Our Future Destiny Awaits

IN TODAY'S NEWSLETTER... 
 

• Featured Article: Our Future Destiny Awaits 
• Will the Gog-Magog War Start in Yemen? 
• Nearing Midnight: When the Vengeful Think They Are the Virtuous 
• The “Everything Collapse” Continues: One-Third Of All Freshwater Fish Are Facing Extinction 
• Daily Jot: Stupidocrisy: Global warming and Texas 
• Daily Devotion: The Next Event on the Prophetic Calendar 

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Our Future Destiny Awaits - by Pastor Mike Taylor - https://pastormiketaylor.blogspot.com/2021/02/our-future-destiny-awaits.html
 
1 “ If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.” (Colossians 3:1-4)
 
Have you ever been to a funeral of a loved one and felt so sad, almost to the point of total depression because of the cold, unnatural looking person who you loved lies in a perpetual state of unawareness?
 
Most people have, and I really don't like going to funerals, as I would rather remember them in life, than have that last image of them in their casket burned into my memory. But you can understand that many people believe that death is the end of our existence, that your loved one is completely gone and never coming back. The Godless world believes that death is the end of our thoughts, our memories and the end of our consciousness.
 
Think about your loved one for a moment that has passed on. When they were with you, they were warm, animated and engaged with life. Now they are cold and still and totally disconnected from this life. Have you ever reached out and maybe just touched their hand or finger, how it feels like a piece of a stick? All that you knew them to be is gone, and your loss and pain of the unbeliever is overwhelming. One, you have to face your own mortality, as that will be you in the future, should the Lord tarry longer than your date of death, which only He knows.
 
MAN IS DESTINED TO DIE
 
I read where man is the only creature that knows he is going to die. Even though everything on this planet at some point dies, man knows that it also includes him. So why do we fear it so much?
 
What you're looking at, in that casket, is the mortal remains full of embalming fluid to preserve the flesh till you get it in the ground. It knows nothing, feels nothing and the life force has left its shell. But what of the consciousness? What happens to it? Do you have a body, or is the body you? Is your body your possession, or as the song goes “is this all there is?”
 
Someone who is not a believer in Jesus Christ and has no relationship with God, called an Atheist would argue that the body and the consciousness are one and the same. When the body dies, so does the consciousness of the person. They reduce mankind to some kind of roadkill that was runover in the road and doesn't go to heaven.
 
In this viewpoint, you ARE your body. There is no “ghost in the machine” ..no spirit, nothing that goes on and continues to live. Your brain produces your mind and your mind is what makes you think that you are YOU. An Atheist credits reason for reaching this “enlightened” perspective.
 
But to qualify as an atheist, that person must know EXACTLY what happens to the mind, their will and their emotions. And if they entertain the possibility that death is the great UNKNOWN, then they are not atheist, but now are agnostics...They just don't know for sure.
 
For the worldview that claims “reason” as it's father, it's not very reasonable.
 
WHAT DID THE ANCIENTS BELIEVE ABOUT DEATH?
 
As early as Job's time, God had revealed the existence of the Redeemer Christ, and the PHYSICAL resurrection of the dead. Job not only expected to see Christ with his PHYSICAL eyes, but he expected his physical body to be changed.
 
25 “ For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:
26 And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:
27 Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.” (Job 19:25-27)
 
The prophet Daniel also wrote of what we would be, those who have the Hope of the resurrection to a new life.
 
2 “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.” (Daniel 12:2-3)
 
Job awaited the call of a trumpet that would raise the departed souls from their sleep and raised in a new body. This change was believed a thousand years before it was generally known as the resurrection of the saints, some call the rapture.
 
12 “So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.
13 O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!
14 If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.
15 Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands.
16 For now thou numberest my steps: dost thou not watch over my sin?” (Job 14:12-16)
 
Our Lord Jesus expressed this same concept when He spoke in John:
 
“Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice
29, and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.” (John 5:28-29)
 
Many point to the words of Solomon in Ecclesiastes where Solomon referred to the PHYSICAL body which is “asleep” and not the spirit. Soloman addressed the eventual end of both body AND sprit.
 
7 “ Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.” (Ecclesiastes 12:7)
 
But note what Paul the Apostle said concerning the body that dies. It is not the end of all consciousness. Yes, the body dies, but the consciousness lives on.
 
8 “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
9 Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” (2nd Corinthians 5:8-10)
 
May we point to the parable that Jesus gave when He spoke of Lazarus and the rich man? Some say this is just an analogy, but did Jesus lie when He gave parables? No, He spoke them of truth, but many could not hear them, or understand them, as it was not meant for them to understand, because if they remained ignorant of the point, they would not be guilty of sin of unbelief.
 
19 “There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:
20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,
21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house:
28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.
30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.” (Luke 16:19-31)
 
Jesus spoke truth and never lied when He spoke of such a case that makes the reader heart sick for one so unable to change his destiny. And maybe those who read that identify with that rich man. It brings a sense of dread to the unbeliever. If you or your loved ones were in such a condition, would you not pray for another chance as this rich man did in the story Jesus told? Jesus told us in plain truth what the person experiences upon physical death.
 
Lazarus died physically, but the angels carried him into Abraham's bosom which is another word for Paradise. The rich also died and was totally conscious of his fate while looking up from the flames of hell.
 
Let us look at the facts that I believe Jesus was relaying to His listening audience:
 
1. Lazarus, Abraham and the rich man were all there, and they were all conscious of their surroundings.
2. the rich man was conscious of his torment and was able to speak with Abraham and was aware of Lazarus whom he knew also. Abraham was also conscious of his surroundings as well and able to give reply to the rich man's questions.
3.note that the rich man was in Hell, not in the Lake of Fire, which establishes the story playing out in real time at some point before the resurrection of Jesus. It was not a scene of the penalty imposed on those at the Great White Throne Judgment. The rich man had memories not only of his life on earth, but the memories of his family as well.
4.The rich man cared for his family, his father and five brothers, so all of his earthly memories remained intact. And also his emotions which are entirely human.
His physical body was dead in the grave, or asleep as Solomon puts it, but his soul, what made him who he was, was very much alive in the sense of his consciousness and his mind.
 
So taking this parable and knowing it was an actual event Jesus was telling the people around Him, the question remains, what happens when we die? Answer: We are absent from the body, but there is no cessation of our consciousness until the resurrection of the dead. Our dead bodies will be changed and we will rejoin them and be united and stand before the God of the Universe and give an account of our lives..Some will receive rewards and eternal life at the 1st resurrection, and those raised in the 2nd Resurrection will be raised to judgment and condemnation. Both being immortal but different destinations.
 
The Apostle John wrote of this judgment of the unrighteous in Revelation:
 
5 “But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.” (Revelation 20:5-6)
 
Note that John speaks of those raised in the 1st Resurrection, but the rest lived not until the end of the 1000 years. He separates the two resurrections. Those who are raised before the Millennium along with those Tribulation saints are of the 1st resurrection, beginning with Jesus, the first fruits of those born of the dead. And the second resurrection is not where anyone wants to be, as it will be condemnation, judgment and the penalty of separation from God for all eternity.
 
John addresses the PHYSICAL resurrection of the dead whose consciousness remain awake and very much alive in hell with the rich man until final judgment after the 2nd resurrection of the lost.
 
11 “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:11-15)
 
As to the 'dead in Christ' -- they are also conscious, but in Heaven in the presence of the Lord from the moment of physical death until the Rapture.
 
Furthering Job's theme of 'the change' Paul writes,
 
"Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed”. (1st Corinthians 15:51-52)
 
At the coming of Jesus for His church, some believer will not have experienced physical death. They will be instantly changed into their incorruptible bodies, and those who have experience physical death will be raised prior to those found alive, and they will receive their resurrection bodies first. And then we will all be united in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
 
THE GREAT DEBATE, WHAT OF THE SPIRIT?
 
The is a great debate on what the spirit of those who have died experience when their spirit returns to the Lord. Does the Bible give us a description of what we will be? No, it does not...but I am of the mind, we are not some disembodied spirits floating on clouds playing harps, as the imagery fostered by a major world religion. The Bible doesn't come right and say what we will be between here and the coming of the Lord for those departed, but Paul makes this statement in his epistle
 
20 “According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.
21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
22 But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not.
23 For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:” (Philippians 1:20-23)
 
Did you catch that? “I desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better” If Paul was desiring to be with Christ, is it in his grave, or his spirit with the glorified Savior whom he saw with his own eyes.
 
The God who blinded him, and was taught by Him in the wilderness for three years prior to coming to see the other Apostles, and the man who was translated (raptured) into the third heaven and heard words that are not lawful for a man to hear? Paul knew our Savior almost as intimately as the other Apostles, but He knew Him as the glorified Savior in His power and glory. That is who Paul wanted to leave this life and join and he has been with Him, in whatever form of spiritual expression that God has deemed fit, for now over 2000 years.
 
So we await what is promised those who have died and those who are alive that are found in faith and belief in our Lord Jesus Christ
 
At the return of our Lord for His church, the Bible says that;
"For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise (physically incorruptible) first: Then we which are (physically) alive and remain (in our natural bodies) shall be caught up together with them (changed and incorruptible) in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." (1st Thessalonians 4:16-17) (parenthesis are my explantions)
 
Our loved ones who have gone home to the Lord are ALREADY in His Presence, enjoying Heaven and its unimaginable joy and riches in what form, we are not told. . They are NOT moldering in the grave, unconsciously awaiting the call of the Trumpet.
 
They are alive and aware and eagerly anticipating the opportunity to meet with us in the air and embrace us once more. 
 
LET ME ASK YOU A QUESTION?
 
Where do you see yourself on this great debate. Are you the rich man waiting for his demise in an eternal hell? Or are you the beggar who is not rich, but rich in the power of the Holy Spirit? Do you see yourself in the arms of your Savior, or destined to be cast out? It is a question that everyone of us must make a decision over, and it is why everyone that has ever been born has to decide. “what will you do with the God/man, Jesus Christ? Will you accept His free offer of mercy and grace, or will you enjoy your sin and unrighteousness, being deceived but for a short while?”
 
This world is coming to an end. Maybe quicker than you even imagine as prophecy is being fulfilled everyday at a blinding speed, especially in the last year 2020. But the bible says we all die. Are you ready to die?
 
“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. .” (Hebrews 9:27-28)
 
In this life, you only get one chance to get it right. No second chances. No passing GO and collect $200...when you die, you have two places to end up...with Christ, or in hell....or the Lake of Fire. Don't wait, as we are not promised even tomorrow. Tonight might be the beckoning call of death that awaits us all. Look to Jesus, as He will save you only if you ask Him.
 
“For God so loved the Word, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosover believeth in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.
God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him, might be saved.
18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God ”(John 3:16-18)
 
 
8 “But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:8-13)”:
 
Make that decision right now...Your eternal destiny depends on it..
 
This is Pastor Mike Taylor, praying for your salvation. If you need counseling, prayer, or just a listening ear, email me at, [email protected], or visit on my my blog for more sermons directed at the end time prophecy, God bless you all, TILL WE MEET AT JESUS FEET.

 


 
Will the Gog-Magog War Start in Yemen? - Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz - https://www.israel365news.com/187552/will-gog-magog-war-to-begin-in-yemen-this-bible-scholar-says-so-cites-book-of-zechariah/
 
And Hashem will manifest Himself to them, And His arrows shall flash like lightning; My Hashem shall sound the shofar And advance in a stormy tempest. Zechariah 9:14 (The Israel BibleTM)
 
As Biden’s administration carries out swift and drastic policy changes, the new foreign policy, befriending Iran and its Yemini proxies while alienating former allies like Saudi Arabia, may have unpleasant prophetic implications.
 
BIDEN: SIDING WITH HOUTHIS AND IRAN AGAINST SAUDI ARABIA
 
The Biden administration has shifted radically from the foreign policy pursued by the previous president, choosing to reenter the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal. This deal removes economic sanctions from the Islamic republic while delaying their nuclear weapons program by four years. This allows Iran to fund terrorism outside of their country and fund proxy wars in a program of regional expansion.
 
Just two weeks after taking office, Biden announced that the US was cutting off support the Saudi Arabian military effort against the Houthis, an Iranian proxy whose five-year civil war against the government in Yemen has created a humanitarian crisis. The Houthi takeover is generally viewed as a critical part of Iran’s regional expansionism and support of terrorism. Yemen controls the critical Strait of Hormuz through which all tankers carrying oil from the Gulf States must pass. The war and widespread famine have resulted in 100,000 deaths. The Biden administration will also be lifting the State Department’s classification of the Houthis as a terrorist organization which it earned by attacking civilians and kidnapping US citizens.
 
Predictably, the weeks following that decision have seen a marked increase in Houthi drone attacks on Saudi Arabia as well as an increase in fighting in Yemen.
 
THE FINAL SHOFAR BLAST WILL BE FROM YEMEN
 
Dov Bar Leib, an end-of-days blogger, claims that these policies will inevitably lead to the outbreak of the Gog and Magog end-of-days war.
 
“The final stages before the Messiah are hinted at in the final prophetic shofar blowing in the verses recited during the Musaf additional prayers on Rosh Hashana,” Bar Leib said. “That particular set of shofar blasts and the prophetic verses read for them describe the entire end of days process.”
 
Dov Bar Leib explained that each verse taken from the prophets in that part of the Rosh Hashanah prayer corresponds to a stage in the end of days. He explained that the first verse from the Prophets read in that section of the prayers is taken from Isaiah.
 
 “All you who live in the world And inhabit the earth, When a flag is raised in the hills, take note! When a shofar is blown, give heed!” Isaiah 18:3
 
“This refers to the establishment of the state of Israel,” Bar Leib said. “This was the founding of the State of Israel in 5708. It is “like” the blast of a Shofar because the founding of the state was necessarily done by the Erev Rav in order to trick the nations and the Satan into thinking that religious Jews are not returning in order to fulfill Messianic prophesies where the nations of the world are ultimately held accountable for their sins and their crimes.”
 
The next verse is also taken from Isaiah.
 
And in that day, a great shofar shall be sounded; and the strayed who are in the land of Assyria and the expelled who are in the land of Egypt shall come and worship Hashem on the holy mount, in Yerushalayim. Isaiah 27:13
 
“This has been partially fulfilled,” Bar Leib said. “The Vilna Gaon predicted in the 18th century that this verse would be the great shofar blast calling back the exiles that would commence 3/4 of the way through the 6th Millennium as if they were three-quarters of the way through the 6th day of the week. This is parallel to what took place in Israel in the Temple times when shofar blowers ascended the mountains of Israel to blow the shofar at noon on Friday to call Israel in from her fields to prepare for Shabbat. So it would be the case 3/4 of the way through the 6th millennium that the preparations for the final great Sabbath will begin.”
 
“This prophesied prostrating before God on His Holy Mountain has not occurred…..yet,” BAr Leib said. “But the ingathering and aliyah surely picked up speed in 1990-1991, which came precisely ¾ of the way through the sixth millennium with Russian Jews, the ‘lost ones from Assyria’, and Ethiopian Jews, ‘the castaways from Egypt’, arriving during the First Persian Gulf War as scud missiles were flying.”
 
The final verse is taken from Zechariah.
 
And Hashem will manifest Himself to them, And His arrows shall flash like lightning; My Hashem shall sound the shofar And advance in a stormy tempest. Zechariah 9:14
 
Bar Leib explained that the Hebrew word תֵּימָן (Tayman) is translated here as ‘stormy’ but it actually means ‘Yemen.’
 
“The war of Gog and Magog will come out of Yemen,” Bar Leib stated unequivocally, citing this verse, recited before the final shofar blasts of Rosh Hashana, as his source. “The third blast is directly from the ‘lips’ of God Himself, in all of His Glory. The final war between Edom, the western world, and Persia, that is Iran, will not be focused on Israel. God will ‘send an arrow’ to Yemen to the place where that war will commence.”

 



 
Nearing Midnight: When the Vengeful Think They Are the Virtuous – Todd Strandberg - https://www.raptureready.com/category/nearing-midnight/
 
I had hoped that the left’s complete victory over Trump and the Republican party would have placated them for a few months. It now appears that satisfaction will only come when they turn America into a dictatorship. The biggest difference between the right and the left is that the left has no empathy. They believe they are 100% correct and everyone else is wrong.
 
It should be obvious to all Americans that the second impeachment of Donald Trump was nothing more than an exercise in stupidity. We’ve done this before with the same outcome–acquittal. The Democrats voted to kick him out of an office that he has already vacated. I can only wonder if some new criminal offense will surface that will require a third “historic” impeachment of the same man.
 
The left’s pettiness in its hatred of all things Trump should have triggered outrage. The Washington Post argued that Trump doesn’t deserve to have a presidential library. Biden said Trump was too dangerous to receive any more intelligence briefings, which has been granted to all previous presidents.
 
I’m sure citizen Donald’s life is going to become a nightmare. Because all America’s current problems are the result of Trump, no action taken against him will be reported as going too far. We may see credit card companies and vendors decline to provide services to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. Even the most hardcore Democrats should not want to live in a nation where the mob decides who should be persecuted for their political views.
 
Gina Carano, a mixed martial artist who played the hard-charging mercenary Cara Dune on “The Mandalorian,” was sacked by Lucasfilm after comparing modern-day conservatives to Jews persecuted during the Holocaust. She had reposted the following tweet:
 
“Jews were beaten in the streets, not by Nazi soldiers, but by their neighbors… even by children,” the post reads. “Because history is edited, most people today don’t realize that to get to the point where Nazi soldiers could easily round up thousands of Jews, the government first made their own neighbors hate them simply for being Jews. How is that any different from hating someone for their political views?”
 
Pedro Pascal, the lead actor in The Mandalorian, also made a politically-charged Holocaust comparison, and it seems Disney has not taken any action in his case. In the summer of 2018, when Democrats demonized President Donald Trump for putting “kids in cages” by sharing photos of children put in cages during the Obama administration, Pascal explicitly compared the “kids in cages” claim to the Holocaust. He shared two images with the hashtag “ThisisAmerica.”
 
Virginia Heffernan, a columnist for the Los Angeles Times, wrote the most perverse column in recent memory. The title: “What can you do about the Trumpites next door?” Heffernan wasn’t lamenting neighbors who had jokingly put pro-Trump signs in her yard or who had participated in the Jan. 6 riots. No, Heffernan was lamenting the travails of living next door to Trump supporters who dared to clear her driveway of snow.
 
Heffernan writes, “Trumpites next door to our pandemic getaway … just plowed our driveway without being asked and did a great job.” This simple act launched Heffernan into a journey of angst and rage. “How am I going to resist demands for unity in the face of this act of aggressive niceness?” she bemoans. “I realize I owe them thanks — and, man, it really looks like the guy back-dragged the driveway like a pro — but how much thanks?”
 
Many of the people who invaded the Capital Hill building cannot find lawyers to represent them. It shows how vile and uncivilized our nation has become. The defendants at Nuremberg were provided with legal counsel because, at that time, people still had respect for the rule of law. With there being no middle ground for rational debate, civil war or death squads for anyone seen as a foe will be the fate of our nation.
 
We are likely beyond the point where an event could trigger a revival to constitutional thinking or even a pause in our decline. When people become so irrational that they think they have a monopoly on truth, there is no reasoning that will return them to sanity.
 
“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!” (Isaiah 5:20-21).

 


 
The “Everything Collapse” Continues: One-Third Of All Freshwater Fish Are Facing Extinction - by Michael Snyder - http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/the-everything-collapse-continues-one-third-of-all-freshwater-fish-are-facing-extinction/
 
It isn’t just the economy that is collapsing. We live at a time when our entire planet and all of the systems that it supports are in the process of failing. There are many out there that believe that if we can just reduce global temperatures a bit that everything will be just fine, but that is a complete and utter fantasy. The truth is that everything is collapsing because of our self-destructive behavior, and we won’t be altering that self-destructive behavior any time soon. There are others that are in a state of denial about what is happening, and they continue to promote the fairytale that everything is going to be just wonderful and that a new golden era of prosperity for humanity is right around the corner. You have to be quite delusional to believe that sort of a narrative, but there are plenty of people that do.
 
At this juncture, everyone should be able to see that the clock is ticking for our planet, and in this article I am going to share several examples that underscore this point.
 
First of all, according to a new report that was just released this week, one-third of all freshwater fish species on the entire planet are now facing extinction…
 
Nearly a third of all freshwater fish species are threatened by extinction, according to a new report released by 16 conservation groups on Tuesday.
 
“The World’s Forgotten Fishes” says that 80 freshwater species — which make up more than half of all the world’s species — have already been declared extinct, with 16 disappearing in 2020 alone.
 
We are losing more than one species of freshwater fish a month.
 
That is mind blowing.
 
In other cases, certain populations of freshwater fish have suffered “catastrophic” population drops…
 
Migratory populations have declined by more than three-quarters since the 1970s, while populations of larger species, weighing more than 60 pounds, have fallen by an even more “catastrophic” 94 percent, it said.
 
If you think that this has happened because global temperatures may have ticked up a bit, you aren’t being rational.
 
Temperatures have gone up and down dramatically for thousands of years, but we have never seen anything like this.
 
This crisis is getting worse with each passing year, and hundreds of millions of people rely on freshwater fish for “their main source of protein”…
 
About 200 million people across Asia, Africa and South America rely on freshwater fishers for their main source of protein, researchers said in “The World’s Forgotten Fishes” report. About one-third of those people also rely on them for their jobs and livelihoods.
 
This is yet another factor that is going to cause the coming “global famine” that I keep talking about.
 
Meanwhile, we are losing insect species at a staggering rate as well.
 
In fact, one report found that a whopping 40 percent of all insect species are on the verge of extinction…
 
In February, they published the first synthesis of 73 studies on entomological fauna around the world over the past 40 years, listing places from Costa Rica to southern France.
 
They calculated that over 40 percent of insect species are threatened with extinction, and each year about one percent is added to the list.
 
This is equivalent, they noted, to “the most massive extinction episode” since the dinosaurs disappeared.
 
Reducing temperatures slightly won’t alter this trajectory.
 
The truth is that this also is happening due to our extremely self-destructive behavior.
 
According to Australian researcher Francisco Sanchez-Bayo, we are looking at only about 100 years before all the insects are gone…
 
Chillingly, the total mass of insects is falling by 2.5 percent annually, the review’s authors said. If the decline continues at this rate, insects could be wiped off the face of the Earth within a century.
 
“It is very rapid. In 10 years you will have a quarter less, in 50 years only half left and in 100 years you will have none,” study co-author Francisco Sánchez-Bayo, an environmental biologist at the University of Sydney, Australia, told The Guardian.
 
Once all of the insects are gone, humanity will soon follow.
 
So this is something that we cannot afford to ignore.
 
On top of everything else, a few years ago one study determined that the number of wild animals living on the planet would drop by a total of 67 percent during the 50 year period from 1970 to 2020…
 
The number of wild animals living on Earth is set to fall by two-thirds by 2020, according to a new report, part of a mass extinction that is destroying the natural world upon which humanity depends.
 
The analysis, the most comprehensive to date, indicates that animal populations plummeted by 58% between 1970 and 2012, with losses on track to reach 67% by 2020. Researchers from WWF and the Zoological Society of London compiled the report from scientific data and found that the destruction of wild habitats, hunting and pollution were to blame.
 
Can anyone rationally explain why we aren’t supposed to be totally freaked out by numbers like this?
 
Even the human race itself is in decline.
 
As I discussed a couple days ago, male sperm counts have dropped by more than 50 percent since 1973. We have almost reached a point where the average human male is in a sperm count range that makes it difficult to have children, and this problem continues to intensify with each passing year. For much more on this, please see my previous article entitled “Science Proves That Time Is Running Out For Humanity”.
 
The decline in human fertility has been particularly dramatic in the western world, and birth rates in some western nations have already dropped below replacement level.
 
In addition, scientific research has shown that humans are getting shorter, weaker, slower and our brains are getting smaller.
 
We like to think of ourselves as the pinnacle of human history, but the truth is that we are actually a bunch of mutant degenerates. Each generation produces more harmful mutations, and those harmful mutations are passed on to the next generation of humans.
 
So not only is the clock ticking for our planet, but it is also ticking for humanity itself.
 
Those that are trying to convince you that the human race is about to enter a new “golden age” are not telling you the truth.
 
Time is running out, and global events are building up to a grand crescendo.
 
Unfortunately, most people can’t see the big picture because they are being willingly deceived by liars that are telling them whatever they want to hear.

 


 
Daily Jot: Stupidocrisy: Global warming and Texas – Bill Wilson – www.dailyjot.com
 
Last week, Texas was in a state of emergency because of no energy. People were freezing in their homes. The homeless were suffering. Those in retirement and nursing homes were suffering. People were experiencing carbon monoxide poisoning trying to keep warm. A whole lot of suffering going on. The savior of the universe—green energy—had a major fail—it didn’t work. The windmills froze up. There wasn’t enough sun to power up the batteries. Texas energy hit the wall. Texas energy had a great fall. All the green horsepowers and all the green prophets couldn’t heat Texas back up again. So what did these green prophets do? They blamed it all on global warming/climate change. Stupidocrisy.
 
When all else fails, blame it on global warming. How many years have we seen the prophets of green, like Al Gore, give conferences predicting the world was going to end because of global warming? Then he would have to trudge through freezing temperatures and knee-high snow from the gangway of his private jet to the limo that delivered him to the conference. Just last week, I read a story where a “scientist,” who was paid to prove global warming, had predicted a decade ago that babies born in London then would never see snow by the time they reached ten years of age. Bill Gates wants to ban eating hamburger and steak because cattle contribute to carbon emissions that cause global warming. But he and Gore and others like them sure don’t lead by example as they fly around the world in their carbon-emitting jets.
 
Oh, yes, then there are the taxes. The way to stop global warming is to tax the bejeebies out of American citizens. We get to pay for China polluting the air. And, of course, the more tax money we pay to reduce carbon emissions, the longer we can live on this planet. Tax money changes the climate. Another way to stop global warming is to end the use of natural resources for energy. Putting people out of work ends global warming. No fuel, no cars, no global warming. No fuel, no heating, no global warming. Meanwhile, these prophets of doom, I guess, are happy that their green experiment in Texas is having a big fail. After all, Texans are bigots and haters and global warming deniers because they voted for Trump.
 
The “greeners” all have passionately preached a false doctrine that you and I will melt the polar icecaps and destroy the world if we don’t reduce our carbon footprint, while at the same time they live elaborate lifestyles with private jets and limos, is the height of hypocrisy. To think that anything related to climate, even their green energy that doesn’t work, is caused by global warming is stupid. Hence…say it with me…Stupidocrisy! I am all in favor of being a good steward of this earth. I also believe the promise the Lord gave Noah in Genesis 8:21-22, “Neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done; While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” But, of course, they believe in science, not God, but that’s yet another Stupidocracy for later.

 


 
Daily Devotion: The Next Event on the Prophetic Calendar - by Greg Laurie – www.harvest.org
 
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. —1 Thessalonians 4:16
 
https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/the-next-event-on-the-prophetic-calendar/ - Listen
 
The rapture of the church seems to have fallen out of favor somewhat as a teaching among Christians today. But as I’ve said many times, I think the next event on the prophetic calendar will be the rapture of the church.
 
What is the Rapture? It originates from the Greek word harpazó, which translates “caught up.” We find this word in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, which says, “Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up [harpazó] in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever” (NKJV).
 
Some like to point out that you can’t find the word rapture in the Bible. Well, whatever you choose to call it, it’s going to happen. And in my view, it could happen at any moment. We don’t know when because Jesus said, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only” (Matthew 24:36 NKJV).
 
In fact, I do not believe that the antichrist, the coming world leader, can show up on the world scene until the church is caught up to meet the Lord. The Bible says, “And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming” (2 Thessalonians 2:8 NKJV).
 
The restraining force in the world today is the Holy Spirit working through the church. The reason things aren’t even worse is because believers are the restraining force on the planet, keeping things at bay.
 
So what are we supposed to do in light of this teaching? We want to live lives that honor the Lord. And we want to pay attention to the signs of the times.