Saturday, April 12, 2008

Apostasy

The bible warns that in the last days, one of the signs will be a great falling away from the tenents of the Christian faith and Jesus says "the love of most will grow cold". It seems that America's love and confidence has been placed in our financial systems and the wealth that it promises for all. "Who needs God?" seems to be the mantra of our day. Many believe that there isn't a problem that exists in the universe that the technologies and developments of man can't solve. One would like to believe that the Christian church would be leading the charge to warn the world that God cannot be dismissed. But that may not be the case. Just like the frog in a pan of heating water that never realizes that he is slowly boiling to death...so goes the church. Most of us have ignored the call of Christ to not be "of this world" but to be set apart for His glory. Below is an article that talks further on this topic;
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Perspectives/Default.aspx?id=75585

Friday, April 11, 2008

Prison

I saw an article within the last few months that talked about the huge prison population in the USA. It comes as no surprise that it is at record highs. The cost to society is enormous and probably will be one of the factors that leads to the downward spiral of the USA. The breakdown of the family, lack of morals, and the idea that we are all "entitled" to things we can't afford, are just some of the contributing factors. Here is a "world gone wild" article out of Denver. How much will it cost society to eventually incarcerate the mom, dad and the 4 yr old they are raising with their twisted worldview?
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/15851207/detail.html?taf=den

Food

As Americans, we spend a relatively small amount of our take home incomes on food. But that's not true in poorer parts of the world where food can take up to 75% of their incomes. The price of corn is at or near $6/bushel which is a record high. Mexicans are having a tough time buying tortillas and the price of rice has gone up over 100% in India which is causing millions more to go hungry. It is just one more reason for global unrest to break out. For more info read the article below;
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/apr/09/food.unitednations

Jesus spoke of famines as another sign that would signal the end of the age. Of course we have had food shortages before in the world, but not on top of all the other prophetic signs that are occuring. That's what makes this issue something to watch.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Good news!

In a world that seems to be going insane at a very fast pace, it's nice to get some good news every once in a while. Here is some VERY good news from the Jerusalem Post as reported by Joel Rosenberg.

(Jerusalem, Israel, April 10, 2008) -- At the Epicenter Conference in Jerusalem today, The Joshua Fund released partial results of an exclusive poll of "American Christian Attitudes Towards Israel and the Middle East." Full results will be posted soon on my weblog. What follows is a front-page story in The Jerusalem Post. U.S. Christians 'morally' support Israel By Etgar Lefkovitz The Jerusalem Post April 10, 2008 More than 80 percent of American Christians say they have a "moral and biblical obligation" to support the State of Israel, and half say Jerusalem should remain its undivided capital, according to a survey released on Thursday. While evangelical Christians are the strongest supporters of the Jewish state, strong pro-Israel convictions cut across all key Christian denominations in the US, according to the poll carried out on behalf of the Washington-based Joshua Fund, an evangelical organization. Eight-two percent of respondents said they had a "moral and biblical obligation" to love and support Israel and pray for the peace of Jerusalem," 10% disagreed and 8% did not know. Eighty-four percent of Protestants agreed with the statement (including 89% of Evangelicals), compared to 76% of Catholics. Half of the American Christians surveyed opposed Israel dividing Jerusalem with the Palestinians in a peace agreement, 33% were unsure and 17% thought it should be divided. Fifty-three percent of Protestants supported a united Jerusalem, as did 44% of Catholics. Evangelical Christians were most supportive of a united Jerusalem, with 62% in favor and 11% against. A plurality of the US Christians (44%) surveyed said they did not know whether a future Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip would be a peaceful moderate democracy or a terrorist state, 32% said that it would be a terrorist state and 24% said that it would be a peaceful democracy. The survey found clear differences between Protestants and Catholics on the issue. Protestants were more likely to say a Palestinian state would be a terror state by a 10-point margin; Catholics were evenly split. Evangelical Protestants said a such entity would be a terrorist state by a 20-point margin, but non-evangelical Protestants said it would be a peaceful and moderate democracy by six percentage points. The belief that a Palestinian state would be a terrorist state was strongest among Republican and conservative Evangelicals. Nearly half (49%) of American Christians surveyed were interested in visiting Israel, including about quarter of both Catholics and Protestants who were "strongly" interested. Forty-seven percent of those polled were not interested in visiting. There are 50 million-60 million evangelicals Christians in the US. Two-thirds of respondents said that if Iran developed nuclear weapons, it would eventually try to use them to attack Israel, 23% were unsure and 13% said Iran would not attack. Finally, 45% said they would be more likely to support a US presidential candidate who would protect America from Islamic terrorism, protect Israel from a nuclear attack from Iran, oppose the division of Jerusalem and refuse to pressure Israel to make concessions on issues of national security, compared to 29% who said such positions had no effect on their vote and 9% who would be less likely to support such a candidate. The survey will be officially released on Thursday at a conference at the Jerusalem International Convention Center (Binyenei Ha'uma) organized by The Joshua Fund that is expected to be attended by 2,000 evangelical Christians from around the world. The non-profit organization aims to raise more than $100 million over the next three years to help Israeli victims of terrorism, and to fund humanitarian projects in Israel in education, health, welfare and immigrant absorption, and $20m. for Christians in the West Bank, Gaza, Iraq and Sudan, said Joel C. Rosenberg, the group's founder and president. "Our support for Israel is unwavering and unconditional," he said. The survey, which was conducted by McLaughlin and Associates by a telephone sampling of 1,000 American Christians last month, had a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.

Jonah

This little blurb came from Chuck Missler's newsletter. For those of you unfamiliar with Missler, he is a big name in prophecy watchers. You can access his website at www.khouse.org

It made me smile as I read his commentary regarding Jonah. He pointed out that Jonah had not put together a "seeker sensative" sermon to deliver to Nineveh. He just showed up and said, "repent or you will be destroyed". Read more from Missler below;


PROPHETS TO THE GENTILES -
Did you realize that there are at least three prophets in the Old Testament that were called specifically to prophesy regarding the Gentiles? Obviously, most of the Bible deals with history - both past and future - through the "lens" of Israel. But these three short books focus on Gentile history and each has a specific application to you and me today.The Biggest MiraclePerhaps one of the biggest miracles in the Old Testament is found in the book of Jonah. I know what you're thinking, but the miracle I am talking about doesn't involve a whale.God called Jonah to minister to Nineveh, which had served as the capital of the world for several centuries. Nineveh was the bitter enemy of Israel, so instead of obeying God, Jonah boarded a ship bound for Tarshish. However God had other plans and after a series of extraordinary events Jonah finally reached the great city.When Jonah arrived in Nineveh he didn't present a polished, "seeker friendly" sermon. God had declared that they were 40 days from being destroyed. Jonah went through town proclaiming, "40 days and you get yours!" He was hoping they would get wiped out. In fact, his biggest fear was that God might spare them (in fact he went up on a hill and pouted when God did spare them). It is interesting that Jonah didn't preach repentance. He simply announced their impending doom. It is astonishing to realize that within those 40 days, the king speculated that, just maybe, if they repented God might change His mind. They did, and God did. From the king on down, they put on sackcloth, the traditional ritual for repentance, and cried out to God (they even put sackcloth on the cattle). The repentance of Nineveh is astonishing when you think about it, perhaps one of the greatest miracles in the Old Testament.When Nations DieThe book of Nahum comes some one hundred years after the prophecy of Jonah. This book tells the conclusion of the saga of Nineveh, which God spared from destruction for an entire century.Nations and empires actually do have "life cycles." This has been studied by many historians throughout the years and they all have come to about the same conclusion: a lifetime of about two centuries. And they all seem to go through the same life cycle: "from bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy to dependency; from dependence back again into bondage (Alexander Tyler, 1750)."Where are we in this cycle? We, too, have gone from bondage to spiritual faith; from faith to great courage which established our precious liberty, which, in turn, has given us unprecedented abundance that has made us the envy of the world. That abundance, however, has led to complacency and apathy. (If you ask the average person, What is the biggest problem in America? Is it ignorance or is it apathy? They will probably respond, "I don't know; and I don't care!")This apathy will ultimately lead to dependency and then return us to the very bondage that this nation was founded to deliver us from. Robert Bork was right when he said that, "The only hope for America is a grass roots revival." Is America ripe for judgment? Billy Graham quipped many years ago, "If God doesn't judge America He will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah!" Thomas Jefferson summed it up well: "I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; and that His justice cannot sleep forever."

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Newt

I have been paying attention to what Newt Gingrich has been telling us. He believe's that WWIII already started a handful of years ago and Iraq, Afghanistan, Hezbollah, Hamas, the war of words with Iran and North Korea...are all simply some of the battles as the war builds in intensity. Please watch this Youtube clip and see what this historian has to say.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZiw3qVdFzw

Monday, April 7, 2008

More Rumors for Israel

Below I will post some comments made by David Dolan who lives in Jerusalem. He is very much an insider in Washington D.C. and was part of the contingency that accompanied President Bush to Israel in January of this year.

THURSDAY APRIL 3, 10:00 PM

SHALOM FROM JERUSALEM,

Widespread media reports of possible imminent war with Syria—probably initiated by an attack upon the Jewish state by Syria’s puppet Hizbullah militia force in Lebanon, supported by Palestinian Hamas fighters in the Gaza Strip, and possibly by Iran itself—have spread like wildfire this week here in Israel. Military analysts say this indicates something is indeed occurring on the ground to raise the war alert, as confirmed by army sources. The cancellation today of a scheduled visit to Europe next week by Israel’s Defense Minister has only added to the war jitters.

On Wednesday, Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Harel warned that Israel will respond “with a heavy hand” against anyone trying to target the country. Israel TV newscasts this evening are all featuring reports and analysis of the tense situation along the northern borders with Syria and Lebanon. Analysts are saying that while neither side probably wants war, the current tense situation could easily spiral out of control, given the heightened military alerts on both sides.

This all comes as Israel makes final preparations for the largest civilian home front war exercises ever conducted in the country, due to begin on Sunday and last through next Thursday. The cabinet is scheduled to meet Sunday morning in a special session meant to simulate an actual war emergency, followed by war drills in many hospitals, army bases, emergency response services, municipalities, police stations, etc. An actual war siren will be sounded on Tuesday morning at 10 AM all over the country. People everywhere will be instructed by the media in the coming days to respond then as if an enemy attack was in progress, to test their preparations for the same.

Jerusalem Post military reporter Yaakov Katz confirmed on Israel state television tonight that IDF forces are on the highest possible level of alert in the north, in response to intelligence information that the Iranian-backed Syrian regime—supplemented by major army reserve call-ups reported in various Arab media outlets in London and elsewhere in recent days—have recently moved two armored brigades into the Lebanese Beeka Valley, where Hizbullah has its main military bases.

Katz said that while neither Israel or Syria probably wants a full war right now, the Syrians are wary that Israel will attack them if Hizbullah launches the promised “revenge” response to the killing of arch terrorist Imad Mughniyeh in Damascus on February 12, which the radical Lebanese group and its Iranian paymasters blame on Israel, despite denials of responsibility from Jerusalem. Katz added that Syria may be preparing for war because it knows that Hizbullah has a major operation pending against Israel, probably supported, if not ordered, by Iran—whose extremist Shiite leaders have vowed to avenge the car bomb attack on Mughniyeh, who was closely associated with them.

Speculation that a major conflict might be brewing grew substantially after the Israeli security cabinet held a special meeting on Wednesday—usually only convened in times of heightened military tensions or activity—mainly to discuss the situation in the north. The cabinet then announced that authorities will begin distributing anti-gas mask and biological weapons kits to the general public in the coming days—adding to the growing sense of crisis. Still, officials pointed out the distribution process would take some time, and therefore did not indicate that Israeli leaders thought major conflict was necessarily imminent. This assertion was repeated today by President Shimon Peres, who said that mounting talk of imminent conflict was exaggerated.

Nevertheless, various Israeli media outlets reported today that officials suspect that Syria may have transferred chemical weapons to Hizbullah forces, including deadly Sarin nerve gas. This comes after Iranian Armed Forces Chief Hassan Firouzabadi hinted in February that short range nuclear warheads might have been sent to the rogue Lebanese militia force, which is partially commanded by Iranian Revolutionary Guards. Meanwhile a Syrian parliament member was quoted in the Arabic media today as confirming that his country is currently monitoring Israeli military communications with the help of advanced Iranian equipment and listening outposts set up in Syria.

Today’s announcement that Defense Minister Ehud Barak had cancelled a scheduled visit to Germany next week because of the heightened war tensions with Syria has definitely caught the attention of the Israeli public. All of the new war talk comes as the country’s hotels are fuller than they have been since just before the Palestinian Al Aksa terrorist war was launched in September 2000, with record numbers, especially American Jews, scheduled to come here next month to celebrate Israel’s 60th anniversary.

Prophesy Ponderings

As I have mentioned to many of you, I read a website almost daily called Rapture Ready. The information about prophetic happenings is amazing. If you haven't been there already, I will post a link here: www.raptureready.com

Below I will post some comments from the author of Rapture Ready. He was recently at a prophesy conference in Tulsa, and here was his report. Notice that there is a feeling of calm amongst all the prophesy watchers and there seems to be some wonder if what they are feeling is the calm before the storm. Keep praying that the Lord will come soon and spare us from the wrath that God has promised for this earth and those who have rejected Christ.

Tulsa Prophecy Ponderings
The 2008 Mid-America Prophecy Conference at Tulsa, Oklahoma has come and gone, and I wanted to think with you just a bit on perspectives gleaned while there this past week.
Conference speakers, some of whom have been my personal friends for many years, provided insights from discernment that can be found only in God’s servants who have devoted their lives to submitting to His will while they undertake study of these end times. There seemed a collective sense during this conference, unlike most of recent vintage, that the almost eerie lull in which we find ourselves, prophetically speaking, might foreshadow significant things just ahead.
The speakers presented perspectives on those possibilities from varied and fascinating viewpoints.
David Reagan spoke on the imminency of the second coming and the thrilling prospects that event promises for believers and portends for non-believers. Reagan gave the conference attendees masterfully presented insights into Israel's primary role in the end-times. He moved the audience with a profound look into how the Jewish people have been satanically persecuted throughout their history, and why Satan was--and remains-- intent on killing every Jewish person.
Walid Shoebat, a one-time Muslim now converted to Christianity, included as part of his several lectures some fellow speakers asking him questions, which made for a different but interesting slant on prophetic matters discussed. His focus was, in part, on how Islam is not a peaceful religion, like many are trying to portray it. He presented the origin of the Israel land controversy, going in-depth about how there was no such thing as a Palestinian, providing historical examples that proved the word “Palestine” came from ancient Rome, with the Caesar so naming the region in order to take away the Jews' legitimate claim to their promised land. He gave the facts about Rome using the region’s former inhabitants, the history of the Philistines, in making up the name “Palestine." Shoebat, a former Islamic terrorist, expressed and expounded upon the subject of frustration for most all of the attendees, presenting the case for why there is many who make excuses for terrorists, saying they are justified in their murderous acts--when there is no excuse.
Mike Gendron, a former Catholic, spoke on Roman Catholicism and his belief that that powerful religious system will be the nucleus of the forming one-world religion. He spoke passionately on the importance of witnessing to the soul-saving power of Jesus Christ in these closing days of the Church Age.
Gary Fisher, as we have come to expect from him, gave a masterful presentation on Israel and that nation’s all-important part in the mix of end-time matters. He spoke on proof of the nearness of the return of Christ, based in large part upon Israel’s juxtaposition against the other nations of Planet Earth today.
Les Feldick, host lecturer of a long-standing television program on biblical studies, spoke on signs of the rapture--signs of the second coming. I had never met Mr. Feldick, but found him personally engaging in private conversation. He proved to be a Bible teacher with a special gift for making one feel as if sitting in private conversation when receiving his teaching. His thorough knowledge of Bible prophecy, in particular, is compelling.
Phillip Goodman, host of the Tulsa Mid-America Prophecy Conference--and, if I may digress for a moment of personal interjection, one of my closest friends--spoke on the imminent rapture of the church. He also addressed, with a level of expertise few possess, the coming Russian-Islamic invasion of Israel as found in the Gog-Magog events of Ezekiel, chapters 38 and 39. He indicated that the major players are in place for this showdown between Gog and Israel’s great protector. The current world, he believes, is configuring in ways that forewarn a soon-coming explosion in the Middle East.
Jeremy Hall, a citizen of Canada and co-host of a prophecy conference held in his country, spoke on exposing false doctrine, and how Christians can be insulated against the terrible effects of lies from the false teachers, only if steeped in God’s Word and prayer. I found Mr. Hall a quite thoroughly furnished lecturer, in both his gift for speaking and in well-studied acumen. His mature level of understanding and ability to impart that understanding to those in attendance is particularly gratifying to see in one young in physical years. He spoke on the millennium, expressing reasons he believes the pre-trib view of the rapture is the correct view while the other primary views of rapture fall short of meeting biblical parameters for that great event.
Joe Lawendowski traveled from Alaska to bring the conference attendees a fascinating and pertinent perspectives on eschatological events being set on God’s end-times stage. He spoke on "Babylon: Past, Present and Future." His being stationed in Iraq while in the U.S. military gave insights few have the privilege of accumulating, then using as part of Bible study on end-times matters. His presentation included photographs of the area where ancient Babylon sat. His pictures of still-existing bricks that were etched with the name of "Nebuchadnezzar" held the attention of those in attendance, while Lawendowski’s excellent lecture covered Babylon and its past, present, and future relevance to Bible prophecy. Jeremy Hall and Joe Lawendowski are partners in a ministry, and are joint hosts of the Canadian prophecy conference.
On another note of interest about the Tulsa conference: I was priviledged to pose interview questions to each of the conference speakers as part of filming during early preparation for a documentary I’ve been asked to help put together. The documentary at this point is intended to be seven one-hour shows in a series on end-times things. It will, God willing, air at a future date on A&E, Discovery Channel, The History Channel, or perhaps one of the broadcast networks.
The series will include many other writers, speakers and scholars on Bible prophecy, including Todd Strandberg, and myself. Todd and I ask, on behalf of all involved in the project, that you lift prayers that God’s will be done at every step of the way in this effort.
--Terry

Oprah

We have talked briefly in adult ed about Oprah and some of the false teachings that she is promoting. You can watch a few of the clips from youtube for yourself. Remember the words of our Lord, "you are either for me or against me". It seems plain to me that Oprah is not helping people to find Jesus.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=JW4LLwkgmqA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwGLNbiw1gk&NR=1