(no title)

Drought picture essay

Posted on August 6, 2011May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Picture essay.

Above, in an article published by The Economist, ‘Drought in the South [USA]: Bone-dry – Drought has blanketed nearly a third of the lower 48‘ the weekly said: “There are wildfires in the south-west and water restrictions in the south-east. Fields are scrubby and fallow, and in some counties the ground is riddled with deep cracks. Farmers are struggling to produce crops, and ranchers are worried about watering their cattle. As their losses mount, crop prices have risen.”

source

Above, The drought hit hardest in the Sahelian regions of Kanem, Bahr-El-Gazal, Hajer Lamis, Bastha and Guéra, Chad.

source

“Above, A dead cow lies on the ground as a bus travels past near the giant Dadaab refugee settlement on July 21, 2011 in Dadaab, Kenya. Famine brought on by the drought has killed tens of thousands in the Horn of Africa.” (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)

source

Above, “The remains of a cow lay near a watering point in a pasture July 28, 2011 near Tulia, Texas. A severe drought in the region has caused shortages of grass, hay and water, forcing ranchers to thin their herds or risk losing their cattle to the drought. The past nine months have been the driest in Texas since record keeping began in 1895, with 75% of the state classified as exceptional drought, the worst level.” Photograph by: Scott Olson, Getty Images.

source

Above, USAID’s photo of drought conditions in Ethiopia, amidst the 2011 Horn of Africa famine.

source

The Cimmaron Grassland Director explains drought conditions in Kansas USA.

I believe it would be a fair statement that the USA is no longer being blessed.
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holy spirit, prophecy, regeneration

The lovely work of the Holy Spirit

Posted on August 6, 2011 by elizabethprata

When we repent and come into reconciliation with Jesus, He sends the Holy Spirit into us and the Spirit begins the work of regeneration. Because we are born dead, spiritually empty and carnally minded, when the Spirit comes, He revives us and begins the work of shaping us like clay, into the Lord’s likeness. Here are but two verses that remind us that He grows us sovereignly and perfectly:

“One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.” (Acts 16:14)

“For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” (Rom 8:6)

The change is not instant, from one who is dead in the flesh to one who is bearing all the good fruit is that the Spirit nurtures in us (Galatians 5:22-26). Even the Apostle Paul battled flesh (Romans 7:15). But through constant submission, prayer, study of the word, and good works in His name, the Spirit leads us into good things, which will be completed on the day we are glorified in body at the rapture. (Gal 6:9; 1 Corinthians 15:51-52; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

But sometimes it is hard to detect if we can see this change in ourselves. In growth by degrees you don’t see it at first. Our first day of school was Friday and I looked at the little kindergarteners I’d worked with last year. Some had sprung up like weeds! I noticed it because I had not seen them for 8 weeks. But do I notice growth or change in myself? No. But I’m sure others did, not having seen me for 8 weeks either.

I remember the first time I noticed a Christlike change in myself. I was saved 7 years ago and really started studying the bible and attending church 5 years ago. So I’d have to reach back in my mind ten years to go beyond the point when the Spirit began His regenerative work in me.

During my 30s I traveled to Italy once a year. I love Italy so much. The rolling Tuscan hills filled with sunflowers, the steep and somber Umbrian mountains, the castles, villas, architecture. I fell in love with the art. In the Accademia Galleria where the famous sculpture of David is housed, I was absolutely floored when I saw it for the first time. Since I was not saved, I had no idea, really, of the story behind it, other than the surface. David killed Goliath with a rock. That’s as far as my understanding went. But I did a great study of Michaelangelo, the sculptor of the statue of David, and the marble itself. I even went to Carrara to see where the marble came from and how it was extracted from the mountain.

The bible says for us to “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.” (Col 3:2). So I do. I ponder heaven, and the Spirit and Jesus and the things He has told us in the bible. As I looked to heaven I mourned the loss of all the beautiful things in Italy. I’d think of the tribulation earthquakes and pictured in my mind the crumbling of the leaning tower of Pisa, of the Colosseum, of the castles that had stood for thousand years. “Gone…” I’d muse to myself. “How tragic!” I thought of the David, the most perfect man-made thing I’d ever seen, and though of how anything else could be more beautiful. For a long time I could not picture it and went around sad that my treasured Italy and everything in it would be destroyed.

So one day I was musing along in my mind and thought of the David again. “Gone…” I shook my head. Then another thought popped into my mind. “Hey! I can go over and see the REAL David!” It was then I laughed because I could detect the Spirit had grown me over time. My mind was no longer on earthly things but realized that a greater treasure was the resurrected, glorified and perfected David that the Lord had personally set as King of Israel! I laughed out loud. The real David, how about that! I began to get a glimmer of just how beautiful the Lord’s work is in us and that there will be many more things that will be stunningly beautiful that my brain can’t even conceive of but was just getting a tiny glimpse of. Slowly and surely the Holy Spirit does His work in us, praise God.

My mind was instantly set at ease as I realized I’d let go of earthly things and trusted the fact that no matter how lovely the things of earth are, the LORD is preparing a place for us that will be astoundingly beautiful, the foremost beauty of which are the glorified and redeemed people populating the place through the redemptive blood of Jesus Christ.

Do you have a moment when you came across a growth marker in yourself when you realized that your response to a thought or a situation was a direct result of the regenerative work of the Holy Spirit? Please share. Let’s celebrate Him!
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downgraded, mark of the beast, prophecy

Downgraded! What does it mean for the US economy? (UPDATE)

Posted on August 6, 2011 by elizabethprata

Here is an article from ABC that explains the effects of the US government’s credit rating’s downgrade from AAA to AA.

S&P Drops US Credit Rating to AA+: 5 Easy-to-Understand Effects of a Downgrade

—————-
“Standard & Poor’s announced Friday night that it has downgraded the sterling U.S. credit rating for the first time. The move came even though the Treasury Department said that it had found a math error in the firm’s calculations of deficit projections, according to a person familiar with the matter. S&P (Standard and Poor’s) decided to lower the AAA rating, held by the United States for 70 years, to AA+ after a bipartisan debt deal signed into law this week failed to assuage concerns about the nation’s growing spending. Analysts have said a downgrade could increase the cost of borrowing for the U.S. government and lead to tens of billions of dollars in more interest costs per year. That could translate into higher borrowing for consumers and businesses, too.” (source)

I’ve read plenty of economic analysis lately that explains what it means to be downgraded in terms of specifics to our economy. I can’t re-explain them to you now, because I understood them at the time but I’m not experienced enough to know the ins and outs to be able to recall it and then present the information. Here is one analyst’s version of what a downgrade will do to the economy. But I do know it will be bad, and right away, too. Where the article says it will cost us more to borrow it means disaster. That is the bottom line.

Here is the text of the S&P release that accompanied the downgrade:

“The political brinksmanship of recent months highlights what we see as America’s governance and policymaking becoming less stable, less effective, and less predictable than what we previously believed. The statutory debt ceiling and the threat of default have become political bargaining chips in the debate over fiscal policy. Despite this year’s wide-ranging debate, in our view, the differences between political parties have proven to be extraordinarily difficult to bridge, and, as we see it, the resulting agreement fell well short of the comprehensive fiscal consolidation program that some proponents had envisaged until quite recently. Republicans and Democrats have only been able to agree to relatively modest savings on discretionary spending while delegating to the Select Committee decisions on more comprehensive measures. It appears that for now, new revenues have dropped down on the menu of policy options. In addition, the plan envisions only minor policy changes on Medicare and little change in other entitlements, the containment of which we and most other independent observers regard as key to long-term fiscal sustainability.” What to expect on Monday: ” it is possible that interest rates could rise if investors re-price relative risks. As a result, our alternate scenario factors in a 50 basis point (bp)-75 bp rise in 10-year bond yields relative to the base and upside cases from 2013 onwards. In this scenario, we project the net public debt burden would rise from 74% of GDP in 2011 to 90% in 2015 and to 101% by 2021.” And why all those who have said the downgrade will have no impact on markets will be tested as soon as Monday: “On Monday, we will issue separate releases concerning affected ratings in the funds, government-related entities, financial institutions, insurance, public finance, and structured finance sectors.”

The German magazine Spiegel published today the following opinion piece:

“This week, the United States nearly allowed itself to succumb to economic disaster. Increasingly, the divided country has more in common with a failed state than a democracy. In the face of America’s apparent political insanity, Europe must learn to take care of itself. The word “West” used to have a meaning. It described common goals and values, the dignity of democracy and justice over tyranny and despotism. Now it seems to be a thing of the past. There is no longer a West, and those who would like to use the word — along with Europe and the United States in the same sentence — should just hold their breath. By any definition, America is no longer a Western nation. The US is a country where the system of government has fallen firmly into the hands of the elite. An unruly and aggressive militarism set in motion two costly wars in the past 10 years. Society is not only divided socially and politically — in its ideological blindness the nation is moving even farther away from the core of democracy. It is losing its ability to compromise. America has changed. It has drifted away from the West.”

So USA has reduced economic credibility in fact and is seen to have reduced economic stability in perception. We’ve been said to have cooked the books (according to AP), our debt is 100% of Gross Domestic Product, we are now toxic (being a failed state), and former economic allies are backing away as fast as they can pedal. The USA’s economy is the world’s biggest, so this downgrade will have monumental impacts to the rest of the world’s economy. (As stated by the last line of the S&P release).

I do not know what that impact is or how long it will take to permeate, but I have a feeling it will not be long. I DO know that the book of Revelation in chapter 13 describes an economy that can be controlled by one man down to the specifics of who is participating in it and prevent any person he chooses from buying or selling if they refuse to worship him- the antichrist. In order for the economy to be that tightly controlled, I’ve long been saying that the present economy must collapse, in order to make way for the new economy AND the man proposing to solve the global economic problems which preceded it. Is that time here? God knows, but it really feels like things are not just fraying, but ripping to shreds.

Tomorrow Gov. Rick Perry of TX is calling for a day of prayer and fasting. It is a day that’s been set aside for those purposes since last December, so it is not a response to this current economic crisis, per se. It is a forward thinking Christian man who saw the train coming down the tracks and knew that it was headed in the wrong direction spiritually, economically, politically every way. Here is Joel Rosenberg’s plea for participation in the day of prayer and fasting, even if you are not in Texas. Prayer is not an alternative, it is the only response to a world that is getting further out of control, our control. It is all in God’s hands. If we clasp ours and repent, we will be in His hands, too. And that is a very good place to be.
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noaa, prophecy

Official NOAA space weather video explaining upcoming solar storm impacts

Posted on August 5, 2011 by elizabethprata

UPDATE from Spaceweather.com:
“CME IMPACT–NOW: NASA’s ACE spacecraft, which measures the speed of the solar wind just upstream of Earth, indicates that a CME impact on our planet is in progress. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras in the hours ahead. Aurora alerts: text, voice.

UPDATE from spaceweather.com: Analysts at the Goddard Space Weather Lab report a strong compression of Earth’s magnetosphere in response to the CME impact. “Simulations indicate that the magnetopause separating magnetospheric and solar wind plasma is close to the geosynchronous orbit starting at about 19:20 UT on August 5th. Spacecraft [in these] orbits may be directly exposed to solar wind plasma and magnetic field.””

———————————————
After a long minimum of little-to-no activity, sunspots are back, and with them come the coronal mass ejections and solar storms affecting earth. (geo-effective). There are several classifications of sizes of these ejections from the sun. C, M, and X are respectively small, medium and large. Over the last few days, as the sunspot has turned to a position where any ejections would affect earth, three CME’s have been sprung, one of which was a hairs-breadth away from a X-class. Once the strong M’s and the X-class flares/ejections start to reach earth, we feel their effects. Spaceweather.com wrote yesterday, “On August 4th, active sunspot 1261 unleashed a strong solar flare, the third in as many days. The blast, which registered M9.3 on the Richter Scale of Flares, hurled a bright coronal mass ejection (CME) almost directly toward Earth. Click on the image to view a movie of the expanding cloud recorded by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO).

And they wrote again this morning-
“As predicted by analysts at the GSFC Space Weather Lab, the first of three CMEs produced by the recent spate of flare activity reached Earth during the late hours of August 4th. The impact was weak and is not expected to produce strong geomagnetic storms. Two more CMEs are still on the way and, as described below, they may have merged into a single cloud that could produce significant storming when they reach Earth on August 5th at 10:00 UT (plus or minus 7 hours). A new model of all 3 CMEs is now available; stay tuned for updates.”

The National Atmospheric and Oceanographic Administration (NOAA) put out an explanatory video this morning to explain the impacts. In it the NOAA physicist said that the average person will not feel the effects from the three ejections hurling toward earth, but the systems we depend on will be impacted. For example, the power grid will certainly see fluctuations in the transmission part of the grid but the power operators will handle them so they never hit your home. Airlines have already seen some communications outages, as a result of these eruptions…” Click on the video to see more.

I saw yesterday that Texas’ brutal heat ave is causing power operators to call for an energy emergency. Normally, a strong M-class or even an X-class flare may not damage the power and communication systems here on earth, but the fact is, the power and communication systems have been under sustained attack for a long time. These attacks are either due to heat, cyberattack, or aging infrastructure and the old fashioned attacks of rust, cracks, and leakage.

It is a certainty that at some point in the coming Tribulation when the anomalies from the sun, moon, and stars that are predicted to happen,(Luke 21:25; Rev 16:9) will negatively affect us here on earth. Whether we are beginning to see those impacts is for God to know. But I found it interesting that NOAA put out a video to explain to us what will happen. (Which is think is good and responsible.) Here is the video:

NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center issues watch for geomagnetic storms; potential impacts to begin tonight, Aug 4. video by NOAA – directed and produced by NOAA’s Katy Human and Will von Dauster.

berean, bible, end of days. prophecy

Paul: What does it mean to be a Berean?

Posted on August 4, 2011May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

“In Berea”

“As soon as it was night, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. Many of the Jews believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.” (Acts 17:10-12).

I think this is an extraordinary verse. LOL, regular readers will chuckle because I always think the verse I’m reading now is extraordinary. But I feel an affinity to Paul, and I think this verse deserves exploration. I will explore it again in a near future essay from a different angle.

How many times have we heard some celebrity caught in a traffic stop or in an indiscretion and when called to account on it, says “Don’t you know who I am?” They balk and they yell and they squirm and try to escape accountability due to their position. Quite often, their ego is inflated to a large enough degree that they never expect they’ll be asked to support their views or explain their mistake. Even more often, the person calling them to account are seen as the ones with the problem. “Don’t you know who that is?” they are told. “Don’t ask him to explain himself!” as if there ever comes a point when someone is above the law.

If any person on the planet had cause to balk and say to those who questioned him, “Don’t you know who I am??” it was Apostle Paul. Paul was a cold legalist who persecuted Christians, but was instantly transformed into a hot believer on the road to Damascus. After Damascus, Paul went to Arabia for three years, and there the record is fairly silent on what he was doing. He usually met with those in the synagogues to preach so he could have preached while in Arabia. He may have begun his missionary journey in Arabia but nothing is recorded in the bible on that so we don’t know for sure. What we do know is that he learned the Gospel. Paul said he had received it from Jesus Himself.

“But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (Galatians 1:11-12).

Paul did not learn the Gospel from any fellow apostle:

“But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.” (Galatians 1:15-17).

2 Corinthians 12:2 is another indicator of who Paul may have been meeting with!
“I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven.”

It wasn’t until three years after the Road to Damascus conversion that Paul even met with another apostle and his two-week stay at that time wasn’t long enough for him to learn it from them:

“Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and remained with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother. (Now concerning the things which I write to you, indeed, before God, I do not lie.) Afterward I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. And I was unknown by face to the churches of Judea which were in Christ” (Galatians 1:18-23).

“The point is that Paul stated he learned the gospel directly from Jesus Christ. He proved this by pointing out that he never was with the other apostles long enough to have been taught by them. This is a part of Paul’s claim to being an apostle — he was a direct witness to Jesus’ resurrection and Jesus’ teachings.” (source)

When Paul and Silas taught the Bereans, they searched the scriptures to see if the things they were being taught were true. Though they were being taught by a couple of famous luminaries in the blossoming Christian faith, the Bereans did not take what was bring taught on their authority alone but checked the ultimate authority to see if it was so. Though the Jews he taught knew had been a Pharisee and a son of a Pharisee (Acts 23:6) and therefore knew the scriptures backward and forward, and though his conversion was dramatic and instant, and though his rhetoric skills were well-known, the Bereans were not swayed by any of it. They searched the scriptures, period.

On Paul’s side, Paul’s response was not an ego-inflated, insecure, blurting, flesh ridden response of “Don’t you know who I am? I was taught by Jesus himself!” but instead, he commended them!

The lesson tonight is two-fold. If you are receiving a teaching from anyone from a big-time Christian luminary, to a small-time layman, don’t just accept what they teach you. Search the scriptures to see if the things they are telling you are true.

You see the rest of the story in the remaining part of the verse I opened with: “Many of the Jews believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.” The Word, either taught, or received and verified by checking, is powerful. I urge us in these waning days where deception abounds and false or casual teachers of the bible permeate the faith from top to bottom, to have a noble character and an open mind, check the teaching, and then prepare to be moved and transformed by the Word!
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kilamanjaro erupt, prophecy, silent bank run

Peoples’ lives are changing radically

Posted on August 3, 2011May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Here are a few random notes for you as I peruse today’s news:

“Confidential Wal-Mart Memo Discloses Substantial Drop In Store Traffic Compared To Year Ago“
From the guys at Zerohedge: “As if we needed another confirmation that the US consumer is running on empty, here comes Bloomberg with valuable disclosure from an internal, and supposedly confidential, Wal-Mart memo on store traffic patterns which indicate that in US store locations open for at least a year have seen a 2.6% drop in traffic in the February to June period compared to a year earlier. While this may not sound huge, keep in mind the company is massively leveraged to even the smallest marginal moves in traffic, courtesy of already razor thin margins. Specifically, the Wal-Mart stores in question had “82.8 million fewer visits through the first five months of the company’s fiscal year.” More than anything this is an indication of just how exhausted the US consumer is becoming if even the most beloved, widespread and cheapest option for purchases is now being shunned outright.”

I think that is an extremely concise summary of the memo. And its stark simplicity is depressing.

I’ve been saying that volcanic activity is up over the last few years. (data here). The Chaitén volcano entered a new eruptive phase for the first time in about 9,500 years on the morning of May 2, 2008. Just one day it went BOOM. In June, Eritrea’s Nabro volcano erupted and it never had before. Many other active volcanoes became even more active. Because of this (one surmises from the article below), a report was made to the Parliament of Tanzania regarding whether Kilamanjaro is exhibiting any signs of eruption. Some ash had been spotted recently. So because of that, and the fact that volcanic activity in other parts of the world, they decide they better go and check it out. Here is the story-

Government Wants to Research Mount Kilimanjaro for Possible Eruption
“The government, through Tanzania National Parks (Tanapa), will soon conduct a research on Mount Kilimanjaro’s Kibo peak to check signs of volcanic eruption following recent volcanic incidents in different parts of the world. State Minister in the Vice-President’s Office (Environment) Terezya Huvisa revealed this in Parliament yesterday when responding to a question by Betty Machangu (CCM). She said that there was not any thorough research conducted to look into the possibility of volcanic eruption at Kibo peak, but following recent eruptions in different parts of the world, the government through Tanapa intends to conduct research at Kibo peak. … She further explained that Mt Kilimanjaro had three peaks which occurred due to volcanic eruptions about one million years ago. “Experts’ reports have confirmed that Mawenzi and Shira peaks had dead volcanic and there is no possibility of eruption,” she said. However, Huvisa said the Kibo peak was reportedly active as ashes and fire had been spotted recently. “The last incident of eruption at this peak occurred 200 years ago resulting in ash pit which exists until today,” Huvisa said.”

Big Think had a recent story about the Pisgah-USGS-DutchSinse dust-up. I reported on that here. The article makes a statement about the issue of how far to go with trusting citizen-interpreted data, and even whether it is a good thing to have such data available to people. I believe it is, of course, but you can read the Big Think article yourself to get the flavor of the discussion. What I took away from the piece is that there is a blunt reminder that the desert east of LA and south of Bodie is a hugely active seismic and volcanic field.

Bank runs are no longer enacted like the scene in the old movie “It’s a Wonderful Life”:

Nowadays it is called a “silent bank run” as in the Guardian UK’s article about Greece’s silent bank run this week.

“Official figures back him up. In May alone, almost €5bn (£4.4bn) was pulled out of Greek deposits, as part of what analysts describe as a “silent bank run”. This version is also disorderly and jittery, just not as obvious. Customers do not form long queues outside branches, they simply squirrel out as much as they can. Some of that money will have been used to pay debts or supplement incomes, of course, but bankers put the sheer volume of withdrawals down to a general fear about the outlook for Greece, one that runs all the way from the humble rainy-day saver to the really big money.”

Here is a story from Yahoo News:
US borrowing tops 100% of GDP: Treasury
“The new borrowing took total public debt to $14.58 trillion, over end-2010 GDP of $14.53 trillion, and putting it in a league with highly indebted countries like Italy and Belgium.”

I’m no economist, but that seems kinda bad to me.

Weimar Republic: German businessmen carrying armfuls of worthless money during the great depression. source.

So…there’s a lot going on. I really wonder how anyone who is not saved explains the plethora of unusual and extreme events occurring all over the world. It is the nearing of Jesus to come in judgment for our sins. I was watching an apologetics show recently, and there was a professor in a college railing against Christianity. When confronted, he’d said that Christianity has caused more wars than anything else in all of history. The response to the professor was to ask him if he believed that the present age (20th century and forward) is more, or less, Christian than in prior centuries and epochs. He said “less Christian.” Then how can Christianity have caused more wars when by his own admission, the world was less inclined toward Jesus than previously, and yet the 20th century has seen an increase in wars to an extent seen like no other? And the basis for those wars was not Christianity, but atheism, Marxism, Communism, nationalism and civil wars?

These articles sum up a clear pattern to me. Peoples’ lives are changing radically. What we knew before is going away, not to return. A calm earth, a stuffed bank account, purchasing merchandise at will, all gone. Now we have silent bank runs and empty stores and governments nervously eyeing the volcano with teams crawling up its sides to take a peek if it is coming alive or not.

The facts are clear. The road ahead will be very bumpy for those not reconciled in pardon to Jesus, but instead who stand in rebellion against Him as criminals. He is coming soon, please repent of sins and choose life everlasting. Please.
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bible jesus, end times, judgment, prophecy

A strange news article from Texas: TX reservoir turns blood red

Posted on August 2, 2011 by elizabethprata

“This is the original headline:

“End Times? Texas Lake Turns Blood-Red“
“A Texas lake that turned blood-red this summer may not be a sign of the End Times, but probably is the end of a popular fishing and recreation spot. A drought has left the OC Fisher Reservoir in San Angelo State Park in West Texas almost entirely dry. The water that is left is stagnant, full of dead fish — and a deep, opaque red. The color has some apocalypse believers suggesting that OC Fisher is an early sign of the end of the world, but Texas Parks and Wildlife Inland Fisheries officials say the bloody look is the result of Chromatiaceae bacteria, which thrive in oxygen-deprived water. “It’s just heartbreaking,” said Charles Cruz, a fish and wildlife technician with Texas Parks and Wildlife in San Angelo, Tex.”
“Blood red reservoir”
“Texas is experiencing major drought this summer, with 75 percent of the state’s area in an “exceptional” drought, the highest level, according to the National Drought Mitigation Center (NDMC). The state had hoped for some relief from Tropical Storm Don last week, but the system fizzled and brought only an inch or two of rain to areas near the coast.”
“End times predictions”
“As of last week, all that remained of the lake was a small pond a few feet deep, Cruz said. There were thousands of dead fish, he said, but no sign of life. Pictures of this blood-red pool circulated online in fishing forums and caught the notice of Indiana preacher Paul Begley, who said in a YouTube video that the lake might be evidence of the apocalypse as predicted by the Biblical book of Revelation. “The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead person, and every living thing in the sea died,” the passage Begley cited reads. “The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood.” Begley may not have any more luck at predicting the end of the world than did Harold Camping, the radio preacher who set the date for May 21, 2011. But for as long as the drought persists, the OC Fisher reservoir is a reservoir no longer.”

Well. First, we are not in the Tribulation now. The ‘end times’ technically is the period when Jesus went up (Acts 1:9-12) and the time of the rapture when Jesus will come down. (1 Thess 4:17). After that there will be a period of judgment on the earth known familiarly as the Tribulation (Matthew 24:29) but known formally as the Time of Jacob’s Trouble. (Jeremiah 30:4-7).

The verse the article cites is Revelation 16:3, but actually Rev 16:4 is more apt: “The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood.” However, the whole point is moot, because when the verses above come true it’s actually quite far along in the time of the judgment period. In Chapter 19, Jesus returns, so we can see that quite a lot has been going on before the time when the sea is turned into blood.

For example, Revelation 6 describes wars in all parts of the world, a quarter of the world dying from diseases and other means, a great earthquake, 144,000 Jews have been supernaturally evangelized and are witnessing to the world, and much more. Since it is my interpretation that the Tribulation is mostly chronological, by the time Revelation 16 comes with its seas being turned into blood, many other markers will have let the world know that they were indeed IN the Tribulation. There will be no question.

I don’t find it mysterious or mystical that fish died in the reservoir. It has been incredibly hot in Texas for a long time. Here in GA the news just said that since May there have been only 4 days when temperatures have been below normal, and right now we are experiencing our 15th consecutive day of 90-plus degree temps. Texas has had it much worse. So it’s logical that the reservoir water temperature would increase to the point where fish life would die in intolerable conditions.

What I find is the interesting part is that someone didn’t say, ‘gee, it’s been so hot that the temps got high enough that the fish died.” Instead, a reference was made to Revelation judgments. And more interestingly, the comment didn’t die there, but was printed.

The end times are on people’s minds. That is for a reason. Judgment IS coming, but this long end-time period has been one of grace bestowed on the world and an example of His loving-kindness. As His warnings increase, the fact of the prophesied judgments are rising to people’s conscious minds, whether they believe in them or not. They’re thinking along judgment lines. The discussion of their imminence is happening in the secular world as well as the religious world.

Please heed these warnings from our loving God. He is giving you time to reflect on the fact that He is showing you He exists. He is showing you that judgment is a real thing. He wants you to reflect on your deeds, and know that they are sinful deeds rendered against a Holy God. (Mt 24:44). Please understand that anyone with a sin in them will never be able to enjoy the peace and closeness of heaven with Jesus because with unforgiven sin in them, you’re a criminal to him deserving of a sentence. The sentence is eternal separation from Him in hell. (Luke 21:34-35).

No, we’re not in Revelation times yet, but someday the world will be. But part of that same world will have been rescued from the coming wrath (1 Thess 1:10). His love is such that you get to choose which population group you will be in when that day comes. Don’t wait too long to decide.
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jerusalem, judgment, prophecy

Israel ready to negotiate Palestinian State borders

Posted on August 2, 2011 by elizabethprata

Well, blow me down with a feather. Did Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu just blink? With the United Nations being whipped into a frenzy by the Palestinians’ representative Abbas, and with a unilateral vote for Palestinian statehood looming which would be forced upon Israel, today Netanyau seemed to have ducked in the age-old game of chicken:

Israel Willing To Negotiate On Borders In Dramatic Policy Change
“In a dramatic policy shift, Israel’s prime minister has agreed to negotiate the borders of a Palestinian state based on the cease-fire line that marks off the West Bank, a TV station reported Monday. Up to now, Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to spell out his plan for negotiating the border. A senior Israeli official would not confirm outright that the prime minister was now willing to adopt the cease-fire line as a starting point, but said Israel was willing to try new formulas to restart peace talks based on a proposal made by President Barack Obama. In a speech about the Middle East in May, Obama proposed negotiations based on the pre-1967 line with agreed swaps of territory between Israel and a Palestinian state. Netanyahu reacted angrily, insisting that Israel would not withdraw from all of the West Bank, though that was not what Obama proposed. Now Netanyahu is basically accepting that framework, according to Channel 2 TV, offering to trade Israeli territory on its side of the line for West Bank land where its main settlements are located.”

Debt limit: a manufactured crisis

Posted on July 31, 2011May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Michael Snyder of The Economic Collapse Blog wrote a piece this week called: “Stress!” He asked:

“Has anyone else noticed that the level of stress in this country appears to be extremely high right now? Today, it seems like our federal government, our state governments and most American families live in a constant state of crisis. Everywhere you look there are major problems. Right now everyone is stressed out because of the “debt ceiling deadline”. Earlier this year everyone was freaked out about the possibility of a “government shutdown”. If by some miracle Barack Obama and the Republicans are able to reach a deal in the next few days that will not help the national stress level for long. Another gut-wrenching “national crisis” will almost certainly come along very quickly.”

Gut-wrenching is right. While most of the common people may not understand exactly all the nuances and ramifications of the debt-ceiling limit’s various amendments, we know that it is big disaster. The event itself is a disaster and also the Fed’s, Congress’s, President’s, and Corporation’s behavior around it is a disaster too.

But at the same time I’m surprised. It isn’t like no one knew it was coming. It’s been an issue for decades that we spend more than we take in. It’s been an issue for months as we knew the annual deadline was looming. And yet at the last minute there is all this scurrying and hoopla and shouting and furor. It’s like 2008, when Lehman Brothers fell and the economic crash began. Senator John McCain suspended his presidential campaign and flew back to Washington. News coverage was intense. Politicians scurried and ran and wrangled and it sure was a spectacle. In between then and now, there have been similar spectacles of our government officials running around trying to solve this problem or that one.

As with anything grandiose and major, the people who are affected by it suffer. The American citizens are vicariously subjected to the politicians’ stress as we watch our future unfold.

Prolonged stress has effects. The American people have been intensely stressed for three years now. The pinball effect of careening from one crisis to another wearies the mind, heart, psyche. It cannot be sustained for long. The ever more intense cycles of crisis tire us out mentally, physically, emotionally, and we long for peace. We begin saying ‘peace and safety! peace and safety!’ We’ll do almost anything to stop the downward cycle of crisis management.

Many of the symptoms the people enduring the fallout from the governmental stress and crises are similar to those who live with a drug addict or an alcoholic. From Web4Health.com-

They deny the truth: “Family and friends devote a lot of time and energy to hide the alcoholic’s problems. An important part of this behaviour is to express apologies to employers, fellow-workers, friends, other family members and relatives for bad behaviour.”

There are a lot of people denying the economic truth right now. The NY Times had an article today that essentially stated maybe a credit downgrade wouldn’t be so bad after all.

Acting out: “Most of the close friends and relatives of persons with serious alcohol problems get into this kind of behaviour. “Acting out” is a psychological term for the impulsive, immature and sometimes irresponsible behaviour that a person uses in order to handle internal emotional stress. To drink together with the alcoholic can be one example. In later stages, the hostility that the conflict causes may begin to express itself in more negative activities, such as loud quarrels and physical attacks.”

We see a lot of hostility in the country right now. “Road rage” seems almost a quaint term in the face of the horrific shootings last week in the US.

They demand improvement: “Most people that live with an addictive person try to change the person or try to at least get him/her to improve. They can often struggle with this for months, years, or their entire life because of the belief that “everything will be all right if I only could get him or her to quit drinking”. Unfortunately, the result is often that both become losers. The harder you try to change people with alcohol problems, the more they will fight your attempts. The alcoholic becomes furious because of all the nagging, and a common behaviour is to decide to drink even more.”

Congressional phone lines are lit up and the faxes are falling in Senate offices like snowflakes in a Montana blizzard. I don’t think there is anyone who doesn’t demand improvement. But they say, ‘everything will be all right this time if we just vote a different bunch in there.’

They become isolated: “As early as a few months after the arise of a serious addiction, the isolation from friends, family and society gradually takes over, although it can take years before you understand what is happening to you and your alcoholic friend. As the alcoholic’s problems increase, the contact with neighbours and relatives instinctively decreases in order to avoid shame and embarrassment.”

After Obama went on his apology tour in 2009, America has become increasingly isolated. Europe is dealing with their own problems. Creditor China becomes antagonized by our failures, and South America turns to the Middle East for ties and alliances.

They give up: “When they have lived together with a chronic alcoholic for a few years, most people get depressed. Their life has become a permanent burden with few, or none, moments of authentic joy and comfort. Apathy, aversion, physical pain and chronic fatigue may be the bodily expressions in this process.”

And it is at that point, when they seek a solution, any solution, from anyone. The antichrist will step in and offer one. Tired, depressed, apathetic, not just America, but the world will say “Yes! At last, peace and safety!”

What does living in prolonged stress do to our body? These are signs and symptoms of stress overload. They can be viewed personally, individually, and also as signs and symptoms that our nation exhibits:

Prolonged stress affects us. Living in a crisis mode is very bad for us. When I look to the following prophetic verse, I believe it may be interpreted three ways.

“But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time; many will go back and forth, and knowledge will increase.”‘

It could mean literally that people will go to and fro as busy people do, and/or widespread travel. We all know that life is more hectic, fast, rushed. In that fast pace, a close walk with the Lord often drops down on our priority list, so this satisfies satan. As knowledge increases, like science, people believe they do not need God any more.

It could mean that people do back and forth in their doctrine. For a long time it was understood that the rapture would occur before the Tribulation, now people go back and forth on that. “Yes it is! No it isn’t!” like a tennis match. For a long time people understood that hell is real and eternal, but now people go back and forth on that. Individuals also switch their position. For a long time John Stott believed in hell biblically. Then he became an annihilationist. Then he swayed from that a bit. (source). He went back and forth.

Thirdly, it could mean going back and forth in solving problems, as we have seen incessantly since the latest crisis began in 2008. Here, I also remember the prophetic verse from Luke 21:25:

“There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea.” The sea being the roaring multitudes, ever restless and clamoring for peace, and a way out from their distress. The same metaphor of the sea being restless multitudes is used in Isaiah 8:7-8 and Rev 18:15. (Commentary here). So in the time that is referred to here- Tribulation- people will be roaring and tossing. Though the Tribulation has not begun, in these waning last days of the Church Age, we saw the Arab Spring, and now with each successive crisis in America, the multitudes grow more weary, distressed, and roaring, going back and forth, to and fro in stress.

I don’t think I’m overstating things by referring to the effects stress has upon us individually and nationally. We see it in the outward behavior of people every day. Shootings over a wrong McDonald’s order. Flash mobs robbing stores and vandalizing at will. Fistfights over cutting in movie line.

We are all affected by the national stress and current crises, whether we endure them directly or not. It’s like living with an alcoholic. I don’t think it is too overwrought to use the metaphor again, in referring to Revelation’s Mystery Babylon the Mother of Prostitutes,

“She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. … “I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus.”

Share the peace of Jesus in all you say and do. As the days get more stressful it gets harder for us to do that, I know. But we have to. The rubber is hitting the road. Our peace in the midst of roaring seas, clamorous multitudes, stressed populations, will be the Light, a beacon for all to come who are weary. “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

jesus, landslides, prophecy, south korea

South Korea: 11 inches of rain in one day triggers massive landslides

Posted on July 31, 2011 by elizabethprata

The Debt limit fight in our nation’s capitol is all-consuming and claiming our entire attention right now. As a matter of fact, I have several South American Spanish language channels on my television lineup and the other night they devoted quite a bit of time to our issue, with Spanish-language reporters present and filming first-person in Congress, and interviewing Congressmen afterwards, with the interviews translated into Spanish. The debt limit fight is claiming many nations’ attention right now. The debt limit fight has global repercussions, and I plan another blog entry later to discuss the effects of such political crises.

But meanwhile, there have been terrible rains, storms, and landslides in South Korea. Chinese media reports, “62 killed in South Korea Flood“

“South Korea is struggling to cope after the worst rainfall in decades triggered landslides and flooding. Residents in the worst affected areas are worried and scared as the disaster claimed 62 lives with 9 still missing. … The national weather agency says Seoul received more than 300 millimeters of rain on Wednesday (11.8 inches), the largest single-day in July since records began in 1907. And the downpour had left more than 11 thousand people homeless and flooded 978 hectares of farmland across the country.”

Below is a video taken from inside a moving vehicle on a highway looking outward through the windshield at the road ahead at the moment that a landslide occurred, sweeping cars and trucks into the woods.

As I said, our debt limit fight is important, but please always remember to pray for the people in the world who are rendered homeless, hungry, or grief-stricken because of the continual natural disasters affecting so many…Those without Jesus must be petrified at what is happening to the world. Those who are Christians must need encouragement to persevere in the faith. Both groups need our prayers.
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