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Prophecy Update Newsletter
August 31, 2016
IN TODAY'S NEWSLETTER...
Postmillennialism and Amillennialism - By Kit R. Olsen - http://raptureready.com/featured/olsen/k14.html
Postmillennialism teaches Christians will create a Golden Age on earth, gradually defeating the forces of evil. They believe they can help established a beautiful peaceful world, and then Jesus Christ will return and establish His eternal kingdom. Some who believe this call themselves Reconstructionists and label it Dominion Theology. Some of them accept certain ideas within Preterism, believing that many of the prophecies of the "last days" have already been fulfilled. This doctrine must also be rejected because it denies the future literal fulfillment of key prophetic Scriptures including the Rapture, Tribulation and Second Coming. It also rejects a literal millennial kingdom. The belief that Christians will someday establish a theocracy on earth is absurd, to say the least. For the last one hundred years the influence of Christians has waned greatly. However, the power of the major false religions (Roman Catholicism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism) have increased significantly along with atheism and humanism. The forces of darkness have also strengthened their control over nations throughout the world. A rapid movement in the last century was initiated consolidating the power of Satan's henchmen amongst governments worldwide-with the creation of numerous political and economic unions. That effort is growing stronger in this century with no signs of slowing. A world government, economy and religion under the power of Satan is inevitable just as the Bible says (Revelation 13 and 17). Amillennialism denies that there will be a literal kingdom over which Christ will rule on earth for 1000 years. It teaches that the 1000 years mentioned six times in Revelation 20 is symbolic . Augustine wrote in his book, The City of God that the book of Revelation is a spiritual allegory, that the millennial kingdom began with the Church, and Christ's reign on earth is spiritual in nature. Jesus Christ will return at the end of the Church Age and establish a literal 1000-year millennial kingdom. The erroneous theology of Amillennialism was adopted by the Roman Catholic Church and also by most of the Reformers who sadly held on to some of the unscriptural doctrines of the Church of Rome. A few of the early Church fathers of the first and second centuries believed in Amillennialism, but none of their writings are extant. There are a few references to their beliefs in the writings of Justin Martyr (100-165 A.D.). As noted previously in this book, the vast majority of the early Church fathers taught that there would be a millennial kingdom. Only a handful of them rejected a literal kingdom; Clement of Alexandria, Caius, Origen and Dionysius. The latter two are considered to have been heretics. It was not until Augustine (354-430 A.D.), a Catholic Church bishop, began to write on eschatology that the belief in a spiritual millennial kingdom took hold. He was a faithful Roman Catholic priest who held to all of the false doctrines of the church, including the damnable doctrine of Purgatory. The Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and most of the Reformed denominations teach the false doctrines of Amillennialism. The skewed teaching of Amillennialism does not make sense. It denies the literal fulfillment of Bible prophecy. It is inconceivable that God would fulfill all the prophecies of the Messiah's First Coming in a literal manner, and then have most of the prophecies of His Second Coming fulfilled in an allegorical (spiritual) manner. (Hebrews 13:8). One must ask who is more trustworthy concerning doctrine: The false Roman Catholic Church-which invented Amillennialism or the Holy Spirit, the Apostles and the early Church fathers? The Reformers held on to that false doctrine when they split from the Catholic Church just as some continued to teach other false doctrines-such as infant baptism. The identity of the prince of Daniel 9:25-27 is misconstrued by Amillennialists; they argue that the in verse 25 and the anointed one in verse 26 is Jesus (which is correct), but that the prince in verse 26 was Titus. They claim the identity of he in verse 27 is Jesus who they believe made a covenant with Israel at the beginning of His ministry and broke it after 3.5 years. This is Scripture-twisting with a nonsensical twist. The Such an interpretation is creative hyperbole but it is impossible-by all rules of grammar-for the he in verse 27 to refer back to the anointed one of verses 25 and 26. It can only refer back to the prince of verse 26 (Titus). Another insurmountable problem with this clumsy eisegetical trick is that Jesus did not make a covenant with Israel when He began His ministry. Titus did not make a covenant with Israel, and neither did anyone else in the 1st century A.D. that could be considered a fulfillment of that prophecy. The Antichrist who is to come in the future will make that covenant. Amillennialists think the false Catholic religion got it right, while the Old Testament prophets-Jesus Christ, the Apostles and the early Church fathers got it wrong. Here is just a sampling of some of the respected Church fathers who taught that there will be a literal millennial kingdom: Clement of Rome, Barnabas, Hermas, Polycarp, Ignatius, Papias, Pothinus, Justin Martyr, Melito, Hegisippus, Tatian, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Hippolytus, Apollinaris, Cyprian, Commodian, Nepos, Coracion, Victorinus, Methodius and Lactantius (Chafer, Lewis Sperry, Systematic Theology, Vol. 4, pp. 271-274). Additionally, at the Nicene Council, "318 bishops from all parts of the earth placed themselves on record" in believing in a literal millennial kingdom (ibid., p. 275). The teaching of the Catholic Church on this matter is wrong. The Old Testament prophets, Jesus Christ, the Apostles and the early Church fathers are right that there will be a millennial kingdom. Those who hold to Amillennialism would do well to consider carefully where that doctrine came from. Did it come from the Holy Spirit who gave it to bishops of the Roman Catholic Church or was it given to the Old Testament prophets, the Apostles and early Church fathers? They must also consider why Jesus taught a literal millennial kingdom. Was He mistaken? Of course not. Postmillennialists and Amillennialists use the same method of study. They use the eisegesis procedure, meaning that they insert into the text a meaning that is simply not there. They make the text say what they want it to say, rather than accepting what the text itself says. The end of Mahmoud Abbas - By Caroline B. Glick -http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0816/glick083116.php3
Like it or not, the day is fast approaching when the Palestinian Authority we have known for the past 22 years will cease to exist. PA leader Mahmoud Abbas's US-trained Palestinian security forces have lost control over the Palestinians cities in Judea and Samaria. His EU- and US-funded bureaucracies are about to lose control over the local governments to Hamas. And his Fatah militias have turned against him. Palestinian affairs experts Pinchas Inbari of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and Khaled Abu Toameh of the Gatestone Institute have in recent weeks reported in detail about the insurrection of Fatah militias and tribal leaders against Abbas's PA. In Nablus, Fatah terrorist cells are in open rebellion against PA security forces. Since August 18, Fatah cells have repeatedly engaged PA forces in lethal exchanges, and according to Inbari, the town is now in a state of "total anarchy." In Hebron, tribal leaders, more or less dormant for the past 20 years, are regenerating a tribal alliance as a means of bypassing the PA, which no longer represents them. Their first major action to date was to send a delegation of tribal leaders to meet with King Abdullah of Jordan. Even in Ramallah, the seat of Abbas's power, the PA is losing ground to EU-funded NGOs that seek to limit the PA's economic control over the groups and their operations. All of this fighting and maneuvering is taking place against the backdrop of the encroaching PA municipal elections, scheduled for October 8. Hamas is widely expected to win control over most of the local governments in Judea and Samaria. Hamas's coming takeover of the municipalities is likely playing a role in decisions by Fatah terrorist cells to reject the authority of the PA. Many of those cells can be expected to transfer their allegiance to Hamas once the terrorist group wins the elections. Given his Fatah party's looming electoral defeat, more and more PA functionaries are wondering why Abbas doesn't use the growing anarchy in Palestinian cities as a reason to cancel them. Abbas seems to have calculated that Israel will step in and, as it has repeatedly done over the past 20 years, cancel the elections for him. Media organs Abbas controls are full of conspiracy theories whose bottom line is that Israel is not canceling the elections Abbas declared because it is in cahoots with Hamas and other "collaborators" to undermine the PA. Although Israel, of course, is in cahoots with no one, it is the case that the government has apparently finally lost its patience with Abbas and is looking past him. Repeated angry denunciations by government leaders of Abbas for his lead role in inciting violence against Israelis, leading the international movement to delegitimize Israel, refusing to negotiate anything with its leaders, and radicalizing Palestinian society, are finally being translated into policy. Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman's recent announcement that Israel is adopting a carrot-andstick approach not toward the PA but toward the Palestinians themselves, and will advance development projects in areas where terrorism levels are low and take a hard line against areas where terrorist cells are most active, has sent shock waves through Abbas's palaces. For 22 years, Israel has bowed to Palestinian and Western demands and agreed to speak only to PA functionaries and Palestinian civilians authorized by the PA to speak to Israelis. Liberman's decision to base Israel's actions on the ground on the behavior of the Palestinians themselves rather than act in accordance with PA directives, along with his decision to speak directly to Palestinian businessmen and others, marks the end of Israel's acceptance of this practice. Without a doubt, Israel's willingness to let Abbas fall is in part a function of the wider Arab world's increased indifference to, if not disgust with the Palestinians. As MEMRI has documented, the Arab media is registering growing impatience with PA spokespeople. Arab commentators have harshly criticized PA functionaries who continue to insist their conflict with Israel is the most pressing issue on the pan-Arab agenda. The disintegration of Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Libya and the rise of Iran as a mortal threat, along with Israel's growing importance as an ally to Sunni Arab regimes have made the Palestinian cause look downright offensive to large swaths of the Arab world. Part of Israel's willingness to let Abbas fall also owes to its inevitability. Once Hamas wins the elections and takes control over the local governments, Abbas's already weakened position will become unsustainable. As is already happening in towns and villages throughout the areas, Fatah cells will transfer their allegiance to Hamas. The areas will become Balkanized and radicalized still further. Confrontation between Israel and the Hamas-controlled Palestinians in Judea and Samaria is inevitable. Moreover, this process will likely be rapid. Just as Hamas's complete takeover of Gaza from Fatah forces happened seemingly overnight in June 2007, so its seizure of control over Judea and Samaria will happen in the blink of an eye. Many Westerners, Israeli leftists and PA functionaries hope that some deus ex machina will fall from the sky at the last minute and cancel the elections. But even if that happens, the underlying reality in which Abbas is rapidly losing all semblance of control over events in Judea and Samaria will not be reversed. Abbas has incited the Palestinians to the point where they reject not only Israel, but Abbas and the PA. Last week, the left-leaning Israeli Democracy Institute released the results of its joint survey with the Palestinian Center for Policy Survey Research regarding levels of support for a two-state solution. For a generation, we have been told by world leaders that "everyone who is anyone" knows that the only way to reconcile the Palestinians and Israelis is to establish an independent Palestinian state in Judea, Samaria and parts of Jerusalem, as well as Gaza, roughly along the 1949 armistice lines, with land swaps between the sides involving continued Israeli control over a small percentage of the land in exchange for Palestinian control over lands Israel has controlled since its establishment. The same formula that "everyone who is anyone" agrees on assumes that the Palestinian state will be demilitarized and that Israel will accept around a hundred thousand Palestinians who were displaced in 1949 as citizens in a token acceptance of the Palestinian demand for a so-called "right of return" of the descendants of Arabs who left Israel in 1948-9. The poll showed that this plan is a nonstarter for the majority of Palestinians and Israelis. Only 46 percent of Israelis accept the formula and a mere 39% of Palestinians do. The PA itself rejected the two-state formula at Camp David 16 years ago. The fictional peace process based on the failed policy model has been maintained ever since for two reasons. First, successive Israeli governments have been intimidated by successive US administrations into maintaining faith with it despite its obvious failure. Second, Abbas has built, secured and maintained his corrupt dictatorship over Palestinian society on the West's obsession with the two-state formula. This practice has allowed him to serve into the 11th year of his five-year term of office. It has allowed Abbas, his sons and his cronies to build fortunes on the backs of the Palestinians they are supposedly serving. Now that Abbas's reign is ending, the West is losing their man in Ramallah. Abbas's Hamas successors will not be beholden to Western donors, although to their discredit, the Europeans in all likelihood will shower them with cash and side with them against Israel. 16 years after the failed Camp David summit, the fiction of the two-state solution is about to be shattered once and for all. The only relevant question today, is what does Israel intend to do next? Erdogan tells US: Stop backing the Kurds - http://www.debka.com/article/25637/Erdogan-tells-US-Stop-backing-the-Kurds
US-Turkish discord over the Turkish army's onslaught on the Kurds of northern Syria reached a new low Wednesday, Aug. 30, when the presidential palace spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said in Ankara: "The US must revise its policy of supporting Kurdish forces." The demand came after a senior US official called on "all the armed actors in the fight against the Islamic State in northern Syria to stand down," in an effort to contain the new conflict dragging northern Syria into further chaos. The call was addressed equally to Ankara to freeze its military operations in Syria and to the Kurdish PYD-YPG militia to halt the flow of fraternal reinforcements for defending Mabij, the Syrian town the militia wrested from ISIS earlier this month with US assistance. debkafile's military sources report that the Turkish army and Kurdish forces are already tensely aligned for a decisive battle over Manbij that will determine the outcome of the Turkish invasion of Aug. 24. President Tayyip Erdogan calculates that a Turkish victory will force the Kurds to retreat to the eastern bank of the Euphrates and away from the Turkish border, while Kurdish leaders are determined to halt the Turkish army at the gates of the town, and so brand the invasion a fiasco and carry off an epic victory. The Obama administration is making a huge effort to avert this confrontation. In the hope of reining in the Turks, Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Ankara on the day their army crossed the Syrian border and met them halfway by issuing an ultimatum to the Kurds to withdraw to east of the Euphrates or else lose US support. Unheeding of the US warning, the Kurds went forward to build up their fighting strength and engage the Turkish army. Ankara suspects that the Americans are continuing notwithstanding to give the Kurds weapons and assistance on the quiet Washington fears that a Turkish-Kurdish showdown in Manbij will further destabilize the military situation such as it is in northern Syria and northern Iraq, and all their efforts to persuade the Kurds to lead the ground forces of the coalition offensives against ISIS will go for nothing. In an earlier report on Monday, debkafile covered the conflict between Turkey and the Kurds as it unfolded after the Turkish invasion. An all-out Turkish-Kurdish war has boiled over in northern Syria since the Turkish army crossed the border last Wednesday, Aug. 24 for the avowed aim of fighting the Islamic State and pushing the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia back. Instead of falling back, the Kurds went on the offensive and are taking a hammering. This raging confrontation has stalled the US-led coalition offensive against ISIS and put on indefinite hold any US plans for campaigns to drive the jihadists out of their Syrian and Iraqi capitals of Raqqa and Mosul. The Kurdish militia ground troops, who were backed by the US and assigned the star role in these campaigns, are now fully engaged in fighting Turkey. And, in another radical turnaround, Iraqi Kurdish leaders (of the Kurdish Regional Republic) have responded by welcoming Iran to their capital, in retaliation for the US decision to join forces with Turkey at the expense of Kurdish aspirations. The KRG's Peshmerga are moreover pitching in to fight with their Syrian brothers. Together, they plan to expel American presence and influence from both northern Syria and northern Iraq in response to what they perceive as a US sellout of the Kurds. debkafile's military analysts trace the evolving steps of this escalating complication of the Syrian war and its wider impact: Since cleansing Jarablus of ISIS, Turkey has thrown large, additional armored and air force into the battle against the 35.000-strong YPG Kurdish fighters. This is no longer just a sizeable military raid, as Ankara has claimed, but a full-fledged war operation. Turkish forces are continuing to advancing in three directions and by Sunday, Aug. 28 had struck 15-17km deep inside northern Syria across a 100km wide strip. Their targets are clearly defined: the Kurdish enclave of Afrin in northwest Syria and the Kurdish enclave of Qamishli and Hassaka in the east, in order to block the merger of Kurdish enclaves into a contiguous Syrian Kurdish state. Another goal was Al-Bab north of and within range of Aleppo for a role in a major theater of the Syrian conflict. To reach Al-Bab, the Turkish force would have to fight its way through Kurdish-controlled territory. The Turks are also using a proxy to fight the Syrian Kurds. Thousands of Syrian Democratic Army (SDF) rebels, whom they trained and supplied to fight Syria's Bashar Assad army and the Islamic State, have been diverted to targeting the Kurds under the command of Turkish officers, to which Turkish elite forces are attached. A Turkish Engineering Corps combat unit is equipped for crossing the Euphrates River and heading east to push the Kurds further back. Contrary to reports, the Turkish have not yet crossed the river itself or pushed the Kurds back - only forded a small stream just east of Jarablus. The main Kurdish force is deployed to the south not the east of the former ISIS stronghold. Neither have Turkish-backed Syrian forces captured Manbij, the town 35km south of Jarablus which the Kurds with US support captured from ISIS earlier this month. Contrary to claims by Ankara's spokesmen, those forces are still only 10-15km on the road to Mabij. Sunday, heavy fighting raged around a cluster of Kurdish villages, Beir Khoussa and Amarneh, where the Turks were forced repeatedly to retreat under Kurdish counter attacks. Some of the villages were razed to the ground by the Turkish air force and tanks. At least 35 villagers were reported killed. In four days of fierce battles, the Kurds suffered 150 dead and the Turkish side, 60. debkafile military sources also report preparations Sunday to evacuate US Special Operations Forces and helicopter units from the Rmeilan air base near the Syrian-Kurdish town of Hassaka. If the fighting around the base intensifies, they will be relocated in northern Iraq. Fighters of the Iraqi-Kurdish Peshmerga were seen removing their uniforms and donning Syrian YPG gear before crossing the border Sunday and heading west to join their Syrian brothers in the battle against Turkey. The KRG President Masoud Barazani expects to travel to Tehran in the next few days with an SOS for Iranian help against the US and the Turks. On the table for a deal is permission from Irbil for the Iranian Revolutionary Guards to win their first military bases in the Iraqi Kurdish republic, as well as transit for Iranian military forces to reach Syria through Kurdish territory.. How Does Brexit Align with Bible Prophecy? - Dr. David Reagan - http://christinprophecyblog.org/2016/08/brexit-and-bible-prophecy/
When I learned of the decision of the British people to withdraw their nation from the European Union, I was full of rejoicing. There were several reasons for my reaction. One Worldism First, I am always delighted when multinational or international organizations are weakened in any way. That's because all such organizations exist in rebellion against God's will. The Bible says that God is the one who establishes nations and defines their boundaries (Acts 17:24-26). When political leaders decide to transcend those boundaries to establish multinational or international organizations, they put themselves in direct defiance of God's will. God's response to the attempt early in Mankind's history to unite all nations into one at Babylon should make it clear what our Creator thinks of such misguided efforts (Genesis 11:1-9). He confused their language and scattered them all over the world. The reason God resists all such efforts to unite people across national boundaries is because such efforts always end up with Man exalting himself rather than God. Freedom A second reason for my rejoicing is that I love freedom, and the British people had lost a good deal of their freedom when their nation joined the European Union. They began to be ruled by an over-bloated bureaucracy that they had no control over. For example, the British were forced to surrender their ancient system of measurements. No longer could they think in terms of ounces and pounds, inches and yards, miles or gallons. Butchers were arrested and fined for continuing to sell meat by the pound. And all this was only the beginning. Before long, every aspect of life was being dictated by the European Union. Most people do not realize how much sovereignty member nations surrender when they enter the EU. For example, in Costa v ENEL (1964), the European Court of Justice ruled that member states have definitively transferred sovereign rights to the European Union and Union law cannot be overridden by domestic law. Immigration Another reason I rejoiced is because the decision will allow the British to regain control of their borders. As a member of the European Union, their doors had to be open to immigrants from any other EU nation, just as Americans can move within the United States from one state to another without permission. This unrestricted immigration has been rapidly transforming Britain from a nation based on Judeo-Christian principles to one based on very alien concepts, like Islamic Sharia law. As a result, there are more mosques in Britain today than Methodist churches. Anti-Semitism The European Union is extremely anti-Semitic and treats Israel with contempt. Just recently, in June of this year, the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, spoke to the EU Parliament and accused Israel of being a "fascist country." He then updated a vicious medieval anti-Semitic canard by charging that Israeli rabbis are urging Jews to poison the Palestinian water supply! The representatives of the 28 member nations responded with a thunderous 30-second standing ovation. The new Prime Minister of England, Theresa May, has made it clear that she strongly supports Israel and the Jewish people. In a series of speeches, she gave in the wake of the Paris terror attacks last year, May said, "I could never have imagined Jewish people being too scared to stay in Britain." Without its Jews, she said, "Britain would not be Britain." In a speech in September of 2014 she talked about Israel's right to defend itself: "No democratic government could, in the face of such danger, do anything but maintain a strong defense and security capability... That is why I - and the whole British government - will always defend Israel's right to defend itself." Britain can now speak out strongly in behalf of Israel without having to worry about contradicting the official foreign policy line of the EU. The Panic All the hullabaloo over the pending economic collapse of Britain because of the EU exit decision is just that - a lot of hot air. Sure, there will be economic adjustment problems, but the British can establish new economic relationships with the EU, just as the United States has done. Furthermore, the UK is a net importer from the EU, and therefore, the EU needs the UK more than the UK needs the EU. Alignment with Prophecy As to prophetic implications, the British exit is in accordance with Bible prophecy. Daniel 2 makes it clear that in the end times, the Roman Empire will be revived, and I believe the European Union is the foundation of that prophecy. But the imagery in Daniel 2 of the end time revival pictures the revived empire as a loose and unstable confederation, symbolized by a mixture of clay and iron (Daniel 2:41-42). Accordingly, I believe the European Union will remain highly unstable until it is united and stabilized by the Antichrist who will then use it as his base of operations from which he will build his world empire. Nearing Midnight: Revisiting a Fearful Future - Terry James - http://raptureready.com/rap16.html
I wrote a series of articles with the title "Scanning a Fearful Future" at the end of 2010 and the beginning of 2011. The ten-article series involved the fears people were expressing through emails. Almost all emails involved great anxiety over what well-known secular and Bible prophecy pundits were predicting for the immediate future. The pundits were saying that the U.S. and world economy would collapse at any moment and America would no longer be the America as we've known it. There would be the development of a police state and tremendous, martyr-like persecution for Christians. I wrote in that series of articles that no such world-rending catastrophe would occur prior to the Rapture of the Church (all born-again believers). The Holy Spirit, I'm convinced with all that is within my spirit, led me to this conviction, based upon Bible truth. I believed--and wrote--that such a world-rending cataclysm was indeed going to occur. The world's economic disposition was (and remains) in a most precarious status. But, the Lord was telling me in my spirit--based on my prayer and study of Bible prophecy--that no man-made crisis or action would bring America or the world into complete collapse. My conclusion--totally scripturally based--was that it would be the Lord, Himself, who will bring the world system into chaos with Christ's catastrophic intervention via the Rapture. This finding was carried through in my writing of Rapture Ready...Or Not: 15 Reasons This Is the Generation That Will Be Left Behind Amazon Link Therein I put excerpts of the series of articles, and gave reasons for why I believe my conclusions to be validated. Bottom line to report as of this writing is that my conclusion reached remains validated. We are now at a point almost six years later, and the world has not collapsed as the pundits predicted for 2011 or 2012. Yet, the situation has worsened, not gotten better in every direction one looks on the geopolitical, socioeconomic, religious, and geophysical landscapes. Evil men and seducers have gotten worse and worse, just as the apostle Paul prophesied. The apostle's forewarning of perilous times (2 Timothy 3) is coming to pass before our eyes daily. But, God's staying hand of control remains upon this reeling, dangerous world of growing godlessness. Planet earth will obviously stay on its course of destruction, but the end is not yet. With all that said, there is at present a fearfulness such as I haven't sensed, not even in those days the pundits were predicting any-moment world economic collapse in 2010 and 2011. Christians are worried--almost frantic in some cases--looking after things that seem about ready to come down upon their lives. The trepidation in the emails is more pronounced even than in those days six years ago--yet the world and life in the U.S. goes on pretty much as normal for these times of this increasing debauchery and societal upheaval. This year's presidential election season contributes mightily to the trepidation, I have no doubt. Another four or eight years of the sort of deliberate dismantling of the American republic that we have suffered will, people fear, end in total loss of religious liberty at best, and of personal freedom of every sort at worst. Looking at all of this from the humanistic perspective, the reasons for fear, even panic, seem justified. But, for the Christian who has the mind of Christ at the center of their spiritual reasoning, there is a far different mindset that is available. I was listening to Dr. Charles Stanley present his message that touched on the topic of fear and upon such spiritual reasoning. He gave the following passage from the book of Isaiah. I find it most comforting and reassuring. Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away. Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish. Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought. For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee. (Isaiah 41:9-13) It is true that these words were given in this instance to Israel. But, the Lord of Heaven changes not. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Those who are in God's family can rely on His promises--which are ours totally and forever, no matter the period in history in which we live. The world has not collapsed. God is still on the throne. Prayer changes things, just as His Word tells us. For those who don't know Christ for salvation the future is indeed bleak. It is fearful--frightful beyond all imagination. But for the Christian alive at the end of the age--this Age of Grace--we are to, when we see all these portentous developments begin to come to pass, lift up our heads and look to Jesus. His coming for His Bride is about to take place (Luke 21:28). ![]()
My Review of "Rapture Ready...Or Not?" Over the last 35 years, I have literally read hundreds of books on Bible Prophecy and End Time signs. I especially enjoy books on the Rapture, and I have read almost every Rapture-related book published. In all those years, devouring thousands of pages, and millions of words, I have not read a better book on the Rapture than, Rapture Ready...Or Not? Terry James might be physically blind, but he is spiritually sharp and well discerning beyond most authors. In "Rapture Ready...Or Not?" Terry has nailed the pre-trib Rapture, and removed any doubt what so ever about the Church going through the Tribulation. With great insight and Godly discernment, Terry explains with simple, yet profound words, why and how that he has come to believe the ways he does about the Rapture, the Tribulation, and the End Times scenario. I think after reading "Rapture Ready...Or Not?" you too will believe as Terry does, and be Ready for the Rapture like never before! - Randy Thomas - Publisher / Editor - Prophecy Update For more information and or to get your copy of "Rapture Ready...Or Not?" use this link: http://www.raptureready.com/terry/book35.html DISCLAIMER: We love Michael Snyder and appreciate his well-written and insightful articles, but we have to agree to disagree when it comes to his viewpoints concerning the Rapture and the Tribulation. We want to make it clear that we in no way endorse or approve of his Post Tribulation viewpoint nor his new book, "The Rapture Verdict." We believe that the Bible clearly teaches that the Church will not go through the Great Tribulation, but will be Raptured prior to the beginning of this time of Jacob's Trouble. Furthermore, we believe the Bible teaches that the Tribulation period can't even begin until we are taken out of the way! Some pre-tribulation ministries have completely banned Michael Snyder. For the time being, we will continue to post his very popular articles, but only with this disclaimer included.
-------------------------- Winds of War: Is Russia Conducting a Massive Mobilization of Troops for an Invasion of Ukraine? - By Michael Snyder - http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/winds-of-war-is-russia-conducting-a-massive-mobilization-of-troops-for-an-invasion-of-ukraine The drumbeats of war are growing louder. Fighting in eastern Ukraine between separatists and pro-government forces has risen to an intensity not seen in well over a year, and the Russians claim that they recently foiled a "Ukrainian plot" to conduct terror attacks in Crimea. As tensions in the region have increased, the Russians have used the cover of "military drills" to move massive amounts of troops and military equipment up to the border with Ukraine. This is something that I wrote about a couple of weeks ago, but things have intensified since then, and a huge military exercise is planned for September. Needless to say, the Ukrainians are quite alarmed by this, and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is warning that a full scale mobilization of the Ukrainian military may be needed. If something is going to happen, it is likely to happen soon. As you will see below, once we get into October it will become much less likely that we would see a Russian invasion of Ukraine. We aren't hearing much about this conflict in the U.S. media, but over in Europe this is a very big deal. Just consider the following excerpt from an article in the Independent entitled "Russia is teetering on the brink of 'all out war' with Ukraine"... Ukraine is holding a major military parade in Kiev today to mark its 25th anniversary as an independent state. But, at a time that should otherwise be a moment of national celebration, a serious crisis with Moscow is flaring up. So serious, in fact, that on Tuesday the Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande were forced to hold a three-way phone call to try to de-escalate the situation. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has even warned that there is growing risk of a "full scale Russian invasion along all fronts," ratcheting up what is already the bloodiest European conflict since the wars over the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. And the truth is that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has some very good reasons to be concerned. As the Washington Post has pointed out, the Russians have used military exercises as an excuse to stage forces for military action in the past... As violence in the east heats up, Ukrainian officials have suggested that Russia may use the upcoming military drills, called Kavkaz (Caucasus) 2016, as cover for military action against Ukraine. The drills are the first to integrate the Crimean Peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in 2014, into the country's military planning, and thousands of Russian troops will be brought in for air, land and sea exercises. Ukrainian government analysts have recalled that exercises served as staging grounds for troop incursions in 2014, as did Russian military exercises held shortly before the Georgian war of 2008. Ukraine's ambassador to the United Nations suggested that Russia may have "bad intentions," while the West has also said it would like observers to be present. If there is going to be a Russian invasion of Ukraine in September, Kavkaz 2016 will likely be used as cover for invasion preparations. It is a yearly exercise, but in 2016 it looks like it will be much bigger than ever before, and some analysts have pointed out that the Russians have not conducted a mobilization on this scale since the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. Here is more on Kavkaz 2016 from the Daily Signal... In September, Russia has plans for a large-scale strategic military exercise called Kavkaz-2016. The exercise, which is an annual event, will include units deployed near the borders of Ukraine, Georgia, and Azerbaijan-including two Russian military districts in the Southern and Northern Caucasus, the Russian Black Sea Fleet (headquartered in occupied Crimea), and the Caspian Flotilla. It is not immediately clear the exact size of this year's exercise, but last year it comprised 95,000 troops, 7,000 vehicles, and 150 aircraft, according to a report by IHS Markit, a U.K.-based intelligence and analysis firm. If the Russians are going to do something, they need to do it soon, because the weather turns very bad during the month of October. Here is one how one analyst assessed the situation... "But will there be a war - we'll see, no much time for guessing left... In this situation, the main thing for Russia is to achieve strategic and tactical surprise. And if she does not start now - then it will be too late. One would need to turn off full-scale operations in October because of the rains and the next draft to Russian army (it would mean the demobilization of current wave of conscripts and training the new ones - UT)." A Russian invasion of Ukraine would mean that Russian relations with the U.S. and with Europe would immediately plunge to Cold War levels. Of course some would argue that we are already there. In any event, a Russian invasion would force the U.S. and NATO to make some very uncomfortable decisions. Would the U.S. and NATO just stand by and do nothing while Ukraine is overrun by the Russians? Maybe. But if the U.S. and NATO responded with military force, that would risk a full scale nuclear confrontation with Russia. Right now, a war with Russia is about the last thing that most Americans are thinking about, but the truth is that we are not that far away from such a scenario. Over in Russia, the mindset is totally different. The following is from a Newsweek article entitled "In Europe and Russia, There's Talk of War"... Recently, I grabbed a taxi in Moscow. When the driver asked me where I was from, I told him the United States. "I went there once," he said, "to Chicago. I really liked it." "But tell me something," he added. "When are we going to war?" The question, put so starkly, so honestly, shocked me. "Well, I hope never," I replied. "No one wants war." At the office, I ask a Russian employee about the mood in his working class Moscow neighborhood. The old people are buying salt, matches and gretchka [buckwheat], he tells me-the time-worn refuge for Russians stocking up on essentials in case of war. In the past two months, I've traveled to the Baltic region, to Georgia, and to Russia. Talk of war is everywhere. Most Americans don't realize that Russians already view the United States more negatively than they did even during the height of the Cold War. On Russian television they openly talk about the inevitability of a war between the United States and Russia, and the Russian military has feverishly been preparing for such a future conflict. If we can get to October, we can probably breathe a bit of a sigh of relief because the Russians are not likely to conduct an invasion once the weather turns bad. But for now there are very good reasons to be concerned, and we shall see what happens over the coming weeks... Daily Jot: Homeland Security hints at taking over elections - Bill Wilson - www.dailyjot.com
In a headline that is sure to heighten the buzz among conspiracy theorists that believe the sitting "president" will call martial law to remain in office, Homeland Security is considering taking security control over US elections. The Washington Examiner quotes DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson as saying, "We should carefully consider whether our election system, our election process, is critical infrastructure like the financial sector, like the power grid." Does America need heavily armed government guards hovering over our voting process? What does this mean when the first major DHS report of this Administration in 2009 characterized Christian conservatives as right-wing extremists? On April 7, 2009, DHS issued a report: Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment. That report said, "Conspiracy theories involving declarations of martial law, impending civil strife or racial conflict, suspension of the U.S. Constitution, and the creation of citizen detention camps often incorporate aspects of a failed economy. Antigovernment conspiracy theories and "end times" prophecies could motivate extremist individuals and groups to stockpile food, ammunition, and weapons. These teachings also have been linked with the radicalization of domestic extremist individuals and groups in the past, such as violent Christian Identity organizations and extremist members of the militia movement." Reading the DHS report seven years later, it appears like a prophecy of this Administration, characterizing as rightwing extremists those who believe in border security, the Second Amendment right to bear arms, and oppose abortion. The report states: "Many rightwing extremists are antagonistic toward the new presidential administration and its perceived stance on a range of issues, including immigration and citizenship, the expansion of social programs to minorities, and restrictions on firearms ownership and use. Rightwing extremists are increasingly galvanized by these concerns and leverage them as drivers for recruitment." Are these not the very issues discussed in the current election cycle? If you are pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, pro-border security, pro-limited government, against globalism on sending America's jobs overseas, you are being characterized today as a rightwing extremist, also a bigot and racist. Now the same DHS that established this criteria on behalf of the White House in 2009, is considering "overseeing" US elections for "security" purposes. Is this soft tyranny? Is it designed to bully you against voting for a non-Democratic Party candidate? This intimidation begins at the top. It is how our "president" views those who disagree with his Marxist Islamic beliefs. Hillary Clinton is cut from the same cloth. Proverbs 29:12 says, "If a ruler hearken to lies, all his servants are wicked." Read the April 7, 2009 DHS report here: http://fas.org/irp/eprint/rightwing.pdf Daily Devotion: Sins of the Spirit - Greg Laurie - www.harvest.org
How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults. -Psalm 19:12 Sin is not always obvious. Some sins are, however, such as murder, adultery, and stealing. But other sins are more subtle, like pride, selfishness, and gossip. Sometimes we will sin in ignorance or presumption. That is why David prayed, "How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults. Keep your servant from deliberate sins!" (Psalm 19:12-13). The Bible talks about sins of the flesh and sins of the spirit. Paul pointed out in 2 Corinthians 7:1, "Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God." What does it mean to commit a sin of the spirit? It is to knowingly go against what is true. We talk about some sins being worse than others. But it may not be the sins that we think. Jesus said to Pontius Pilate, "You would have no power over me at all unless it were given to you from above. So the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin" (John 19:11, emphasis added). Jesus was talking about either Caiaphas or Judas. Caiaphas was the high priest who had a hand in putting Jesus up on false charges and then sent Him to the Romans to do his dirty work and crucify Him. Then there was Judas, who betrayed Him. Either way it is the same. Judas was one of the handpicked disciples of Christ who betrayed the Lord, and Caiaphas, the high priest, should have known better. The point is, when you have been schooled in the Scriptures like Caiaphas or exposed to the truth and the power of God like Judas, you are without excuse. Knowledge brings responsibility. FROM THE HEART
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