When a business was feeling the pinch, they would look for ways to cut back. Of course, advertising was often the first to go. There was an intangible benefit to advertising that couldn’t be quantified and was rarely demonstrable. Frugal business owners would cut back anyway and their ads would stop. The benefit was there, it just couldn’t be seen.

Tithing is like that. Taking the spiritual obedience away, on the practical side, people who are iffy on tithing often don’t see an immediate benefit, so when their household budget gets pinched, they quit. It is like advertising in the paper: an activity containing an intangible reward that goes out the window when money gets tight. They want the tangible reward and they want the payoff now, not later.

But just as money gets tight, people want more for their money. In Christian churches these days, they want and expect entertainment. So churches spend more to hold on to their church-hopping congregants. It is a downward cycle.

This article from the Christian Post reports on that downward cycle we’re seeing so much of these days. “Tithing Hits Record Low; Churches Spend More to Make Congregants Happy“
“Are churches spending more on themselves than on the needs of those outside the church? According to a new report they are, with churches keeping a larger share of their tithe-generated income for their own in-house needs. In a report, titled “The State of Church Giving Through 2009,” released Friday by Empty Tomb inc., a Christian service and research organization, authors found that “benevolences” – or funds used for giving outside the church including giving to charities and seminary training – hit new lows compared to their first report in 1968. Understandably, with the tithing amount greatly reduced over the past few years because of a bad economy, a drop in benevolences was only normal. The report, which used data from evangelical and mainline churches including Lutheran, Presbyterians and Episcopalian churches, in fact revealed that tithing as a percentage of income was at its lowest level in 41 years, Religion News Service noted. Parishioners were only giving about 2.38 percent of their income to the church in 2009, down from 2.43 percent in 2008 – shockingly low percentages.” More at link.

One can only wonder what the levels are now, three years into the terrible depression we are living through. The article continues in the same sad vein:

“If Americans who identify with the historically Christian church had chosen to give 10 percent to their congregation in 2008, rather than the 2.43 percent given that year, there would have been an additional $172 billion available for work through the church,” the Empty Tomb website noted. Though the greatly reduced tithing rates garnered much attention, what remained more surprising to the authors was the church’s distribution of parishioner income. While only 0.34 percent went toward benevolences, over 2 percent was used on congregational finances. If the percentage of income for benevolences was at the level it was back in 1968 – 0.66 percent – there would have been an additional $3.1 billion in benevolence giving. “Churches on the whole are continuing to spend more on current members and less on the larger mission of the church and cutting back on missionaries,” Sylvia Ronsvalle, Empty Tomb’s executive vice president, told RNS.”

Wow. What is our prime directive from Jesus? What was the last thing He said to the people before he ascended to the right hand of the Father? “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:16-20)

Our job as humans is to submit to God’s will for us. That will includes first and foremost, repentance to the Lord leading to salvation and a deep love of Him. After that, we’re told that the next greatest commandment is to love one another, and finally to witness to the ends of the earth. For those who can’t go, they finance those who can and do go. Failing to support missions, failing to support benevolences fails the two most basic things He told us we are put on this earth to do: love one another and witness to His glorious Gospel.

Far from being an intangible reward, the rewards we receive are very real: only delayed. Though we do not give in benevolent fashion only to receive a reward, but to honor Jesus, we do receive them. Here are a few of the verses which state this, as a reminder:

“Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.” (Colossians 3:24)

“And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.” (Acts 20:32)

The reward is great:
“Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you” (Matthew 5:12)

It is so great we cannot even conceive of what it is:
“For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.” (Isaiah 64:4)

When we make offerings to Him, do we do it in like attitude as David?: “And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD.” (Psalms 27:6)

Because after all, He sacrificed Himself, freely, for us:
“And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.” (Ephesians 5:2)

Please do not let your church be one of these that expects entertainment while at the same time you are withholding a tithe or an offering to the Lord Jesus. Give, give joyfully and plentifully in love to Him and on behalf of others. And sing gladly.

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Posted in bible jesus, end time, plague of beasts, prophecy, turkey attack

Video of turkey attacking person in neighborhood which he’d been terrorizing

Posted on by elizabethprata

Lady filming the turkey, which apparently had been terrorizing a CA neighborhood, backs away from large turkey that approaches her in her yard. As she backs away more quickly, it approaches faster. She runs. It runs. A mail truck scoots between them and shoos the bird away, which simply circles around and runs after the lady again. She quits filming and runs to her car, whereupon the turkey circles menacingly, looking for her, its head periodically popping up at the hood and the window.

I wrote about the increasing boldness of animals, that they are attacking and penetrating human habitation in aggressive ways. You can search this blog for the term ‘plague of beasts’ and a lot will come up. My main entry discussing the bible verses related to this plague is here. It begins this way:

“I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth. (Revelation 6:8).”

“Consider those words for a moment…we are all familiar with plagues such as THE Plague, as in bubonic, Swine Flu and Dengue Fever and Malaria and all the other diseases and plagues throughout the centuries as well as biblical plagues of locusts and the ten plagues of Egypt. But one of the plagues loosed in Revelation 6 as the 4th seal is opened will be death by wild beasts.’ “

Though the video shows one determined turkey, one turkey terrorizing one neighborhood does not an end time make. But the aggressive and unusual behavior of this and other animals lately does give cause for concern. Remember the whale that deliberately smashed a yachting couple’s boat? The 500 bats attacking people in Peru? The monkeys that took over a village in South Africa? Turkeys attacking and trapping people int heir cars in Brooklyn? And many other stories. Animal behavior has gotten strange lately, with many people noticing the lack of inhibition and unusual pattern of aggressiveness of animals that do not usually appear in the attacking locations, or attack unprovoked. More examples and more scripture discussion at link above.

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Posted in damascus, end time, israel, jesus coast, prophecy, syria

Syria and the burden of Damascus

Posted on by elizabethprata

I worked on the prophecy newsletter yesterday all day yesterday and sent it out at around 8:00 pm. Then I turned to good old Hal Lindsey to see this week’s prophecy newscast, and what do you know, he spent time on exactly the same thing I did, Syria and the first few verses of the burden of Damascus. I love when that happens because it tells me that we are both correctly tuned in to the same source: the Holy Spirit, and correctly listening to what He wants to tell us. To me, it is a confirmation of where we should be placing our attention and prayers.

Syria is a present day problem we haven’t discussed in a while. Prophetically, it figures prominently in the oracle of Isaiah in Chapter 17 verse 1-3. Lindsey went on to discuss through to verse 5.

“A prophecy against Damascus”– “See, Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins. The cities of Aroer will be deserted and left to flocks, which will lie down, with no one to make them afraid. The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim, and royal power from Damascus;”

The plain meaning of the verse, especially verse 1, is clear. And even if a person left it at that with a surface reading, the verse’s integrity would remain. Damascus will be destroyed. Since this city never has been destroyed it’s obvious that this is a prophecy yet to be fulfilled. But a deeper question remained in my mind: what is the size and location of the geography the LORD is describing here? A cursory reading would seem to indicate a surgical strike against Damascus will destroy it, with surrounding land intact. Is this so? Is it all the verse is saying to us? Thus, I looked into the geographical locations of Ephraim, Aroer and Damascus in biblical history to seek a wider context.

Damascus is the longest continuously inhabited city in the world. It has been inhabited as a city for 5000 years. It is one of the first cities mentioned in the bible. Before Abram was Abraham, when Jerusalem was still Salem, Damascus is mentioned (Genesis 14:15). As we know, Damascus is the capital of the Arab country of Syria and about 130 miles northeast of Jerusalem.

Aroer mentioned in verse 2 is a city (in ruins now) on the north side of the Arnon River, in the southern border of the tribe of Reuben, De 2:36 4:48 Joshua 13:9. It was in the territory of the Amorites, Joshua 12:2, but seems to have fallen at a later day into the hands of Moab, Jeremiah 48:19. (source- Bible Atlas). Initially I thought that the city was close to Damascus but I could be wrong because there is an Aroer halfway down Jordan’s eastern border still showing on the maps. Present-day Jordan is a long, tall nation with a huge square jut-out at the northeastern end. The length of the nation goes from its northern boundary near Irbid to the south portion bordering the Gulf of Aqaba at the Red Sea. A great north-south geological rift, forming the depression of Sea of Galilee, the Jordan Valley, and the Dead Sea, is the dominant topographical feature.

To the east of this long mountain range that forms the border of Israel-Jordan is the King’s Highway, a trade route of vital importance to the ancient Middle East and a major highway now. It began in Egypt, and stretched across the Sinai Peninsula to Aqaba. From there it turned northward across Jordan, leading to Damascus and the Euphrates River. The Highway is referred to in Numbers 20:17-21. Given the topography and geography of the region, I believe this highway will figure prominently in the Tribulation. More on that in a moment.

Where is Aroer, exactly? Ha ha, good question. We all know where Damascus is. It is where it has always been. Here the interpretation of “cities of Aroer” in verse 2 gets complicated. Some scholars believe that it represents the city of Aroer midway down Jordan. If you were at Jerusalem and headed due east about 30 miles across the top of the Dead Sea and into Jordan, and picked up the King’s Highway and headed south for about 30 miles you’d hit Aroer. If you continued south along the King’s Highway for another 120 miles to the very southern portion of Jordan you’d hit the ancient city of Petra. That Aroer is on the river Arnon, the one mentioned in Deuteronomy 2:36.

However that Aroer is a good distance from Damascus, giving the impression that the devastation the prophecy speaks of is widespread. So other scholars believe that the ‘cities of Aroer’ is closer in proximity to Damascus. Clarke’s Commentary asks, “What has Aroer on the river Arnon to do with Damascus? and if there be another Aroer on the northern border of the tribe of Gad, as Reland seems to think there might be, this is not much more to [say]”. I have an opinion on this which I’ll share below.

So why is part of ancient Israel included in this overthrow Isaiah prophesies, remember, Ephraim is mentioned as also being destroyed. “Barnes Notes explains, “Ephraim was the name given to the northern kingdom of Israel, or to the ten tribes, because Ephraim was the largest of the ten, and was a leading tribe in their councils. Ephraim, or the kingdom of Samaria, is mentioned here in connection with Damascus or Syria, because they were confederated together, and would be involved in the same overthrow.” Samaria is shown on the map below in blue. This part of the prophecy, I believe, has already been fulfilled. Samaria was defeated and destroyed in 722BC.

So as we can see, if we believe the area being destroyed in the future is Damascus and nearby city of forgotten Aroer, the area is quite small. If we believe the Aroer mentioned is the ancient city midway down Jordan, then the area destroyed will be quite large. Included would be most of Jordan and the southern part of Syria. Think on the part of the verse that says the ‘flocks will lie down, there will be no one to make them afraid’. Sheep scare easily. If they can lay down and rest or slumber is a feeling of safety, the area must be truly desolate, with no people, no activity and no predators.

I believe the prophecy is saying that the area from Damascus to Aroer mid-way down Jordan will be destroyed. I think this for several reasons. First, the Principle of Occam’s Razor applies. This is also known as the ‘law of succinctness, a principle that generally recommends, when faced with competing hypotheses that are equal in other respects, selecting the one that makes the fewest new assumptions.’ Just because Aroer on the Arnon river is far from Damascus (but not really that far in terms of today’s miles and ease of travel) doesn’t mean we must dispense with it. It is only approximately 150 miles. God can and might decide easily to destroy that length of land.

Secondly, I believe this because of military strategy. The terrain is inhospitable, being steep and mountainous. The King’s Highway has been since ancient times a vital route. If there is a battle, and we know from Revelation 6 and Matthew 24 that the Tribulation will be characterized by total war, then it makes sense that an opposing party would want to destroy a vital trade and military route.

Third, the Tribulation will be a time when ancient hatreds come to their full fruition. Jordan, the ancient lands of Ammon, Moab and Edom have always hated Israel. Obadiah prophesied against them, in a series of prophesies I discussed here. With ancient hatreds and total war, why is it hard to believe a swathe of land 150 miles long would become desolate, especially in the face of all the weapons of mass destruction currently available, and mostly pointed at Israel?

Fourth, Syria and Jordan seem to fade away as an end time player. They are not mentioned in the Gog Magog confederacy. We know from prophesies in Daniel that Jordan is not delivered into the Antichrist’s hands. “He will also enter the Beautiful Land, and many countries will fall; but these will be rescued out of his hand: Edom, Moab and the foremost of the sons of Ammon.” We also know that in Matt. 24:16 the Lord told those in Judea to flee to the mountains when the Abomination of Desolation occurs. The mountains are directly to the east in southern Jordan where Petra is. Rev. 12:14 tells of Satan chasing them across the desert as they flee to a place prepared for them. This desert is between Israel and the mountains of southern Jordan around the northern and eastern shores of the Dead Sea. And in Isaiah 63: 1-6 there’s a verse telling of the Lord coming from Bozrah in Edom after single handedly defeating His enemies there. Bozrah is the region of Edom (Jordan) where Petra is. If the fleeing Jews head across the mountains at the top of the Dead Sea and down the King’s Highway to Petra and if the area is already desolate AND undelivered to the antichrist’s control, it clears a bit of a path for them to run without those obstacles in the way at least.

Anyone can disagree with my assessment. I’m not saying I’m a scholar nor am I given special insights. But these are the conclusions I came to after study of the verses, examining the biblical atlases, and much prayer and thought.

So that is the long introduction to what is happening in Syria and Jordan today, so we can keep a watchful eye on coming prophecy and how these nations figure into the news of the future.

Syria has been engaged in conflict, some say civil war already, since March 2011. The NY Times article of the timeline reports: “The wave of Arab unrest that started with the Tunisian revolution of January 2011 reached Syria in mid-March, when residents of a small southern city took to the streets to protest the torture of students who had put up anti-government graffiti. President Bashar al-Assad, who inherited Syria’s harsh dictatorship from his father, Hafez al-Assad, at first wavered between force and hints of reform. But in April, just days after lifting the country’s decades-old state of emergency, he launched the first of what became a series of withering crackdowns, sending tanks into restive cities as security forces opened fire on demonstrators.” It has only gotten worse since then.

“But by the fall, Syria’s economy was crumbling under the pressure of sanctions and the unrest, with its currency weakening, its recession expanding and its tourism industry wrecked — a serious blow to a regime whose legitimacy has relied on economic success.” And by today, a semblance of civil war erupted in Homs, Syria’s third-largest city, where armed protesters were calling themselves revolutionaries.

Syria’s Assad threatened to strike Tel Aviv if NATO comes in. He said, “If a crazy measure is taken against Damascus, I will need not more than six hours to transfer hundreds of rockets and missiles to the Golan Heights to fire them at Tel Aviv.”

In response, Israel said, that if Tel Aviv is attacked they will bomb the Gaza and also the whole of Lebanon. In addition, “NFC reported Israeli military circles as saying that the Jewish state’s message to Assad “is clear in that Damascus’ fate, should it be targeted, will not be different than Lebanon’s.”

In yet another escalation, Assad replied, “Syrian dictator Bashar Assad is now threatening to ignite the Middle East and destroy Israel if NATO attacks his country, while his mufti is threatening to dispatch suicide bombers to Europe and the United States.” The Hudson NY paper asked, “If They Are Like This Now, What Will They Be Like With Nukes?“

That is why the oracle Isaiah delivered was a burden. One comment Lindsey made is that the news was a heavy burden on Isaiah. It was really bad news to have to deliver, even to an enemy. Damascus is a thriving city and the level of devastation prophesied indicated that there would result in mass deaths. Damascus is currently home to 2.3 million people. Isaiah 17 nears the end of the prophecy at verse 14, saying that “Then behold, at eventide, trouble! And before the morning, he is no more.” A nighttime strike so catastrophic and complete that the city is wiped out by morning? What can do that? A nuclear bomb.

Syria is a proxy for Iran, and home to the Middle East’s most sophisticated chemical and biological weapons development labs, as Consultant to the NATO Defense Establishment in bio-warfare and counter terrorism expert Dr. Jill Dekker describes here. Damascus’s strategic alignment with Iran, means also that they along with Iran funds the terrorist group Hezbollah. So Damascus is a mere 150 miles from Jerusalem, is well-funded by Iran, has a nest of Israeli-hating terrorists waiting to obliterate the nation, and is home to the most advanced bio-and chemical weapons facility in the Middle East. And now it is on the brink of civil war and figures prominently in unfulfilled prophecy. Oh, Lord, these surely are perilous times for those who do not know you and do not know what is coming!

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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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