Our Lord Jesus Christ chastised the Church at Laodicea for being lukewarm toward their relationship with Him in Revelation 3:14-22. Unfortunately we are in the Laodicean phase of the Church Age. But as individuals personally accountable to our Savior, just because we are in the Laodicean Age, it doesn't mean we have to be Laodicean believers. I am convinced that one of the top reasons people have become Laodicean believers is the growing view that Scripture has too many human-introduced flaws to be trusted.
For any relationship to work, communication is required between the parties involved. We have fellowship with our Lord when we speak to Him in prayer and He speaks to us through many means including our circumstances, thoughts, others and the Bible. Of all the ways God speaks to us, the most important is the Bible. We often think God is speaking to us about something when in reality it may be our own preferences making us think that. The Lord has given us His Word to authenticate what is really from Him; God is not going to contradict Himself.
We can trust God's Word to reveal His heart about a matter because, "all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16, NKJV). People who don't accept the inerrancy of Scripture have an inadequate understanding of the power of God. God is Almighty enough to have accurately given us and preserved His Word even using his flawed subjects. When people have doubts about whether God's Word can be trusted, they'll not spend much time reading or studying it and their relationship with the Lord will suffer as a result.
The enemies of God have been very successful in sowing doubt about God's Word in the church. In fact this was the tactic used by Satan when he tempted Eve in the garden: “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1). The biggest areas in which Laodicean believers have come to doubt God's Word the most is in beginning and ending things. The creation account in Genesis is viewed as myth to accommodate theistic evolution and the prophecies of the Lord's return are seen as symbolic rather than literal thus making them only useful for conveying some spiritual truth.
It is instructive that people believe the spiritual truths conveyed by God's prophetic Word always requires interpretation by a scholarly theologian. Our alarm bells should go off when we need a religious professional to tell us what God really means by what He has said. If we are to have a personal relationship with our Savior, He must have made a way for us to know what He is saying to us without needing some intermediary to "interpret" God's Word for us. Jesus has given us the capacity to understand His Word directly in giving us the Holy Spirit, see John 14:26 & 16:13. Scholarly theologians have their place but only to augment our understanding of Scripture, not to direct it. Religious leaders having interpretive power over people is what cults do.
It seems I have found myself having to spend way too much time defending the inerrancy of God's Word with people. Usually is it comes up when I'm discussing God's prophetic Word and the other party is a preterit who believes all prophecies were fulfilled in 70 AD with the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. They believe there will be no literal Millennial reign of Christ on earth and when Jesus returns all promises God gave Israel and the Church will be fulfilled in the Eternal State. The term which applies to this collection of beliefs is Amillennialism. Most who profess to follow Christ today are Amillennialists but that doesn't make this doctrine correct. Most Christians are Amillennialists because they only have a superficial understanding of God's Word at least when it comes to prophecy.
The evidence that Amillennialists have only a superficial understanding of God's prophetic Word is that they have no problems with conflicts in Scripture. Yes we are human and there are things we don't understand but if God's Word is inerrant, any conflict represents a gap in our understanding that we should seek to resolve if we want to grow in our relationship with the Lord. "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15). Since God gave us His Word so that we may know Him, you have to wonder about those who are content with only the superficial milk of God's Word. People not wanting to go deep into the solid food of Scripture are like unbelievers who have no desire to know God (1 Corinthians 3:2).
The classic conflict that reveals the error of Amillennialism is the "new heavens and new earth" described in Isaiah 65:17-25. This passage has to be referring to a future literal Millennial reign of Christ on earth. The Isaiah 65 passage can not be fulfilled in the Eternal State as Amillennialists believe it to be because it addresses mortal people being born and dying during this future Age. Thus the "new heavens and new earth" of Isaiah 65 can not be the Eternal State when there will be no death per Revelation 21:4.
Committed Amillennialists will be just fine living with the conflict between Isaiah 65 and Revelation 21 but I would challenge them that they are stunting an important aspect of their fellowship with Christ. Jesus admonished us to watch for His coming in Matthew 24:42... it is hard to do that if you don't believe His prophetic Word means what it says.
We think we are making Scripture more relevant to the culture when we "interpret" God's Word to compromise with the world. But in fact we are doing just the opposite. Look at the demise of churches in Europe and the mainstream denominations in the USA. Compromise with the world is how we got to where we are in the church today. There is nothing more relevant to our world today than God's prophetic Word. How else can we prove that Scripture really is from God? Only God can declare "the end from the beginning" (Isaiah 46:10). "For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy" (Revelation 19:10).
The Church is still here to help everyone who will listen see the relevance of God's Word to their lives in the here and now. And Bible prophecy is the most powerful tool God has blessed us with to do that. So, until the Lord takes us home, let us, "preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching" (2 Timothy 4:2).
Monday, August 31, 2015
Monday, August 24, 2015
Coming Global Government
Given the title of this post, the reader may think I am preparing to cite the conspiratorial activities of various shadowy groups like the Bilderbergers and Trilateral Commission working behind the scenes to foist a global government on humanity. But this is not necessary because it is easy to see by their public actions that the world's ruling elite share a vision to unite the nations of the world under one government. Most people in the U.S. are in denial about this because it will be such a stark change from life as we know it today.
Among the most prominent of the ruling elite who has been very vocal in calling for a world government is Pope Francis in his recent encyclical on the environment. The Pope has fully embraced the Climate Change narrative of the ruling elite and is calling for his followers to do so as well. These means all of us in wealthy nations like the United States and the European Union need to be willing to accept a dramatic reduction in our lifestyles. While this certainly should apply to some in this country, the radical Climate Change faithful will not be satisfied with mere superficial adjustments but have more extreme changes in mind. They will not rest until the U.S. no longer consumes so much energy.
The ruling elite are all on-board with the radical Climate Change faithful because centralization of powers will be necessary to realize their vision. Global Warming is too big a problem for any one nation to fix and will require a global government to administer it. Nations will have to work together more and thus there is no room for a superpower like the United States throwing its weight around. President Obama has already demonstrated his willingness to yield the sovereignty of this country to the global community of nations. Such actions are in the Spirit of Antichrist in that this is how he will come to power: "These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast" (Revelation 17:13, NKJV).
The Pope has also demonstrated his being all in for global government in his recent activism over immigration wanting to meet with illegals in the U.S. and even entering the country through Mexico for his September U.N. speech. At its core, the immigration issue is really about realizing the globalist vision. The ruling elite want to have open borders as one more justification for a global government. Indeed, if we are to be one global village, we can't have national borders.
The desire to have open borders is yet one more demonstration of the Spirit of Antichrist which opposes God's establishment of national boundaries: "He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings" (Acts 17:26). Flooding this country with third world immigrants quicker than they can assimilate is one tactic that will contribute to our becoming more like a third world nation ourselves. We have already taken into the U.S. a quarter of the entire population of Mexico. This is no-doubt necessary to better form a North American Union that will probably be one of the ten kingdoms of Revelation 17:12 yielding sovereignty to the Antichrist.
So what is so bad about having a global government? Certainly this should make war obsolete, shouldn't it? Well world peace is one of the justifications for global government and is good in theory but humanist global visionaries forget the natural depravity of mankind; "the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9). There will be no peace between nations until Jesus, the Prince of Peace rules during the coming Millennial Kingdom. The Bible makes it clear that wars will proliferate as the Antichrist seeks to form and keep his global coalition.
The biggest problem with the path to global government will be the loss of individual freedoms which can never coexist with central planning. The ultimate goal of the globalists will be totalitarian control over the people of earth (see Revelation 13:16-16). People in this country do not value freedom as much as we should. Too many take for granted the freedoms we enjoy in this country even though these are what has made the United States unique in this world. However, if we are to usher in a Global New World Order, we will have to lose most of the freedoms we currently enjoy. We have already begun to lose many of our freedoms and the stage has been set to dramatically change life as we know it in this country.
The worst consequences of the coming global government will contribute to the terribleness of the Tribulation. But the Tribulation that Jesus warned us about in Matthew 24 will not occur until the Antichrist comes to power and this will not happen during the Church Age. "Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition" (2 Thessalonians 2:3). In context, the "man of sin" is the Antichrist and "that Day" is the Rapture of the Church. Christians will be off the planet, celebrating with our Lord Jesus Christ when the Antichrist comes on the scene. So as we see the stage being set for global government, we know that our redemption is near.
Big changes are coming soon to this planet. As God told us in Habakkuk 1:5, "Look among the nations and watch— Be utterly astounded! For I will work a work in your days which you would not believe, though it were told you." God is in control of His Creation and He is allowing this world to take the course it is on so that He can intervene and fix all the problems people think they can do in their own power without Him. This is not a good time to be without Jesus Christ in your life. If you have not already done so, I urge everyone reading this to open your heart to the Lord before it is too late.
Among the most prominent of the ruling elite who has been very vocal in calling for a world government is Pope Francis in his recent encyclical on the environment. The Pope has fully embraced the Climate Change narrative of the ruling elite and is calling for his followers to do so as well. These means all of us in wealthy nations like the United States and the European Union need to be willing to accept a dramatic reduction in our lifestyles. While this certainly should apply to some in this country, the radical Climate Change faithful will not be satisfied with mere superficial adjustments but have more extreme changes in mind. They will not rest until the U.S. no longer consumes so much energy.
The ruling elite are all on-board with the radical Climate Change faithful because centralization of powers will be necessary to realize their vision. Global Warming is too big a problem for any one nation to fix and will require a global government to administer it. Nations will have to work together more and thus there is no room for a superpower like the United States throwing its weight around. President Obama has already demonstrated his willingness to yield the sovereignty of this country to the global community of nations. Such actions are in the Spirit of Antichrist in that this is how he will come to power: "These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast" (Revelation 17:13, NKJV).
The Pope has also demonstrated his being all in for global government in his recent activism over immigration wanting to meet with illegals in the U.S. and even entering the country through Mexico for his September U.N. speech. At its core, the immigration issue is really about realizing the globalist vision. The ruling elite want to have open borders as one more justification for a global government. Indeed, if we are to be one global village, we can't have national borders.
The desire to have open borders is yet one more demonstration of the Spirit of Antichrist which opposes God's establishment of national boundaries: "He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings" (Acts 17:26). Flooding this country with third world immigrants quicker than they can assimilate is one tactic that will contribute to our becoming more like a third world nation ourselves. We have already taken into the U.S. a quarter of the entire population of Mexico. This is no-doubt necessary to better form a North American Union that will probably be one of the ten kingdoms of Revelation 17:12 yielding sovereignty to the Antichrist.
So what is so bad about having a global government? Certainly this should make war obsolete, shouldn't it? Well world peace is one of the justifications for global government and is good in theory but humanist global visionaries forget the natural depravity of mankind; "the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9). There will be no peace between nations until Jesus, the Prince of Peace rules during the coming Millennial Kingdom. The Bible makes it clear that wars will proliferate as the Antichrist seeks to form and keep his global coalition.
The biggest problem with the path to global government will be the loss of individual freedoms which can never coexist with central planning. The ultimate goal of the globalists will be totalitarian control over the people of earth (see Revelation 13:16-16). People in this country do not value freedom as much as we should. Too many take for granted the freedoms we enjoy in this country even though these are what has made the United States unique in this world. However, if we are to usher in a Global New World Order, we will have to lose most of the freedoms we currently enjoy. We have already begun to lose many of our freedoms and the stage has been set to dramatically change life as we know it in this country.
The worst consequences of the coming global government will contribute to the terribleness of the Tribulation. But the Tribulation that Jesus warned us about in Matthew 24 will not occur until the Antichrist comes to power and this will not happen during the Church Age. "Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition" (2 Thessalonians 2:3). In context, the "man of sin" is the Antichrist and "that Day" is the Rapture of the Church. Christians will be off the planet, celebrating with our Lord Jesus Christ when the Antichrist comes on the scene. So as we see the stage being set for global government, we know that our redemption is near.
Big changes are coming soon to this planet. As God told us in Habakkuk 1:5, "Look among the nations and watch— Be utterly astounded! For I will work a work in your days which you would not believe, though it were told you." God is in control of His Creation and He is allowing this world to take the course it is on so that He can intervene and fix all the problems people think they can do in their own power without Him. This is not a good time to be without Jesus Christ in your life. If you have not already done so, I urge everyone reading this to open your heart to the Lord before it is too late.
Monday, August 17, 2015
EPA
Once upon a time, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency served to reduce the pollution of our air and water. Recent news about this increasingly powerful agency has not been good and reveal dangers that lurk ahead as more power gets centralized in this world. The story about an EPA contractor making matters worse while trying to clean up a century-old gold mine in Colorado exposes a great deal about this agency as an extension of the Obama Administration.
The EPA can be credited with trying to improve a potential problem so from a liberal perspective their heart was in the right place which is all that matters. And as the EPA pointed out, accidents happen. However, there is a degree of arrogance revealed here where more effort should have gone into mitigating the risk of a catastrophic pollution event which is what they caused. When it comes to government regulatory agencies, there is a lot of "do as I say, not as I do" which shows they believe they are above the law. This is what you'd expect as we get closer to the Tribulation when the law of man will eclipse the rule of law.
A bigger problem with the EPA will be the more expanded powers they will receive to enforce President Obama's new greenhouse gas emissions standards. Our president has made it clear that he wants to end the use of coal to generate electricity. He made his intent public in 2008 when he told the San Francisco Chronicle, “Under my plan of a cap-and-trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket. …Coal-powered plants… would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that money on to consumers.”
Many people have bought in to the Leftist narrative on global warming, now being re-branded as climate change so that any out-of-the-ordinary weather can help the cause. At it's core, the purpose of efforts to slow climate change is to bring the nations of the world together under a global government. Climate change is too big a problem for any one nation to solve and so a global bureaucracy is needed to administer it. The ruling elite want a global government which they believe will result in world peace and climate change is one of the tools they are using to achieve it. Little do the ruling elite know that their efforts to bring about a global government sets the stage for fulfillment of Bible prophecy when "all the world will marvel and follow the beast" (Revelation 13:3).
Driving the cost of energy up in the United States will exacerbate the on-going recession which has been called the "new normal" by the propagandists working on getting public support for the failed policies of the Obama administration. Keeping this country in an on-going recession or even making it worse is necessary to reduce our economic power in the world. All the world cannot come together under a global government if there is an economic superpower throwing its weight around so this country has to be put in its place as just another nation of the world. Keeping our economy depressed under the weight of high energy costs due to climate change regulations is a good way to do that. And what better way to spread the wealth around on a global scale.
It is stunning how quickly the agents of change are making progress in implementing their agenda to move the world toward a global government. Among the many telling characteristics of President Obama is his willingness to yield sovereignty of the U.S. to the community of nations. There are many who scoff that a global government will happen any time soon and that this is the goal of the climate change fervor. These scoffers will be caught by surprise when the change they are so quick to embrace turns sour on them. The Bible says that the coming global government will be very bad news for the average person. But by the time the people of the United States realize this, they will be stuck with a supreme world ruler who is directly possessed by Satan.
The increasing pace this world is moving toward global governance is more evidence we are very close to the end of this Age. Jesus characterized end time developments as being like birth pangs in Matthew 24:8 which means we can expect them to happen with increasing frequency and intensity. The prophet Daniel said essentially the same thing when he said, "the end of it shall be with a flood" (Daniel 9:26, NKJV). As a flood quickly overwhelms its victims, so too will end time developments overtake the earth-dwellers.
Those who trust in Christ for their salvation are not earth-dwellers. We are but sojourners temporarily stationed on this planet (1 Peter 2:11). Our home will be on a new earth that God will bless us with after Jesus returns (Revelation 21). And we, "are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake [us] as a thief" (1 Thessalonians 5:4). In the meantime, we should as Jesus told us, "occupy till I come" (Luke 19:13. KJV).
The EPA can be credited with trying to improve a potential problem so from a liberal perspective their heart was in the right place which is all that matters. And as the EPA pointed out, accidents happen. However, there is a degree of arrogance revealed here where more effort should have gone into mitigating the risk of a catastrophic pollution event which is what they caused. When it comes to government regulatory agencies, there is a lot of "do as I say, not as I do" which shows they believe they are above the law. This is what you'd expect as we get closer to the Tribulation when the law of man will eclipse the rule of law.
A bigger problem with the EPA will be the more expanded powers they will receive to enforce President Obama's new greenhouse gas emissions standards. Our president has made it clear that he wants to end the use of coal to generate electricity. He made his intent public in 2008 when he told the San Francisco Chronicle, “Under my plan of a cap-and-trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket. …Coal-powered plants… would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that money on to consumers.”
Many people have bought in to the Leftist narrative on global warming, now being re-branded as climate change so that any out-of-the-ordinary weather can help the cause. At it's core, the purpose of efforts to slow climate change is to bring the nations of the world together under a global government. Climate change is too big a problem for any one nation to solve and so a global bureaucracy is needed to administer it. The ruling elite want a global government which they believe will result in world peace and climate change is one of the tools they are using to achieve it. Little do the ruling elite know that their efforts to bring about a global government sets the stage for fulfillment of Bible prophecy when "all the world will marvel and follow the beast" (Revelation 13:3).
Driving the cost of energy up in the United States will exacerbate the on-going recession which has been called the "new normal" by the propagandists working on getting public support for the failed policies of the Obama administration. Keeping this country in an on-going recession or even making it worse is necessary to reduce our economic power in the world. All the world cannot come together under a global government if there is an economic superpower throwing its weight around so this country has to be put in its place as just another nation of the world. Keeping our economy depressed under the weight of high energy costs due to climate change regulations is a good way to do that. And what better way to spread the wealth around on a global scale.
It is stunning how quickly the agents of change are making progress in implementing their agenda to move the world toward a global government. Among the many telling characteristics of President Obama is his willingness to yield sovereignty of the U.S. to the community of nations. There are many who scoff that a global government will happen any time soon and that this is the goal of the climate change fervor. These scoffers will be caught by surprise when the change they are so quick to embrace turns sour on them. The Bible says that the coming global government will be very bad news for the average person. But by the time the people of the United States realize this, they will be stuck with a supreme world ruler who is directly possessed by Satan.
The increasing pace this world is moving toward global governance is more evidence we are very close to the end of this Age. Jesus characterized end time developments as being like birth pangs in Matthew 24:8 which means we can expect them to happen with increasing frequency and intensity. The prophet Daniel said essentially the same thing when he said, "the end of it shall be with a flood" (Daniel 9:26, NKJV). As a flood quickly overwhelms its victims, so too will end time developments overtake the earth-dwellers.
Those who trust in Christ for their salvation are not earth-dwellers. We are but sojourners temporarily stationed on this planet (1 Peter 2:11). Our home will be on a new earth that God will bless us with after Jesus returns (Revelation 21). And we, "are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake [us] as a thief" (1 Thessalonians 5:4). In the meantime, we should as Jesus told us, "occupy till I come" (Luke 19:13. KJV).
Monday, August 10, 2015
Living Amongst Pagans
One thing the recent revelations about Planned Parenthood selling aborted baby parts has done is to give me a heightened sense that we live amongst people who have little value for human life. We would expect unbelievers to be cavalier about human life but it is shocking to see this attitude exposed publicly like it was. However, we really shouldn't be surprised, truth always eventually comes to light and Pagans will do what Pagans have always done.
Paganism is a term that typically applies to religious beliefs other than Christianity or Judaism. The classic Pagans encountered by Israel when they were taking possession of the Promised Land were those who worshiped Molech, the god of the Ammonites, Canaanites and Phoenicians. The worship of Molech was characterized by parents sacrificing their infant children. You can imagine what God thinks of the practice; "the LORD hates… hands that shed innocent blood" (Proverbs 6:16-17, NKJV).
We know that Israel had a propensity to deviate from the instructions of God and did not completely destroy the Pagan influences of the former residents of the Promised Land. The consequences of this was that they eventually compromised with the culture that God had commanded them to destroy. This unfaithfulness is one of the reasons God raised up the Babylonians to conquer Judah and take them into captivity. "They built the high places of Baal which are in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Molech, which I did not command them, nor did it come into My mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin" (Jeremiah 32:35).
We don't usually think of the proponents of abortion as being religious but their political activists pursue and defend the practice with religious zeal. They do this so much so that conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh refers to abortion as a sacrament of the Left. How a person stands on abortion certainly is an indicator of where they stand on a whole host of anti-God issues. Among those is what they think of God Himself. It was very revealing when the leadership at the 2012 Democratic National Convention sought to make a token reference to God in their platform that they were robustly booed by the delegates. Politically active Secular Humanists hate the God of the Bible and anything He values.
God made all people to have a relationship with Him. People who reject their Creator always embrace some sort of religion of their own creation in an attempt fill the void in their lives that can only be satisfied in a relationship with our Savior Jesus Christ. Secular Humanists are among the most religious of all even though they generally do not go to church services. Their faith is in themselves and they trust in other people to tell them the truth about the most important questions such as where we came from. We should not be surprised by people who do not value human life when they believe we are the product of blind, random natural processes. Indeed, the engine of evolution is survival of the fittest which requires the strong to kill off the weakest amongst us.
We generally don't associate Secular Humanists with Pagans but the fruit of their beliefs are the same. While Pagan Molech-worshipers had to wait for their babies to be born before they killed them, Secular Humanists prefer to do the same thing before birth. Planned Parenthood couldn't generate nearly enough revenue from killing babies if the parents were allowed to actually lay eyes on their child first.
You'd think that the recent revelations about Planned Parenthood selling baby parts for profit would result in them being shut down and some of their leaders going to prison. But if we are close to the return of Christ as all the evidence points to, then the practice of abortion is unlikely to be curtailed. Jesus said the time preceding His return would be, "as the days of Noah were" (Matthew 24:37). And we know that one of the characteristics of the days before the flood was violence per Genesis 6:11. We have lost 64 times more Americans through abortions than in all of our wars combined. Given the advanced stage of history we are in and the importance of the abortion sacrament to state-sponsored Secular Humanists, I will make the following prediction:
PREDICTION: The revelations about Planned Parenthood selling baby parts will not stop the practice of abortion in this country; the baby killing will continue.
So how do we deal with living in a Pagan culture? It helps to remember that we are not citizens of this fallen world. "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body" (Philippians 3:120-21). We are but sojourners in this fallen world who look forward to the day when we will be called to our home in heaven. As Jesus said in John 17:6-11, we who are His children are in the world but not of the world.
Jesus has not yet called us home because he still has a mission for us in the world. We are here to represent Him and there will be some who will be attracted to Our Lord by our lives. All indications are that we do not have long to persevere. Come soon, Lord Jesus!
Paganism is a term that typically applies to religious beliefs other than Christianity or Judaism. The classic Pagans encountered by Israel when they were taking possession of the Promised Land were those who worshiped Molech, the god of the Ammonites, Canaanites and Phoenicians. The worship of Molech was characterized by parents sacrificing their infant children. You can imagine what God thinks of the practice; "the LORD hates… hands that shed innocent blood" (Proverbs 6:16-17, NKJV).
We know that Israel had a propensity to deviate from the instructions of God and did not completely destroy the Pagan influences of the former residents of the Promised Land. The consequences of this was that they eventually compromised with the culture that God had commanded them to destroy. This unfaithfulness is one of the reasons God raised up the Babylonians to conquer Judah and take them into captivity. "They built the high places of Baal which are in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Molech, which I did not command them, nor did it come into My mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin" (Jeremiah 32:35).
We don't usually think of the proponents of abortion as being religious but their political activists pursue and defend the practice with religious zeal. They do this so much so that conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh refers to abortion as a sacrament of the Left. How a person stands on abortion certainly is an indicator of where they stand on a whole host of anti-God issues. Among those is what they think of God Himself. It was very revealing when the leadership at the 2012 Democratic National Convention sought to make a token reference to God in their platform that they were robustly booed by the delegates. Politically active Secular Humanists hate the God of the Bible and anything He values.
God made all people to have a relationship with Him. People who reject their Creator always embrace some sort of religion of their own creation in an attempt fill the void in their lives that can only be satisfied in a relationship with our Savior Jesus Christ. Secular Humanists are among the most religious of all even though they generally do not go to church services. Their faith is in themselves and they trust in other people to tell them the truth about the most important questions such as where we came from. We should not be surprised by people who do not value human life when they believe we are the product of blind, random natural processes. Indeed, the engine of evolution is survival of the fittest which requires the strong to kill off the weakest amongst us.
We generally don't associate Secular Humanists with Pagans but the fruit of their beliefs are the same. While Pagan Molech-worshipers had to wait for their babies to be born before they killed them, Secular Humanists prefer to do the same thing before birth. Planned Parenthood couldn't generate nearly enough revenue from killing babies if the parents were allowed to actually lay eyes on their child first.
You'd think that the recent revelations about Planned Parenthood selling baby parts for profit would result in them being shut down and some of their leaders going to prison. But if we are close to the return of Christ as all the evidence points to, then the practice of abortion is unlikely to be curtailed. Jesus said the time preceding His return would be, "as the days of Noah were" (Matthew 24:37). And we know that one of the characteristics of the days before the flood was violence per Genesis 6:11. We have lost 64 times more Americans through abortions than in all of our wars combined. Given the advanced stage of history we are in and the importance of the abortion sacrament to state-sponsored Secular Humanists, I will make the following prediction:
PREDICTION: The revelations about Planned Parenthood selling baby parts will not stop the practice of abortion in this country; the baby killing will continue.
So how do we deal with living in a Pagan culture? It helps to remember that we are not citizens of this fallen world. "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body" (Philippians 3:120-21). We are but sojourners in this fallen world who look forward to the day when we will be called to our home in heaven. As Jesus said in John 17:6-11, we who are His children are in the world but not of the world.
Jesus has not yet called us home because he still has a mission for us in the world. We are here to represent Him and there will be some who will be attracted to Our Lord by our lives. All indications are that we do not have long to persevere. Come soon, Lord Jesus!
Monday, August 3, 2015
This September
One of the most important books of our day is "The Mystery of the Shemitah" by Jonathan Cahn. This book addresses the seven-year cycle that God established for Israel to work the land with a Sabbath year of rest (Leviticus 25:1-4). In conjunction with this sabbatical year of rest for the land, the Law also required Israelites to release people from their debts (Deuteronomy 15:1-2). The Hebrew word "shemitah" means "grant a release." There is however overwhelming evidence that the shemitah gives us a principle that applies to nations beyond Israel.
The Old Testament chronicles the relationship between God and Israel showing us that Israel had a propensity to turn away from God. It is worth studying this relationship because of the principles we can learn that apply to our personal relationship to God. All people have a sin nature that gives us a tendency to put ourselves ahead of God just as the nation of Israel did. The Lord often reminded the nation of Israel of their need to stay faithful to Him just as He does us as individuals. When Israel neglected to observe God's ordinances such as what the shemitah required, He forced them to observe it through some calamity that produced the same result as an economic crash would do today.
While the Law set Israel apart as a nation special to the Lord, the spirit or principles of the Law apply to all people and nations for all time. The principle of the shemitah applying to all nations is that when we turn from God, He sometimes reminds us it would be to our benefit to repent. There is an amazing correlation between our most significant economic calamities and the shemitah cycle which Jonathan Cahn reviews in his book. The book also points out a pattern where the economic, political or military power of key nations influencing the world often increase or decrease with the shemitah cycle.
It is important to recall the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the United States. God allowed the most powerful nation in the world to suffer an attack by a group of Islamic zealots armed with box cutters that kicked off an economic recession. The attack happened on Tuesday and it caused Wall Street to suspend operations for almost a week. When the market opened up on the Monday following 9/11, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 684 points, the greatest point-drop up to that day and a 7% change. Churches had a surge of people attending services following 9/11 that looked like our nation was indeed responding in repentance. But the revival lasted about three weeks and then it was back to business as usual. The nation was shaken, but not enough to change our path away from God.
The next great shaking of the United States occurred seven years later when the Dow dropped by a record 777 points, a 7% change on September 29, 2008. This event kicked-off a world-wide recession that we still have not completely recovered from today. The spiritually discerning will see all the "sevens" in this event as evidence that God is sending us a message. There is even more evidence that this event is a message from God since it occurred on Rosh Hashanah, one of the Jewish feast days God ordained. The September 17, 2001 crash also occurred on Rosh Hashanah that year.
Humanists will dismiss these details as mere coincidence but those who know the extent to which our Almighty Creator is in control of His creation recognize that nothing of such significance happens without purpose... "He is before all things, and in him all things hold together" (Colossians 1:17, NIV). There wasn't any recognition from the general public that God was trying to get our attention like there was albeit briefly in 2001. But for those anticipating the return of Christ, both of these events were very significant.
Part of the message God sent us on 9/29/2008 is essentially what He told us in Habakkuk 1:5, "Look among the nations and watch... Be utterly astounded! For I will work a work in your days which you would not believe, though it were told you" (NKJV). The other part is more specific to this country, that God is preparing to pour out His wrath on the United States. God is done warning us. He warned us in 2001 and in 2008. And there is a pattern of God rebuking us for harming the security of Israel which I documented in "End Times Evangelism." There has been no such warning in the wake of recent harmful things this country has done toward Israel. We have enabled Iran to arm-up and proceed with developing nuclear weapons but there has been no warning about this from God. Does that mean God approves of the Iran deal or has He given us over to the consequences of harming the Apple of His Eye? The warnings are over, God is saving up His wrath for a day of judgment on the United States.
There are many signs that we are very close to the return of Christ. The Parable of the Fig Tree is one of the most significant (Matthew 24:32-34). The existence of Israel tells us that we are the generation that will see the Lord return. So, given the times that we're in, many of us watching for Christ to return expect some significant event related to His return to occur this September. How significant it will be remains to be seen. Of course the most significant event would be the Rapture of the Church, but since, "that day and hour no one knows" (Matthew 24:36) we would be in error to say that is what will happen. The Rapture of the church certainly could set off a worldwide economic crash but so could a war, or major natural disaster, or any number of things.
Given the shemitah cycle warnings we have had and the late stage of history we are in, it is highly likely that there will be some major event that impacts the power of the United States this September. As the superpower standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union had to be resolved to make way for the global government the Bible says has to exist when Jesus returns (Revelation 13:7), so too does the reign of the last remaining superpower have to end.
Rosh Hashanah this year is September 13th, seven years following the last warning God gave us in 2008. No mortal including Jonathan Cahn knows what will happen around Rosh Hashanah this year. Since the Rapture of the Church is such a significant event, many people think it will occur on a Jewish feast day. But this would lead to date setting and it is more correct to think of the Rapture as a number-specific event rather than a day-specific one. "I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in" (Romans 11:25, NIV). There is a set number of people God has in mind for the completion of His Church and the Rapture will not occur until that number has been reached.
So I would be in error to pick a day for the Rapture of the Church. Many have done this and have brought discredit on themselves and God's Word when the day they picked came and went without it happening. So while I'd like to think the Rapture of the Church will happen this September, I know it could happen any day between now and then and more likely, some day further out. Our God is characterized by grace and will hold off the conclusion of the Church Age until the full number of people He has in mind for the Church has yielded to Him. However, since I promised to regularly make predictions to demonstrate the increasing predictability of events in light of Bible prophecy during this late stage of history, here I go:
PREDICTION: It is likely the Dow Jones Industrial Average will drop by 7% or more within two weeks of September 13th, 2015.
Now this may not happen, I only called it "likely" to happen. God is sovereign and in His grace may delay the wrath He is building up against this nation and the world. But, I would not want to have any investments tied to the stock market this September. I will try to resist the temptation to speculate what event sets off the inevitable "economic adjustment" this country will eventually suffer but whatever it will be has the potential to permanently change life as we know it here. The Bible tells us that the coming Tribulation will certainly not be life as we currently know it worldwide so the day will come when that will also be the case for the United States. I certainly hope that God's wrath will not happen in the U.S. until after the Rapture but there are no guarantees since we have already seen birth pangs of the Lord's return.
Besides not being in the stock market this September, I likewise would not want to be trusting in my own ability to weather God's wrath. It is much better to trust in Jesus Christ before this Age ends. Our Lord is in control and He is preparing to reveal Himself to the world in an incredibly powerful way. We live in amazing times that will very soon not be fun for anyone, especially unbelievers. If you have not yielded your life to Christ yet, I'd urge you to do so now before the current Age of Grace comes to its dramatic conclusion at the Rapture of the Church.
The Old Testament chronicles the relationship between God and Israel showing us that Israel had a propensity to turn away from God. It is worth studying this relationship because of the principles we can learn that apply to our personal relationship to God. All people have a sin nature that gives us a tendency to put ourselves ahead of God just as the nation of Israel did. The Lord often reminded the nation of Israel of their need to stay faithful to Him just as He does us as individuals. When Israel neglected to observe God's ordinances such as what the shemitah required, He forced them to observe it through some calamity that produced the same result as an economic crash would do today.
While the Law set Israel apart as a nation special to the Lord, the spirit or principles of the Law apply to all people and nations for all time. The principle of the shemitah applying to all nations is that when we turn from God, He sometimes reminds us it would be to our benefit to repent. There is an amazing correlation between our most significant economic calamities and the shemitah cycle which Jonathan Cahn reviews in his book. The book also points out a pattern where the economic, political or military power of key nations influencing the world often increase or decrease with the shemitah cycle.
It is important to recall the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the United States. God allowed the most powerful nation in the world to suffer an attack by a group of Islamic zealots armed with box cutters that kicked off an economic recession. The attack happened on Tuesday and it caused Wall Street to suspend operations for almost a week. When the market opened up on the Monday following 9/11, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 684 points, the greatest point-drop up to that day and a 7% change. Churches had a surge of people attending services following 9/11 that looked like our nation was indeed responding in repentance. But the revival lasted about three weeks and then it was back to business as usual. The nation was shaken, but not enough to change our path away from God.
The next great shaking of the United States occurred seven years later when the Dow dropped by a record 777 points, a 7% change on September 29, 2008. This event kicked-off a world-wide recession that we still have not completely recovered from today. The spiritually discerning will see all the "sevens" in this event as evidence that God is sending us a message. There is even more evidence that this event is a message from God since it occurred on Rosh Hashanah, one of the Jewish feast days God ordained. The September 17, 2001 crash also occurred on Rosh Hashanah that year.
Humanists will dismiss these details as mere coincidence but those who know the extent to which our Almighty Creator is in control of His creation recognize that nothing of such significance happens without purpose... "He is before all things, and in him all things hold together" (Colossians 1:17, NIV). There wasn't any recognition from the general public that God was trying to get our attention like there was albeit briefly in 2001. But for those anticipating the return of Christ, both of these events were very significant.
Part of the message God sent us on 9/29/2008 is essentially what He told us in Habakkuk 1:5, "Look among the nations and watch... Be utterly astounded! For I will work a work in your days which you would not believe, though it were told you" (NKJV). The other part is more specific to this country, that God is preparing to pour out His wrath on the United States. God is done warning us. He warned us in 2001 and in 2008. And there is a pattern of God rebuking us for harming the security of Israel which I documented in "End Times Evangelism." There has been no such warning in the wake of recent harmful things this country has done toward Israel. We have enabled Iran to arm-up and proceed with developing nuclear weapons but there has been no warning about this from God. Does that mean God approves of the Iran deal or has He given us over to the consequences of harming the Apple of His Eye? The warnings are over, God is saving up His wrath for a day of judgment on the United States.
There are many signs that we are very close to the return of Christ. The Parable of the Fig Tree is one of the most significant (Matthew 24:32-34). The existence of Israel tells us that we are the generation that will see the Lord return. So, given the times that we're in, many of us watching for Christ to return expect some significant event related to His return to occur this September. How significant it will be remains to be seen. Of course the most significant event would be the Rapture of the Church, but since, "that day and hour no one knows" (Matthew 24:36) we would be in error to say that is what will happen. The Rapture of the church certainly could set off a worldwide economic crash but so could a war, or major natural disaster, or any number of things.
Given the shemitah cycle warnings we have had and the late stage of history we are in, it is highly likely that there will be some major event that impacts the power of the United States this September. As the superpower standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union had to be resolved to make way for the global government the Bible says has to exist when Jesus returns (Revelation 13:7), so too does the reign of the last remaining superpower have to end.
Rosh Hashanah this year is September 13th, seven years following the last warning God gave us in 2008. No mortal including Jonathan Cahn knows what will happen around Rosh Hashanah this year. Since the Rapture of the Church is such a significant event, many people think it will occur on a Jewish feast day. But this would lead to date setting and it is more correct to think of the Rapture as a number-specific event rather than a day-specific one. "I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in" (Romans 11:25, NIV). There is a set number of people God has in mind for the completion of His Church and the Rapture will not occur until that number has been reached.
So I would be in error to pick a day for the Rapture of the Church. Many have done this and have brought discredit on themselves and God's Word when the day they picked came and went without it happening. So while I'd like to think the Rapture of the Church will happen this September, I know it could happen any day between now and then and more likely, some day further out. Our God is characterized by grace and will hold off the conclusion of the Church Age until the full number of people He has in mind for the Church has yielded to Him. However, since I promised to regularly make predictions to demonstrate the increasing predictability of events in light of Bible prophecy during this late stage of history, here I go:
PREDICTION: It is likely the Dow Jones Industrial Average will drop by 7% or more within two weeks of September 13th, 2015.
Now this may not happen, I only called it "likely" to happen. God is sovereign and in His grace may delay the wrath He is building up against this nation and the world. But, I would not want to have any investments tied to the stock market this September. I will try to resist the temptation to speculate what event sets off the inevitable "economic adjustment" this country will eventually suffer but whatever it will be has the potential to permanently change life as we know it here. The Bible tells us that the coming Tribulation will certainly not be life as we currently know it worldwide so the day will come when that will also be the case for the United States. I certainly hope that God's wrath will not happen in the U.S. until after the Rapture but there are no guarantees since we have already seen birth pangs of the Lord's return.
Besides not being in the stock market this September, I likewise would not want to be trusting in my own ability to weather God's wrath. It is much better to trust in Jesus Christ before this Age ends. Our Lord is in control and He is preparing to reveal Himself to the world in an incredibly powerful way. We live in amazing times that will very soon not be fun for anyone, especially unbelievers. If you have not yielded your life to Christ yet, I'd urge you to do so now before the current Age of Grace comes to its dramatic conclusion at the Rapture of the Church.
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