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Becoming Antichrist: Vol. II - By Pete Garcia -
http://rev310.com/2019/04/becoming-antichrist-vol-ii Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, "All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours." Luke 4:5-7 We (Randy and I) have compiled a list of biblical and extra-biblical characters (antichrists and types) who seem to make up the parts of the sum for the man of sin. While not exhaustive, these seem to take the mantel in type and carry forward some aspect of the Antichrist's character and nature. Next to each name is the key characteristic of that individual that most links him to the coming future Antichrist. Again, none of the listed are THE Antichrist, simply prototypes of the coming last world leader. Using history and the Holy Spirit as our guide, we will begin to chart a path from the distant past, to the near future, for this man becoming The Antichrist. The Way of Cain (Man of Sin) Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. Jude 1:11 Speaking to the apostates who have crept into the church to corrupt the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, here Jude lists three Old Testament examples of men who had done terrible wickedness. What he leads off with here is Cain (the eldest son of Adam and Eve), who after having his sacrifice of works rejected, allows sin to fester in his heart and mind. So what is the way of Cain? Well, the Bible tells us. Knowing what was in his heart, God asks Cain, Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it. Genesis 4:6-7 Shortly after that is when sin consumed Cain and he rose up in anger and struck down his brother Abel in the field. It is the first physical murder mentioned in the Bible. [Technically, Satan murdered Adam and Eve indirectly by deceiving them into disobeying God]. After this occurs, God rhetorically asks Cain where Abel is, and Cain plays dumb about his whereabouts. It is here that God comments that Abel's blood was crying out from the ground (Gen. 4:10). Then God curses the ground so that it would no longer yield its full strength. Furthermore, sin is now consuming him and he is fearful over his life, so God places a mark on Cain's forehead that no one should strike him down in revenge. What is of interest here is two-fold: first, that God directly warns him about what sin would do to him. Secondly, is that God places a mark on his forehead. We know that according to Revelation 13:16-18, the Antichrist will also place a mark on his followers. Instead of protecting them sevenfold, the mark of the beast will damn the bearer for all eternity. Furthermore, Jesus stated that Satan was a murderer from the beginning, and aside from what he did to Adam and Eve, I believe this is whom He was referencing. The Rebelliousness of Nimrod (Man of Lawlessness) Cush begot Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; therefore, it is said, "like Nimrod the might hunter before the Lord." And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh in the land of Shinar. From that land he went to Assyria and built Nineveh and Calah (what is the principal city). Genesis 10:8-12 The second antichrist character we come across in Scripture is Nimrod, the son of Cush, the grandson of Ham, and the great-grandson of Noah. Nimrod was described as a "mighty hunter before the Lord." However, we might just think of him as the world's first superhero. He could also be considered the world's first dictator, or tyrant. According to certain ancient and historical documents (the Divine Comedy being one), Nimrod (whose name in Hebrew means rebel) was actually a giant (which may lend credence to his ability rule over other men). At that time, (a 100 years or so after the Flood), people had begun to congregate on the plains of Shinar (Iraq-Syria, Fertile Crescent) instead of spreading out and repopulating the earth as they had been instructed by God to do (Gen. 9:1). It was in Babel where men (presumably under Nimrods' instruction), began the construction of a great tower. Much conjecture has been spent on why exactly they were building this tower, but all Scripture states, is that they were building this so they could make a name for themselves and not be scattered over the face of the earth. (Gen. 11:4) Moreover, it is here that God goes down and confuses the languages and then scatters the people over the face of the earth supernaturally (Gen. 11:9). The correlation between Nimrod and the future Antichrist is this spirit of rebellion (or lawlessness). Nimrod was the world's first dictator, and the Antichrist will be the world's last. We know that according to Daniel 8:25 and Revelation 13:1, the coming Antichrist will be boastful, proud, and blasphemous against God to the point that he believes he is God. When reading the extra-biblical books of Jasher and Josephus, this seems to be the same characteristics of Nimrod. About Nimrod, Josephus adds- Now it was Nimrod who excited them to such an affront and contempt of God. He was the grandson of Ham, the son of Noah, a bold man, and of great strength of hand. He persuaded them not to ascribe it to God, as if it were through his means they were happy, but to believe that it was their own courage that procured that happiness. He also gradually changed the government into tyranny, seeing no other way of turning men from the fear of God, but to bring them into a constant dependence on his power. He also said he would be revenged on God, if he should have a mind to drown the world again; for that he would build a tower too high for the waters to reach. And that he would avenge himself on God for destroying their forefathers. Now the multitude were very ready to follow the determination of Nimrod, and to esteem it a piece of cowardice to submit to God; and they built a tower, neither sparing any pains, nor being in any degree negligent about the work: and, by reason of the multitude of hands employed in it, it grew very high, sooner than anyone could expect; but the thickness of it was so great, and it was so strongly built, that thereby its great height seemed, upon the view, to be less than it really was. It was built of burnt brick, cemented together with mortar, made of bitumen, that it might not be liable to admit water. When God saw that they acted so madly, he did not resolve to destroy them utterly, since they were not grown wiser by the destruction of the former sinners; but he caused a tumult among them, by producing in them diverse languages, and causing that, through the multitude of those languages, they should not be able to understand one another. The place wherein they built the tower is now called Babylon, because of the confusion of that language which they readily understood before; for the Hebrews mean by the word Babel, confusion... (Josephus, the Complete Works, Book 1, Chapter 4) A final correlation can be made to where Nimrod established his headquarters. This will also be the same geographic location (demonic stronghold) where the Antichrist assumes his as well. The Hardening of Pharaoh (The Willful King) Another antichrist character we come across in Scriptures is the Egyptian Pharaoh who enslaved the Hebrews. Although not named specifically, it was most likely Pharaoh Neferhotep I who plays the main antagonist in the Exodus drama. When reading the accounts leading up to the Jewish exodus from Egypt in the Bible, we see an interesting progression of hardening of heart against the one true God. After enjoying a period of peace and prosperity in Egypt under the leadership of Joseph, the Hebrew's numbers were increasing and their success became a threat to the culture and leadership around them. Eventually, a Pharaoh did not remember Joseph outright enslaved the Hebrews and put them under extremely harsh work and living conditions. (Gen. 15:13-14, Ex. 1:8-14) Here in Egypt, Pharaoh would institute the first of many government-mandated infanticides against the Hebrew people. Although probably unknown to Pharaoh, he was simply an instrument used by Satan to attempt to prevent the arrival of the One born of the seed of woman (Gen. 3:15). The Hatred of Haman (The Dragon) One clear sign the bible gives us for that antichrist spirit, is the supernatural and completely irrational hatred of the Jewish people. Why is antisemitism, antichrist? Well, since the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob received their unconditional and everlasting promises of blessings from God (Gen. 12, 15, Jer. 31, etc.) they are in a special class of people. There has been a strong sense of supercessionism throughout the history of the Christian church. Currently, in our dispensation, there is no distinction between Jew or Gentile INSIDE the body of Christ (Gal. 3:28). However, just because there is no distinction INSIDE the body of Christ does not mean that God has annulled His promises to them, nor replaced their uniqueness in God's overarching plan. They (and Israel) are a constant reminder of God's faithfulness, which is why Satan hates them with a passion. Of note, is that the story of Esther plays out in the geographical area of what is today, Iran. Back then, it was simply known as Persia. This area has long been a stronghold for Satan and his minions. This is from whence the Angel who came to reveal the end times to Daniel, had to go back and continue his fight with (i.e., the prince of Persia) (Dan. 9:20-23, 10:10-14, 20). Clearly, Satan had his dark forces out to prevent this understanding from reaching Daniel at all costs, and their headquarters, was now where Esther and Mordecai were stationed to prevent the genocide of their people. Haman (the antagonist in this story) is just another example of an antichrist being used by Satan to destroy the Jewish people. In the last days, the Antichrist will also attempt to wipe out the Jewish people, and even succeeding what Hitler had done. Hitler wiped out one-third, but the Antichrist will wipe out two-thirds (Zech. 13:8). The Delusion of Antiochus Epiphanes (The Little Horn) Although not THE Antichrist, Antiochus IV Epiphanes is a ruler who most closely foreshadows what the future Antichrist will do regarding the persecution of the Jews and the desecration of the Jewish Temple. He was a Seleucid King, which was an offshoot of the former Greek Empire under Alexander the Great. In Daniel (Dan. 7:8, 21, 11:29-31), the vicious and virulently anti-Semitic exploits of Antiochus are captured, and then directly jump into the latter times where the antagonist shifts from Antiochus to THE Antichrist (Dan. 11:31-45). In 167 B.C., Antiochus committed an "abomination of desolation"; specifically, he set up an altar to the Greek god Zeus inside the Jewish temple and sacrificed a pig on it. Antiochus proceeded to require pagan sacrifices in all Jewish villages. In the village of Modein, a Levite named Mattathias, who had five sons, was told to make the sacrifice. Mattathias refused and killed the troops and the villager who volunteered to do the deed. This sparked the Maccabean Revolt, led by Mattathias's sons. Israel gained its freedom from the Selucids for a time and was later recognized as an independent state by the Roman Senate. The years that the Jews were led by Mattathias's descendants are called the Maccabean or Hasmonean Period. (Link) The Jewish Historian Josephus also had much to say about Antiochus Epiphanes in his destruction of Jerusalem and desecration of the Jewish Temple in his War of the Jews, Chapter 1. We can also see from certain Apocryphal books (1 and 2 Maccabees) about more details pertaining to the short reign of Antiochus IV Epiphanes. When Jesus explained that a future abomination of desolation would occur in the last days, He did so by referencing back to the book of Daniel and the abomination desolation that Antiochus performed (Dan. 11:31, Matt. 24:15). The Destiny of Charlemagne (Rider on the White Horse) Charlemagne (742-814), or Charles the Great, was king of the Franks, 768-814, and emperor of the West, 800-814. He founded the Holy Roman Empire, stimulated European economic and political life, and fostered the cultural revival known as the Carolingian Renaissance. (Link) Although Charlemagne was not a particularly cruel or evil ruler, his popularity in defeating the Moors in Spain, the Saxons to the north, and the Huns to the east, has cast a long shadow down the centuries on the idea of a revived Roman Empire. Likely, this same kind of fame in defeating their enemies will also be what the Beast uses to unite Europe once again (Rev. 6:1-2, 13:4). The Antichrist's main weapons will be deception, treachery, and violence. He will offer up false peace treaties, which will mask his true intentions much like an iron fist hidden in a velvet glove. His popularity will help finally remove the barriers in fully uniting Europe once again; then he will begin to exert his will across the face of the earth. Charlemagne's victories (like the future Antichrist's) catapulted him to the head of his kingdom. He became both the head of the government (the Holy Roman Empire), and the head of the Roman Catholic Church. The Antichrist, will become head of the government (the Beast), and eventually the object of its worship ultimately supplanting the Harlot (who was formerly the apostate church). The Rise of Hitler (False Messiah) With World War II behind us, but still present in so many living memories, we are often guilty of biasing our opinions of the Nazis by the outcome of the war and the knowledge of all their evil deeds. Yet, if one were able to go back in time to the Roaring Twenties, and without the knowledge of the future, one would see a broken and deflated Germany trying to pick up the pieces and recover from their disastrous militaristic misadventures during World War I. In the 1920s, the National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP), or NAZI for short, were slowly but steadily building their political base and structure. Their eventual supreme leader, Adolph Hitler, would call these years (1926-1929) the quiet years. However, these quiet years were a boom for political activity with Marxists, Communists, and Socialists (of every stripe), all vying for power in the Weimar Republic. However, during these years, the NAZIs were not able to gain as much traction as they hoped, even with their highly charged appeals to racial superiority, nationalism, and Anti-Semitism, times were good and Germany was on the mend. What Hitler lacked, was not the message or his ability to deliver said message, but to circumstances. As Obama's former Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel once famously quipped, you never let a good crisis go to waste. Hitler did not. In another part of the world, Wall Street in New York, events were happening that would bring an end to this quiet time for Adolf Hitler and would ultimately help put the Nazis in power in Germany. On October 29th, the Wall Street stock market crashed with disastrous worldwide effects. First in America, then the rest of the world, companies went bankrupt, banks failed and people instantly lost their life's savings. Unemployment soon soared and poverty and starvation became real possibilities for everyone. The people panicked. Governments seemed powerless against the worldwide economic collapse. Fear ruled. Governments stood on the brink. The Great Depression had begun. Adolf Hitler knew his time had come. (Link) The Treachery of Obama (The Fierce King) Having just lived through the worst eight-years of American political history, I do not feel I need to regurgitate the entire list of scandals and misdeeds by one Barack Hussein Obama...for they were legion. Aside from his enigmatic history, and his meteoric rise to power, Obama's past (as a character study) was as much an enigma as are the weathered Sphinxes that sit quietly in the Egyptian desert. He is duplicitous, dishonest, and seems to loathe biblical Christianity. Nevertheless, one of the scariest legacies he left behind, was his creation (or reinvigoration) of a deep state and shadow government (akin to J. Edgar Hoover era). The attempted Democratic coup of our current President was an overt and offensive attempt at delegitimizing a duly elected president by weaponizing federal agencies and a complicit media to discredit Trump's political victory. All that to say that this coming Antichrist will likely rise to power in much the same way. He will after all, have the full backing of Satan (Luke 4:5-7). His past will be shrouded in mystery. His ability to manipulate truth will make Obama look like a rank amateur. Assessment In the end, I believe that history serves as a great teacher (for those who are willing to learn) about what is coming in the last days. I believe that each of these men were either antichrists or types of antichrists, in their own right and serve the purpose of being examples. The Antichrist will most likely be someone we do not expect at all. He is called the "Little Horn" because he arises out of obscurity and dethrones three other rulers (Dan. 7:8, 8:9). Because Satan is not omniscient, and cannot see into the future, he does not know when the Lord will return at the Rapture. I believe there is probably numerous antichrist candidates alive today, and depending on the circumstances, can activate those who he thinks will most likely achieve his ends the most efficiently. Thinking back to World War II, Hitler was not the first leader Satan began to give access to the kingdoms of the world too, but first to Benito Mussolini, Emperor Hirohito, and Joseph Stalin. These men all started to rise to power around the same time that the Ottoman Empire was defeated, and the Balfour Declaration was giving Jews the right to return to their ancestral homeland. So what makes a good antichrist candidate? Well, if Satan thought the World War II era was likely to be prophetically significant, and he exercised his options with four world leaders, I do not think he will fall for that again. But he was limited to his options given the technology of the day. He saw the defeat of the Nazis and the Axis powers. He saw the return of Israel; he has seen how she has survived and thrived in a sea of Islamic instability for the past seventy-years. He has seen the explosion of the interest in the Rapture of the Church from within Christendom with the likes of Hal Lindsey's Late Great Planet Earth, and the Left Behind series. Satan, if anything, is a master of observation and probably senses long before most when the prophetic winds are beginning to shift. It would seem that with the surprise election victory of the long-shot Donald Trump, that Satan may have been caught off guard. At the very least if he wasn't caught off guard, then his human agents (i.e., the secular, Christ-rejecting world) were. I would be willing to bet that he is currently scrambling to line up his frontrunners for the upcoming position of Antichrist. What is interesting to me though is that throughout the past two and a half years of Trump's presidency, he has been thwarted/obstructed/attacked/etc. at almost every turn, WITH the exception as it pertains to Israel. As if he were being channeled into almost singularly focusing on that tiny nation in the Middle East.
I believe this has emboldened those Jews who want a third temple, as nothing else could. What was the status quo for decades, Trumped turned on its head. Now, what the Orthodox Jews' lacked since 1948, they finally have in the form of hope. Hope that now is the time to rebuild the third temple. Hope that they finally have just enough political support from the world's greatest nation, to begin construction on this temple. The only issue now is getting the Muslims off the Rock. This is what I believe Satan is watching extremely closely, and is now, readying his man/men, to assume control. He will stir up the Gog-Magog coalition to try and preemptively thwart the rebuilding of the third temple. We know that this will backfire on him gloriously, and be the impetus for actually making the third temple become a reality. Somewhere in this conflict, I believe both the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque are destroyed during this particular conflict, and will open the door for the rebuilding of the temple. With this much prophetic activity going on, He knows that the Rapture is near; however, he does not know when it is exactly. He knows the Rapture has to happen before the 70th Week begins, because he knows Scripture, and Scripture shifts the focus from the Church, back to the nation of Israel in the last days. Moreover, if he did not believe the Rapture happened before the Tribulation, he would not have wasted as much time and energy in trying to destroy/corrupt/malign this biblical teaching. We know that there is no mention of a USA-type nation in the prophetic word, so the next most likely options for his pool of would-be candidates, seem to come from either Europe or the Middle East. We know in the last days, that Satan will also use the kings of the east (Rev. 16:12) to come against Israel, but is likely keeping them in his reserve forces to use a last resort. We know now that what was lacking in World War II (and before) was the technology to accomplish all of what Revelation 11 and 13 seem to indicate. We know that technology has finally reached the point to achieve all that Scripture states must happen (Mark of the Beast, worldwide communications and travel, weapons of mass destruction, etc.). We know that Christianity has entered into this final stage of Church history, that being the Laodicean Age. This is because the culture (primarily in the west) rapidly deconstructing itself and is becoming increasingly barbaric, hedonistic, pluralistic, and pagan. Intense pressure has been put on the church to make it bend to the will of the culture, rather than the Church standing firm on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. What this all means, is that Satan's man/men of the hour, are alive today. These men likely have access to great power, but will not have expended any of that political capital as of yet. These men will not even be known by the general public, but most likely are thought to be the "power behind the throne" for many in the geopolitical world. These men (like those antichrist prototypes before them), are likely great observers of the state of the world, and know how to achieve their ends without appearing to want a one-world government. They will likely be watching the current crop of world leaders fumble, stumble, and make a mess of things today, and are learning from their mistakes. They are probably tied heavily into both the banking and technology industries. They will have access too, and know of, the breaking technologies that will change the landscape before anyone else does. These privileged men, are like walking Manchurian Candidates who will be flipped-on at the right moment to begin their conquest in their respective areas. Next, the conclusion, Becoming Antichrist: Vol. III Out of the Ashes: Clash of Civilizations Could Summon New World Religion - By Daniel Taylor - https://www.oldthinkernews.com/2019/04/24/out-of-the-ashes-clash-of-civilizations-could-summon-new-world-religion/ Rockefeller-backed Federal Council of Churches pushed "World government", "Universal system of money" and "Worldwide freedom of immigration" in 1942. The council was told by Dr. William Paton, co-secretary of the World Council of Churches, that "Collectivism is coming, whether we like it or not" For those paying attention, there is a discernible pattern of social engineering that is directed at the major world religions, particularly Christianity. This is undoubtedly a very complex issue, as there are numerous belief systems and nuanced views of millions of people. What we know is that globalist financed wars and revolutions have fueled illegal immigration and stoked flames of conflict all over the world. It can be reasonably demonstrated that key globalist organizations are following a program for re-shaping the world's religions utilizing a tried and true technique. It is a process called the Hegelian dialectic. Here is a simplified outline of the dialectic as applied by globalist forces: Thesis (problem): Religions are bigoted, feed intolerance and fuel violence. "Extreme" examples from each group are held up for the world to see. Antithesis (reaction): "I don't want to be politically incorrect". Disassociation with demonized groups ensues. Synthesis (solution): A "middle ground" is found and a politically correct faith is formed under the banner of global government. The establishment has encouraged and planted the seeds of "extremism" where it suits geopolitical agendas. The consequences of this manipulation are then pointed at in the ensuing dialectical battle as evidence of a just cause against against these ideas. A little bit of history Before we go further, it is important to point out that the establishment has a vested interest in shaping religion. This has been true for ages. Noted historian Alexis de Tocqueville warned us in 1835 when he wrote Democracy in America that the churches were already being usurped by power elites for their own agenda. He wrote, "...sovereigns... are using the priests influence and turning it to their own exclusive profit. They are turning clergymen into functionaries and, often, servants, and they are using the clergy to reach the deepest recesses of the individual soul." This influence has continued to our modern times, but with what is perhaps a more sophisticated flair. The Rockefeller family, with their vast fortune garnered from the oil baron John D. Rockefeller Sr., played a major role in re-shaping the churches in modern America. It comes as little surprise, given their long term goal of world government, that the Rockefeller family would approve of and support a societal outlook favorable to globalism. The use of religion is one method that, in Rockefeller's eyes, looked to be a promising means of accomplishing this goal. Early programs such as the Interchurch World Movement focused on the maintenance of harmonious relations between people in America's growing industrial society. Later endeavors such as the World Council of Churches would trend towards being global in nature with goals moving beyond that of simply maintaining class stability in America to elimination of national sovereignty and world governance. As documents show, multiple attempts have been made to urge the Christian churches to get behind programs for world governance. If the attempts were not initiated by the Rockefellers, significant financial support was provided to organizations sharing their vision for the world. In the aftermath of the bloody conflict of World War I, the League of Nations was presented as a solution to the horrendous problems that the world had witnessed. During the same time period that the League of Nations was formed, John D. Rockefeller Jr. launched the Interchurch World Movement in 1919. Rockefeller wrote in a letter regarding the Interchurch World Movement, "I know of no better insurance for a businessman for the safety of his investments, the prosperity of the country and the future stability of our government than this movement affords..." Harry Emerson Fosdick was the brother of John D. Rockefeller's trusted lawyer Raymond B. Fosdick. He was deeply involved with the Interchurch World Movement. Harry was very close to the Rockefeller family and its inner workings, as he served on the board of the Rockefeller Foundation during World War II. The Riverside church in New York, where Fosdick served as pastor from 1926-1946, was built with money given by John D. Rockefeller Jr. Interestingly, Fosdick held a belief that in the future a federation of the world would be created by a single man. Fosdick writes, "Some day, I predict, a man will rise by whose hands a federation of the world will be so effected, and wars so stopped thereby, that his name will go down across the centuries associated with that great achievement, as Copernicus' name is with the new astronomy, or Lincoln's with the preservation of our union. That man will come. Some day he will arise." Just as the Interchurch World Movement was presented to the churches as a solution to problems facing the globe after the first world war, the Federal Council of Churches presented its own solution in the early 1940s for a program "for a just and durable peace" upon the end of World War II. Not surprisingly, the Federal Council of Churches - which was merged with the National Council of Churches in 1950 - received significant funding from John D. Rockefeller Jr. As reported by Time in 1942, the Federal Council of Churches spearheaded a program for world government. The council was told by Dr. William Paton, co-secretary of the World Council of Churches that "Collectivism is coming, whether we like it or not". The council affirmed, "...we must seek to... create a public opinion which will insure that the United States shall play its full and essential part in the creation of a moral way of international living." As reported, the project aimed at creating, among other things, a "world government of delegated powers," an "international bank," and "complete abandonment of U.S. isolationism." God Wars One of the driving factors in the modern "God wars" is the global war on terror launched after 9/11. The September 11th, 2001 terror attacks on America impacted all aspects of society, including the churches. As Bryan Appleyard writes in the New Statesman, "For me, the events of 9/11 were certainly a catalyst, the new ingredient that turned the already bubbling mix of anti-religious feeling into an explosive concoction." At the onset of the war on terror, we were told that most high profile terror attacks were carried out by Muslim extremists. What we have not been told, however, is that these individuals and groups have had outside help from globalist factions. In fact, the very ideological roots of some terror groups may be traced back to literature that the United States provided Afghan schoolchildren during the Cold War. As the Washington Post reported in 2002, "In the twilight of the Cold War, the United States spent millions of dollars to supply Afghan schoolchildren with textbooks filled with violent images and militant Islamic teachings..." Watch this clip as Zbigniew Brzezinski, serving as National Security Advisor, speaks to a group of Mujihadeen fighters in 1979: Zbigniew Brzezinski to the Mujahideen: "Your cause is right and God is on your side!" "A different kind of religion" In a 2012 article from the Christian post, research from political scientists at Harvard University is further proving that a fundamental change is happening to the faith of America. Due to the association of the Republican party and its "bigotry" along with it's "Christianity," young people are turning away from the Christian faith. In turn, this group is likened to an "untapped market" that could be swayed to a "different kind of religion." "The reason this is important for clergy is these are not people who are lost completely to religion. It's almost like they're an untapped constituency, or untapped market, that could be brought back to a different kind of religion, or a religion that they thought was stripped of politics, Campbell argued" As the church of Satan openly aligns itself with the extreme political left in America, more and more Americans are identifying as having no religion in polls. Nearly half of pastors in America are afraid to speak out on moral or social issues out of fear of offending the wrong person. Temple of Satan co-founder Lucien Greaves said recently, "At this point there seems to be an inherent, intuitive grasp of what Satan can mean in a heroic context..." Greaves states that Christian nationalists are undermining "liberal democracy" by "taking away people's reproductive rights". The Christian church is splitting over support of LGBT politics. The clash is here. The state of the globe and the ideologies that will drive it into the future depend on your choices and actions right now. Nearing Midnight: Trump's Portentous Peace Planning - Terry James - https://www.raptureready.com/category/nearing-midnight/ While news media laser-stream goings-on in the post-Mueller report intrigues, truly portentous things are unfolding, initiated by this White House. Prophetically speaking, matters involved couldn't be more significant in pointing to just how near this world must be to having unleashed upon humanity history's most terrible time. The most powerful signal of where this generation stands on God's prophetic timeline is the nation Israel. The very fact that it is front and center in the fear of possible thermonuclear war being initiated validates the truth of Bible prophecy. Within that reality, the primary element indicating the nearness to the Tribulation (Daniel's seventieth week) is that a peace covenant involving the Jewish state will almost certainly be forthcoming. As anyone who reads our commentaries knows, I support this president. I believe, along with Dallas First Baptist pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress and others, that Donald J. Trump was put into office by the Lord of Heaven. The election was a result, I'm convinced, of the prayers of God's people, according to 2 Chronicles 7:14. Trump's election was, in a real sense, miraculous. The ensuing eruption of hatred toward Trump and all of those who support his presidency was and is Hell-spawned, in my view. It has not abated, despite Mueller's finding no collusion in the Russian interference matter. The minions, both spiritual and human, continue to falsely accuse Mr. Trump, wanting to generate enough lies to bring about his impeachment. It is satanic rage that drives the anti-Trump rhetoric and subterfuge. So, as stated, I support this president and his efforts in most every area of endeavor to try to "make America great again" (although I think God's intention is more that of restraining evil for the moment). I believe much of it is God-directed, even if the president himself might be somewhat an unwitting administrator of God's will at this time in human history. That being said, I, like others who support Trump, based upon his being God's man for this hour, am quite wary about reports regarding Israel and the peace process. We get a feel for what might be in the offing through this brief news excerpt. [President Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, said all should keep an] "open mind" about President Donald Trump's upcoming Middle East peace proposal and said that it will require compromises from both sides, a source familiar with the remarks said... The proposal has two major components: A political piece that addresses core political issues as the status of Jerusalem, and an economic part that aims to help the Palestinians strengthen their economy. Unclear is whether the plan will propose outright the creation of a Palestinian state, the Palestinians' core demand. (Source: White House adviser says peace plan to be unveiled by early June, Reuters Published: 04.17.19) The concern of those who watch this process, of course, is that the peace negotiators are treading on dangerous grounds. To do anything in regard to trying to bring about peace, through a process involving Israel giving up land for that peace, gets to the heart of Bible prophecy for the end of the age (Church Age). Daniel 9: 27 is at the center of this concern. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. It is heavily rumored that the proposal being considered for Trump's making the "deal of the century" includes the dividing of Jerusalem. This is known as the two-state solution where the Palestinians would be given some of Israel's land and part of Jerusalem in order to bring a solution to the centuries-long hostilities between Israel and the Islamic nations. A "covenant" would thus be produced assuring peace. It is a "covenant" that the Scripture tells us Antichrist will one day "confirm." It is reasonable to conjecture whether this "deal" might have something to do with that Daniel 9: 27 "covenant." It is with this in mind that we who support the president offer our advice that his administration not go down that roadmap to so-called peace. It would be the wrong course-and a most dangerous one (read Isaiah 28:15, 18). He who touches Jerusalem-and Israel by extension-touches the "apple of God's eye," according to His Word. It is with this prophetic, scriptural forewarning that we advise against any such portentous peace planning. Dangerous Rise Of Anti-Semitism All Over The World, Including The Church - By Michael Snyder - http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=3162 There is no place for anti-Semitism in our society, and all of us should be deeply alarmed by how rapidly anti-Semitism is rising across North America, Europe and the Middle East. The numbers that I am going to share with you in this article are incredibly disturbing, and many believe that anti-Semitism is now the worst that it has been since the end of World War II. After what we witnessed during the 1930s and 1940s, you would think that the world would never want to go down that path ever again, and yet it is happening. Millions upon millions of people deeply hate the Jewish people just because they are Jewish, and it is getting worse with each passing day. The lastest example is the New York Times which just days after the Times published an op-ed falsely claiming Jesus was a Palestinian, placed a cartoon on their op-ed page, depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a dog leading a blind U.S. President Donald Trump. Imagine if the New York Times cartoon that depicted Israel's Prime Minister as a dog had, instead, depicted the leader of another ethnic or gender group in a similar manner? If you think that is hard to imagine that you are absolutely right. It would be inconceivable for a Times editor to have allowed the portrayal of a Muslim leader as a dog; or the leader of any other ethnic or gender group in so dehumanizing a manner. What is it then about Jews that allowed such a degrading cartoon about one of its leaders? One would think that in light of the history of the Holocaust, which is being commemorated this week, the last group that a main stream newspaper would demonize by employing a caricature right out of the Nazi playbook, would be the Jews. But, no. Only three quarters of a century after Der Stürmer incentivized the mass murder of Jews by dehumanizing them we see a revival of such bigoted caricatures. Threats of rising anti-semitism caught the world's attention after the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting in October 2018, where the gunman murdered 12 people and injured 7 during Shabbat morning service. Now another one has happened... 19-year-old John Earnest was once a quiet piano player that had a seemingly bright future in front of him, but after being infected by the vile anti-Semitism that is rapidly spreading all over the Internet, he decided that it would be a good idea to walk into a synagogue and start shooting people... One woman was killed and three others were wounded when a man entered a synagogue during Passover services Saturday at the Chabad of Poway temple and opened fire with an AR-style assault weapon shortly before 11:30 a.m. Poway is about 25 miles northeast of San Diego. The city's mayor, President Donald Trump and California Gov. Gavin Newsom all called the attack a hate crime. The suspect, 19-year-old John Earnest, was arrested and is being questioned by authorities. 60-year-old Lori Gilbert Kaye was killed when she stepped in front of the synagogue's rabbi as he rushed to evacuate children. She will be remembered as a hero, while John Earnest will be remembered as a hate-filled racist that said that Jewish people "deserve nothing but hell". All over the globe, prominent political leaders are condemning what John Earnest did. In his statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it "an attack on the heart of the Jewish people"... "I condemn the abhorrent attack on a synagogue in California; this is an attack on the heart of the Jewish people," Netanyahu said in a statement. "We send condolences to the family of Lori Gilbert-Kaye and our best wishes for a quick recovery to the wounded. The international community must step up the struggle against anti-Semitism." Unfortunately, we aren't talking about just a few isolated individuals. A recent CNN survey that was conducted in Europe discovered that anti-Semitic attitudes are very widespread over there... Anti-Semitic stereotypes are alive and well in Europe, while the memory of the Holocaust is starting to fade, a sweeping new survey by CNN reveals. More than a quarter of Europeans polled believe Jews have too much influence in business and finance. Nearly one in four said Jews have too much influence in conflict and wars across the world. One in five said they have too much influence in the media and the same number believe they have too much influence in politics. Other polls have showed the majority of British adults don't know that 6 million Jewish people were murdered in Holocaust, or they believe the number killed to be much less than this. The European Union's Fundamental Rights Agency study published last year asked European Jews in 12 countries their views on anti-Semitism. Hundreds of Jews polled said they had experienced a physical, anti-Semitic attack in the past year. According to authorities in France, the number of anti-Semitic attacks in that country rose 74 percent last year. Of course this is not just a recent trend either. According to the Anti-Defamation League, there was a huge increase in global anti-Semitic attacks from 2016 to 2017... The Anti-Defamation League has identified 1,986 anti-Semitic incidents in its 2017 Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents. That's up from 1,267 in 2016, marking the highest single-year increase since the organization released its first audit in 1979. Those are deeply chilling numbers. If you are not Jewish, you may not think about anti-Semitism much. But for those that must deal with it on a daily basis, it is a nightmare that never ends. According to another survey of Jewish people living in Europe, 90 percent indicated that they believe that anti-Semitism is growing in the country in which they currently live. The following comes from the Guardian... The report found 90% of respondents felt antisemitism was growing in their country and 30% had been harassed. Over a third avoided going to Jewish events or sites because of safety fears, while the same proportion had considered emigrating. Nearly 80% no longer reported minor incidents because they thought "nothing would change". Even in polite mannered Canada the number of antisemitic incidents in Canada spiked in 2018, according to a new study published on Monday. The 2018 Annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents commissioned by the League for Human Rights of B'nai Brith Canada showed 2,041 incidents of antisemitism took place last year, a 16.5 percent increase from 2017. The study also showed a 28.4-percent jump in antisemitic harassment, a 61.5-percent increase since 2015. Here in the United States, anti-Semitism is rising rapidly as well. In fact, there are an increasing number of "Christian churches" and "Christian ministries" that claim to be Christian but that also boldly express hatred for Israel and for the Jewish people at the same time. Much of this hatred finds it's roots in replacement theology which essentially teaches that the church has replaced Israel in God's plan. Adherents of replacement theology believe the Jews are no longer God's chosen people, and God does not have specific future plans for the nation of Israel. If you are anti-Semitic, you are literally embracing evil itself. And you can see it in their eyes. You can literally see the evil in the eyes of anti-Semitic terrorists in the Middle East, in the eyes of crazed skinheads in Europe, and in the eyes of deranged extremists in the United States. I love the Jewish people, and I am proud to stand with Israel. We are not going to put up with anti-Semitism, and we are going to fight it wherever it is found. Daily Jot: Another misleading "news" story by Washington Post - Bill Wilson - www.dailyjot.com Rachael Blade and Mike DeBonis of The Washington Post led into their story about congressional investigations of President Donald Trump with: "Frustration among House Democratic investigators is intensifying after President Donald Trump's refusal to cooperate with congressional inquiries, leading some to privately question whether they should try to pressure Speaker Nancy Pelosi into launching impeachment proceedings. The chairmen and members of the six panels investigating the president are increasingly angered by the White House's unwillingness to comply as they carry out their oversight role, according to several House Democratic officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity..." So what we have here is yet another hit piece trying to goad Americans into believing that Trump has committed impeachable offenses because he is not "cooperating" with members of the opposing party who have been trying to remove him from office since before he was inaugurated. This is a very biased, one-sided story by the Washington Post reporters in that it gives only the side of the Democrats as to why Trump is being uncooperative with the six committees who are relentlessly investigating him rather than attending to the business they were elected to do. These "anonymous sources" could be anyone, even on the staff of the Washington Post. There is no credibility or accountability with such a story. The Democrats' frustration goes far beyond Trump refusing to cooperate with them. They were the ones raising the specter of a Constitutional crisis if Trump lost, but wouldn't accept the results of the election. Yet Democrats themselves have been throwing a temper tantrum by not accepting the results of the election. They gave it their best shot-they had a sitting president who authorized spying on the Trump campaign and on his transition team after he was elected; they paid for a false dossier to undermine Trump's credibility and justify the spying; they had operatives in the FBI and CIA essentially supporting a coup attempt; and they have obstructed the business of America ever since with false accusations and investigations. Nothing has stuck, so Pelosi ordered her minions to "keep digging." America faces many great challenges, among them the invasion at the US-Mexican border; soaring debt; and a host of other issues where civility and working together would go a long way to restoring security, order, and accountability. The ones not cooperating are those who are loudly demanding cooperation. Like in Titus 1:16, these people say they own the high ground, but in reality they are promoting the opposite..."They profess that they know God; but in works they deny [him], being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate." They want everyone to think they are godly, but deny him in their every deed. Daily Devotion: Faith Builders and Faith Breakers - by Greg Laurie - www.harvest.org Evil people can't sleep until they've done their evil deed for the day. They can't rest until they've caused someone to stumble. - Proverbs 4:16 In a way, we are all building something. We want strong marriages. We want strong families. We want strong spiritual lives. And we want a strong church. So we're in the process of building. But the moment we start building is also the moment we start battling. The devil opposes what God loves. So we need to press on. God is in the building (and rebuilding) business, but the devil is in the tearing down business. If you are doing the work of God, then you will face opposition. If you're doing God's work, you will be roundly criticized. And if you're not roundly criticized, you might ask yourself whether you are really doing the work of God. Criticism can be demoralizing, and it can be painful. But I've come to look at criticism as a form of confirmation that I'm on the right track. When you build, you will have to battle. Proverbs 4:16 says, "Evil people can't sleep until they've done their evil deed for the day. They can't rest until they've caused someone to stumble" NLT). Some people are just contrary people. You know who they are immediately. They have a certain facial expression. Nothing pleases them. Nothing meets their standards. They actually like to go and make trouble in the lives of others. You may be married to one of those people, you may work with some of those people, or you may go to church with a few of those people. Worst of all, you may be one of them. Some people are doing the work of God while others are standing on the sidelines and critiquing those who are doing the work of God. Are you a faith builder, or are you a faith breaker? It really comes down to one of the two. 
FROM THE HEART
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