Persecution

It seems that when Satan is really on a rampage, he first comes after the Jews and then he come's after the Christians.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,351826,00.html

Various Places

Jesus tells us that one of the birth pangs of his pending return will be earthquakes in various places. I would say Illinois, USA is a "various place". Also, while I'm thinking of it, National Geographic is starting a series on PBS called "Strange Times for Planet Earth". Interesting that even the secular media knows that a series of very unusual events is taking place. For Christians who understand prophecy, it's not strange times but exciting times.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,351698,00.html

Libya

I'll let Joel Rosenberg explain why it is INCREDIBLY interesting that Putin is meeting with Libya's leader. The posting is from his Flash Traffic news that I received today.


WHERE IS VLADIMIR PUTIN TODAY? RISING RUSSIAN CZAR MAKES HISTORIC TRIP TO LIBYA, AN EZEKIEL 38 COUNTRY Watch Epicenter Conference speeches on-line.
By Joel C. Rosenberg (Jerusalem, Israel, April 17, 2008) -- One week ago today, my colleagues and I were holding our inaugural Epicenter Conference in Jerusalem, discussing the prophecies of Ezekiel 38-39 which foretell the rise of a dictator in Russia who forms strategic alliances in the "last days" not only with Iran but also with Libya. Today, Russian President Vladimir Putin is actually in Libya, the first Russian leader in history to visit the North African country, creating a strategic alliance, signing numerous agreements, and negotiating a $2.5 billion arms sale to this enormous and historic enemy of Israel. "Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi hailed Russian President Vladimir Putin's official visit as 'historic and strategic' during a state dinner at the Bab Azizia palace," reported Agence France Presse. "'This is the first visit by a Russian president to Libya. It is a historic, strategic and very important visit,' Kadhafi said in a speech....'The trip will enable increased cooperation, given that we are both producers of gas and oil,' Kadhafi said. 'We will work together to defend our interests.' Libya is a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2007-2008, and Khadafi said the world body needed to be reformed in order to face what he called an "imbalance of forces" internationally. Putin, who spoke in Russian, said: 'We must reflect on the project to reform the United Nations' and referred to 'a friendly country on the Security Council with which we can work together to resolve problems.' The Russian president said 'a large number of agreements' would be signed between the two countries during his 24-hour visit to Libya. Putin arrived in Tripoli on Wednesday at the head of a large delegation for a visit expected to be dominated by talks over energy contracts and arms sales." Is this proof that the prophecies found in Ezekiel 38-39 are close to fulfillment? This is a question I have addressed in the Epicenter book and film, and addressed at last week's conference. Let me state again in no uncertain terms that in my view it remains too early to draw such a definitive conclusion. More would have to happen geopolitically to cause me to be able to state publicly and with assurance that we were about to see the "War of Gog and Magog" come to pass in our lifetime, much less soon. That said, however, Putin's historic trip to Libya today -- along with many of Putin's moves over the past eight years, including his historic visit to Iran last fall -- have been remarkably, even eerily, consistent with Biblical prophecy. Which is why a large and growing number of people are asking such questions. For now, the bigger question is: Are evangelical Christians doing everything we possibly can to pray for peace and prepare for war in the Middle East?

10% of GDP

For years, I saw the mortgage bubble building in the US. People were buying way more house than they could afford and were using mortgages that were not sustainable. Furthermore, the companies giving the mortgages were offering to finance 100% of the houses being bought by the people who couldn't afford them. When you throw collusion into the mix because of the appriasers giving over zealous home values....you have a recipe for a problem. Now the rooster has come home to roost and I fear it could go a lot deeper.

I've attached a link to the Wall Street Journal here; http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB120839058302821333.html

You might say, "financial news is boring" so refuse to read the above short article. If you do, I will point out one hilight...the article talks about the risk the US Gov't is taking by bailing out the mortgage mess. If they guessed wrong on their risk and they end up holding the bag, they could lose their AAA credit rating. If this happens, it could double the cost of repaying our defecit literally overnight and send the country into a financial tailspin that could be very difficult to recover from. Could this be one of the reasons that the U.S. is nowhere to be found in biblical prophesy?

Dead Heat

For any of you reading Rosenberg's latest book, DEAD HEAT, this article is chilling. It's so hard to even fathom what a nuclear explosion would look like in the heart of a major metropolis, but yet we know that it will someday happen. World famous investor, Warren Buffet and Lloyd's of London know that it is a certainty...they just don't know when. It is very obvious that with thousands of nuclear warheads floating all over the world on subs, ships, planes and mounted on missiles and MAYBE even cargo ships off the US coast, sooner or later something cataclysmic is going to happen. Only the Lord can deliver us and is the ONLY one we should have 100% confidence in. Read on; http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/Risk_of_Nuclear_Attack_/2008/04/16/88469.html

Syria

We remember what Isaiah 17 says; "The Lord said, 'Damascus will not be a city any longer; it will be only a pile of ruins. The cities of Syria will be deserted forever'". That's the reason that so many prophecy watchers focus on Syria...because that prophecy has NOT been fufilled, but could in the blink of an eye if Israel were to use nuclear weapons against Syria. Here are some current articles on the chatter going on; http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-3532935,00.html

This one has a video link Qatar newspaper; http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3531622,00.html

Pick up your bible's and read Isaiah 17 for yourselves. See what the Holy Spirt combined with the Word of God has to say to you personally.

More rumbling's on the Temple Mount

This article is amazing. How could it be possible that an Israeli political party wouldn't understand the importance to Israel of the Temple Mount? How could it be that the religion of Islam, (which was literally made up in one man's head HUNDREDS OF YEARS AFTER THE FIRST AND SECOND TEMPLE EXISTED) could lay claim to this holy site and the world, and even some Israeli-jews, would believe it? It is so illogical and so against actual historical facts, that it HAS to be a supernatural deception. There is simply no other explanation. Read on;
http://temple-mount-news.newslib.com/story/4220-2934106/

News Flash!

This headline is really pretty comical; http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7347613.stm

So the Arabs don't like the U.S. What else is new? What truly might be news would be to report who the Arab world DOES like...now that would be a story. Sorry...I got a bit sarcastic there and honestly, as Christians, we should be praying for our Arab/muslim enemies that they would come to Christ and discover the good news of the gospel.

Remember, the fact that the Arabs have their hands raised against everyone, including themselves...is a fufillment of what God told Ishmael and his mother, Haggar, way back during the time of Abraham. Read it for yourself in Genesis. It's a great story.

Players

We've talked about Ezekiel's war a lot...why?...because what could be more amazing than watching the players be put on the global-chess-board for the first time in human history? We have Russia (Magog) signing alliances and crawling into bed with the very countries that Ezekiel mentioned over 2800 yrs ago. "Yeah, so what?", some people might say. I'll tell you what; If Ezekiels war is close to being a reality, then we know that God will supernaturally handle that war (the bible tells us so). If God is supernaturally handling the outcome of this war to protect Israel, that means that the Christian church is gone...meaning Christ came for His Bride...meaning most people reading this blog will be gone "in the twinkling of an eye". Check out the headlines from The Jerusalem Post and re read Ezekiel 38-39;
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1208246584036&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Another article here: http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/04/76822bb6-ca35-46cf-b73e-f0a0e503fd7b.html

More Carter

Fox News has Carter's planned visit with Hamas as it's headline news today. If you failed to catch it, here is the link; http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,351313,00.html

Iran and Nukes

Here is a great article from the Washington Post about dealing with Iran. Obviously, they are not listening to the world's warnings about ceasing their nuclear program. How should we deal with a leader of a country who actually WANTS to cause chaos...who actually would welcome a nuclear exchange because his islamic sect believes it would hasten the return of the Mahdi? The Mahdi (also referred to as the 12th Imam) it is believed, will crush the Jews, kill the Christians and bring Islamic law to the entire earth. Please remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and also to pray specifically for our enemies. Mr. Ahmadinejad would qualify as an enemy, so Christ would want us to pray for him. The link to the Post is listed below;

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/10/AR2008041003271.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

Carter

Some of you are probably familiar with Jan Markell and her Olive Tree Ministries and radio program. She put together the Rosenberg/prophecy conference last fall and is, herself, a Messianic Jew. Her website is here; www.olivetreeview.org

She has some good points about Carter visiting the Middle east. President Carter has an history of being anti-semitic and the idea of him talking to Hamas and going against the state department's wishes is dangerous. I agree with her on that. You can read her comments on it below;


The Delusions of Jimmy Carter

Jimmy Carter traveled to the Middle East this week to meet with, among others, Khaled Meshal, the notorious Hamas commander living in exile in Damascus. This experience of "Carter Follies" is blatantly dangerous.

In Washington, the White House said Carter did not represent the United States in his Mideast tour, and that he was acting in a private capacity. President George W. Bush "is not a supporter of having conversations with Hamas, and we have made that known," spokeswoman Dana Perino said. The State Department told him "don't go." Carter stressed he was on a fact-finding tour for the Carter Center. That is why Israel is exercising pressure to try to prevent this meeting.
Among others, Khaled Meshal, the notorious Hamas commander living in exile in Damascus will be paid a visit. For one thing, there is little to be learned from him. His resume speaks gruesomely for itself. A Hamas veteran, Meshal is suspected by Israeli authorities of being the mastermind of several high-profile terror attacks. The June 2006 abduction of Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit reportedly was carried out on his orders.
Meshal makes no effort to conceal his true aim: To destroy the Jewish state through a relentless campaign of terrorism. To his supporters, Meshal can be heard declaring that "Israel with the help of Allah will be defeated." With chilling candor, he has confessed that "resistance" - i.e., terrorism - is not only the "basis" of Palestinian politics but the "destiny" of the Palestinian people.
Carter has maintained that "there is a good chance" that Hamas could become a nonviolent organization, which clearly shows a "Carter delusion."

Deluded though it is, there is a reason why Carter is prepared to believe Hamas' rhetoric over brutal reality. As he made clear in his book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, Carter shares the Palestinian terrorists' belief that Israel's "occupation," as opposed to the Palestinians' refusal to recognize Israel and their war against it, is to blame for the stalemated conflict.

Carter has become a pawn of terrorists who have the blood of countless Israelis, as well as Americans, on their hands.

Since Israel's withdrawal from Gaza in 2005 and the end of the so-called "occupation" there, Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups have launched more than 6,000 rockets and mortars into Israel. But I bet that topic will not even come up.

As Frank Gaffney states, "In point of fact, it seems there is scarcely a serious bad actor on the planet with whom Jimmy Carter has not met. He is a serial tyrant-enabler, the very personification of Rodney King's appeal, 'Can't we all get along?' Mr. Carter has come to epitomize the notion that "dialogue" is always in order, no matter how odious or dangerous. In short, thanks in no small measure to Jimmy Carter's proclivities and meddling, the world is a considerably more dangerous place.

That Carter continues to see these committed killers as peacemakers just furthers his strong delusion.

As Gary Bauer says, "Will Carter ask Hamas to end its anti-Semitic indoctrination of Palestinian children?" The latest from the region was a TV program showing Hamas killing President Bush.
Hamas, which is covenantally-committed to destroying Israel, has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.

Laodicea

I received this blurb on the last church mentioned in Revelation chapter 3. It rings true with me.


5. Apostate Christianity
We are told in Revelation 3 of the 7 Churches. The last church or church age is symbolized by the Church of Laodicea. Laodicea means "the rights of the people." Thus, this was a church governed by the will of the people, rather than the will of God. This is the church age from which the Antichrist and the False Prophet will emerge. It is the church age Paul talked about that would not endure sound doctrine, but would gather around them teachers that would say what their itching ears wanted and desired to hear (2 Tim 4:3). This church is described as lukewarm, indifferent, not concerned with right and wrong, or with good and evil. They take a neutral position: one of "live and let live; don’t rock the boat; and don’t cause waves." They are trying to serve two masters—God and self (or the world).We will continue to monitor the church's faithfulness to the teaching of the Word of God, realizing that the church of the last days will be marked by apostasy and a falling away. This does not mean that God is not moving and doing great things - but can we also identify the wolves in sheep's clothing? "For false Christ's and false prophets shall rise, and shall show signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the very elect". (Mark 13:22).

Hat tip to Adam for sending this to me from your studies.
DL