IN TODAY'S NEWSLETTER... 
 

• Featured Article: Reversing the Reformation 
• The Mullahs' Nuclear Weapons Game 
• Nearing Midnight: Minion Invasion: Fact or Fiction? 
• Rumors Of War, Pestilences, And Earthquakes In Diverse Places… 
• Daily Jot: Never, never, ever give in 
• Daily Devotion: Hope Has a Name 

Reversing the Reformation – Jonathan Brentner - https://www.jonathanbrentner.com/https/jonathan-brentner-g8fgsquarespacecom/config/2021/3/8/reversing-the-reformation
 
In my previous post, No One Can Cancel Our “Blessed Hope,” I showed how the allegorical approach to biblical prophecy opens the doors for dismissing the true intent of other scriptural texts. This disregard for the words of Scripture not only robs saints of the joyful anticipation of their “blessed hope,” but as we will see, it also blurs the distinction between biblical justification and that of the Roman Catholic Church.
 
If Paul’s words in Romans 11 regarding Israel’s future place in God’s prophetic program do not really mean what they say, it allows others, at a later time, to call into question his clear statements regarding our justification in Romans 2-8. Could this at least in part explain the willingness of some Protestant churches to join hands with the Catholic Church? I believe so.
 
Mike Gendron, in the excellent chapter he wrote in the book Lawless, warned about the dangerous and widespread acceptance of Pope Francis among evangelicals. He cited a LifeWay research poll of one thousand Protestant pastors showing that before the pope’s visit to the United States in 2015, “Sixty-three percent said they believe Francis is a genuine Christian, while 16 percent are unsure.”[i] Gendron then added, “Those who were surveyed either do not know the exclusivity of the gospel of grace or do not know the false and fatal gospel of Rome.[ii]
 
On his website, Gendron wrote these compelling words about the dangers of compromising the purity of the Gospel for the sake of unity with the Catholic church:
 
“The greatest attack on the Christian faith today is the widespread assault on the exclusivity and purity of God’s Gospel. Churches are compromising the Gospel to make it more inclusive in order to gain a larger following. Ecumenically minded leaders are ignoring the essentials of the Gospel for the sake of unity with apostate Roman Catholicism. We must get the Gospel right because many are being misled and deceived by distorted gospels that have no power to save anyone.”[iii]
 
The key differences between a biblically sound Gospel and that of Catholicism are those related to the doctrine of justification. While in seminary, I wrote my master’s thesis on Roman Catholic Justification in the Light of Scripture. Though that was longer ago than I care to admit, I believe the distinctions I wrote about back then still hold true today and are the very ones increasingly at risk due the push among “evangelicals” to adopt a unified stance with the pope and the Catholic church.
 
The following points briefly summarize the differences between Scripture and Rome’s view of justification.
 
CATHOLIC THEOLOGY MISREPRESENTS THE NATURE OF JUSTIFICATION
 
In Roman Catholic theology, justification is a process. Joseph Pohle, a well-known Catholic theologian, described it as something that “runs through certain well-defined stages, which in their totality are called the process of justification.”[iv]
 
Although Rome agrees that justification is momentary in one sense, Catholic theologians believe that is far too restrictive. They insist that true justification involves a lengthy process by which one’s soul becomes holy. Justification thus happens at the end of Christian growth rather than at its beginning and includes the process of developing an inner righteousness.
 
The Bible presents a much different perspective regarding the nature of justification. The word used for it in the New Testament is dikaioo, which came from the lawcourts of the first century AD. The word denotes a judge declaring someone “not guilty.” Justification is not a process but rather a momentary declaration of the sinner’s righteousness.
 
It refers the instant when God in effect slams down the gavel and proclaims the sinner innocent of all charges against him or her. The use of the word dikaioo to describe it confirms that by its nature justification cannot depict a process. It’s the moment in which the sinner receives “peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1).
 
Romans 4:22-25 further describes justification as an imputation of righteousness. Verse 22 says that Abraham’s faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” The Greek word used here is logizomai, refers to a reckoning or a setting to one’s account. Justification does not produce any change a person; it merely settles one’s relation to the law. It forever changes one’s status in God’s eyes from guilty to righteous.
 
This signifies that by its nature God’s justification of the sinner is final and irreversible. When He declares that we are righteous in His sight, no one can undo or alter His legal decree. Double jeopardy does not exist in God’s court of law; no one can enter His presence and overturn our righteous status. We see the irreversible aspect of our justification in Romans 8:30, “and those whom he justified he also glorified.” It’s an unbroken chain; the Lord will glorify every person that He justifies.
 
Romans 8:31-34 confirms the fact that no one can change God’s verdict of “not guilty” on our behalf. Nothing in our lives from birth to death (or the rapture) was hid from the Lord when He declared us righteous. It’s utterly impossible for anyone to present new evidence against us since God knew all about our lives when He declared us righteous.
 
CATHOLIC THEOLOGY MAKES GOOD WORKS THE PATH TO JUSTIFICATION
 
Martin Luther made the words sola fide (by faith alone) part of the Protestant vernacular. The Reformers stressed that God justifies the sinner totally through faith apart from any good works.
 
Rome vigorously opposed Luther on this matter. At the Council of Trent, a sixteenth century assembly of the Catholic church held in response to the Reformation, Catholic leaders condemned anyone that would say that faith alone justifies. They insisted that one must add “preparatory and cooperative” acts to ones faith in order to obtain final righteousness or justification. By these “necessary” acts, one cooperates with faith in order to prepare “his own will for the receipt of justification.”[v]
 
Scripture presents a much different picture of justification than that agreed upon at the Council of Trent; it totally excludes works from God’s pronouncement of righteousness on our behalf. In Galatians 2:16 Paul wrote:
 
Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
 
Luther said that Galatians 2:16 does not mean that Christians should reject good works. It does mean, however, that the topic of justification does not allow for any discussion of them. He added that faith justifies because it “takes hold of and possesses this treasure: Christ.”[vi]
 
Rome’s insistence on inherent righteousness achieved through good works contradicts Scripture. The words of Ephesians 2:8-9 teach us that salvation comes by grace through faith rather than on the basis of works. These verses, along with many others in the Bible, exclude works from having any part in our salvation.
 
It’s ever so important to recognize that our good works have nothing to do with our justification. True born-again saints begin the Christian life holy and blameless in God’s sight and that status never changes (Eph. 1:3-4).
 
Those who say we can lose our salvation, or even walk away from it, unwittingly adopt an understanding of justification that is more Roman Catholic than Protestant. Since God’s pronouncement of righteousness is unalterable, if one can lose his or her salvation or walk away from the Lord, this necessitates the Catholic view of justification that includes works and moves God’s final determination of one’s worthiness for eternal life to the end of one’s life.
 
It’s precisely because our good works or staying power have nothing to do with our righteous standing before God that we are forever eternally secure (John 10:27-29). We possess eternal life now!
 
CATHOLIC THEOLOGY MAKES OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS THE BASIS OF JUSTIFICATION
 
The most fundamental and important distinction between the Catholic and biblical view of justification is the basis of the righteousness by which God declares us just.
 
According to Roman Catholic theology, a sinner receives justification on the basis of a “real inherent righteousness” that one produces in the soul through sanctifying grace.[vii] The righteousness of a person’s soul, which one achieves through both preparatory and cooperative works, later becomes the basis of God’s declaration. God looks at a person’s own acquired righteousness and, on that basis, justifies him or her.
 
The Bible, however, teaches that God saves us in spite of ourselves. Ephesians 2:8-9 excludes even our faith as the basis of God’s declaration. The sole motive for God granting us eternal life lies wholly within the Giver, or God.
 
Romans chapters 2-8 teach that God justifies sinners solely on the basis of Christ’s righteousness. The apostle Paul places the basis of our justification totally outside of us and squarely upon the righteousness of Jesus. One theologian rightly said that the ground of justification “can only be found in the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ, which is imputed to the sinner” at the time of “justification.”[viii] Yes, it’s all about the exchange of our many sins for Jesus’ perfect righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21).
 
Those evangelicals who now seek to unite with Rome are in effect reversing the Reformation and compromising the purity of the Gospel. 
 
In Paul David Tripp’s devotional, New Morning Mercies, for March 6, he wrote these words regarding the significance of our eternal righteous standing before God that comes by way of justification:
 
“You can run into the light of his holy presence utterly unafraid, he will not turn you away. You can do this because your standing with him has never been based on your righteous performance, but on the perfect obedience of your Savior. Because you are in him, you are counted as righteous and therefore accepted into his holy presence forever and ever and ever.
 
“Yes, you are called to live a holy life, but your way of living has not been and never will be the basis of your standing with God.”
 
This is the blessed assurance of justification; God has nailed all the charges against us to the cross (Col. 2:13-14). We are forever secure before the Lord and can run to Him when we blow it knowing that He will never condemn us or treat us as anything other than His dearly beloved children (Rom. 8:1; 1 John 3:1).
 
 
Note: Please consider signing up for my newsletter on the home page of my website at https://www.jonathanbrentner.com/ . It will greatly help me in reaching more people. Thanks!
 
[i] Mike Gendron, Pontiff Proclaims All Go to Heaven in Lawless—End-Times War Against the Spirit of Antichrist, Terry James Editor (Crane, MO: Defender, 2020), p. 318.
 
[ii] Ibid.
 
[iii] Mike Gendron on his website at: https://www.proclaimingthegospel.org/site/cpage.asp?sec_id=180014816&cpage_id=180064909#!/Contending-for-the-Gospel/p/141870007/category=636667
 
[iv] Joseph Pohle, Grace: Actual and Habitual, Vol. VIII, Dogmatic Theology, ed. Arthur Preuss (St Louis: Herder, 1923), p. 183.
 
[v] The Council of Trent, Present Truth, IV (October 1975), p. 250.
 
[vi] Jaroslav Pelikan, ed., Lectures on Galatians 1535, Vol. 26, Luther’s Works (St Louis: Concordia, 1963), pp. 130, 137.
 
[vii] Pohle, Vol. VII, p. 322.
 
[viii] L. Berkof, Systematic Theology, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing House, 1941), p. 523.

 


 
The Mullahs' Nuclear Weapons Game - by Majid Rafizadeh - https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/17129/iran-nuclear-weapon-game
 
If the Western leaders know anything about the theocratic establishment of Iran, they would be able to see that the regime has used the Shia religion of Islam to justify repressing its population, killing, executing and sponsoring terror groups across the region.
 
So, what would stop the mullahs from issuing a fake religious ruling if it is going to advance their nuclear program by concealing the fact that they want both nuclear weapons and ensuring the survival of their theocracy?
 
"The government is empowered unilaterally to revoke any Shahri'ah agreements which it has concluded with the people when these agreements are contrary to the interest of the country or Islam." — Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, quoted in "Iran: The Formation of Trans Identity and Possible Paths Toward the Acceptance of Greater Gender 'Deviance'", Berkeley Journal of Middle Eastern & Islamic Law [Vol. 9:1].
 
The important issue for the ruling mullahs of Iran is the survival of their dictatorship. Anything, including religion, can be used to ensure that.
 
The important issue for the ruling mullahs of Iran is the survival of their dictatorship. Anything, including religion, can be used to ensure that. So, what would stop the mullahs from issuing a fake religious ruling if it is going to advance their nuclear program by concealing the fact that they want both nuclear weapons and ensuring the survival of their theocracy? Pictured: Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (left) and President Hassan Rouhani. (Image source: khamenei.ir)
 
The Iranian regime has acknowledged for the first time that it might pursue openly obtaining nuclear weapons.
 
The Iranian Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi, a close advisor to the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, pointed out recently that Iran might in fact very likely pursue that path:
 
"I must make it clear that if a cat is pushed into the corner, it may behave differently from a cat that walks freely. If Iran is pushed into a corner, it will not be its fault [i.e. the pursuit of nuclear weapons] but rather the fault of those pushing it."
 
This statement is critical. The Iranian leaders have long argued that there is no way they can seek nuclear weapons due to a religious fatwa (legal opinion under Islamic law) issued by Khamenei.
 
Khamenei did indeed previously issue a fatwa forbidding the pursuit of nuclear weapons. He has been previously quoted as saying:
 
"We consider the use of such weapons as haraam [religiously forbidden under Islamic law] and believe that it is everyone's duty to make efforts to secure humanity against this great disaster".
 
Khamenei also stated that the production or use of nuclear weapons are governed by Islamic laws which supposedly ban them. On his official website, he adds that "Both sharia [Islamic laws] and aqli [related to logic and reason] fatwas dictate that we do not pursue them."
 
This fatwa of banning nuclear weapons has been the Iranian regime's ready answer on international stage to prove that their nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes. When Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif met with US Senator Rand Paul, in 2019, for example, Zarif told Paul about Iran's unwillingness to seek nuclear weapons precisely because of Khamenei's fatwa.
 
Other world leaders have also used the Supreme Leader's fatwa to buttress Iran's claim that it does not want a nuclear bomb. President Barack Obama, for instance, in an attempt to reach a nuclear deal and appease the mullahs, declared in his address to the U.N. General Assembly in 2013 that "The Supreme Leader has issued a fatwa against the development of nuclear weapons."
 
Former US Secretary of State John Kerry supported the mullahs' line by calling the fatwa "the Highest form of Islamic prohibition":
 
"The supreme leader... says he has issued a fatwa, the highest form of Islamic prohibition against some activity, and he said that is to prohibit Iran from ever seeking a nuclear weapon."
 
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also lent her support by further pushing the narrative of the Iranian regime. According to her:
 
"The other interesting development which you may have followed was the repetition by the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei that they would – that he had issued a fatwa against nuclear weapons, against weapons of mass destruction. Prime Minister Erdogan and I discussed this at some length, and I've discussed with a number of experts and religious scholars."
 
If the Western leaders know anything about the theocratic establishment of Iran, they would be able to see that the regime has used the religion of Shia Islam to justify repressing Iran's population, killing, executing and sponsoring terror groups across the region. So, what would stop the mullahs from issuing a fake religious ruling if it is going to advance their nuclear program by concealing the fact that they want both nuclear weapons and ensuring the survival of their theocracy?
 
Secondly, if the Western leaders know anything about Shia Islam, they would realize that a fatwa can be changed at any time. Third, if the Western leaders know anything about the Islamic Republic of Iran, they would realize that the Iranian leaders have drafted the Islamic Republic's constitution in a way that allows the government to pass laws prioritizing those codified laws over religious rulings and fatwas. According to Article 167, "the judge is bound to endeavor to judge each case on the basis of the codified law [passed by the parliament and endorsed by the Guardian Council]." Then it adds, "In case of the absence of any such law, he has to deliver his judgment on the basis of authoritative Islamic sources and authentic fatwa."
 
Simply put, the Iranian parliament can immediately pass a law allowing the government to pursue nuclear weapons. According to the Iranian constitution, such a codified law would override any fatwa that banned a nuclear program.
 
Even the Islamic Republic's founding father, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, mentioned on several occasions that Islamic laws could, if necessary, be ignored . He pointed out, for example, that "the government is empowered unilaterally to revoke any Shahri'ah agreements which it has concluded with the people when these agreements are contrary to the interest of the country or Islam."
 
On another occasion, Khomeini stated that "the government can prevent the hajj, which is one of the important divine obligations, on a temporary basis, in cases when it is contrary to the interests of the Islamic country."
 
The important issue for the ruling mullahs of Iran is the survival of their dictatorship. Anything, including religion, can be used to ensure that.


 
 
Nearing Midnight: Minion Invasion: Fact or Fiction? – Terry James - https://www.raptureready.com/category/nearing-midnight/
 
This week’s column admittedly is, in part, to promote my third book of The Second Coming Chronicles series. Gary Ritter, an award-winning novelist, and I have joined to produce the third of the series. Its title is The Minion Protocols and it follows The Rapture Dialogues and The Nephilim Imperatives.
 
The first of the novels was the fictional—although based in solid Bible prophecy—presentation of part of Jesus’ foretelling of these very days in which I believe we are living.
 
Our Lord prophesied that when He is next revealed in a spectacular way, a catastrophic way, society and culture will be like they were during the days of Noah.
 
Here is what Jesus Christ said:
 
But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. (Matthew 24:37–44)
 
Despite the insistence of many seminaries and their graduates that this is not a Rapture prophecy, I believe it’s obvious that it is. There are Greek terms involved that also indicate it’s a Rapture prophecy.
 
That argument aside, the important thing to consider here is that the Creator of all matter that exists says that when He next catastrophically intervenes into human history, things will be—in society and culture—like they were in the days of Noah before the Flood that destroyed most all flesh on earth. We look back to the book of Genesis to see what things were like back in that antediluvian world.
 
This is the record of that epoch of earth I want us to consider for the moment.
 
And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (Genesis 6:1–5)
 
Again, a look at the Greek in regard to the term “sons of God” here can prove to those willing to lay aside prejudices against angelic sexual intervention in the human procreation process that these “sons of God” indeed sired nonhuman offspring—Nephilim, as my second novel of the series terms them. From the Nephilim, I believe, came the legends, gods, and demigods of Greek and other literature. These creatures were also, I believe, the possessors of the archeologically unearthed, gigantic, human-like skeletons and bones that science today, and even clergy, want to deny and/or keep under wraps from the curiosity of humanity.
 
These folks, for reasons known only to themselves, have managed to convince much of the world’s populations that such artifacts of paleontology don’t exist, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. I, personally, suspect that it is to prevent truth of the biblical account of Creation and human origin from coming to light.
 
Jesus said in His Olivet Discourse of Matthew 24 that deception will be a primary sign of his Second Coming. As a matter of fact, it was the first sign He gave when His disciples asked Him what would signal His return and the end of the age.
 
The fact that dark forces of science and government have managed to prevent light from being shed in that regard smacks, I believe, of supernatural obfuscation from the dark dimension this novel series is meant to expose.
 
Certainly we have gone over and over the deception that has been foisted by the dark human geopolitical forces of the past number of years. And the efforts to lie and promote that deceit have been so creatively accomplished that we can only conclude that the master planner is “the father of lies,” Lucifer.
 
Our novel, The Minion Protocols: Dark Powers, goes behind the scenes of all that has gone on in the American political and governmental machinations of late. Although the story fictional, we hope it gives a glimpse of how the dark powers that invaded the earth and were denounced by God as evil in their activities and intentions are almost certainly now setting the stage for the Tribulation era and the emergence of the Antichrist regime, precisely as God’s prophetic Word predicted millennia ago. All this evil and dark deception is fact, not fiction.
 
We believe that one quick glance around your personal world at any given moment gives you the strange but certain sensation that there is a growing, collective madness that Paul described as a “reprobate mind” (Romans 1: 28).
 
To that extent, we say without reservation that the Minion invasion is reality at this very moment.
 
But we who know the Lord for salvation can take great comfort from our Lord’s own words about all that is darkening our presence circumstance.
 
And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. (Luke 21:28)
 
The links to order the third book of the series and the entire series are below.
 
Here is the link for The Minion Protocols:
 
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08X7KNPKR/
 
And here is the link for the complete box set (all three novels) of The Second Coming Chronicles:
 
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08X9QCGPF/

 


 
Rumors Of War, Pestilences, And Earthquakes In Diverse Places… - by Michael Snyder - http://endoftheamericandream.com/rumors-of-war-pestilences-and-earthquakes-in-diverse-places/
 
Most people still don’t realize this, but the truth is that we have entered an apocalyptic time in human history. War, natural disasters, disease outbreaks, economic problems and civil unrest are all in the headlines on a daily basis already, and they are all going to be a bigger part of our lives moving forward. Those that have been hoping that our lives would soon “return to normal” will be greatly disappointed, because what we have experienced so far is just the beginning.
 
Now that the warmongers are back in control in Washington, we should expect a steady stream of war rumors from now on.
 
This week, we are being told that the Biden administration is quite eager to make the Russians “pay” for the Solar Winds hack that was first reported last December. According to the New York Times, the Biden administration is getting ready to initiate a series of “clandestine” cyberattacks that will seriously hurt Russia…
 
The Biden administration is gearing up to carry out cyberattacks aimed at Russian networks, the New York Times has reported, describing the provocation as a retaliatory measure designed to send Moscow a message.
 
Citing officials familiar with the operation, the Times said that a “series of clandestine actions” aimed at Russia is expected to begin over the next three weeks and that the cyberattacks are intended to be “evident” to President Vladimir Putin and Russia’s intelligence services, but not to the “wider world.”
 
The attack will likely coincide with new economic sanctions against Moscow, as well as an executive order from President Joe Biden that would bolster security for US government networks.
 
If the Russians were not the ones behind the Solar Winds hack, they are going to be extremely upset at being attacked for no reason.
 
A cyberattack is most definitely an act of war, and the Biden administration is taking us down a path that could ultimately lead to military conflict with Russia.
 
Meanwhile, the U.S. is also promising to strike back against pro-Iranian forces for a missile attack that recently hit a military base in Iraq where U.S. troops are stationed…
 
The United States will do what it views as necessary to defend its interests after a rocket attack against Iraq’s Ain al-Sada airbase, which hosts American, coalition and Iraqi forces, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Sunday.
 
The attack, which was the second in several weeks, took place earlier in March. Pro-Iranian militias were believed to be responsible for the incident. The US attacked several sites in Syria affiliated with Shiite militias shortly after the first incident in February, in which a contractor was killed.
 
We don’t know exactly when the U.S. will retaliate, but there was a “show of force” on Sunday…
 
Israeli F-15 fighter jets escorted two American B-52 bombers through Israeli airspace on Sunday in a new show of force by the United States against Iran — with an Israeli element — amid rising tensions in the region.
 
Meanwhile, things continue to get even more tense between Iran and Israel.
 
Yesterday, I discussed the fact that Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz is openly threatening to bomb Iran if the Iranians do not stop their nuclear program.
 
Of course the Iranians have no intention of backing down, and on Monday Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami responded to Gantz by threatening to “level Tel Aviv”…
 
Iran has responded to a Fox News interview from late last week wherein Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said that Israel is currently updating its plans to strike Iran’s nuclear program and is prepared to act independently if the United States is not willing. The interview was unusually blunt even for Israel in terms of the defense chief openly stating war plans.
 
Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami promptly fired back with a counterthreat on Sunday. He said Iran’s military will level Tel Aviv and Haifa should Israel do anything “out of desperation”.
 
As I have consistently warned, it is just a matter of time before a major war erupts in the Middle East, and it will be truly horrific.
 
At the same time, our planet is shaking like we have never seen before.
 
After getting hit by three giant quakes the other day, New Zealand was just rattled by a magnitude 6.6 earthquake…
 
New Zealand has been rocked by a 6.6 magnitude earthquake off its east coast just days after a string of quakes in the same region sparked tsunami fears and mass evacuations.
 
On the other side of the world, Iceland has been shaken by over 20,000 earthquakes…
 
More than 20,000 earthquakes have rocked southwestern Iceland between Feb. 24 and March 5, according to the country’s meteorological office.
 
On Sunday alone, the Icelandic Meteorological Office reported about 2,800 quakes, including one that struck with a magnitude of 5.0.
 
What we have been witnessing is truly unusual.
 
During the first 65 days of 2021, there have been 42 earthquakes of at least magnitude 6.0. What many people do not realize is that this is an enormous increase over previous years…
 
The number of earthquakes is increasing. In the first 65 days of 1921, exactly one century ago, only seven major quakes, magnitude 6 or higher were recorded globally according to the USGS DataBase. In the same period last year, a total of 24 major quakes, magnitude 6 or higher were recorded around the globe. Back in 2019, just 20 major quakes had been reported up to March the 6th, just 50% of this year’s total. In 2018, a total of 24 major quakes were reported in the first 65 days of the year and in 2017 just 15. 24 major earthquakes were recorded in the beginning of 2016 and in 2015, just 18.
 
While acknowledging that there is a marked increase in seismic activity, the authorities claim there is nothing to worry about.
 
In fact, in all of recorded history there has never been so many major earthquakes during the first 65 days of a calendar year.
 
Unfortunately, the shaking is only going to get worse.
 
At the same time that our planet is becoming increasingly unstable, a virulent new COVID strain known as “P1” is absolutely ravaging Brazil…
 
The country is in crisis with victims dying in chairs as hospitals have been overwhelmed – and doctors say they face a “tsunami” of new infections thanks to the more contagious P1 variant. Brazil has seen a huge Covid spike since the start of February, which has been blamed on a mutant strain that emerged in jungle city Manaus.
 
Average daily infections are 30 percent higher than the devastating first wave and deaths are up by 32 percent, O Globo reports. In some areas, the rise is over 50 percent. On Saturday Brazil recorded 1,443 deaths and more than 60,000 new infections.
 
Scientists have discovered that P1 is highly resistant to existing vaccines, and so that is going to be a major problem as P1 continues to spread to other parts of the globe.
 
In fact, it has already spread to at least 25 other countries, and that list includes the United States.
 
Sadly, this is certainly not the last major pestilence that we are doing to have to deal with.
 
We have entered such a dangerous time, and things are really going to get crazy in the months and years ahead.
 
But most people still don’t understand what is happening, and for the moment ignorance is bliss. 

 


 
Daily Jot: Never, never, ever give in – Bill Wilson – www.dailyjot.com
 
On October 29, 1941, a year after one of the darkest hours of World War II for Great Britain, Prime Minister Winston Churchill addressed his alma mater Harrow School. Here emerged one of the most famous quotes (which oft has been misquoted): “Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.” This quote will hopefully embolden you, encourage you, strengthen you as it did to Brits and their allies as they fought one of the gravest evils to darken the steps of mankind. Evil never changes, it just finds more ways.
 
We are repeatedly instructed by God’s word to overcome evil with good. There is so much evil in our society and around the world. Much of what we read, see and hear glorifies evil and calls the good evil. Shutting down businesses because of COVID, but letting in tens of thousands illegal immigrants with no COVID restrictions; Spending trillions of your hard earned tax dollars on pet programs and socialist expansion; Mortgaging your children’s futures; legalizing illegal election activities; stacking the voting process against leftist opposition; putting China first because of self-enrichment; labeling Christians and conservatives as bigots, racists and domestic terrorists; abusing our children with gender identification brainwashing; shutting down our oil and gas so prices on everything rise; and the list goes on and on. They won’t quit.
 
There is a moral war that is being conducted against that which is good. It has its roots in satan. But satan has no power unless people give him legal entry–which much of society has. We need to guard our hearts. We need to protect our families. We need to stand in the gap as examples and not yield to this 21st Century brand of morality. When these examples of evil come before us, we should point them out. Use them to educate others about discernment and right thinking. We need to be proactive with ourselves to ensure that satan’s battlefield, our minds, are focused on the good thoughts of God. We need to be leaders for what is right and good in our families and with our friends. Never give in.
 
We must be willing to stand. We must not give in. Psalm 94:16-17 says, “Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity? Unless the Lord had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence.” Let us be silent no more. Let us be stronger than those who usurp the will of the people and are drunk on their own power. As Ephesians 6:12-13 says, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” Pray. Act. Stand. Speak boldly. Don’t look at others and say they will take care of it. Look at yourself and take action. Never give in. 

 


 
Daily Devotion: Hope Has a Name - by Greg Laurie – www.harvest.org
 
But blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence. —Jeremiah 17:7
 
https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/hope-has-a-name/ - Listen
 
Have you ever felt as though your life doesn’t matter, that no one cares about you, or that no one would miss you if you were gone?
 
You couldn’t be more wrong. God loves you. And so many people, more than you realize, love you. Your life has meaning, and your life has purpose. You have a place, and we need you. So I want you to hang on.
 
Sometime life can seem so unfair, and life can seem so hard. You wonder, “How am I going to get through it?” Maybe you’re terrified of the future and don’t think you ever will be happy again.
 
As someone with one of the few advantages of age, let me just say this: No matter how bad the crisis you’re facing is right now, you’re going to get through it. Ultimately, it all will pass.
 
I’m not speaking from a vacuum. I wasn’t raised in a Christian home. I didn’t have Christian parents who tucked me into bed at night and read me Bible stories. I lived the opposite of that. My mother was an alcoholic who was married and divorced seven times. I had a very difficult, crazy, and tumultuous childhood.
 
But when I came to faith in Jesus Christ, it changed the course of my life. Now I feel like I can take the pain and hardship I’ve been through and use it to help others.
 
Dr. Robert McNair Wilson, a British cardiologist, wrote, “Hope is the medicine I use more than any other—hope can cure nearly anything.”
 
Could you use some of that medicine today? Hope has a name, and it’s Jesus Christ.
 
God can take all the hurt and pain you’ve experienced in life and use it to touch other people. He can make you into the person that He wants you to be. 

 


 


 
FROM THE HEART
    
Let Us Make the Short Time We have Left,
Count for ALL of Eternity!

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"Folks, it's all beginning to unravel. America is in more danger of falling than at any time in its history. But I believe Bible prophecy predicts this very decline. From this point on, we believers have to get serious. We are going to face discouragement, disillusionment and, most certainly, persecution in the time between now and the Rapture. But don't be discouraged or disillusioned. The coming turmoil will provide us unrivaled opportunities to share the good news of the Gospel. So be ready to share your faith and your hope with those who need Christ. We still have time to reap a great harvest of souls for God's kingdom!" - Hal Lindsey
 
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"AS YOU SEE THE DAY APPROACHING"
 
 
 
 
If You Died Today, Would You Go To Heaven?
Find out, visit:
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www.gotquestions.org
www.wayofthemaster.com 
How to know God
 
 
 
DID YOU KNOW?
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Maranatha! (Lord Come Quickly)
 
 "On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand, All other ground is sinking sand."
 
 "Let Us make the short time we have left count for all eternity!"
 
 YBIC-Randy

 

IN TODAY'S NEWSLETTER... 
 

• Featured Article: Iniquity and Cold Love 
• 9 Signs That Chess Pieces Are Being Moved Into Place For A Major War In The Middle East 
• Biden abandons Middle East peace 
• Pope goes back to Babylon 
• Daily Jot: The winds of tyranny 
• Daily Devotion: Starting Again 

IN TODAY'S NEWSLETTER... 
 

• Featured Article: No One Can Cancel Our “Blessed Hope” 
• Digital Vaccine Passports Are Coming & Could Be Used For Much More Than Travel
• Can You Not See That The Crust Of Our Planet Is Becoming Increasingly Unstable? 
• Relax, God’s Got This 
• Daily Jot: The Farm Chronicles: Rodeo Cowboy 
• Daily Devotion: Running from God’s Will 

IN TODAY'S NEWSLETTER... 
 
 

• Featured Article: In the Twinkling of An Eye
• When the Stars Fall from the Sky 
• Just Another Day in the Age of Pandemics! 
• Waiting for the Rapture 
• Daily Jot: Reality Check 
• Daily Devotion” Greater Than Our Fears