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Mimicking Christianity: AI Setting the Stage for Antichrist - By Geri Ungurean -
http://www.raptureready.com/2018/01/29/mimicking-christianity-ai-setting-stage-antichrist-geri-ungurean/ Since writing my last article about AI (Artificial Intelligence), I have been researching the ramifications of this technology. What the reader will see in this piece will be shocking - even alarming. But AI is here and is progressing at breakneck speed. I do believe that as John the Baptist cried out in the wilderness to make the paths straight for the coming of the Lord, Satan (whom I believe is behind this technology) is crying out: "Make way for AI, for it is the answer to the earth's problems - and the Path to Paradise for all who will follow!" Here is my last article for those who did not see it: Artificial Intelligence and Antichrist: Will There Be a Connection? I happened upon a website while researching AI. The similarities and references to Christianity were not subtle, but glaring and intentional. Satan knows that his time is short, and wants to deceive as many people as he can. After all, that is what he does best. From motherboard.vice.com **I am "bolding" key words in this article for the benefit of the reader. My commentary will be in blue. Silicon Valley's Radical Machine Cult From afterlife to machine transcendence, Digitalism offers a new promise of paradise. We are witnessing the beginning of Silicon Valley institutionalizing its religious beliefs. As Wired reported recently, Anthony Levandowski, a top Silicon Valley engineer formerly working for Google's self-driving car company Waymo, and now at the center of the trade secrets lawsuit between Uber and Waymo, founded a religious organization called Way of the Future. Its goal? To "develop and promote the realization of a Godhead based on Artificial Intelligence." According to Wired, Way of the Future was founded in September 2015. I find it interesting that the UN Sustainable Development Goals final document was adopted at the UN on this very date. Coincidence? I think not. It was on the 20th of that month when, 9,400 miles away in Switzerland, I first became aware that Digitalism had turned into a kind of religion. I participated in a conference in the French mountain resort of Chamonix underneath the white peak of Montblanc, where leading technologists had gathered to discuss our future. The topic of one panel discussion, featuring executives from Google and eBay and the CEO of a prominent US think tank, was "Technology is turning the world upside down-what's going on?" What was going on? Satan was fomenting his plan to enter Antichrist on his appointed day. As they enthusiastically discussed the many ways digitalization will make the world a better place, I started to experience my own epiphany: Slowly and all at once, I saw that these people were the evangelists of a new religion, true believers invoking the Promised Land with glowing eyes. Not very subtle, is it? The Promised Land - Yes, promised in God's Word in the books of Daniel and Revelation. In this version of paradise, cars will drive, factories will produce themselves, software and technology will find cures for everything, virtual reality will enable us to live our dreams instantly, and ubiquitous robots will serve us and understand us better than we understand ourselves. A land of milk and honey, where roasted, on-demand chicken flies directly into our mouths, is just around the corner. A new benevolent super-intelligence will solve all the problems we created over the last centuries, from climate change to global poverty, while we enjoy eternal leisure, softly hypnotized by screens, entertained and served by machine slaves. A Land of Milk and Honey - that is what the land of Israel was called in the Old Testament. A new benevolent super intelligence will solve all of the world's problems. They speak of Antichrist here - it is crystal clear. "The evangelical fervor is fascinating," William Gibson said about Silicon Valley in an interview this year with Das Magazin. "These people are atheists; they don't have a religion, but the mechanism is the same. God comes and saves us all. Just that in their case God is technology." They think their god is technology. They have no idea that their god is the devil himself. But I think Gibson was wrong. They do have a religion: Digitalism, or machine religion. Digitalists believe in transcending the human condition, ultimately overcoming death through machines. There is that word "Transcending." You might remember Transcendentalists and Transcendental Meditation. Satanic - all of it. Just as Christianity promises ultimate redemption from Original Sin, Digitalism promises redemption from the unavoidable sin of our messy, distracted, limited brains, irrational emotions, and aging bodies. Here is where the followers of the "Social Gospel" will undoubtedly jump on board, and I can just hear Kumbaya being sung together. As Wired founding executive editor, Kevin Kelly, put it in a 2002 article titled "God is the Machine," Digitalists literally believe in the transcendent power of digital computation. In that sense, Digitalism is linked to the beliefs of transhumanists and similar movements, and thrives on a broader global terrain where traditional religion is in decline (while evangelical movements are on the rise), the internet continues its march across the planet. We're on fertile ground for digitalism. That is a very true statement that traditional religion is in decline (mainline denominations) but that Evangelical movements are on the rise (God's Remnant of true believers). Risks? Computers will soon be intelligent enough to manage them, so why worry? You might expect even the most radical Digitalists to at least recognize cybersecurity as a potential concern. Despite the premise of the discussion's title, the panel did not utter one word about any risks, for that matter. Nothing. The longer the panelists talked, the more common traits between Digitalists and the followers of all other religions became apparent. If you don't profess to Digitalism, you will be left behind; you will be part of a miserable, inferior, anachronistic species in a dysfunctional, dirty, analog world soon to be extinct; Hell on earth, in effect. Not an unrealistic scenario, if the so-called Singularity-the moment machine intelligence surpasses human intelligence-becomes reality faster than we could ever imagine, as digital dementia might make humans dumber than Siri is today. However, no need to worry: computers will create opportunities and find purpose for those left behind in the age of digitalization. Brethren, is it not clear that what they refer to as "being left behind" will be those who are true children of God? After the Rapture, these will be the Tribulation Saints. At the heart of the Digitalist premise of technology's empowerment is a belief in the inherent incompleteness of humans. Just as Christianity promises ultimate redemption from Original Sin, Digitalism promises redemption from the unavoidable sin of our messy, distracted, limited brains, irrational emotions, and aging bodies. Digital redemption will come upon us in the form of super-intelligent machine intervention, chips to implant in our brains and hard disks to upload our consciousness to (or so goes the vision of Google's prophet, futurist Ray Kurzweil). While traditional religions believe in the immortal soul, Digitalists believe in the immortality of the lines of code they aim to reduce our mind and consciousness to. It is clear to me that the "chips to implant in our brains and hard disks to upload our consciousness will come from the "Mark of the Beast." I believe that these "marks" will send these chips to the brains of those who receive the dreaded mark. This will indeed seal their fate. (Do not believe any teaching which suggests that taking the mark will not prevent a person from ever being saved!) Digitalism claims to provide a set of final answers to all of humanity's problems and promises to bring paradise. Their belief is driven by deep contempt for humans, for humanity. The Digitalist religious vision is to remove the human factor altogether. Satan loathes the human race - so much that he is determined to take as many as he can to hell. Christopher Mims, in a January piece about cybersecurity for the Wall Street Journal, articulated this when he wrote of humans as the "critical, unpatchable weakness." "History has shown us we aren't going to win this war by changing human behavior," Mims concluded. "But maybe we can build systems that are so locked down that humans lose the ability to make dumb mistakes. Until we gain the ability to upgrade the human brain, it's the only way." The ONLY way to change human behavior is a regeneration of their spirit - to be born again from above - a circumcision of the heart by God Himself. The rejection of what Digitalists call "the human factor," combined with the dream of a God-like, perfect machine-power, makes them fundamentally post-humanists with a more shiny, civilized façade. A darker reading might find a parallel in other contemporary fundamentalist forces. As André Glucksmann, a contemporary French philosopher, has brilliantly described in his book Dostoievski in Manhattan, the driver of what today has become ISIS is the negation and destruction of all human values-a violent, barbarian, belligerent version of post-humanism. Digitalists would readily annihilate what to their eyes is human imperfection altogether, if only they could become a machine themselves first. Like many post-humanists, Digitalists believe we are enjoying (or suffering through) the last days of homo sapiens as we know them. If not something like a continuously extended life, then the fusion of humankind and machine into a new super-species may be close at hand. The turning point, the return of the Messiahs, is just some 20 or so years away. According to the high-priests of the Singularity, for instance, a God-like super-intelligence will arise, the Christ of the golden machine age. It is obvious of whom they speak - this is Antichrist! I find it interesting that when using the term "Messiah" they state that this is only some 20 or so years away. 2030 is the projected year of the UN to complete their Sustainable Development Goals. Silicon Valley, with its CEO-worship and male-oriented customs, can sometimes feel like another version of a religious state. The belief in Mary's Immaculate Conception, the myth standing at the beginning of the arrival of Christ, is not so far from the equally unexplainable mystical Digitalist belief that consciousness will soon be born out of a machine if it just processes enough 0s and 1s. They call the Immaculate Conception of Mary a "myth; and say that "consciousness" will soon be born out of a machine. They call their belief "mystical" and compare it to our Lord Jesus and His arrival on earth. Part of this belief is the superstition that, perhaps, the universe-God herself-is a computer. Reality itself may be a simulation. By this account, if we evolve our computational power enough, we will become one with God-the ultimate yearning of all religions. AH! Here is the caveat: Becoming one with God. I think of the Tower of Babel and Satan's plan from the very beginning to be "like" God. New Age teachings say that we are "little gods." In modern times, Kelly's 2002 article, a survey of Matrix-like, variously murky scientific theories of "universal computation," appears to be one of the first that uses the term. "Somehow, according to digitalism, we are linked to one another, all beings alive and inert, because we share, as [theoretical physicist] John Wheeler said, 'at the bottom-at a very deep bottom, in most instances-an immaterial source,'" Kelly wrote. "This commonality, spoken of by mystics of many beliefs in different terms, also has a scientific name: computation. Bits-minute logical atoms, spiritual in form-amass into quantum quarks and gravity waves, raw thoughts and rapid motions." There is, in a sense, one marked difference between digitalism and modern religion: the Digitalists, in their scientistic emphasis, believe that they aren't believers. Satan is the author of confusion. "We only talk about facts," said one of the panel members when the audience challenged the panel's visions. If God punishes in the form of a misfortune, fanatical believers of all religions assume they have not been religious enough. For the panel in Chamonix, any problem that technology might create is, therefore, easy to solve-with more of the same. God is just testing your faith; you need to intensify your belief. The Digitalist vision calls for solving the problems computation brings with more computation, less error-prone human interference, a society on AI-guided autopilot. Two-hundred years after Kant, humans will finally be able to stop using their imperfect brains and searching for answers so the future can finally arrive. The "future" of which they speak is the coming of Antichrist. I am compelled to believe that this man of sin will actually be an AI robot - but not just another one. He will be able to control all AI and, at this point, unbelievers will be at the mercy of Antichrist. In Chamonix, as an epilogue to their mass-it was truly surreal-they played "Imagine" by John Lennon. It strangely sounded as if they had found an ideal anthem: Imagine no possessions, I wonder if you can. Yes, thank you Airbnb and Uber. Imagine all the people, sharing all the world. This is happening; just check your Terms and Conditions. And the world will live as one. As in, one brain-linked social network of the future, connecting us all into one superhuman supercomputer. (Should we call it "the Matrix?") It sounds like a paraphrase of Facebook's complex and convenient new mission: To "give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together," as Mark Zuckerberg told a crowd of Facebook Group leaders earlier this year. If we believe it's good for us, and join the flocks and go along with it, well, we too can live in the Promised Land. As the logic of social media demonstrates, the story we tell ourselves about the future doesn't need to be true. It just needs to be shareable. They love our expression "Promised Land" don't they? In the rush of the stream, it can be hard to remember that these visions of the future often tend to turn out very different from what their creators had envisioned. Think of fake news or the Uber culture or the walled gardens of tech giants; part of the problem, as Salon put it recently, is a CEO-worship problem-powerful priests offering narratives of biblical dimension. And if you do not believe what they say - you will be hunted like an animal. And with AI - it will not be difficult to find your whereabouts. However, in order to get to their Promised Land, anything that doesn't fit into the brave new machine-world must first be cut to size in the Digitalists' bed of Procrustes, the world of 0s and 1s, streamlining all life into dead and sterile bits and bites. Imagine there's no heaven. It's easy if you try. Since becoming a Christian, I knew that John Lennon's "Imagine" would be the anthem of the reign of Antichrist. And so it is. Jan Markell is doing a two-part interview with Pastor Billy Crone on her radio broadcast. The theme? "Will Artificial Intelligence Rule the World?" If you missed this, I highly recommend that you listen. Here is where you can hear Part 1: Will Artificial Intelligence Rule the World? (Part 1) Understanding the Times: Jan Markell interviews Pastor Billy Crone on the topic of AI and if it will rule the world: Will Artificial Intelligence Rule the World? (Part 2) Brothers and sisters in Christ, I believe that AI is exactly how Satan will fool the world. I believe that Antichrist will be the leader of Artificial Intelligence - and not a human, but the ultimate AI Robot which will reign over all AI robots. I believe that after the Rapture of the Church, that all those taking the mark of the beast will lose not only their souls to Satan, but also their ability to think as humans. Please share this with unbelieving friends and family. It is happening now, and if this information can startle a person enough where they begin to seek after God, then this article will have been worth the writing. MARANATHA! [email protected] Articles at grandmageri422.me Netanyahu Warns Putin - Israel Will 'Stop' Iranian Expansion - http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=1967#YpauOShOUggHftAT.99 In a rare contribution by an Israeli official to Arab media, IDF spokesman Brig. Gen. Ronen Manelis warned in a op-ed on a Lebanese opposition website that a war could break out between the two countries if Iran and Hezbollah's presences in the country continue to grow. "Lebanon has become -- both by its own actions and omissions and by a blind eye from many members of the international community -- one large missile factory," Manelis wrote for the Lebanese website Ahewar. "It's no longer a transfer of arms, funds or consultation. Iran has de-facto opened a new branch, the 'Lebanon branch.' Iran is here," he said. At the same time, Manelis pointed out that Hezbollah has continued to grow its control over the Lebanese government, while simultaneously building its own terror infrastructure. "In Lebanon, Hezbollah does not conceal its attempt to take control of the state," he said, adding that Hezbollah has built "terror infrastructure and factories to manufacture weapons under the nose of the Lebanese government." While Manelis acknowledged that this past year, like every year since the 2006 Second Lebanon War, has seen "relative stability on the Lebanese front," he emphasized that Hezbollah and Iran are making Lebanon increasingly unstable. "The past year has been further proof that Hezbollah serves as an operational arm of Iran. In every place where there was instability, we discovered the fingerprint of Iran and everywhere we discovered Hezbollah's involvement," Manelis wrote. Israeli leaders have repeatedly warned both Lebanon and the international community of Hezbollah's buildup in southern Lebanon since the 2006 conflict. The IDF believes that Hezbollah has at least 100,000 short-range rockets and several thousand longer-range missiles that can strike Tel Aviv. While the terror group has been preoccupied with fighting in the Syrian Civil War in recent years, many experts believe that with that conflict winding down, Hezbollah could focus its attention toward Israel once again. "The future of Lebanese citizens is in the hands of a dictator who sits in Tehran," Manelis wrote, adding, "I think it is right to warn the residents of Lebanon of the Iranian game in their security and in their future." In his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Putin that Israel will "stop" Iranian encroachment in Syria and Lebanon. "The question is: Does Iran entrench itself in Syria, or will this process be stopped. If it doesn't stop by itself, we will stop it," Netanyahu told reporters as he was leaving Moscow. The Israeli leader said that Iran is "in the process of" building weapons factories inside of Lebanon. "I explained our policy. These are not idle words," he said. "The Russians understand our position, they understand well the significance that we give to these threats." Nearing Midnight: FBI and DOJ: The Enemy of the People - Todd Strandberg - http://www.raptureready.com/category/nearing-midnight/ For many years there has been a left-leaning political bias at most branches of the federal government. During the last election, over 70% of the residents of Washington, DC voted for the Democratic Party. In the last few weeks, a new relative has set in. It has become clear that organizations like the FBI and Department of Justice are nothing more than tools of the extreme left. The greatest miscarriage of justice in American history occurred when Hillary Clinton was given a free pass by former FBI director James Comey. This travesty didn't happen because of a huge blunder on his part. We are slowly learning that the FBI had decided early on to clear Clinton of all crimes even before seeing the evidence. Their only task was to find the best way to sweep away the offense of having private-server email with classified defense information and the illegal destruction of government documents. With each passing day, new whistleblowers have revealed to Congress that there is a massive scandal involving the top ranks of America's premier law enforcement agency. The reports, which feature talk among agents of a "secret society" and suddenly missing text messages, point to the existence of a cabal dedicated to defeating Donald Trump in 2016. The belief that Clinton would easily win the election is the key reason why this group didn't take more aggressive action before the election. Rep. Ron Johnson (R-WI) told Fox News that there is a "secret society - we have an informant talking about a group holding secret meetings off-site." The massive numbers of leaks and the ability of the liberal press to have endless access to embarrassing information about Trump would indicate that a spy organization was at work in DC. More support for this view involves the FBI's use of the Russian dossier on Trump that was paid for by the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee. It is almost certain that the FBI used the dossier to get FISA court warrants to spy on Trump associates, meaning it used the opposition research of the party in power to convince a court to let it spy on the candidate of the other party. One of the top investigators in the case that involves Trump is Peter Strzok. He wrote in 2016 to Lisa Page, an FBI lawyer and also his mistress, that the whole investigation has been a type of Insurance policy against a Trump Presidency. "I want to believe the path you threw out for consideration in Andy's office - that there's no way he gets elected - but I'm afraid we can't take that risk. It's like an insurance policy in the unlikely event you die before you're 40 . . .," Strzok wrote. The blackout in the press of most of this incriminating information leaves little doubt that the FBI has become the KGB. When it was reported that 50,000 text messages from key individuals related to the Russian investigation had gone missing, the nightly news gave zero coverage of this vital news. A secret memorandum has been compiled by the staff of the House Intelligence Committee. It is said to show "shocking" political bias within the FBI. The information must be juicy because there have been no major leaks about its content. The Justice Department has made the usual move of asking for the chance to see the memo. It warned that its disclosure would be "unprecedented" and "dangerous." There is a groundswell campaign to have the memo released to the public. Democratic Senator Feinstein lent her name to the looney claim that the hashtag "#ReleaseTheMemo" is the result of Russian bots posting on Twitter and Facebook. "If these reports are accurate, we are witnessing an ongoing attack by the Russian government through Kremlin-linked social media actors," she said. The California Senator can list me as a Russian agent because I'm calling for the memo to be released. If we are to save America from turning into a Banana Republic-where the media, government and court system are all controlled by one party-we need to take drastic action now. When people allow tyrannical people to just take away their freedom, it normally requires gallons of blood to restore liberty. I don't seek to label all Democrats as being agents of Satan. The Republicans make me more angered by not using their power to stop this theft. They control all three branches of government, and the President has the authority to clean house in all government agencies. We keep losing ground because the devil has the power to make some people bold and others timid. I think that the time is late because Satan will soon be granted the power to make humanity work as "one mind," giving rise to the ultimate despot. "And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast" (Revelation 17:12-13). News from Hal Lindsey Media Ministries - Hal Lindsey - www.hallindsey.com Wow! What a difference a year makes. Just a few months ago, Palestinian Authority (PA) president Mahmoud Abbas stood in the White House and praised President Donald Trump's leadership and negotiating abilities. He gushed, "Now, Mr. President, with you we have hope." Last week, Mr. Abbas delivered a two hour rant to the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). In it, he raged against President Trump and even pronounced an old Arabic curse upon him: "Yakhrab baytu!" Translated: "May his house be destroyed." Since Mr. Trump now lives in the White House, and that is "the peoples' house," it seems logical that the Abbas curse applies to the United States, as well. A little like spitting on our flag. What made the PA leader change his tune so drastically in the last few months? Well, a couple of things quickly come to mind. First, President Trump officially recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. (And this week, Vice-President Pence told the Israeli Knesset that our embassy would be moved there by the end of 2019.) Then, President Trump's disgust with the PA finally got the better of him and he tweeted: "...we pay the Palestinians HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS a year and get no appreciation or respect. They don't even want to negotiate a long overdue peace treaty with Israel." His recent criticism of the PA and Abbas for promoting terrorism by using American money to reward terrorists who kill Israelis has rankled the Palestinians. Mr. Trump threatened to cut off funding to the PA as a result. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered his explanation of Abbas' unhinged public rant: "The world has pampered the Palestinians, and not told them the truth. I think Abbas is reacting. For the first time, someone is telling them the truth." That someone is Donald Trump. You know, Mahmoud Abbas isn't the only one who hates Donald Trump and the United States of America. Curiously, though, there may be more Americans who hate Donald Trump than non-Americans! At least if you believe the mainstream media. Aside from his obvious brashness and hubris, his tendency to fire from the hip, and his use of nicknames to identify the defining traits of his opposition, what is it that so irritates that opposition? Especially the American Left! I hate to say this, but I think it is his intense desire to see America return to its greatness and position of genuine world leadership. And if he's hated for that, then it means that those who hate him actually want to see America weak and content to languish back in the pack with the other mediocre nations and societies. Donald Trump wants so much to see America return to greatness that in 2012 he trademarked the slogan, "Make America Great Again!" In 2016, that sentiment finally resonated with a majority of American voters. I believe there is a broad sense among Americans that we've left something behind -- something crucial. But what? What made America so successful, rich, safe, powerful, and desirable? We keep hearing that it was "American values." But what are "American values?" The definition you would hear from a 20-something in 2018 would be very different from a 20-something in 1958. "American values" change with the generations. George W. Bush and Barack Obama believed that "American values" would transform Islamic nations. Bush tried nation-building in Afghanistan and Iraq. Obama pushed the Arab Spring. The utter failure of both of those enterprises should be a lesson learned. America's greatness did not come because her successful democracy and constitutional government. Rather, her successful democracy and constitutional government came as a result of her greatness. You see, the truth is America's greatness has little to do with "American values." It has everything to do with "Judeo-Christian values!" In fact, American values are at their very best when they reflect Judeo-Christian beliefs. And it's not true just for America. Where Christianity flourishes, people flourish. Humanitarianism, science, the arts, and democracy all abound in societies that try to align themselves with Biblical morality. One practical reason is that children thrive in a Christian environment. It's full of love and discipline. It encourages and stabilizes families -- the foundation of any society. Bible morality and Bible values also cause business to thrive. With them, owners and workers alike value honesty, responsibility, sobriety, hard work, compassion, and fairness. Even government works better when the people have a general agreement on Bible-based values. More Bible means less corruption and more cooperation. For two centuries now, we in America have been the recipients of these blessings. That's not to say that we've never failed morally. Having ideals and fully living up to them are two different things. We still struggle sometimes to live up to the most basic premise of our society, that "all men are created equal." (That premise, by the way, directly reflects Bible doctrine.) And our critics are quick to point out our failures. But with "created equal" as our north star, America became the safest, fairest, and most prosperous society in the history of the world. Sadly, all of that is beginning to disappear. The economy is booming, but the joy is gone. Corruption is spreading. Too many little ones are neglected and abused. Millions are killed before they are born! How did this happen? Where will it lead? I believe the anti-God movement that seems to be the major motivating force in America today seeks the love and kindness of Christian teaching, but without the God who inspires it -- or the Bible in which He teaches it. For decades, they've been working to build a Christian society, but without Christ. That's like transplanting a tree by cutting it off at ground level. Without its roots, the tree will die. So we shouldn't be surprised to see the tree of liberty withering and dying in our day. America is cutting off its roots. When followed, Biblical principles -- such as the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule -- make nations and people great. But when they stop believing in God Himself, they are usually just a generation or two from denouncing those Bible principles. (Sound familiar?) After that, the loss of prosperity and freedom is inevitable. Finally, nothing is more descriptive of the mystery of the Church than the sublime comparison between Christian marriage and the marriage of Church Age believers to the Lord. Especially when viewed in the context of the marriage customs of the time in which the Apostle Paul describes it. The "process" of marriage in those days was far different than now. This week, I am going to walk through that process step-by-step to show you how beautifully it illustrates the "process" of our union with Jesus Christ. We'll go from the betrothal to the whisking away of the bride by the bridegroom to the gala celebration of the marriage to the "happily ever after!" You may be surprised at where we are today in that beautiful scenario. Don't miss this week's Report on TBN, Daystar, CPM Network, various local stations, www.hallindsey.com or www.hischannel.com . Check your local listings. Daily Jot: Super "Blood" Moon Wednesday - Bill Wilson - www.dailyjot.com Did you know that there is going to be what the news media calls a "Super Blue Blood Moon" appearing in the sky on Wednesday, January 31? Bloomberg reports that the phenomena is the result of blue moons-the second full moon in a one-month period that take place once every 2.7 years. Supermoons are full moons that occur at the closest possible point to Earth once every 14 months. And blood moons, also known as total lunar eclipses, take place about twice a year. But all three occurring at the same time hasn't happened since 1866. This is not to be confused with end times prophecies of the moon turning to blood coinciding with the return of the Messiah. Joel 2:31 says, "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD comes. "Revelation 6:12 is speaking of the Day of the Lord, and says, "And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood." Isaiah 13:10, also speaking of that Day of the Lord's coming, says "For the stars of heaven and its constellations shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in its going forth, and the moon shall not cause its light to shine." Many prophets, including Ezekiel, Joel, and Amos, as well as Job and John speak of the same event when the Lord returns. While extremely interesting, the reddish moons we have seen in recent time are not the way the moon is prophesied in the day of the Lord. First, there wasn't a great earthquake. The sun did not turn as black as sackcloth, and the moon really didn't turn as blood. Jesus said in Matthew 24:29-30,"Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give its light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with great power and glory." Most importantly, the Lord has not returned after past "blood" moons. He will...eventually. I dare say, however, that there will be no doubt in the heavens when the Lord returns. It will be an awesome moment. But before he returns, there are certain events that scripture says will happen. Paul writes in Thessalonians 2, "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition...so that he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." This is very clear: 1) don't be deceived, 2) falling away, 3) antichrist (beast) revealed, 4) sits in the temple as God. Keep watching. Keep praying. Keep reading your Bible. Keep discerning. And do not be deceived. Daily Devotion: Sinning against the Spirit - By Greg Laurie - www.harvest.org But there was a certain man named Ananias who, with his wife, Sapphira, sold some property. He brought part of the money to the apostles, claiming it was the full amount. With his wife's consent, he kept the rest. -Acts 5:1-2 Ananias and Sapphira had a choice: They could give a lot. They could give a little. Or they could give absolutely nothing. Nothing was required of them. But they decided to act as though they were giving a lot when they really were not. They wanted to appear to be a little more holy than everyone else. This was a sin of hypocrisy, and it was offensive to God. What intrigues me about this passage is that it says they lied to the Holy Spirit. Then it says they tested the Holy Spirit. It seems as though this was a specific sin against the Spirit of God. Sometimes I think it's hard for people to relate to the Holy Spirit. They can understand God the Father and God the Son, but God the Holy Spirit? That seems a little too mystical for them. The Holy Spirit is not some force or power; He is a distinct personality. Jesus, speaking of the Holy Spirit, said, "And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God's righteousness, and of the coming judgment" (John 16:8). The sin of Ananias and Sapphira was pretending to be something they were not. They were hypocrites. Ananias wanted people to think he was thoroughly devoted to God when he wasn't. Before we're too quick to condemn Ananias and Sapphira, let's ask ourselves a question: have we ever done anything spiritually to impress someone else? Don't pretend to be a holy man or a holy woman if you don't really want to be one. This is offensive to God. I'm not saying it's better to be a sinner. What I am saying is that it's worse to pretend to be holy when you really don't want to be. The only person you're fooling is yourself. FROM THE HEART
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