Prophecy Update Newsletter
February 7, 2017
IN TODAY'S NEWSLETTER...
Message of Doom? Or Message of Hope? - Jack Kinsella - www.omegaletter.com
The prophecies of the Bible for the last days ARE a lot of doom and gloom -- the very purpose of the Tribulation is to judge a Christ-rejecting world. It is called the Time of Jacob's Trouble, the Day of Wrath, etc. It is the time of God's judgement on the world -- and there isn't much cheering going on. Three-quarters of the world will die of the plagues and judgements during this period. (Revelation 6) One third of the trees on earth will burn up, (Revelation 8:7) a third of all sea life will die, a third part of the ships will be destroyed in a sea turned one-third to blood.(v.9) The judgement extends from the earth to the heavens: "And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise." (Revelation 8:12) It isn't a pretty picture to contemplate. Especially in light of the very next verse: "And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!" (Revelation 8:13) No wonder much of the Church prefers the replacement theologian's view that all prophecy was fulfilled with the Destruction of the Temple in AD 70 and that Revelation and Daniel are figurative or allegorical rather than predictive. Sir Isaac Newton is reputed to have observed, "About the time of the end, a body of men will be raised up who will turn their attention to the prophecies, and insist upon their literal interpretation, in the midst of much clamour and opposition." Now that we live in that time, Newton's observation sounds almost prophetic. There is a HUGE clamor surrounding the study of Bible prophecy. The prophecies for the last days are so terrifying, many would rather allegorize them away. We are not living during the Time of Jacob's Trouble. But our world is preparing itself for that time as we sit back as astonished eyewitnesses. The chaos that seizes the planet during the Tribulation has its beginnings during the last days of the Church Age. Jesus warned that there would come wars, rumors of wars, famines, earthquakes, pestilences and so on. He warned that, "All these are the beginning of sorrows." (Matthew 24:8) The signs of the times are all around us and they are scary. They are scary even to many saved Christians who know the signs mean the Day of the Lord is at hand. They are scary to Christians who believe the Rapture will occur before the Tribulation begins. There is nothing in Scripture to suggest that the Church Age will escape bad things in the last days -- just that it will be removed before the beginning of the Time of Jacob's Trouble. Bad things are already happening. The wars. The rumors of wars. Famines. Earthquakes and pestilences. All on an ever-increasing scale of frequency and intensity. But Jesus said, "all these things MUST come to pass, but the end is not yet." (Matthew 24:6) The 'end' He refers to is the 'end of the (Church) age' (Matthew 24:3), so we know it's going to get uglier. Assessment: Those are all good reasons to get depressed with the 'doom and gloom' of Bible prophecy. It's easy to get caught up in it -- especially when examining the 'nuts and bolts' of how things fit together, and what Scripture says should be next on the global agenda. Since nothing particularly pleasant is prophesied to come upon the earth, studying it in detail gets pretty depressing. And there are all the people we know that are not yet saved -- we know that time is running out, that they won't listen, and that is even more depressing. We see all the tiniest details of God's plan being played out before our eyes, but the details obscure the bigger picture. This is GOD'S PLAN! Before the world began, God knew exactly how things would play out. He told us in advance of each event. He told us that fulfilled prophecy was His Signature; "Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me." (Isaiah 45:21) "Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear" (Isaiah 59:1) In this generation, we live in an age of miracles. There appears that there is nothing that science won't be able to accomplish eventually, thanks to the advent of computers. We can replicate almost any miracle except one. We cannot predict the future. It simply can't be done. No computer could calculate every detail of every life in advance, which is what would be necessary. Should one person do something unexpected then the whole course of future history would change. Bible prophecy was given to the Church in the last days for the same reason that the Apostles were given miracles, signs and wonders following Pentecost. In both instances, God's Authority is proved by God-given signs. It was by the Authority of God, authenticated by miracles, that the Apostles proclaimed the birth of the Church Age at Pentecost. It is by the Authority of God, authenticated by fulfilled prophecy, that the Bible proclaims the end of the Church Age in this generation. Taking into account the bigger picture, Bible prophecy isn't 'doom and gloom' at all. It is incontrovertible evidence that cannot be shaken by modern scientific 'miracles'. When the skeptic argues for evolution and random selection, trotting out fossils, skeletons and diagrams, it seems pretty convincing. Maybe the Bible isn't all that literal, after all. Maybe science has got something there. . . maybe. . .(!) But when one compares the accuracy of the Bible's account of the unknowable future to the ever-changing scientific 'explanations' for the distant past, doubts melt away. The skeptic has multiple explanations for static events that have already happened. The Bible gives a single explanation for a fluid, changeable series of events predicted to happen thousands of years in the future -- the events that define our present day. Which is more convincing? Bible prophecy proves Jesus was the Son of God, regardless of the latest scientific, archeological or historical discovery. No matter what else might be offered as 'evidence' to the contrary, there is no other explanation for Bible prophecy. It is our generation's unique miracle. It proves that He remains in charge of the affairs of men. Scripture records His Promise in all three Gospel accounts, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." (Matthew 24:35, Mark 13:31, Luke 21:33) "We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:" (2 Peter 1:19) Bible prophecy is proof positive that God remains on the Throne, that His Word will NOT return to Him void, and that all the chaos and terror of the world notwithstanding, all continues to go according to His plan. Given the unbeliever's explanation of uncontrolled chaos, Bible prophecy isn't all that depressing, after all. What WOULD be depressing would be to be among the lost, not knowing what this world is coming to, and believing the world is in a state of uncontrolled chaos. For the believer, Bible prophecy can be pretty encouraging, which is what the Lord intended for the last days' Church all along: "But these things have I told you, that WHEN THE TIME SHALL COME, ye may remember that I told you of them." (John 16:4) 
Our World: The evolving threat of jihad in the West - By Caroline B. Glick - http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Our-World-The-evolving-threat-of-jihad-in-the-West-480760
The very act of mentioning bad behavior carried out by members of a specific group seems inherently bigoted. One of the most important stories related to the September 11 attacks was the one that was deliberately left largely untold. That story is the response of some Muslims in America to the massacre of nearly 3,000 people by Islamic supremacists in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. According to a Washington Post article published on September 18, 2001, in Jersey City, New Jersey, across the river from the destroyed World Trade Center, "Within hours of the two jetliners plowing into the World Trade Center, law enforcement authorities detained and questioned a number of people who were allegedly seen celebrating the attacks and holding tailgate-style parties on rooftops while they watched the devastation on the other side of the river." The New York Post reported on September 15, 2001, that Muslim Americans in Patterson, NJ were also seen celebrating the attacks. Word-of-mouth reports abounded in the weeks and months following September 11 of spontaneous celebrations carried out that day in Dearborn, Michigan, in Virginia and other Muslim American communities. The most notable aspect of the published reports of the celebrations was that there were so few of them. After all, the notion that any Muslim Americans would celebrate the jihadist attack was certainly newsworthy. The stories were suppressed at the time by political leaders. Then New York mayor Rudy Guiliani for instance said the celebrations shouldn't be reported lest they lead to violent attacks against peaceful Muslims. Then president George W. Bush rushed to defend and uphold Islam as a "religion of peace," almost immediately after the attacks. Bush insisted that al-Qaida was a fringe movement and ideology in the world of Islam. Its Islamic supremacism did not reflect either the Islamic faith or the ideology of the overwhelming majority of Muslims. In 2007, then secretary of state Condoleezza Rice banned US officials from using the terms "jihad," "Islamic" and "Islamism" in describing Islamic jihad and the ideology of Islamism or in conjunction with discussions of Islamic jihad and terrorism. Under former president Barack Obama, the war on language went into high gear. Not only were all terms relating to Islam banned from use in the federal government, the term "terrorism" was even purged from the official discourse. Obama dumped the Bush-era term, "War on Terror," for the even more meaningless phrase, "Overseas Contingency Operations." Obama barred the FBI from investigating radical Islamic breeding grounds and replaced surveillance operations with a program called, "Countering Violent Extremism." Under that program, Islamists were given federal support. The notion was that once they were empowered, they would convince their communities to reject violence. The US federal government's actions were far from unique in the Western world. Indeed, when compared to the efforts taken by Europeans to sanitize public discourse of all discussion of Islamic jihadism, America's efforts look downright moderate. In Europe, almost every mention of Islamism has been barred. Those that have criticized it have been subjected to criminal prosecutions and convictions. In most cases, the rationales for these efforts to block discussion of the threat of radical Islam have been admirable. Western nations have long histories of racism and intolerance. On the surface at least, placing a spotlight on the actions of one community, or adherents of one specific religion flies in the face of everything that the nations of the West have come to understand about how racism and bigotry takes root in a society. The very act of mentioning bad behavior carried out by members of a specific group seems inherently bigoted. The problem with this well-intentioned position was self-evident from the start. It is not bigoted to point out the bigotry of others and to confront and challenge it. It is bigoted not to do so. Even worse, it is dangerous. It is impossible to solve a problem like Islamic radicalism by ignoring it. To the contrary, by ignoring it, you ensure that it will grow. One of the strategically significant aspects of the September 11 attacks is that they showed that Islamic terrorists do not require control of territory to cause massive harm to their enemies and to their enemies' societies. On September 11, the 19 hijackers did not occupy downtown Manhattan. They did not drive tanks down 5th Avenue. Armed with box cutters and informed by a bigoted, supremacist ideology, 19 Islamic terrorists viewed themselves as heroes as they used crude weapons to commit murder on a scale never seen before on American soil. And after they did so, far from being condemned across the board in the Islamic world, they were celebrated as heroes by a very large number of Muslims not only in the Middle East but in the US and throughout the Western world. The devastating implications of the US government's decision to ignore the fact that at least some American Muslims celebrated the attacks were revealed over the weekend in an extraordinary report by Ruchmini Callimacci in the New York Times. Titled, "Not 'Lone Wolves' After All: How ISIS Guides World's Terror Plots from Afar," Callimacci reported how Islamic State (ISIS) locates and recruits Muslims in countries around the world over the Internet. Once they recruit these adherents, ISIS terror masters in Syria and elsewhere direct them in plotting and carrying out terrorist attacks. These remote commanders dictate the actions of their distant adherents from the moment they make contact with them until just moments before they commit their attacks or are arrested by law enforcement bodies. ISIS handlers, or commanders, are able to control the actions of their recruits as a platoon commander controls the actions of his soldiers, without ever meeting them. In many cases, the recruits do not even know their handlers' identities, have never heard their voices and do not know where they are from. The one thing that joins them to those directing them from thousands of kilometers away is their shared belief in the supremacy of radical Islam over all other ways of life. Their common faith in the justice of acts of mass murder against non-believers is so strong that it bridges the gap between the real and virtual worlds. ISIS's mode of operation is a natural progression from the September 11 attacks. Along the way, Anwar al-Awlaki, the commander of al-Qaida forces in Yemen killed in a US drone strike in 2011, was the pioneer of moving the direction of Western jihadists from the physical world to the virtual one. For more than a decade, Awlaki indoctrinated and directed numerous jihadists in the US and the UK. In the beginning Awlaki directed their actions by meeting with them and preaching to them in shared physical space. Later, he decamped to Yemen where he continued his efforts. He preached to them through cassette tapes, through satellite broadcasts and Internet chat rooms. He indoctrinated them through online essays. And he directed their terrorist attacks by email. An interesting incident in Awlaki's career came in 1996. At that time, Awlaki was working as a preacher at the Denver Islamic Society. According to a New York Times report from 2010, Awlaki left the mosque, and moved to San Diego shortly after an elder of the mosque upbraided him for telling a mosque member to travel to Chechnya to join the jihad against Russia. The most revealing aspect of the story is that the elder who criticized Awlaki asked the New York Times not to publish his identity. By 2010, Awlaki had already been publicly implicated in directing scores of Western jihadists to commit attacks in the US and the UK. He was considered the commander of al-Qaida forces in Yemen. And yet, the mosque elder in Denver didn't feel comfortable openly condemning him. His aversion indicated where the balance of power in the American Muslim community lies. Whether or not President Donald Trump is able to reinstitute his executive order mandating a 90-day ban on entry of nationals from Syria, Iraq, Libya, Iran, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, the fact is that such a move will be insufficient to diminish the terrorist threat in America. As Callimacci's article made brutally clear, so long as the intellectual shackles of political correctness block the US and other Western governments from taking concerted action against the creed of Islamic supremacism and its adherents inside their own borders, the virtual terrorism command ISIS now controls will last until it morphs into an even more deadly threat in the months and years to come. 
Israel's inaction in Syria may open Golan to Iran - http://www.debka.com/article/25917/Israel's-inaction-in-Syria-may-open-Golan-to-Iran
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has given "diplomatic priority" to stressing the perils posed by Iranian-sponsored terrorism and its nuclear-capable ballistic weapons, and placed them at the top of his talks with British premier Theresa May in London Monday, Feb. 6, and with President Donald Trump in Washington on Feb. 15. But it stands to reason that their national security and intelligence experts have advised the US president and the British premier that Netanyahu has been firmly advised up to the present day to stay clear of military involvement in the Syrian conflict by the IDF high command and his past and present defense ministers, Avigdor Lieberman and Moshe Ya'alon. Israel therefore stands to be excluded from the practical deliberations ongoing for Syria's future. Jordan in contrast has stepped forward as the key Middle East player in the pacts and military understandings shaping up between the US, Russia and Turkey for throwing Iran out of Syria. Jordan's King Abdullah swallowed his pride and took the initiative of flying to Washington last Thursday, Feb. 2, to buttonhole President Trump. From their brief conversation, he became the first Middle East ruler to win a green light from the US for an air strike against the ISIS ally, the Khalid Ibn al-Walid Army, which occupies the triangle formed by the Syrian, Jordanian and Israeli borders. Israel has never attacked this force in the five years since it moved into that part of southern Syria. debkafile"s military and intelligence sources disclose that Abdullah informed Trump that the air strike would take place under the supervision of the US, Russian and Syrian commands, making it the first instance of US-Russian support for a Middle East army's action against ISIS in Syria. And so, on Saturday, Feb. 4, six Royal Jordanian Air Force F-15 fighters and five drones bombed seven Khalid Ibn al-Walid positions. This air strike most probably heralded more bombardments to come. Jordanian commando units are also likely to mount raids, in concert with the Syrian rebel militias they have trained, to seize the ground occupied by ISIS' offshoot. And on the diplomatic front, the US President authorized Jordan's attendance at the Syrian peace talks that are ongoing under Russian sponsorship at the Kazakh capital of Astana. The Jordanian delegation was deputized to act on America's behalf to monitor the process for determining the future of Syria. This move came a week after the British prime minister was urged by Trump to fly straight to Ankara after their talks in Washington in search of a military collaboration deal for Syria between the UK and Turkey. The onset of Jordan's military action in Syria has pumped up to seven the number of foreign armies involved in that country's conflict: Russia, Iranian Revolutionary Guards, pro-Iranian Shiite militias from Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Lebanese Hezbollah, US forces, the Turkish Army and now Jordan. Synchronously with the Jordanian air strike in southern Syria, President Bashar Assad announced that its launch makes it possible for Syrian civilians who fled from the Islamists to start returning to their homes, starting with the Quneitra region of the Syrian Golan. He was talking about 30,000 refugees. It is obvious to anyone familiar with the Syrian scene that this population shift is an open invitation for thousands of Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps members and Hezbollah terrorists to take the opportunity of stealing into the Golan, in the guise of returning refugees. Israel, aside from providing an intelligence service on Syria to coalition forces, finds itself left out of any say in the currently evolving peace process. While ISIS may be rooted out of this border area at some point, the Netanyahu government's military inaction risks exposing the Golan to another attempted incursion by Iranian and Hezbollah forces by covert means. The diplomatic prioritization of the Iranian threat, coupled with talks with US president Trump and deals with Russian President Putin, amount to a policy that has gone bankrupt for Netanyahu and his security chiefs. The powers who will determine what happens next in Syria are bound by military cooperation and action. Because Netanyahu's rhetoric about the perils posed by Iran is not backed by military action, Israel has no influence on coming events, and faces the very real risk of being faced with an Iranian presence on its northern doorstep. 
Offerings for Third Temple Are Growing Today in Israel's Forests - By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz - https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/83196/temple-forest-sanhedrin-begins-planting-third-temple-offerings/#8lrLKdgLVKyv0rqU.99
"I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia-tree, and the myrtle, and the oil-tree; I will set in the desert the cypress, the plane-tree, and the larch together." Isaiah 41:19 (The Israel Bible™) The nascent Sanhedrin is setting out to reinstate the Biblical Temple forest as part of their ongoing effort to bring the Third Temple into existence and has already begun planting around Israel to provide the agricultural needs of the Third Temple. Rabbi Hillel Weiss, spokesman for the Sanhedrin, explained that the Temple was central to Israel as an agricultural nation strongly connected to its land. The Temple provided a link between the land, and the Divine. "When people think about sacrifices, they think about animals and blood," Rabbi Weiss said. "But most of the sacrifices were, in fact, from plants, grown around Israel." Many of the elements for the daily Temple service were agricultural and specific to the Temple. Semolina was frequently brought as a sacrifice with olive oil. The wine libation came from vines cultivated using a specific method. Rabbi Weiss pointed out that even some minor aspects of the Temple service required vast agricultural resources. "The Mishna (Talmud) states that the Passover Lamb was roasted on a stick from a pomegranate tree," noted Rabbi Weiss. "When the Temple is built, we will need millions of these sticks. Last week we planted 30 pomegranate trees, and this is clearly a very small step towards what we will need after the Temple is built." Ever-present on the altar were three piles of wood: the first for burning the animal sacrifices, the second for making coals to burn the incense, and the third for the perpetual altar fire commanded by the Bible. And the fire upon the altar shall be burning in it; it shall not be put out: and the Kohen shall burn wood on it every morning. Leviticus 6:5 The wood used in these arrangements were considered sacrifices. In the Second Temple period, the wood was provided as an annual offering. And we cast lots, the Kohanim, the Leviim, and the people, for the wood-offering, to bring it into the house of our God. Nehemiah 10:35 There are many different plants required for the Temple, each with its own special conditions. The Sanhedrin's new Temple forests are dispersed around Israel to provide the specific conditions suitable for each plant. In the Hebron Hills, they planted 30 Cedars of Lebanon and several pomegranate trees. In Kochav Hashachar overlooking the Jordan Valley, they planted half an acre of grapevines surrounded by Cedars. In Shaarei Tikvah in Samaria, cinnamon trees, one of the 11 ingredients in the Temple incense, are ready to be planted. In Itamar, a vineyard of 200 vines has been dedicated to Temple use. Seven date palms were planted in the Western Negev for use in the Shavuot offering. The Sanhedrin is also making efforts to plant in the site of the recently destroyed community of Amona as an expression of connection to the land. "In Biblical times, planting trees was one of the ways ownership of the land was expressed, but for now, it will be an act of healing," said Rabbi Weiss, quoting Ecclesiastes. A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted. Ecclesiastes 3:2 The idea of the Temple forest appears in the Bible, when Abraham planted a forest in Be'er Sheva. And Avraham planted a tamarisk-tree in Be'er Sheva, and called there on the name of Hashem, the Everlasting God. Genesis 21:33 Later, when Jacob returned to Be'er Sheva, homiletical teachings on Genesis collected in the fifth century describe him visiting the forest his grandfather planted in order to take seedlings down to Egypt. And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Be'er Sheva, and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Yitzchak. Genesis 46:1 These seedlings grew into trees and plants that were used by the Nation of Israel when they built the tabernacle. The arboreal needs of the Temple are mentioned again in the Book of Nehemiah, when a wood offering is brought to the Second Temple. And we cast lots, the Kohanim, the Leviim, and the people, for the wood-offering, to bring it into the house of our God, Nehemiah 10:35 "The Temple, as a House of Prayer for all Nations, was meant as a tikkun (fixing) for the entire world," said Rabbi Weiss. "Reinstating the plants in Israel dedicated to maintaining the Temple paves the way to fix the plants and ecology in other places, as well." 
Nearing Midnight: Doomsdayers' Diatribe - Terry James - http://www.raptureready.com/category/nearing-midnight/
Six days into the presidency of Donald J. Trump, the humanistic gurus of the community known as the" Atomic Scientists" raised a ruckus. They lamented that we are within two and a half minutes of nuclear midnight. This is supposed to mean that global catastrophe is closer, perhaps, than it has ever been. The atomic scientists' perception as the unthinking-bumbling, or perhaps deliberate evil-of the new president make the doomsday clock time-setters nervous indeed. Their joint declaration states, "Both his statements and his actions as president-elect have broken with historical precedent in unsettling ways. He has made ill-considered comments about expanding the U.S. nuclear arsenal. He has shown a troubling propensity to discount or outright reject expert advice related to international security, including the conclusions of intelligence experts. And his nominees to head the Energy Department and the Environmental Protection Agency dispute the basics of climate science." I have written in these commentaries for many months that the globalists' key rallying point for trying to bring about the new world order they seek has been global warming. It is now called climate change. The luciferian rant is ratcheting up in every aspect of geopolitical atmospherics. However, we can expect, I have absolutely no doubt, an even more massive uptick in the assault. Climate change will be the spear tip of the campaign against God's order of things as we move deeper into this administration. The scientists in question collectively issued the accusation-highly disturbing in their view- that Trump, during the presidential campaign, talked about the need to increase and upgrade nuclear weapons capability. At the same time, they ranted that he spoke against their and the general, scientific community's overwhelming consensus that climate change poses a threat beyond any other to the well-being of the planet. All the while they've said nothing of former President Obama's trying to anger Russia's Vladimir Putin in the last months of the Obama administration-a thing that gave Putin fodder to proclaim the need to further increase the Russian nuclear arsenal. Like in every other instance of hypocritical treatment by media and by the humanistic, scientific community, Obama gets a pass, while their collective ire descends full force on the one who defeated them in the American electoral process. They ignored that international relations have deteriorated dangerously during the Obama years, rather noted fawningly that the former president in 2010 called for a nuclear-free world. At the same time, they pointed out angrily their convoluted and quasi-accurate assessment that Trump suggested South Korea and Japan might consider developing nuclear weapons since North Korea and even China represent growing threats. They berated Trump and his six-day-old administration for having no "firm plans" to extend the controversial "Iran nuclear deal." The doomsdayers further castigated Trump and laid out their great fear his winning the American presidency has wrought. "The political situation in the United States is of particular concern. The Trump transition team has put forward candidates for cabinet-level positions (especially at the Environmental Protection Agency and Energy Department) who foreshadow the possibility that the new administration will be openly hostile to progress toward even the most modest efforts to avert catastrophic climate disruption." Please believe me. This is not the last we will hear of the climate change madness. Those of the "million woman march" and the "if- it-feels-good-do-it" crowd lost their "political fast-track to succeeding" they were previously on. These, as we have witnessed, are furious to the point of displaying mental instability But the globalists elite of this world, working to bring in Antichrist's regime-even if unknowingly-are exceedingly more angry and determined that this president will be removed by hook or crook. We already hear the volume increase on talk of impeaching him. There are more than mere hints that a coup d'état are in the wishful thinking of the angriest of the nation's power brokers. It does not, nor should it, surprise, that this level of rebellion is raising its ugly, serpent-like head. We only have to go to the great book of Revelation to understand the extremes to which fallen man will go when they don't get their way. There will be a rebellion of the most horrific magnitude ever at the end of the Millennium-the thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ. This uprising will occur, we are told through prophecy, after the rule of the only perfect Ruler in all of human history. And, this gets us back to the Doomsday Clock scientists' forewarning of Trump causing the destruction of the earth because of his declaring as lunacy their climate change mantra. Well, maybe it's I-not Trump-who call it lunacy, but he adamantly opposes it-and them nonetheless. The fact that Revelation 20:7-9 tells us there will be this last, satanically led rebellion in an attempt to dethrone the Creator of all things lets us know that there will still be a planet earth, despite President Donald Trump, and even seven years of Tribulation. Also, it proves, in my estimation, the lunacy of the doomsdayers' diatribe. 
My Review of "Rapture Ready...Or Not?" Over the last 35 years, I have literally read hundreds of books on Bible Prophecy and End Time signs. I especially enjoy books on the Rapture, and I have read almost every Rapture-related book published. In all those years, devouring thousands of pages, and millions of words, I have not read a better book on the Rapture than, Rapture Ready...Or Not? Terry James might be physically blind, but he is spiritually sharp and well discerning beyond most authors. In "Rapture Ready...Or Not?" Terry has nailed the pre-trib Rapture, and removed any doubt what so ever about the Church going through the Tribulation. With great insight and Godly discernment, Terry explains with simple, yet profound words, why and how that he has come to believe the ways he does about the Rapture, the Tribulation, and the End Times scenario. I think after reading "Rapture Ready...Or Not?" you too will believe as Terry does, and be Ready for the Rapture like never before! - Randy Thomas - Publisher / Editor - Prophecy Update For more information and or to get your copy of "Rapture Ready...Or Not?" use this link: http://www.raptureready.com/terry/book35.html 
Trump, Globalism and National Sovereignty - By M. Smallback - http://www.newswithviews.com/Smallback/MSmallback100.htm
The ongoing battle for control of the United States of America Surely we are living in the immediate days before Christ's return. The signs are everywhere, and just as Christ and the prophets foretold, the mass of the people are ignorant of it. The subject in this paper is globalism vs. national sovereignty, and the ongoing battle for control of the United States of America. America seems about as divided as it could be, perhaps equaling the days leading up to and involving the Civil War. The battle lines are not as clear, and the battle ground is muddy from propaganda, lies and half-truths. I'm going to tell it like I see it and it will be difficult for some people to receive and/or even understand. Regardless, this is my current viewpoint and understanding of what we're facing, as 2017 kicks off with Trump at the helm and a fury of antagonists raging across our land. Simply put, there are people who want to control the world as they see fit. Money and power go hand in hand. Money buys and corrupts power, and power takes money. It's an epic game of rock, paper, scissors, with two of the powers trying to eliminate the third. If the third can be eliminated, really only one will remain. For the sake of this allegory we'll call it money, power and freedom. If money and power can eliminate freedom, the battle is over because the money and power merge and there's nothing left to overcome. If freedom can manage the money and/or power, freedom will keep things better balanced, or at least keep money and/or power at bay. Today, January 25, 2017 in America, we have a five-day old President who at his inauguration declared war on the establishment of political power in Washington D.C. He said, and I quote, "...today we are not merely transferring power from one Administration to another, or from one party to another - but we are transferring power from Washington, D.C. and giving it back to you, the American People." Why, oh why, did a huge percentage of Americans NOT rejoice at those words?? This is the closest thing to the American spirit that I have heard in my lifetime, and in my studies of history, I can't recall a time so epic. (And there are some epic times in America's history!) This President has basically waged war on the establishment. To understand the ramifications of this, you have to have some understanding of what the "establishment" is. The establishment is not the Democratic Party and it's not the Republican Party. It's a small group of people who may identify with one of those parties or the other, but their agenda is the same. Their agenda is to own the wealth of the world and control its population. And they have a massive game plan to accomplish this. They don't care which political party is in the White House. It's irrelevant to them. They use their wealth and their power to control, intimidate, bribe, blackmail, or kill to meet their objectives. From my own studies, there hasn't been an American President since Woodrow Wilson that was not controlled and/or run by them. IF Trump cannot be controlled by them, America is in the best place it has been since the early 1900s. Their tentacles are far-reaching and they have agents in almost every possible sphere they can (CIA, FBI, NASA, military, House, Senate, DHS, etc.) Some of Trump's appointments seem weak (comparatively) or controversial, but at a nominal glance I'm encouraged because they seem to be outside the establishment circle. In a perfect world, globalism would make sense: "the belief or advocacy that political policies should take worldwide issues into account before focusing on national or state concerns". [Encarta] If all nations and all areas of the world had the same objectives of honoring life, personal liberty, and the overall well-being of humanity, this would be somewhat simpler to do. However, this is not the case. Realistically, personal responsibility MUST take place before a corporate vision can be successful. Our family decided to adopt a child out of the state system. We brought the child into our home. The child refused to follow our rules. The child was violent and destructive, deceptive and two-faced. The child began very damaging behaviors to our children already in the home. It was with excruciating emotional angst that we had to discuss the possibility that maybe we should NOT take this child in. We wanted to give the child a home. Our family was willing to love and support this child, but this child was unwilling to alter behavior or thoughts to be healthy in our home. We made the extremely difficult and painful choice to NOT adopt this child after all. The health of our family was at stake. The lives of other children would be so altered (was already happening) as to change their course. We simply could not do it. Globalism would have done it. That's the difference between globalism and national sovereignty. Had we gone ahead with the adoption, the dynamics of our family would have changed drastically and dramatically in the coming months and years, altered actually for the rest of our time on earth. Abuse was a part of this scenario, and abuse carries afflicters and victims with their varying circumstances. Our family identity would not be the same. Ever. As the head of our home, we had to decide to take care of the needs in our family first, and not damn the needs of our family for the sake of the destruction that would come simply from embracing things counter to our convictions. Nations are nations because of cultural needs and identities. A people group that associate with one another form a nation, set up a boundary and governing laws, and then protect those boundaries in an effort to protect its citizens. That's healthy. Boundaries are enforced and protected from those with harmful or destructive intentions. That's healthy. The needs of my family may not be the same as the needs for yours. Am I supposed to alter my family's needs to accommodate yours? I happen to follow the God of ancient Israel, the Creator of earth. If you follow the gods of Egypt, should I have to embrace your gods in my family? It would change the construction and fabric of our identity. Liberty tells me I should be able to worship my God and not have to worship yours. Globalism tells me I have to incorporate your beliefs into my own. And whoever is in power can then tell everyone what beliefs are to be adhered to. Now if I decide I don't like my current beliefs but like yours, then I can change my mind and I might want to move to become your close family friend to appease my new beliefs. That's called changing citizenship. With personal autonomy and national sovereignty, we can do that. We have that choice. I just move to the country, state or neighborhood that aligns better with my new convictions. With globalism, that change is unnecessary and not possible because we're put under one umbrella and must placate and acquiesce to whatever the standing rule is. There's no protection for personal liberty in globalism. There's no room for personal growth. The rule of thumb becomes what's best for the community, and what's best for the community is dictated by the ones with the power (which usually equates to those with the money). America was the great experiment in personal liberty. And that experiment has afforded generations of Americans to exercise their rights in ways other parts of the world had never had the opportunity to do. It grew a nation of inventors and creators and scientists and authors (and the list goes on and on), and a nation that quickly rose to the top of affordable living, affluence, accessibility to needs and wants, and was dubbed the "land of opportunity" because it was founded on personal liberty. [And yes, many of those liberties were fought for, i.e. race and gender issues, etc., and yes there is much blight on our record, but our record still stands above every other nation of the world.] Freedom is the enemy of absolute power. Period. And there is a growing group of people who want absolute power. They have diligently passed this baton on down several generations in the ultimate desire to have ultimate control for personal gain, at the expense of those they are attempting to control or govern. As a Christian this is so easily identified in God. God is the ultimate power. He created all things and has power over all things. Yet He has given His creation freedom and chooses to not intervene with His power just to be "in control". We are not His puppets. We are not killed or waylaid if we do not act in accordance with His character. My belief or unbelief in Him does not change His purposes or His plans. As Christ said, "He sends the rain on the just and the unjust." The spirit behind those who would want ultimate power and control is completely contradictory to God, who has ultimate power and control yet chooses to yield it in favor of personal liberty. (This is why Christianity is so offensive to Islam. We do not require your beliefs and we do not demand your allegiance. We give you the information we have and let you choose.) The spirit of globalism is the antithesis of freedom. It destroys individuality and creativity. Its agenda is power and control over people, but it masquerades as a "community" idea. Globalism is the spirit of Babylon. This is Genesis 11 and Revelation 17-18. It is a people who do not want the rule of God. They want to call the shots, and they don't want anyone to tell them their shots are in conflict with God. So they silence, contain, and/or eliminate the opposition. The American spirit and the Constitution of the U.S. give its citizens the freedom to believe as they believe and do as they are convicted, as long as their beliefs and convictions don't harm another. The globalist spirit will dictate beliefs by dictating laws aimed at behaviors, and this works well if you're of the same convictions as the globalists' laws. If not, you have no liberty to do or believe differently. Trump's first actions were to secure national sovereignty. He removed the U.S. from TPP, which gives America sovereignty back in its trade policies, and not under the rule of a non-American entity. He is renegotiating (with the threat of removing America altogether) NAFTA to restore America's sovereignty to dictate its own trade arrangements. He instated a temporary ban on Middle East refugees in order to vet the immigration process more diligently for the security of America. These are areas the prior POTUS and the establishment set out to strip America of its power and wealth. If America can be stripped of its power and wealth (remember the rock, paper, scissors analogy?), it can be stripped of its ability to ensure freedom and can be removed as a hindrance to the globalist agenda to rule the world. Unfortunately, the screaming tantrum voices of an ignorant population of Americans are insistent on making this election about personal pet issues. Obamacare was designed to ultimately fail, but not until it had stripped Americans of their wealth and the federal budget of its wealth. Trump wants to repeal Obamacare and replace it with healthcare that is not contingent solely on the federal government. He wants to enable states to meet the need of its citizens' healthcare. We've mastered the art of being offended in America this past decade. We're so busy being offended we're unable to see what's really going on. Obamacare was never about providing healthcare to American citizens. It was about removing autonomy from doctors, removing wealth from citizens and private sectors, and dictating mandates while stripping its citizens of their voice. The media is owned and run by the establishment. They direct our attention where they want it to be and deliberately misinform areas they can't completely hide or control. There is a deliberate effort to divide Americans, and depicting scenarios that trigger emotional responses to people's pet issues (that have really just become idols) seems the easiest way to fool the people. People jump on these bandwagons with personal offenses and neglect to see they've played right into the establishment's hands, like puppets on a string. As Christians, we need to seize this opportunity before us as the Israelites did when Cyrus proclaimed Jerusalem was to rebuild the house of the Lord. The Scripture plainly says "the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus" and the people were called to respond. Not everyone responded, just those who understood the significance of the moment. While the details are different, the essence is the same. God has moved to stay the hand of the globalist agenda in America; we must respond. The spirit of globalism will prevail until our Lord's return, but He plainly says He will bring this spirit down. (Revelation 18) We do not need to declare America a "Christian nation". That is unnecessary and will stir up the opposition faster than anything. We simply need to BE a nation of Christians. We need to live according to the mandates of our faith. We are to be the city on a hill, the light of the world, the salt of the earth. Then those who are lost will go to the hill, those who are blind will go to the light, and those who are tired of the drudgery of the world will go get salt. The Scriptures are pretty clear about how this is going to go down. We're going to be co-laboring for Christ at the same time the world is partnering with darkness. It's all going to be going on at the same time when He returns. (Matthew 24:36-51) Christians are ambassadors of Christ. (Ephesians 6:20) We represent Him, His interests, and His Kingdom in the nation we're a foreigner to. We don't really have the same customs as the world we're posited in, but we exist there anyway until Christ brings our Kingdom. God ordained the nations and gave them their boundaries (Deut 32:8, Acts 17:26), and America is ours. We are to "occupy until He [Jesus] comes" (Luke 19:13) - and "occupy" there means "to busy oneself with, i.e. to trade" (Strong's). So we're to be busy with our trades, our gifts and abilities, being light and salt, declaring the Kingdom of God as we know it, and representing Christ here in America. Time is short. Let's be about our King's business. 
Daily Jot: Skillet calling the kettle black - Bill Wilson - www.dailyjot.com
I remember an old saying my parents had: don't be the skillet calling the kettle black. It's the way the old timers explained how someone who is doing a certain act accuses another person of doing that very same act, yet the accused isn't doing the act. I guess psychologists call it "projecting." I would call it judging others from the content of your own heart. But it is becoming a very dangerous phenomena in American society because the socialist/progressive/communist left continues to characterize conservative, law abiding, God-fearing people as homophobes, xenophobes, haters, racists, bigots, fascists, and Nazis. In reality, the actions of the accusers match exactly with the words they use against others. Herein is just a small example found at the University of Central Florida. It's a "student" organization called the Knights for Socialism, an offshoot of the Orlando Popular Front. The Orlando Popular Front's mission is: "We the People of Orlando reject President Elect Trump and the xenophobic, sexist, and fascist Republican Party. We will stand in absolute resistance to Republican policies that will spit on the civil liberties that our American brothers and sisters have died for. We stand in solidarity with the African American communities, the Latino communities, and the LGBTQIA communities that make Orlando the City Beautiful!" The Knights of Socialism aim to be the enforcers of this resistance. The Knights of Socialism are hiring an amateur boxer who "will teach us the basics of hand to hand combat. Following his instruction, we will all have the opportunity to face off against one another and practice what we've learned." Their Facebook page says they are holding "Bash the Fash" (meaning fascists) self defense events "In response to the record number of hate crimes against Latinos, immigrants, Muslims, Women, the LGBTQIA+ community, Jews, African Americans and other minorities since the rise of Donald Trump and other Alt-Right Neo Nazis...the event is for everyone EXCEPT REPUBLICANS." This group is characterizing everyone who is white, Christian and conservative as Nazis. There are no credible statistics that hate crimes against these groups have increased since Trump became President. In fact, illegal immigrants and Islamists have committed an incredible number of crimes against society. There have been numerous documented crimes of leftists beating up Trump supporters, setting people's hair on fire for carrying pro-life signs, and death threats against those who disagree with this rebellious anarchist mob. Yet they accuse decent law abiding people of being fascists. This is the makings of a revolution. The former "president" and Hillary Clinton have encouraged it. We must stand firm as Romans 14:16 admonishes: "Let not then your good be evil spoken of," and in our actions, words and deeds as ambassadors of Christ, speak boldly as we ought to speak (Ephesians 6:20)." 
Daily Devotion: Never Stop Teaching Your Children - Greg Laurie - www.harvest.org
Come, my children, and listen to me, and I will teach you to fear the Lord. -Psalm 34:11 Sometimes Christian parents want their children to live in a bubble. They aren't going to allow any godless influences in their house. They won't even have a television set. No media. No Internet. Just nothing-not even furniture. Please don't do that. Instead, prepare your children to live in the real world. Teach them. I never had to teach my boys how to sin. I never had to sit them down and say, "Boys, I am going to teach you how to sin. Let's start with the word mine." No, it came naturally to them just like it came naturally to me. It comes naturally to every person. David said, "In sin my mother conceived me" (Psalm 51:5 NKJV). Moses gave great insight when he said, "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up" (Deuteronomy 6:6-7 NKJV). I love that. Moses is saying, just do it all of the time. Teach them in the morning and at night. Teach your kids everywhere. Look for a teaching moment. I've found some of the greatest spiritual moments with children happen when we are just out doing things. One thing I would often do with my kids-and now I do with my grandkids-is watch TV shows with them. Afterwards, I ask them questions and try to help them interpret it. I want to help them develop a biblical worldview for themselves. I want them to see things as God sees things. That is a constant process. So lovingly teach the Word and never stop doing it. I want them to see things as God sees things. 
FROM THE HEART
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