Posted in beheaded, end of days. prophecy, end time, evil, jesus, tenerife

A terrible story out of Tenerife

Posted on by elizabethprata

A British woman was attacked and decapitated in a supermarket in Los Cristianos on the holiday island of Tenerife yesterday afternoon. Witnesses said the deranged man used a large knife or machete he picked up in the supermarket to stab and decapitate the 62-year-old grandmother, a resident on the island. He then ran out into the street covered in blood, carrying his victim’s head and telling passers-by, “This is my treasure”.

In another news story of the incident, the mayor of the popular resort town where it occurred said, “the incident was ‘the most horrific crime to hit the resort in recent years’,

See, there’s those superlatives again. Every day we read of the “worst” drought…”biggest tornado”…”epic flood”…”Most horrific crime”…yet each week the superlatives are surpassed by yet ANOTHER, more horrific crime, a worse epic flood, a more ferocious tornado… In truth, things are off the charts now. Natural disasters, crime, economics, we are entering uncharted territory, and we have no more words to describe these events.

Read these then I’ll put up some scriptures of what this attack makes me think of in the bible. These following phrases are from the news stories of the attack. The photo below of of the man’s arrest:

–had a history of violent behaviour
–the attacker spent most days sitting 50 yards from the scene of the attack ‘talking to himself and gesticulating wildly’.
–‘He was very disturbed and intimidating, the sort of person you would cross the road to avoid,’
–He was a bizarre individual who was known to police
–had a history of intimidating passers-by on the street
–He knocked a stranger’s teeth out on the street.
–the killer lived in a ‘semi-abandoned’ house
–He was not the smartest looking of guys and not well groomed,
–the man was muttering and shouting

now read these excerpts from Luke and Mark:

–And when He came out onto the land, He was met by a man from the city who was possessed with demons;
–who had not put on any clothing for a long time,
–was not living in a house, but in the tombs.
–and he was bound with chains and shackles
–kept under guard, and yet he would break his bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert.
–no man could bind him, no, not with chains: because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him.
–And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.

I do not know if this guy was demon-possessed or if he was on drugs or merely psycho. I am saying that there are similarities in the known and observed behavior of this man and the Gadarene demoniac. That the bizarre demonic or demonic-like behaviors are not relegated to the distant past when Jesus walked the earth. It happens now, too. The demon world is very real, though not usually seen. When Paul wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3 that people in the end of days would be brutal, we tend to sanitize our own epoch and not really understand true brutality. Life was cheap in biblical tims: witness the robber victim that the Samaritan helped who was lying bleeding in the road as people walked on by (reminds of me of the MARTA bus driver that dragged the elderly woman 60 feet and then just drove around her), or from the bible Lazarus the poor man dying by the side of the road of the rich man’s house, dogs licking his sores. Christians were being martyred in increasingly evil ways. They knew brutality, they saw it every day.

There was real brutality then, but just because it is the new Millennium now and we can dwell in air conditioned houses in subdivisions does not mean that same kind of brutality is absent from the earth. It is not. We tend to think we live in a sanitized world because we don’t see the kind of brutality the 1st century Christians saw, or even people in violent impoverished nations do today. But Satan is still given charge of this domain and he is the most brutal. And after the Restrainer is removed, brutality will be unleashed that will make the Tenerife beheading look like a picnic. That is because the antichrist will be allowed to come to full iniquity at his appointed time.

It is hard to comprehend, I know. “And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” (John 1:5) Just as the demons cannot comprehend the Light, we cannot comprehend this kind of darkness. But it is soon coming to that as the normal state of things, and they will get a lot worse after we are gone and the antichrist rises to full evil.

The grace to cling to is two-fold. We are saved by God’s mercy, and we will be dwelling with Him soon! We have the Light, it is in us and nothing can snatch us out of His hand, ever. And second, the people who will be here after the rapture can turn to the Light. They can appeal to Him for forgiveness, and be with Him in the Light when it is all over. “In him was life, and that life was the light of men.” Jesus said, “I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.” (John 12:46) Jesus’ power and love reaches all of us, it could reach even that psycho man in Tenerife: as it had reached the Gadarene demoniac: “Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind.” Nothing is impossible with God!! Praise Him forever!

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Posted in cross, end of days, forgiveness, prophecy, sins

Jesus did not die for you

Posted on by elizabethprata

I am working on a couple of other blog entries, plus the weekly newsletter, but this comes to mind now and I felt compelled to write it. I hear all the time, “Aww, Jesus died for me. He died for my sins. Just for me.” Actually, He didn’t.

Jesus died because God required a punishment for sin, and that punishment was a spotless sacrifice. Jesus obeyed God to become that sacrifice. He chose to become God incarnate and He chose to die. “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again.” (John 10:18) and also John 6:37-40: “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all … “. In this way, Jesus died for GOD. We are beneficiaries of His obedience.

I don’t know why God has it set up that a blood sacrifice is required to satisfy a sin-debt. We get a glimpse in Genesis and Leviticus, “But you shall not eat flesh with its life – its blood”. (Gen 9:4) “For the life of the flesh is in the blood…for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul” (Lev 17:11)

Jesus kind of did die for us. I was being provocative above 😉 If Adam and Eve had not fallen from grace then Jesus never would have had to incarnate to die on the cross, shedding His blood for OUR sin. But first and foremost Jesus died to satisfy His father, in the universe’s ultimate act of obedience and love. It is why Jesus deserves all the glory and all the praise.

I find it helpful to keep this perspective, because it keeps the spotlight off me, my sins, and my decision to accept the benefit of His work on the cross. I am sinner, yes. But it was His choice to do this for us that I praise and I am eternally grateful for. It keeps the spotlight on Him. Which is as it should be!
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Posted in harold camping, may 21, rapture date

Re-Post: No, the world will likely NOT end in May 2011

Posted on by elizabethprata

Re-post from December 2010. It bears repeating as Harold Camping’s false doctrine date nears, and yes, I am referring tot he May 21 rapture crowd.

Christians like Edwin Ramos are badly misinformed, it is sad to say. I love when Christians study their bible, but this is something gone terribly awry. The New Jersey Star-Ledger article yesterday, Bridgeton billboard: World will end in May 2011, makes me cringe in sorrow. It starts:

“Edwin Ramos wants everybody to know that the world is going to end May 21, 2011. That is why he is leasing billboards across Cumberland County and printing that very message on them. There are currently three billboards, located in front of Ramos’s house on Oak Drive, in Vineland; on Delsea Drive, in Vineland, and in front of the Dollar &; Up store on Route 49 coming into Bridgeton from Millville. They bear the message, “Judgment Day, May 21, 2011, THE BIBLE GUARANTEES IT”, in addition to a crossed out “2012”.

In the past, Mr Ramos has advocated staying away from church and studying the bible on your own. Eschewing church for private study is not biblical, the Lord said we are to gather with other saints to encourage and to learn. (Hebrews 10:25; Romans 12:10 for two of many examples). Gathering with saints is a way to keep us on track, doctrinally and morally. Quiet time in study with the Holy Spirit is desirable and commended, but abandoning gathering with the saints allows incorrect  belief to settle in, and needed corrections to be unmade. Always there needs to be a balance.

The first off-track notion that Mr Ramos propounds on this billboard is the statement that God guarantees the world will end in 2011. It is a good example of a little information going a long way toward misinformation. God does declare that He will burn this world and the heavens with fire and then renew it. (2Peter 3:10; Rev 21:1). But God nor Jesus say when that will be. As a matter of fact, it is repeatedly stated that the last day will not be known to anyone on earth (Matt. 24:36; Matt. 24:42; Matt. 24:44; Matt. 24:50; Matt. 25:13…) How anyone can claim to know when the world will end to such specificity as Mr Ramos is biblically, secularly, morally, intellectually, and in all other ways, impossible.

As for the circle with the year 2012 crossed out, well, we are not competing with secular notions. Worldly culture is false and their notions of just about anything are also false. God is supreme, He needs not bend to our false thoughts, correct secular paradigms, nor scurry to prove one over another. He sent us the bible and that is all the information we need to know to establish a perfect foundation for a good life in Him.

I admire Christians who sacrifice to share the Good News of Jesus and the fact of His imminent return, as Mr Ramos is doing. But to do so on your own strength, without the humility necessary to attend a gathering of the saints and learn from each other and stand for possible correction, is dangerous. In the end, that kind of message does more to close people’s ears than open them. Therein lay the tragedy.

Thirdly, Ramos has absorbed his ideas from a false prophet named Harold Camping, who broadcasts on a cultish radio show. I can safely name Mr Camping as a false prophet because his followers continue to listen to Camping despite the fact that he was wrong in his previous prediction of the end of the world in 1994. The bible says that if one claims to know the secret things of God and to speak for God and is wrong even once, he is false (Deut 18:22). However, this same bible warns us that at the end of the age there will be many false prophets and they will be successful. (Mt 24:11; 2Peter 2:1; 1John 4:1). We are also told that many will follow these false prophets and prefer their false doctrines. True prophets are always in harmony with the scriptures and so will their doctrines be. One has to neglect, forget, abandon, or plainly ignore many bible verses in order to make a claim as to when the end of the world will come, date-specific.

It is a testament to satan’s success that he takes a truth (the world will end) and makes it into a lie (the world will end on May 21, 2011). But again, here the bible forewarns us: “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator–who is forever praised. Amen.” (Romans 1:25).

Other famous false doctrines making the rounds are the world ending on the Blood Moon scenario promoted by Mark Biltz, the false pronouncements that Christians will go through all or part of the rapture (corrected here by bible teacher John MacArthur), and the rapture occurring on the Feast of Tabernacles. (Update: those events and dates are past and all turned out to be false, also). As prophetic interest rises among the congregations, and as pastors fumble and fail to preach this important ministry, wayward Christians go off and seek to slake their thirst for the things of the end, which is good,  but fall into snares and pits, which satan lays for them. No one knows when the rapture will be and no one knows when the last moment of earth will be. We can know the season by watching the signs he said would happen, but we will not know the date.

Christian, when you study in your private time, first remember to pray to the Holy Spirit for wisdom. “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.” (John 16:13; 1 Cor 2:13). “He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you” and that is the key. Is what you are promoting really truth that brings glory unto the Father? His glory is all that matters, and our actions must shine back toward Him. As a believing Christian, I want to make sure that what I shine isn’t a dark blot on Him but a light that is from Him. I hope you do the same… Engage in prayerful study, congregate with the saints, and beware false doctrine.
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Posted in james tate, prom, punishment

James Tate and his prom

Posted on by elizabethprata

There is a story out of Ohio this week. It is about a boy, a girl, the prom…and rules.

It seems that James Tate, a student at Shelton High, asked his friend Sonali to the prom. He did it in an unusual way, by taping huge letters high on the wall of the exterior of the school.

But school officials say Tate, along with two friends who assisted him, trespassed on private property after hours. Tate also was told by school officials that his actions posed a safety risk.

His penalty for this hijinks was a suspension. The consequence of a suspension after April 1st is that the student is denied a prom entry. This rule is not a surprise. The “regulation is reinforced over the course of the spring by daily PA system reminders, posted signage in common areas of the building and classrooms, as well as informational letters and automated phone messages to parents.”

Yet despite the fact that there are rules, that they are posted prominently, and that the consequences are clear, there was an outcry when the consequences were applied and James Tate was denied going to the prom.

It actually got frenzied this week. Tate was on Today Show, Jimmy Kimmel, there was an instant hashtag created for #TeamTate, a facebook page was created set up, a website was set up, and the school received thousands of emails and calls from around the world, as far away as from Japan, no less.

Some of the comments about the situation were:
“But it also affects a larger scale,” he added. “We want to get the message out, beyond Shelton, that acts of love and kindness don’t deserve punishment. This kid was acting on emotions, and those first feelings of love are so powerful.”

One of them, Colby Nolan, 17, a junior, said he thought it was “ridiculous” that Tate “actually got his prom taken away.”

Some headlines are immediately shown to be biased toward the student and away from the rules. The AP wrote “Romantic gesture gets teen booted from prom”. NY Times wrote “Did the school overreact?” HotAir wrote “America’s newest grassroots movement: “Let James Tate go to the prom”. Do any of the headlines say “Teen breaks rules, officials levy forewarned consequences” ? No.

The Christian Science Monitor’s interview included a quote from the local state representative, who proposed legislation to allow Tate to go to the prom. “Representative Perillo says he heard from so many constituents that he felt impelled to act. What strikes him as unfair about the Shelton policy, he says, is the date cut-off. “A boy who (hypothetically) punches his girlfriend on March 31 can go to prom, but this kid who put letters up can’t go. That’s not equitable,” he says. “I wanted a solution that wouldn’t tie the school’s hands, but would provide flexibility.””

There has to be a cutoff sometime, somewhere. Jesus said that if you are alive you can repent. After you draw your last breath, the offer of repentance is closed. So one second a person could choose to be saved and the next, is forever damned. A deadline is a deadline, in the bible, anyway. In the fallen world, a deadline is “unfair.” People always try to skirt rules, make excuses, believe the rules don’t apply to them, or that consequences will follow. They are in for a shock when the Fair and Equitable King of Kings applies them uniformly, universally, and perfectly.

I mention this silly prom issue as a metaphor for the prevailing cultural attitude toward God, judgment, punishment, and hell. We are sinners. We break the law, God’s law. He told us why and what the punishment would be in His ministry on earth, in the Apostles’ ministry on earth, in today’s missionaries in earth, in Christians proclaiming the message, and in His bible. Despite that, people still say that “acts of love and kindness don’t deserve punishment.” They scream in outrage not when the rules are broken, but when biblical punishment is actually mentioned. The statement that “his prom was taken away” denies the truth of the situation. Tate gave away his own prom when he broke the rules.

Even Tate said of the repercussions, “I thought they would appreciate my sincerity and creativity,” Tate said on TODAY.” He said that he thought he would have to go on a clean-up detail or something. So he KNEW the rules but hoped that his personal charm would relieve him of the stated consequences.

It is the same today with the unsaved. They believe that their willful breaking of the rules will earn them heaven because they are really not so bad of a person. They were operating on emotions, and emotions trump all. Deep down they still hope that persuasion after-the-fact will rule the day. But there will be no persuasion. Jesus said that “Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?'” and Jesus will reply: “Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'” (Matthew 7:22-23)

Shelton High officials stood firm on the consequences. They issued a release today. “Shelton High School is a learning community, where students are expected to meet high academic and behavioral expectations. There has been a practice at Shelton High School for many years, that any student receiving an in-school or out-of-school suspension after April 1 for any reason would not be allowed to attend the prom. This regulation is reinforced over the course of the spring by daily PA system reminders, posted signage in common areas of the building and classrooms, as well as informational letters and automated phone messages to parents. These communications are intended to remind our students and parents of the high school’s expectations and consequences. This unfortunate situation is a result of one of those consequences.”

I mention this prom thing because it is an apt metaphor for the prevailing attitude toward rules and especially toward God’s rules. We all know the drill. Heaven is through Jesus only. The broad way is the road to destruction. Yet somehow, people fail to believe the rules will actually be applied. But I am here to tell you, friend, they will. Oh, they will.
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Posted in blogger down

Blogger is back!

Posted on by elizabethprata

Blogger was down all day yesterday. The blogging platform was in read-only mode so no one was able to post anything. I was sad to see so many people exhibiting such disloyalty and rude comments about blogger. A lot of people exported their blogs to WordPress. I was sad to see that because Blogger has been a steady and reliable platform for 11 years. And it is free! Oy. Give these guys a break.

It appears that all the comments made in recent time were removed but blogger promised to be putting those back. That is why they are not appearing…hope they do get them back. I like the comments.

I remember pre-blog days. Actually, I remember pre-internet days. Pre-cell phones. Pre texting, pre CD & DVD… and I am only 50 years old. Having a platform to publish your own content to your heart’s content, as much and as often as you want, is amazing. That you can put it out there and get it read by anyone is really amazing. In the bad old days, publishing was tightly held by a few publishing houses and you had to have an agent and be one of a very small minority to catch a lucky break. Or spend a lot of money to self-publish.

Nowadays, you don’t even need an internet connection or a computer and you can publish what material you want and have it read by anyone who comes to your blog. You can just go to the library, use a publicly available internet computer, and go. And it is all for free.

Sheesh! Get a grip, blogger was down for 20 hours and so many people thought the world was ending. LOL. Maybe some people heard the sound of crickets for the first time. Anyway, that is why there was no blog entry yesterday. I am working on one now for tonight. But first, I am going to take a nap! Happy blogging, folks.

Posted in bendandi, bible, earthquake, rome

Raffaele Bendandi earthquake predictions: Rome citizens are fleeing the big one

Posted on by elizabethprata

Some guy almost 100 years ago predicts a quake will level Rome on May 11, 2011 and today the city residents are fleeing. They believe.

Italians evacuate Rome over ‘big one’ fears
Italians will on Wednesday flee Rome over fears a giant earthquake is coming following a seismologist’s 1915 prediction that “the big one” will strike on May 11, 2011.

“Businesses have reported requests from one in five people to have time off work and many are also keeping children away from school and heading to the beach or country for the day. Romans are taking it so seriously that local newspapers have even been publishing survival guides with tips of what to do – if – the ground starts to tremble. The panic has been fanned by Facebook, Twitter and text messages around a prediction by Raffaele Bendandi, a seismologist who forecast in 1915 that a “big one” would hit Rome on Wednesday. He is also said to have predicted other earthquakes which hit Italy during the last hundred years before his death in 1979. Massimo La Rocca, headmaster of a school in the Trastevere district, said: “We have had quite a few parents calling in and saying they will not be sending their children in.”

“I’ve told them the school will remain open and there is nothing to be scared about but they are adamant – although this is not a justifiable absence for a pupil.”

“A barman named Massimo said: “People have been talking about this for the last week. I know dozens who are taking the day off – I’m going to sleep in the camper van with the wife to be on the safe side.” Bendandi believed movement of plates and therefore earthquakes were the result of the combined movements of the planets, the moon and the sun and perfectly predictable. In 1923 he predicted a quake would hit central Italy on January 2 the following year – he was wrong by two days. For his work Bendandi was even given a knighthood by Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini – and ordered not to make any more predictions on pain of exile as officials feared he would create immense panic. However seismologists have been quick to step in and say his theories are without any scientific proof and despite his claims earthquakes are completely unpredictable. Seismologist Alessandro Amato, who works at the Italy’s National Geophysical and Volcanology Institute, said: “There is absolutely no evidence to say that an earthquake will hit Rome on 11th May and we have told that to the hundreds of people who have called.”

Bendandi was wrong lots of times but the world will go after a false prophet rather than the true Prophet who was NEVER wrong and has been proven over and over. O come Lord Jesus!

I fully admit that if a quake hits Rome tomorrow that it will be totally ironic but also a total coincidence. For those who insist on objective evidence and ignoring the bible because it supposedly has none, I remind you that Bendandi developed his own unscientific theory, without any objective evidence, of the nature of earthquakes and the alleged causes that determine them. His studies and his predictions are considered invalid empirical and theoretical justification from the scientific community.

The only reliable predictor for prophecy is the One who delivered it: Jesus in the bible. If the quake does not hit I challenge readers to allow the bible as the standard for prophecy. If the quake does hit tomorrow I still challenge readers to seek the bible as the only barometer of truth and only reliable predictor 100% of what is to come.

If only the world would take the bible as seriously as they do some unscientific guy who was wrong half the time!!

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Posted in cryptozoology, end time, iran, roc, weird bird

Weird bird carcass found in Iran: Roc?

Posted on by elizabethprata

File this under “weird”. Even the Iranian journalists posting this story used ‘weird’ in the headline–

“The dead body of a strange dinosaur-like bird has been reportedly found near the city of Meshginshahr in the northwestern Iranian province of Ardebil. The locals found the feathered bipedal creature, which seemed to have died a few days ago, near a remote village of Meshginshahr, IRNA reported on Sunday. A team of officials of Iran’s Environment Protection Organization (EPO) were dispatched to the region to investigate whether the reports were true. One of the villagers has reportedly hidden the carcass and the EPO team is trying to find it. The team has managed to obtain a photo of the creature taken by one of the locals. The team has also found evidence that confirmed the locals’ claims the bird lived in a cave near the village. The creature has a reptilian skull with long canine teeth and large molars. It has small wing bones like those of flightless birds. The avifauna of Iran includes a total of 527 species, none of which are similar to the found creature; however, the discovery needs ornithologists to verify the claims. Scientists believe that fossil evidence demonstrates birds and dinosaurs shared many features such as hollow bones, gastrolith in the digestive system, nest-building and brooding behaviors.”

Below is an Iranian news spot about the ‘find.’

Could be a hoax, as always, caveat emptor! But Iran certainly seems to be taking it seriously. Remember, the mythological creature the Roc was the mythological bird beast of Persia. The roc is featured in 1001 Arabian Nights and in Sinbad’s adventures. A roc or rukh (from the Arabic and Persian rokh, asserted by Louis Charles Casartellito be an abbreviated form of Persian simurgh) is an enormous legendary bird of prey, often said to be white. [Wikipedia] Roc is allegedly a gigantic winged bird like a peacock, with the head of a dog, and the claws of a lion.

In the 13th century, Marco Polo stated “It was for all the world like an eagle, but one indeed of enormous size; so big in fact that its quills were twelve paces long and thick in proportion. And it is so strong that it will seize an elephant in its talons and carry him high into the air and drop him so that he is smashed to pieces; having so killed him, the bird swoops down on him and eats him at leisure”. Marco Polo explicitly distinguishes the bird from a griffin, another mythological bird. The Roc is to the Persians a messenger and sign of the divine, fertility and purification. It alights on a person to indicate god’s approval of that person to be king and the representation of the divine on earth.

The bird in the photo if it is a roc (lol) would have to be a baby. Just food for fun thoughts tonight!
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Posted in end of days, end time, prophecy, tower of babel

Building a Tower of Babel in Argentina

Posted on by elizabethprata

Symbols matter. If they didn’t, why do companies spend so much time and energy on logos? Why are logos patented?Why do people go nuts when a famous logo is changed? Why it is called a “brand”?

Symbols add understanding to our lives. They are expressions of human nature, and they are found in all cultures over all time. Human communication depends on interpretation of letter and number symbols, and picture symbols themselves.

Handprints are the most common symbol in ancient rock art, depicting perhaps the original, “I was here” message. Aboriginal handprints have been interpreted to mean the spiritual imprint of the symbol-maker. In India, handprints are a symbol of protection and placed on the doorframe.

The bible is full of symbols. Clothing or garments represent character (Isaiah 64:6, Isaiah 59:6). Oil represents the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 25:1-13) The fish was and still is a symbol denoting a believer lived there. The fish was also a Greek acrostic. The Greek word for fish was ixthus which was an acrostic spelling for Jesus as the first letter, the 2nd letter for Christ, the next two, God Son, and the final letter represented the word Savior. This spells “Jesus Christ is God’s Son, the Savior.”

I wrote a piece in October of 2009 titled “EU: end time symbols too blatant to ignore.” In it, I showed that here again, symbols are important and used for particular meaning. Choosing them also illustrates that the chooser was intending to convey a certain meaning, certainly because there are so many symbols to choose from. I always get soundly mocked by non-believers for saying this when I post a movie-symbolism piece, but Hollywood symbolism is picking up on satanic symbols left and right, fast and furious. I had written in the essay in Oct 2009 that choosing certain slogans and symbols of the EU is satan’s way of spitting in God’s eye once again.

If companies can have symbols, why not God? If God can have symbols, why not satan? If satan can have symbols, why not Hollywood? Symbols convey meaning, they are chosen for a reason, and they matter to the chooser, and they matter to God.

A certain Argentinian street installation artist finished her latest piece. It is the Tower of Babel.

link

Photo taken on May 6, 2011 shows the “Tower of Babel”, a creation made by Argentine artist Marta Minujin with thousands of books in languages from all over the world, at San Martin square in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The artwork was created to celebrate that the UNESCO nominated Buenos Aires as the World Book Capital 2011. (Xinhua/Martin Zabala)

There are many installation representations she could have chosen. She could have re-created a Gutenberg Press, certainly a revolutionary machine in the history of book-making and global dispersal of literature. She could have made a rocket symbolizing transport to outer reaches that books take you, the Huckleberry Finn raft, the whale of Moby Dick, the Round Table at Camelot. She could have made a cross, or the city of New Jerusalem. She did not. She chose the Tower of Babel, one of the most iconic moments in the bible of an ‘in your face’ disobedience.

Babylon becomes, in past history and in future prophecy, the fountainhead of false religion in all the world. According to Gotquestions’ summary,

“The Tower of Babel is described in Genesis 11:1-9. After the Flood, God commanded humanity to “increase in number and fill the earth” (Genesis 9:1). Humanity decided to do the exact opposite, “Then they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth’” (Genesis 11:4). Humanity decided to build a great city and all congregate there. They decided to build a gigantic tower as a symbol of their power, to make a name for themselves (Genesis 11:4). This tower is remembered as the Tower of Babel.”

“In response, God confused the languages of humanity so that they could no longer communicate with each other (Genesis 11:7). The result was that people congregated with other people who spoke the same language, and then went together and settled in other parts of the world (Genesis 11:8-9). God confused the languages at the Tower of Babel to enforce His command for humanity to spread throughout the entire world.”

The Argentinian artist chose a symbol of open defiance of God’s command. Such choices have repercussions. Just as the people building the tower lived a consequence both physically and spiritually, people who choose to lift up unholy things instead of holy things will also suffer the consequences of their choices. This is not a fact that is appreciated or even absorbed by the unsaved-at-large, but it is absolute.

Romans 13:1-5 says, “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.”

Or more to the point, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life”. (Gal 6:7-8)

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Posted in end of days, end of days. prophecy

Jesus was since the beginning

Posted on by elizabethprata

Before I was saved, the whole Jesus thing was pretty mystifying to me. It seemed so complicated, and weird, too. I mean, the blood and everything. [shudder]. And I definitely did not agree with the doctrine of sin, that notion that I was a bad person from birth and that I did or said or thought wrong things? Come ONNNN, man. I’m a nice person, not one sin in me. Not like that person over there. Or there. Or there…

The thing I thought was most weird was Jesus. I used to wonder, God must be pretty lame to keep trying things that don’t work. Humanity was created and then right away, fell into depravity. They got so bad that He sent the flood. Then He tried the temple and the Law and that didn’t work. So finally He sent Jesus, hoping that would stick. I’m not kidding. Before I was saved, and the scales fell from my eyes, that is what I thought.

I never knew that Jesus was not first born 2000 years ago.

Therefore it is of particular joy to me that I revel in verses that illustrate that Jesus was from the beginning. He wasn’t born on that cold night in Bethlehem when the angels proclaimed His arrival to the shepherds. He was with God from the beginning.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” (John 1:1) How lovely to reflect the same language God used in Genesis 1: “In the beginning…”

“I was appointed from eternity, from the beginning, before the world began.” (Proverbs 8:23) As Matthew Henry says, “The Son of God declares himself to have been engaged in the creation of the world. How able, how fit is the Son of God to be the Saviour of the world, who was the Creator of it! The Son of God was ordained, before the world, to that great work. Does he delight in saving wretched sinners, and shall not we delight in his salvation?” How wonderful that Jesus was anointed from the beginning to do the great and monumental work of saving humanity.

“And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.” (Colossians 1:17) Other versions say “in Him all things hold together.” He is not only before all things in honor and grandeur, but He is before all things in existence. Before the sun, before the earth, before the stars were made…He was, and is and is to come!

He is our timeless Jesus, who was before Abraham, before John (His forerunner), who was part of God’s plan since the beginning to redeem humanity to His bosom. Far from being a series of stumbling lurches toward the end of time, God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit are progressing in an orderly plan that is unfolding with humanity as its central work. His justice prepared this plan. His love has sustained this plan. His grace permeates this plan. His longsuffering has kept this plan. And in the end, His wrath will execute this plan.

THIS is the God I fully hurl myself toward, lovingly and fully, submitting to His attributes and His incomprehensible foreknowing. He knew I would. He knew that on December 3, 2003 between 3:15 and 3:30 in the afternoon, I would become His. It was His plan all along.

He was since the beginning. You may be coming late to the party, but you still have time until you draw your last breath to become a knowing participant in His plan and to be saved from your sins. His love never fails.

“For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:12-13)

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Posted in eu, prophecy

UN gives European Union unprecedented status

Posted on by elizabethprata

I wrote this on my weekly newsletter (email me to sign up) about a recent event at the UN I believe has prophetic indicators all over it. The bible tells us that in the Tribulation the anticrist will be king of the world, who can overcome him? (Daniel 11:36-45, all except for Jordan; Rev 13:13). The antichrist institutes a false religious system and a false economic system and with a heavy hand, oppresses all who oppose him.

For this to happen, sovereign will must be diminished. Individual nations must subsume their own national wants and needs to the greater global good, and look not to their own ‘kings’ but toward the Beast. The key point is that governance will be central, located in Babylon. (Rev 17-18). And the one who will be managing that central government will be the antichrist.

The watch-word of the 1990s and 2000’s has been ‘global.’ Global commerce, global governance, global ties, you name it. The Powers that Be strove to shrink the world through closer economic and diplomatic ties, and Islam has striven to shrink the world through its religion and attendant Shariah Law. The European Union has grown, as has the African Union, Caribbean Union, the North American Union and the South American Union. Over these last two decades, the nations have slowly re-formed into regional blocs. As they did, most particularly the EU, they dispensed with sovereign currency created one currency to be used within that bloc.

Of course, the United Nations is a governing body situated in New York City that strives to be the world’s legislative, military, and economic go-to body. There are currently 192 member states that belong to it, including every internationally recognized sovereign state in the world but the Vatican City.

That is, until this week. The EU was granted status never before granted to a regional bloc and not a sovereign nation.

EU now has super-observer status at United Nations
“According to the resolution, EU representatives may now be entered on the list of speakers and invited to participate in the general debate of the General Assembly. The text also gives them the right to present proposals and amendments agreed by the member states of the European Union and the right to exercise the right of reply regarding EU positions. However, as an observer, the EU will not have the right to vote or to put forward candidates.”

The UK Telegraph reports it this way:

“A vote was passed by the 192-nation UN General Assembly after high-powered lobbying by EU foreign affairs representative Catherine Ashton and ambassadors from the 27-nation bloc. Other regional groups such as the Arab League, African Union and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) may now seek a similar extra observer rights at the global body, diplomats said. The EU made one attempt to get the extra powers at the General Assembly last year, but suffered an embarrassing defeat when small states opposed a vote and sought extra time for negotiations. [American UN Ambassador] Ashton led behind-the-scenes talks that went on up to the final hours before Tuesday’s vote which passed with 180 countries in favour and Zimbabwe and Nauru abstaining. Csaba Korosi, ambassador from Hungary, the current EU president, told the assembly: “The European Union wishes to bring its full weight to bear in supporting and strengthening” global governance. “

There are several implications here. First, the US led this push. Second, it is the first time a bloc and not an individual nation was granted these powers. It creates an entirely new category of sovereign status: a bloc and not a nation. Third, now that the European Union (EU) is granted super-observer status, then other regional blocs will seek the powers and likely be accepted. In several articles I read, the African Union, the Caribbean Union and the Arab League were all mentioned as likely to immediately follow suit and petition for super-observer status.

Last, the quote about bringing full weight to global governance will come back to haunt the world when the antichrist finally DOES bring full weight to global governance. They know not that they ask for! But US Ambassador Ashton said that the EU promised “to be extremely and absolutely respectful” of other sovereign voices. Ahem. That’s not what the bible predicts…

So in the articles, there are four of the ten kingdoms mentioned, perhaps. In any case, we can see that global governance is gaining acceptance, credibility, and power. We can see that geo-political powers are beginning to align exactly as the bible says they will in the Tribulation. And as Hal Lindsey says, if we can see the beginnings of the prophesied Tribulation events, the rapture must be that much closer.

It wouldn’t take much for the already-receptive world to accept a global government if there was sufficient catalyst. That catalyst could be the disappearance of millions from the work force, throwing the world economy into disarray. The catalyst could be several successive and devastating wars, such as prophesied in Isaiah 17:1, Psalm 83, Matthew 24:6, and Ezekiel 39-39. The catalyst could be a dispossessed refugee population hungry and broke, roaming from from successive natural disaster catastrophes. The world has a lot of questions just now. “What is going on?” “Why are things going bad like this no matter what we try?” “When will things get back to normal?” At this point, with global powder kegs nearly aflame everywhere, it really would not take much of a catalyst for the world to go after a smooth talking man who appears to have all the answers.

And unwittingly, the UN just made it easier.

Credit: Chris Britt, Springfield, IL — From the State Journal-Register
March 29, 2004

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