Hurricane

The first hurricane of 2008, named Bertha, has formed. What's interesting about this Reuter's report is this paragraph near the end of the article;

"Bertha formed last Thursday near the Cape Verde islands off Africa. It is unusual for storms to form so far east so early in the season, and when it does happen, it is frequently a harbinger of heightened storm activity."

Another radio report I heard regarding this storm is that it was the first hurricane to "ever" form so far to the east. 2008 could prove to be a very unstable year.

Culture

Below is a paragraph written by Burt Prelutsky who has been a humor columnist for the LA Times. In adult ed, we have said much of what he refers to in the below paragraph. A society that is ingorant of it's history and is truly apathetic to find out...just won't survive very long in the "survival of the fitest" world in which we live.

“There are new studies and new polls that strongly suggest that we are breeding increasingly stupid kids here in America. Like our tasteless tomatoes, they merely look good and healthy. But of course there is more than one way to test intelligence. So, while only 43% of our 17-year-olds know that the Civil War took place between 1850 and 1900, as opposed to, say, 1750-1800 or after 1950, they are very good at text-messaging. They also probably know the names of Britney Spears’ kids, which is more than Ms. Spears does at any given moment, but they have no idea why December 7, 1941, was a day of infamy. They also don’t know what ‘infamy’ means. What makes the situation even more pathetic is that these kids, for the most part, have a terrifically high opinion of themselves. To be fair, nothing much has ever been asked of them, let alone demanded, and yet they are constantly being told how special they are. Hardly any of them are expected to do chores, and as teachers have been ordered by craven school boards to pass along any student who’s breathing, D’s are frowned upon and F’s are verboten. As a result, 18-year-olds, who can barely count up to 18 without taking off their shoes, automatically get their high school diplomas... However, the greatest danger of this backsliding into the abyss of ignorance, this 21st century version of the Dark Ages, where emotions and self-satisfaction constantly trump logic and intelligence, is that Democrats may never again lose a presidential election.” —Burt Prelutsky

Hat tip to Gary for sending this paragraph.

Rapture Hoax?

I recently stumbled across a website that caught my eye as it promised to expose fundamental Christian's beliefs as a hoax. As I paged through the site, certain paragraphs caught my eye. Notice how they tie into the idea that there is no truth. They use the backwards logic that since we can never know the mind of the Creator (true) that we can never know that there is truth. (false) I will post a few paragraphs for you to test your discernment on.

"Ultimately, God is what God is. How man chooses to label God with his religion probably has less significance than the sincerity of ones heart when one calls out to God. For the Christian we may label the ultimate reality as Jesus. For a Jew it may be Yahweh. For a Muslim it is Allah and for a Buddhist it may be Buddha. Whatever one culture chooses to call God is determined by an infinite number of historical and cultural factors, but this author submits that each culture is equally valid in how they choose to address the Almighty."

So from the above paragraph we learn that it doesn't really matter what you believe, as long as you are sincere. Would the author acknowledge that someone can be sincerely wrong? Or is sincereity the only test of truth? The bible tells us that there is no name under heaven BUT Jesus that has the power for salvation.

Here is another that admonishes believers of the Rapture;

"Not only are these shameless, selfish Rapture views contrary to traditional Christian concern for neighbor and mankind in general, but consider the contrast to other great world religions, where Buddha and Krishna for example, vow not to enter heaven themselves until they have helped the last living being into heaven before them."

So in the above paragraph, he ridicules belief in the rapture because he LIKES/PREFERS the way that Buddha and Krishna attain heaven. So the author of the above paragraph chooses to toss out the references in scripture to the wrath of God and people being killed for their sin and unbelief...because he doesn't LIKE that idea of God. He prefers to remake the Creator of the Unviverse into something that he prefers.

The bible is clear that we all need to be ready to explain and defend our beliefs. Our testimony has power. When we are confronted by all the false teachers and false beliefs, will we be able to recall the word of God which is sharper than any two edged sword?

Signs are Clear

I have mentioned the website, Rapture Ready, in my postings before. It is a site I frequent often and I am in theological agreement with the vast majority of information I have seen on their site. Every Monday, the author of the site has an update titled, "Nearing Midnight" and includes in-depth coverage of the latest happenings as they portend to prophecy. In today's update the final paragraph reads;

"The signs of the times couldn’t be clearer. It is time for those who are Christ’s to be aware of the lateness of the hour. --Time to do the work that Jesus gave believers before ascending to His and our Father. The minutes the believer has left to accomplish for God’s work are passing with the swiftness of movement of the end-times events observably taking place in literally every direction one looks."

Jesus also told us in the Gospel of Mark, "What I say unto one, I say unto all; watch!" Our Lord is telling us to be sensative to the times and to understand those times. And once we do understand them, He tells us to snatch people from the fire. So let's all think a little less about how we are going to entertain ourselves today and tomorrow...and think more about WHO we can interact with and have an eternal impact on.

You can read the Nearing Midnight piece here; http://raptureready.com/rap16.html

Danger Zone

The President of the World Bank tells us that with high fuel costs combined with high food prices, the world is entering a danger zone. We could reverse the gains made against global poverty over the past decade as millions of people fall back into extreme poverty. Read it here; http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:21828803~pagePK:34370~piPK:34424~theSitePK:4607,00.html

MSM Reports on End of the World

A few months ago I posted a few articles that talked about the year 2012 having disastrous consequences for planet earth. One of the most cited sources is the ancient Mayan calendar which after 5000+ yrs of running accurately, simply ends. Today ABC news has run an article on 2012 and why thousands from around the world are preparing for the apocolypse. Read it here; http://abcnews.go.com/International/Story?id=5301284&page=1

The more people focus on it, the more likely that the date will come and go without a breeze. Much like the year 2000 was ushered in without a whisper of chaos...much to the disappointment of doomsayers everywhere. However, there is always that chance that the Lord will come for us BEFORE 2012 and the world that is left behind will endure some sort of satanic deception in the year 2012. If that were true, satan would have hundreds of thousands of deceptive-ready-believers ready to buy into whatever strange things he may have planned for a fallen world.

U.S. General says Iranian Attack Likely

For the past few months we have been wondering if Israel is going to attack Iran. Numerous articles have talked about that scenario. Now a U.S. general is saying that, "Iran is likely to launch ballistic missiles against Israel and the United States and the NATO alliance should prepare for it." Read the article here; http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/999009.html

Discontent seems to be growing in Iran against their boisterous leader. Our best hope for this whole thing to disappear would be for someone to assassinate Mr. Ahmadinejad. Otherwise, it appears he will get more paranoid, more intent on destroying Israel, and more convinced that his supernatural meetings with the Islamic messiah, the Hidden Imam, need to bear some satanic fruit. He could make things very bad for the world if he turns out to be running a suicidal regime, hell-bent on creating chaos.

Israeli Response

Yesterday a Palestinian driving a bulldozer in Jerusalem used it as a weapon and killed three Jews. Now Israel has a decision to make on how it should respond. Many times, Israel has chosen to take a bulldozer to the terrorist's house and destroy it. This would serve as a deterrent (they claim) since other families seeing this would try and stop their son or husband from acting as a terrorist since they would be on the street if Israel destroys their house. Of course the arab media uses the footage of Israel destroying arab houses as a propaganda tool to further ignite rage on the arab street. Surely, this problem will not be solved until the Prince of Peace shows up. Read the article here; http://uk.reuters.com/article/UKNews1/idUKL0322537420080703

Bush-Don't Bomb Iran

Another day, another headline about Israel. It seems that the military and Pres. Bush have warned Israel against bombing Iran. It could make things very messy, as we all know. However, Israel will do what it needs to, irregardless of what the world thinks. If they feel that their very survival is threatened...I believe they will bomb Iran. This will most likely set the table even further for Ezekiel's war, (read Ezekiel 38)as it will infuriate the Arab nations and may even draw in Russia who has signed defense deals with Iran. Read the article here; http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2008/07/02/2008-07-02_dont_bomb_iran_bush_warns_israel-1.html

PS For some reason this link is not active so you will have to cut and paste it into your browser to read.

Good Words from Missler

Where is America mentioned in prophecy? It isn't. So if we are absent from the future, where did we go?

There are many opinions regarding these questions. Personally, I believe that when Christ comes for his bride, and this country loses millions of people in the twinkling of an eye...the U.S. will be so devastated and will have such monumental problems that it will cease to be a world power in the twinkling of an eye.

The U.S. is growing more immoral every day and God's mercy will only last so long. Look at the OT and how Israel was destroyed every time they turned from God. Here is what Missler has to say about this topic;


AN INDEPENDENCE DAY EXHORTATION -Independence Day is only a few days away. The typical American might celebrate the Fourth of July by watching a parade, lighting fireworks, or simply grilling burgers in the backyard with family and friends. However we would like to challenge our readers to take a moment this Friday to consider, not only our nation's rich history, but also its prophetic future. What is our ultimate destiny? What does the Bible have to say about America?
The United States appears to be conspicuously absent from Biblical prophecy. Biblical scholars tend to disagree on this subject, and we could make a multitude of conjectures concerning America's fate, but the fact of the matter is that the Bible does not specifically explain God's plan for the US.
However we can learn many things about America's possible destiny by looking at the parallels between the US and the Northern Kingdom of Israel as described in the book of Hosea. The Northern Kingdom enjoyed material prosperity unequaled since days of Solomon, but they had sunk to the depths of immorality and idol worship. As a result of their sin God judged Israel and they were destroyed by their enemies.
The United States also enjoys unprecedented wealth and prosperity, but as a nation we have turned our back on God. So why hasn't God judged America? Is it too late? Or is there still time?
We are God's stewards. The future of America is in our hands. God made a promise to the people of Israel that may apply to us as well:
"If my people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land." -2 Chronicles 7:14
This is not addressed to our President, our Congress, or our population in general: It is addressed to "My people, who are called by my name." It is addressed to the Body of Christ. Our stewardship of this nation does not begin and end at the ballot box. There is much more required of us. We need a national revival - and it must start with you and me.
The moral decline of society is indeed disconcerting, yet it is important to remember that God is in control. Our Lord has power over all that is in heaven and earth and He alone has the power to transform our nation.
"Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all. Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name." 1 Chronicles 29:11-13

Lead Headline...Again!

I turned on my computer this morning and lead headline was the story of a Palestinian backhoe operator going wild with his machine and killing Jews in Jerusalem. Read it here: http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/02/africa/02mideast-296855.php

Israel is calling him a terrorist but no one has stepped forward to claim responsiblity. Do you think this would have been the lead story if a backhoe driver in Australia or Nigeria had rammed some people to death? I seriously doubt it would have even made the news. But because it happened in Israel it is the top story. "I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling..." says the Lord.

Good News for Corn

Analysts were very concerned last month about the loss to the corn crop due to the flooding through Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana. It now appears that the losses will not be as severe. Also even if the losses approach 10% from last year, the data just came in that farmers nationwide planted more acres into corn so the corn crop should be expected to be rather large...if the weather holds. Corn prices fell when the news was released, but they still are expected to stay in the $6-7 /bushel range, which will still equate to rising grocery, meat and dairy costs.

Even more Rumors

As we know, John Bolton said he believed that Israel would attack Iran if Obama is elected and it would probably happen in the time frame between the November election and the January inauguration. Now ABC news has US defense officials discussing this situation and here are some excerpts;

"The US defense officials were quoted by an ABC News report as saying they were concerned that Israel may attack Iran's nuclear facilities before the end of the year and that such a move may prompt a wave of Iranian retaliatory attacks against both Israeli and US targets.
According to an unnamed Pentagon official quoted by the broadcaster, there is an "increasing likelihood" of such an attack as Iran approaches two "red lines" in Israel's view: The first is the point when Iran produces enough highly enriched uranium to develop a nuclear weapon - something that could happen in 2009 and perhaps even by the end of 2008, according to US and Israeli assessments. "

It also seems that Iran has ordered a new aircraft/missile defense system from Russia and Israel may want to try and take out Iran's nuclear facilities before that system gets operative.

But on the other hand, in the very same article you have a " senior western diplomat" saying that he feels an Israeli attack before year end is unlikely. So you have defense officials concerned and senior diplomats not as concerned. Hmmm....it sure sounds like rumors of war to me. You can read the article yourself in the Jerusalem Post here; http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1214726170373&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull