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IN TODAY'S NEWSLETTER...
Even the Elect- Part I: Deception - By Pete Garcia -
https://rev310.com/2019/09/even-the-elect-part-i-deception The original date of publishing through The Omega Letter: Tuesday, August 30, 2011. Updated here in September 2019 If you've ever watched a Glenn Beck show, you've probably more often than not seen him at his ever-present blackboard, connecting the dots between players and agencies interwoven in an insidious socialist-progressive agenda to bring the US down from within. That is what the next three articles will attempt to do, of course, in a less grandiose fashion. We will apply this methodology of untangling the web of deceit that has been laid over the human experience. If I may add one additional allusion to pop culture, in the movie "The Matrix", the main character 'Neo', played by Keanu Reeves, wakes up or is woken from reality, only to realize that what he thought was reality was the façade, and the real reality is much, much worse. Most people go through life thinking that this is all there is. Many more think that if it cannot be put into a test tube and scrutinized six-ways from Sunday by a team of scientists, it does not exist. However, we (bible believing Christians) know that there is much more to this life than what we see with our eyes. We know that there is a God, and there are myriads of angelic and demonic beings that move in and out of our existence unseen by the human eye. We know and trust (faith) the Bible because it has not only validated itself, repeatedly by history, archeology, and prophecy but because no man (or men) could have come up with this bible on their own. If they could have, they would have. Simply compare the complexity, prophetic accuracy, and historicity of the Bible to the Koran, the Hindu Vedas, the Mormon bible, or any other religious text to see the STARK differences. In the bible, the God-Man we know as Jesus Christ spoke concerning the last days that above all, deception would be the greatest end-time sign we would have to watch out for; that if it were possible, even the elect would be deceived. Even more interesting and often underappreciated, is the fact we are now living in the Age of Information. The battle over objective truth has been raging since the 1800s and has reached its crescendo here at the start of the 21st-century. Even non-Christian men like George Orwell and Ray Bradbury saw this informational war coming and predicted in their dystopic books like 1984 and Fahrenheit 451 (respectively). In answering His disciples on what would the signs of the end include, Jesus began his most extensive discourse by saying- "Take heed that no man deceive you." Matthew 24:4 Consider if we still lived in any of the previous "ages" such as the Industrial Age or even the Computer Age. How could the masses be deceived? Logistically speaking, mankind ability to be deceived was limited to newspapers, the radio, the telegraph, and decade's later limited television and movies. Think about how H.G. Well's 1938 dramatized War of the World's broadcast and how people tuning in late, actually thought an alien invasion was happening. Think about how everything today is connected to the Internet. From laptops, smart devices, appliances, vehicles, accessories, and even clothes. We live in the Information Age, and we are quickly entering an even greater extension of that with the Internet of Things (IoT). So, in light of the fact that none of us can definitively see into the future, we have to trust God's word and take heed to the various warnings issued by Jesus, Peter, Paul, James, and John as given to them by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we go with what we know and make the best reasonable explanations that we can. Seeing the world events play out is simply confirmation of what the Bible had already stated as fact. One thing to consider though is that prior to the age of global communications and instant newsfeeds, is that the whole world could not be deceived. Too many people were disconnected from other parts of the world, so the majority of people would not know what deception was going on regardless of where it happened unless it specifically happened to them. We know (to the best of our ability) that the Beast is the governmental/political system headed by the Antichrist that takes control during the Tribulation (the 70th Week of Daniel). We currently live in the 'age of information' and believe this to be the same age in which our Lord will return for a whole host of reasons. The Information Age (and the rapidity with which knowledge doubles), is almost entirely reliant upon the ability to process said information through computers and the internet. However, considering how the then Obama-administration's agenda (and now Democrat Platform), along with Silicon Valley technocrats (who control the major media platforms) seem to want to do three things: 1. Blanket the entire US with free 5G Wi-Fi 2. Cement governmental control over who uses it, what they can see 3. and silence, shut down, shadow-ban, block, and deny usage of the Internet for dissenting voices This has moved beyond what even honest liberals will concede as free speech. Leftists (globalists/socialists/communists) seek to place the entire planet on the electronic grid for the sole purpose of controlling it with an iron fist. With the use of low orbiting satellites, and taking advantage of the newly freed-up 'white space' from television's frequency waves (since we've gone digital), this is a very achievable agenda. The initial plan was called WIMAX but that fell through to Lightsquared (now Ligado). Regardless of what plan actually succeeds, the plans are in the works to get everyone on board and 'on the grid'. Remember a simple idea here, in that no matter what freebies are offered, or what promised legislation will fix, increased control is the outcome of whatever plan they put forward. Wi-Fi may be offered free, but it will come at the cost of your anonymity. Artificial Intelligence Now, think for a moment about the gigantic Google Corporation. They have been working on an Artificial Intelligence (AI) system for years now based off the studies that track all the trends, typed searches, information, street-views, maps, etc. for the entire world. Google has more information at its disposal than all the libraries in the world combined. The owners of Google preempted public panic by declaring the AI known as 'CADIE' as an April fool's joke, but just imagine, if this thing "became" (maybe with a little supernatural help) self-aware and began taking over the global grid. Most of our public utilities and energy sources are controlled electronically already, but maybe "Skynet" (Terminator movies) wasn't far off the mark after all? It seems silly, even fantastical for the most hardened skeptics out there, but it is not impossible. Considering that 20-years ago, the idea of holding a computer/phone /GPS/gaming device in the palm of your hand seemed ludicrous, yet, here we are today. Most accredited universities have within their Computer Science departments, active programs for the creation of Artificial Intelligence. At some point, in the not too distant future, man is going to cross that technological threshold between fantasy and reality and launch a system that is 'self-aware'. Scary thought!Update 2019: We have moved firmly into the realm of creating a super-intelligent AI system. We have developed the technology to create "deep fakes" that can fake audio and video making it indistinguishable from the real thing. We have further developed cloud-technology. Cryptocurrencies are proliferating. Drone and robotic technology are continuing to improve at an incredible pace and scale. Genetic manipulation (too include data storage) is continuing to be refined and enhanced. Nephilim Many bible scholars attribute the statements Jesus made to end times of being similar to Noah's day (Matt 24:37-38, Luke 17:26-27) as veiled references to the return of the Nephilim (Hebrew for "Fallen Ones"). The supernatural has largely been hidden from man since biblical times, but here in the last 60-years or so, mankind has been an eyewitness to increasingly strange goings-on in the sky, under the sea, and on the ground. The supernatural activity appears to be ramping up, and although widely accepted as plausible, no verifiable proof has ever been openly substantiated by the US government until recently. However, it is largely due to movies and television that mankind has been desensitized to the mysterious. As with horror movies, mankind has been fed an increasingly violent, disturbing, and more realistic diet of the same monsters. With that said, what scared audiences 30-years ago, makes today's audience's chuckle. "Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." Matthew 24:23-24 Common themes amongst both horror and science fiction shows are alien invasions and global destruction events. They have to keep topping the previous shows and movies so they are portrayed in more graphic and over the top sensationalistic ways to keep audiences coming back. This will have either one of two effects when fantasy does become reality: Either man will be mesmerized at what they see (awestruck) Or The deception will be subtle (acceptance of new normal) I think the latter of the two is Satan's preferred method, but considering the fact that Satan knows he has but a short time, he will pull out all the stops. Moreover, this time, God will allow him too. Although we can only speculate as to what type of events will happen that are not mentioned specifically in the Bible, we know what Satan has done in the past. God destroyed the world once before due to all of the wickedness and violence upon the earth. Out of that (or maybe because of it), an unholy union between fallen angels and mankind created a hybrid race of creatures that were neither men nor angels. Only Noah was found 'perfect in his generations'. Many believe this to be a reference not to Noah's moral righteousness, but to his genetic purity. So it is interesting that Jesus said that no flesh would survive if He did not cut short those days (Matthew 24:22). If God destroyed the world leaving only eight persons at the Flood, are we to not only consider weapons of mass destruction but also the demonic tactics and technology, like it was before the Flood, which seeks to annihilate what it is to be human? Weird Science Not only has mankind been able to alter human embryos at the genetic level, but scientist are also involved in cross breeding animal-human hybrids. Not only this, but science is attempting to merge technology into the human body. Mankind now is bent on pushing the boundaries between the biological and the technological. There is coming a point when man will cross that line of no return and this may, in fact, be the avenue by which man does it. Whenever modern man broke through the other 'impossible' barriers people said could not be done... it was done. Learned to fly? Yes Created rockets? Yes Split the atom? Yes Broke the sound barrier? Yes Traveled to the moon and back? Yes Sent probes to Mars? Yes. And between man's desire to live forever through artificial means (trans-humanism and singularity) and AI's ability to solve seemingly unsolvable problems, it will be a Babel-like moment when God will have to step in and intervene, yet again. "And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do..." Genesis 11:6 If man was capable of doing this many thousands of years ago, why does it seem unlikely that we could not achieve this again today in the Age of Information? God dispersed man and changed languages to avoid them coming together in unison outside of His will and His time schedule. Yet, we are at that same point today using the internet and rapid technological breakthroughs. Knowledge builds upon previously discovered knowledge, so at the rate in which it is doubling and tripling, the time it takes to get there quickly diminishes. Replace 'magic' with technology, and add in some demonic influence and what you have is a recipe for evil incarnate perpetuated by mass mediums to large swaths of people. Man's propensity for evil will have the modern capability to quickly incorporate and disseminate large sums of information and application to a much larger audience today than ever before. Remove God's hand of restraint from the world and the potential for wickedness will explode as not been seen since those doomed Antediluvian peoples of old. To be continued. A First Since Days of Noah: Animal Sacrifice to Restore God's Covenant - By David Sidman - www.breakingisraelnews.com Then Noach built an altar to Hashem and, taking of every clean animal and of every clean bird, he offered burnt offerings on the altar. Genesis 8:20 The Conference of the Organization of the 70 Nations hosted a ceremony on Thursday whereby an animal sacrifice was offered on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. The objective - to renew the covenant made between God and all of mankind. Breaking Israel News writer Eliyahu Berkowitz was at the scene throughout the entire event and even recorded it in a Facebook Live video below: The original sacrifice, known as a a korban olah (burnt offering), was made by Noah when he exited the Ark following the flood: Then Noach built an altar to Hashem and, taking of every clean animal and of every clean bird, he offered burnt offerings on the altar. Genesis 8:20 The event, however, was almost canceled. That's because when the original butcher who was supposed to slaughter the lamb at the event canceled last minute, a righteous gentile named Malachi, who just happened to have four years experience slaughtering animals, was miraculously in attendance. After being called upon, Malachi broke down in tears saying that he's "dreamed about this moment all week." He stepped up and slaughtered the lamb and also helped burn it on the altar - an altar that Jews were forbidden from helping them erect. See the incredible story here: After the ritual slaughter took place, the fire from the sacrifice burned smoke to the heavens as seen here: "You can't go through something like this and be apathetic. Everybody walked out of this ceremony totally transformed and totally intent on serving God to the best of their ability" said an emotional Berkowitz calling it an Abrahamic moment. Malachi added: "I knew I was going to do this before I came to Israel. 'He' (God) gave me the strength to do this today." Every one of these stones that fit together is unique. He's bringing his stones now to build the Temple and it's us. It's us together. " During a joint interview, both Malachi and Berkowitz recited the verse in Psalms saying: The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. Psalms 118:22 Russia's Eastern Mediterranean strategy explained - analysis - Douglas J. Feith, Shaul Chorev - https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Russias-Eastern-Mediterranean-strategy-explained-603013 Russia is taking advantage of the power vacuum created by America's desire to disengage from the Middle East. As president, Barack Obama launched the policy of "pivoting" away from the region, and President Donald Trump is carrying that policy forward. As a result, Russia is emerging as a dominant military and political force in the region. For its decisive military support to Assad, Russia has been rewarded with military facilities in Syria - the Tartus naval facilty and the Khmeimim Air Base - that are crucial for logistics and from which it can project power into the Middle East, the Balkans and farther west along the Mediterranean. In conflict, Russia is positioned to execute an area-denial strategy against the United States. In Syria, Russia's military decisively affected the civil war and also tested and demonstrated capabilities that showed off Russian boldness, lethality, flexibility and reach. Its attacks included the first combat use of various types of Russian precision-guided munitions. Russia is also using Syria as testing ground for its electronic warfare capabilities. In April 2018, the US Special Operations Command chief commented, "Right now in Syria we are operating in the most aggressive EW [electronic warfare] environment on the planet." Our adversaries, he added, "are testing us every day, knocking our communications down, disabling our EC-130s, et cetera." Russia attacked Syrian rebel targets from the Caspian Sea and Eastern Mediterranean using Kilo submarine-launched and surface-ship-launched cruise missiles. It struck Raqqa in Syria from a submarine in the Mediterranean. It sent a private contractor military force - referred to in press reports as "paid Russian mercenaries" or "little green men" - to fight for the Assad regime. Its manned aircraft bombed Syria from a base in Iran. During the summer of 2018, to support Assad's attack on Syria's last major rebel base, Russia deployed a substantial naval force into the Mediterranean, including a Kuznetzov-class aircraft carrier. Through maritime operations, Russia has extended the range of its military influence. The Russian presence creates new "rules of the game" throughout the Middle East, affecting the US and Israel's ability to operate freely. Russia's basing arrangements in the Levant will allow it to stage, repair and operate autonomous underwater systems. It already has advanced surveillance, reconnaissance and operational capabilities for interdicting undersea communications cables. Its Syria-based submarines in the Mediterranean not only can launch cruise missiles at land targets, but also threaten undersea infrastructure. Britain's chief of defense warned in December 2017, "There is a new risk to our way of life that is the vulnerability of the cables that crisscross the seabed. Can you imagine a scenario where those cables are cut or disrupted, which would immediately and potentially catastrophically affect both our media and economy, as well as other ways of living?" RUSSIA HAS multiple reasons to intervene in the Eastern Mediterranean: to aid Syrian regime allies of longstanding, to bolster its new alliance with Turkey and Iran, and otherwise to gain leverage against the United States. Among its main interests, however is increasing world energy prices. As has been true for decades, the Russian economy is largely the business of exporting oil and gas. Russia and President Vladimir Putin depend for their existence on high prices for energy. It is surprising how many articles are written about Russia's Middle East policies or its other foreign policies that fail to mention this point. A key to understanding what Russia is doing in the Eastern Mediterranean region is to recognize that it wants to have the power to influence the energy-related decisions of Saudi Arabia and other important producing states. This helps explain why it is wrong to assume that Russia shares US interests in Middle East stability. On the contrary, Russia often favors instability precisely because it contributes to upward pressure on energy prices. Russia also has a major interest in arms sales. Because Russia's business interests receive too little attention, they warrant emphasis, though Russia's policies are not driven solely by such considerations. When Russia helped save the Assad regime, it ensured the success of Iran's pro-Assad investment and effectively aligned itself with the Shi'ite axis of the Iranian regime, the Syrian regime and Hezbollah. This gives it leverage both with the axis and with the opponents of that axis: Turkey, Saudi Arabia and other Sunni-run states, as well as Israel. In Israel's intensifying clash with Iran in Syria, Russia occupies a strategic position. Israel has used its aircraft in Syria to keep Iranian forces away from the Israeli border. Russia, however, is the dominant military power in Syria, so Israel needs its cooperation, or at least its acquiescence, in the campaign to keep Iran at bay. Accordingly, from the head-of-government level on down, Israel has cultivated close communication with Russia regarding Syria. Russia is not actively restraining Iran, but neither is it preventing Israeli strikes against Iranian forces in Syria. Russia appears to want to avoid any confrontation between its own forces and Israel. Israeli and Russian military commanders have arranged to de-conflict their operations. Russia is improving Syria's air defenses. It has delivered S-300 air defense missile batteries and is training the Syrians to use them. Meanwhile, Russian soldiers are presumably manning these batteries. The S-300 could threaten Israeli aircraft and, if upgraded to the longer-range S-400, the danger would increase. Putin has said he wants all foreign troops to leave Syria. This seems to apply to Iranian and Turkish but not Russian troops. US OFFICIALS worry about Russia's increasing military power in the Eastern Mediterranean, though Trump has not demanded that Russia remove its forces from Syria. It would serve US interests if Russia were successfully pressured into leaving Syria now that ISIS is largely gone. Some US officials, though not publicly, have suggested that Israel should apply such pressure. Their implication is that Israel should focus less on cooperating with Russia in Syria and more on making it uncomfortable for Russian forces to entrench there. Criticism along these lines is not US policy, but it creates an irritant in the US-Israeli relationship. Each country would benefit from a clearer understanding of the other's strategic concerns. Israeli officials say they are not in a position to treat Russia as an enemy. A major dispute with Russia would make it harder, if not impossible, for Israel to strike Iranian forces in Syria - and that is Israel's main interest there, an interest that the United States shares (whether or not publicly stated). The Israelis do not want Russia defending Iranian forces in Syria. They do not want Israeli forces fighting Russian forces, nor do they want Russia deploying its most advanced air defenses in Syria. During the Cold War, when Israel worked with the United States in direct opposition to the Soviets and their clients, the strategic environment was different. Unlike now, the Middle East was a high US priority. The United States maintained a strong military posture there, dominated the Mediterranean Sea and actively worked to contain Soviet influence. After the Cold War and especially since the George W. Bush administration, US policy toward the region changed. The bywords for US strategy became "pivot" and "disengagement." Trump shares his predecessor's desire to disengage from the Middle East and keep American involvement in Syria to a minimum. The United States has no plans to restore its Cold War-era military strength in the Mediterranean. US officials are not pressing Russia to withdraw its forces from Syria. Under the circumstances, it is not realistic to expect Israel do so. IT WOULD be a mistake, however, to fail to recognize that many US officials view Russia with intense and well-grounded concern. That Russia for its own reasons gives Israel a free hand against Iran in Syria should not blind anyone to the disturbing essence of President Putin's aggressive activities. Examples abound. They include Russia's seizures of territory in Georgia and Ukraine and brazen assassinations of anti-Putin critics - journalists and politicians - perpetrated at home and abroad. Russia directs cyber operations against the United States and exerts itself to influence US elections. Putin has invested heavily in modernizing Russia's nuclear forces, strategic and tactical. His government is producing nuclear-capable missiles prohibited by the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which is why the US government withdrew from the treaty in August 2019. Russia is also conducting explosive nuclear testing in violation of its promise to adhere to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban. Russian military aircraft "buzz" - that is, challenge in close encounters - US ships and aircraft. These tactics were commonplace during the Cold War and both sides agreed to formal measures intended to limit the risks of such behavior. Russia has announced that it has successfully tested hypersonic weapons that can defeat current US missile defenses. Having invaded Ukraine to seize the Crimean Peninsula, Russian naval forces blocked the Sea of Azov. Israeli officials can pursue necessary cooperation with Russia in Syria while still reassuring the United States that they take Russian provocations seriously. And they can reassure their American friends that Israel values its ties to the United States above its other international relationships. Pragmatic, unsentimental Israeli officials may not be accustomed to ritualistic pledges of friendship and loyalty of this kind, but it would be a mistake to underestimate their importance. Strategic alliances are not self-perpetuating. It takes conscious effort by alliance supporters to preserve trust between the partners at the official level and, in democratic countries, to preserve crucial popular support. It can be fatal to take these matters for granted. If the alliance is not explained, reaffirmed and put into action over and over again across the years, it will lose support in the government or in the population in general. New officials and legislators come into office continually and have no knowledge of how the alliance proved itself mutually valuable in the past. Senior officials - longtime veterans of close allied cooperation - often assume that the alliance's premises are so well and widely known that they go without saying. That is a dangerous mistake, however. If its principles and benefits are not continually restated and celebrated, an alliance can easily become vulnerable to domestic attack, with allies disparaged for free riding, weakness or lack of loyalty. A senior US statesman once likened maintaining a strategic relationship to fighting weeds in a garden - constant attention is required to keep the irritants from taking over. The high value to both parties of the US-Israeli defense partnership amply justifies the garden-tending work. Douglas J. Feith, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, served as US undersecretary of defense for policy. Adm. Shaul Chorev, head of the Research Center for Maritime Policy and Strategy at the University of Haifa, served as deputy chief of the Israeli Navy and as head of Israel's Atomic Energy Commission. This article is excerpted and adapted from a recent report on maritime security by the University of Haifa-Hudson Institute Consortium on the Eastern Mediterranean. Silk Purse Out Of A Sow's Ear - By Grant Phillips - https://www.raptureready.com/2019/09/23/silk-purse-sows-ear-grant-phillips/ "You cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear" is a saying that goes all the way back to the 1500s. It's just another way of saying that you cannot take something of inferior quality and make something of value. However, this is exactly what we have been doing in this country since 1962. In 1962 our esteemed Supreme Court ruled that "officially sponsored prayer in public school was unconstitutional" in the case of Engel v. Vitale. In 1963 the Supreme Court ruled that "mandatory prayers and Bible reading in public schools was unconstitutional" in the case of Murray v. Curlett. In 1980 the Supreme Court ruled, "If the posted copies of the Ten Commandments are to have any affect at all, it will be to induce the schoolchildren to read, meditate upon, perhaps to venerate and obey, the Commandments. This is not a permissible state objective under the First Amendment." Stone v. Graham In other words, our Supreme Court was concerned that the students might actually read and follow the teaching of the Ten Commandments. Now that is interesting. Here is what the Ten Commandments say.
Seventeen years later, in Paducah, Kentucky, three Christian students were murdered and five others seriously injured by a fellow student. They had met in a school hallway where the Ten Commandments could no longer be posted (thanks to our Supreme Court), to enjoy Bible reading and prayer together. Maybe if the Bible, prayer and the Ten Commandments had remained in school, the student murderer would not have broken commandment number six. Just saying. Our schools have never been perfect since they are comprised of imperfect people, but at least our hallways, play grounds and class rooms were safe environments when I was attending school. I am 72 now (2019), so you do the math. By the way, no one forced us to read the Bible or hear it read. No one forced us to pray, and no one forced us to read and adhere to the Ten Commandments. It is a travesty that a Supreme Court of nine people has made decisions that has crippled the future of over 300,000,000 of their fellow Americans. Why am I saying it has crippled our future? Look around you folks. Since we kicked God out of our society we have plunged into the sewers of immorality and anarchy. We have taken what is holy and trampled it into the mud. We have spit in God's face and proclaimed, "I'LL DO IT MY WAY!" We have been trying to make silk purses out of sow's ears and we are falling apart as a nation. We are now at the juncture of our society that the most despicable and lurid sexual practices are being forced upon decent Americans. We either hold our nose and eat from their plate of debauchery, or suffer the consequences. Godly parents are concerned for the welfare of their children, not because they might chew gum in class, but because of fellow students who are brainwashed murderers, without conscience, because they have no Biblical background which might have had a positive influence upon them. Illicit drug usage is increasing at an alarming rate. Violence of every kind is out of control. (By the way, my heart goes out to good teachers and police officers who are having their hands tied behind their backs while having to deal with this mess.) One thing, among many, my wife and I are noticing in our neck of the woods is the violence against babies and small children. Just last week a little two year old girl was beaten to death by her mother's boyfriend. This animal needs to be tried in a court of law and promptly executed, but it won't happen. He will be tried, given a few years, eventually released on probation, and commit another atrocity upon someone else. God instituted capital punishment, the death penalty, to administer His justice upon evildoers. "Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made mankind." (Genesis 9:6) Why are so many acting like animals (my apologies to the animal kingdom)? When God is removed from a society, Satan is right at the door to take over. There is a vacuum in the human heart that must be filled. It's either filled with the Spirit of God or something else. When we removed God from our midst, Satan came in and took residence. Now we are reaping what we have sown. "For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind ..." (Hosea 8:7) "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life." (Galatians 6:7-8) Today's society is all about (1) self, (2) money and (3) pleasure. The theologians call that (1) humanism, (2) materialism and (3) hedonism. Can anyone in all honesty deny that as a majority, our society worships these three and have made them gods? I am constantly reminded of the following Scripture passage: "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight. Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks, who acquit the guilty for a bribe, but deny justice to the innocent. (Isaiah 5:20-23) This is exactly, to the tee, what we, as a nation, have done. Have we no fear of God? We don't seem to. Now please read the remaining verses in that chapter. Therefore, as tongues of fire lick up straw and as dry grass sinks down in the flames, so their roots will decay and their flowers blow away like dust; for they have rejected the law of the LORD Almighty and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel." "Therefore the LORD's anger burns against his people; his hand is raised and he strikes them down. The mountains shake, and the dead bodies are like refuse in the streets. Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised. He lifts up a banner for the distant nations, he whistles for those at the ends of the earth. Here they come, swiftly and speedily! Not one of them grows tired or stumbles, not one slumbers or sleeps; not a belt is loosened at the waist, not a sandal strap is broken. Their arrows are sharp, all their bows are strung; their horses' hooves seem like flint, their chariot wheels like a whirlwind. Their roar is like that of the lion, they roar like young lions; they growl as they seize their prey and carry it off with no one to rescue. In that day they will roar over it like the roaring of the sea. And if one looks at the land, there is only darkness and distress; even the sun will be darkened by clouds." (Isaiah 5:24-30) Yes, I'm well aware these words are to Israel. I am also well aware of another verse which says: "For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope." (Romans 15:4) Many of us throughout this great land must decide who we are going to serve. We are at a crossroads. When God is not in our lives we revert to animalistic behavior, and that is what we have become. Is this really what we want? There is no peace, no success but in Jesus Christ. We must stand up for Him, if we are truly His. "And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." (Joshua 24:15) Grant Phillips Email: [email protected] Pre-Rapture Commentary: http://grant-phillips.blogspot.com Rapture Ready: https://www.raptureready.com/featured/phillips/phillips.html Daily Jot: Prophetic implications of deep state-instigated impeachment - Bill Wilson - www.dailyjot.com The whistleblower report is a well-written document that alleges many things from the President using his position to get a foreign country to help damage his political opponent to compromising national security to insinuating a White House coverup of the call. The "whistleblower," according to news stories, is a CIA officer, reporting on what he "heard" from unnamed sources who say they were privy to the phone call between President Trump and the president of Ukraine. If the transcript of the call is the actual transcript, the "whistleblower's" account is terribly compromised to its veracity. Does it ever occur to anyone that the recent accusations against the president were leveled by a deep-state operative? Comparing the "whistleblower's" account of what he was told by his anonymous sources and the transcript of the call released by the White House, there are many discrepancies. The method of operation for this report is very similar to how the Steele Dossier originated and was used by the Obama Administration to get authorization from the secret FISA court to spy on Trump's transition team. These documents are carefully worded to allow many interpretations and cause great disruption. Just like with the deep-state version of Russian collusion that was invalidated by the Mueller investigation, it appears there remains a deep-state faction within the government that is actively devising schemes to remove Trump. There is a book written by Michael V. Hayden, former director of the National Security Agency and the CIA, titled "The Assault on Intelligence." The book is very much like the whistleblower document in that it spreads half-truths, leaves out important details, and depends on second-and-third-hand information to advance the opinion that Trump is undercutting the intelligence community, and by doing so, undermining American democracy. The intelligence community seems to believe they, not the voters, are the keepers of the Republic. It discusses the "post-truth" world, and advocates for a one world order run by the United States. There are many pertinent points that deserve consideration in this book, but it is quite revealing on how the intelligence community views Trump as an enemy. The pattern is troubling to say the least. It infers that there are unelected powers within the US government that believe they know better than the voters and will do anything they can to maintain the power they have amassed over the decades. That power includes a version of a one-world order, a globalist philosophy, that Trump has worked against. These powers align with Trump's opponents and seek to remove him and his ilk from any sort of leadership. We may be seeing an example of what could happen leading up to an end time Beast government that ushers in a Revelation 13:15 situation where all who "would not worship the image of the beast should be killed." As described in Daniel 11:21, the beast seizes his kingdom with intrigue and flatteries. In this type and shadow, the "beast" is akin to the deep-state. Daily Devotion: Renewed Faith - by Greg Laurie - www.harvest.org Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.-James 4:8 Johnny Cash was remarried in 1968, to country music star June Carter. Music had brought them into each other's lives, and what cemented their bond now was their interest in exploring and nourishing their mutual Christian faith. Johnny and June had long discussions about Jesus and His teachings. They attended a Baptist church in Hendersonville between tours, and Johnny delved into spiritual matters more than ever. "The times I was so down and out of it were also the times I felt the presence of God," he told an interviewer. "I felt that presence, that positive power saying to me, 'I'm still here, Cash, to draw on whenever you're ready to straighten up and come back to the life.'" Johnny was tuned in spiritually now instead of having his mind dulled and his heart hard due to bad decisions fueled by drugs. The Bible tells the story about the Prophet Elijah who had been discouraged and had found a cave to hide in. It was not unlike Johnny's experience. And there the prophet heard the "still, small voice" of God (1 Kings 19). Johnny was hearing that voice now and wanted to do what the Lord directed him to do. It was a new day for John R. Cash. Scripture Reading: 1. Then He said, "Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord." And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. (1 Kings 19:11-12 NKJV) Have you heard the Lord speak in a "still, small voice" in your life? 2. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. (James 4:8 NKJV) As Johnny and June drew closer to God, they experienced His blessing and peace. What are some practical ways you can draw near to the Lord? 3. The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: "Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you. (Jeremiah 31:3 NKJV) God was drawing Johnny back to Himself with His great love. Do you know someone who has strayed from the Lord? Pray for them today. 
FROM THE HEART
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