Prophecy Update Newsletter
IN TODAY'S NEWSLETTER...
The Coming New World Order - by pastor Mike Taylor -
https://pastormiketaylor.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-coming-new-world-order.html 9 And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, 10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: 11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name." (Revelation 14:9-11) I've had people email me with questions concerning the topic of the coming Beast power and this "mark of the beast". One lady ask me "can you unwittingly take the mark, and not know that you just did?" Another person framed his question around the acceptance of the Mark of the Beast and a 'paradox' he sees facing those who might accept it under coercion, when he asked: "is it something God will forgive, if you are forced into taking this mark because you are fearful for the safety of your family, your kids, or the life of your spouse?" These both are good questions for those who are fearful of the coming Tribulation and are afraid they will go through this time of devastation that will come upon the whole earth. To answer them, we must go to the source of our learning of this most important question, your Bible. First of all, the mark of the Beast is not just an economic ability to continue some form of life, some liberty, and some form of happiness by being able to do business in a Beast power run One World government system. 16 "And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: 17And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name." (Revelation 13:16-17) Besides being a symbol of economic participation, the Mark of the Beast is first and foremost a worship system. So now, we have crossed over from the material to the spiritual. 14 "And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. 15And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed." (Revelation 13:14-15) One must understand, that by taking the "mark" you have just joined the demonic church of the Anti-Christ and have promised allegiance to him and to worship at his feet. But the bible makes it plain that you cannot serve two masters. You will either hate the one and love the other. You can't have it both ways. Jesus made it plain in the 16th chapter of Luke: 10 "He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. 11If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? 12And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own? 13No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." (Luke 16:10-13) To the question of whether or not accepting the Mark to save a life is paradoxical, James answers that question with a question of his own "14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. 15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. 16 But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. 17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." (James 4:14-17) Mortal men have a concept of what life is on this earth. But with that in mind, there are two distinct and separate understandings of 'life' at work here. There is our understanding of life in the physical, under which one might be tempted to take the Mark of the Beast, say to save one's child or spouse. Then there is God's understanding of life. Physical life is granted to us so that we can choose where we will spend eternity. Will we spend it with God through His Son, Jesus Christ, or will we be separated for all eternity away from the source of life? Our physical life was given to us, each of us, for one purpose. That purpose is what will you do with the God/man, Jesus Christ? Will you accept His free gift of salvation or will you reject it? EVERYONE WANT TO GO HEAVEN, BUT NOBODY WANTS TO DIE Obviously, in the physical realm, the choice between life and death is a hard choice to make. The physical man wants to live as long as he can. It's called a sympathetic nervous system response, or "fight or flight"...it is part of our humanity, our DNA if you will. Our spiritual choice of where we want to spend eternity must take precedence over the physical aspect of our earthly self in the physical realm. Each of us are given the freedom to choose...in this case, choose wisely, choose Jesus. But is the Bible specific concerning the choice to accept the Mark of the Beast and worship his image? As the opening verses that began this message confirms, the decision to take the mark of the beast has eternal consequences for that person's soul. In actuality, there really is no paradox here, as it is the same choice that was given by Joshua to the nation of Israel when they entered into the promise land: "And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." (Joshua 24:15) It has been the same in any pagan empire when men were made to choose to worship or not to worship a ruling dictator even from ancient times. During the time of the Roman Empire, whole families were thrown to the lions because they refused to worship Caesar as a god. Every year the people under Roman rule were commanded to come before an idol of the current Caesar and burn incense to him and worship at the feet of this idol and proclaim Caesar, their god. Those who failed to do this act, which was required once a year, were condemned as disloyal to the Roman Empire and were killed in martyrdom by whatever heinous way that the Roman authorities could dream up. It was usually in the Colosseum in Rome for their blood sport games. Now that is not an easy choice to make because of our "fight or flight" nervous system that wants to preserve our lives and the lives of our loved ones at any cost. Those who accept a martyr's death are promised a crown, but nowhere does the Bible grant an exemption for those who reject Jesus, coercion notwithstanding. Not in the Church Age, and not during the Tribulation. "Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it." (Luke 17:33) In Matthew, Jesus gave His disciples, and us, this warning: 24 "Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. 26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"(Matthew 16:23-25) THE TRIBULATION IS ON THE HORIZON Everyone who listens to the news, knows something strange is happening in our world right now. We have never seen Bible prophecy come together so quickly, as it is right now. Here in the land of the free, and home of the brave, our freedoms are under attack, and the rest of the world is falling sway for the beginning of a New World order. I looked online for these symptoms of a coming One World Government and its cohort of a One World Religion and none of us have seen these details facing everyone of us who live upon this earth. ONE WORLD RELIGION TO BE PROPOSED THIS MAY It is reported that in May of this year, the "pope" in Rome will make a push for a One World religion... Some have claimed this Pope is trying to establish ONE WORLD RELIGION to facilitate his globalist beliefs. It's hard to argue that claim.
Pope Francis claims that we are all meeting God in different ways?( DC Clothesline and DC Dirty Laundry) Is the Pope, the false prophet? 2. "The so-called Coronavirus Pandemic" Crisis: If crisis is a means by which Democrats achieve their political ends - and it is; just think of their famous "never let a crisis go to waste" playbook - then imagine what coronavirus means to the globalists. What a dizzying opportunity for them to achieve massive goals. This is new world order time. Not only is America's economy crashing. Not only have the world's producers come to a grinding halt. But citizens are in fear. They don't know who or what to believe. They're hunkering in homes, at government's order. Police are in the streets, enforcing quarantines due to this Coronavirus. Churches have closed their doors - some of 'em, because they face the threat of fines and court action if they don't. (The Washington Times) A former British Prime Minister has called for the creation of a global government to cope with the coronavirus pandemic. Contemplating the emerging financial crisis, Brown believes that there should be advocacy for the emerging world markets within the G20 countries through his proposed global taskforce. "We need some sort of working executive," he said. (can you say Anti-Christ?) "If I were doing it again, I would make the G20 a broader organization because in the current circumstances you need to listen to the countries that are most affected, the countries that are making a difference and countries where there is the potential for a massive number of people to be affected - such as those in Africa." 3. Forced Vaccination of ID 2020 The ID 2020 alliance has launched a new digital identity program at its annual summit in New York, in collaboration with the Government of Bangladesh, vaccine alliance Gavi, and new partners in government, academia, and humanitarian relief. The program to leverage immunization as an opportunity to establish digital identity was unveiled by ID2020 in partnership with the Bangladesh Government's Access to Information (a2i) Program, the Directorate General of Health Services, and Gavi, according to the announcement. Digital identity is a computerized record of who a person is, stored in a registry. It is used, in this case, to keep track of who has received vaccination. "Digital identities and access systems are foundational elements of our shared digital future. They offer tremendous opportunities for individuals and society, especially for those without formal ID. ... It is critical to deliberate on who should create, control and benefit from people's identity information" Being produced and pushed by none other than Bill Gates, former owner of Microsoft. On that website, it says this: "Our digital activity increasingly parallels our real-world activity. Participation in the modern economy, the ability to buy and sell, attain employment, healthcare, social services and more are virtually impossible without a digital identity. In May of 2016, at the United Nations Headquarters in NY, ID2020, an alliance of governments, non-profits, academia, over 150 private sector companies and 11 United Nations agencies collaborated on how to provide a unique digital identity to everyone on the planet." 4. AGENDA 2030 and SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT. then, not the least of which we have discussed, the deployment of Sustainable Development, and Agenda 2030 to control every man and woman on this planet to prevent "Climate Change" problems and proposing "depopulation" of the planet. 5. Enforcment of mandatory Coronavirus Vaccine: With Bill Gates stepping down from Microsoft and putting all his resources for the ID2020 alliance in December they will include chips in mandatory vaccines. Interesting how the virus came just shortly after this event but no one is talking about it. I believe the coronavirus is real, but not a natural virus. The thought of having to do a mandatory vaccine with an ID chip makes me very fearful. Mandatory vaccines of the future I believe to kill our immune system and depopulate us. They wont let you buy anything, travel or drive without this vaccine. Denmark is already enforcing it on the public. Not only privacy concerns but this can't be good for our health and immune system. We will be extremely susceptible to disease? Like it makes me feel like taking care of my health will do nothing now because of this vaccine coming. I'm not even an anti-vaxxer or a conspiracy theorist. But this freaks me out so much. I legit couldn't sleep last night with these fears. I also hear Bill Gates is an advocate for depopulation on a deep level. I am torn on what to believe and need some rational thinking here." (TeamBlind.com) Noting that winter influenza kills more people than this Coronoavirus has ever done, why the big push for vaccinations? Especially since they have been rapidly produced and not tested for safety on animals, or humans. Could the vaccine be more dangerous than this so-called "Pandemic"? Note also, that the proof of vaccinations will be a "tattoo" on your right arm....haven't heard it being in you forehead YET!....but is this the run-up to the "mark of the beast"? THE END OF THE AGE, CLOSE AT HAND. There is a terrible conflict in progress between God and the devil. It has raged through the centuries since Lucifer, heaven's most powerful angel, rebelled against God. With the angels who joined him, he attempted to overcome God and seize control of the universe. God and the loyal angels had no choice but to eject Lucifer and his angels from heaven. Lucifer, who became known as the devil and Satan, was infuriated. His determination to destroy God and control the universe has grown with every passing year. Amazingly, he has won the support of the vast majority of earth's people in his rebellion. The Lord also asks for people's loyalty and support, but He leaves all free to choose. Soon every person on earth will have aligned with either Satan or God. This will become more of a choice between good and evil in the coming time known as the Tribulation, or Jacobs troubles in this close of the Age of Grace we now live in. If you think that the world is in chaos now, wait until tens of millions of people suddenly vanish from this planet, in what is well known as the coming Rapture of the Church, the True Church of the Living God, or the Bride of our Lord Jesus. 6 "And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved." (2nd Thessalonians 2:6-10) SATAN WILL BE UNLEASHED DURING THE TRIBULATION. Satan from the beginning of time, and the creation of mankind, has been restrained from doing anything against God's creation unless he was allowed. Even though Satan is the "prince and power of the air" and the "god of this world", Almighty God, Jehovah, God our Father has held back complete, unbridled evil to fill the Lord God's creation. Our God has used Satan as an instrument of free choice...our own free will to choose evil or to chose good, since man fell and sin began to reign in our world. God created a free moral agent with a will to love God without coercion of any sort. So those who enter this time of extreme temptation with the possibility of the loss of their life all around them, will have free will choices to make that most certainly will effect their eternal destination. All who choose to take the mark of the beast and align themselves with Satan and his minion on earth, the Anti-Christ will save their physical life for a short time, but they will loose their eternal soul to a devil's hell to be tormented by separation from a Holy God and the Author of anything that is good in this life, or the next. It won't be by mistake, or slight of hand to take this mark without full conscious knowledge of what you are doing. HOW IS A PERSON SAVED DURING THIS TIME THEN? As a companion question along with the mark of beast inquiry, I'm also asked then who can be saved and how? To answer that question, it would seem that it is just the same as during the Age of Grace that we are now in. They will be saved by grace through faith, but that is not exactly accurate during the time when the Holy Spirit is withdrawn to Pre-Pentecostal manifestation and this coming seven year period when the Age of Grace has ended with the removal of the Bride of Christ in the rapture. The Tribulation is the final unfulfilled week of the Age of the Law or the final week of Daniel's 70 week of years. It will be a return to the Old Testament revelation of God's Spirit dealing with men on an individual basis, but not sealing them, as the church is sealed in this age of Grace , and as the 144,000 Jewish evangelist are sealed during the Tribulation. Revelation Chapter 7 describes an event so unique that Jesus devotes an entire chapter to its discussion. It describes a special 'sealing' of "the servants of our God in their foreheads." 3"Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. 4And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel."(Revelation 7:3-4) These 'servants of God' are twelve thousand Jewish male virgins chosen from each of the twelve tribes of Israel -- 144,000 in all. They are unique from all other men and women during this period known as the tribulation. They are sealed in a miraculous manner, by the direct intervention of God, in exactly the same way Church Age believers are, through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. They are forever sealed for future glory and are given a deposit of God's Holy Spirit, as Paul spoke of in Ephesians: 13 "In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 14Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory." (Ephesians 1:13-14) During this time, the 144,000 Jewish evangelist are sealed with God's Holy Spirit, just the same as Christians are sealed during the Church Age, the Age of Grace. But it is not so with anyone else who may be saved during this time of the coming tribulation. As the Holy Spirit has been withdrawn liken to the time of King David or the prophets who were selected in who God's Holy Spirit indwelt in Old Testament times. And by extention, you can also loose it during this period as God's Holy Spirit was selective during Old Testament times because Christ had not been sacrificed yet. During this time, salvation will be most easily lost, because of unbridled evil and persecution during which many will be martyred and seek to save their own life...goes back to that "fight or flight" phenomenon that man possesses. During this time of this great temptation and evil that has taken control of the earth, everything and near everyone is evil beyond your wildest imagination, there will be believers in the Tribulation who will succumb to the Antichrist's coercion and accept his mark to save their families and their own lives. And Scripture is clear that those who do are forever lost. Those who become believers will be saved by faith in Christ by enduring until the end, as in the Church Age, but without the guarantee of eternal security or the automatic indwelling of the Holy Spirit. That is why Jesus spoke that this time will be worst that mankind has ever seen and if the time was not shortened, "no flesh would be saved." (Matthew 24:22) WARNING TO THOSE THIS SIDE OF THE TRIBULATION Those of you that have heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as has been preached nearly world-wide and has permeated just about every nook and cranny of every country in the nations, but many scoff at the message and refuse to turn away from their sinful lifestyle here in the USA and around the world. Many were not taught by their parents, much to the abdication of duty what parents are suppose to do by bringing up their children in the admonition of the Lord. But maybe those parents weren't taught either, but learned the sin of the world on their own and reveled in that sin and allowed the same for their children. You all will be thrown headlong into a time of great temptation and evil that will abound. With the effort of the 144, 000 Jewish evangelist, the two witnesses at the Temple Mount proclaiming the Gospel, many will be saved, but their very lives and their salvation will be in danger. Conversely, many will refuse and have pleasure in their unrighteousness. Those actually saved can still loose their salvation, and if not, their very lives in martyrdom because of their being steadfast in the belief in the Lord Jesus Christ, but what did Jesus warn those who enter into this time? 9 "Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. 10And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. 11And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. 12And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved." (Matthew 24:9-13) Many will be saved, but many will continue in the unrighteousness along with those who are confused and wonder what just happened when millions of people suddenely vanished from the earth. God will send them a strong delusion: 10 "And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." (2nd Thessalonians 2:10-12) As I've warned in many past sermons, many still wonder who the "HE" is in verse 7 of 2nd Thessalonians chp. 2 quoted above in this message. The popular solutions to the identity of the restrainer is that the man of lawlessness is being held back from unhindered evil on earth. Then what is holding back or restraining evil in this world and when taken out of the way, will allow the "man of sin" to reveal himself, but not until then? Many postulate wrongly that its Michael the ark angel, some other angelic being, or some spiritual/political person on the earth (I've heard many bizarre explanations of who the restrainer is), but there is only one Power on earth that has been holding back the complete takeover of the earth by Satan's minions, and that is the Holy Spirit of God that dwells within every born again believer alive on this earth in the past and in the present. When that POWER, the Holy Spirit along with those He indwells is removed, then God's Spirit will "step back" and allow evil to take hold of this world like no human has ever seen. Then all those who are so unfortunate to enter this time will have two choices in front of them. They will either choose Satan and the man he indwells, the Anti-Christ and take his mark, or choose Jesus Christ the Son of God. There is no other choice. Many will be deluded into believing a lie. Some will see through the lies and believe what the 144,000 Jewish Evangelist are preaching and believe by faith. Their faith will be sorely tested to endure until the end. Picture yourself trying to endure unrelenting torture, or the butchering of your wife or kids right before your eyes. It will be much pressure on those who come to Christ during this period, because evil men will use every tool that have to get to to recant and take the mark and worship the Anti-Christ. 12 "And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 14And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." (Matthew 24:12-14) And the world will be extremely evil place where people will betray their own family members: " Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law." (Luke 12:53) I know I am describing a most horrible existence that anyone should want to avoid at all cost. There is coming a time in the near future when what I'm talking about will be up close and personal for every human being left on this planet. Suddenly and without any warning, millions of people will vanish off of the face of the earth. Many will scoff and say that we believe an escape hatch to avoid the coming persecution and tribulation that shall cover this whole world, because much like a Catholic purgatory, they believe we will all have to go through this time of God's wrath along with an insane dictator hunting down all who refuse his mark, or his worship. But I prefer to believe that instead of an escape, we receive "victory in Jesus". Instead of the wrath of God that will come down on this earth, we are promised a victory from the wrath of God and evil to come by the Beast power. 6 "Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. 7For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. 8But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. 9For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, 10Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him." (1st Thessalonians 5:6-10) And our glorified Lord God, Jesus Christ proclaimed to John the Apostle in Revelation. "10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. 11, Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. (Revelation 3:10) Our Lord promised those of us who accept His free gift of salvation by believing on Him, by faith and trusting Him as the Son of God, and our Redeemer who paid the price for our eternal life by His perfect sacrifice on a Roman cross, will not see the coming wrath of God, but will be kept from that hour. Or will you see the coming Tribulation with the heinous Anti-Christ, Satan indwelling within this man, because of your unbelief? The beginning of Tribulation is an event that will come without warning, and the removal of the church will be in an instant: 51 "Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52In 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. 53For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal mustput on immortality. 54So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 55O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" (1st Corinthians 15:51-55) There is only one way to avoid something so horrible that I am describing and it is found in One Person, the Lord Jesus Christ. It boils down to the Gospel message and the promises laid down in your bible, that each of us have to believe in our heart of hearts, by faith not by sight. Jesus is our only Hope and all other ways are false and lead to damnation. As Jesus proclaimed: "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6) "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16) As the Apostle Peter proclaimed concerning Jesus: "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." (Acts 4:12) Many who be reading this message, may have heard this message all your life, but have failed to make a decision for your eternal destiny and your salvation. May I ask you, "What are you waiting for?"...Your life is but a vapor. It could end tomorrow. You were born to make that decision either for or against accepting Jesus Christ as your Savior. To continue in rebellion against a Holy God, by continuing to try and save yourself, will lead all who think such foolishness to experience what I briefly have outlined and confirmed in God's Holy Word. The other side of God's Age of Grace and the free gift of His only Begotten Son for your salvation is a time of unspeakable horror and the coming of the mark of the beast. Will you survive its evil? Maybe, but probably not. 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) This is Pastor Mike Taylor, praying your deliverance from a most evil period in mankind's history coming to all who miss taking God's free gift found in Jesus Christ, my Lord....if you need prayer, counseling, or just a listening, friendly ear..email me at [email protected] , God bless you all, TILL WE MEET AT JESUS FEET 'Shocking' list of what's killed the most people in 2020 - By Joe Kovacs - https://www.wnd.com Coronavirus is at bottom of list compared to everyday killers With millions of Americans concerned about coronavirus, radio host Rush Limbaugh is providing some perspective on the actual number of fatalities from COVID-19 compared to those from other causes. On his Wednesday broadcast, Limbaugh cited a list from worldometers.info that rounded up the worldwide deaths from Jan. 1 through March 25 of 2020: "Coronavirus: 21,000 deaths. Seasonal flu: 113,000. Malaria: 228,000. Suicide: 249,000. Traffic fatalities, 313, almost 314,000 deaths. HIV/AIDS, 391,000 deaths. Alcohol related deaths, 581,000. Smoking-related deaths, 1,162,000. Cancer deaths, 1,909,000 deaths. Deaths attributed to starvation, 2,382,000 deaths. And death by abortion, 9,900,000." "I'm not trying to make any correlation," Limbaugh explained. "I'm not trying to say, 'Hey, we're overreacting to coronavirus death.' I'm just giving you the stats here. You can react to these stats however you wish." He added: "You still have some really shocking numbers. Because we don't talk about it. We got suicide hotlines. We try to teach people to drive safely. We do whatever we do with HIV/AIDS. We tell people to drink responsibly, tell people not to smoke, try to devise cancer treatments, we try to feed people." Limbaugh even mentioned efforts by his hometown of Palm Beach, Florida: "The town website where I live is chiding people for being on the beach, for standing too close together while their dogs are pooping. I mean, you wouldn't believe it. I've seen it all." Israeli Scientists Present Mathematical Model for Restarting World Economy - By Judy Siegel-Itzkovich - www.breakingisraelnews.com Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall cease from labor, in order that your ox and your ass may rest, and that your bondman and the stranger may be refreshed. Exodus 23:12 (The Israel Bible™) Due to the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown, Israel's unemployment rate has skyrocketed in the last six weeks from less than four percent to 24%. Much suffering to the population unable who have been put on leave without pay or dismissed has resulted. Only employees in vital industries are currently allowed to work.. The situation won't last forever, but as people are gradually allowed to leave their homes and go to work at the majority of jobs, a technique is needed to reduce the risk of virus infection while allowing the economy to recover. Think of dieting. One can fast for two months and lose weight, but you will probably die. Even if you survive, you will quickly gain weight again. Similarly, a two-month lockdown will suppress the coronavirus, but it will kill the economy. Lockdown will push hundreds of millions of people around the world into unemployment and poverty. Many sectors of the economy will collapse. At the end of each lockdown, remaining patients will cause a resurge in the epidemic, forcing another lockdown. This is the well-known yo-yo effect, with the number of coronavirus patients going up and down. At the same time, the global economy will be hit hard - and when the dust settles, more people will have died of hunger than of the coronavirus. Prof. Uri Alon, a systems biologist at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, and his team including graduate students Omer Karin and Yael Korem-Kohanim, together with senior engineer Boaz Dudovich of Applied Materials, have suggested a way out of this dilemma. Based on an epidemiological model they developed, their proposed policy would effectively suppress the coronavirus and at the same time allow sustainable, albeit reduced, economic activity. The model that the scientists developed is based on intermittent lockdown - five days of lockdown and two days of work every week. In this way, the virus replication number, i.e., the number of people infected by each infectious person, drops below one - the magic number that causes the epidemic to decline. A four-day work/10-day lockdown strategy is even better, the researchers suggest, as it would allow those infected at work to stop becoming infectious at home. Alon noted that after several such cycles, the number of infected people would drop dramatically. The epidemic could then be contained until sufficient testing is carried out and an effective medical treatment or a vaccine is developed - which will remove the need for a lockdown. Intermittent lockdown may be the only viable option for countries that can't deploy sufficient testing in time, the Weizmann scholars continued. It would allow millions to work two days a week, sustaining key economic sectors. People will hold a 40% position instead of being completely unemployed - an economic and psychological game-changer. Fixed workdays for everyone will allow workers and managers to plan ahead and stay productive. "Our main message," concluded Alon, "is to open up the discussion on lockdown and point out that a well-designed smart lockdown strategy can suppress the epidemic and sustain the economy." Alon earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and his doctoral degree in theoretical physics from the Weizmann Institute. After having his interest in biology sparked, Alon headed to Princeton University for his postdoctoral work in experimental biology. He returned to the Weizmann Institute as a professor. For What Do We Pray? - Nathele Graham - [email protected] The world is in a state of emergency. What do we do? If all else fails, pray. Maybe we wouldn't be in such a panic if prayer wasn't a last resort. How did we get to this point? Can we blame God, or should we blame ourselves? Many of us like to do whatever we want with no consequences, but when we get into trouble we run to God. "Bail us out!" we scream. "How can you do this to us?" we ask. If you blame God for causing this virus to shut down the world, then you don't understand Him. People caused this, not God. God lives outside of time and has seen what will happen today and gave us warnings of future events through Scripture. All prophecy was about future events when it was written, but people never seem to think it describes events of the time in which they live. "That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour: knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation." 2 Peter 3:2-4. Peter knew exactly what the attitude of people in our day and age ("the last days") would be. He knew Old Testament Scripture and understood that God warned the people who lived prior to the Flood that judgment was coming. They could have changed their minds about sin but ignored the warnings and refused to change. Judgment came and people were destroyed. God has given us rules for our own protection, and when we ignore Him there must be a judgment in order to save all of humanity. The blame is in our own lack of repentance. Lately there's been a loud call to prayer. Prayer is a very important part of a Christian's life, but what do we pray for? Is there any examination of our own short comings and need to change our ways, or do we want God to answer our prayer despite our sin? The world is in the grips of a judgment. A virus is sweeping the world and shutting down everything from mom and pop stores to major industries. The entire world is affected, and sin is a major factor. When Christians are asked to pray for our nation, how do we pray? "Dear Lord, please make this problem go away". Do we ever repent of our sin and honor God first rather than expecting Him to jump to answer our request? Jesus had a lot to say about evil within the heart of a person. "And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: all these evil things come from within, and defile the man." Mark 7:20-23. Look up the words He used to understand what Jesus called evil. Then, look inside your own heart and see which of these wicked ways do you partake in, or even condone. We want God to answer our prayers and heal our land, but we don't want to give up our sin. The morals in America, and the whole world, are comparable to Sodom and Gomorrah. Accepting the sin is as wrong as participating in the sin. People will live down to any standard the bar is lowered to. Drag queens having story time in libraries is not acceptable. Elementary school children are allowed to dictate what gender they are, despite facts that make it clear which gender they truly are. We murder inconvenient babies in the womb, and call it a woman's right. Yet, we expect God to answer our prayers. It's time we repent of the idiocy and sin that permeates this nation. World judgment has started, and this is just the beginning of sorrows. "And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these things are the beginning of sorrows." Matthew 24:4-8. Don't think that the things we're seeing right now are the end-time judgments described in Revelation. We are just seeing a preview of the judgments. As the world becomes infatuated by sin, the judgments become stronger and more frequent. It's a sin to reject God as the Creator. That's when the morals of a nation disintegrate and one of the worst judgments follows. That is homosexuality. Is it fair for God to judge us because we reject Him? A human artist will seek judgment against another person who plagiarizes his creation, so why should we question God's judgment upon evolutionists plagiarizing His handiwork? "Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened." Romans 1:21. Evolution didn't happen. Our Schools teach this theory (i.e.: idea, fable, folklore) as fact, but God's truth is forbidden to be mentioned in a classroom. Christians have turned a blind eye and have even bought into this lie. "For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their woman did change the natural use into that which is against nature: and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet." Romans 1:26-27. Homosexuality is a judgment on a nation. We haven't heeded God's warnings and we accept sin as normal. Now we face pestilence and yet we pray that God will take it away. We don't repent but expect God to make it all right. Sexual immorality is destroying us. School children are taught about sexual promiscuity then when a baby is created it's murdered. Shame upon parents for allowing this. The filth that comes out of Hollywood is disgusting. Shame upon anyone who watches this "entertainment". Musicians sing the praises of Satan, killing, and sin of all kinds. Shame upon anyone who listens to this music. The loony left promotes legalizing sin. Shame on anyone who votes for leaders who legalize sin. Movie idols advocate abortion, homosexuality, and many more degenerate lifestyles, but God tells us to turn from idolatry. We pray for God to remove this disease from our nation but continue to embrace sin. Christians know better, but too many ignore God in favor of following the idolatry of a sin-filled world. "Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them." Romans 1:32. Shame upon any Christian who takes pleasure in sin, then expects God to answer prayer. When Solomon completed building the first temple, he called for the nation to repent. "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14. This was a promise to Israel, but it casts its shadow over our day and age. Christians are called by God's name. Have we humbled ourselves before the Lord and recognize that He is sovereign in our life? Do we follow His ways, or do we want to make our own wicked ways? When we want something, we give Him a list of our demands, but we seldom follow His guidance for our way of living. God will forgive any sin, but the repentance must be sincere. Then, brothers and sisters, we can go before the Lord with a clean heart and ask for His forgiveness and to heal our land. Then, we need to stand up for Jesus. We need to speak out and demand that schools go back to teaching truth and morals. We need to refuse to vote for lawmakers who promote sin and evil. We need to turn from our wicked ways, then help others to turn from theirs. We need to reach out to the unbelievers and tell them about the love and forgiveness they are missing. The shepherds of the flock are failing. Shame upon preachers who preach warm-fuzzy sermons that soothe the ears of the congregation, but don't encourage a closer walk with Jesus. Why is it more important to be politically correct and keep the tax-exempt status than to preach God's truth? Instead of making the congregation feel comfortable, God's truth needs to be declared. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a sermon spark the congregation to repent of the sins they hold onto, and walk close to Jesus? "And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." Acts 2:3-4. I would love to see flames dancing on the heads of Christians, igniting the desire for the Holy Spirit to work in us and through us. When that happened on Pentecost, Peter stood up and gave a Holy Spirit inspired sermon. Many people repented and were saved on that day. Peter's words spoke truth and brought conviction. Sadly, we'd rather "play church" than be convicted of sin, repent, and live for Christ. Yet, when bad things come along, we pray for God to do something. This coronavirus is just a small preview of the wrath of God that will come when the seals begin to be opened. Things will continue to get worse, but Christians won't be on earth to endure God's wrath. "...and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come." 1 Thessalonians 1:9b-10. Have you turned from idols to serve the living and true God? If you haven't, then how can you pray for His intervention in the coronavirus? If you've truly accepted Jesus for salvation, then you will be taken to Heaven prior to the wrath of God. Christians shouldn't want anyone to be left to face the wrath of God, but everyone must make their own choice. As we sit in our homes, isolated from people, not allowed to gather together, not allowed to stand within 6 feet of another person, not allowed to attend worship services, it's time do some self-evaluation using Scripture as our standard. First humble yourself before the Lord and repent of your own sin. Only then can you expect that God will listen when you ask Him to remove this virus from our nation and from our world. So, what do we pray for? I pray that I will see my own sin and repent of anything that comes between me and God. I pray that He will open doors for me to share the Gospel and that the person I share with will humble themselves and turn from their evil ways. Then, I pray that God will have mercy upon this nation. God bless you all, Nathele Graham [email protected] www.straitandnarrowministry.com [email protected] Ron and Nathele Graham's previous commentaries archived at http://www.raptureready.com/featured/graham/graham.html All original scripture is "theopneustos" God breathed. If you'd like to be on my mailing list to receive the commentaries just drop me an email and let me know. Daily Jot: Religious freedom and COVID-19 - Bill Wilson - www.dailyjot.com There is much discussion about whether churches should be allowed to meet in person during the COVID-19 crisis. This is stimulating a debate between health concerns of spreading a deadly virus and the First Amendment right that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." The issue is deepened by a mega church pastor in Florida and another in Louisiana being cited for unlawful assembly. While these pastors may have the right to assemble, is it the right thing to do during a health pandemic? Pastor Tony Spell of Central, Louisiana has ignored requests from local leaders and the governor to suspend services because he sees it as "an attack on religion. This is an attack on our constitutional rights. We have a constitutional right to assemble and to gather and there are no laws I am breaking." In Florida, Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne, co-founder of the River at Tampa Bay Church, is accused of presiding over Sunday services attended by hundreds of parishioners, some of them ferried there by bus transportation his church provided. The Tampa Bay Times reported that Howard-Browne told his congregation of over 4,000, "Suddenly we are demonized because we believe God heals, that the Lord sets people free, and they make us out to be some sort of kooks." Law enforcement and public officials have a different point of view. In both cases, they contend that churches are not being prevented from meeting, but that they should do it online-both churches have the technology to do so. The officials say that public health concerns during this emergency crisis outweigh the need to meet in person and that these directives are only temporary until the crisis subsides. Family Research Council President Tony Perkins has said, "If I thought this was an attack on religious freedom, I'd be right there with him (Spell). It's a directive for the sake of public health not to meet." There are many reports that churches meeting in person have actually spread COVID-19 into their respective communities. When Satan brought Christ to the pinnacle of the temple, urging him to cast himself down, Christ responded in Luke 4:12, "It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." Godly faith, even unto healing, is not foolish, nor does it tempt God. Those who question others' faith because they subscribe to best practices of science and health in dealing with COVID-19 are both foolish and risk tempting God. Just because you have the Constitutional right to exercise your faith in public, doesn't mean it is the right thing to do. Many are seeking answers during this crisis but foolish and reckless acts by Christians cause those seeking to question the very credibility of God. We are God's representatives on earth. Let's not get in the way of what God wants to accomplish during these times. Show your faith with wisdom and love. Daily Devotion: In the Secret Place - by Greg Laurie - www.harvest.org He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. -Psalm 91:1 When you were a kid, did you ever have a hiding place, a place you would run to when you were afraid or wanted to be alone? God wants to be your hiding place. The good news is that you can retreat to this hiding place wherever you are. Psalm 91:1 tells us, "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." It is worth noting that the blessings promised in this psalm are not for just anyone. They are specifically given to believers-and not just believers in general but believers who specifically meet the requirements in it. Psalm 91 is full of conditional promises. God promises to do certain things for us, hinging on our doing certain things that are required of us in this psalm. We have a relationship with God because we have put our faith in Jesus Christ and have turned from our sin. But are we living in constant communion and fellowship with God? That is so important. Many people are not. They are not dwelling consistently with God. But the Lord wants you to dwell in the secret place of the Most High. He wants you to be like Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet when He came to visit her home in Bethany. There is a time for busyness. There is a time for work. And there is also a time to worship. Unfortunately we sometimes substitute perspiration for inspiration and work for worship. If you do that, it only will be a matter of time until you spiritually burn out. You can't give out more than you take in. You need to live in communion with Him. You need to dwell in the secret place of the Most High. FROM THE HEART
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