Posted in end of days, prophecy, watchmen

What a watchman’s prophetic ministry does

Posted on by elizabethprata

This is a post about what a prophetic ministry does. Watchmen on the wall (Is 62:6) don’t only tell the news. They don’t only ring the end-is-near-repent bell. The Lord uses these ministries to complete a process in hearers’ hearts. It isn’t only a cognitive absorbing of news, but a spiritual changing of hearts.

Paul uses analogies quite often and one of his favorites is the race:

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7).

“Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.” (1 Corinthians 9:25).

“You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth?” (Galatians 5:7).

The Church Age is a marathon. A marathon is a 26-mile race. Initially there is a burst at the starting gate, runners quickly jogging away in an explosion of energy. The Church started quickly, like marathoners at the gun.

Above, Participants in the 2010 Boston Marathon in Wellesley, just after the halfway mark. Source Wikipedia

Then there is the long middle part. Runners get tired. Some stumble, but they get up. Others drop out. The pace is plodding, not a lot of energy is expended. Runners look at the crowd, the birds, their shoes, becoming unfocused. They get complacent.

But then suddenly they round a bend and they see that finish line tape up ahead. Suddenly their focus zaps back to the task at hand- fully and completely. They run full throttle, the tiredness leaving their legs and adrenaline kicking in. People are on the sidelines cheering and the crowds swell with energy. There is joy in seeing it and arms start to reach out.

Prophecy is the finish line tape. The watchmen are close to the finish line  shouting and clapping and encouraging and pleading with them to keep running the race. Meanwhile, the Holy Spirit quickens their pace, opens their eyes, gives them energy. And the Lord changes hearts.

Here is what a watchman does: “Isaiah 62:6 I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence,” (Isaiah 62:6)

Here is the effect of what a watchman does: See, as you begin to think about the immediacy of prophetic fulfillments, The Holy Spirit changes your thinking. It changes your heart. Suddenly your priorities are different. You feel more urgency, have more focus on your Christian walk. Watchmen who exhort put these seeds in your mind and heart and the Holy Spirit revives you by showing you that the end of the race is near. You feel a deepening sense of burden for the lost world while at the same time a lessening of hanging on to it.

What you can do: Ask the Spirit to give you discernment, an ability to distinguish truth from error. Diligent study in the Word is the mechanism for growing discernment, because the bible is All-Truth. Once you know truth more solidly the Spirit will lead you to discerning untruth when you come across it. You will then feel stronger in standing on your foundation as the rest of the world tips crazily.

“The period of man’s day is ending, the period of God’s day is coming. But in light of the fact that we are soon to be taken to be with Christ and that will initiate the day of the Lord in which the ungodly will be destroyed and damned forever. It is time to get your priorities right. It’s time to wake up. This is no time to be slumbering and sleeping. This is a time for alertness. The same Jesus who is taken up from you, the angel said, shall so come in like manner as you’ve seen Him go. In other words, you’ve got to live in the light of the return of Jesus Christ.” It’s time to wake up.”
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Posted in ahmadinejad, gog magog, iran, prophecy

Men of destiny, men of prophecy

Posted on by elizabethprata

The Gog Magog battle looms before us. This is the battle that Ezekiel prophesied in Ez 38-39. If you read Ezekiel 36-48, it is largely chronological. Book 36 begins with the New Covenant, (Ez 36:26-28). Then it skips ahead 1900 years where in the next two chapters he describes a horrendous battle of an evil alliance attacking Israel. It is such a surprise to Israel that they are caught off guard and almost succumb. At the last moment, God steps in–

“And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the LORD.” (Ezekiel 38:22-23).

Just in case we’re not sure that all will know that it is the LORD winning the battle, He repeats His promise in verse Ez 39:6-7- “And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD. So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.”

And again in Ez 39:21-22- “And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them. So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward.”

The rest of Ezekiel 39 is consumed with graphic descriptions of the carnage and the cleanup. The burials will take 7 months to complete, and the fuel from downed war materiel take 7 years to burn. That is one of the major reasons scholars think the Gog-Magog battle occurs at the outset of the Tribulation, or just prior, because the Tribulation period is 7 years. There has to be seven years left in which to burn the fuel. Also, the LORD makes Himself known to the Israelites and they renew their covenant with Him. They begin clamoring for their Temple, which we know is built at some point because 3 1/2 years later the antichrist stands in the Temple and calls himself God and stops the Jews’ sacrifices.

Ezekiel goes on in books 40-48 with glorious descriptions of the Millennium Kingdom.

In this battle, Persia (Iran) is one of the lead attackers, along with Russia. America is not listed in prophecy, but the US was raised up in might and we have used that might to cause a tipping of the balance in the Muslim world through ten years of invasions. These invasions are leading to the final set-up of the players and the circumstances that will be in place when the Gog-Magog battle begins.

That said, I found it interesting that recently a top aide of Russia’s President Putin said that he thinks Putin was sent by God at this moment in time to fulfill a pre-ordained prophetic destiny. Secondly, in March of this year, an inside documentary was made by the closest associates of Iran’s Ayatollah but smuggled out from the East. The documentary revealed that both the Ayatollah of Iran and President Ahmadinejad personally feel that they are specific players in the prophetic destiny of Iran. And finally, it has long been known that President George Bush felt strongly that his invasion of Iraq was an order from God that would directly lead to impacts on Israel. In a sense, they are all correct. Read the quotes:

PUTIN
“Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was sent to Russia by God to help his country during one of its most turbulent times, the Kremlin’s chief political strategist said on Friday in rare public remarks. “I honestly believe that Putin is a person who was sent to Russia by fate and by the Lord at a difficult time for Russia,” Vladislav Surkov, a staunch Putin supporter and one of Russia’s most powerful men, was quoted by Interfax news agency as telling state-run Chechen TV. “(Putin was) preordained by fate to preserve our peoples,” said Surkov, who is also the Kremlin’s first deputy chief of staff.”

AHMADINEJAD
“The purpose of the film is to make the case that Iran is prophetically destined to lead the war against Islam’s enemies, which is as a prelude to the appearance of the Hidden Imam, also called the Mahdi, who brings the final victory for Islam and reigns over the whole world. It uses current events to argue that “the final chapter has begun” and the Mahdi’s arrival is imminent. Most disturbingly, it teaches that Khamenei, Ahmadinejad and Nasrallah are the individuals prophesied to make this happen. President Ahmadinejad is an End Times character named Shoeib-Ebne Saleh, the film states. He is appointed as the commander-in-chief by Seyed Khorasani (Ayatollah Khamenei). The speaker in the film says that this individual will “move” 72 months [6 years] prior to the arrival of the Mahdi and will lead the recapturing of Jerusalem on “the threshold of the Coming.”

In Muslim end time theology, the Mahdi is strikingly similar to the Christian antichrist. So it makes sense that Iran’s leaders feel not only prophetically destined but the timing is also nearly a mirror match for the timing of the Gog-Magog battle.

BUSH
“George Bush has claimed he was on a mission from God when he launched the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, according to a senior Palestinian politician in an interview to be broadcast by the BBC later this month. Bush revealed the extent of his religious fervour when he met a Palestinian delegation during the Israeli-Palestinian summit at the Egpytian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, four months after the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. One of the delegates, Nabil Shaath, who was Palestinian foreign minister at the time, said: “President Bush said to all of us: ‘I am driven with a mission from God’. God would tell me, ‘George go and fight these terrorists in Afghanistan’. And I did. And then God would tell me ‘George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq’. And I did.” Mr Bush went on: “And now, again, I feel God’s words coming to me, ‘Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East’. And, by God, I’m gonna do it.”

The LORD sets up kings and he takes down kings. (Dan 2:21). He uses all men for His purposes, whether they are saved or not. He uses people for His global purpose, and He uses people individually to prepare us. God uses negative circumstances for His outcomes. He doesn’t need to make a positive circumstance every time. There are many examples of this in the bible. God has been actively working in the lives of all people on the planet to prepare for the culmination of His promises to Israel and the end of the age. I believe we can see it in hindsight over the last ten years with the rise of Russia, Iran, and the invasions of the US into the Middle east. What do you think?

Note: Terry James has a good essay this week about one of the other major Gog-Magog players, and their drawing-in toward prophetic destiny: Turkey.
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Posted in daniel, Nebuchadnezzar

A little tidbit for you

Posted on by elizabethprata

I have some things that are really interesting I’m working on, but today’s Sunday School and worship were stupendous but tiring, and tonight’s small faith group went long, so I’m saving them for tomorrow. Meanwhile, here is something short:

A La Andy Rooney, “Didja ever notice…” Nebuchadnezzar’s statue…
Daniel 2:31-33: “Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.’ “

The metals represent kingdoms current to Daniel’s time and in the future. The metals go from top to bottom in order of worth. Gold is the most precious metal on earth, then silver, then brass and then iron which is not worth anything on the precious metals market. As time goes on, all the kingdoms decrease in worth and value. Inversely, the metals, though they decrease in value, increase in strength. Gold is the softest metal, iron is pretty strong.

The metals are symbols of kingdoms. Daniel’s interpretation is here: (Dan 2:36-43)

Posted in end time, katla, prophecy, volcano

Volcanoes going off everywhere: Katla, Etna, and… Oz?

Posted on by elizabethprata

Just a short entry today. I spent all day putting together the prophecy newsletter and between the heat and the humidity I’m tapped out. Two volcano stories for you–

Warnings of volcanic eruption in Australia
“Scientists are now warning that volcanoes in Western Victoria and South Australia are due to erupt. The prediction comes just hours after two earthquakes hit the state this morning. Using new dating techniques, University of Melbourne scientists have found that the volcanoes usually erupt every 2000 years, with the last eruption at Mt Gambier, South Australia, 5000 years ago. Earth sciences Professor Bernie Joyce says Australia needs a plan in case of an eruption. It comes as Victorians are warned to brace themselves for more tremors after a shallow magnitude quake hit at 11.32am, sending shockwaves through towns and suburbs more than 100 kilometres away. A series of tremors lasting up to 15 seconds have been felt across Melbourne’s CBD and southeastern suburbs. A second, smaller quake shook Korumburra, with reports it was again felt in Melbourne, at 12.37pm. Senior seismologist Clive Collins said people should prepare for aftershocks in the coming hours. “There will be aftershocks, that’s a certainty,” he told the Herald Sun. “We still expect lots of smaller ones. “After the last significant quake in Victoria there were more than 200 aftershocks.” The tremors shook Melbourne office buildings and many homes across the state, including Warragul, Ferntree Gully, Sunbury and as far north as Melbourne Airport.”

I had written three days ago that scientists were warning that Hekla in Iceland may erupt. I put up a map showing Eyja, Hekla and Katla were in close proximity and noted that when one of the three erupts then one of the others  usually does as well. Today this is being reported:

Possibly Small Eruption in South Iceland Volcano Katla

There was sudden flooding and melting of a glacier and the thought is that a small eruption caused it.

“A glacial flood, probably, from the volcano Katla in Mýrdalsjökull has disrupted the Ring Road (highway no.1), by the river Múlakvísl on Mýrdalssandur in south Iceland, tearing the bridge across Múlakvísl. The road is closed between Höfdabrekka, east of Vík, and the river Skálm, near Álftaver. The flood is thought be the result of a small eruption underneath the icecap of Mýrdalsjökull, probably in the Katla crater, ruv.is reports. “At least this is not a large eruption, the Katla eruption people have been waiting for,“ geophysicist Freysteinn Sigmundsson told ruv.is “If it is a volcanic eruption, it is a small event and possibly only geothermal water.“ The Civil Protection Department has issued a warning to people in the area, to beware of sulphurate smell near the river, as it might be poisonous sulphurate gas.”

In this news article, they write, “Small eruption at Katla“
“For the people of Iceland, the past few years must feel like the old saying “when it rains, it pours’: we’ve seen two significant eruptions, one at Eyjafjallajökull and one at Grimsvötn, in less than a year. Earlier this week, there was news that another Icelandic volcano, Hekla, was showing signs of unrest, although it was unclear whether they pointed towards an eruption. Then, the switcheroo, where instead of anything at Hekla, we get a surprise jokulhlaup (glacial outburst flood) at Katla on the southern end of the island.”

His description reminds me of the people at a tennis match when their heads swing this way then that way then this way…just as we look to one p art of the world for an expected event, another one pops up over there where we least expected it. In 2008 the Chilean volcano Chaiten erupted suddenly and is still erupting. Volcanologists say that Chaiten volcano had not erupted in 9500 years. Last month, the Eritrean volcano Nabro suddenly erupted for the first time ever. In Java, a new volcano was formed within two days. Fisherman were stunned. Three weeks ago I reported that there were 35 earthquakes at the Cuidad Juarez/El Paso border of the US that have geologists and seismologists thinking a new volcano may be born there soon, and a joint team of scientists from US/Mexico went to investigate. Volcanic eruptions from existing volcanoes have increased. Two days ago, “Palermo – An uncountable series of quakes have been recorded in Sicily. The strongest one had a magnitude of 3.1 and was recorded in the province of Messina, along the northern coast of Sicily that has been subjected to a persisting series of seismic events in the last few weeks. The quake was detected 3:01 am at a depth of a little more than 8 km. In the same area, a lighter 2.3 magnitude quake was recorded at 1:58 at approximately the same depth. . .” Today, ash from Mt. Etna closed an Italian airport. What next?!

Stay tuned, and be glad you chose to repent of your sins and accept the free pardon Jesus offers. If you have not repented, heed these wonderful words:

“Seek the LORD while he may be found;
call on him while he is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way
and the evil man his thoughts.
Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon.” (Isaiah 55:6-7)

“For thy name’s sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great.” (Psalm 25:11)
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Posted in pittsburgh, protractor

The Protractor Whimsy of Pittsburgh

Posted on by elizabethprata

Here is an urban-social mystery that has intrigue and whimsy attached to it. We all need a dose of whimsy these days.

Protractors mysteriously placed around city neighborhoods
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Unless you’re an architect or an engineer, it’s probably been years since you last used a protractor in geometry class. But, now the semi-circular tool is showing up in some odd places around town, from mailboxes to utility equipment. Protractors have been pasted in public places from the North Side to the East End by way of Garfield where John Perry catches his bus by the mailbox. “It might be a marker for certain cans they’re supposed to pick up and empty or the ones they’re going to remove and renew. I don’t know,” he guessed.

That just doesn’t add up. It appears a private protractor placer throwing us a curve within a three-mile radius. Each one is numbered.

Polish Hill proves to be a protractor placer’s paradise. Residents Jim Mueller and Ilona Auth have their own opinions. “It could either be a renegade math freak or someone who just loves intrigue,” Mueller said. “Maybe they’re trying to measure the angle of the hills,” Auth said. It’s a matter of degree. Mark Knobil checks out number 142 next to Lili’s Coffee Shop. “It’s clearly a protractor,” he said. “Three dimensional. It’s stuck on there really well. It’s not going anywhere. Maybe it’s just telling us we have no idea what the heck is going on.”

Vannevar Bush posted a blog about them, here. In tough times, people’s sense of humor and whimsical playful side is often the first to go. But the human spirit is irrepressible and this is downright funny. Imagine! Gluing protractors around, and numbering them is pretty funny. I hope that the Protractor Bandit is not caught (police are trying to find the ‘defacing graffiti’ man to arrest and fine him).  By the way, though I am sure this isn’t intentional, the white protractor above is glued next to the Spanish phrase for “I’m sorry.”
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Posted in end of days. prophecy, end time, famine, forgiveness, love, revelation

Looking at famine

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

I wrote about famine as a judgment from God recently. It is truly saddening to see these things happening because although I glory in His promises coming true it also means suffering and death for many. And death for the unsaved means an eternity away from God, in hell. In that essay I quoted a news article that said, “The striking images of the landscape seem to represent a deceptively simple assessment of the drought: the dirty work of Mother Nature.”

It is the LORD who sends the rain in preparation for the crops. (Psalms 147:8). It is the LORD who sends it to the obedient. (Leviticus 26:4). He appoints seasons in His own authority. (Acts 1:7). “Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.” (Acts 14:17) He sends the crops, the seasons and the weather for our benefit, to His glory. He can, and will reverse the process when we fail to thank Him and refuse to acknowledge His authority. That is the spiritual fact.

On a practical level, famine is both biological and social. It occurs to a person individually while it is also happening to all others around the sufferer. And unlike pestilence, where sick people are quarantined, privately sequestered, or are too insentient to socially connect, famine leaves the individual able to share in it with others.

“When starvation becomes a mass experience, the phenomenon is no longer purely biological.” (Robert Dirks, Academia.edu).

Famine is sneaky because the population has no clue that this crop failure will lead to a continual shortage, or that this lack of monsoon rains will lead to a permanent drying-out. It is only after successive storms or failures or absence of expected weather that it become apparent that food will not be coming. By then malnourishment or early stages of starvation may have already set in.

The biological consequences of famine begin with scarcity, move to malnourishment, elevate to starvation, and finish with famine. Starvation happens when the energy demands of the biological unit exceed supply. Technically, starvation begins 4-6 hours after the last meal, when the body has broken down all that will be or is able to be used, and no new food is forthcoming. However since a person living in a healthy culture will then consume more within a reasonable time period after the last meal, the negative effects are not really felt.

After a day or so, though, dehydration, hypoglycemia, and ketosis begin. After 24 hours, there are impacts to the tissues as loss outpaces fat. As starvation continues, exhaustion sets in and there is decreased tolerance for work. People move more slowly and adopt an energy saving posture. “In mobilizing its reserves, the body progressively selects fat over muscle as fuel, allowing life to be sustained for one to three months in acute starvation.” (Dirks).

Things go rapidly downhill from there, with all sorts of nasty things happen to the individual’s biology. And that’s just starvation, not famine. But you can see, it happens quickly. Though drought and famine take a long time to set up, when it hits, the body, mind, and soul shrivel pretty quickly.

I wrote above that in the first few sentences mother nature was blamed, and in addition, war also precipitates famine. War does have a devastating connection with famine. In Revelation 6, first there is war, then there is scarcity, then there is death. Those are Seal Judgments two, three, and four. In history, famine has almost always followed war. As the Red Cross says in discussing humanitarian aid, “the fact must be faced that food aid alone will never eliminate famines nor the suffering they cause. It still falls short of meeting the victims’ needs and appears essentially inadequate to solve their problems.” That’s because there are complex reasons for it that also include war, conflict, and strife.

Famine is destructive to those societies where malnourishment is always present, and soon after initial starvation sets in, financial ruin and disease take over. For some societies, they may at first adapt to conditions that in many cases don’t affect them. There is such a thing as “class famine.” We see in Revelation 6:6 that millions starve, unable to afford more than a loaf of bread even though they worked all day, while in Revelation 18:13 we see that all the while, a hefty trade in food luxuries had been ongoing. (“and cinnamon and incense, fragrant oil and frankincense, wine and oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep…”) There are the very rich and the very poor, and you can bet the very rich will not be affected by famine. The Tribulation’s predicted scarcities will be characterized by class famine.

When famine conditions deepen, the ‘Law of Diversification and Polarization’ comes into play. As Dirks quoted Sorokin, “simply put, this means that catastrophe brings out the best and the worst in people. It exaggerates what is already there.”

Sociological studies show that at first, people share when disaster strikes. As the disaster continues, and/or as supplies run short, sharing ceases. Starvation’s biological effects are that people become exhausted and irritable. Volatile situations erupt. Populations tend to migrate, looking for better conditions. The 1901 Indian Famine Commission called it “unusual wandering.” When adding to that the prophecy that love grows cold (Matthew 24:12), people are unthankful, (2 Timothy 3:2-4) and their thoughts are only evil continuously, (Matthew 24:37, Genesis 6:5) then you can see that violence will soon become the norm just at the time when people are physiologically least able to handle it.

So let me sum up the ivory tower talk: famines have always occurred and will continue to occur, followed by the worst brought out in people who are marauding hither and yon, looking for anything they can steal so they can stay alive. Violence breaks out and a true Darwinian human ‘survival of the fittest’ is played out in front of atheists everywhere, with the starving exhausted falling where they lay in irritable convulsions, dying by degrees while no neighbor cares.

Oh, but Jesus cares. His famines may be one of His sore judgments, yes, but it is to alert rebellious people that He is still in control and He is still holy. His control includes an eternal and infinite love for all His children. He wants you to turn from your carnal thoughts and lifting up of Mother Nature and replace those with perfect thoughts and spiritual infinity in His love. As long as you have not rejected him and slammed the door shut, you can enter the door to heaven by repenting of sins. He is the door and he stands ready to allow all who would believe to enter. (John 10:9)

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you (Matthew 7:7) What is beyond that door? Certainly not war or famine or exhaustion or violence. See what is there:

The Gospel is exclusive: Jesus is the only way. The Gospel is inclusive: any person can accept Jesus as their savior and forgiver of sins. I hope you enter in to His rest, escaping all the Tribulation things and choosing to partake of the Eternal things. What it takes is a prayer to Jesus that you know and understand you’re a sinner, unworthy to enter His realm, and ask Him to forgive those sins. Since He is sinless and died as the sacrifice for your sins, your debt is paid. But you have to ask. Do it soon, my beloved friend. Soon.

Posted in famine, gog magog, prophecy, sudan

Africa: Worst drought in 60 years: 12 million fight for survival

Posted on by elizabethprata

A massive drought which has swept across Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia is causing severe famine. Twelve million people are fighting for survival at this moment, and countless wildlife and cattle are dying as the land is increasingly unable to sustain them. The linked article mentions mother nature within the first few sentences, but we know that prophecy tells us that famine will be a hallmark of the last days. (Mt 24:7). Famine is one of God’s four sore judgments. (Ezekiel 14:21). The place where the worst of the drought is occurring is the Horn of Africa, which is here:

In prophecy, the Gog Magog war is generally considered to occur at the outset of the Tribulation, or even the catalyst for the Tribulation. The prophesied nations that participate are Russia, Iran, and the nations along the northern tier of Africa, including the ones depicted at the Horn of Africa: Sudan, Ethiopia (Cush, Put, Libya, Ez 38-29). Interestingly as well, Sudan today split into a northern Sudan and a Southern Sudan. There are now 193 nations in the world. Bloomberg wrote, “After almost 50 years of rebellion against the Muslim north, independent South Sudan will assume control of about 75 percent of Sudan’s daily production of 490,000 barrels of oil, pumped mainly by China National Petroleum Corp…” Are there any takers on just which part of Sudan will take part in the Gog-Magog battle? Muslim north, or free south? (See map below)

Things are moving fast. The nations prophesied as players in the last days are increasingly in the news. One can almost see the chess pieces moved into place as the events long-prophesied begin to start their engines. I had started to write about the effects of drought and famine but I cropped the information I just spent 3 hours writing to write this instead. I’ll probably re-write it into a different essay later. I thought it was very interesting about the famine in Africa, and Sudan splitting in the face of the imminence of the Gog-Magog battle (Ezekiel 38-39.

If you go to the headline link be aware that there are disturbing images..saddening and emotionally trying. Please pray for our brothers and sisters who are missionaries in these places, and pray for the lost there, that though their bodies may be failing from famine, that their souls will find eternal refreshment at the Fount of Life.
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Posted in hope, jesus, prophecy, self-immolation

"Live Free or Die:" NH man chooses ‘die’, setting himself on fire to protest America’s decline

Posted on by elizabethprata

This is interesting…

New Hampshire man lights himself on fire to protest America’s decline
by Simon Black
Late last week, Thomas James Ball reached his breaking point. Driven to desperation by a system that bankrupted him and destroyed his family, Ball walked up to the main door of the Keene County, New Hampshire courthouse, doused himself with gasoline, and lit himself ablaze.
Hardly anyone seems to have noticed.
Conversely, when a 26-year old Tunisian man lit himself on fire a few months ago after police confiscated the fruits and vegetables he had been selling without a proper permit, it launched a wave of revolution across the Middle East.
People were shocked into taking action… protests and riots swept the region and one regime after another crumbled.
Rather than sparking an “American spring” and shocking US citizens into taking their country back, though, Mr. Ball’s act of self-immolation seems to have been largely ignored. There has been scant coverage (and scant is being extremely generous) of Mr. Ball in the mainstream media, and what little coverage there is generally discredits the man as a troublemaker.
This is how the system’s gatekeepers have been so adroit at maintaining the status quo– by suppressing dissent, marginalizing the detractors, and distracting the populace with meaningless, irrelevant drivel.

There’s a lot more at the link.

Are Americas so numbed by overindulgence, so dumbed down by the education system, so bummed by shrinking paychecks, that they don’t even react to an American MAN ON FIRE? The Tunisian who set himself alight last December sparked a revolution in his country that spread to neighboring nations that brought down rulers and is forever called The Arab Spring.

Since I was a small child, my memory remains indelibly seared with images of people who had set themselves on fire. Vietnam War, India protests, Czechoslovakians protesting Soviet invasion, Kurds during Clinton presidency, Chinese…all imprinted on my mind. What would cause a person to do such a gruesome thing to themselves, I’d wonder. What an awful way to go.

Mr Ball had reached the end of his rope. According to his suicide note, and his blog, he was depressed, sad, angry, and hoping that his act, or ANY act would spark a change in the course of what we all see happening. His act is a symbol of the great gulf that is fixed, with two paths inexorably set in stone, each with their travelers.

There are people like Mr Ball who draw on their man-made hope. They have optimism. They have the sunniness of past American experience to propel them toward what they surmise will be a continually sunny future. It won’t be, ever again. It will only get worse. When people realize that, and at some level millions are realizing that fact right this minute, they cave. They collapse, because “there’s no there there.” The center does not hold.

Those on the other path have hope too. It is not man-made. It is not generated from the recesses of a dark and corrupt spirit. It is from Above. It is endless, eternal, pure, and strong. It is the Hope of redemption in Jesus Christ, and His eternal Kingdom. THAT hope never leaves a person. It indwells us by supernatural command of the Most High. We abound in hope. (Romans 15:13). We continue in immovable hope. (Colossians 1:23). We have a better hope. (Hebrews 7:19). We have a hope that against all hope triumphs over difficulties! (Romans 4:18).

We will see more people lose hope in the coming days, though I pray they won’t commit suicide nor do an act such as Mr Ball’s self-immolation! It is my prayer that we Christians who possess the highest hope of all eternity will share it, in word and in deed. Be strong and of good faith, because our Hope is near.
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Posted in arrested taking photographs, end of days, law enforcement abuse, prophecy

Photography is not a crime. Or maybe it is

Posted on by elizabethprata

Have you noticed the increase in arrests for taking pictures? I have. These incidents are everywhere in the US now, in different venues, at different times of the day, for different reasons, and among different people, by different law enforcers. One thing remains the same: private citizens are getting arrested for merely snapping a photo of law enforcement. Here are four examples, representing different venues in which the “criminal” was arrested. These four examples are progressive, in that the place of arrest goes from public to private. Nowadays it seems it doesn’t matter where you are, if you are recording or photographing law enforcement from any distance, you could be arrested.

Reporters arrested by Park Police for taking photos at D.C. Taxicab Meeting
“At a Wednesday meeting of the D.C. Taxicab Commission (DCTC), two journalists were arrested by Park Police for taking photos at the public meeting. Pete Tucker, who writes for TheFightBack.org, showed up to the meeting, held at the Park Police headquarters, to document a proposal to implement a new medallion system. During the first hour of the meeting, a taxi inspector approached Tucker and told him that he couldn’t take photographs of commission members seated at the front of the room. Tucker snapped a photo of the inspector. According to his account, two Park Police officers approached him, and one said, “You can come with me or you can get locked up.” He responded that he was merely documenting a public meeting.”

The reporter was led from the room in handcuffs.

Woman Escorted Off US Airways Flight For Snapping Photo
Deemed a “security risk” for photographing nametag of rude employee
“A Miami photographer was escorted off a US Airways plane and deemed a “security risk” after she snapped a photo of an employee’s nametag at Philadelphia International Airport Friday. Sandy DeWitt said the employee, whose name was Tonialla G., was being rude to several passengers in the boarding area of the flight to Miami. So DeWitt snapped a photo of her nametag with her iPhone because she planned to complain about her in a letter to US Airways. But the photo didn’t come out because it was too dark. However, once DeWitt was settled in her seat, preparing for take-off, Tonialla G. entered the plane and confronted her. “She told me to delete the photo,” DeWitt said in an interview with Photography is Not a Crime Saturday morning. DeWitt, who already had her phone turned off in preparation for take-off, turned the phone back on to show her that it didn’t come out, but deleted the photo anyway. “I complied with her wishes but it’s not something I would normally do,” she said. “It just wasn’t usable.” But Tonialla G. wouldn’t let the issue go. She then walked into the cockpit to inform the pilot that DeWitt was a “security risk.” “

An update later said that the passenger was escorted off because she used profanity.

Activist stunned from video fallout
“Rochester activist Emily Good says she had no idea she would set off a firestorm when she stood on her lawn videotaping a police traffic stop on May12. She never expected to be arrested, handcuffed for nearly an hour, or taken to jail in her pajamas, either. “It was outrageous and I still kind of don’t believe it. This is still a little bit of numbing shock, this entire situation.” A video of that night’s events in front of Good’s house on Aldine Street shows Good not obeying Rochester police Officer Mario Masic’s commands to go inside her home. “I felt like that was an unreasonable order, and I stood in my yard and I said: ‘This is my yard,’ and I tried to understand what he wanted because I felt like going inside my house was unreasonable, and it just escalated very quickly.”

So she stood in her own yard, videotaping the police who were dealing with a traffic stop at a neighbor’s house. They told her to go inside, and arrested her when she didn’t and kept recording.

State police arrest homeowner for taking photos of a crash in her yard
“Massachusetts state police arrested a 65-year-old woman who was standing on her property photographing the damage after a car had come crashing through her yard and into her driveway late Sunday night. Judith Davis-Scott, the West Elm Street homeowner in whose backyard the car crashed, said she was handcuffed and arrested at her house after police took away her Nikon camera as she was taking pictures of the damage to her backyard. “I told them this is my property and I have a right to take pictures on my property,” said Davis-Scott, an optician. Her husband, Michael Scott, a disabled veteran, sat on his back porch on Monday, and shook his head when speaking of the night before and of his wife’s arrest. “This is ridiculous,” Scott said, his eyes filling with tears. “You try to live a decent life and this is what you get. It’s upsetting.”

State police arrest homeowner after car crashes into her house
“Judith Davis-Scott, the West Elm Street homeowner in whose backyard the car crashed, said she was handcuffed and arrested at her house after police took away her Nikon camera as she was taking pictures of the damage to her backyard. Davis-Scott was charged with interfering with police and disorderly conduct. She said she spent the night in a jail cell at the Brockton Police Department and was released on $40 bail. Monday morning, she showed media crews bruises on her arms that she said resulted after a state police officer grabbed her and handcuffed her. “I told them this is my property and I have a right to take pictures on my property,” said Davis-Scott, an optician. She said the state police officer “grabbed me and dragged me up the stairs and he pushed me into the house.”

In the first incident, media representatives attending a public meeting were arrested for taking pictures. In the second incident, Airline employees used their authority to detain a passenger deemed a “security risk.” The risk was never defined. In the third and fourth incidents, the events occurred on private property. The Massachusetts homeowner was on her own property taking video of an incident next door, and in the last one, the homeowner was on her OWN property taking pictures of something that happened on her OWN property.

We see that the authorities in each case varied from Government Airline officials, Park Police, State Police, and Local police. I chose these four because they are emblematic of the different places where people are increasingly denied a right to scrutinize public servants engaged in their business; meetings, security areas, and police stops. In each of the four, the kind of public servant varies. It cannot be said that it is always a belligerent citizen, or always a certain kind of law enforcement official, or always in one certain city. These happened in NY, Mass., Philly, and DC.

The fact is, as things become more authoritarian, there is less tolerance for scrutiny. There is less need to accede to citizen vigilance and more desire to shut them out. As the wheels of civil law become eroded there is more ease in abusing the power that has been delivered to it.

This fact should not surprise us. It is written in 2 Timothy 3:2-4 that in the last days, “People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.” Do not suppose that the “unloving” and “brutal” applies only to private citizens. It applies to all people. Those in power in a world where the Holy Spirit no longer restrains will be more than ever compelled to allow their carnal brutality to unleash. If they have some power and a gun, then all the more dangerous.

In Matthew 24:12 we are warned that “Love will grow cold.” If you look up the Greek word for “cold” it means: “spiritual energy blighted or chilled by a malign or poisonous wind.” It give me chills just to read that, never mind live it!

Prior to the Flood, we were warned that there is a set time period for His longsuffering and then when the time is up, the Spirit will be removed and judgment rendered. (Gen 6:3- “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever” Greek translation of strive: administer, govern). When the Holy Spirit Restrainer is removed then the perilous times shall indeed begin. Without restraint, the conditions will shortly revert to what they were in the Days of Noah, as Jesus said in Matthew 24:37. What were those days like? “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Genesis 6:5) EVERY intent was ONLY evil, CONTINUALLY. That is 100% saturation, folks!

Crime rates are up. Jails are opened to let out the ‘milder’ criminals because we cannot afford to keep them. Yet retired housewives are arrested while their disabled Military veteran husbands sit on the porch and cry for a country we no longer recognize.
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Posted in end time, phoenix dust storm, prophecy

About that Phoenix dust storm…

Posted on by elizabethprata

A dust storm occurred in Phoenix the other day. Forbes is certainly writing about it breathlessly. Get this:

Arizonans are calling it the mother of all dust storms.
“The mile-high wall of ominous, billowing dust that appeared to swallow Phoenix and its suburbs is all that locals can talk about. It moved through the state around sundown Tuesday, halting airline flights, knocking out power to nearly 10,000 people, turning swimming pools into mud pits and caking cars with dirt. The sky was still filled with a hazy shade of brown Wednesday as residents washed their cars and swept sidewalks. Because dust storms, also known by the Arabic term “haboobs,” are so hard to predict, Tuesday’s took everyone by surprise. Seemingly out of nowhere, the 100-mile-wide storm moved like a giant wave, the dust roiling as it approached at up to 60 mph. Once it hit, visibility dropped to zero in some areas, the sky turned nearly black, trees blew sideways, and even downtown Phoenix skyscrapers became invisible. “Just the height of it looked like a special-effect scene from a movie, like a dust storm out in Africa,” said Charlotte Dewey, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Phoenix. “It looked so huge, looking at the city down below, it was just specks of light and miniature buildings. She said meteorologists were still trying to get exact measures from satellite and radar to figure out how big the dust storm was and compare it with previous ones, but they estimate it was more than a mile high and more than 100 miles wide. “People who’ve lived here their whole lives, 30 or 40 years, are saying they’ve never seen a storm this large,” Dewey said.” More at link.

The question remains, however, in wondering first how common or uncommon are dust storms in Phoenix? Pretty common, according to this 1984 article in the Journal of Climatology, based on studies of storms in Arizona from 1965-1980. “In general, Yuma experiences the most dust storms per year followed closely by Phoenix, with Tucson and Winslow having very few events. Dust storms at Phoenix, on average, tend to be more severe than those experienced at the other sites. The most intense and frequent dust storms in Arizona occur during the summer months and are associated with strong downdrafts generated by intense thunderstorm activity.”

This short news article from 2009 warned about a storm that limited visibility and advised motorists to use caution. That’s all, run of the mill.

So in seeing an event like the storm this week, it is wise to stop and place it in context. The answer is that dust storms happen frequently in Phoenix. But in looking at end time signs, it is also wise to wonder about frequency and intensity. We know from Matthew 24:8 that Jesus said the Tribulation will be as labor pains. He likened the Tribulation and end time events as such because it will be a time of increasing travail, rising and rising in pain and intensity until the birth. The end of the Church age as it approaches the threshold of the Tribulation will also be a time of increasing disasters in all realms: spiritual, economic, and ‘natural.’

I find it interesting that the storm was so huge, sudden, and particularly devastating. I also think it is interesting that they likened the air quality to the ash fall from the various volcanoes erupting in different hemispheres this month. That the storm was a mile high and 100 miles wide is a very large storm that would strike fear into any person unlucky enough to be in its path.

This article says, “The massive dust storm that swept through Phoenix, Ariz., last night (July 5), reducing visibility to near zero and delaying flights, was a whopper, meteorologists said. The dust storm is what’s called a a haboob (Arabic for “strong wind”). In the United States, haboobs are common in Arizona, Texas and New Mexico. But yesterday’s haboob was more like something you’d see in the Middle East or other arid regions around the world, said Ken Waters, the warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service (NWS) in Phoenix. It was mind-boggling, just absolutely amazing,” Waters told OurAmazingPlanet. “I’ve been a meteorologist for years and I’ve not seen a wall of dust like that.”

We can all agree- even atheists have to agree- that the science shows increasing meteorological disruption. Outsized storms, volcanoes erupting that never erupted before, strange sun behavior, earthquakes in diverse places…all speak to end time signs. I’ve been beating the drum long enough that people should really begin looking to Jesus if they have not repented, and be looking to Jesus if they have, as the comfort of His soon appearance.
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