Earthquakes Increasing

As we well know by now, Christ told us that the Last Days would be marked by "earthquakes in various places." He also told us to watch for birth pangs that would be happening closer in frequency and more intense in pain. This would be the signs that, "I am at the very door." It seems that as of late, there is a big earthquake happening somewhere in the world practically every day. So is this really an increase in frequency or are the geologists and equipment simply getting better at detecting seismological activity....so it is really just our perception that is growing.

The answer to that is right here; http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/world/historical.php

Even a casual scroll down this list of earthquakes will make anyone see that the past few years have literally gone off the charts in frequency. Just for example...in 2000 and 2001, there were 6 or 7 earthquakes worldwide that exceeded 6.0 on the Richter scale. In 2007 there we 55. And already in 2008 there have been 28.

Will the world wake up to what is happening? Christ says the majority of the world won't.
Passage Matthew 24:36-39:
36 But of that day and hour knoweth no one, not even the angels of heaven, neither the Son, but the Father only.
37 And as were the days of Noah, so shall be the coming of the Son of man.
38 For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark,
39 and they knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall be the coming of the Son of man.

Rosenberg Blog

Joel Rosenberg is the author of numerous books, most recently a political thriller called DEAD HEAT that starts with a nuclear bomb destroying the President and most of the Republican Congress at the Republican National Convention...and ends with the Rapture. Awesome book. He also has a blog that he has a posting on that has to be read. I will link it here; http://joelrosenberg.blogspot.com/

Please take note of the recent discovery of a tablet that was written before Christ which talks about the Messiah suffering and dying. This has the potential to bring LOTS of Jews to the saving knowledge of Christ.

The world is shaking and the headlines are happening almost faster than you can read them. Keep looking to the sky for our Redeemer!

Will Israel Strike Iran

This is the big, looming question as Iran launches test missiles to show the world what it has. Here is one paragraph from the article that shows the seriousness of this move against Iran;

"The stakes for Israel go beyond any operational success or failure; for as IAF Col. Ziv Levy told Bob Simon in a 60 Minutes interview earlier this year, Israel cannot lose: “The first war we lose, Israel will cease to exist.”

Read the full article here; http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?print=yes&id=27392

I believe the bible is clear that once Israel is brought back from all the corners of the earth (which it was in 1948), then it will not be destroyed again...but God himself will need to intervene supernaturally as it is spelled out in Ezekiel 38.

Lightning In California

Check out this article from CNN; http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/06/24/wildfires.california.ap/index.html

Notice the paragraph that says;

"The weekend storm was unusual not only because it generated so many lightning strikes over a large geographical area but because it struck so early in the season and moved in from the Pacific Ocean. Such storms usually don't arrive until late July or August and typically form southeast of California."

So here we have just one more unusual sign of weather. It's a strange sign in the Golden State and it seems the state of California continues to struggle with more and more calamities. Do you think that's a coincidence or do you think it may have something to do with the patience of God wearing thin on the state that foists a huge pile of smut through Hollywood and is now holding up it's homosexual community as champions of marriage rights?

God told us in Levitcus;
“Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it [is] abomination. If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood [shall be] upon them,” Leviticus 18:22, and 20:13.

He then confirmed it in the NT for the gentiles;
“For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them,” Romans 1:26, 27, 32.

I fear for a nation that embraces homosexuality as "normal" or "within God's design". What will be next...holding up adultery or beastiality as "normal" behavior and forcing us all to embrace it?

Persia Heats Up

The players that the bible talks about for the Ezekiel 38-39 prophecy to be fufilled are coming on stage in very rapid succession. As we have said, when the bible says "Persia", that is the country of modern day Iran. Iran's rhetoric against The West and Israel combined with their missile launching and nuclear ambitions, make them a very dangerous and potential chaos-causing nation. Read about their missile launching here; http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSLYO945240

Also note that Iran has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz if they are attacked. About 40% of the world's traded oil flows through that Strait...so this is a concern for the entire world.

Third Temple

As we know, Solomon's temple was the first one built in Jerusalem to the exact specifications ordered by God. That was destroyed when the Israelites were hauled off to Babylon. The 2nd Temple was rebuilt when Nehemiah, Zerubbabel and others returned after the exile was over. The 2nd temple is the one that Jesus worshiped at and also the one he pointed to when telling the disciples, "I tell you, not one stone will be left standing on another". This prophecy of Christ came true in 70 AD when the Romans destroyed the temple and pried the stones apart to get at the gold that had melted into the cracks.

The 3rd temple will be built. We don't know exactly when but the Jews know is will be built in the Last Days in prepartion for the messiah they have been awaiting for 3500 yrs. The Christians who follow prophecy also know it must be in place for the prophecies regarding the anti-christ to come true. So it is a VERY pivotal event and place. So when we see the preparations happening for it's construction, we should definitely be "looking up, for our redemption is nigh". That is why this article in the Jerusalem Post is very interesting. Read it here; http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1214726180915&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Food Crisis

Today's Wall Street Journal has an opinion article about the global catasrophe of rising food costs. For the wealthy nations of the world, it's an annoyance to have to spend more on food, but for the poorest citizens of the world, rising costs mean that millions simply won't have the money to buy their daily bread. Read it here; http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121547397953534035.html?mod=wsj_article

Where does the blame lie? All over the place. As we have stated before...the world seems to be facing problems of such large magnitude that common man seems incapable of solving them. I believe this increase in food problems, global squabblings, rumors of wars, wars and an increase in natural disasters, is setting the stage for 1) the coming of a global leader who offers real sollutions that the world will embrace but the bible refers to as The Anti-Christ, 2) the return of Christ to rule earth during the millenium. It will be time of peace, plenty and instant justice...something that the world is yearning for, but will never find without Christ.

Rape in Zimbabwe

There have always been thugs and bullies in the world and I suppose there always will be...as long as humans are running things. We in America certainly take for granted the security and freedom that we have. Our biggest complaints may be $4/gal gasoline or having to wait in line for 40 minutes at the Dept of Motor Vehicles. But we need to remember that many people of this world live in constant fear of they physical safety. This linked article; http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article4289955.ece tells the story of the latest tool of intimidation...rape and sexual assault...that Mugabe and his thugs are using to keep rule by fear and intimidation.

Since Africa won't do anything to deliver justice, should the U.S. and other Western countries send in our militaries to deliver these people? Can we afford to deliver the world from thugs? Can we afford to go into Darfur, the Congo and Zimbabwe? Maybe we should send Obama to talk to Mugabe and find out why he is being so mean?

As the world grows darker in these Last Days, I suspect more and more thugs will emerge. Cockroaches come out when it's dark and they flee when the light is put on them. Where is the light in this world to make the cockroaches, like Mugabe, flee? Who will stand for the downtrodden? In the USA we seem incapable of agreeing what the definition of "evil" really is, so most likely we will sit on the sidelines and watch the atrocities build.

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