Posted in bible, end time, prophecy

The Language of God: Thunder

Posted on by elizabethprata

This is part of an ongoing series called “The Language of God”. Previous entries were:

The Language of God: Earthquakes
Language of God: Fire and Brimstone
Language of God: Lightning
Language of God: Hail

Out from the throne come flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. (Rev 4:5)

In the bible, God’s voice is often depicted as thunder, or, alternately, when thunder occurs, it is God speaking. We’re told that thunder, when it is God’s voice, presages judgment. We remember the people at Mt Sinai were scared out of their wits upon hearing the thunder and begged Moses to ask God not speak aloud again (Ex 20:19).

We recall Revelation 10:1-4 and the mystery of the Seven Thunders. “And I saw another angel come down from heaven clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire. And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth. And he cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars: and when he cried, seven thunders uttered their voices. And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them.”

These booms happened this week, except for the next to last one which was in January and the last one which was 4 months ago, but I included it because it happened in GA

Florida:  Geologist: Shaking Wasn’t Florida Earthquake
Investigators are trying to solve a bizarre mystery in Flagler County. A wave of people called 911 around 9:30am Friday to report the ground shaking in Flagler County. The calls all came from the Hammock area of Palm Coast. However, people in the north Daytona area, as well as in Deltona and as far north as St. Augustine, said they felt it as well. Many people were worried that the shaking was an earthquake.  The Emergency Management Office was on the phone all day trying to figure out the cause of the shaking. Residents said that buildings were shaking, and even a dispatcher in the county felt it happen.

South Carolina: Residents report loud booms; CofC says no indication of seismic activity
Loud booms and shaking across the Charleston area Monday afternoon had people a little jumpy. Three big booms were reported late Monday afternoon. The reports came from people in different parts of the metro area. A Mt. Pleasant man said it felt like a truck hit his house. Vacationers from Canada reported hearing and feeling a series of loud booms at Folly Beach. “They sounded and felt like muffled explosions. Others on the beach appeared as unsettled as we were,” said one Lowcountry resident. “The last few we felt once we had returned to our condo. The sound made the light in the dining room rattle.” “Stuff like this normally does not bother me, but this was over the top,” says one Mt. Pleasant resident. “I could actually see the window frame move.”

South Carolina: Booms revive an old mystery
The first boom sounded like thunder. The second shook windows. The third shook an entire house. Then they quieted, mysteriously. The series of booms were reported Monday afternoon by people on Kiawah and Johns islands and Isle of Palms. At least three booms, each more intense than the last, occurred within 15 minutes starting about 3:30 p.m. “There’s another one. The third one, just now. It’s like thunder getting closer to us, only there’s no rumble, just a blast. Beutel, S.C. Earthquake Education and Preparedness director. She suspected sonic booms, but a public affairs officer for the Marine Corps Air Station in Beaufort said no F-18s were flying in the area at that time. A public affairs officer for the Charleston Air Force Base said C-17s were operating, but not fast enough to cause sonic booms.

New Jersey: Newark Police Puzzled By Mystery ‘Boom’
Police were investigating the cause of a mysterious noise on Monday after multiple people reported hearing it and feeling it. Residents living in the area of Idlewilde and Weiant avenues called police on Sunday afternoon to report what sounded and felt like a loud explosion. The noise caused homes to shake, residents said. Police and fire crews responded after several people called 911 to report the noise. They were unable to find any sign of an explosion or what might have caused so many people to feel the shaking.

Washington State: Mystery boom heard Saturday
A loud boom was heard through Moses Lake Saturday night about 8:30 p.m.  Authorities do not know what caused the sound.  People described it in a variety of ways from a methane explosion to a sonic boom. “I don’t know what it was, but it was loud,” said Moses Lake police Capt. Dave Ruffin. “It sounded like a transformer blowing (up) down the street.” The Multi Agency Communications Center (MACC) received several reports through 9-1-1 about the sound of an explosion and deputies were dispatched to determine the cause, said Kyle Foreman, Grant County Sheriff’s Office public information officer. Moses Lake firefighters did not receive any calls for fires or explosions, said Chief Tom Taylor. The US Air Force did not have any jet fighters operating in Grant County this weekend, nor any other types of aircraft operating at supersonic speeds, according to Foreman. Authorities would like to determine the cause, said Foreman.

Oklahoma (in January) : ‘Boom’ Heard Across SE Part Of MetroA loud ‘boom’ was heard by Oklahomans on Thursday morning, but officials confirmed that it was not an earthquake. Eyewitness News 5 began reporting a possible earthquake around 10:30 a.m. The United States Geological Survey said no such earthquake had occurred.

Georgia: Mystery boom still confounding officials
A tremendous boom that shattered the quiet of a Friday night in rural west Georgia continues to defy explanation. Residents of Carroll, Douglas and Haralson counties heard it, and officials in all three counties tried to find what caused it. They’re still trying. Douglas County Communication Director Wes Tallon said “911 calls lit up” the switchboard after the 9:45 p.m. noise rattled windows across a large area of west Georgia. “There was no catastrophe, we know that,” Tallon told the AJC Saturday morning. Villa Rica authorities dispatched several police and fire units to the Mirror Lake subdivision when the sound was first reported, but they found no damage or even smoke. “People all over the city heard the boom, but we couldn’t find anything,” a police department receptionist said late Friday. The National Weather Service in Peachtree City had no natural explanation for it. And there were no obvious signs of damage on the ground.

These booms interest me for several reasons. First, because all the articles used the same language, “mystery” and “boom.” Secondly, they all excluded all known explanations. It wasn’t a quake, it wasn’t sonic, it wasn’t an explosion, it wasn’t a transformer, it wasn’t a gas line…they all defied explanation. The latest bunch of skyquakes all resulted in the same string of denials from U.S. Geological Survey officials (no earthquakes), civil officials (no construction blasting or other known explosions), military nor civilian air traffic controllers (no exercises or high-speed flights). Last, I am interested in these booms because of our reaction to them.

When we read about mysterious booms that defy natural explanation do we shrug and go on… or do we think of God? Come on, be honest. I bet most of us don’t think of God. Perhaps we should.

Thunder, when it is not a God-controlled weather phenomenon, is a direct representation of God’s power. Even adults startle when a particularly loud boom of thunder claps above you. The booming noises could be interpreted as God’s instrument to invoke awe and righteous fear into those who do not yet fear The Lord.

The throne of God is surrounded by thunder. “From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God.” (Revelation 4:5).

God spoke to Moses and the people heard thunder. “When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him with thunder.” (Exodus 19:19.) When Jesus spoke to Paul on the road to Damascus, those who were with Paul heard thunder. God said to Job, “Hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou thunder with a voice like him?” (Job 40:9). The bible shows us time and time again that sometimes when God speaks, it sounds like thunder, or a boom.  Not every thunderclap is God speaking. Sometimes it is simply one of the forces of nature controlled by God. Sometimes it is His voice as heard by flawed and un-glorified man. Other times- as recorded in the bible from past to future- it is an expression of His divine wrath.

Now, usually nowadays God speaks through His son, and the Holy Spirit, and the Word. But if I hear a mysterious boom, I would like to think that it is a merciful God speaking to us, to awaken us to His tremendous power … but showing us His tremendous love by using only an infinitesimal amount of that power, otherwise we would surely surely die. The loudest thunder is still God’s whisper to us; “I love you…wake up.”
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Posted in end time, prophecy

Earthquake in FL? Now the ground’s shaking for no reason at all

Posted on by elizabethprata

Here is a short excerpt to a news story this afternoon out of north coastal Florida.

Geologist: Shaking Wasn’t Florida Earthquake
“PALM COAST, Fla. — Investigators are trying to solve a bizarre mystery in Flagler County. A wave of people called 911 around 9:30am Friday to report the ground shaking in Flagler County. The calls all came from the Hammock area of Palm Coast (see map). However, people in the north Daytona area, as well as in Deltona and as far north as St. Augustine, said they felt it as well. Many people were worried that the shaking was an earthquake.”

A resident said that the building he was in rumbled and the ground definitely rumbled. This observation was similar to many others who frantically called 911. Even a county dispatcher felt it as it happened. The news journalist  found some people who have experienced sonic booms before as well as earthquakes and they confirmed that it felt like an earthquake. But the geologists say it wasn’t. The USGS said nothing registered on their seismic scales.

Explanations for the rumbling range from sinkhole opening, aquifer collapse, fighter jet taking off, and supermoon.

With all the talk of the effect the Supermoon will have on the earth, this weird, abnormal, and unexplained Florida event will fuel their speculations. The Canadian Broadcast Company reported, “Earth’s closest celestial neighbour will appear to loom larger and brighter than usual on Saturday night, as astronomers anticipate a cosmic event called an “extreme supermoon”. One effect that a moon approaching its closest position to earth has always been abnormally high and low tides. The last time a lunar perigee occurred was 1955, 1974, 1992, 1993 and 2005 but it was only 1993 that the moon was full. I remember that one.

I was living aboard a sailing yacht in the Bahamas at the time with my then-husband. I wasn’t saved then. I remember the talk about the really large moon and the effect on the tides was something us seagoing cruisers had to pay attention to. I didn’t own a bible then but we did have several dog-eared copies of the tidal almanacs.

The tide did go out really low, exposing marine life and formations we did not usually have the advantage of seeing without benefit of a snorkel mask. As for other effects a supermoon would have on the earth besides tides, I am not aware. But plenty of people are wondering. Some say that there is increased risk of tsunamis, extreme seismic activity and volcanic eruptions. Others say such effects from a supermoon are rubbish. Pooh-poohing the supermoon effects  isn’t stopping Californians, though, as this article from LA Times states: “Worries about a big earthquake jolting California have shoppers stocking up on survival supplies.”  The fact is, people are spooked. “[T]he combination of quakes, a freaky big moon and the recent massive fish die-off in Redondo Beach has people such as Michael Jaworski stocking up on freeze-dried food and first-aid kits, just in case.” Add to that radiation plumes, and you pretty well have an uneasy west coast population, and former USGS geologist Jim Berkland didn’t help matters by predicting a huge quake for this weekend. It didn’t help because Berkland has a good record of quake prediction. He isn’t a fringe guy spouting off, but spent a career in the mainstream and he has the science. He believes the supermoon will have an effect on earth.

As for volcanoes, Indonesia issued a red alert Friday after Mount Karangetang on the island of Sulawesi erupted, sending lava and searing gas clouds down its slopes. Officials are evacuating villages now.

Back to  the Florida pseudo-quake. I don’t know what it was, but so many strange events are occurring in the world that defy explanation is unsettling, to say the least. And the events that man does explain, like huge earthquakes or nuclear radiation, are so outsized that they induce fear, anyway. All I can say is, it’s the end time.

If you want to view the supermoon, it will be about 15 per cent larger and up to 30 per cent brighter than usual on Saturday night. Check it out around sunset, when it’s low in the sky.

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Posted in end of days. prophecy, end time, rapture

Encouragement

Posted on by elizabethprata

Mike Taylor wrote a great essay about God, recent news, and judgment. I recommend it. Here is an excerpt from his essay “Our God is a consuming fire”

“Our minds cannot comprehend the vastness, the power, the might of Almighty God. We have scriptures in Revelation that John the beloved, tried to describe what he saw and they are partially revealing of the power of God, but I believe to express fully the power of God in all His glory is beyond the scope of mortal man. There are not enough words or adjectives that give enough information of what, and who we serve and the awesomeness of our God. … Was this the judgment passed on the people of Japan or in other countries where the human toll was great? I don’t even begin to understand the ways of God and what His judgments are and who will be affected. Because I am reminded of the apostles when they came to Jesus and asked the same type of question that many wonder with all these disasters. It’s found in Luke–

“Luke 13:1-3 “at the same time there were present some who told him (Jesus) of the Galileans whose blood Pilate mingled with [that of] their sacrifices. And he answering said to them, Think ye that these Galileans were sinners beyond all the Galileans because they suffered such things? No, I say to you, but if ye repent not, ye shall all perish in the same manner.”

“Sin is in this world and all will perish unless they are forgiven of their sins against God. It is not only individual judgment on a particular people, but the whole of humanity that will perish apart from forgiveness of the sinful condition that is rampant on this earth, especially in these latter days of man’s existence. We can’t point to anyone event or disaster and say that it is God’s judgment, as that is left to God, but we can see what is happening all around us, and know that God’s judgment is close at hand and we will see even more as the days grow darker and more evil.”

The time is growing short, but the news is so dire, it saddens all of us. I am asked quite often, how do I stay so cheerful? Optimistic? It takes work.

“You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” 1 John 4:4

How does one overcome? You persevere. “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 15:58)

Perseverance leads to endurance– “If we endure, we will also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He also will deny us;” (2 Timothy 2:12)

Endurance leads to overcoming– “”I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

Like any race you put one foot in front of the other, every day. Just never stop moving. Here is the practical application of how I do that:

I pray, read the Word, and listen to hymns, the ones that have the real verses in them. As for praying, I do all kinds. I do it every day at all times. Quick prayers, short conversations. A comment. Other times during the day I engage in intentional, deep prayer that is a humble, a spiritual communion with the Lord. The point is, the communication with Him is constant and doesn’t have to be in a special kind of theological language. He is God, but He is my friend, too. Fellowship with Him through prayer is the way to keep in touch and remain open to His communication back to me. It calms me to talk with Him, and it gives me peace and strength.

Reading the Word is the other way to remain in constant communication and fellowship with Him. Doing this gives me a center point. When I begin reading a peace washes over me. The peace turns to joy and usually tears as I re-read the promises He has made, or the nature and attributes He demonstrates in his Word.

I sing. Praise music leaves me just as hungry as when I began singing but I get full of the Word with the traditional hymns such as The Old Rugged Cross, Shall We Gather At the River, Glory to His Name, etc. I turn on Pandora online. You get 40 free hours per month, and it streams your favorite music. You can hone and refine the music by clicking ‘like’ or dislike;’ to a particular song. It will re-add or delete songs with those attributes so that the music list lengthens increasingly with only songs you enjoy. I particularly enjoy the Gaither Vocal band, with many traditional quartets. Even if I am doing dishes or another task that takes my mind away from intently concentrating on the words, the background noise in my home is reverential, joyous, and appropriate. This also puts me in good frame of mind. These days I need all the tips I can employ to keep steadfast and serene. If I have too much clamor in my heart, I can’t hear Him.

As for the negative tips, here is what I do. Sins begin with a thought (Mt 15:19). Footholds and fortresses begin with a thought (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). When a thought comes creeping in, such a “Maybe you aren’t really saved after all, or  “Maybe you will be left behind” or “Maybe the rapture isn’t really pre-trib like you thought” I shut them out immediately. I mean immediately. I don’t dwell on them. I don’t share them with others. I don’t obsess over them. I don’t muse over them in my journal. I knock them out of the ballpark right away, and I don’t watch them go. Satan will try to steal your joy by confusing you and weakening you. The way he does this is by planting seeds of doubt. When you are dragging around doubt it is the same as dragging around a ball and chain. Add another ball to the chain every time you let a non-biblical thought linger. Pretty soon you are so tired from dragging the doubt-chain behind you that you don’t walk any more. Not walking with the Lord means that you stop persevering. You stop enduring. You stop overcoming.

It is work to remain joyful and optimistic in days such as these. It’s work. It doesn’t come naturally, because though we are saved, we have a sin nature and by nature, sin is negative. It is work to remain walking with Him when the days are filled up with just surviving. We are working harder, we are working longer hours, knowing that there are so many out of work that we are eminently replaceable. We are tired. It gets easier to lay aside the bible, it gets harder to sing His praises when there is so much happening that we do not understand. But as any athlete knows, this is precisely the time to keep doing what we have always done, pray, walk, sing, study…because it is precisely now that we need it more than ever. And most importantly, the lost need us. As one famous advertisement says, not advertising is like winking in the dark. You know what you are doing, but no one else does. Everyone should know Jesus, and if we work at our relationship with Him we will shine brighter than ever, pointing to Him. “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.” (John 12:32)

So be of good courage, and persevere.
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Posted in end of days. prophecy, end time, japan, nuclear

News you can use

Posted on by elizabethprata

This link to the Economic Collapse Blog has an excellent list of 27 reasons why the Japan nuclear crisis is worse than the government and media are telling us.

“We are not just talking about a repeat of Chernobyl. We are possibly talking about “many Chernobyls”, it is stated on the blog. Here are the top indicators on his list, and these are just a few:

#1 Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan is urging all people living within 30 kilometers of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear facility to stay indoors.
#2 Andre-Claude Lacoste, the head of France’s Nuclear Safety Authority, says that the containment vessel surrounding the No. 2 reactor at Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex is “no longer sealed“.
#3 Radiation levels in Tokyo are already 10 times above normal levels.
#4 Reuters is reporting that some residents of Tokyo are already starting to flee the city.
#5 Radiation levels in one city north of Tokyo, Utsunomiya, were recently reported to be 33 times above normal levels.

Fact based, and clear, the list should give you chills, or make you cry. 12 million people live in Tokyo…and things do not look good for them.

Nuclear expert Arnie Gunderson said today on Democracy Now! that children who live near the reactors should be evacuated, and that the Fukushima meltdown is at the level of Chernobyl right now.

People have reported tens of thousands to millions of dead fish in New South Wales, Australia.

Also in South Wales from March 11, about 26,000 trout have been found dead at a fish farm in Rhondda.

Dead fish wash ashore in Hawaii, from roiled and/or polluted tsunami waters.

On the mainstream news today, the guy who predicted the 1989 San Francisco California “World Series” quake predicted a major quake at California … during a window of March 16-19.

And now comes the supermoon, “On March 19, the moon will swing around Earth more closely than it has in the past 18 years, lighting up the night sky from just 221,567 miles” with the inevitable question as to whether it will trigger natural disasters. Some think yes.

The dollar is tanking, and the Feds are deploying radiation equipment to the west coast of the US. Lots of different news items for your consideration, and none of it is normal. Read, understand, be informed, but always pray and be ready to meet Him who is coming in the clouds for His own! The time draws nigh.
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Posted in end time, prophecy, revelation

Don’t be destroyed for lack of knowledge

Posted on by elizabethprata

Wilfred J. Hahn usually writes about economic and financial matters. His bio states that he “is a global economist/strategist. Formerly a top-ranked global analyst, research director for a major Wall Street investment bank, and head of Canada country’s largest global investment operation, his writings focus on the endtime roles of money, economics and globalization.”

This week he published an interesting essay regarding Wikileaks and how the world’s reaction to the leaks, to the company, and to its founder, Julian Assange, is similar to the prophesied world reaction toward witnessing Christians during the Tribulation and to the Antichrist’s financial schemes. It is really interesting, but even more interesting, to me, was his interpretation of the famous Daniel prophecy. Hahn writes:

“But you, Daniel, close up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge” (Daniel 12:4). A popular interpretation of this verse is that not only will knowledge (i.e. information and data) increase in the world, but also travel. While this may not be a harmful interpretation, for a number of reasons, it is not likely that this text refers to such phenomena at all.”

“As it was, Daniel’s prophecies are concerned with the Jewish people and their future. Just as Hosea 4:6 (“My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge”) is expressly spoken to the Jews, so likely is Daniel’s prophecy of an increase of knowledge. The word knowledge here does not refer to technical and scientific information, but rather to the knowing of God’s plan and His laws. The prophets had often castigated the Hebrews for their lack of knowledge. “Israel’s watchmen are blind, they all lack knowledge” said Isaiah (56:10).”

“Hosea confirms that the knowledge lacked refers to the ignorance of God and His Laws. “Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children” (Hosea 4:6). In Biblical terms, the word “knowledge” is more aptly defined as the “act of knowing.” In this sense, it is not knowledge that increases, but rather the knowing of it. For this and other reasons, we are safer to interpret this passage as referring to an increase in understanding of historical prophecy and Scripture, not an increase of information.”

“During the last days, the Jewish people will again come to an increasing understanding of their destiny and purpose. Finally, at the end of the Great Tribulation, a remnant will receive a full understanding. “Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding. In those days, when your numbers have increased greatly in the land, declares the LORD […]” (Jeremiah 3:15-16). The full content and revelation of the Bible will be “leaked” … in other words, rediscovered and revealed in the light of truth.”

Thoughts to Ponder

“Sadly, all of us living in the super-charged media and commercialized culture of our time, struggle in attaining the type of devotion that Scripture upholds. Apostle Paul was already worried about this type of assault upon the minds of Christians 2000 years ago. But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:3). Yes, Paul may not have understood the “somehow.” But today, we do recognize the devices and means that are being employed to lead our minds astray from the Bible.”

“The Bible has the first and last word on knowledge. “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world” (Psalm 19:1-4). Here, we clearly see that knowledge is the foundational information that matters for an eternity.”

I was never satisfied with traditional interpretations of the Daniel verse, ‘going to and fro and knowledge shall increase.’ I used them, spoke of them, but was never 100% on them. However the link Hahn makes to how God uses the world knowledge in the bible and Hosea’s prophecy of the people are destroyed for lack of knowledge makes total sense. Kudos to him for allowing the Holy Spirit to lead him to the conclusion, and kudos for publishing it to allow us to make our own decisions about it, too.

In all cases, knowledge of the word is essential, and in dark times like these we are veritably destroyed without it. It is like jumping into a roiling ocean from a sinking ship without a life jacket. We should be clinging to that bible for all it’s worth, because it is worth everything. As this church sign says:

If we are destroyed for lack of knowledge, and if “The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign LORD, “when I will send a famine through the land–not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD”, (Amos 8:11) then absorb all we can now and teach it to the young, the unbelieving, the faithful. Share His word liberally, frequently, and hide it in your heart. Buy extra bibles and stock them at work, the gym, school. Donate to the Gideons. When the Jews return to Covenant with God after the Gog-Magog battle and then first set of judgments is concluded (Seals) then 144,000 Jews are supernaturally sealed by God and are thus protected throughout the duration of the Tribulation. They are super-evangelists and they proclaim the Word. So do the Two Witnesses later on, and finally the angel in Rev. 14:6 proclaims the Gospel too, and every nation, people, tribe and tongue hears it.

Until then, it is up to us to share the word. Do not be destroyed for lack of knowledge! A few minutes in the morning or the evening reading the Word of God is a good thing to do. And just think, you don’t even have to go here and there to find it.
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Posted in end of days. prophecy, end time, pre-tribulation rapture, radiation

Expect the unexpected

Posted on by elizabethprata

Man has his own preconceived notions about Who Jesus is, what He should do, what heaven will be like. We are usually wrong. He does the unexpected! Consider His first coming:

–The man in Mark 2:1-12 expected healing but his sins were forgiven also.
–In Luke 5:1-11 the disciples went to sea and expected an ordinary day of fishing, but they met the Savior.
–A widow was expected to bury her own son, but Jesus restored her son to life. (Luke 7:11-17)
–The disciples thought the crowd should be sent home because there was no food, but Jesus used a small meal to serve thousands, and there were leftovers! (John 6:1-15)
–The people expected for a political leader to overthrow Rome’s control, but Jesus offered them a spiritual, eternal kingdom instead that overthrew sin’s control (Gospels)
–The disciples wanted to eat the Passover meal next to Jesus, their Master, but unexpectedly Jesus washed their feet instead- showing that He was also their servant (John 13:1-20)
–The religious leaders wanted Jesus killed and so got their wish, but no one expected the resurrection!! (*note: above synopsis from NIV Life Application Study Bible)
They wanted a lion, but got a lamb. No one expected that Jesus would pause for two thousand years and come to earth TWICE, the first time as a lamb for the slaughter and the second time as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. No one expected the Gentiles to be grafted into the Jewish family tree, and no one expected the rapture doctrine. That was something Paul revealed for the first time in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 and in 1 Corinthians 15:52.

“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).

In this end of the end time, end of the Church Age, end of the days before Judgment, we know some things that will happen. The Lord graciously revealed them to us in the Olivet Discourse, 2Timothy 3, Jude, 2 Peter, Revelation and many other places in the New and the Old testaments. But as His thoughts are above our thoughts, we cannot see around the corners that He sees, we cannot understand how one variable will impact another variable, with what results. Who could foretell the Japan situation? It began with a 9.0 earthquake but the nuke reactors were rated up to 7.2. The tsunami came and the reactors were protected against 2 km waves, but these were 4 km waves. Incredible aftershocks that are major quakes in their own right caused reactor cooling failure. The roof was blown off and this allowed radiation to escape into the atmosphere. The possibility of atmospheric radiation making its way across the Pacific, and if it reaches North American shores, would impact the growing soil and air in fertile fruit and wine producing regions of California. Who could predict that Revelation 6:8’s pestilence may be radiation poisoning? Skeptical? The Surgeon General of the United states says that buying iodide pills might not be such a bad idea.

We do know one thing though. And it is expected. The invitation to His cross is not going to be extended forever. There comes a point of no return in each person’s life when He hardens their hearts. This is not a vengeful act, it simply is an act that confirms the person’s choice. This has been true since the beginning of time. (Exodus 9:12; Romans 1:24-28; 2 Thessalonians 2: 8-12) After the Mark of the Beast is taken in Revelation 13, you have made a permanent choice. He is loving, but He is no fool and He will not be mocked. He wants you! He really does. But decide soon, it is in your own best interest. And you do not know when the moment will come that He chooses that it is time to give you over to your unbelief.

I hear all day every, day that non-believers want evidence. “Show me the proof!” they cry. But when Jesus first came, “But though He had performed so many signs before them, yet they were not believing in Him.” (John 12:37). Now is the time for faith, not sight.

What this means for you, non-believer, is to examine your beliefs about Jesus. Do you believe He is the risen Savior? Do you even believe in sins? Do you believe you commit them, and that they are crimes against God? Do you believe you qualify for heaven? If so, on what basis? Do you have faith that if you confess your sin-crimes, that Jesus will forgive them? These earthquakes and tsunamis and radiation poisonings and droughts and wars are happening for a reason. It is not normal, and in your heart of hearts you know this. You secretly wonder, what is happening? Could those Christians be right? We are right. Because Jesus is right.

For the believer, we need to rely on Him for strength. We cannot know what will happen next. His ways are so far above our ways. We know that there will be earthquakes, as He told us, and we think that is easily understood. On one level, it is. But on another level, it isn’t. Who could have understood the magnitudinal effects of a 9.0 on Japan and the continually unfolding effects on an fallen world? Not me. I am in awe. Friends, keep the faith, and expect the unexpected. Our God is The Ancient of Days, the Great I AM, and He who is so far above us in thought and ways, came down to us once, and He will come down to get us again. May His name be forever praised!

click on image to enlarge, and then click again to read the bottom.

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Posted in encouragement, end time, japan, nuclear, pre-tribulation rapture, prophecy

Christians, this is where the rubber meets the road

Posted on by elizabethprata

The immediate future looks very, very dim for all of us on planet earth. The Japan situation is one where we simply do not have words any more. The human toll, the infrastructure toll, the economic toll, the financial toll and the nuclear toll affects everyone on this planet, whether you are Japanese, American, or Finnish. As a matter of fact, the Finns are buying iodine pills like they are going out of style, which they are. Over at The Economic Collapse blog, Mike Snyder noted: “[Japan is the] 3rd largest economy in the world … Could this be the “tipping point” that pushes the Japanese economy over the edge and into oblivion? … The truth is that the economy of Japan was already deeply struggling before this disaster. The national debt of Japan is now well over 200% of GDP and there seems to be no doubt that they will need to borrow massive amounts of money to deal with the aftermath of this crisis. Up until now the Japanese government has been able to borrow money at ultra-low interest rates of around 1.30 percent for 10-year bonds, drawing on a huge pool of savings from its own citizens. But in light of what has just happened, will the citizens of Japan still have enough resources to continue to fund the rampant spending of the Japanese government? At this point, it is estimated that this gigantic mountain of debt breaks down to 7.5 million yen for every single citizen of Japan.”

Add to that the cost to rebuild, mainly from scratch in places, and you have a serious dent in Japan’s and the world’s economy.

The nuclear situation is dire. Here is a photo from satellite of nuke reactor #1 (left) and #3 which still had smoke rising from its most recent explosion. [Photo credit: Photo DigitalGlobe / Creative Commons License BY-NC-ND]

They are destroyed. The steel housings of the construction are hanging outside the building and have actually melted on the concrete, you can see them running parallel to each other from top to bottom. The core is clearly visible, the overhead protective structure is completely obliterated at the very least. They are talking about radiation, plutonium, cesium, chromium and/or MOX getting into the atmosphere. Reactor 3 was burning MOX (mixed oxide fuel) fuel which is a VERY radioactive fuel when used.  MOX is bad because it will burn hotter then regular uranium. This was warned to be a bad fuel IF the plant were to come close to meltdown. Here is a link to Japan’s MOX program.

People on conspiracy sites all over the place are putting up wind and jet stream maps to determine when and where the radioactivity will arrive in the US and in other places. All three reactors are in meltdown mode and today even the mainstream newspapers are discussing the radiation fallout and putting up maps. They are buying gas masks, getting treated for radiation poisoning, hospitals are filling up…it is truly a doomsday scenario. The spectre of radiation raises the spectre of a chilling thought: the Revelation 4th seal of death through pestilence could well be radiation. Maybe not, but it shows us how He could lift a finger there and over here something completely un-thought of comes forth.

What can we as Christians do? We know to pray. We know to donate. We also know to rely on the promises of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Rely on His promises! This time is where the rubber meets the road. I painted a realistic picture for you and it is truly a doomish one. But He is the same yesterday, today, and forever! (Hebrews 13:8) Lest you forget what is ahead for us, and perhaps SOON:

‘He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. (Revelation 3:5) What a comfort to be known and spoken of by the God of the Universe!

Ps 34:19, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.” Yes, we have afflictions, and more may be coming down the pike, but what a blessing to know that we will be delivered!

“I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.” (John 14:18). Does this compute? The God of the Universe, will come to you. He will come right now if you need Him, pray if you need comfort. He is there, right beside you.

We are looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. (Titus 2:13). We are the generation that will see Him from life to eternal life without death! We are blessed to see Him soon, His glorious appearing! “Six days later Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light.” (Mt 17:1-2). We will see Him through glorified eyes, gaze upon His bright face!

Let not your heart be troubled: you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. – John 14:1-3

So though the near future looks dim on planet earth, this is not our home! It looks very bright for us in New Jerusalem.

He knows your name, He is readying a place for you, He is bright like the sun and so you shall be bright, and He is coming to gather you to His bosom. Do not quiver in fear, this is where the rubber meets the road in your faith! Stand strong and ready, “‘Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.‘”
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Posted in earthquake, end time, prophecy, repent

Holy Fear: The Great Earthquake, Part 3

Posted on by elizabethprata

Read Part 1 here
Read Part 2 here

“The earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because He was wroth.” (Psalm 18:7).

The USGS essay regarding the historical New England earthquake of 1727 and its aftermath continues:

“The people of New England were affected by this earthquake as they had never been before, being fearful of divine judgments for their sins and lax responsiveness to the call to religious duties. The clergy taught them that it was “a loud call to the whole land to repent and fear and give glory to God.” The next morning great numbers of the inhabitants of Boston gathered at the old North church for prayer and other religious services. The fear of further immediate danger was somewhat dispelled in the pleasant sunlight, but as soon as the sun had set their fright returned, and in greater numbers than in the morning the people crowded to the old Brick church, which could not hold them. The old South was then opened, and those who failed of admission to the Brick church flocked thither, and that was also filled. Rev. Thomas Paine of Weymouth, Mass., and some other ministers, tried to prove to their congregations that the earthquake had not a natural cause, but was a supernatural token of God’s anger to the sinful world.”

“The selectmen of Medford, Mass., appointed the next Wednesday as a day to be observed by fasting and prayer on account of the earthquake; and Lieutenant-governor Dummer recommended that Thursday should be kept in the same way for the same purpose throughout the province. Many sermons delivered on the latter and other days were printed and are still extant. In Salem, Mass., a meeting was held on Saturday at the upper meeting-house (then so called) which was attended by the largest congregation that was ever in that edifice.”

They repented, the fasted, they prayed, and they entreated. The people fell down before a mighty God and supplicated in proper Holy Fear.

In his sermon “A Holy Fear of God and His Judgments” John Cotton defined Holy Fear:

–Trembling for fear of God implies our solemn an awful apprehensions of the great God, who brings such judgments upon us

–Trembling for fear of God means that we are sensibly touched and affected with the consideration of the judgments that are or may yet be brought upon us.

–Trembling for fear of God means our humbling ourselves exceedingly before Him who is thus visiting and threatening us.

Do we tremble? Rarely. We strut, we dismiss, we forget the power He wields, and holds back. Holy Fear, repentance, and awe of His majesty are not popular topics today. Prosperity, ecstatic experiences, all paths leading to heaven are the topics of today, when the bible is even referred to at all.

After a 9.0 quake, tsunami, and four volcanoes exploding, what should we ALL be doing? Repenting. Falling down on our faces. As Rev Cotton said, “It suggests that we so abhor them [judgments] that they make deep impressions upon our hearts; that our spirits are so sorrowfully affected with the tokens of the divine anger visible therein that we weep bitterly in secret places in the consideration thereof. Indeed, they have the power to make us cry out, “Oh that my head were waters, and mines eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night” (Jeremiah 9:1).”

We do not weep day and night for our own sins, faults, and failures. We do not weep for neglecting to give glory to God. We do not react thus: “When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice; rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself.” (Habakkuk 3:16).

We shake our heads at the poor folks way over in Japan, and we move on. We do not do the first and proper thing: repent. I am not talking to only non-believers. I am talking to believers who have forgotten what it means to be a sinner falling into the hands of an angry God.

Why are not the churches in America full today? Why are not people weeping at altars, seeking forgiveness? Do we evidence a Holy Fear? No, we talk of prosperity with a flashy smile. As the USGS essay concludes, “Seriousness was the expression on the faces of most of the people, and in some towns, large numbers were added to the church. In the parish of Chebacco in Ipswich, Mass., for instance seventy-six persons became church members. The earthquake had its effect upon some licentious characters, who became truly reformed, and afterward led honorable and moral lives.”

Rev Cotton finishes, “Oh, what need we have then to cry mightily unto God that He will make the impressions lasting on the souls of parents, children, young, old, rich, poor, bond and free! We have done it already. We will continue to do it, and we hope the Lord will not turn away our prayers nor His mercy from us.” Will the dreadful impressions of God after the Japan quake last in you? I hope so.
Give glory to God for His power. Give glory to Jesus by living an honorable and moral life in Him.
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Posted in end time, holy fear, john cotton, judgment, repent

Holy Fear: The Great Earthquake, Part 2

Posted on by elizabethprata

Read Part 1 here

The events of late summer-early Fall in New England, described in Part 1 of this three-part essay, were fear-inducing to a high degree. The strange events culminated in an earth-shaking display of mighty power, ripping into the consciousnesses of thousands of slumbering Colonials at a quiet moment in the middle of the autumn night. People ran shrieking out of their homes in their night-clothes, never having experienced such an earthquake before.

Then as now, people try to make sense of the events. Many a preacher was spiritually burdened to preach about it on the next Sunday, and one such was the New England preacher, John Cotton. (1693-1757). The old Puritan preachers were learned, well-versed in the bible, and devout. Most importantly, they preached the correct response to an earth-shattering event: Holy Fear.

We don’t evidence much Holy Fear these days, it is not a popular topic. But Rev Cotton did, and here are a few excerpts to his eminently readable and wonderful sermon. I encourage you to read it in its entirety. Part 3 of this essay will examine how the people of today respond to a similar earth-shaking event. In his sermon, Rev Cotton lays out the procession of thought throughout:

DOCTRINE. The condition and circumstances of a people may be such that their flesh may well tremble for fear of God, and they may wisely be afraid of His judgments. In the prosecution of this doctrine I will show:
1. What is meant by the judgments of God and what judgments we are exposed to that we ought to be afraid of.
2. What is meant by trembling for fear of God and being afraid of His judgments.
3. That our condition and circumstance are such that we have abundant reasons and occasions to tremble and be afraid.

A Holy Fear of God and His Judgments
by John Cotton (1693-1757); Preached November 3, 1727
“My flesh trembleth for fear of Thee; and I am afraid of Thy judgments”
Psalm 119:120

To fear God means that we adore His sovereignty and righteousness even in His awful dispensations and that we employ our serious, devout, and solemn thoughts on these an other glorious excellencies and perfections of Almighty God displayed in His judgments. They must be the subject of our frequent and solemn meditations so that we may always maintain in our hearts suitable apprehensions of the great God who sends His judgments upon us.

Surely the consideration thereof should fill us with the greatest fear and concern of spirit that God has been so provoked that He has had to come out against us in His anger and to threaten our utter ruin and desolation

Did we ever have more reason to stand trembling before God under fearful apprehensions of impending vengeance when we consider the many scandalous, provoking evils abounding among us including oppression, injustice, fraud, deceit, falsehood, evil speaking, pride contention, intemperance, drunkenness, unchastity, excessive and inordinate love of the world, and may I add, the rudeness and profaneness of young people? God Himself, and our duty to Him, is evidently neglected and forgotten by many, and a form of godliness is maintained and kept up without the life and power of it. The sacred and dreadful name of God is dishonored and blasphemed by profane cursing and swearing. His holy Sabbaths, instead of being strictly observed and sanctified, are very much profaned by idle, vain, trifling and unsuitable conduct. Some forsake the house of the Lord, frequently neglecting and needlessly staying away from the public worship of God. Has not manifold contempt been put upon the Lord’s holy ordinances and institutions? Are there not many who disregard coming to them in a serious and worthy manner? Must we not acknowledge that mutual Christian love and charity grow cold? Are not both the love of men to God and the love of men to their neighbors treated with a visible coldness and indifference that clearly mark the lack of the power of godliness? Alas, for this people!

Are not the iniquities I have just described, and many more, prevailing among us and testifying against us, loudly proclaiming our impiety and great degeneracy, declaring that we are an impenitent, incorrigible, and unreformed people still, ripening rapidly for a destruction without remedy? Surely then, if this is the case with us, we have reason to tremble for fear of God and to be greatly afraid of His judgments. We might wisely be afraid of temporal plagues and judgments of a far heavier and sorer nature than we have yet been visited with, for the transgressions of God’s covenant people are exceedingly provoking to Him and richly deserve to be severally punished. I beg of you, do not forget that our sins are the more offensive and provoking to God for we are a people in covenant with Him.

What awful symptoms there are of blindness and hardness of heart right in our midst. Ought we not to fear that men are dreadfully blinded and hardened in their sins when there is not so much as external reformation in connection with such an awful judgment of God as this earthquake?

We learn from this text that it is not cowardly to be afraid of God’s judgments but very agreeable to true Christian courage.

God is no fit match for us to contend with. No one has ever hardened himself against Him and prospered (Job 9:4). He is our Creator, we are His creatures. We are as clay in the hands of the potter. He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. God cannot err on His end, as the princes of this world may in the execution of their displeasure through impotency or want of knowledge, for He is infinite in knowledge, wisdom, and power, and there in no comparison between infinite and finite. It is not cowardly then to fear God. Our Saviour advises us,

“Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28)

Such wise fear is agreeable to true Christian courage. This should be expressed in our lives by maintaining a reverential fear of God upon our minds, in fighting against the enemies of our salvation; in mortifying our lusts; in steadfastly persevering in all the duties of our holy religion; in not disobeying His commands, despising His judgments, scorning His rod or setting ourselves in opposition to His threatening, which is the most daring and prodigious folly and madness and will be found so in the end.

How very surprising and amazing was the first sudden shock and convulsion we felt! Our houses and beds were shaking, and the earth was trembling and reeling under us like, I suppose, none ever felt in this part of the world before. And how many times has the awful noise been repeated, though not to such a fearful degree? Well may the people in this city and in the country round about be filled with the surprise and consternation of which we see and hear. Multitudes seem to be under great conviction, distress, and concern about their soul and eternity. Oh, that the impressions might abide until conversion to God is accomplished and the great work of their salvation is completed.
—————————————–
Rev Cotton was fearful that the initial impressions regarding a just, angry, and powerful God would diminish in the light of day and diminish even further as time passed. How well the Reverend knew the sinful nature of craven men. But the response Cotton preached is the ONLY proper response to a God who is wroth with us. He is the Creator, we are His creatures! We are clay in the hands of the potter. We should fall down before Him, seeking forgiveness as we entreat Him to forgive our sins. But do we? Part 3 coming up.
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Posted in end time, great earthquake, prophecy, repent

Holy Fear: The Great Earthquake, part 1

Posted on by elizabethprata

The greatest earthquake that New England has probably experienced since its settlement by the English occurred October 29, 1727. The people had suffered much in various ways through the summer and early autumn. A drought continued from the middle of June to the middle of September, the month of July and the first week of August being exceedingly hot. No rain fell in April after the first week, and but twice in May, only one of two slight showers occurring during the sultry, parching heat of the summer. The earth dried to a great depth, and many wells and springs, which had never failed before were now dry. There was much lightning and thunder, but very little rain. On the evening of August 1, at the close of a scorching day, the heavens burst out into a blaze of flame and a roar of thunder, the terrific display continuing for two or three hours. The flashes occurred so frequently that the sky was continually light with them and a writer of that time said it seemed “as if the heavens being on fire were dissolving and passing away with a great noise, and the earth also with its works was to be burned up.”

After the drought was broken a violent northeast storm came on, doing much damage among the vessels along the coast, and the trees on shore. This occurred September 16. It caused a high tide which carried away about two hundred loads of hay from the marshes at Newbury, Mass., and drove eight or nine vessels ashore at Salem and thirty-five at Marblehead.

After the lightning, thunder, and tempest the country was visited by a tremendous earthquake. October 24, 1727, the weather was very cold; three days later, snow fell, and on the 28th the temperature was still exceedingly low for the season. Sunday, the 29th, was fair and pleasant, and in the evening the moon shone brightly, the air was calm, and no noise disturbed the peacefulness of nature. People retired at their usual hour, and were fast asleep, when at twenty minutes before eleven o’clock a terrible noise followed by a roar and a rush suddenly woke them, and in about half a minute, before they had time to become conscious of what was taking place around them, there came a pounce as if gigantic cannons had rolled against each other from opposite directions. Latches leaped up and doors flew open, houses rocked and trembled as though they would collapse, timber worked in and out of mortises, hearth-stones grated against each other, windows rattled, tops of chimneys pitched and tumbled down, cellar walls fell in, beds shook, pewter fell off shelves, lids of warming pans jumped up and fell back with a clang, and all movable things, especially in the upper rooms, tossed about.

Most people got up in a moment, and many of them ran out of doors in their night clothes, being so frightened that they knew not what to do. The earth shook so much that they could not stand, and were compelled to sit or recline on the ground.

People that were awake when the earthquake came said that a flash of light preceded it. It was seen as it passed the windows, and a blaze seemed to run along the ground, dogs that saw it giving a sudden bark as if frightened. Before they had time to consider the source or cause of the light a sound like a gentle murmur floated to them on the still evening air, followed by a slight ruffling wind. Then came a rumbling as of distant thunder, which approached nearer and nearer and grew louder and louder till it sounded as if innumerable heavy carriages were being rapidly driven over pavements, or like the roaring of a great furnace, but incomparably fiercer and more terrible, having a hollow sound as if it came from under the earth. Then the shock came suddenly and severely and the houses were felt to totter and reel with the trembling and heaving of the ground.

The noise and shake came from the northwest, and went in a south-easterly direction. The whole disturbance occurred within the space of two minutes of time. The cattle ran bellowing about the fields, being thoroughly frightened at this sudden and fearful commotion in the still hours of night. They acted as though suffering from the greatest distress. “the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the tress of the field. The beasts of the field cry also unto Thee;…” (Joel 1:19, 20).”

Source: USGS Historic Earthquakes. More at link

Stay tuned for part two, coming up momentarily
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