Enter the Kings of the East into prophetic play

I saw the following news article and I though, "Hmmm, that's a little strange."

Jerusalem Post: 'Iran, Russia, China, Syria plan 'largest' war game'
"Syrian, Iranian media reports say air, ground and naval forces to conduct 'Middle East's largest ever military exercise.' "

China? I can see Iran and Russia and Syria, they are prophesied to ally in the Gog Magog war. Russia has a port in Syria and Syria is the proxy nation for Iran. But China? Where's their stake in it?

Of course the next day Russia, Syria deny war games with China, Iran. But the inclusion of China into the prophetic mix perked up my ears.

Then I see the following by an an energy media outlet synopsizing from the Wall Street Journal:

"Saudi Arabia, China Sign Nuclear Cooperation Pact":

"With its energy consumption surging and its own power supply under threat, Saudi Arabia will rely increasingly on nuclear generation. To help it along, it has turned to the country that is emerging as the world leader in nuclear technology: China. The Wall Street Journal reports that the two countries have agreed to jointly develop nuclear power plants, reactors, fuel and maintenance. The agreement follows a 6-day visit to Saudi Arabia by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao." [Photo above from Lebanon Daily Star, released by Saudi Press Agency, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, left, meets with Saudi King Abdullah, right, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012."]

This deal, Saudi's oil free flowing to China in exchange for nuclear technology, is already shaping up to be be responsible for a dramatic shift of the security environment of the Middle East, not to mention the future of the petrodollar.

The Washington Times explained it this way:
"U.S. intelligence agencies are closely watching Saudi Arabia for signs that the oil-rich kingdom will seek to develop nuclear weapons, amid tensions in the region centered on Iran’s nuclear program. One key warning sign was the cooperation agreement signed Sunday in Riyadh by China and Saudi Arabia. According to the Saudi Jidda News, the agreement will seek joint development of “atomic energy for peaceful purposes, which will help to meet the kingdom’s rising demand for energy and cut its growing dependence on depleting resources.” The agreement was signed by King Abdullah and Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao "

The Asia Times simply said: Saudi Arabia pivots toward Asia

I kept thinking...hmmm, enter the Kings of the East. It wasn't until last night when this week's Hal Lindsey's report dropped the last penny for me and the pieces fell into place. He opened his weekly report by bluntly saying:

"Why is no one in the mainstream media talking about the latest deal between Saudi Arabia and China? In case you haven't heard, the Saudis recently offered to guarantee the Chinese unlimited oil until 2035. In exchange for Chinese off-the--shelf nuclear missiles. ... [Here, Lindsey cites the source DebkaFile, which is a dubious source, but the following is true:] "The raw fact, which the West does not want to acknowledge, is that the Saudis fear Iran and want nuclear weapons as a counterbalance to Iran's growing nuclear potential."

Lindsey continues:
"This is what the Israel has been warning the West about for years now. If Iran is allowed to acquire nuclear weapons, not only would it pose a direct threat to Israel, but it will force other nations in the Middle East to acquire nuclear weapons for heir own self defense. It will ignite an arms race in a rough neighborhood. I think it is interesting that even though most nations in the Middle East have long suspected that Israel possessed nuclear weapons, none of them felt threatened enough to seek their own arsenals. But now that is almost a guarantee that one of their own Muslim brothers is going nuclear, some of them suddenly feel the need for a nuclear deterrent."

Lindsey widens the picture from the looming new nuclear arms race in the unstable regions to the wider view of additional prophetic pieces entering the picture. It begins to bring into focus a long puzzling question: how or why China would be drawn into the war of Armageddon.

Revelation 16:12 says "The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East."

Revelation chapter 9 describes the preparation for that war. It involves the King of the North and the King of the South. In Daniel’s prophecy of “the time of the end” beginning in Daniel 11:35, a king is pictured in the Mediterranean area who engages in a military conflict with the king of the south, the king of the north, and a military force from the east. A question that has always puzzled Lindsey is why would the kings of the East cross the Euphrates with a 200 million man army? Daniel 11:40-45 describes the battle plan of this final war.

'“At the time of the end the king of the South will engage him in battle, and the king of the North will storm out against him with chariots and cavalry and a great fleet of ships. He will invade many countries and sweep through them like a flood. He will also invade the Beautiful Land. Many countries will fall, but Edom, Moab and the leaders of Ammon will be delivered from his hand. He will extend his power over many countries; Egypt will not escape. He will gain control of the treasures of gold and silver and all the riches of Egypt, with the Libyans and Cushites in submission. But reports from the east and the north will alarm him, and he will set out in a great rage to destroy and annihilate many. He will pitch his royal tents between the seas at the beautiful holy mountain. Yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him.' "

Now, I don't understand all that. And by the disagreement over who, exactly, is the King of the South, others aren't sure either. But from what I have read on Bible.org, Hal Lindsey and Jack Kelley, there seems consensus that it looks like Iran and Turkey both want to be seen as the King of the North, while Egypt is the front-runner for King of the South, supported by Saudi Arabia.

Jack Kelley describes the final power struggle:
"According to Daniel 11 the End of the Age would see two Middle Eastern power blocks, which he called the King of the North and the King of the South. Today, although they appear to be allies, two countries from the former Seleucid Empire, the first King of the North, are openly competing for the right to be the Bible’s End Times King of the North. They are Turkey and Iran. ... Until recently it seemed like Syria and Iran would combine to take the title King of the North, but now there’s a new kid in town due to Turkish PM Erdogan’s vision of resurrecting the Ottoman Empire into the leader of the Moslem world."

If you have seen the news of Turkey's shift away from the West over the last five years, Prime Minister Erdogan's call for the reclusive but powerful Imam currently living in Pennsylvania to come home and take his place in the faith and in the nation, and the issue with Syria downing a Turkish jet fighter and Turkey's declaration that it will not be ignored, you know that Turkey's rise as a powerful player over these last few years is incredibly prophetic.

As we sort out the prophetic kings and the final pieces of prophecy, one consensus seems clear. The Kings of the East seem generally acknowledged to be an Oriental Confederacy, which includes the 200 million man army of China. China is now considered to have the most powerful army ever assembled in world history.

North Korea: Kim Jong Il's funeral

I used the photo above to demonstrate that the Oriental kings already have the ability to mass not only the military but their civilian populations, with ease. As we go forward on this day and this week and this month...let's remember Jesus. he is the King, Prophet, and Priest into whose hands God has delivered all authority. (Matthew 28:18). His hand is passing over the earth to bring these events about. He is in control, and nothing is out of control. All is progressing exactly as He ordained. The best thing we can do is obey him and be joyful in His works, which are to the good of those who love Him. (Romans 8:28).

We witness, sharing His peace with one and all, even in the face of mounting war. As Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8:

"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.

First, war. Then, eternal peace.

Do you love Jesus? Do you want to? Here is what you must do. And here is a simple, concise explanation of the Gospel. Please read it, if you are not saved. We're experiencing a moral, spiritual, financial, and cultural implosion as we speak. Please don't be caught in the rubble. Jesus will forgive you, lift you, and bring you to heaven to feast with Him as part of His bride. You will be born (again), heal, build up, laugh, dance, embrace, seek, speak, and have peace.

Why study prophecy?

Leonard Ravenhill used to say that the Puritan preachers were so heavenly minded they lived in eternity 6 days a week and came down on Sunday to preach. Those guys sure were fiercely intentional about their walk with God! I don't think it could be said that the Puritans gained biblical knowledge for knowledge sake but failed to apply it, that is for sure.

In my opinion, the more you study the bible, including prophecy, the more you want to apply it. Why study prophecy? Why seek to be watchful and respect the signs? Aside from the fact that we are commanded to? (Mark 13:37).

I study prophecy because -

--it is part of the bible, God's revelation of Himself through holy inspired word
--it is commanded (See above)
--it instills in me an urgency to live righteously and to witness. We don't study just for the information and go our way. It has to affect our Christian walk, just as any scripture does.
--It comforts me to think of these promises being fulfilled:

"In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and peoples will stream to it. Many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. (Micah 4:1-2)

If you are driving in a fogbank, you get disoriented. You slow down. You look carefully. You are on high alert. You see a fogline at the edge and you know how far to go.

When in the fog you look for distinct landmarks, but the fog may be so heavy you don't see them unless they are large or unless they are close. Eventually you start to emerge from the fogbank and you can see more clearly, landmarks near and far.

It is like these days, we are emerging from the fogbank. The prophetic unclarity is lifting. And even this is a prophetic fulfillment:

"But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.” (Daniel 12:4).

I'm convinced that the last 5 years' sudden burst of interest in, understanding of and controversy about prophecy is that it is a progressive fulfillment of the Daniel verse above.

The knowledge that is increasing is not just worldly knowledge like what makes the sun work and how to beat cancer. It is also knowledge of the prophecies, and we are gaining that knowledge because it is the time of the end, and the fogbank is lifting. Christians see the signs, and non-Christians feel something is about to happen.

I liken myself and other watchmen to the fogline: we inhabit the edge, and sound the warning about going too far. 'Your doctrine is drifting!' we say. We do this because we are protectors of the truth, contending for the faith. We live on the boundary and when someone is about to wander off we sound the alarm, and their course is hopefully corrected... While everyone is coming and going and using their gifts in church, we keep watch for potential collisions.

I feel an ever burdened weight to speak and to write. Look at the following sermon excerpt regarding the burden Jude felt:

"Like Paul, who wrote to the Corinthians, “For necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:16, nkjv), Jude felt the necessity—a heavy burden or mandate—to write. Agcho, the root of the noun rendered necessity, means literally “compress.” Jude recognized that he was a watchman for the truth (cf. Ezek. 3:16–21) who could not simply watch in silence as his readers slipped into error. His fervent passion for sound doctrine, especially regarding the gospel, made even the thought of false teaching a heavy burden on his heart (cf. 2 Cor. 11:28). And he and his readers would not be able to share a common salvation if they lost the gospel." (source)

Again, why study prophecy?
--We are observing and studying not just for knowledge:
--to learn the entire sweep and scope of God's promises,
--to instill a wonder at His sovereign hand from beginning to end,
--to create in us an urgency so as to live righteously and to share boldly,
--to be encouraged.

I have a sincere love of the brethren that we stay strong and thus receive the ultimate blessings of God: closeness with Him in light and in truth. As we all go down the narrow path toward glory, won't it be wonderful on that Day when we are raised to heaven and there will be no more need for watchfulness. All will be clear sailing. No more wolves, no more false doctrine, no more false teachers, no more alarms. No more watchmen! Just a blessed rest and peace with Jesus.

source

Your new name!

Here is a prophecy to look forward to!

Believers, if you have been faithful and your persevering walk is evidence of that faith, you will be given a pass into eternal glory upon which the Lord of Hosts, the Ancient of Days, the Holy-Holy-Holy Lord has written upon it Himself, personally for just YOU!

"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.’' (Revelation 2:17)

"But there's an interesting little historical note, when a victor won in the games, whatever great games were being held, it was not uncommon for the victor to be given as part of his prize a white stone. And the white stone was his admission pass into the festival that was held following the games for all the victors. Could it be that the overcomer will receive the ticket to the eternal victory in heaven?"

Commentary on that verse:
"And then He says, "And a new name written on the stone," and I read where they would do that. They would give the victor, like a trophy, a stone with his name and he alone could use it as his pass. "A new name written on the stone which no one knows, but he who receives it." I can't tell you how many people have asked me...what is that name? A lady will come to me any time I preach on the book of Revelation and say, "What is the name that no man knows?" Folks, I don't know what the name is. If I knew what the name was then this verse couldn't say what it says, it would have to say, "And no one knows except John MacArthur." The only one who knows what it says is the person who receives it, that's how personal it is. What it is to me is some kind of personal message from Christ to the one He loves which is given as an admission pass into eternal glory. I'll know mine and you'll know yours and we'll know the Lord wrote them for each of us and for none of the others of us." (source)

WOOP! It is huge to think of the precious Savior not only saving me, not only guiding and protecting me, not only providing for me, but when He brings me to glory (amazing!) He gives me a personal message just for me, out of the millions thronging there!

Friend, if you have ever been picked last, if you have ever had unwanted divorce thrust upon you, if you have ever been fired from a job, marginalized at home, or left in any feeling invisible and unwanted, THIS should pick you up. A secret message/name is waiting for you, just for you, with the Savior's love and care personally imprinting it and gracefully extending it to you in heaven. What a day that will be!!!!!!!

Leroy NY incident: diagnosis is in, it's 'mass hysteria'

On January of this year, I posted an essay which reported that students at a western NY high school in LeRoy NY had come down with...something. At that time, doctors, school officials, and parents were not sure what they were dealing with. A bunch of girls who attend the school suddenly started showing symptoms of Tourette's Syndrome. They began twitching, having tics, involuntary movements, and for some, their schooling was impacted. They had to drop out of sports teams or drop out of school entirely.

Then a teacher at the school came down with it, and several other people, including a couple of boys. At that point it made national news. The school had conducted tests to determine if their location was a cause. The famed environmental lawyer Eron Brokovich came on the scene to determine if there was an environmental cause. Doctors were consulted. Everyone came up with empty hands.

One doctor dared to state that it was probably a condition known as "mass hysteria" but that diagnosis was resisted. They decided to simply call it Tourette's. At that point I got interested. Mass Hysteria is a real diagnosis, and is one that is at root of another famed incident: the Salem Witch Trials.

Here are the two previous essays I posted on the Leroy NY mass hysteria incident.

January 20, 2012: "Outbreak of mass hysteria (or demon infestation) in Leroy NY"
January 28, 2012: "Update on LeRoy NY Tourette's outbreak"

There is new news of the incident. They found no toxins anywhere, the girls were not on drugs, vaccines were ruled out, Tourette's doesn't have sudden onset (they finally admitted) and eventually a diagnosis of mass hysteria was declared unequivocally this week:

"Mass Hysteria Confirmed in NY School"
"A bizarre illness affecting nearly 20 students at a Western New York Junior-Senior High school now has an official diagnosis: mass hysteria.The students, almost all of them girls, and mostly friends, began experiencing involuntary jerks and tics. Sometimes their limbs, neck or face would suddenly spasm; other times they would twitch, grunt, or shout. It was strange and troubling behavior, made all the more scary because it had no clear cause."

"Mass psychogenic disorder is a rare -- but not unheard of -- phenomenon. The disorder is usually characterized by the mysterious spread of a variety of symptoms without a discernible cause. It frequently occurs in isolated communities. Teenagers and girls are also frequent victims. Collective hysteria can spread when a fear exists of exposure to a disease, combined with a contained, stressful environment."

This is very interesting to me because as I mentioned in the two essays I linked to above, the Salem Witch Trials in the late 1600s began in exactly this same way. Several teenage girls began manifesting symptoms remarkably like the girls in NY, and like wildfire, the 'disease' spread from house to house. The reasons for the hangings that resulted has multiple and complex reasons- cultural, religious, demonic, and societal. There was a feud going on between the merchants and the farmers. A growing town always fights over its direction (to develop or not to develop?) when they hit an important crossroads in its identity. The girls admitted to experimenting with voodoo with Tituba, their South American Indian maid who had been a slave in Barbados. Tituba had also made a witchcake containing dog urine and rye, which is fed to a dog in hopes of determining the person afflicting the sick. 

Boredom, pride, and covetousness, and gossip can equally be said to blame for the Salem incident's catalyst. And satan is behind all of those, not to mention the localized practices of voodoo, casting bones, and fortune telling some of the girls and Tituba admitted to!

As the year of the Witch Trials crescendoed and then  ended with a whimper, the aftermath included church-wide repentance, and in particular, "On August 25, 1706, Ann Putnam Jr., one of the most active accusers, joined the Salem Village church, she publicly asked forgiveness. She claimed that she had not acted out of malice, but was being deluded by Satan into denouncing innocent people..." (source)

Any time there is unexplained mass illness it needs to be looked at carefully by the officials whose duty it is to serve and protect the vulnerable in our society. However in this day and age, demonic influence is rarely discussed as a possible root cause of the problem. It was all right for the "backward Puritcanical bible thumpers" to blame satan, but not today.

As I mentioned, the reasons that the Salem Witch Hysteria took off were complex, coming to the fore from a variety of factors. However, the Salem incident is listed today among the medical texts as a case of mass psychogenic illness. (source)

The same could well be true of the Leroy Mass Hysteria incident. There is one question I am sure was not asked amid the tests and diagnoses and reports that resulted in 6000 pages which concluded "We don't know why this is happening". Were the girls experimenting with tarot, palm reading, fortune telling or occult in any way? The answer would be very revealing.

Traci Leubner, one of the girls afflicted, said of the Leroy NY testing results, “It's freaky, because they didn't find anything. There wasn't like a, 'this is what happened'. It was kind of mysterious.” (source)

Please be in continued prayer for the Leroy NY girls and also for the vulnerable of our society everywhere. I long for the day when our children will be safe.

Of Brimstone and Earthquakes

One of the most interesting to me, and by the look of the blog statistics, others as well, is earthquakes as an end times sign. Jesus said that as a sign of His coming there would be earthquakes in diverse places. (Matthew 24:7). Of course, He gave other signs too. And also of course, one earthquake does not mean the end is near.

The end time is actually the time when Jesus ascended and will end when He comes back. So by that token, there have been many earthquakes over the last 2000 years. So what makes so many of us so sure that this is the end of the end time?

Jesus also said that the signs of His coming will be as birth pangs on a woman. (many parallel verses here.) The earth will travail and groaneth as in labor. (Romans 8:22).

You have to think about how labor pains work. The pregnancy gestates, at first unnoticed. Then the baby bump appears. It grows larger, seemingly slowly at first, then quickly. Finally the labor begins with the water breaking (I liken that to the rapture). After the water breaks the real labor has arrived. At first the pangs are painful but bearable. They come far apart. But then they increase with intensity and finally they are unbearably overlapping, painfully crashing one upon the other.

So in the early part of the century there was an earthquake or two here and there. But now, the quakes (and other signs too, I hasten to add) are all happening more frequently with more intensity. So let's look at quakes.

There was only 1 major quake this past week. (June 10-16). "Major" quakes according to the US Geological Survey are quakes with a magnitude above 6.0 There was a 6.0 in Taiwan.

There were some smaller quakes in unusual places:

4.2 Pakistan
3.1 Dallas
2.5 Urban area Oklahoma City
2.8 near Oklahoma City
3.3 near Oklahoma City
5.3 Turkey-Iraq-Syria border region
2.6 Colorado
2.7 Colorado
4.0, 4.2, 5.7, 5.4, 4.6 Afghanistan

As I have been sharing, the end time prophesies are not just contained in Matthew 24. They are all over the entire bible. As a matter of fact, there is an end time judgment reference in every New Testament book except Philemon. And of course, Revelation is the granddaddy of the bible books with the most information in one place regarding the promises of God in the last days.

Mexico's Volcano Popocatepetl

In Joel chapter 2 there is a reference to "columns of smoke". "And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes." (Joel 2:30-31).

The Hebrew word defines column of smoke as a pillar or palm-like tree trunk. It is a vivid picture, and can, in my opinion, be interpreted as volcanic column of ash and smoke. For the last three years, volcanoes the scientists thought were dormant have been popping back to life, sometimes very unexpectedly (Chile's Chaiten).

Science fact of the day: Did you know that the biblical term for "brimstone" is the chemical element sulfur? Elemental sulfur can be found near hot springs and volcanic regions in many parts of the world, especially along the Pacific Ring of Fire. Hydrogen sulfide is the compound that smells like rotten eggs.

Smith's bible dictionary explains: "Brimstone, or sulphur, is found in considerable quantities on the shores of the Dead Sea. (Genesis 19:24). It is a well-known simple mineral substance, crystalline, easily melted, very inflammable, and when burning emits a peculiar suffocating odor. It is found in great abundance near volcanoes. The soil around Sodom and Gomorrah abounded in sulphur and bitumen." The bible refers to brimstone 14 times. The Lake of Fire burns with brimstone, "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death" (Revelation 21:8).

Though I don't have quantifiable numbers, it seems that along with quakes, volcanic activity has dampened somewhat these last two or three weeks. The calm before the storm? Or the catching of breath before the next, bigger pang?

Ancient and startling petroglyphs found: perhaps of Nephilim?

There is a biblical subject I can safely say fascinates many Christians: the Nephilim.

The interpretation of Genesis 6:1-8 has in recent times been a controversy, but did you know that until the 4th century that it was uniformly - and correctly - interpreted with no controversy? The Septuagint actually translates 'sons of God' as angels, because that is who they are. Here is the text. It says what it says:

"When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. Then the LORD said, "My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years." The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown. The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the LORD said, "I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them." But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD."

The bible records after the Fall of man in Genesis 3 that there were sons of God who mated with daughters of man and spawned a race of giants. They were called the Nephilim. Many have ascribed the resulting hybrid race as the Nephilim but the word nephal means to fall, and I believe the Nephilim are actually the fallen angels who did the mating. The fallen angels/Nephilim who did the deed are in chains in the gloomiest dungeon now, as punishment for corrupting man, and as a warning to others who might try the same thing again. (Jude 1:6)

The topic has gotten an unsavory tinge to it not only due to the unwarranted controversy because of the incorrect interpretation, but because I would think also the sexual mating.

Let's look at the verse. The angels mated with woman, and in the next verse God declared His Spirit would not strive with man forever. Then the verse says that they were the mighty men of renown, and the LORD declares the earth was evil, He was sorry He had made man, and He will wipe out man (except Noah.)

If the evil of man and the cataclysmic judgment of same was inextricably tied to the Nephilim, don't you think it behooves us to study it?? Especially since Jesus said that the days before the next cataclysmic judgment would be like the Days of Noah??? (Matthew 24:37). Avoiding this topic makes no sense.

When I read archaeological sites and they present petroglyphs of ancient alien-like beings, I personally believe they are depicting the Nephilim who were on earth on those days. Nephilim are aliens: off-planet dwellers visiting earth, bringing with them their superior knowledge and powers, and shining with a bright light. After all, how did the Pyramids get built? What are the Nazca Lines? Why were there such advanced civilizations at places like Peru's Machu Picchu or the US Southwest's Anasazi, which mysteriously died out just as quickly as they appeared? When the Nephilim were on earth on those days, I am sure that they were plenty busy, and not just with women. They didn't come here just to mate, but to thwart God's plan. Remember, satan's goal is to be like the Most High, to be worshiped. Satan has a plan, too. (Isaiah 14:13-15). The Nephilim were busy interacting with man in a way that would corrupt civilization in every arena, including spiritual as well as emotional, agricultural, geo-physical, sexual, societal... And by the verse in Genesis 6:5, they were successful.

There are ancient petroglyphs showing strange looking 'alien-like' beings. Often they are depicted with glowing heads or as shining beings. Also they are often depicted as being very large in size. Here's one:

This one is also from Australia, where
the new petroglyphs were discovered

Today some ancient rock art was discovered that not only depict otherworldly type beings, but they are drawn in the act of having sex. The news articles (lol, the UK Daily Mail tabloid would be the first to pick up on it...) are snickeringly calling it "ancient porn." The intricate paintings depict strange looking and rather large men having relations with women. Here is the news article link:

Aboriginal erotic rock art proves that – even 28,000 years ago – men had ONE thing on their minds

The area is only accessible by a 90-minute helicopter ride into the Australian interior. I thought that was probably the most interesting fact in the whole article. Though the article reports the archaeologists as dating the rock art to 28,000 years ago, Christians know that cannot be true. However it does indicate the ancient age of the art, raising the likelihood of it having been drawn at the time the Nephilim were on the earth.

Now, a caution. While I said up above that it behooves us to study the Nephilim, I meant from the bible. There are a host of weird and flaky websites that have wild theories and many frankly are spam sites. We study man's fallen condition from his progression from his creation in Genesis 1, to his fall in Genesis 3, to the depths of corruption in Genesis 6. Chasing after ancient aliens diverts us from studying the Most High God.

Another note: The Daily Mail is known for its large photos with lots of short captions in between. If you click on the headline above from the Daily Mail, be aware that there is a large photo showing the large men in the petroglyphs and they all sport something else that is extremely large, too.

Here are a couple of links to essays that deal with the Genesis 6 text in expositional fashion. The information is from solid sources. Do go there and read them, if you have any questions about the interpretation of the Nephilim passages.

Apostates, Be Warned, Part 2

Who were the sons of God?

So that is your weird news of the day!

Update on fortune telling class

I wrote yesterday about a situation that we have become aware of at our local library. A two-part class aimed at teenagers ages 12-18 was to be held on the subject of interpreting dreams, palm reading, and fortune telling.

Praise the Lord, the Library cancelled the class! Thank YOU for your prayers and concern!! Children were protected. Jesus' name was proclaimed in the secular arena. It is all good.

I can't overstress how serious the sin of divination is. (Explanation on what divination is at above link). Attempting to obtain information about our destiny, or about the other side apart from God revealing it to us is a horrific rebellion that He hates. He has called it an abomination, and forbids it in many scriptures in the Old Testament and the New.

Remember when Saul was told by God to kill all the Amalekites and their goods and cattle, but Saul coveted the cattle. His pride in victory over the fierce Agag pushed Saul to let Agag live and Saul took the cattle too. God was angry. He immediately rejected Saul as King. God said,

"For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king.” (1 Sam 15:23)

God likened Saul's outright disobedience to divination. Of course, both of those sins, rebellion and divination, are both acts that people perpetrate outside of God's bounds.

As for the fortune telling, I had had enough. I drew the line. As Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Captain of the Starship Enterprise famously said:

"I will not sacrifice the Enterprise. We've made too many compromises already, too many retreats. They invade our space and we fall back. They assimilate entire worlds and we fall back. Not again. The line must be drawn here! This far, no farther! And I will make them pay for what they've done!"

Of course God will punish, not me. One can only take a quote metaphor so far. But the line was drawn for me on this subject of fortune telling, palm reading, etc. No farther! We must protect our children. We must stand up for Jesus!

I listened to Stand up, Stand Up for Jesus today. I looked into the writing of that old hymn. Here is the story:  Episcopalian Reverend Dudley A. Tyng (1825-1858) was a dynamic preacher known for taking strong stands against evil, no matter what the cost. His sermon regarding the evils of slavery in America is still in print today. This sermon resulted in him being removed from one of his pastorates. On Tuesday, March 30, 1858, Tyng preached a sermon on Exodus 10:11, “Go now ye that are men and serve the Lord”, at a YMCA noon mass meeting. Tyng delivered his message to 5,000 men that day. More than 1,000 of those men responded to the altar call, to receive Jesus as their Savior. Just over a week later, Tyng lay dying as a result of a tragic accident. His final statement, whispered to friends and family, was “Let us all stand up for Jesus.”

Now we just have to remain vigilant around here that the class doesn't re-appear!

We all have our line in the sand. We make too many retreats. We make too many compromises. I will not sacrifice the children. I have nothing to fear wading into the battle, because Jesus is my Commander in Chief. And He has already won.

UPDATED 2X--Rumors: Russia to escort Assad out of Syria?

UPDATE #2
IDF: Iran Realizing Assad is Finished
DF Spokesperson Brigadier General Yoav (Poly) Mordechai said Friday that Syria's allies Iran and Hizbullah are coming to realize that Bashar Assad's regime has “reached its end."“Another week is almost over, during which the desperate effort by Iran and Hizbullah to help the Assad regime survive was evident,

UPDATE #1
A story below mentioned that the US had enlisted UK's aid in stopping the alleged shipment by Russia of helicopters to war-torn Syria. Today the UK Telegraph reports "A Russian ship believed to be carrying helicopters and missiles for Syria has been effectively stopped in its tracks off the coast of Scotland after its insurance was cancelled at the behest of the British government.' More here
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During the fog of war there is by definition a clash of truth and rumor. It becomes very hard to know what is true and what's a feint. What is propaganda and what is accurate. With that in mind I bring you some news of the events in the fast-unfolding arena of imminent prophecy fulfillment: Syria, Israel, Egypt.

Syria, which Isaiah 17 prophesies its capital city of Damascus and environs will be totally destroyed, has been in the news since winter of 2011. The citizens rose up against its dictator, much like the citizens in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Algeria, Libya etc did. Except the Syrian uprising is still going on. The feeling of imminent fulfillment deepened last week when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reported that Russia was planning to deliver attack helicopters to Syria's leader, Bashar al-Assad. The two nations have been allies for 40 years, and Syria is Russia's biggest customer for war weapons.

Egypt has also been in the news, with the uprising, capture of dictator Mubarek, and Muslim Brotherhood ascension to power, and now their elections. Isaiah 19 is an unfulfilled prophecy regarding Egypt in the last days.

It is also no coincidence that Russia began expanding Syria's port of Tartus last year so that it can host Russian warships. Tartus is the only port on the Mediterranean that Russia has access to. For Russia, having an ally and thus a presence in Syria is critical. Russia is in prophecy in Ezekiel 38-39 as a participant in the Gog-Magog war.

That was the background. Several news stories caught my eye this morning.

EGYPT-ISRAEL

Amid presidential elections, al-Qaida leader urges Egypt to cancel treaty with Israel
"Al-Qaida's leader has urged Egypt to cancel its peace treaty with Israel and to establish Islamic rule, according to an audio message released Sunday. He said the goal was to stop Israel from turning Jerusalem into a Jewish city."

IDF moves tanks closer to Egypt
"The IDF has deployed Armored forces near the Israel-Egypt border, moving tanks closer to the fence, Ynet has learned. The unusual move followed Monday's terror attack on defense contractor crews building the new security fence"

RUSSIA-SYRIA

US enlists Britain's help to stop ship 'carrying Russian attack helicopters' to Syria
"The US government has enlisted Britain's help in a bid to stop a ship suspected of carrying Russian attack helicopters and missiles to conflict-riven Syria, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal."

Stop the presses! Forget the helicopters, that was so yesterday. Today Russia just upped the ante from helicopters, to warships and troops.

Russia to send ships and marines to Syria
"Two Russian navy ships are completing preparations to sail to Syria with a unit of marines on a mission to protect Russian citizens and the nation’s base there, a news report said Monday. The deployment appears to reflect Moscow’s growing concern about Syrian President Bashar Assad’s future."

Ahhh, now here comes the rumor:

Russian Commandos 'to Escort Assad Out of Syria'
"Ships carrying Russian commandos may soon sail to Syria to escort strongman Bashar Assad to safety from the country where a rebellion against him is growing fiercer.Reports to this effect were cited by Voice of Israel radio's veteran "listener" Miki Gurdus, who specializes in listening to radio broadcasts on various frequencies worldwide."

Of course Israel is in prophecy, everywhere. Most applicable today is the prophecy in Zechariah 12:1-2.

"The burden of the word of the LORD concerning Israel: Thus declares the LORD, who stretched out the heavens and founded the earth and formed the spirit of man within him: 2“Behold, I am about to make Jerusalem a cup of staggering to all the surrounding peoples."

While Isaiah 19 foretells a time of strife and wrath from the Lord upon Egypt, it is hopeful to know that God has a glorious future in store for Egypt (and Assyria and Israel as well!!) Egypt turns to the Lord! Assyria is blessed! (What IS Assyria? Here is a map)

Isaiah 19 ends with the following promise that will be fulfilled in the Millennium:

"In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the LORD at its border. It will be a sign and a witness to the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry to the LORD because of oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and deliver them. And the LORD will make himself known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians will know the LORD in that day and worship with sacrifice and offering, and they will make vows to the LORD and perform them.

"And the LORD will strike Egypt, striking and healing, and they will return to the LORD, and he will listen to their pleas for mercy and heal them. In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the LORD of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.”' (Is 19:19-25)

The LORD is good!

It is my opinion that with events moving into place so quickly and the probable fulfillment of these prophecies coming into view, nay, landing on our laps, that the rapture is even closer. The rapture is an event that has no sign, and could happen at any moment. It is dependent upon Jesus taking the full number of believers that he has set aside, (Romans 11:25) and we don't know what that number is or how close we are to it. That is why the rapture has always been imminent, meaning, could occur at any time. It is not dependent upon one certain thing occurring before it could take place.

In listening to Pastor JD Farag's weekly prophecy update last night, he said he is changing his message from "get ready" to "BE ready." He said it is too late to get ready. Make preparations now for being snatched up to the Lord. No more waiting, no more dithering, no more researching, no more wondering. This is it. The rapture seems so close, he said, in his opinion, it is closer than any of us can imagine.

I agree.

He referenced the rapidly moving events that coincide with what the Lord said to look for and what the Lord promised would happen. Things are moving at a day-by-day clip now, with each dawn unfolding new developments that seem to be ripped out of the pages of the bible. Now is the time to know the Lord through repentance of your sins and acceptance of Him as Savior and Lord.

WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED??

"Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved." (Romans 10:9-10)

Believe upon the Gospel. WHAT IS THE GOSPEL?

The basic ingredients of the gospel message are the death, burial, resurrection, and appearances of the resurrected Christ. "Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel that I preached to you, that you received and on which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received—that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve… (1Corinthians 15:1-5)

He was buried, so His death became an established fact. He was resurrected which witnesses verified, therefore His claims of being God were verified. He is who He says He is: God in the flesh, come to seek and save the lost in their sins by becoming the sacrifice upon which God poured out all His wrath for sin, so we would not have to bear it. He took the penalty for it. However, His though His death and resurrection provided the way, it is the ONLY way to heaven and thus of escaping God's wrath. Any other way is not the pardon, it is the death sentence.

Do we have to work our way into heaven? Even if we accept Jesus?

No. His grace is sufficient. "For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace." (Romans 6:14)

"Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” (John 6:29)

Repent and believe! The end is nigh.

Gay demographics: what are the REAL numbers?

If the homosexual lobby is to be believed, every other person you bump into is gay. At work, at home, in town, in the city, in church, the more vocal activists in the lobby make it seem like people who self-identify as homosexual or lesbian are a major portion of the population.

They scream about rights, and their civic due, and not being marginalized any more like any other large minority group, such as African Americans. Black people as a major minority rose up in the 1960s to claim their civil rights, the gay lobby says, and homosexual lobby now makes the same claims. Homosexually-oriented people are elected to office, serve as community leaders, even preach from pulpits. There is a homosexual character on most sitcoms now, either as a regular character or as a recurring character. Homosexual references are made on scripted shows and on reality television shows, movies, and books. Christian colleges have gay support clubs now. We are literally saturated with the notion that homosexuality is the norm. Heck, even the animals do it, so it must be normal, right?

Not so fast.

I opened with "If the homosexual lobby is to be believed..." but what are really the statistics on numbers of self-identified gay and lesbian people in America? Can we believe those numbers? I am not talking about a girl who experimented once when she was 12, or the guy who woke up sorry and embarrassed after the drunken orgy of a frat party. I am talking the militant, life-long, "out" homosexuals who choose to live that lifestyle as mirror to heterosexuality.

No. We can't believe the numbers. They're a crock.

"Americans Have No Idea How Few Gay People There Are"
"One in ten. It's the name of the group that puts on the Reel Affirmations gay and lesbian film festival in Washington, D.C., each year. It's the percent popularized by the Kinsey Report as the size of the gay male population. And it's among the most common figures pointed to in popular culture as an estimate of how many people are gay or lesbian. But what percentage of the population is actually gay or lesbian? With the debate over same-sex marriage again an emerging fault line in American political life, the answer comes as a surprise: A lower number than you might think -- and a much, much, much lower one than most Americans believe."

So, what are the numbers? Well, Americans believe a quarter of the population is gay. The true number is about 4% and is probably probably closer to 2%. A 2011 report by the Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation estimated that 4 million adults identify as gay or lesbian, representing 1.7% of the population over 18. (source)

That is some very successful perception-altering on their part. So how is it that the homosexual lobby has made it seem like you can't swing a cat in the Bible Belt without hitting a queen or a dyke? Because of this.

Bunheads.

Bunheads is a new ABC Family show by the producers of Gilmore Girls. I never saw the tv show Gilmore Girls but every news story I read about Bunheads identifies the show that way so I will too. Bunheads is the nickname for ballerinas, and the show that made its debut last Monday is touted as a new family oriented entertainment.

I saw the pilot and I liked it. I thought the writing was sophisticated and witty, the show was emotional without being sentimental, and I put it on the list for future watching.

So what is my concern with the show and how does it relate to the vastly overestimated homosexual numbers? Here:

At one point toward the end of the pilot episode, which is on ABC Family I remind us all, the mom-in-law character was having a heart to heart talk with her new daughter-in-law. The girl had just married the mom's son and had moved into their home in a town called Paradise.

The scene took place in a roadhouse toward the end of the show, a show in which constant references had been made for the last 90 minutes to the smallness of this rural seaside town. It is small. There is no movie theatre. It has just about one store. (Giving directions to a newcomer- "Go to Main Street, turn left, and look for the store called Sparkles.") The teens, when feeling frisky and up to no good, break into the library and, gulp, read. It's so small that teenagers literally have nothing else to do but read? THAT is how small, out of the way, and retiring this little town is. Even the show synopsis calls it a "sleepy coastal town."

So back to the scene. The new daughter-in-law asks about the dancers attending the mom-in-law's ballet class. The teenage girls all had a story, and of one, the mom-in-law said,

"Her dad's gay. Oh, he thinks it's a big secret but we all know. Thing is, if he would just come out of the closet he would smile once in a while. And plus, there are a lot of very nice, single gay men in town."

A town so small has "a lot" of gay men? The perception the homosexual lobby would have us believe, and uses family entertainment to do it, is that literally just about everyone is gay. Bombard a population with that message for thirty years and you get a new generation coming up who thinks everyone is gay. And if there are so many gays, then it must be normal. That is the strategy. Normalization through numbers.

Of course I'm not blaming the entire skewed perception on one television show, but it is representative of the insidious but casual nature that scripted tv and movies: that every closet has a gay person lurking inside it, summoning up the courage to leap "out." We have been saturated with casual one-off lines like the one in Bunheads casually declaring that there are "a lot" even in this small town. 'We don't have a theater but we've got our gays!'

You can see the success the homosexual lobby has had in altering the perception of a nation of over 300 million souls. The homosexual lifestyle is an aberration. Some succumb and choose it. Make no mistake, though, it is a choice, not an identity. I understand the fight that homosexual people have in resisting that aberrant behavior. All people attempt to resist sin in some form or fashion. I understand also that some sins are more besetting than others. God will still judge them.

BUT, God in His loving kindness, accepts the repentance of one who seeks to shed that lifestyle and turn to Him. His mercy is greater than any sin, and He listens to prayers beseeching deliverance. Here is a moving three minute clip from a testimony John MacArthur shared of a homosexual's repentance. (The clip says 7 minutes but the audio goes out after three minutes.) It is quite moving:

If you are involved in a homosexual lifestyle, or any lifestyle that is unacceptable to God, please repent. Ask Him to forgive your sins, and make Him Lord. His wisdom is so vast that he will lead you into a life that is purer and more peaceful than you can ever imagine.

And Christians? If the US population of born again believers was 3% of the total population, and we had been as vocal (but not law-breaking) and persistent as the homosexual lobby has been, where would this nation be now? Joel C. Rosenberg is working hard right now with his "Implosion" simulcast in Houston today, praying for revival. You can join him in prayer and on Facebook at the Epicenter Team page.

It all begins with prayer. For the penitent homosexual, reviler, blasphemer, slanderer, it begins with a prayer of repentance. With the Christian, it continues with prayer. Seek Him while He may be found.

"Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts;let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." (Isaiah 55:6-7 ESV)

Spiritual warfare: there is a right way and a wrong way

[Updated to add two photos]

I'm still thinking about my last post about the fallen angels and satan flooding the earth. It will be a time of potent evil.

The Christian is always engaged in spiritual warfare, it is a fact of life. The bible tells us in many ways and in many books that we are to be vigilant. The most famous of these warnings is when Peter said,

"Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." (1 Peter 5:8- ESV).

There is a lot of truth in there. Let's unpack it for a moment before we go on. Be sober-minded, and then he emphasizes again, be watchful. The word for sober literally means to be not drunk with wine, and figuratively, be free from the drunken influences that sin causes, so that you may keep your wits about you. You don't want a drunk person driving you around in your car, do you? A drunk babysitter? A drunk security guard at your store? A drunk sentry at the barracks? No, of course not. When we are drunk with alcohol or sin, we cannot act in a responsible manner.

Be watchful means just that, as well: watch, be vigilant. The literal Greek word translated to English means "stay awake." Too many of us fall asleep on our Christian walk. The figurative meaning is also obvious, stay on the alert.

Then Peter said "your adversary the devil..." Devil means adversary, (and slanderer) so using both adversary and devil in rapid succession drives the point home. The word adversary also has a legal connotation. Satan acts as such an adversary, "bringing the (law)suit of darkness against believers for their eternal damnation." He is the opponent at Law.

The word prowls connotes constant, sneaky, quiet motion. But the Greek word is peripateo, from which we get peripatetic in English. A peripatetic person is someone who walks around constantly, a wayfarer, a traveler.

A roaring lion...why did Peter use the Holy Spirit's inspired word "roaring"? Doesn't that contradict with prowling? Why would satan sneakily prowl but then announce his presence by roaring at his prey? Well, did you know that in real life, "resident males only roar when they are on their own territory. So the first thing we can say about roaring in males is that it is a display of ownership that is only given by residents on their own territory." We know that satan is god of this world, (2 Corinthians 4:4) given authority and power on earth (Mt 4:7-9).

Wiki Answers explains the lion's roar: "They roar to communicate with each other and they roar to proclaim where their territory is, they do this every evening. Roaring is also one of their strategies for catching prey - they creep up on the prey and when they are close enough, they will let out a roar that confuses that animal(s) and strikes fear into the lion's prey. The prey then cannot "think" or react correctly out of fear and so is trapped and caught by the lion."

Seeking whom he may devour...the Greek word means "swallow, devour, destroy, consume."

It is clear: we have an enemy we must always vigilantly be on guard from. But now here is the point of the essay.

People engaged in misguided spiritual warfare fancy themselves as warriors brandishing swords, going out deliberately and purposely engaging with demons. This kind of wayward spiritual warfare uses "spiritual mapping." The proponents go to a territory or neighborhood and try to uncover the demonic obstacles that are hindering spiritual growth in that location. Through spiritual mapping they attempt to discover the specific hindrances to the Gospel message in an area, such as divination, or fortune telling, and then, through persistent intercession performed in various ways, remove them. They believe that if they know first that it is a spirit of fortune telling that is blocking the flourishing of the Gospel in that neighborhood, they pray in that direction, then they can share the Gospel and God can do His work.

The seminal book on this type of warfare is James Dawson's 1989 book Taking Our Cities For God in with the subtitle: "How to Break Spiritual Strongholds". C. Peter Wagner is the next generation carrying this kind of spiritual warfare forward. In the book Mr Dawson stated, "To overcome the enemy we must resist temptation ourselves and then continue in united, travailing prayer until we sense that we have gained authority and that God has broken through." The approach is man-centered, with conditions that must be met before God can be effective. You see how wrong this approach is.

On its face this is unbiblical. Not that there aren't hindrances to the Gospel. We read up above that satan is the god of this world. Earth is his territory, all of it. Not that we are supposed to succumb to temptation. Not at all. But one can simply acknowledge that there will be hindrances to the Gospel and get on with sharing it. Paul didn't spend two weeks at Mars Hill walking about the area spiritually mapping it, learning the history of the city, discerning its moral weaknesses, deciding which demon was working where. After the scales fell from Saul's eyes, Saul, now Paul, "At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God." (Acts 9:20). At once.

"When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues." (Acts 13:5). Did Paul walk around for a few weeks, gather a focus group, and discern which spirits were were hindering the word of Jesus? No. He simply walked in and told them about Jesus. Preach the gospel, witness, disciple.

How did Jesus engage in spiritual warfare? When satan tempted Jesus in the desert, Jesus answered with the Word. He said, "It is written." Jesus didn't go into the desert and say "Satan, come out come out wherever you are so I can bind you before I do this work here!"

The problem with this kind of spiritual warfare is that the soldiers take their eyes off Jesus. They wind up looking for demons instead of looking at Jesus. They get so wrapped up in searching out the demonic that they go off on tangents when it is Jesus they should be looking to all the time.

The other unbiblical aspect of this kind of offensive warfare, as opposed to defensive, is that the verse in James 4:7 states: "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." Every translation says the same.

The verse does not say "Engage the devil and he will flee from you."
The verse does not say "Charge at the devil & he will flee from you."
The verse does not say "Bind the devil and he will flee from you."
The verse does not say "Locate the devil and he will flee from you."

It says resist. It is the Gospel that has the power to make the spirits flee. The Gospel has the power to bind the devil's work. The evil spirits are not scared of us. They are scared of the power of Jesus. Even the angel Michael did not rebuke satan in his own power. (Jude 1:9). It is defensive action, not offensive.

The seven sons of Sceva were going around binding spirits. One day, "the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?”" (Acts 19:15). The Sons of Sceva were relying on a methodology, applying it uniformly in every town they went. So it is the same with the methodology of spiritual mapping and offensive spiritual warfare as opposed to the biblical method of defensively resisting, sharing, witnessing and discipling.

Be mindful of the schemes of the devil and his spirits, rebuke when you come across them in Jesus' authority. We always seek a balance. We don't underestimate them and we don't overestimate them. They are not under every rock, but they do exist. They are not the root cause of every failed neighborhood, but they do love to cavort in ruined waste places.

Our best defense against satan is knowing the word and being ready to apply it when satan does come, as Jesus showed us in his handling of spiritual warfare.

"Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world." (1 John 4:4)

Huge swarm of grasshoppers invades rural California town

I shouldn't look at my stats. I get depressed doing that. I mean, I'm blessed to have a few thousand per day visit the site. Since it began three and a half years ago, 1.4 million people have stopped in for one reason or another. I'm thrilled for that.

They come for all different reasons. Some come from Googling key words and landing here, some come from a bookmark, and some have wandered over from my other blog. But mostly, looking at the stats for each post, I see a trend that makes me sad.

I put prayer and thought into each post, but the doctrinal posts, the ones about the bible directly either through interpretation of a passage or using a passage to share encouragement, get some good amount of hits.

But is has always been the weird posts that get the most hits. Weird, and weather. And when we have weird weather together it busts the hit counter. I'd like to continue to delude myself that people come here for the Jesus stuff, but it is not so, the stats tell me. Well, I lure you in with the freak weather posts and then talk about Jesus in every post anyway, bwahaha.

Today the post with the most is "Tornado Sweeps Across Venice Italy." It is really sending out the siren call to people from near and far. This week's top view-getter is "Transgendered Chastity Bono and Dancing with the Stars", for some reason. The piece was news 9 months ago. Oh, well, praise the Lord that they come for any reason.

The Ghost horse of Cairo Egypt's Tahrir Square is still reeling in the hits as all time heavy hitter.

Weather especially will claim the internet surfer's attention. The freak hail in CO I wrote about earlier in the week is clipping along in the hits department. The post "Indian villagers attacked by swarms of suddenly appearing spiders" is holding its own, too.

Here is another one that will be sure to attract a lot of views:

Huge swarm of grasshoppers invades rural California town
"A massive swarm of grasshoppers has invaded a rural town in Sacramento County, eating foliage, hopping around and creating a nuisance. ... Entomologist Steve Heydon said these types of swarms are rare. The working theory: This winter was dry and warm, so there's less vegetation around for the bugs to eat. But the winter before saw a lot more precipitation than usual, so with plenty of food there were a lot of extra little bugs born."

This story describes the grasshopper infestation in a way that made me think of the plague of frogs in Exodus:

"The Nile shall swarm with frogs that shall come up into your house and into your bedroom and on your bed and into the houses of your servants and your people, and into your ovens and your kneading bowls. The frogs shall come up on you and on your people and on all your servants." (Ex 8:3-4) 

"They’re everywhere,” said Debbie. It’s an insect infestation. “We’re being invaded,” said Brian Campbell. Grasshoppers are taking over the Campbell family farm. They saw some a few days ago. “But, then it went to the extreme,” said Debbie. They’re covering the house, the ground and everywhere you look."

I think it's funny that the news story which features a video of the grasshoppers shows a portion where the camera guy is filming the field of grasshoppers and they are crawling over his lens. Look, see it on the screen as the newscasters are introducing the spot?

We have been having a spike in snake bites here in the rural South this summer. Officials say that we've seen more snakes for the same reason as those entomologists in CA say they are seeing more grasshoppers, the overly dry and warm winter was the culprit.

In Libya right now, locusts are out of control and that is blamed on Muammar Gaddafi. Even though he is dead, the uprising that toppled him from his throne, and from life, caused locust-watchers to be unable to scour the countryside to apply the necessary pesticide to control them. As a result, locusts, like the population that rose up and killed their so-called King of Kings, are out of control in Libya. And now those swarms are threatening Mali and Niger.

I'm only half-kidding about the depressing stats. I personally wish I received a thousand hits on the "We take refuge in a Mighty God" post and less on the "Freak hail on CO" posts, instead of the opposite. But I know the Spirit sends just the right people here and for His own reasons. Those who come to read about extra-large hail may stay to read the plan of salvation. Those who want to know about the Ghost Horse of Tarhir Square may read the left behind letters. And after the rapture, all this information will still be available to anyone wanting to know how to be saved. I'm grateful for the million and a half souls who for whatever reason drew them here, saw the name of Jesus on the page. His name is the most precious seed which the Holy Spirit waters with truth. God is growing a wonderful garden of redeemed souls who will shine with His glory on the Day. Praise His name and all His works - doctrinal, freaky, and everything in between.

We take refuge in a mighty God

Though we are in a battle, "The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble." (Psalm 9:9). Our Lord of hosts is God commanding, ordering, summoning the hosts of heaven. These are the angels, in and among the starry worlds.

He organizes and dispenses helps from these realms to those who love Him. If you are feeling troubled, take refuge in Him. "The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah" (Psalm 46:7)

His protections are never ceasing, constant, and uninterrupted: "He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber." (Psalms 121:3). He misses nothing, He is not unaware of anything. We do not have to be fearful of him being overtaken by stratagems or surprise. He does not sleep.

Even when it seems to us that His helps are meager, not enough, ineffectual, they are not. "And the LORD said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place." (Judges 7:7).

Hearken to God, precious brethren. The days are going to grow darker, but He is LIGHT!

"But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil." (Proverbs 1:33).  Of those who love Him we have a new heart: "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh." (Ezekiel 36:26).

He strengthens this new heart, "Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD." (Psalms 27:14). Eventually, precious brothers and sisters, "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God." (Matthew 5:8).

He is our shield and our reward!

"After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward." (Genesis 15:1)

Therefore, we will not be afraid

Source

The Last Family on Earth: the Apocalyptic survival game show!

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Surviving the apocalypse is now a game show. I am not making this up. There has been a recent worldwide spike in interest in prepping for the chosen calamity of the month. Daily, hourly, we are inundated with news and theories of the imminence of the end of the world. (Yes, I am aware of the irony in what I just wrote.)

If the end doesn't come by supervolcano eruption, it'll for sure be asteroid collision, earthquake, plague, civilization's collapse, society's collapse, US implosion, or definitely the Mayan apocalypse. It seems that every other movie released these days has an apocalyptic theme. We have been subjected to a plethora of end of the world movies just in the last couple of years, such as The Book of Eli, The Road, War of the Worlds, I Am Legend, 2012, and so on. Let's not leave out the movies about doom by plague, such as Contagion, 12 Monkeys, and Outbreak.

There have also been constant television documentaries about how the world could end, proposing real scenarios and depicting in graphic detail the doom that awaits. BBC's End Day is incredibly compelling, as is History Channel's After Armageddon.

Of the doomsday pantheon of reality television shows we recently had "Doomsday Preppers" added to the media-pushed doomsday scene. Speaking of the Doomsday Preppers show, on its homepage, we read the following:

"Which Disaster Scenario is Trending? Will it be a megaquake, economic collapse, global pandemic, a 2012 cataclysm, nuclear war, solar-flare-induced power failures, or an extreme oil crisis that leads to the unraveling of society? Using Twitter, we are mining the chatter to see what is at the forefront of the public’s collective consciousness. Find out what the masses are saying, and see which catastrophe is on top of the Doomsday Dashboard." (PS, as of this writing running ahead of the pack with 30% of the chatter, it's Nuclear War as the likeliest scenario that does humanity in.)

As a result of all this, there is a booming business in survival bunkers, an issue I wrote about in July 2010, here. In that blog essay two years ago, I mentioned the company Vivos and their bunkers, and how they were selling like hotcakes- then. Apparently the demand has grown exponentially, and no wonder, with the barrage of media messages that the world is about to end. Because Doomsday Preppers was such a success, you KNOW that television producers hot to copy the concept won't leave it alone for more than a minute. So this brings us to the point of the blog entry: a new reality game show, "The Last Family On Earth." And a Vivos bunker is the grand prize. Here is their blurb--

"Produced by Pilgrim Studios, the six-episode one-hour series will premiere on Spike TV this fall, with the finale airing just in time for the family to move into their bunker, built by Vivos, the leader in this type of structure construction, and await the world’s potential cataclysmic demise on December 21, as predicted by the Mayan calendar. The families chosen to participate come from a wide variety of backgrounds and are among the 15% of the world’s population, according to a recent Reuters poll, who believe the end of civilization is near. The competition will showcase survival techniques and provide key information that like-minded viewers may also use in preparation for doomsday. In addition to endurance and physical skills, challenges will test the contestants’ leadership abilities, integrity and character. A panel of three survivalist-expert judges, along with viewer input via social media, will help determine which family is eliminated each week. Last Family On Earth will not only focus on the Mayan interpretation of the Apocalypse; the show will help prime contestants for a wide range of annihilation scenarios, including a pandemic, global government or economic collapse, nuclear war, reactor meltdowns, solar flares, massive asteroids, lethal climactic change, a pole shift, calamitous earthquakes, and even widespread anarchy."

Wow, that's a lot of annihilation scenarios. But they forgot one. Included in the list should be a Wrathful God Pouring Out His Anger on Sinful Society.

I will flatly state that indeed, yes, there will be doomsday events that are going to happen. There will be meteors and asteroids and earthquakes and superflu and plagues and hurricanes and tsunamis and supervolcano eruptions and societal collapse. It will happen, the earth's people will die like flies. (Isaiah 51:6). All the above and more will occur within a 7-year period of ever faster unrolling and eventually overlapping events that will dizzy the surviving world. The bible's last book, Revelation, in addition to lengthy excerpts in Matthew 24, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Amos, and many other of the bible's books, predict it. The bible is 100% true. If it is predicted, it will come to pass.

Two of the reasons doomsday is predicted to occur is that according to Daniel 9:24, God is going to allow the transgression to be finished, and then He will put an end to sin.

"Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place." (Daniel 9:24)

The Hebrew word for transgression is a national, moral, or religions revolt. The Hebrew word for to put an end to is to accomplish, to complete, or to come to the full.

God is planning to remove His Bride, the born again believers that comprise the Church, (1 Cor 15:51-55; 1 Thess 4:13-18) and accompanying that removal is the removal of the Holy Spirit in His restraining ministry, (2 Thess 2:7) and then allow sin to run wild, until sin is accomplished to the full. (Dan 9:24, 2 Thess 2:3). This is known as the Tribulation, or the Time of Jacob's Trouble. The world will be completely saturated with sin, all kinds and every kind.

Sin is anything we think, say, or do that displeases God and His laws. (Mt 22:37-40). Sin is defined in the bible as transgression of the law of God (1 John 3:4) and rebellion against God (Deuteronomy 9:7; Joshua 1:18). Left, The Temptation and fall of Eve, Artist: William Blake

There will be no place for sinners to hide. Not even a Vivos bunker.

God will punish for hubris. Pride is something that God abhors, and it is the pinnacle of pride to believe that man's cleverness in building an underground bunker will protect Him from the Creator of All things on His Day of Wrath.

It's counter-intuitive.

"and I will break the pride of your power, and I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze." (Leviticus 26:19).

We have no power. It is all given by God.

Source Chris Koelle's
Revelation App

This is the full context of the above verse: "But if you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments, if you spurn my statutes, and if your soul abhors my rules, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant, then I will do this to you: I will visit you with panic, with wasting disease and fever that consume the eyes and make the heart ache. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. I will set my face against you, and you shall be struck down before your enemies. Those who hate you shall rule over you, and you shall flee when none pursues you. And if in spite of this you will not listen to me, then I will discipline you again sevenfold for your sins, and I will break the pride of your power, and I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze." (Lev 26:14-19)

In the Leviticus chapter, God explains to His people that obedience brings manifold blessings, the glories and wonders that being in right relationship with God will deliver. But disobedience brings woes. If they are contemptuous of His warnings, if they dismiss his corrections, if they ignore His punishments, then their final days will be of terror. It is the same with the people living at the end of days. Who can stand? None. Vivos bunker or not, the only way to stand will be in Christ.

That said, let's talk about being in Christ for a moment. Who wouldn't want to be a friend to the Savior? Obedient to the Holy God who descended from glory to submit to the Father and take His wrath for us? We CAN stand, thanks to Jesus and His sacrifice. We WILL stand on the day He brings us to him, joyously singing praises. Read this. Really read it. Let its majesty soak in.

"After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”

"At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne. Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God."

"Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying:

“‘Holy, holy, holy
is the Lord God Almighty,’
who was, and is, and is to come.”

"Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.” (Revelation 4)

Believers will be there. We will see that. Repentance to Jesus and Godly sorrow for our sins, faith in Him as Savior and Lord is what it takes to be in right relationship with God. Please repent now, don't hide in a bunker. Stand up for Jesus by bowing your knee and inclining your heart to the One who wants to know you as friend, not come after you as His enemy.