Posted in casting pearls before swine, end of days. prophecy, mockers and scoffers

Dealing with mockers and scoffers

Posted on by elizabethprata

The bible is full of imperatives. Some call for positive action: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. (Mt 28:19-20)

Some imperatives call for negative action: “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.” (Matthew 7:6)

With the Spirit inside us we are admonished in Matthew 7:6 to be careful of offering holy and pure Gospel truths to those who are only snarling dogs, waiting to tear them apart for their own vicious pleasure. In this day and age of instant social contact through blogs, Twitter, Facebook and other media, Gospel outreach is all the more prevalent. But so is the ease with which the dogs and swine mock and scoff.

“Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of His coming?” II Peter 3:3-4

So how do we react to those who reject the Gospel in such a  ferocious fashion?

“Jesus’ point is that certain truths and blessings of our faith are not to be shared with people who are totally antagonistic to the things of God. Such people are spiritual dogs and swine, who have no appreciation for that which is holy and righteous. They will take that which is holy, the pearls (the rarest and most valuable of jewels; see Matt. 13:45–46) of God’s Word, as foolishness and as an insult. A wild animal whose main concern is scavenging for food will not appreciate being thrown a pearl. He will resent its not being something to eat and possibly attack the one who throws it.  Dogs and swine represent those who, because of their great perversity and ungodliness, refuse to have anything to do with the holy and precious things of God except to trample them under their feet, and turn and tear God’s people to pieces. In Revelation 22:15, they are classified with sorcerers, whoremongers, murderers, idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.” As John MacArthur admonished in his sermon “Casting pearls before swine“.

“The admonition of the Lord in our text then clearly means that his disciples shall not give, nor minister the gospel, or its provisions, its promises, its comforts, its ordinances, or any of its commands, to any who are thus designated dogs, or who are in nature, disposition, practice or appetite as unlike the regenerated and spiritual people of God as dogs are unlike and inimical to the sheep and lambs.” Gilbert Beebe (1800-1881)

“When people not only reject the gospel, but insist on mocking and reviling it, we are not to waste God’s holy Word and the precious pearls of His truth in a futile and frustrating attempt to win them. We are to leave them to the Lord, trusting that somehow His Spirit can penetrate their hearts-as He apparently did with some of those who at first rejected the preaching of Paul and the other apostles-or leaving them to the just judgment of God.” [MacArthur]

It’s clear that the imperative to go and make disciples of all nations does not include those who are reviling of the Gospel. You have already offered them the highest, and they have countered with the lowest, content to remain in the muck as swine do. They refuse to lift up, and in choosing to continue a conversation, there is no place for you to go but down. Rather than arguing with them over the most beautiful of truths, it is OK, even preferred, to leave them alone. In those cases, the faithful Holy Spirit will enact His will on those lost and brutal souls. The Holy Spirit shall “guide you into all truth… he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.” (John 16:13-15).

The age of Twitter and its 140 characters means easy outreach to all, but it is superficial to the sinner. See LR Shelton’s presentation of the process through scripture:

“The sinner must first be awakened by the Holy Spirit before he can be enlightened, according to Eph. 5:14, “Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.”

“Second, he must be enlightened before he can he convinced or convicted: “And when he is come, he will reprove (convince) the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.”

“Third, the sinner must be convinced before he can be wounded to death by the “sword of the Spirit” (Rom. 6:3-4) “So many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death.”

“Fourth, the heart of the sinner must be wounded and broken before it will turn from sin to the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation (Psa. 38:8-9), “I am feeble and sore broken: I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart. Lord, all my desire is before thee; and my groaning is not hid from thee.”

“Fifth, the heart of the sinner must turn to Christ (Joel 2:13), which is repentance, and run after Him (Song of Solomon 1:4), seeking Him with all the heart (Psa. 69:32), “Your heart shall live that seek God,” and (Jer. 29:13), “Ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” That is faith.”

By all means, use social media and personal witness to encourage the brethren, and employ all possible means to introduce the lost to Jesus. But leave the mockers and scoffers alone, and do not persist in casting pearls to swine and dogs.
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Posted in earthquakes, end of days. prophecy, end time, pre-tribulation rapture, shakeout drill

Quakes are picking up steam; FEMA plans central US Great ShakeOut drill

Posted on by elizabethprata

Jesus said that in the end time there will be earthquakes in diverse places. (Luke 21:11; Mt 24:7; Mark 13:8). There have always been earthquakes. But the entire context of the conversation in which He’d warned about the signs of the time when He would be coming (Mt 24:3) was likened to labor pains. Labor begins slow and increase in frequency and intensity, just as the signs and symptoms of His imminent return to judge the world will indicate. He said that these signs will be famines, plagues, deceptions, false messiahs, and earthquakes to name a few. These are the various things that will increase in intensity and frequency just before He arrives at the end of the Tribulation.

He also said “in various places” or “in diverse places.” The Greek word for “various” used in this case is kata. Usually, various when it means various is the word poikilos- as in Mt 4:24 wen they brought to Jesus people suffering from “various diseases”. But in Matthew 24:7 kata is used for various, and it means “through out, according to, against”. Kata is is translated 52 times as against, which definitely has a judgment tinge to it.

I look at the USGS 7-day earthquake list every day. Earthquakes around the world are listed as they happen. I noticed the last day or so that there are a number of earthquakes in Nevada. Nevada? Yes, Nevada.

Today I find this article:
Swarm of Quakes have Experts Concerned
“Nevada Seismologists are keeping a close eye on an area southwest of Hawthorne, Nevada where hundreds of earthquakes have been detected since Sunday. “It’s a little bit concerning in a sense.. The largest earthquakes in these sequences are pretty large in size.” Graham Kent is Director of Nevada Seismological Laboratory at the University of Nevada Reno. He says there have been hundreds of earthquakes southwest of Hawthorne over the past few days. The largest– recorded at a 4.4 in size. “These are the biggest in a sequence we’ve seen at least in the last couple of years.” Kent says unlike the 2008 quakes in Somersett that damaged so many homes, these earthquakes are fortunately not underneath a community. Size is not the only reason Kent says they are watching the swarm of quakes closely. The location of these quakes is on top of a fault that has until now remained unknown or has not been active. Kent then made an eerie comparison, “Whats really interesting about most of these earthquakes we’ve experienced. Short of the Chilean and Japanese quakes; Haiti, Baja, even Christchurch… Were on unknown faults.” [emphasis mine]

Unknown faults??? Very interesting. Even more interesting is that the swarm ongoing in Guy Arkansas. I wrote about it in October 2010 just after the swarm began, here. I wrote about it again a couple months later, here. Scientists don’t know why there is a swarm there, either, but of concern is that Guy Ark. is kind of near the New Madrid Seismic Zone. The NMSZ is home to one of the country’s worst quakes ever.

The New Madrid quakes of 1811-12 “were an intense intraplate earthquake series beginning with an initial pair of very large earthquakes on December 16, 1811. These earthquakes remain the most powerful earthquakes ever to hit the eastern United States. These events, as well as the seismic zone of their occurrence, were named for the Mississippi River town of New Madrid, Louisiana Territory, now Missouri. There are estimates that the earthquakes were felt strongly over roughly 130,000 square kilometers (50,000 square miles), and moderately across nearly 3 million square kilometers (1 million square miles).” [Wikipedia] 

This map shows areas damaged by the Dec. 16, 1811, magnitude 7.2 earthquake. That earthquake was the first of three major temblors along the New Madrid fault in 1811 and 1812. Credit: Seth Stein, based on results by Susan Hough

Because not many people were living in structures west of the Mississippi at that time, there was not a lot of structural damage, but it certainly was a tremendously impactful quake. It shifted rivers, downed trees, belched a sulphurous vapor, caused the sun to black out temporarily (reminiscent of the effects of the great quake in Rev 6:12 when the sun will be dark as sackcloth), and produced such a shock it went through bedrock and was felt intensely in Norfolk and Philly. The quake even toppled chimneys in Maine and rang church bells in Boston.

If a 7.1 quake of that shallowness and duration happened today, it would be devastating. Emergency Management officials are taking notice of the Arkansas quake swarm, noting the rise in earthquakes around the world, and have gotten ready the Great Central US Shakeout. It is a first of its kind earthquake drill taking place in eleven central US states. So far, 2.2 million people are signed up for the drill. 1.9 million of those are school districts. Participants listed so far on their website are:

Alabama 19,752
Arkansas 103,590
Georgia 205,804
Illinois 100,966
Indiana 569,036
Kentucky 256,197
Mississippi 112,256
Missouri 383,235
Oklahoma 5,020
South Carolina 173,969
Tennessee 256,555

“ShakeOut is linked with the 2011 National Level Exercise (NLE 2011). ShakeOut, the drill will be a prelude to a weeklong national earthquake preparedness exercise starting on May 16. NLE 2011 will simulate the catastrophic nature of a major earthquake in the central United States region of the New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ). The year 2011 is the bicentennial anniversary of the 1811 New Madrid earthquake, for which the NMSZ is named. NLE 2011 will be the first NLE to simulate a natural hazard.”

We received the following email at school and a similar email is also on the Georgia Shakeout website:

“At precisely 10:15 a.m. on April 28, more than two million people across 10 states will participate in the “Great Central U.S. Shakeout,” the largest earthquake drill ever organized in the region. The Georgia Emergency Management Agency’s (GEMA) Ready Georgia campaign, along with the Georgia Department of Education encourages all Georgia schools to participate in this important event, which will help students and teachers rehearse proper safety procedures should an earthquake strike.”

“The recent earthquakes in Japan have taught us that earthquakes can strike without warning and with disastrous consequences. All of Georgia is vulnerable to earthquakes, both from within the state and from sources outside the state.”

“So far, more than 147,000 students and administrators from across Georgia have signed up to simultaneously “Drop, Cover and Hold On” – drop to the ground, take cover under a sturdy desk or table and hold on until the shaking stops. They will be alerted to begin by a public service message broadcast by the NOAA Weather Radio. The event is designed to remind people what actions to take before, during, and after an earthquake, as well as to help government agencies, local organizations and schools plan their response to potential damage and injuries.”

Jesus said “there will be earthquakes in various places.” The places are getting more various by the minute! Isn’t He amazing? Plopping down an earthquake in the spots where there are no known faults? Perplexing the scientists and riling up the people? He is so far above our ways it is incredible!

For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
         Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
         So are My ways higher than your ways
         And My thoughts than your thoughts.(Isaiah 55:8-9)

Look up, the Lord has the earth in His hands, and He is shaking us out of our sinful slumber. Turn to Him, shelter under His wing, and be prepared to meet Him when He calls His bride! No amount of ‘drop, cover, and hold on’ will protect the Tribulation people when the earthquakes really get going. Instead, because I asked Him to forgive my sins and in His grace includes me in His church, I will ‘look up, sigh, and fly!’
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Posted in california, end of days, end time, homosexuality, raptre

Gay history now a required course in CA elementary schools

Posted on by elizabethprata

Today, this news from California. A bill passed the assembly mandating that public schools teach gay history.

“Gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people would be added to the lengthy list of social and ethnic groups that public schools must include in social studies lessons under a landmark bill passed Thursday by the California Senate. If the bill is adopted by the state Assembly and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown, California would become the first state to require the teaching of gay history. … [S]tarting in the 2013-14 school year, it would prohibit districts and the California Board of Education from using textbooks or other instructional materials that reflect adversely on gay, bisexual and transgender Americans.”

This isn’t good.

God always judges sin, and individual sinners who have not repented and asked forgiveness will spend eternity away from Him, in hell. This is a reality. No matter how often and with how many books the lost and the Christians in Name Only publish and which try to twist the scriptures to say something different, it is the unalterable truth. Unforgiven sin = hell. Repentance = forgiveness.

God hates all sins, but He mentions a few in particular more often than others. One of the sins that God hates is homosexuality. Leviticus 18:22-25, Jude 1:7-8; 1 Corinthians 6:9 are just a few of the verses that say God promises homosexuals will not inherit eternal life.

More than the individual, though, God also judges peoples and nations. Is American due for judgment? Yes, and not just because of this particular bill in CA. We have banned prayer in public schools, legalized abortion, accepted a gender re-definement and promoted homosexuality. We have become greedy (The Fed, Wall Street) and we fail to care for the poor. Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboim were judged for these things. Four cities were smited that day, a day when God deemed He had had enough of all of those sins.

“Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good.” (Ezekiel 16:49-50). Pride, greediness, laziness, non-compassion for the poor, and homosexuality were their crimes, and one fine day those cities were no more.

When a nation’s people individually wallow in sin, it is offensive to God. But when a nation collectively and AS a nation legalizes, promotes, codifies into law, and worse, perverts the minds of the young with its sins, then it is a higher plane of offense to the Almighty. We have been blessed, but since the mid 1960s we have been on a national downward slide as a nation. Our only reason for continued blessing and the only reason for a stay of deserved execution, in my opinion, has come from Genesis 12:3. God said He would bless the nations that bless Abraham’s people, and curse the nations that curse Abraham’s people. Abraham’s people are the Jews and their nation is Israel. For many years, throughout our moral decline, we have still received blessing due to the fact that we have always staunchly defended Israel.

But watch out, things may soon change.

Clinton: Obama to reveal peace plan soon
“The United States plans a new push to promote comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday, suggesting a stronger US hand in trying to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
‘US will have hard time standing alone in UN’
“On Tuesday night Israeli officials estimated that efforts to prevent UN support of a unilateral declaration of Palestinian statehood would prove futile ahead of a September vote on the matter. An Israeli official said: “Obama wants a Palestinian state and although the US is not interested in a unilateral declaration, it would be hard for it to stand alone in the General Assembly and vote against it.”

The Middle East peace talks are going nowhere and there is a massive push in front of the scenes and behind the scenes for the UN to just get it over with and declare a Palestinian State whether Israel likes it or not. Declaring it would divide Israel and Jerusalem, something the LORD said He will never tolerate. (Joel 3:2; Gen 12:3). If the US decides to side with the UN, and not with Israel, in my opinion it would be the last straw. We would be moved from the (barely) blessed side to the cursed side of the conditional promise in Genesis 12. We would incur God’s anger in ways that the world has never seen before and no, will never see again. (Mt 24:21).

And why should we not? Teaching young minds that homosexuality is normal, has a valued history, and should be seen as equal to real history offends me to the core. Imagine how much MORE it offends God. Add to that our greedy, lazy, non-compassionate, selfish, baby-killing ways and our abandonment of Israel, and we are ripe for brimstone. Check the bible, and see that He has judged for far less. Once our support for Israel goes, we go. And please pray that the rapture comes before more youth are killed in the womb or before innocent children would be exposed to homosexual perversity from the abominable state of California.

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Posted in easter, end of days, end of days. prophecy, end time, pre-tribulation rapture

Seattle school insists on calling Easter eggs ‘spring spheres’

Posted on by elizabethprata

Names mean something. Words are important. An entire book was devoted to how minds are brainwashed by language in George Orwell’s 1984. That book was written in 1949 and is about a dystopian world that Orwell foresaw by the year 1984. “Newspeak” was the centerpiece of how the invasive and excessively totalitarian government leaders wanted the people to think. The aim is to make any alternative thinking (thinking in ways the government did not want you to think) impossible by removing any words or constructs which describe the ideas of freedom, rebellion and so on. Dictionaries were supposed to get thinner and thinner. One character, Syme, says admiringly of the shrinking volume of the new dictionary: “It’s a beautiful thing, the destruction of words.”

Christians have been struggling against the world’s deliberate dismantling of the concepts behind Christmas by denouncing the removal of the word when and where we come across that practice. Happy Holidays is NOT the same as “Merry Christmas.”

Now we have the removal of Easter from mention in a Seattle elementary school, and from mention by Seattle Parks and Recreation advertisements for the Easter Egg Hunt. Nowadays kids are supposed to call the eggs ‘Spring Spheres” and the hunt a “Spring Egg Scramble.”

It’s a terrible thing, the destruction of words. When those words contain the mention of the Savior, removing them from our language is worse than destructive, it is heinous. Christianity is unique among all the world’s religions. It is the truth, quite simply. Beyond that, all other religions have a doctrine of works: in other words, the person has to do this or that, accomplish this or that to get into heaven. Jesus said that there is nothing man can do to earn salvation, it is His gift alone to give.

Uniquely, Christianity is not a system of beliefs, it is a relationship with God. It is a close relationship: He actually sends part of Himself to dwell inside the believer, the Holy Spirit.

Christianity is unique because though other religions have sacred sayings or important books, none other book makes the claims about itself that the Bible does: it is written by God, and has been proved over and over by fulfilled prophesies.

The most amazing element of the uniqueness of Christianity is that it centers around the resurrection of Jesus Christ!! As GotQuestions.org puts it, “No other religious leader has died in full view of trained executioners, had a guarded tomb, and then rose three days later to appear to many people. The resurrection is proof of who Jesus is and that He did accomplish what He set out to do: provide the only means of redemption for mankind. Buddha did not rise from the dead. Muhammad did not rise from the dead. Confucius did not rise from the dead. Krishna did not rise from the dead. Only Jesus has physically risen from the dead, walked on water, claimed to be God, and raised others from the dead. He has conquered death. Only in Christianity do we have the person of Christ who claimed to be God, performed many miracles to prove His claim of divinity, died and rose from the dead, and claimed that He alone is “the way the truth and the life” (John 14:6) and that no one comes to the Father except through Him.”

“Easter” is the pinnacle of the triumph of Jesus Christ over all evil. It is the moment where He proves Himself to be Who He is. It is the time when all sinners have the permanent opportunity to receive salvation, in a glorious moment for all humankind, forever. No wonder “the rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers” (Titus 1:9-11) want to remove the concept from our language. DO NOT LET THEM DO IT! “He is not here; for He is risen, as He said!” Mt 28:6

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Posted in bible, pre-tribulation rapture, prophecy

Giant whirlpools appear in Atlantic

Posted on by elizabethprata

More strangeness science cannot explain. Pravda (English) has been reporting:

Giant ocean whirlpools puzzle scientists
“US scientists discovered two giant whirlpools in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Guyana and Suriname. It became a sensational discovery because this part of the ocean has been studied thoroughly, and no one expected anything like that to appear in the area. More importantly, no one can understand where the whirlpools came from and what surprises they may bring to people. According to Brazilian scientist Guilherme Castellane, the two funnels are approximately 400 kilometers in diameter. Until now, these were not known on Earth. The funnels reportedly exert a strong influence on climate changes that have been registered during the recent years. “Funnels rotate clockwise. They are moving in the ocean like giant frisbees…”

The End time is a time when all the man-made constructs are slowly detached from normal operating systems. Economics will be acting differently, finances, governments, science, etc. All the regularly operating ways that we have come to understand the world will slowly be lifted apart from the underlying true system: God. It is like He is lifting a scab off the skin.

The Tribulation will be a time when the scab is completely off and nothing will make sense anymore. God is increasingly revealing Himself to an unbelieving world, and no one can understand God. His ways are above our ways and His thoughts are above our thoughts. Who can explain 100 pound hailstones? Who can explain the sudden rise and acceptance of a world dictator? Who can explain demons that bite and the bite inflict pain for five months? Who can explain an angel standing in the sun? Who can explain two men in Jerusalem killed but resurrected after three days?

We’re so close to the Tribulation now that the obvious failure of man to be able to explain anything is becoming more apparent to the saved AND the lost. Who can explain the sudden appearance of whirlpools in the ocean? Who can explain deep-focus earthquakes? Who can explain 1.5 million mile filaments on the sun? Who can explain the Northern Lights appearing when no CME has been ejected? Who can explain dead dolphins washing up along beaches- but no other mammals? I could go on but you get the message.

The message is: Jesus is coming. He will rapture His church away from the earth and then nothing will be the same anymore, forever. Who can explain the disappearance of millions of people? Pray to Jesus to ask Him to forgive your sins, and make Him the Lord of your life. Then, everything will be explained! It is called THE BIBLE.
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Posted in prophecy

So much news!

Posted on by elizabethprata

I got home late tonight, about 7pm instead of 6. I’ve just been looking at all the news since I left for work this morning at 7am! At school I have no access to the worldly parts of the internet, being able only to visit educational sites etc. But I do have opportunity to write during my After school job and I began writing a biblical exploration of the verse about ‘casting pearls before swine’ and how to deal with the plethora of mockers and scoffers Peter had prophesied would come in the last days.

Then I got home and I read news about the push for a Palestinian State and how the momentum is gaining traction in unprecedented ways. I’d written about that in last Saturday’s Prophecy Newsletter, and after I’d read those articles today about the Palestinian State plan solidifying I decided to also write about that subject tonight.

While I was mulling all that over and finishing up my sandwich, I made the “mistake” of checking Facebook, lol. A friend had put up a very, very good video about the fiscal armageddon that is soon to be upon us. Hmmm, I though, interesting. When I got finished watching and pondered writing an essay about that, I checked Drudge and saw that the main headline had been changed to “Fiscal meltdown” with a link to an article unrelated to the video I’d just seen but rather was a warning from Sen. McCain. So I thought an essay for that subject was definitely in order.

Then I saw a video of a very weird problem in Japan. I can’t find a date for the vid but it seems highly likely that it is recent. It shows that though an earthquake is not happening at that moment, the sidewalk and parking lot an an unnamed city in Japan is simply moving like a dock on the tidal waters. It is some extreme liquefaction, and I thought about Isaiah’s prediction of the earth breaking apart and mulled putting up an blog entry about that.

So the upshot is that I’ve spent the last hour culling through SO MUCH news the last hour, and there are so many choices that I’ve expired my time and energy for the evening! I am going to go pray instead.

I really think it won’t be long now.
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Posted in chernobyl, end time, fukushima, prophecy

Japanese officials finally rate Fukushima a 7 on the disaster scale

Posted on by elizabethprata

The Japanese finally capitulated to reality and rated the Fukushima nuclear disaster an official 7 on the nuclear disaster scale. 7 is the highest level of this kind of disaster. Only one nuclear plant ever experienced a rating of 7 in its disaster assessment, and that was Chernobyl. Below is a headline link to the Japanese article, in a Google translation, and the first paragraph is Google translated from Japanese.

Japanese officials finally raise level of Fukushima disaster to 7
“As an assessment based on international standards of the accident, the worst “level seven” decided to raise. “Level 7″ is the same as the evaluation occurred in the Soviet Chernobyl disaster. Nuclear Safety Agency, 12, held a press conference with the Nuclear Safety Commission has decided to publish the contents of the evaluation.”

Nuclear Engineer Arnie Gundersen demonstrates How Fukushima’s Fuel Rods Melted and Shattered

In this bit of not so good news,
Radiation risks from Fukushima ‘no longer negligible’
“The risks associated with iodine-131 contamination in Europe are no longer “negligible,” according to CRIIRAD, a French research body on radioactivity. The NGO is advising pregnant women and infants against “risky behaviour,” such as consuming fresh milk or vegetables with large leaves. In response to thousands of inquiries from citizens concerned about fallout from the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Europe, CRIIRAD has compiled an information package on the risks of radioactive iodine-131 contamination in Europe.”

But the Japanese agency also said that even though the ratings of radiation over Japan are risky for some demographic populations, “the institute underlines that there is absolutely no need to lock oneself indoors or take iodine tablets.” Hmmm.

The Environmental Protection Agency says that their network of radiation monitors (RadNet) detects negligible amounts of radiation in the US from Fukushima. But on the other hand, it is stated by the “EPA that new radiation highs are found in Little Rock Milk, Philadelphia Drinking Water.” “Milk from Little Rock and drinking water from Philadelphia contained the highest levels of Iodine-131 from Japan yet detected by the Environmental Protection Agency, according to data released by EPA Saturday.” In reading the article and doing the math, Arkansas milk was 300% above EPA’s maximum contaminant level for radioactive iodine-131 and that was 11 days ago.

That doesn’t sound negligible to me. So what the governments are saying is that radiation exists, they need to evacuate, some populations are at higher risk, and in Japan AND the US, don’t drink the water or eat the food. But it’s negligible and nothing to worry about.

I would really love to be able to trust my government again, but unfortunately I cannot. However, I offer a trade that is even better: we can trust Jesus. He will never lie. He will never hide data that is important to our well-being. He will always keep us safe (spiritually). He will always be trustworthy.

“The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence.” (2 Samuel 22:3) You can’t do better than that! In these troubled times, with everything either falling down or prices going sky high, Jesus is attainable. He is within reach. As a matter of fact, He is reaching for you now. If you have let yourself become distant from Him, hasten back to His side, He will cover you with His wing and shield you from hopelessness. If you do not know Him, once you confess your sins and trust in Him, you will feel peace and understand that no matter what is happening in external circumstances, you will remain solidly under the watchful eye of our God of the universe. That is the best place to be!

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Posted in economy, end of days. prophecy, japan, jesus

Japan’s March 11 quake woke up the nation’s 20 volcanoes, says meteorological agency

Posted on by elizabethprata

This is an essay about how the 3/11 quake in Japan is affecting Japan economy and by extension, the world’s.

From International Business Times Hong Kong English edition today:

Japan warns of massive earthquake and volcanic explosion after the April 7 earthquake
“Japan’s Meteorological Agency on Friday warned the country’s 20 volcanoes has become alive due to the massive March 11 earthquake, and a study said earthquake over 9.0-magnitude might hit Japan. The number of earthquakes above 6.0 M reached 77 on March. And 74 out of them occurred in quake-hit region, were aftershock. The number is 50 times over the same period last year. The largest aftershock on April 7 hit Japan has killed 4 people, injured at least 166, and caused a power outage over 2.61 million households, according to Japan’s police officials. The Meteorological Agency warned aftershocks above 6.0 M like the April 7 earthquake probably would hit Japan again. Meanwhile, quakes of the country’s 20 volcanoes occurred more frequently after the massive March 11 earthquake, especially, the Fuji, Hakone, and Aso-San.”

Millions of people are without power…radiation is poisoning their air, water, and food, there are continuing large aftershocks, and now they’re warned of exploding volcanoes. I can’t begin to comprehend the grief they must be feeling for their country, their families, and their own lives.

In economic news … I mentioned before that the March 11 quake was a nation changing event but it was also a world changing event. Their economy may not recover, ever, and if it does, it will be years. Well, the economic impacts of that prediction are coming into sight now.

It’s all about components.  From South Korea blog “Business Area“
“Japan’s disaster affecting the worldwide automotive industry, not least in South Korea. Some manufacturers in the Country of ginseng began to reassess its production because of fear of lack of supply components from Japan.”

Toyota announced a shutdown of all North American plants (Canada/Mexico/US). GM Plants are on temporary slowdown. Toyota is shutting down UK manufacturing plants for an unknown period of time. Korea’s GM and Renault Samsung Motors Corporation (RSMC). Yena Cho, RSMC spokesman said the factory has begun to stop the activities of overtime on weekends, resulting in decreased production capacity of 2000-2500 units of this month (March 2011). There are lots more examples, but if you think about all those manufacturing plants not just in Japan & Korea, but in UK, and North America, that means no money is being exchanged over a commodity. Paychecks are not being given. It creates a huge hole. The auto industry especially, cannot get microchips, circuitry etc from Japan, and the interconnected complex global supply chain is beyond stressed.

Mike Ruppert: “Gross Domestic Product predictions for the world’s economies (such as Ireland, Greece, Portugal, Spain, etc) are made on the stance of positive growth. When large significant negative growth is shown across the board globally for a quarter, the markets have no place to go but implode.” He explained that although fancy bookwork can be done in certain areas by changing definitions, moving columns here and there, the ONE thing that cannot be hidden (according to Ruppert) is GDP quarterly earnings reports. We have one more bit of this quarter’s activity and the reports should be in by July that reflect the effect of the March-June quarter, which is the economic quarter of the Japanese quake and tsunami. “The markets still don’t appreciate the Japanese earthquake” but it seems that the chickens will come home to roost by July’s reports. And then watch out, said Ruppert.

Oil: fuel prices are spiking. How this affects the world’s economy is in obvious and not so obvious ways. Not so obviously, is a story out of Nicaragua. “The [fishing] industry is “frozen” by high operative costs, even though international shrimp prices remain high.” In the US, conventional production agriculture relies heavily on fossil fuels, particularly in its ability to provide high yields at low labor costs. However, the uncertain future of fossil fuel availability and prices means that in laymen’s terms, farmers can’t afford to put fuel in their tractors and fishermen can’t afford to fuel u their boats.

This is the American Farm Bureau Report for first quarter of 2011, with AFBF’s Cyndie Sirekis and AFBF economist John Anderson interview.
Sirekis: Farm Bureau’s quarterly marketbasket survey tracks and reports on retail prices of 16 staple foods that can be used to prepare one or more meals at home.
John Anderson (AFBF economist): The total cost of these 16 items in our marketbasket for the first quarter 2011 worked out to forty-nine dollars and seven cents that was up about two dollars and 10 cents compared to the fourth quarter of 2010 so that’s about a 4 percent increase. Pretty much a continuation of a trend that we’ve seen for the last couple of quarters and pretty well in line with what we see in broader measures like the consumer price index.
Sirekis: Cheddar cheese, ground beef and vegetable oil were among the foods that increased the most in retail price. This rise in retail food prices was not unexpected, according to American Farm Bureau Federation Economist John Anderson. He says energy prices are a key driver behind retail food prices increases.
Anderson: Everything that you buy at the retail level is affected by energy prices. Energy prices affect the cost of processing, they affect the cost of packaging, they affect the cost of transporting and storing and operations at the retail level. Really, there’s not much in the marketing system that isn’t affected by the price of energy.”

So the natural disasters affect manufacturing and manufacturing is affected by fuel prices and fuel prices affect farming and fishing and when farming and fishing is affected prices go up and when prices go up people who were put out of work by the slowdown and shutdown in manufacturing can’t afford to buy food.

Ruppert warns that by July, the wheels will come off completely. He predicts the implosion of the economic markets as the quarterly reports come out will cause a 4000 or so point in the Dow as it suffers from loss of Japanese input. He said, “I do not think we will be living in anything like the society we have known by this fall. I’m as serious as I’ve ever been.”

Is he being alarmist? He made a good case. It was obvious in March as the magnitude of the disaster on the world’s third largest economy became evident and I wrote about it on March 16 here. Throughout the 1990s as the European Union came together and the euro was introduced as currency that the new world order of interconnectedness, of globalization was to be sought and extolled, might have been fine except that when one of the largest economies tanks, they all tank. I think that is where we are now. And by the looks of Japan’s volcanoes waking up, the continual earthquakes, and the ongoing radiation problem, the issues of the loss of their economy will continue to be felt right straight through Revelation 18:10 when the entire economy collapses, for good.
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Posted in copper scroll, end time, ezekiel 38, gog and magog, prophecy

The Copper Scroll & its possible relation to Gog-Magog battle of Ezekiel 38-39

Posted on by elizabethprata

Certain conditions will be in existence at the end of days when certain other things happen. In this way, we can look at the end and work backward to the present. For example, Ezekiel tells us that when the Gog-Magog battle occurs, Israel will be dwelling securely with no walls or gates, she will be at peace, she will be seen to have an exceedingly great army, she will dwell in the midst of the land, and she will be extremely wealthy. (Ezekiel 38:11-12b). Many people believe that for this to be in place it means that the Psalm 83 battle will have already taken place, and Israel will have defeated the Palestinians, Jordanians, Sinai Egyptians, Lebanese, and Saudi Arabians. She will not need borders because she will have defeated all her neighboring enemies.

An interesting note is that the verse describing Israel dwelling in the midst of the land means they would be dwelling in land with borders that God outlined to Abraham in Genesis 15:18. It would mean that in Israel’s defeat of the enemy confederacy that Israel would reclaim all that land as originally intended for her to have. (Read Obadiah 1 for context). (Note- map below outlines the Land given to Abraham and to Abraham’s descendants, known as the Abrahamic Covenant) The map below that is the same map using modern nations as a reference. It’s almost completely aligned correctly with the borders given in Genesis, except the actual red line on the eastern border should go all the way over to the Euphrates. But otherwise it’s pretty close.)

In Ezekiel 38:12  God is talking and speaking out loud the dastardly plot that Israel’s enemies are fomenting in secret thoughts. He says they will say, “I will plunder and loot and turn my hand against the resettled ruins and the people gathered from the nations, rich in livestock and goods, living at the center of the land.” The Hebrew words in the verse for cattle and goods actually say “have acquired cattle and goods” or “which have gotten cattle and goods.” The verse speaks of spoils and plunder and booty, typically things that are acquired in war. The verse doesn’t say “Israel has goods and cattle,” it says they have acquired it. It is logical to think that after the Psalm 83 war Israel reclaims the land God originally gave her, along with all the things in and on that land, like livestock and goods.

Taking this a step further, Israel would indeed be extremely wealthy if she has not only the wealth she recently produced herself, not only has the wealth that she is soon to enjoy due to the discovery of the huge natural gas and enormous oil reserves in her land and just off shore, not only wealthy beyond imagining from having acquired all of Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Jordan’s and Egypt’s wealth, but there is another possible wealth just off the horizon.

The Copper Scroll.

“The Copper Scroll is one of the Dead Sea Scrolls found in Cave 3 near Khirbet Qumran, but differs significantly from the others. Whereas the other scrolls are written on parchment or papyrus, this scroll is written on metal: copper mixed with about 1 percent tin. Unlike the others, it is not a literary work, but a list of locations at which various items of gold and silver are buried or hidden.” [Wikipedia] It is thought that the silver and gold mentioned in the Copper Scroll ‘treasure map’ were from the Temple before the Romans came to destroy it.

“Have you come to plunder? Have you gathered your hordes to loot, to carry off silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods and to seize much plunder?”’(Ez 38:13b)

A recent CBN article reports: “In 1947, a Bedouin shepherd wandered the hills of Qumran in search of a missing sheep. He threw a stone into a cave, hoping to drive the lost animal outside. Instead, the sound of shattered pottery drew the shepherd inside the cave. There he stumbled on the greatest archaeological find of the 20th century: the Dead Sea Scrolls. In the years that followed, archaeologists found eleven caves and more than 900 documents here at Qumran. But one scroll was different from all the rest. Instead of leather or parchment, it was made entirely of copper, and it could be the greatest treasure map in history.”

Hmmm. With paper currencies declining like they are and silver and gold values reaching record highs, it wouldn’t take much for a greedy and desperate army to gather and lick their lips, salivating over all that ‘silver and gold.’ Silver and gold are finite assets. Unlike paper currency that we print more of when we need it, silver and gold can’t be manufactured. It remains steady in value or increases. The monetary value of the gold and silver mentioned in the Scroll is estimated at 3 billion dollars- and that was an estimate given years ago. Gold and silver are now reaching record highs with no end in sight.

The only problem is, since the discovery, no one has been able to understand what the Scroll says. From the Copper Scroll Project: “So begins the most intriguing and baffling of the scrolls to be found among the collection known as the Dead Sea Scrolls, the metal document called the Copper Scroll. Baffling because it has never before been understood and intriguing because of the vast amount of buried treasures listed in the incredible text.”

“Possibilities are high that the Copper Scroll could lead to a discovery that would make any other archaeological find seem insignificant in scale. If the book of II Maccabbees is considered accurate, then the odds of such an unprecedented find tilt the scales of history even further to the side of a magnificent archaeological discovery, a recognizable possibility that stirs the juices of the imagination well beyond the scope of wishful thinking into the realm of tangible possibility.”

That language, ‘stirs the imagination’ echoes the language in Ezekiel, ‘thoughts arise in your mind…I will make an evil plan”…

The bible says, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “On that day it shall come to pass that thoughts will arise in your mind,(Gog-Magog enemies of Israel) and you will make an evil plan: You will say, ‘I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will go to a peaceful people, who dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates’— to take plunder and to take booty, to stretch out your hand against the waste places that are again inhabited, and against a people gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who dwell in the midst of the land. Sheba, Dedan, the merchants of Tarshish, and all their young lions will say to you, ‘Have you come to take plunder? Have you gathered your army to take booty, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great plunder?’”’(Ez 38:10-13)

Yes, having livestock is a boon but armies don’t go to war over cows, hungry as they may be. They would be interested in the oil and gas but it takes time to re-route gas lines and get refineries going to match the grade of Israel’s. But silver and gold, 3 billion-plus dollars’ worth? Now, THAT is a booty they can exploit immediately.

I can imagine the thoughts that the Gog-Magog confederacy are brought to mind. Turkey, Iran, Russia, Armenia, Libya, Northern Africa will all be gnashing their teeth at Israel’s success in the Psalm 83 war. They will be looking longingly at the gas, the oil, the livestock, the wealth of land Israel possesses in that near-future moment. Their ancient hatred of Israel will inflame their passions. IF (and I say IF, because I don’t know if it will ever be discovered) the Copper Scroll does reveal caches of gold and silver beyond description, it would be (and I say would be, because I don’t know) the last straw.

Wouldn’t it be just like the LORD to allow translation and interpretation of the Copper Scroll and recovery of the silver and gold just at a time when the other prophetic pieces for Psalm 83 and Gog-Magog are coming together in such alignment? The LORD is great. This season of watching prophecy unfold leaves me nothing but breathless at His ways.

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Posted in jim dixon, last things revealed, prophecies

Response to Jim Dixon’s "Last Things Revealed" book tackling of end time prophesies

Posted on by elizabethprata

I had a discouraging conversation with a fellow believer today. She posted a link to a Christian Post article about a megachurch pastor who is tackling the ‘confusion’ over end times eschatology. Eagerly I zoomed to the link provided, but was immediately disappointed upon reading his ‘explanations’ about prophecy. The author, Dr. Dixon of Cherry Hills Community Church wrote-

“Details of the End Times Up for Debate”: “Many details about the more popular topics regarding the end times, such as the Antichrist, the rapture, and the millennium rule of Jesus are more speculative…”

I was saddened to read that. I was going to write a point by point rebuttal of his vague, speculative, confusing and unknowable notions about the antichrist, the rapture, and the millennium rule of Jesus, but I decided not to. As with any topic about the bible it is always best to go to the bible to find truth.

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,” 2 Timothy 3:16. All scripture is profitable for teaching. Not just some scripture, all scripture. Did Jesus say that all scripture is profitable for teaching… except for some scriptures that are left up for debate? No. He said ALL SCRIPTURE is useful for teaching. You can’t teach an unclear text, so if there is an issue with clarity then it falls to man’s failure, not Jesus’s deficit.

Secondly, “for God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.” (1 Corinthians 14:33). Why would God declare Himself not a God of confusion and then insert confusing doctrines in the bible? God cannot contradict Himself.

This scripture comes to mind, “But he answered and said, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4) He didn’t say “live by My Word except for the parts that you can’t figure out.” Every word from Jesus is filling.

Matthew 24:25, Jesus said to the disciples, “See, I have told you everything ahead of time.” Do we think that Jesus would tell us ahead of time but then make it unclear? No indeed.

2 Peter 1:19-21 “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts.” Prophecy is a sure word, not speculative, whereupon it brings light to our hearts, not cloudiness.

Dixon wrote, “I don’t believe the Bible is clear on this issue.” The bible says “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.” (Psalms 12:6). There are many scriptures that extol the perfection of His word as pure, and it is as clear as refined silver on every issue.

James 3:16-18 says “For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. The wisdom from above is pure. Where confusion exists, self-seeking and envy may be present.

In a final example, the pastor wrote, “Although scholars and pastors give definitive answers sometimes about these prophecies, the Bible is unclear about the exact details and it is not necessary to be in agreement, Dixon asserted.”

Here is a final word on the ‘not necessary to be in agreement’ stance. I listened to a John MacArthur sermon last week. He was preaching through Mark and he had gotten to Mark 13:14-23, “The future tribulation.” Many of the end time doctrines are in these verses. He ended his sermon with a real-life example of what happened to him some years ago in Kazakhstan. He was teaching at a pastor’s conference, and many pastors from Central Asia who had never had the opportunity to attend a pastor conference were there. At one point the leadership came to him asking, ‘please explain to us the good part, the future for the church.’ MacArthur said he’d replied, “I don’t know what you believe but eschatology is a diverse subject, but ok, I’ll take Friday all day, I’ll teach everything the bible says about the church’s future. I spoke for 8 hours to people I had never met and had no idea what they believed. At the end of it, they came up to me and they said “You believe exactly as we do.”

“Really? I asked, but then I realized, we have been reading the bible. That is why we believe the same thing. To believe something else you read something else. If you read the same book I am reading, there it is! It is all laid out. You see what the scriptures say.”

If you have difficulty with the end times doctrines, take heart. The bible is there for YOU and the Holy Spirit is there to educate YOU in its wisdom. See what the scriptures say, see where the Holy Spirit leads.

You decide. This is where Pastor Dixon believes Jesus left us. Is this where you think Jesus left us?

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