Posted in good friday, it's friday but sunday's coming, resurrection

Good Friday

Posted on by elizabethprata

How can I write a Good Friday message? The enormity of what Jesus did on that Friday long ago is too huge, the depth of my gratitude too great. How great the Father’s love for us! I can’t express it. I can only shake, and quake, and hang my head in shame at the part my sin played in that awful day, and then raise my head again and look toward Him in heaven rejoicing that HE LIVES!

He could have spoken us out of existence, and yet, He did not. He came down from lofty heights, “He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases.” (Mt 8:17). He taught, healed, ministered, rebuked, and drew men unto His very breast, with open arms and joy.

“And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,” (Revelation 1:5)

For a long time I didn’t understand His love, that He knew me even when I didn’t know Him. That He sought me personally, knowing my name and having formed a plan for my life. I certainly didn’t understand the blood and His death on the cross. I refused to understand about sin.

But once I did, the floodgates opened. As each day goes by the power of our God’s sacrifice of Himself on the cross amazes me more. And the resurrection, victory over sin, death, and life is the final ending to an age-long battle. What peace there is in Jesus. What unfolding love and eternal joy. It is indescribable. And all because of Good Friday, and its finishing event, Resurrection Sunday.

“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.”  (Ephesians 1:18-19)

You can lay down your weary arms and conclude your battle with sin. It’s what is making you so tired, you know. The struggle against that hole in your heart where Jesus should be, to fill it with something, anything, is tiring. We fill it with sin, but that hole should be filled with His love and His purpose for you. But first comes recognition of your sins, that you think, say, and do things that displease God. Ask Him to forgive those. Confess them. And submit to Him knowing His plan for your life is wonderful and beyond anything we could ever dream up. Today He died for you, for us. He hung there in agonizing pain, to pay the penalty for sin according to God’s justice. The spotless lamb was chosen and sacrificed. Now all you need to do is join Him in His kingdom by confessing and repenting! Wouldn’t you like to experience the real meaning of Easter with the Holy Spirit dwelling inside you, prompting you to new understandings and greater wonder of our precious Jesus? Hurry! Friday’s here, but Sunday’s coming!
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Posted in end of days. prophecy, end time, middle east peace

Palestinian State push is a snowball turning into avalanche

Posted on by elizabethprata

I mentioned a week or so ago that Obama has been working on a new peace plan for resolution to the Middle East conflict between Everyone Else and Israel. I also mentioned that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is coming to the US to speak to a joint session of Congress in the first week of May, something that hasn’t happened since the early 1990s when Clinton was President and Netanyahu was in his first term.

I noted that both men, Obama and Netanyahu, were separately working on a framework to a revived peace plan, and conditions were unclear at that time on who would unveil whose first. Well, it’s Obama. Preempting the Israeli Prime Minister, Obama shared the framework of his new plan yesterday:

Obama’s plan
“The White House has been working on a new peace initiative for the past three months, one that revolves around a few key principles. According to the article, if Obama does, in fact, present a peace initiative, it will discuss four terms of reference: Israel’s acceptance of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders; Palestinian acceptance that there would be no right to return to Israeli land; Jerusalem as the capital of both states; and the protection of Israel’s security needs.”

Obama said three years ago that he would like to split Jerusalem. That the notion resurfaces now should not surprise us. Really, messing with Israel and splitting Jerusalem have been the ONLY concepts Obama has stuck to unswervingly since taking office. Here are the 2008 links to Gateway Pundit and Times of London and the quote:

“Barack Obama is to pursue an ambitious peace plan in the Middle East involving the recognition of Israel by the Arab world in exchange for its withdrawal to pre-1967 borders, according to sources close to America’s president-elect.”

Pre-1967 borders means that Israel gives up the land that they won in the Six-Day war, Sinai Peninsula (which they already returned to Egypt), Gaza Strip (which they already handed to Egypt for Egypt to administer), the West Bank which is also known as Judea and Samaria and includes East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights bordering Syria.

Even some Israelis are calling for a Palestinian State with pre-1967 borders…
“Dozens of prominent Israeli artists and intellectuals declared their support for a Palestinian state on the streets of Tel Aviv on Thursday and quickly found themselves confronted by rightist opponents calling them “traitors” and, according to one report, “Jewish Nazis.” While angry confrontations between protesters on opposite sides of Israel’s gaping ideological divide are not unknown here, this one came at a delicate time, with international pressure growing on Israel to find a way back to peace talks with the Palestinians.”

Clinton. Who will save peace process? (Photo: AFP)

Christians know the answer to that question. The antichrist will APPEAR to save the peace process by flatteries and deceit. (Daniel 7:20; Daniel 8:12; Daniel 8:23-25)… It will be a time when truth will be thrown to the ground, but he will fail, and it will not be human power that defeats him! (Daniel 8:25)

“And finally Jesus who is peace will institute His kingdom. Jesus will save the peace process! “The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together…” (Isaiah 11:6)

“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given: And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, ever forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this…” (Isaiah 9:6-7)

Hallelujah!
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Posted in end of days. prophecy, end time, mark of the beast

The digital agenda for Europe includes a single European payment area. Mark of the beast infrastructure formed now

Posted on by elizabethprata

Let’s start from the end and work backward. The near future: “He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” (Rev 13:16-17) This is the famous Mark of the Beast verse. Many people refer to it as the “one world currency” or the “New World Order.”

Though the verse does not explicitly say, the concept of a global economy is inherent in the verse. If the Beast has been granted power over all the people, tribes, tongues and nations (Rev 13:7b) and causes all to engage in a certain action, i.e. to worship him, (Rev 13:8) then it stands to reason that he has power over the global economy, also. If you have the Mark, you can participate in the economy. If you don’t have the mark, you can’t participate in the economy – in any way.

Let’s skip back now to the past generation. Prior to the microchip’s invention in 1960 it seemed impossible that these verses could come about. People in prior generations could not conceive of how one man could have economic power over all the people in the world. Remember, these were the days before computers, satellite television, the internet, global positioning systems, and cell phones. The world was still a big place then, and many of the globe’s nations were little known to a non-traveling public.

In 1950 Europe had just finished a devastating world war and sovereignty was rampant. People loved their countries, having come so close to losing them, thanks to Hitler. And they wanted it to stay that way. But they also wanted economic prosperity. WWII had wiped them out.

The European Union was born in 1950 when an economic partnership between 6 nations over coal and steel was formed. Coal and steel were necessary components of the continent’s re-build of the continent’s WWII bombed-out infrastructure. Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands were those partners, and it went so well that  by 1957 the European Economic Community, or “Common Market” was born.

Between the birth of the microchip born 1960 and the solidification of the Common Market in the same decade, the groundwork for Revelation 13’s oppression through economic means was laid. In the 1970’s the Common Market was expanded to nine with the inclusion of Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom. By the end of the 1970s the European Parliament was created and member states could directly elect their representative.

In 1989 the Berlin Wall came down and the European Union bloomed as East and West Germany were unified. No more Iron Curtain separated vibrant economies of the same continent, and the EU grew in stature and membership. 1993 was the seminal year, when the Single Market was completed with the ‘four freedoms’ of: movement of goods, services, people and money.

In the millennium 2000 decade, the euro was introduced, and the EU membership swelled to 27 nations. They adopted a constitution. With the collapse of communism and its doctrine of suppression of information, the internet became widely available to the lay-person.

But wait, there’s more. Here’s where it gets closer to the end point that we saw in Revelation 13. The EU has a plan, and it has been lately debated and this week it was legislated and accepted. The next plan includes ‘pillars’ named “Single Market Act,” “Digital Single Market” and “European Stability Mechanism” – with implementation by 2012.

Thanks to some of the European nations that are not as deeply in debt as others, the EU is surviving the current fiscal crisis. However, they note that they were still impacted, notably by a large unemployed segment of the population – almost 10%. The Single Market Act was proposed and adopted by the European Commission this week. The Single Market Act proposes 12 key actions to boost European competitiveness and to unlock economic growth and jobs which, considering the crisis, we want to see adopted by the end of 2012. The 12 action items all of relate in some way to the free-flow of money, venture capital, and employees with payroll in and among member nations.

But HOW is the money, capital, and payroll to flow freely, you might wonder? The Digital Single Market, one of the founding pillars of the Digital Agenda for Europe.

“Transport, energy and electronic-communications networks are the backbone of the single market. Indeed, efficient infrastructures foster rapid free movement of people, goods and various types of energy and data (with the allocation of a sufficient radio spectrum) at a reasonable cost. Efficient economic integration relies on the integration of efficient infrastructure networks … networks need to become smarter in order to improve energy transmission. New legislation must facilitate the establishment of a unified smart network…”

The infrastructure mentioned is no longer the coal and steel, quaint commodities of the old days of the burgeoning EU in 1950, but data networks, fast internet, and single European payment area.

The problem is that a French guy’s credit card may not work in Bulgaria. A venture capitalist from Finland might want to start an annex to his business in the Czech Republic, and the data-transfer infrastructure as it stands now is too cumbersome. Hence, the ‘Digital Agenda for Europe’: in a nutshell, streamline the whole thing, NOW.

Single European Payment Area (SEPA) “will improve the efficiency of cross border payments and turn the fragmented national markets for euro payments into a single domestic one: SEPA will enable customers to make cashless euro payments to anyone located anywhere in the area using only a single bank account and a single set of payment instruments.” Wikipedia, map at link. Timetable is completion by end of 2011. 1st meeting is in June 2011.

I gave you the short history so you could see how far and how fast the economic unification has come in one generation. Fifty years ago, a Christian reading the Revelation 13 verse could not conceive, nor comprehend how it would all work. This week, the European Single Market Act was passed. The Single European Payment Area is on the horizon, and once the ‘infrastructure’ is created, it would not take much for a smooth talker who was killed and resurrected to wow the world and slyly take over the whole shebang. Which, since we know the end from the beginning, he will do. And it looks like it won’t be long.

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Posted in bible, end of days. prophecy, minor prophets

This is how cool our bible is

Posted on by elizabethprata

Our pastor preached a prophecy sermon last week and I was thrilled with reading the many Day of the Lord references in the minor prophets of the Old Testament. I know that Isaiah preaches the Millennium Kingdom in Isaiah 11 and Isaiah 65. Ezekiel 38-39 shows us the Gog-Magog war to happen at the opening of the Day of the Lord and then chapters 40 & 41 the Kingdom. The Joel 3:2 command is well-known to prophecy students as the one where the Lord is angered because they have divided Israel, and as a result He will gather them all on the last day for judgment. Zechariah 12 promises all of Israel’s enemies to be destroyed at the end of time, when Israel stands alone. Psalm 83 is a prophetic prayer and appeal for the smiting of Israel’s enemies in a war yet to come.

But our pastor had preached on Obadiah 1 and the borders of the Land to be Israel’s in the future. And Hosea 2 where the Israelites regain the “My People” status. And in reading Zechariah again, I noticed this:

Take a look at Zechariah 6:1-7

Four Chariots – “I looked up again—and there before me were four chariots coming out from between two mountains—mountains of bronze! The first chariot had red horses, the second black, the third white, and the fourth dappled—all of them powerful. I asked the angel who was speaking to me, “What are these, my lord?” The angel answered me, “These are the four spirits of heaven, going out from standing in the presence of the Lord of the whole world. 6The one with the black horses is going toward the north country, the one with the white horses toward the west, and the one with the dappled horses toward the south.” When the powerful horses went out, they were straining to go throughout the earth. And he said, “Go throughout the earth!” So they went throughout the earth.”

Does that passage remind you of anything? It should.

First Seal: The Conqueror
1 Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, “Come and see.” And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.
Second Seal: Conflict on Earth
When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come and see.” Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword.
Third Seal: Scarcity on Earth
When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine.”
Fourth Seal: Widespread Death on Earth
When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.”

Are the 4 chariots of Zechariah the same as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse? I don’t know. I just started reading. But isn’t the bible a wonderful and infinite trove of new wisdom from God for us to learn? In His kindness, He testifies to Himself and in unfolding fashion, every time we open the Word we have an opportunity to learn something new. Compare these verses:

Revelation 1:5-8 –
“To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen. “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Zechariah 12:10-11 –
“And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.”

In a Sunday School class I used to attend a while ago at a former church, a lady used to come with her New Testament-only bible. It irked me to no end. And she was a pastor’s wife! What message does it send to leave half the Word at home? Has not God told us of Himself in the entire book? Isn’t all scripture profitable for teaching?

The entire bible is a jewel unparalleled. Jesus identified Himself as Truth (John 14:6). It is said in John 17:17: “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” Therefore His word is truth and entirely wonderful from Genesis to Revelation, the first and the last. Don’t be afraid to delve into the beauty and wonder of the Old Testament books, especially the prophets. They are speaking to us now, this generation! They have words for us to hear truths for us to uncover. Though Obadiah, Hosea, Micah, Joel, Amos and the rest have entered into their eternal rest, their work in being the human instrument speaking His truth lives on.

Try this: get your bible. Pray. Be quiet and still. Concentrate, preparing your heart to have truth, wonder, and beauty revealed. Ask the Spirit to give you wisdom and it shall be given, without reproach! (James 1:5). The Lord blesses a seeking heart, opens the ears and widens the eyes. He didn’t make His word unclear, but we are sinners who  see through a glass darkly. But remember, “But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.” (1 John 2:27). The same Spirit that breathed out the Word lives in YOU, and will help you understand.

After you pray, and be still, see where the Spirit leads you in the bible, and read. Don’t worry if you do not understand it on first pass. Read slowly and meditatingly, savoring each word. Ask yourself questions. ‘What does that mean?’ ‘Why was that word used there?’

And repeat, each day. Like stitching together a quilt, it gradually takes shape, with patience, attention, and diligence. And let the wonders unfold!

“Watercolor Cross” Wall Hanging Made for the St. Patrick School 2000 Auction

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Posted in end of days, end time, prophecy, rumblings

Mysterious rumblings unnerve residents

Posted on by elizabethprata

Out of Canada:

Windsor-Essex being hit by mysterious rumblings
“Ontario’s Environment Ministry is investigating reports of mysterious rumblings in parts of Windsor and Essex County. Nine formal complaints have been registered to the local ministry office and there have been numerous telephone inquiries, officials say. “I feel like I’m going mental,” said Sonya Skillings, a resident in the 3800 block of Poplar Avenue, just east of Windsor Regional Hospital’s Western Campus. “It’s in the ground and it feels like there is a subway under the house. It happens at all different times — in the middle of the night, as well.” The ministry has investigated underground blasting by at the Windsor Salt mine, but the company blasts only once a day Monday to Friday in mid-afternoon.”

“We just want to know what the noise is,” said Skillings, a married mom to six-year-old and five-month-old boys. “It’s just weird that nobody knows. If it’s not the salt mines, then what is it?” Ministry of Environment officers have asked homeowners to keep a log in order to help find the source of the rumbling. The calls about the noise have come from nearly every corner in Windsor and the surrounding area, said Teri Gilbert, issues project co-ordinator for the local Environment Ministry office. “We have received a number of complaints and it seems widespread,” she said. “Most are from west Windsor, but also Amherstburg, South Windsor and Lakeshore. “In response we are working with a number of partners — the City of Windsor, federal government and Michigan state government — to determine the source. We have not been able to nail it down.” The ministry’s goal is to eliminate any possibility the vibrations are being caused by an industrial source on either side of the border.”

“Mining activities by salt companies on either side of the border have been ruled out because “their operations are not coinciding with the times people are feeling these (vibrations),” Gilbert said. Homeowners and any neighbours they can enlist will log the noises and vibrations for at least the next month, she said. Another possibility could be overhead jets circling, landing and taking off from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, but Skillings believes that’s not the case. “The vibrations definitely are more underground,” she said. “All I hear is the rumbling.” Gilbert indicated federal aviation authorities may be contacted once the Environment Ministry can rule out all industrial sources.”

“It’s a mystery,” she said. “There appears to be no rhyme or reason to it.”

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Posted in currency, economy, end of days. prophecy, gold, university of texas

University of Texas Investment Fund defects from paper currency: buys 1B in gold

Posted on by elizabethprata

Something happened Friday. It seems that it is significant. I am not familiar enough with global economics to be able to place it in a context for you, but it is something, my gut is telling me. The guys at Zerohedge noticed that during the week, gold prices were going funky. Silver was going stratospheric. Why? Economics is a causal relationship- when one thing happens it causes ripples elsewhere. No ever stands in a vacuum. So what was causing the commodity price to skyrocket in this way? Friday came the answer, and the Zerohedge guys call it a tipping point:

A Golden Tipping Point: University of Texas Takes Delivery Of $1 Billion In Physical Gold
“Tipping points are funny: for years, decades, even centuries, the conditions for an event to occur may be ripe yet nothing happens. Then, in an instant, a shift occurs, whether its is due a change in conventional wisdom, due to an exogenous event or due to something completely inexplicable. That event, colloquially called a black swan in recent years, changes the prevalent perception of reality in a moment. This past week, we were seeing the effect of a tipping point in process, with gold prices rising to new all time highs day after day, and the price of silver literally moving in a parabolic fashion. What was missing was the cause. We now know what it is: per Bloomberg: “The University of Texas Investment Management Co., the second-largest U.S. academic endowment, took delivery of almost $1 billion in gold bullion and is storing the bars in a New York vault, according to the fund’s board.” And so, the game theory of a nearly 100 year old system of monetary exchange has seen its first defector, but most certainly not last. With an entity as large as the University of Texas calling the bluff of the Comex, the Chairman, and fiat in general in roughly that order, virtually every other asset manager is now sure to follow, considering there is not nearly enough physical gold to satisfy all paper gold in existence by a factor of about 100x.”

I noticed their phraseology in saying that the event is a signal of a defection from our monetary exchange. Also, in the third sentence, they mention the black swan. The Black Swan theory was developed by Nassim “Nicholas Taleb to explain the disproportionate role of high-impact, hard to predict, and rare events that are beyond the realm of normal expectations in history, science, finance and technology.”

It’s evident that we are entering into the realms of never-before-traveled territory in economics and finance. Not that economies haven’t crashed before. Not that there hasn’t been hyperinflation before. But never in such global proportions and never before when we have been so intertwined.

Forbes explains the University of Texas activity as a response to the falling dollar:

“It should come as no shock to financial markets that university endowments have followed in the wake of central banks and hedge funds to become the newest major investors in  precious metals like gold. Just as  central banks in China, India, Russia and many other nations view gold as a monetary reserve protection against the  falling dollar,  major academic institutions are  looking for new asset classes like precious metals and commodities  to produce returns that can be put to work as a source of funds  for a large portion of college operating expenses.”

So Friday, UT invested 5% of its entire portfolio in gold. Did you know that last July, they invested 3% of their entire portfolio in gold? “The Houston Chronicle reports that the university bought the gold out of fears of “unstable international financial markets and the possibility of high inflation.” It is relatively uncommon for a university to invest in gold, the value of which only increases through inflation.” So by now, UT has at least 8% and likely 10% or more of its investments in gold. How many others are doing the same? Many, I suspect.

Thursday, Kyle Bass, a Dallas Hedge Fund Manager and representative of the UT Board, made the recommendation to buy more gold. In his reasoning, he’s quoted as saying, “Central banks are printing more money than they ever have, so what’s the value of money in terms of purchases of goods and services,” Bass said yesterday in a telephone interview. “I look at gold as just another currency that they can’t print any more of.”

In don’t know how large University financial institutions work normally, but in my experience, they work slowly. In this case, they bought the gold the next day. The next day.

Maybe it’s facts like these that cause the haste:

It’s clear that we’re tanking. America’s economy is on a downward slide and as a snowball rolls downhill it goes faster and faster. Do the people experiencing a crash ever know it at the time? The folks in 1929 didn’t. They thought things would get better. When they didn’t for two years, they finally woke up. By then the Depression was at rock bottom.

Refusal to believe what is happening in front of your eyes is called normalcy bias. There obviously are some people who see the coming crash and are doing something about it, like the folks at Univ. TX. Others see the coming spiritual crash and are taking steps to prepare, by converting from craven sinner to forgiven saint thanks to the blood of Jesus and their confession to the Lord. But most won’t do anything different right up until the end. Normalcy bias is defined as:

“a mental state people enter when facing a disaster. It causes people to underestimate both the possibility of a disaster occurring and its possible effects. This often results in situations where people fail to adequately prepare for a disaster, and on a larger scale, the failure of the government to include the populace in its disaster preparations. The assumption that is made in the case of the normalcy bias is that since a disaster never has occurred then it never will occur. It also results in the inability of people to cope with a disaster once it occurs. People with a normalcy bias have difficulties reacting to something they have not experienced before. People also tend to interpret warnings in the most optimistic way possible, seizing on any ambiguities to infer a less serious situation.”

Does that sound like any unsaved person you have tried to talk with lately? Does that sound like any nominal Christian who refuses to heed the warnings to persevere? Jesus described the normalcy bias in the bible:

“And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.” (Luke 17:26-29)

It seems hard to believe that as a third of the rivers and waters turn to blood, that as wars are happening all around, as millions have disappeared in the rapture, & etc., that people will continue to carry on expecting things to return to normal at some point. It won’t.

The normalcy bias is described again, in 2 Peter 3:4 – “They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.”” They say that since things have always remained the same that the rapture won’t occur. Oh, but it will.

This week I listened to four sermons. One from my local pastor, another from John Hagee, from John MacArthur, and from Steve Hadley. They all preached the rapture. They all explained the prophesies. They all said the same things and interpreted the scriptures the same way. I glory in the Holy Spirit when things like this happens! I believe the Spirit is prompting the bible-teaching pastors to speak these things to encourage the body and to prepare us for His calling us ‘up there.’

Things are not normal and each day that passes they get less normal, but the praise is, as each day passes, we are one more day closer to being with the Lord! Therefore, brethren comfort one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:18)

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Posted in culture, judas, lady gaga

Lady Gaga’s ‘Judas’ song

Posted on by elizabethprata

I’m often excoriated when I post tweets or blog entries stating homosexuality is a sin, or about how the mass media of tv, movies and books are brainwashing the culture into accepting demonic attitudes. (“It’s just entertainment! Don’t you have anything better to do??”) Other posts and tweets do not incite such reactions, and that is how I know how deeply satan has penetrated the mass media culture and the homosexual agenda. I know because he writhes when light is shone on his lies! Friends, keep firm on saying that the mass media culture is a reflection of satan’s lies! And do not participate in it yourself. If you do not believe me, see just how overt and obvious satan is getting-

“Judas is the demon I cling to
“I’m just a holy fool,/ oh baby he’s so cruel,/ but I’m still in love with Judas, baby.” Lady Gaga.
“You can’t say Lady Gaga isn’t provocative. ‘Judas,’ the latest single from Grammy-winner and fashion icon has leaked onto the internet early, adding to the already heated debate about the song, and accompanying video’s, alleged sacrilege. The song and video are told from Mary Magdalene’s perspective, with lyrics such as, “When he comes to me, I am ready/ I’ll wash his feet with my hair if he needs/ Forgive him when his tongue lies through his brain/ Even after three times, he betrays me/ I’ll bring him down, a king with no crown…” Religious groups are fuming but reviews are generally positive: Spin Magazine critiques the track by saying that, “True to form, Gaga delivers a rowdy, industrial-disco banger, and her performance is insanely over the top,” adding that “there’s no denying the primal energy of ‘Judas.’”

Never mind the critical reaction to Gaga’s Judas song. Here is the popular reaction as reported by Billboard:

“Her song Judas, which was leaked on Friday, could very possibly debut at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart next week. This would move Rihanna’s No. 1 hit, S&M, from the top spot, which had a recent bump due to her recently-released remix of the song, featuring Britney Spears.  Even though Judas was slated to debut next week, it was rush-released on iTunes on Friday after being leaked. And now, it just very well may find itself at the No.1 spot, selling close to 400,000 units with less than two-and-a-half days of sales in the week.”

Incidentally, 23-year-old Rihanna’s current No. 1 hit, S&M is about sadism and masochism, and she sings about how chains and whips excite her. About how good it feels to be bad. And satan is right, it feel good to be bad, temporarily. He never tells you that part- that it is temporary. But the Spirit tells us, in Hebrews 11:25, in describing Moses’ choice to suffer affliction for God than to experience “the pleasures of sin for a season.” And that season is short.

Other songs on the top 10 billboard son lists include Britney Spears No. 1 song Femme Fatale,
“I’ll be your blonde tonight If that is what you like Stilettos and fishnets If that’s what you like I’ll be your hot mess School girl in curls Whatever your type Baby if that’s what you like I’ll do it”.

Katy Perry’s No. 2 song E.T , is  about intercourse with aliens. “They say be afraid You’re not like the others, Futuristic lover, Different DNA, They don’t understand you. You’re from a whole other world, A different dimension, You open my eyes, And I’m ready to go, Lead me into the light. Could you be an angel? Could you be a devil? [Chorus] Kiss me, ki-ki-kiss me. Infect me with your love and, Fill me with your poison.”

Gee. Doesn’t the lyric of  ‘different DNA’ remind you of Genesis 6:1-2; 4, “Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose. … There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them.”

And those are a snippet of only the top three songs on Billboard’s charts! Demonic lyrics, promoting satan’s agenda. And no, I can’t lighten up and no, I can’t ever stop saying that purity in Jesus Word is the ONLY good thing. Why should I not proclaim purity of word and thought thanks to the Spirit’s deliverance of His word to us? Why should I not strive to seek good words and to have only good thoughts remain in my head? Why shouldn’t I refuse to engage in or indulge in filth even when it is rampant in the culture? I won’t.

Job said that he had made a covenant with his eyes and would not look upon a maid. (Job 31:1). Paul said, “Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.” ( 1 Corinthians 6:18). In teaching about the carnality of this world, Paul wrote in Colossians 3:2, “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” He commanded them to “put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” (Col 3:4). We are to set ourselves apart from the carnality of this world.

In case you think that it is nearly impossible to resist fallen culture today since carnality is all around us, we are not special. Early Christian Rome was in the same state of debauchery that we are immersed in now, with orgies, homosexuality, and licentiousness in song, poetry, and drama. The Colosseum was free to all to be entertained by bestiality, murder, and death. The pagans were used to frivolity in all forms from the numerous festivals, such as Saturnalia, a week-long festival in December. Seneca the Younger wrote, “the greatest part of the city is in a bustle. Loose reins are given to public dissipation…”

Yes, the songs are ‘only entertainment’, but when these themes are repeated endlessly and ceaselessly, hammering into our youth’s brains, sung over and over, they penetrate. Do our youth memorize scripture verses as well as they easily remember lyrics like ‘fill me with your poison?” No. And there’s a reason for that.

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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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