Biblical Prophecy Today

Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today

Every day We Post Perspectives in Prophecy

(BiblicalProphecyToday@gmail.com)

(google: "Prophecy Today Q&A" or "Biblical Prophecy Today")

-The Classic Christian Network- -Biblical Prophecy Today Network- -Last Generation News Report-

"Articulating Prophecy Biblically"

Prophecy Today

"Answering Questions in Prophecy Biblically"

RAPTURE READY

by Todd Strandberg

Most people regard God to be a flawless role model. If He said it was so, then it must be true. Christians rely on His wisdom - The Holy Bible - to guide the decisions we make each day. Even atheists that say they don't believe in a supernatural power acknowledge Him by affirming the soundness of many of the rules and regulations credited to the God of the Bible.
With all this leadership and wisdom to draw upon, there should be no reason society is in such disarray. The Word of God gives more guidelines on morality than any other issue, and yet the area of ethics prevails as the area of one of mankind's most glaring deficiencies.
The lack of understanding can't be blamed on a shortage of instructors. We have in America an endless number of Christian organizations, with tens of thousands of ministers, pastors, priests, and deacons. The root problem obviously has to be how men interpret Scripture.
I could write endlessly about how men go astray, but I decided to focus on a single factor. In this article, I chose to tackle one of the most subtle errors that occurs when people become God's "yes men." They claim to represent the King of truth, but in reality they are following the lead of the lord of lies.

Monkey See, Monkey Do Yes Men
Because we human are social creatures, we get most of our understanding of the world from other people. The transfer of knowledge needs to be conducted with great caution. When we fail to use good judgment, falsehood can be spread with the same ease as truth.
When it comes to gaining wisdom from people, one of the most important methods is to learn from their mistakes. The following are two good examples highlight the danger of herd-mentality thinking.
In 1999, several Christian ministries became entangled in the Y2K debacle. People thought society was doomed to suffer a technological armageddon because computers would not be able to handle the change over to the new millennium.
After researching the so-called problem, I discovered that most companies had already replaced their outdated software. A full year before the Y2K meltdown was scheduled to manifest itself, I wrote an article entitled "The Y2K Hoax: Myth or Mayhem." In my article, I cited numerous reasons the millennium bug had a few bugs of its own. These fact did little to stop prophecy teachers from proclaiming certain doom come January 1, 2000.
When the calendar rolled over to 2000 A.D., there were hardly any glitches. Several prophetic ministries suffered permanent damage to their reputation by claiming Y2K would be a cataclysmic event. Their mistake was jumping on a bandwagon without verifying its validity.
Another craze of the past few years concerned the Bible codes. A select group of scholars believed that the text of the Old and New Testaments contained messages that were encoded by way of Equidistant Letter Sequence (ELS). For example, the bold letters in this sentence form an ELS for the word SAFEST. (The skip is 4 letters running backwards).
The Bible codes seem very convincing when you can point to a highlighted portion of a Bible passage that spells out a positive message like "Jesus is the Son of God" or "the devil is a liar." They can be all the more beguiling when they are used to predict events. One popular book cited references to the holocaust, world war, Hitler, and the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin.
When I first heard of the Bible codes, I was a bit a yes man myself. When a well-known authority of prophecy told me about them, this gentleman had my initial trust that he knew what he was talking about. When I tied verify his claims, however, I quickly ran into trouble.
In my research, I found that the same type of letter sequence can be produced in any type of document. I also noticed that one could use code search software to find messages that contradict the message of Bible. For every "Jesus is Lord" one can find instances of "Satan is Lord."

Worldly Yes Men
One of the most common examples of yes men are church leaders who seek to please the world at the expense of the biblical truth. They do their faith a disservice by their efforts to bridge the gap between the Bible and the carnal world. In nearly every case, the compromise comes at the expense of established Christian values.
Tony Campolo is an author and founder of the Evangelical Association. He recently proposed the idea that God is not omnipotent. He made this claim to try to explain why God allows disasters like floods and earthquakes to kill thousands of people.
"Perhaps we would do well to listen to the likes of Rabbi Harold Kushner, who contends that God is not really as powerful as we have claimed. Nowhere in the Hebrew Scriptures does it say that God is omnipotent. Kushner points out that omnipotence is a Greek philosophical concept, but it is not in his Bible. Instead, the Hebrew Bible contends that God is mighty. That means that God is a greater force in the universe than all the other forces combined." - Tony Campolo
The Bible says that our hairs are numbered, and that a bird doesn't fall from a tree without God knowing about it. If the Lord has the capability to count hairs and watch each and every bird on earth, he certainly would know about the factors that would lead to calamity.
Joel Osteen is pastor of Lakewood Church, the largest evangelical church in America, with 30,000 weekly attendants. Osteen's success is based largely on presenting a message that any yes man would find agreeable.
Osteen's new age message that God loves everyone ran into trouble during an interview with Larry King on CNN. It interesting that King is a non-believer, but he has a habit of asking the right question to people who should standing up for the gospel. Here are a few excerpts from that interview that reveal Osteen's desire to please the world.
Larry King: "What if you're Jewish or Muslim, you don't accept Christ at all?"
Joel Osteen: "You know, I'm very careful about saying who would and wouldn't go to heaven. I don't know..."
Larry King: "If you believe you have to believe in Christ? They're wrong, aren't they?"
Joel Osteen: "Well, I don't know if I believe they're wrong. I believe here's what the Bible teaches and from the Christian faith this is what I believe. But I just think that only God will judge a person's heart. I spent a lot of time in India with my father. I don't know all about their religion. But I know they love God. And I don't know. I've seen their sincerity. So I don't know. I know for me, and what the Bible teaches, I want to have a relationship with Jesus."
Larry King: "But don't you think if people don't believe as you believe, they're somehow condemned?"
Joel Osteen: "You know, I think that happens in our society. But I try not to do that. I tell people all the time, preached a couple Sundays about it. I'm for everybody. You may not agree with me, but to me it's not my job to try to straighten everybody out. The Gospel is called the good news. My message is a message of hope, that God's for you. You can live a good life no matter what's happened to you. And so I don't know. I know there is condemnation, but I don't feel that's my place."
"Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth and the life: no man cometh to the Father, but by me" (John 14:6).
Trying to bridge the gap between evolution and creation, leaders in the Catholic Church are now saying that some form of evolutionary mechanism is at work. When confronted with media headlines that had them confirming that man may have descended from monkeys, the Vatican turned to a confusing quote made by a former Pope.
According to Pope Pius XII, evolution was "gladly made use of by the proponents of communism to make of themselves defenders and propagandists of dialectical materialism and to take from minds every mention of God."
If you are going to compromise your principles, you should at least be clear about it.

Christian Yes Men
One of the most essential ingredients in the Christian faith is the ability to know why you trust God. Many people have absolutely no idea why they decided to become a believer. Sadly, many of these people are not true Christians.
They proclaim Jesus to be Lord and Savior, but He never became a personal Lord to them. I think the failure is caused by a cultural acceptance of Jesus. "Christian society" teaches us that God is great, so we follow the lead that is given to us.
I've seen how contradictory some people can be in my military travels. While deployed in the desert, you get to know people's true nature. After eating, sleeping, working, and spending recreation time with them 24 hours a day, there is very little you don't know about them.
I've seen people who could be the meanest, most foul-mouthed, dishonest individuals all week, and on Sunday morning in church they would reverse gears and become loving saints, singing God's praises.
I've known people who appeared to be good Christians in a church fellowship setting. However, when it came to business, they did not hesitate to swindle their own pastor.
Because hypocritical acts invokes such strong reaction, most people would overlook the reason why many individuals are two-faced in their faith. The contradiction might be caused by people's struggle with sin, but in most cases the root problem is the lack of appreciation for what it means to be followers of Jesus Christ.

Praise God for His Critics
I've always found unbelievers to be very helpful in the process of maturing my understanding of the issues that relate to the life of a believer. These people prove themselves useful by highlighting the weak points of the Christian faith.
The critics of Rapture Ready have helped me clarify my views by attacking the articles I've posted on the site. The foundation stone of many of the pages that defend pretribulationism came from hateful email that attacks the rapture.
After reading the atheistic remarks made by well-known men like Albert Einstein and Mark Twain, I felt inspired to overcome what had been stumbling blocks to them. Both men were troubled by their inability to find solid evidence for God's existence, and by what appeared to be His unjust nature.
It's hard to build your spiritual strength when you're surrounded by Christians who have trained themselves to only think happy thoughts. You're not going to see yes men making comments like the following:
"I see only with deep regret that God punishes so many of His children for their numerous stupidities, for which only He Himself can be held responsible; in my opinion, only His nonexistence could excuse Him." - Albert Einstein, letter to Edgar Meyer, Jan. 2, 1915.
"A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death." - Albert Einstein, Religion and Science
"One of the proofs of the immortality of the soul is that myriads have believed in it. They have also believed the world was flat." -- Mark Twain, Notebook (1900)
"Our Bible reveals to us the character of our god with minute and remorseless exactness... It is perhaps the most damnatory biography that exists in print anywhere. It makes Nero an angel of light and leading by contrast" -- Mark Twain, (Reflections on Religion, 1906)
"The two Testaments are interesting, each in its own way. The old one gives us a picture of these people's Deity as he was before he got religion, the other one gives us a picture of him as he appeared afterward." -- Mark Twain, Letters From the Earth (1909?; published in 1962)
I worry about believers who can only deal with troubling issues by blocking them out of their mind. These type of yes men don't fare very well when they experience personal trials. Without a firm foundation, adversity can cause the most happy-go-lucky believer to become as sour on God as these two gentlemen.

Know Why You Believe What You Believe
It is vitally important for us to be able to cite the reason for our faith. The Christian faith is not held together by some energy force that springs from wishful thinking. Christianity was at its best when doubters vastly outnumbered believers.
Nowhere in the Bible does it say that the Lord needs our positive feedback to maintain His control of the universe. It is silly for believers to flee from anything that would challenge their faith.
I think every believer should have a testimony for why they trust Christ. Anyone who can only cite family or cultural tradition as the foundation of their Christian experience is in big trouble. Jesus is a personal Savior who reaches out to everyone on an individual level. Because a yes man is not likely to have a commitment that comes from his heart, it's hard for him to find the truth.
I know God is real because he has carried me through some difficult times in my life. He has blessed me so abundantly that I now feel obligated to give Him my praise.
Some of the most powerful evidence supporting the God of the Bible can be found in how world events follow Bible prophecy. We have long since reached the point where it is mathematically impossible for these events to have occurred by accident.

We Don't Have All The Answers
I long ago concluded that our limited knowledge of God leads to many questions that cannot be answered in this life. It is essential for us to have direct access to Him before we can have a proper understanding of His complete nature.
People who decide to fill in the gaps with guesswork are doing the Lord a disservice. By just being wrong in some areas, they can bring confusion and discredit to our understanding of the Creator.
There is no need for speculation in the first place. People need to realize that it is perfectly acceptable to say "no" or "I don't know." Anyone who goes beyond the bounds of the basic facts is willfully venturing out into the realm of falsehood.
God only requires us to apply ourselves to the basic rules of life.The act of placing our trust in God does not require us to have a degree in physics.We have all eternity to learn the details of God's universe.
"For since the beginning of the world [men] have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, [what] he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him" (Isa. 64:4).

Yes! Jesus is Coming!

-Christian Issues Network- -Last Call Devotional Network- -Natzsal The Jewish Network-

Biblical Prophecy Today: "The Bird Cage" - Rapture Ready

2011-10-10T18:43:00.001-07:00

Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today

Every day We Post Perspectives in Prophecy

(BiblicalProphecyToday@gmail.com)

(google: "Prophecy Today Q&A" or "Biblical Prophecy Today")

-The Classic Christian Network- -Biblical Prophecy Today Network- -Last Generation News Report-

"Articulating Prophecy Biblically"

Prophecy Today

"Answering Questions in Prophecy Biblically"

RAPTURE READY

by Todd Strandberg

God built into all of His creation the survival instinct. Nature employs distinctive self-defense measures when threatened. This self-protection became necessary, particularly after the fall in the Garden of Eden, when sin entered the world and death resulted. Man, the creature God gave the ability to reason, has throughout the centuries devised ingenious defensive methodologies.
For example, before the days of electronic sensors, coal miners took canaries into the mines with them to signal when the air became filled with poisonous gas. The respiratory system of a canary is more sensitive than that of a human, so they knew that if the bird stopped singing or suddenly dropped dead, it was time to rush to the nearest exit.
Throughout the Church Age, Christians have acted as moral canaries. When society has become contaminated with high levels of sin, Church leaders have stood up and warned the nation to turn away from these various toxins.
In recent years, however, something strange has happened. Continual exposure to the deadly evils that poison society has caused the Christian "canaries" to build up resistance. They have slowly developed immunity to the toxins that permeate society. Because apathy is so prevalent, it is no longer safe to use the views of the average Christian as a gauge of morality. As humanity heads down the road to perdition, we must use Scripture to determine the danger level.
Below are nine common societal toxins that we believe illustrate the extent of depravity in our culture today. Listed with them are Scriptural references that provide positive proof of their hazardous nature.

Toxin #1 - Michael Jackson Pedophilia Jokes
Singer Michael Jackson's bizarre lifestyle has made him the butt of jokes by the late night comedians. When Jackson became embroiled in allegations of child sexual abuse, the late night troupe started poking fun at the abominable activity. Making light of such a horrendous act is a terrible reflection on our society. We have, as a society, spiraled downward to the cesspool level since pedophilia is now considered fodder for entertainment.
We searched several archive sites to show you folks a few examples of the debauched nature of the public airways and cable programs. The jokes, though funny, are an indication of how toxic our society has become:
"After turning himself in yesterday, Michael Jackson was placed in handcuffs. I think he helped his case when he asked 'These are neat, do they come in smaller sizes?" - Jay Leno
The saddest part of this Michael Jackson scandal is that all of this could have been avoided if he just stuck to grabbing his own crotch." - Craig Kilborn
"I guess they got Michael on that new law "3 tykes and you're out." - Jay Leno
"Michael Jackson was arrested yesterday. According to the Santa Barbara Police, Michael Jackson is 5'11 and only weighs 120 pounds. Michael is able to keep his weight down because he only orders off the children's menu." - Conan O'Brien
Scriptural Canary:
"Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more" (Eph. 4:19).
"And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold" (Matthew 24:11).

Toxin #2 - Radio Shock Jocks
Radio personalities that are commonly known as "shock jocks" have for some time now been cheerleaders of moral decay. They make their living by pushing the limits of acceptable behavior and appealing to juvenile-minded audiences.
These programs are extremely popular. When we consider they are mostly based on outrageous sex-oriented banter, it speaks volumes about the debased tastes of today's society.
For many years men like Howard Stern have been playing cat-and-mouse games with the Federal Communications Commission, the agency whose job is to enforce broadcast decency standards. Stern claims his show is protected by the First Amendment through the freedoms of speech and press.
The FCC has mostly been a toothless lion. Although the commission has fined Stern for violating its guidelines, the penalties have been only a few thousand dollars. Considering that talk radio is a multi-billion dollar industry, these token fines do little to influence the behavior of shock jocks.
Scriptural Canary:
"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God" (2 Tim. 3:1-4).

Toxin #3 - Prosperity Preachers
Television, radio, and the internet are wonderful tools that can be used to reach millions of people with the Gospel message. It can also be used by some unscrupulous preachers for personal enrichment.
At one time, it was considered shameful for a minister to own a home that could be categorized as a mansion. The act of joining the clergy implied an abandonment of earthly wealth. Today, it is considered a sin within the prosperity give-to-get movement not to seek affluence. The wealth of some preachers can be measured by how many mansions they own. The NBC program "Dateline" once reported on one well-known preacher who had homes in Florida, Texas, and California.
There is one network that specializes in the gospel of money. You can flip to it anytime of the day and find someone talking about the Bible as a source of prosperity. Agreed, the Bible does not say we should take a vow of poverty. When we realize that many prosperity preachers spend 100 percent of their time on the subject of money, however, we Christians should discern that error has crept into their message.
Scriptural Canary:
"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables" (2 Tim. 4:3-4).

Toxin #4 - Gay Marriage
There are a lot of sins that the Bible does not mention. We know they are included in God's Word, however, because they are covered by more general guidelines. When it comes to homosexuality there can be no mistake: the Word of God repeatedly condemns this sin as a wicked act.
God's destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah has long been a standard for gauging the toxicity of homosexuality. Once a civilization decides to accept so-called alternative lifestyles, we can pretty much write that society or culture off as doomed. In America's case, we seem to have taken the extra step of embracing homosexuality.
Several mainline denominations have reached the point of openly endorsing the practice of gay marriage. The fact that they are able to ignore such clear guidance on the subject is a solemn indication of how these so-called Christian organizations have shifted off of their moral foundations.
Scriptural Canary:
"Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination" (Lev. 18:22).
"Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator who is praised forever amen. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion" (Rom. 1:24-27).

Toxin #5 - Girls Gone Wild
At one time the only way for people to get their hands on pornographic video tapes was to buy them at adult bookstores or order them through sleazy catalogs. Today a porn video called "Girls Gone Wild" is being advertised on prime time TV.
The people peddling this smut use a subtle approach to market this video. They present it as a film showing examples of girls just having a good time. The nudity is but a byproduct of the merriment.
Terry had a sales call from these peddlers. "We will send you videos of naked girls having fun," the salesman told him. "Wouldn't you like to see that--for free?"
Terry grabbed the chance to share the saving message of Christ; he told the salesman he should know Jesus. The young man said he did know Jesus, to which Terry said: "You don't act like you know Him, when you offer pornography." The salesman ended the conversation by asking Terry to pray for him, which Terry, of course, has continued to do since.
Point is: Christians must confront Satan's subtle--and not so subtle-- attempts to force feed people the toxic sins of this fallen world. We must sound the alarm whenever possible.
Scriptural Canary:
"Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral" (Heb. 13:4).

Toxin #6 - "Plain Old Vanilla Sex"
Pornography has always been in violation of many laws that set the moral code for society. If it weren't for the court system's unwillingness to enforce clear legal guidelines, we would not have a $10 billion-a-year porn industry.
Over the years many smut peddlers have gained a strong foothold in the general culture. Hugh Hefner's Playboy empire is widely regarded as being as wholesome as apple pie. The typical biography of Hefner shows the narrator commenting about how enviable it is for a gray-haired, 73-year-old man to be constantly pawed over in a Beverly Hills mansion by an endless stream of nude or semi-nude models.
Larry Flynt, who founded Hustler magazine, recently noted how his operation has become tame by current standards. He said in an interview, "We deal in plain old vanilla sex. Nothing really outrageous." As long the taxes are paid and the "talent" is over 18, Flynt doesn't expect any trouble from the feds.
Scriptural Canary:
"Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" (Isa. 5:20).
Toxin #7 - Apostasy in the Church
The Bible indicates that one of the major signs of the end times will be apostasy in the church. It is doubtful that the spiritual darkness will be confined to one region of the world. Because Europe appears to be in a more advanced state of apostasy, it seems beneficial to the rest of the world to be mindful of what has happened to the European church.
As it currently stands, the number of people in Europe who actually practice their faith has declined to the lower single digits. The dismal statistic shows up in the number of people who visit Rapture Ready. Great Britain has a population 15 times the size of Australia, and yet there are more people who visit the site from Australia than from the United Kingdom.
The fact that so few American Christians are concerned about the state of the Church in Europe is one sign that we in the U.S. are not too far behind that ever-darkening area of the world out of which our nation sprang.
Scriptural Canary:
"Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first" (2 Thess. 2:3).

Toxin #8 -Anti-Semitism Infects World
Anti-Semitism is on the rise, especially in Great Britain and Germany. This is not simply inferred from news accounts. We have recent, first-hand accounts from people who are citizens of and live in England, and have reason to observe the growing hatred for Jews. The sources of our information are, themselves, Jews.
Jesus came in the flesh - Jewish flesh. He was, is, and will forever be the God-man out of the Jewish people. There is a great movement to deny the Jews are the chosen people. Even evangelical churches are preaching and teaching that the Church has replaced Israel in God's great plan for humanity.
Prophecy says anti-Semitism infection will spread, until all the world turns against Israel. Antichrist will be the ultimate persecutor of the Jews.
Scriptural Canary:
"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world" (1 John 4:1-3).
"The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him. Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it" (Zech. 12:1-3).

Toxin #9 - Prophetic Fulfillment
Most evangelical Christians have always had a positive view of Bible prophecy. The common belief is that the nearer we draw to the tribulation hour, the closer we are to the day we will be raptured into the presence of the Lord.
What gets lost in the optimistic view of the end times is the fact that the fulfillment of prophecy is actually a deadly thing for the people who remain unsaved. These people will obviously be left behind, and will face near-certain doom when the wrath of God is revealed.
As it becomes more manifest that time is short, Christian should be doubling their efforts to reach out to people who remain in spiritual darkness.
Scriptural Canary:
"Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it" (Isa. 13:9).
"Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man" (Luke 21:36).

Yes! Jesus is Coming!

-Christian Issues Network- -Last Call Devotional Network- -Natzsal The Jewish Network-

Biblical Prophecy Today: "Everybody Loves a Hypocrite" - Rapture Ready

2011-09-23T09:17:00.001-07:00

Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today

Every day We Post Perspectives in Prophecy

(BiblicalProphecyToday@gmail.com)

(google: "Prophecy Today Q&A" or "Biblical Prophecy Today")

-The Classic Christian Network- -Biblical Prophecy Today Network- -Last Generation News Report-

"Articulating Prophecy Biblically"

Prophecy Today

"Answering Questions in Prophecy Biblically"

RAPTURE READY

by Todd Strandberg

The dictionary defines a hypocrite as someone who "pretends to be better than he really is or to be pious, virtuous without really being so." A hypocrite is someone who says one thing and does the opposite.

One of the main reasons people have double standards is that they desire to have the best of both worlds. They go to church on Sundays and as soon as they walk out the door, they go back to living their "regular" lives.

"Do the right thing" doesn't mean to do that which best serves our lustful desires. A lack of respect for the seducing nature of sin has led many to live hypocritical lives. In our heart of hearts, we know fully well that something is morally wrong with our actions, but we do it anyway because it feels good or is convenient.

The people committing hypocritical acts normally try to use some form of rationalization to justify their actions. A man committing adultery may say that he is only breaking his wedding vows by having sex with prostitutes. The ultimate rationalization is the phrase, "I just couldn't help myself."

In the past few years, several high-profile public leaders have been caught in hypocrisy. The grievous nature of some people's moral blunders proves that no one is immune from stumbling from a lofty perch. I have listed below some examples.

Hypocrites' Hall of Shame

Jim Bakker - He was once the head of the now-defunct "Praise The Lord" network. In the late '80s, Bakker was found to have been carrying on a relationship with church secretary Jessica Hahn. He compounded the salacious nature of the affair by funneling her $265,000 in hush money. Another area in which Bakker was a hypocrite was his call for sacrifice on the part of donors to help reach the lost.

In his self-serving confessionI Was Wrong, he admitted using church funds to pay for luxury cars and his six mansions. Bakker and his wife, Tammy Faye, also came up with some truly inventive ways to squander ministry money. They once spent $100 on cinnamon buns just to scent the air of their hotel suite. They equipped a dog house with air-conditioning, which was too noisy for Fido to sleep in. They also spent $60,000 on gold-plated bathroom fixtures.

Jimmy Swaggart - In the late 1980s, Jimmy Swaggart Ministries was the largest televangelism operation of its kind. His operation raked in more than $150 million annually. Every week, his television program, "The Jimmy Swaggart Telecast," attracted 8 million viewers. The downfall of Rev. Swaggart was probably one of the most spectacular in Church history. The seed of his downfall began when he helped defrock fellow Assemblies of God minister Marvin Gorman, who had been caught in an extramarital affair. When the PTL scandal erupted in 1987, Swaggart went on CNN and told Larry King that Bakker was a "cancer in the body of Christ."

In 1988, Marvin Gorman learned that Swaggart had been spotted regularly in areas frequented by prostitutes. He hired a private detective to take photos of Jimmy with a sleazy Louisiana hooker named Debra Murphree outside the Travel Inn in Lake Charles, Louisiana. When Swaggart refused demands for blackmail money, the photos were shown to church elders. The moment the media learned of the scandal, Jimmy Swaggart Ministries was doomed. His actions against Gorman and Bakker have become case studies in hypocrisy.

Rush Limbaugh - In referring to himself, Limbaugh once jokingly said he was "a man so virtuous you can trust [him] with your wife in a Motel 6, overnight, while you're away on business." When it came to providing moral leadership for America, Limbaugh had serious words to say on many subjects. As the king of conservative talk radio, Rush frequently discussed the evils of our nation's problem with drugs:

"What this says to me is that too many whites are getting away with drug use, too many whites are getting away with drug sales, too many whites are getting away with trafficking in this stuff. The answer to this disparity is not to start letting people out of jail because we're not putting others in jail who are breaking the law. The answer is to go out and find the ones who are getting away with it, convict them and send them up the river, too" (Oct. 5, 1995, The Rush Limbaugh Show transcript).

In Oct. of 2003, Rush Limbaugh announced during his radio program that he was addicted to painkillers and would be checking into a rehab center to "break the hold this highly addictive medication has on me." Limbaugh said he started taking painkillers "some years ago" after his doctor prescribed them following a spinal surgery. Rush denied that his actions were hypocritical, saying, "My behavior doesn't change right and wrong. And just because I may have been doing something that appeared to be contradictory to what I was suggesting others do doesn't mean that what I was suggesting others do is wrong."

Because Rush was making his comments before he entered treatment, his mind must have been under the influence of the painkillers. A person cannot escape the label of "hypocrite" by saying he or she was only offering a suggestion to other people. Hypocritical acts involve doing the opposite of what one stands for.

Pat Robertson - Troubles began for the founder of the Christian Coalition when a reporter for the New York Times discovered that Robertson owned a two-year-old racehorse named "Mr. Pat." The paper detailed financial involvement in racing to the tune of more than $500,000. One newspaper ran the mocking headline, "Praise The Lord And Put A 10-Spot On Mr. Pat To Win."

In his defense, Robertson said he saw no contradiction between his condemnation of gambling and his ownership of a racehorse. "I don't bet, and I don't gamble," Robertson said. "I just enjoy watching horses running and performing." Robertson eventually told his followers in a letter that he had decided to sell his racehorse: "I am sorry that my fondness for the performance of equine athletes has caused you an offense."

William Bennett - The former Secretary of Education and Drug Czar, and author of The Book of Virtues admitted to losing more than $8 million in casino gambling. Bennett would receive as much $50,000 in speaking fees to address conservative groups on the moral issues that face America. The money he earned would quickly end up in the pockets of people who promote the type of values he rallied against. Bennett's typical day of gambling would have him heading to the high-limit room of the nearest casino and blowing money on video poker or $500-a-pull slots.

Bennett was one of Bill Clinton's biggest critics during the former President's "moral failure." Of course, his own credibility was put into serious question by his high-stakes habit. When asked if he was a hypocrite, Bennett said he was not because he did not claim to be a moral authority. He also says he did not have a gambling problem.

Strom Thurmond - "Hypocrite" is about the most suitable word one can use to describe the late U.S. Senator from South Carolina, who built his career as a staunch segregationist while supporting his own mixed-race daughter born of his liaison with a 16-year-old family maid. The daughter, 78-year-old Essie Mae Washington-Williams, revealed the relationship after his death. When asked why she remained silent all those years, she said she didn't want to harm him. Of course, her humble spirit made dear old Dad look all the more like a scoundrel. Thurmond said blacks and whites should have nothing to do with each other. "All the bayonets of the Army cannot force the Negro into our homes, into our schools, our churches and our places of recreation and amusement," he said.

The Senator did demonstrate a strange bit of honor when he paid for his daughter to attend a university. He also sent her money before her marriage and after she was widowed with four children.

Jesse Jackson - If there were an award for hypocrisy, Rev. Jesse Jackson would be strong contender. During the dark days of Bill Clinton's Monica Lewinsky sex scandal, Jackson bravely dove into the media storm and paid a visit to the President to offer moral counseling. Jackson brought along staffer Karin Stanford, who was visibly pregnant.

It turned out later that Jackson was the father of that child. To try to cover up his "little error," the good reverend used organizational money to arrange for his playmate to live in a home worth $345,000 and to receive $10,000 per month. Because Jesse Jackson is a darling of the liberal media, the magnitude of his hypocrisy was quickly lost by the press when it declared the whole affair resolved.

Being Hypocritical about Hypocrites

Everyone would probably agree that hypocrisy in any form is no good. However, because the moral failings of various leaders allows the average person to justify his or her own moral inequalities, the actual view of hypocrisy tends to be rather positive. This is particularly true for those who aren't Christians. They seem to love it when authority figures get caught with their pants down.

If the president of the Southern Baptist Convention was nabbed in a prostitution raid, or if the Pope was discovered to own stock in a Las Vegas casino, millions of people would use these grievous examples of immorality to rationalize their own smaller transgressions.

Because God created us with a built-in moral compass, we constantly feel the need to justify our actions. It is comforting to be able to point to the deeds of someone else and say, "I may have my faults, but I'm not as bad as he is."

Rationalization is a useful tool for relieving guilt and removing ourselves from responsibility. A person who is 70 pounds overweight can look at someone who is 150 pounds overweight and marvel at the other's obesity. But a person can't make himself thinner by finding people who are fatter than he is. He may have a lower percentage of body fat than other people, but nonetheless, according to the basic guidelines for weight, he is still fat.

How Did They Get into That Mess?

If you were to study 100 cases of hypocrisy, I doubt you would find a single person who intended to become a hypocrite. Most people start off with good intentions and along the way their moral values somehow get off track.

Because our flesh likes the things of this world, compromise is inevitable for those people who play with temptation. If you keep dancing on the edge of the abyss, you'll eventually fall in. It takes people who are honest and humble to know their limits.

The apostle Paul gave some very good advice to the Thessalonians on how to avoid becoming a hypocrite. He told them to, "Abstain from all appearance of evil" (1 Thes. 5:22). Notice he said Christians should not only abstain from whatever is wrong, but also that we should abstain from whatever appears to be wrong.

What makes this such good advice to follow is our inability, at times, to use proper judgment in avoiding sin. By the time we realize we've gone too far, turning around becomes difficult.

Many believers who have decided that no harm would result from going out to have a few drinks with friends or co-workers have later wondered how alcohol was able to destroy their lives.

An old public service announcement about drinking urged people to know their limits. The problem with this advice is that the only way for someone to know his limit is by surpassing it; some folks may see their limit as only being reached when they end up in jail for DWI.

Image Is Everything

When people present themselves as moral leaders, they automatically commit themselves to living by a higher standard. Pat Robertson and William Bennett, two of the examples listed in the Hypocrites' Hall of Shame, found this out the hard way. Robertson said he only owned a racehorse because he liked the sport. Bennett argued that he never actually had presented himself as a moral authority. Both men branded themselves as hypocrites by failing the most fundamental rule of morality - leadership is made by example.

The Bible warns that preachers will be judged more severely than others. If some religious leaders knew of the tough standards facing them, they would probably replace their titles of "bishop," "deacon," or "holiness" with a more humble title of simply "message carrier."

"My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation" (Jas. 3:1).

One the greatest examples of hypocrisy in the Church today is top-bill preachers who mire themselves in worldly goods. It is a witness-destroying contradiction for men to point to heaven as the final hope while they continue to lust after all the finer things of this life. The example that Jesus gave in His life on earth should be reason enough for us to tend towards modesty.

"The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath no where to lay his head" (Matt. 8:20).

Because the main task of a moral commentator is to convince people to do things that contradict their fleshly desires, any indication of a double standard completely destroys the message.

When I was in high school, Mr. Block, my history teacher, talked to the class about the dangers of smoking. He had good intentions in warning us about smoking, but he compromised his message through a conflicting financial interest.

Because Mr. Block had previously told the class that he owned stock in a big tobacco company that had done extremely well for him, he said, "I wouldn't mind taking a hit on my stock if it meant some of you young folks would not take up the habit." Because his capital gains were generated by people consuming tobacco, his ethics and stock portfolio were in conflict with each other.

The Danger of Too Few Hypocrites

One of my favorite pastimes is researching prophetic commentaries written as far back as the 1800s. By reading vintage books on Bible prophecy, I'm able to get a non-biased view of how the world is progressing towards the end times.

It commonly known that the generations that lived before us had a much stronger moral foundation that the one we find today. The Bible was used as a guide for all sorts of matters that would be unheard of today. The Good Book was used as reference in such common fields as business, education, and politics. Of course, it would be considered bizarre--or in some cases unlawful--to use the Bible as a manual for daily living.

Oddly enough, I've noticed the cry over hypocrisy then was much louder then than it is today. From reading some of these 100-year-old commentaries, you would think they were living in the golden age of hypocrisy.

The decline in moral standards is the most obvious reason we see a shift away from a two-faced approach to morality. If people don't live by a moral code, they really can't be considered in violation of something they never vowed to uphold in the first place. A hypocrite loves God and his sin. Someone who is totally depraved has no such contradiction.

Very few hypocrites lived in Sodom and Gomorrah. The inhabitants of those two cities were fully dedicated to their wickedness, and this fact did not escape God's attention. It is easy to see that our generation is headed down that same path.

God Does Not Judge on a Curve

I once watched a Christian-produced video that featured a crew asking individuals at random if they were ready to enter Heaven. Most people believed they were in good standing with their Creator. They arrived at this belief by concluding that they were somehow safe because they knew there were many others who were worse sinners.

The requirement for salvation is solely based on how we react to the gift presented to us at Calvary. It has been estimated that nearly 100 billion people have lived on this planet at some point. If all members of this great mass of humanity trusted in Jesus as their Savior, they would make it into Heaven. If only a dozen of them chose to follow Christ, they would be part of the lucky few.

I don't know where people get the idea that salvation is determined by people fitting under a "nice person" category. Far too many people seem to think that only the most evil percentage of humanity will be the ones who don't make the cutoff.

The basis of our salvation is trusting in Jesus Christ as our Savior. You might be a person of high moral standards, but if you make works your foundation, you will not qualify for the Kingdom of God.

A world full of hypocrites cannot save your eternal soul. It's nice to point to hypocrites for excuses, but there is nothing they can do to better your odds. God has already determined their fate. The occurrence of hypocrisy is more negative than anything. It demonstrates how difficult it is to resist sin.

Most folks spend far too much time assessing the sins of other people. The fact that people are unable to live perfect lives is not really breaking news. Instead of measuring our lives by what hypocrites do, we need to model our lives after the One who set the perfect example.

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6).

Yes! Jesus is Coming!

-Christian Issues Network- -Last Call Devotional Network- -Natzsal The Jewish Network-

Prophecy Today Q&A: Can We Forestall The End Times?" -Jack Kelley

2011-09-20T16:35:00.001-07:00

BIBLICAL PROPHECY TODAY with JACK KELLEY

Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today

Every day We Post Perspectives in Prophecy

(BiblicalProphecyToday@gmail.com)

(google: "Prophecy Today Q&A" or "Biblical Prophecy Today")

-The Classic Christian Network- -Biblical Prophecy Today Network- -Last Generation News Report-

"Articulating Prophecy Biblically"

Prophecy Today Q & A

"Answering the Questions in Prophecy Biblically"

Jack Kelley

Can We Forestall The End Times?
Q. What can be done to forestall the coming great events of the end times? (I worry for those who have not heard to good news.) I know there are unreached people and although I am really looking forward to the Rapture and being with the Lord soon and am praying for the Peace of Jerusalem, it bothers me that some will be left behind.

A. Nothing can be done to forestall the coming of the End Times. They will happen just as God has determined. No matter when the rapture takes place there will be billions of people left behind, not because God didn’t choose them but because they didn’t choose Him. But rest assured that before they die everyone who hasn’t already rejected Him will hear the gospel and have a chance to be saved. Revelation 14:6 promises this. No one dies in ignorance or else God is not just.
Tags: End Times, Rapture, Salvation
Related Posts:
The Rapture And The 10 Virgins
Saved By Their Works?
Who Are The Tribulation Believers?
No Second Chance?
Is It OK To Pray for The Rapture?

Yes! Jesus is Coming!

-Christian Issues Network- -Last Call Devotional Network- -Natzsal The Jewish Network-

Biblical Prophecy Article Today: ""Don't Drink The Kool-Aid"" - Rapture Ready

2011-09-20T15:23:00.001-07:00

Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today

Every day We Post Perspectives in Prophecy

(BiblicalProphecyToday@gmail.com)

(google: "Prophecy Today Q&A" or "Biblical Prophecy Today")

-The Classic Christian Network- -Biblical Prophecy Today Network- -Last Generation News Report-

"Articulating Prophecy Biblically"

Prophecy Today

"Answering Questions in Prophecy Biblically"

RAPTURE READY

by Todd Strandberg

Don't Drink The Kool-Aid

In November of 1978, the world was shocked by the suicide deaths of 913 members of the People's Temple cult. Jim Jones, the leader of the group, convinced his followers to move to Jonestown, Guyana, a remote community that Jones carved out of the South American jungle and named after himself. Jones constantly feared losing control of his followers. His paranoia was the main reason he moved the cult to Guyana.

The mass suicide occurred after U.S. Rep. Leo Ryan of California and a team of reporters visited the compound to investigate reports of abuse. After some members tried to leave with the congressman's group, Jim Jones had Ryan and his entourage ambushed at the nearby airstrip. He then ordered his flock to commit suicide by drinking grape-flavored Kool-Aid laced with potassium cyanide.

The mass suicide wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision. During the weeks that preceded the dreadful event, Jones had conducted a series of suicide drills, according to survivors. An alarm call would sound and every person in the camp would line up to receive a fatal dosage. These exercises in insanity proved that all of the adults at the compound knew what would be the result of their actions.

The People's Temple did not start off as your average mind-controlling cult. It initially gained much respect as an interracial mission for the sick, homeless and jobless. Jim Jones did not manifest his darker side until near the end.

One lasting legacy of the Jonestown tragedy is the saying, "Don't drink the Kool-Aid." This has come to mean, "Don't trust any group you find to be a little on the kooky side." Of course, you would have to know of Kool-Aid's dubious connection to Jim Jones to understand the proverb.

Good Advice From A Lost Soul

Several years ago, I was making arrangements to attend a prophecy conference in Florida. I casually told my fellow office workers about my plans. One of them jokingly advised me not to drink the Kool-Aid. He was obviously making a reference to the Jonestown incident.

His comment did not strike me as being offensive, but it did give a sad insight into this man's perception of the Christian faith. In one way, his warning was very good advice. We should always know whom we are associating with, and we should not allow relationships to draw us into regrettable situations.

It is actually quite rare for religious groups to commit mass suicide. I can only recall three other major incidents of a similar nature that have occurred since Jonestown. Most cults are quite peaceful, and they typically try to maintain a low profile. The Jehovah's Witnesses are one such example. They have never been known to carry out any violent acts.

The most dangerous feature of cults is the erroneous doctrine they propagate. The falsehood that causes a soul to be eternally lost is far more deadly than any earthly poison. One reason I never argue with cult members who come knocking on my door is that I know they didn't come to hear what I have to say; their purpose for being at my door is to ensnare me.

In all cases of doctrinal error, the poison itself is not really what we should be worried about. False teachings always will contaminate the thinking of men. The root of the problem is what leads people to consuming this falsehood. The members of People's Temple knew that drinking poison is bad for you. Their better judgment was overcome by their blind trust in a mortal man.

Christians shouldn't be suspicious of everything we hear from the pulpit. We just need to use Bible-based common sense. We should all be like the Bereans of Acts 17, never taking any new teaching at the word of the speaker, but rather using Scripture to verify anything that seems to conflict with sound biblical doctrine.

'these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so' (Acts 17:11).

Group Mentality

I'm certain that most of you folks already have a general understanding of the term "group mentality" and how dangerous it is to follow the crowd. We know that thinking as a group is bad because that is what the group in the form of society tells us. This explains just how easy it is for us to fall into this trap.

Every week I get mail from people who say I'm blindly following the crowd that adheres to the pre-trib rapture. Because of my experience with all of the most commonly repeated arguments, I can tell that my accusers are often guilty of having the same group mentality that they claim I'm propagating.

Because we are social creatures, we receive a lot of our understanding from observing the actions of our peers. If a building catches on fire, it is a good idea to follow the crowd to the nearest exit. But if everyone in that crowd decides to hide in a utility closet to escape the smoke and flames, an individual needs to rely on his better judgment.

Christians often fall into their own special brand of group mentality. One of the most common manifestations of this problem is the idea that Christianity has its own type of logic that defies the logic that rules the physical world. This is most evident in the various fields of science.

On the site, I have an article called "This Old Planet" that presents evidence for the "old earth" view. I've received a lot of positive feedback from this article. A large portion of the negative feedback is based on the idea that it's simply a Christians duty to hold to this view. I'm not bothered that believers would disagree with me on what is really a minor issue. What troubles me is when Christians take the opposite view solely based on the group mentality.

The Christian community's disdain for science is so strong that some believers tried for years to deny the fact that dinosaurs once walked the earth. They claimed that scientists were inventing these creatures out bones from animals that exist today or that God planted the bones to make fools out of these know-it-all paleontologists.

Many believers reject the idea that our consumption of fossil fuels is the cause of global warming. This type of group mentality is based on the idea that God would not create a global climate that could be subject to man's intervention. We know about the heat-insulating properties of carbon dioxide, and we have records showing the increase in average temperatures since the industrial age.

In judging the soundness of any guidance, it doesn't require nearly as much intelligence to know that we are being mislead as it does to know where we are being mislead. There is safety in the herd, but if the herd is moving in the wrong direction, we each need to use our own best judgment.

"If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit" (Mat. 15:14 NIV). )

In God We Trust

After being associated with prophecy for many years now, I've met nearly every leading figure in the field. The more so-called "great men of God" I meet, the less respect I have for their reliability. The most virtuous men are usually the ones least known by the public.

I have found the more popular someone becomes, the more subject he or she is to the corrupting influences that come with notoriety. Knowing the shortcomings of man, it amazes me that so many people rely solely on the word of a preacher or a ministry as the foundation of their key beliefs. These same people would probably not trust anyone with their personal finances, and yet they will without hesitation trust the word of strangers regarding matters that relate to eternity.

Because we have no way of ensuring the promises of mankind, God's Holy Bible is the only source we can trust. Even demons know the value of only trusting the real thing. When the seven sons of Sceva tried to duplicate Paul's ability to cast out demonic spirits, they were violently repelled by the demon because they were attempting the feat without God's authority.

"And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded" (Acts 19:15-16).

I've learned never to trust anyone who appears to be the person with all the answers. Because liars can manufacture an endless stream of answers to all questions, their ability to go beyond the mysteries of the Bible clearly indicates their deceitfulness. In the field prophecy, if anyone claims to know the identity of the Antichrist, the date of the rapture, or the location of the Ark of the Covenant, it's a good bet that he or she is a charlatan.

"For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh" (Phil. 3:3 NIV).

For several years, I've frequently used a signature block statement that is both humorous and profound. It reads, "In God we trust; everyone else requires verification." Because God truly is the only One we can trust, everyone else needs divine verification before we can take them at their word.

'trust the Lord your God with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight" (Prov. 3:5-6 NIV).

'the LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust" (Ps. 18:2 KJV).

End-Time Perspective

One of the key indicators of the end times is a rapid decline in morality. Because it is very likely that we are living in the final days of the Church Age, it is difficult for us to grasp how depraved our world has become. The moral standards of our society are basically judged by how other people react to them.

Just because something is legal or socially acceptable doesn't make it right in God's eyes. Some of the images we see on TV or at the movies today at one time would have been considered pornographic, but today these images invoke little concern.

I think we Christians should look at this world as being a filthy restroom at a roadside gas station. Fate has brought us here, we try to touch as little of it as possible while doing our business, we hope to leave quickly, and we don't ever plan on coming here again until it's under better management.

I've commented several times on the evil nature of the Harry Potter series, and every time I warn people about the dangers of J. K. Rowling's occultic novels, I've received messages from people saying that nothing is wrong with Harry Potter. I'm told of other popular books that contain references to the occult, such as the Grimm Fairy Tales, The Lord of the Rings, or The Wizard of Oz.

Morality based on the comparison of one example to another always leads to a downward spiral. My concern about the Harry Potter books is that they encourage people to become involved in witchcraft by portraying it a very positive light. If another author were to come along and use a darker tone to entice youngsters into the occult, Harry Potter would then seem tame.

My advice is minor when measured against the Bible's. I just warn people to stay away from the series, while the Book of Revelation declares that anyone promoting occultic practices will end up cast into the lake of fire.

"But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death" (Rev. 21:8 NKJV).

As Christians living in this world, we should be revolted by the evil going on around us. If you're someone who rarely has any problem with immorality presented in the mass media, you might be suffering from a chronic case of spiritual apathy. The only way to cure this condition is to study God's Word. The standards in the pages of the Bible are the ones we need to apply to ourselves.

Learning From Their Mistakes

When authorities and reporters entered the compound after Jim Jones and his followers had killed themselves, they found a roofed pavilion with a sign that read, "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it." The image of dozens of dead bodies surrounding this banner stands as one of history's greatest ironies. The only other example that could match this level of contradiction would be the sign above the front gate of the Auschwitz death camp that read, "Work shall set you free."

One has to wonder what lesson from history the Jonestown folks were trying to avoid repeating. It must have been something minor, like don't go swimming right after a heavy meal or never run with scissors in your hands, because they obviously repeated every major error imaginable.

Because the People's Temple tragedy happened well over two decades ago, many of you are probably learning of it for the first time. One reason this tragic event has faded from memory has to do with our natural tendency to try to forget incidents that have unhappy endings. I'm sure the people at General Foods, the makers of Kool-Aid, would love to see the stigma removed from their best-selling powdered drink mixes.

I think its wrong for us to wish away Jonestown. The Word of God never tries to hide or minimize people's blunders. The reason we don't see a whitewashing of biblical characters is so that we can learn from their mistakes.

It is a horrendous calamity for more than 900 people to lose their lives to a madman, but their mistake provides us with a valuable case study of what not to do. The lessons of Jonestown certainly could have helped the 74 folks who followed David Koresh to their fiery deaths in Waco, Texas.

We need to always remember that we're not home yet. The devil is constantly trying to think of new ways of ensnaring souls. Until we do get to Heaven, we should be on constant guard against people who seek to have us sample some types of spiritual poison.

"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Pet. 5:8).

Yes! Jesus is Coming!

-Christian Issues Network- -Last Call Devotional Network- -Natzsal The Jewish Network-

Nearing MidNight: "Fascinating Prophetic Details Part I" - Rapture Ready

2011-09-19T09:25:00.001-07:00

Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today

Every day We Post Perspectives in Prophecy

(BiblicalProphecyToday@gmail.com)

(google: "Prophecy Today Q&A" or "Biblical Prophecy Today")

-The Classic Christian Network- -Biblical Prophecy Today Network- -Last Generation News Report-

"Articulating Prophecy Biblically"

Prophecy Today

"Answering Questions in Prophecy Biblically"

RAPTURE READY

Sep 19, 2011

Fascinating Prophetic Details Part I
We have been observing prophetic developments in these Nearing Midnight commentaries for years. So, why present an article on prophetic matters in an over-all sense as if it was covering something new?
I hope, in this multi-part essay, to do something significantly different. Rather than look in a broad, general way at the major issues we cover so often, I want to take a look at the fascinating, specific way these prophecies have been brought into focus at a time I believe is the very end of this dispensation, the Age of Grace (Church Age)--i.e., I want to look at some of the more intricate details of the dynamics and circumstances that have shaped each of the major prophecies for this very hour.
Geopolitical Details
Modern Israel, as we consistently say, is the number-one signal of where this generation stands on God’s prophetic timeline. That nation is, therefore, the best example in the geopolitical arena to use for focusing on details of issues and events shaping the stage-setting for Bible prophecy fulfillment. The student who watches Bible prophecy develop from the premillennial, pretrib viewpoint has, with clarity others can’t see, I think, seen Israel come back into its own land, with its ancient national language restored. It did so following a miraculous rebirth into modernity on a single day, just as prophesied (Isa. 66: 6-9). The intricate details of the amazing rebirth are there to be gleaned by the hundreds, if not thousands.
Pressured in AD 135 through genocidal action by Roman Emperor Hadrian to leave their homeland given them by God, the Jews scattered into many nations of the world. God’s chosen people never truly found peace; rather, they mostly encountered persecution and death during the intervening centuries leading to coming back in large numbers following the Balfour Declaration of 1917.
Hitler’s perpetration of genocide upon the Jews during the time leading up to and through World War II, culminating in the Holocaust, shamed the world into allowing a Jewish state to be reborn. What Satan meant for evil in trying to thwart God’s promise to Israel being fulfilled, God turned into good. However, demonic rage by the false religion of Islam continued to fester, breaking into all-out warfare against Israel on numerous occasions. God Gave Israel the victory in every instance that nation was attacked.
Now, to look at the clearly observable, detailed kinds of prophetic movement wrought by recent events involving the modern Jewish state. Zechariah the prophet declared the whole world will turn against Israel and Jerusalem, in particular, at the end of human history. Israel’s refusal to give in to demands by the Palestinian Authority (PA)--merely the proxy entity for all of Israel’s Islamist Arab and Iranian antagonists-- has brought condemnation of practically every nation on earth.
We’ve all watched the anger spew from the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, and from the leadership of practically every nation represented in the UN General Assembly. They threaten to grant the PA its request for nationhood, using much of Israel’s land, including East Jerusalem, in which to establish the new country’s capital. The U.S. presidential administration has thus far, in my estimation, shown little more than token interest in opposing this assault on Israel’s sovereignty.
Israel’s only true friends left on the planet consist mostly of evangelical Christians, particularly those who see with the clarity mentioned above through the premillennial, pretrib prism. When the Church–the Body of Christ—is called out of this fallen planet, Israel will be alone, or so it will seem.
But, not so.
At that moment when all seems lost, Michael the archangel will stand for that chosen people (Daniel 12: 1). God Himself will deal with and for His chosen people and the city He equates to the “apple” of His eye. All is shaping into the prophetic picture, with details filling in moment by moment the matters involved in getting to the total fulfillment of every jot and tittle that is foretold. The intricacies of the peace process provide details that fascinate the student of Bible prophecy, for example.
The development of the atomic bomb (an invention of Jewish scientists, incidentally) and the hydrogen bomb, for that matter, has caused a worldwide furor stemming from the Middle East. Israel is at the center of the controversy, of course. Israel has nuclear weaponry and is threatened with extinction–as the Jews always are. They have vowed, “Never again!” Never again will they be subjected to genocide without fighting to the death with those who want every Jew on the planet dead.
Israel is, as of a year ago or so, completely surrounded on all but the Mediterranean side by those whose avowed intention is just that–to eradicate the Jews, thus the nation of Israel.
The world knows that the end of the human race through nuclear war could easily begin at Jerusalem. Thus, that city is ground zero for the entire world’s attention, just as Zechariah and other prophets foretold. Isaiah prophesied that a peace covenant will be made over this very city. It will be a covenant that will, in fact, be made with “death and hell.” It will bring the wrath of God down on the whole world for forcing such an agreement upon His chosen people and upon His most beloved city. (Read Isaiah 28: 15, 18.)
America is at the heart of just such a covenant-producing process. The “Roadmap to Peace” has been a part of world diplomatic jargon for more than a decade now. Jerusalem, with the strong-arming of the diplomatic world to make Israel stop building in that city and with the PA (the Islamist world) demanding that Jerusalem be given over to them, is at the epicenter of the coming earthquake of wrath as foretold by God Almighty through His prophet, Zechariah.
“And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth” (Zechariah 14:12).
God willing, we will continue to look next time at the fascinating details that are filling in more and more of the end-of-the-age prophetic puzzle.
Terry

Yes! Jesus is Coming!

-Christian Issues Network- -Last Call Devotional Network- -Natzsal The Jewish Network-

Biblical Prophecy Today: ""Donuts in Heaven"" - Rapture Ready

2011-09-07T09:21:00.001-07:00

Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today

Every day We Post Perspectives in Prophecy

(BiblicalProphecyToday@gmail.com)

(google: "Prophecy Today Q&A" or "Biblical Prophecy Today")

-The Classic Christian Network- -Biblical Prophecy Today Network- -Last Generation News Report-

"Articulating Prophecy Biblically"

Prophecy Today

"Answering Questions in Prophecy Biblically"

RAPTURE READY

by Todd Strandberg

Temporary Lodging
One of the most obvious realities of our earthly existence is the fact that we will all someday depart this world. I know this is about as revealing as saying the sky is blue, but few people are mindful of the unavoidable appointment we have with death or the rapture.

The good Lord was even nice enough to put in place a biological clock to remind us of our temporal status, and people still ignore the warning signs. These wake-up calls haven't escaped my attention. At age 37, I've noticed changes in my body fat, eyesight, mental capacity, and joints. They all express one common message: "Todd, this is your half-time warning."

With our departure a certainty, you would think everyone would have an eternal retirement plan in the works. The most common reason the vast majority of the population remains spiritually lost is that most of us live solely for the here and now. It mystifies me when I have friends who reject the Gospel, preferring to cling to lives that are in a rapid state of decline.

Bible-believing Christians are not far behind the unsaved. They believe in a Heaven, but they tend to think of it as being more of a state of mind than a future destination. Heaven is an actual city with most of the same features you would find in any earthly city. Jesus said His followers would be rewarded with their own mansions, but few Christians seem to grasp the significance of this eternal blessing. For you folks who don't rent, ask yourself, when is the last time you thought of yourself as a dual property owner?

"In my Father's house are many mansions: if [it were] not [so], I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, [there] ye may be also" (John 14:3-4).

Misplaced Priorities
What really causes me to conclude that most people have failed to grasp the importance of being ready for the world to come is the type of absurd questions I find in my inbox. I've had people ask me if Heaven has odd things like booze, sports, or sex.

I'm surprised that someone hasn't asked if there are donuts in Heaven. Certainly someone out there must be dying to know if there is a Krispy Kreme on the corner of Hallelujah Street and Redeemer Boulevard. How can you have paradise without a chocolate-glazed donut with sprinkles?

The granddaddy of Heaven-related questions has to be: "Will my pet go with me in the rapture?" Usually, I tell people not to worry about their furry friends. Even if all pets are left behind and they suffer the worse fate of starving to death, I believe the owners eventually will have the option of reclaiming them. Some Christians would rather stay behind and go through the tribulation than have Fluffy or Fido get lonesome. If a person wants to ensure the continued existence of his pet, he needs to first ensure the safety of his own eternal soul.

Back in my elementary school days, I remember witnessing to my friend Scott. We were standing outside his house, and I was telling him about his need to get saved. Scott told me he didn't want to go to Heaven because he preferred to stay here and play basketball. His profound lack of common sense left me stunned.

Perilous situations have an amazing way of getting people to prioritize their lives. When a family wakes up to find their house on fire, escape is instantly their number-one objective. Even though they may have a house full of valuables, flame and choking smoke instantly cause people to realize that saving their own hides is of supreme importance. This is why you occasionally see news footage of people standing outside their burning homes in bedclothes or wrapped in blankets.

Are there donuts in Heaven? The Bible is silent regarding this question. Neither does the Good Book tell us whether pets will join us there. I seriously doubt that God has any restrictions about playing basketball in the portals of glory. The question people need to be asking themselves is: "Will I be in Heaven someday?" If you should die lost, none of these trivial issues will matter.

"For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Matthew 16:26).

Knowing the Date Won't Help
I was looking through several message boards one day, and I conducted a detailed study of the boards with categories related to end-time discussion. I found that nearly all the messages posted in these types of forums were almost exclusively focused on speculation about the timing of prophetic events.

I can understand people's interest in knowing when the end times are going to begin. If the tribulation was going to kick off in July, a family might want to delay a vacation trip to Florida they had planned for that same month. The funny thing is I rarely find indications of people taking steps to get ready for the end times.

On the "End Time Ailments and Conditions" page of Rapture Ready, the first category is "newsaholic." Many individuals are compulsive consumers of prophecy-related news. What makes this condition a disease is the lack of fruits evident in people's lives. Alcoholism robs people of their health and eternal soul. "Newsaholism" robs Christians of their time and eternal rewards. When the 911 terrorists attacked America, many prophecy buffs were very excited about the incident. The loss of life was great and the motivation was pure evil, but this day of carnage will likely only end up being a precursor of worse things to come. Because we lack the ability to see into the future, we are unable to judge the importance of events as they take place. The prophetic birth pangs that we witness should only be viewed as warning signs for us to continue getting ready.

I have an uncle who lives, breathes, eats, and dreams prophecy, but he never uses the knowledge he's gained. For a long time, I wondered why he was interested in prophecy. I finally figured out that for him, it has become an opportunity for him to escape the trials of this earthly existence. The rapture will someday indeed be a way for believers to escape from this world, but we should not neglect our current responsibilities.

If the date for the rapture were made known, it would likely have a destructive effect on the body of Christ. The announcement would work wonders for a short time, but knowing of any long-term date would probably be harmful. If it was reported in 1900 that Jesus would not return until after the second millennium, I seriously doubt the world have seen the same level of global evangelization.

Turning Around A Battleship
The knowledge and blessings of the eternal Kingdom can't be gain over night. It has taken me 20 years of study to develop my understanding of Bible prophecy. There is no way anyone could possibly slap this site together in a few days. The process of bringing a loved one to Christ can't be a very lengthy process. You can't strong-arm people into joining the faith. Most people will rebel against an urgent appeal for them to get saved.

Most Christians seem to think that everyone in Heaven will receive the same amount of rewards. The Bible indicates that rewards are accumulated over a lifetime. A missionary who labored in the mission fields of Africa for 40 years will certainly receive a greater reward than someone who can only point to a perfect Sunday school attendance as his most noteworthy accomplishment.

For the average believer, the most common plan of action for end-time events is, "wake me when something happens." When the world stage is active, people become interested in prophecy. When nothing new transpires, their interest drifts away.

I can understand people's eagerness to witness the occurrence of key prophetic events, but there is a great danger in getting what you wish for. If it were boldly announced that the rapture was going to take place a week from now, there would be little time to get ready. Once the rapture takes place, we become locked into our eternal status.

I've never met anyone who, after neglecting healthcare all of his life, was satisfied with some chronic ailment. What I normally find is the greater the affliction, the greater the level of regret. My grandfather smoked all his adult life, and he developed emphysema, which eventually killed him. I remember him being very remorseful about his poor state of health.

It is never too late to become actively involved in works that are pleasing to God. Even if you're 90 years old, you still have time to make up for lost time. The pitiful lack of productivity in the life of the average Christian makes it very easy for a saint to distinguish them self.

Do They Actually Believe This Stuff?
Sometimes I wonder if the people who are in the business of teaching about the Christian way of life actually believe their own words. I didn't find any shortage of enthusiasm for Christianity as a whole. I did find that there was major problem when it comes to putting words into action.

One day I was doing a survey of major Christian ministry websites, and I discovered that 85 percent of them lacked a single page with any type of salvation message. I find plenty of web pages that offered books and tapes for sale. There was also no lack of material that sang praises to the sites' owners.

There's no excuse for a Christian ministry to not have a page that urges people to make a decision for Christ. The act of spreading the Gospel is what defines someone as a preacher. If someone didn't know how to operate an automobile, there's no way he could claim to be a race car driver. If another person has never been to medical school, it's impossible for him to say he's a heart surgeon.

I noticed some evangelists don't even have a gospel link on their websites. These people obviously must not understand the meaning of the word "evangelize." How in the world can someone call himself an evangelist if he doesn't evangelize the lost and dying world?

Christian websites are mostly a wasteland of self-centeredness. If you want instruction on Biblical truth, in most cases, you will need to first cough up $19.95 plus $4 for shipping and handling. Most sites have precious little about the Savior himself, but you will find plenty of information on His anointed servants.

You can get an excellent measure of a ministry's dedication to the Great Commission by reading their Frequently Asked Questions section. Most preachers make a mockery of the concept of a FAQ section by only listing questions that serve their own personal interests.

Pastor Creflo Dollar has all of the important topics covered on his FAQ page. This gentleman is free to post what he wants, but I don't see how he can claim to be a minister if he's totally focused on himself. Listed below are the only eight questions found on Dollar's official site:

Who is Dr. Creflo A. Dollar?
Does Dr. Creflo A. Dollar pastor any other churches?
Are you on television in my area?
Is there going to be a convention in my area?
How can I purchase your products?
How can I obtain a product catalog?
How can I join your E-mail listing?
What are your service times?

I'm surprised Dr. Dollar didn't address other important questions that his adoring fans are dying to have him answer:

What is Dr. Creflo A. Dollar's favorite color?
How did Dr. Creflo A. Dollar get to be so smart?
Is there a limit to the size of a donation made to your ministry?
Do you take credit cards?
How can I get an autographed photo of Dr. Creflo A. Dollar?
Is there a way to get all your tapes on an installment plan?

The behavior that causes me to have the most doubts about a Christian organization's level of commitment is the practice of removing free material from websites. The desire for financial gain is apparently so strong, it motivates the average Christian writer to highly limit the information he offers to the public.

The only time I delete articles from this web site is when they become outdated. Our goal is to continue to expand the site until Jesus calls us home. Because we believe in the importance of getting ready for the world to come, we keep pressing ahead.

Conclusion
In life, you can do a lot of things to get ready. You can get the furnace ready for winter, you can work to have your savings ready for retirement, or you can educate yourself to be able to perform the tasks required in a career field. The most important thing to get ready for is the Kingdom of God. If you're not ready for the rapture, you need to reconsider your priorities.

I can guarantee that nothing is more important than knowing your sins have been washed in the blood of Christ. Eternal redemption is very easy to accomplish. It's fully automated, with no paperwork. Unfortunately, most people neglect to take advantage of the Lord's limited offer.

You can call it salvation, deliverance, or just plain getting saved, but action is the only way to win the right to be called a child of God. Lip service and procrastination only lead to failure. No matter how well someone writes a testimony, or how skillfully a book gives an example of how to become a Christian, if people are not willing to make the commitment, the guidance is useless.

"For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now [is] the accepted time; behold, now [is] the day of salvation" (2 Cor 6:2).

Yes! Jesus is Coming!

-Christian Issues Network- -Last Call Devotional Network- -Natzsal The Jewish Network-

Biblical Prophecy Today: ""America Has Turned A Corner On Homosexuality"" - Rapture Ready

2011-08-29T15:58:00.001-07:00

Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today

Every day We Post Perspectives in Prophecy

(BiblicalProphecyToday@gmail.com)

(google: "Prophecy Today Q&A" or "Biblical Prophecy Today")

-The Classic Christian Network- -Biblical Prophecy Today Network- -Last Generation News Report-

"Articulating Prophecy Biblically"

Prophecy Today

"Answering Questions in Prophecy Biblically"

RAPTURE READY

America Has Turned A Corner On Homosexuality

By Daymond Duck

Some recent headlines on homosexuality read: 1) New York becomes the sixth state to legalize gay marriage; 2)  New York mayor officiates Jewish gay marriage for staff members; 3) Pastors: Homosexuality not a sin; 4) Troops march in San Diego gay pride parade; and 5) California Gov Signs Landmark Law to Teach Gay History. From New York to California, from the Governor’s mansions to the classroom, from the pulpit to the military homosexuality has become the accepted lifestyle. Gays are eating and drinking (partying and parading), marrying and giving in marriage and multitudes are anxious to give them acceptance and approval.

That’s the way it was in the days of Lot. When Lot took the two angels to his house “the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the peoplefrom every quarter: And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them” (Gen. 19:4-5). Sodom andGomorrah didn’t have Governors, mayors, pastors, a military and classrooms like America has today, but it’s obvious that whatever they had the old, the young and all the people from every quarterapproved of the homosexual lifestyle.

Homosexuality still existed after God destroyed Sodom andGomorrah with fire and brimstone, but it lost its wide acceptance and a negative stigma was attached to it that lasted for hundreds of years. People in the Old Testament called it a sin (Gen. 19:15, 24-25) and many people in modern times called homosexuals derogatory names.

          Jesus was talking about the signs of His Second Coming when He said, “as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all” (Luke 17:28-29). Our Lord’s words are about more than homosexuality, but they definitely include revelers partying, parading, drinking, marrying, and celebrating gay marriage; they definitely include politicians and unbelieving pastors with a form of godliness giving their approval to a lifestyle that the Bible clearly says grieves God (Gen. 18:20); and they definitely include a reference to the days of Lot which is a prediction that society will go full circle and return to the wide acceptance and approval of this abomination at the end of the age.

          When God created Adam and Eve He said they would die, if they ate the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (Gen. 3:1-3). But Satan told Eve, “Ye shall not surely die” (Gen. 3:4). They ate the fruit and eventually died.

Paul advised the Colossians to mortify their fornication and uncleanness or the wrath of God would come upon them (Col. 3:5-6). John said the abominable will be cast into the Lake of Fire where they will die the second death (Rev. 21:8). This is easy to understand, but many others say, “You won’t be cast into the Lakeof Fire. You won’t die the Second Death.” They believe the father of lies called Satan and they will eventually die the Second Death. Those who love them will tell them and try to prevent this from happening. Telling them that lifestyle is a sin is not judging. The Word of God says it is wrong and the issue is settled. We don’t have to judge to know how God feels about it. Concerning Sodom, notice, in the passage quoted above, that Jesus God destroyed them all.

In his letter to the Church at Rome, Paul said God will give the homosexuals up because they have exchanged the truth for a lie (Rom. 1:2425). God is the author of the Scriptures. He called homosexuality an abomination. He destroyed Sodom andGomorrah. He hasn’t changed. Many know these easy-to-understand teachings are in the Bible. But they have listened to Satan, abandoned the truth and accepted a lie.

          The end of the age has arrived. The Scriptures don’t say people can accept Jesus as their Saviour without accepting Him as their Lord. The Scriptures don’t say people can get saved and keep their favorite little sins. The Scriptures don’t say people can get saved and live a perverted lifestyle. The Scriptures say repent, be born again, give up your sins and become a new creature.

          People can let Christ change them and receive them into heaven. But people need to understand that the modern applause and wide acceptance of the gay lifestyle means that society has gone full circle. Society has left the days when homosexuality was condemned and returned to the days when homosexuality has wide acceptance. Society has returned to the days of Lot and this is a sign that the end of the age is near.

Yes! Jesus is Coming!

-Christian Issues Network- -Last Call Devotional Network- -Natzsal The Jewish Network-

Biblical Prophecy Today: ""The Dead Frog Report,"" - Rapture Ready

2011-08-26T15:29:00.001-07:00

Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today

Every day We Post Perspectives in Prophecy

(BiblicalProphecyToday@gmail.com)

(google: "Prophecy Today Q&A" or "Biblical Prophecy Today")

-The Classic Christian Network- -Biblical Prophecy Today Network- -Last Generation News Report-

"Articulating Prophecy Biblically"

Prophecy Today

"Answering Questions in Prophecy Biblically"

RAPTURE READY

A frog placed into a pan of water with a low flame under it will slowly be boiled alive, the temperature change being too small for the frog to notice. If we were to toss the frog into water that's already boiling, the frog would leap out. This scenario is exactly what is occurring today with the breakdown of moral values. The bubbles from the boiling action are rising up all around us, and few people are realizing what is taking place.

The Following are Examples of Unnoticed Decay

- The increasing number of filthy words being used in the movies and on television
- NC-17 films charting at the top of the movie roster
- People killing each other over minor conflicts
- Individuals committing crimes and showing no remorse
- Television talk shows featuring topics straight out of the gutter
- Doctors helping people kill themselves
- Ads for condoms promoting immoral acts
- The topic of the occult being addressed in children's shows
- The proliferation of psychic phone lines
- The increasing number of gay characters appearing in prime time programs
- People suing for trivial reasons
- The meltdown of the legal system
- The ending of rules requiring a family hour on television
- The speed at which horrific murders are becoming old news
- Smut magazines now being found on most newsstands
- Gambling being legal in almost every state
- Christian networks replacing their gospel programs with infomercials

Yes! Jesus is Coming!

-Christian Issues Network- -Last Call Devotional Network- -Natzsal The Jewish Network-

Biblical Prophecy Today: ""Prophetic Writings from the Past,"" - Rapture Ready

2011-08-25T12:31:00.001-07:00

Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today

Every day We Post Perspectives in Prophecy

(BiblicalProphecyToday@gmail.com)

(google: "Prophecy Today Q&A" or "Biblical Prophecy Today")

-The Classic Christian Network- -Biblical Prophecy Today Network- -Last Generation News Report-

"Articulating Prophecy Biblically"

Prophecy Today

"Answering Questions in Prophecy Biblically"

RAPTURE READY

by Todd Strandberg

One of the most repeated arguments against Bible prophecy is that people have been saying we're living in the last days for years. How do we know whether we really are living in the last days? One method I have found useful is to compare prophetic commentary made in the past with events occurring today.

Observations made in the past vs. ones made today

Then: The study of Scripture numerology, or "Bible math", was big in the late 1880s. One key mathematical theory stated that the time of man will last 6,000 years. The starting point was around 4004 BC. The end of time would be around 2000 AD.
Today: Men who lived over 100 years ago forecasted Christ's return in our lifetime, not theirs. Also ironic is that now, when the time has come near, most prophetic ministries shy away from promoting this theory.

Then: One author commented about the prophesied rebirth of Israel by saying that nearly 20,000 Jews live in the Holy Land.
Today: Israel is now a reality, with a Jewish population of more than 5 million.

Then: Most of the destruction on earth during the tribulation was seen as coming from God.
Today: With the proliferation of nuclear forces, man himself has the power to destroy life on earth.

Then: The idea of a revived Roman Empire had men writing about the city of Rome itself. One talked of all the new construction in the city of Rome as a sign of the revival of the Roman Empire.
Today: The fact that Europe is reforming into the beast about which Daniel and John wrote is unmistakable. The European Union is the driving force behind this reconstitution.

Then: In 1897, the first Zionist movement was held in Switzerland. The birth of this movement caused a stir among prophecy writers.
Today: The Jews have returned to Israel from countries in which they have lived for centuries. Most of this relocating has occurred within the past few years.

Then: : In the mid-1930s, one author noted that girls in pajama suits dancing bare foot before a Sunday evening congregation were a sign of the end times. The author noted that no one in attendance was unfavorably impressed.
Today: If those dancing girls set themselves ablaze, the fire marshal might be the only one who would care.

Then: Moral decay was evident at beaches, where the costumes that bathers wore made one author speculate whether nude beaches might be on the way.
Today: Nude beaches did come, and the bathing suits that some bathers wear make one wonder whether all beaches might be classified as nude.

Then: Modernism was considered "the apostasy" spoken of in the Bible. This modernism lacked leadership and had a general focus. focus to it.
Today: Modernism has become the norm and has branched out in many directions. Higher forms of apostasy are now making inroads. The men of the last century couldn't have foreseen that pagan gods would share equal billing with Jesus, all religions would be moving towards unity, and even God himself would be pronounced dead.

Then: Modern music was a sure sign of lawlessness. Swing music was cited as appealing to the worst in human nature and for causing people to lose all semblance of self control.
Today: The music of our day has changed a great deal since the turn of the 20th century. We went from Elvis, "the Pelvis", to Madonna and Michael Jackson grabbing themselves on stage. Some singers use certain four-letter words so repeatedly that one would think they were stutterers. The "Age of Rock and Roll" has run the gamut and its musicians have left no stone unturned in their pursuit of filth.

The moral problems of long ago seem comical when compared to the ones of today. We almost have to smile as we read them. They would be funny if they didn't point out how corrupt our society has become. It is unlikely that 100 years from now, people will be comparing how evil their generation has grown since our time. I am convinced that man has exhausted his imagination when it comes to the invention of new evil deeds. Any comparisons made with us, future tense, would certainly show how values have improved or stayed the same.
return to main menu

Yes! Jesus is Coming!

-Christian Issues Network- -Last Call Devotional Network- -Natzsal The Jewish Network-

Biblical Prophecy Today: ""Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,"" - Rapture Ready

2011-08-23T10:41:00.001-07:00

Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today

Every day We Post Perspectives in Prophecy

(BiblicalProphecyToday@gmail.com)

(google: "Prophecy Today Q&A" or "Biblical Prophecy Today")

-The Classic Christian Network- -Biblical Prophecy Today Network- -Last Generation News Report-

"Articulating Prophecy Biblically"

Prophecy Today

"Answering Questions in Prophecy Biblically"

RAPTURE READY

by Todd Strandberg

In the song, "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious," from the Disney film Mary Poppins, Dick Van Dyke and Julie Andrews sing these lyrics: "Even though the sound of it is something quite atrocious, if you say it loud enough, you'll always sound precocious." This perfectly describes how Christian leaders have distorted the message Jesus commanded His disciples to preach.
When Jesus sent His disciples out into the world, He didn't leave them a mountain of directives on how to operate the newly formed Christian religion. Nor did Jesus tell his disciples to develop a cumbersome system of religious jargon and ceremonies.
Jesus' instructions were very simple: He told His disciples to preach the "good news" (Mat. 11:5), the "glad tidings" (Mark 1:14), and simply to be His "witnesses" (Acts 1:8). The Apostle Paul described the Gospel with equally simple language: He referred the "blessed hope" (Tit. 2:13) and in 1 Corinthians 1:23, he summed up his whole ministry in few words: to preach "Christ crucified."
Thousands of other religions compete against Christianity today. Very few of these can match the Gospel's simplicity. If you were to check into the salvation plan of some of these other religions, most would give a mumbo-jumbo spiel like this: "To find the ultimate state of consciousness you need to achieve complete symmetry between the celestial and physical plains of existence."
You don't need to go through a 20-step program to become a Christian. All a person needs to do is realize his sinful state, ask Jesus to be his Savior, and then follow Jesus' example of pure living. I can make this process even simpler. American currency features these words: "In God We Trust." If you were to personalize this statement in everything you do, saying, "In God I Trust," you would not go wrong.
I've noticed three main areas in which man has "supercalifragilisticexpialidociousized" the Christian message: Words, Rituals, and Traditions.
WORDS
Throughout the Church Age, a host of scholarly men has spent a good deal of time formulating an elaborate roster of religious words. By adding all these new words and terms to Christianity, the intellectual thinkers of the Church have slowly transformed the once-simple Gospel message into a complex matter.
How can any Christian expect to reach the common man with words like "exegesis," "hagiography," "examologesis," "hydroparastatae," "soteriology," or "anthropomorphism"?
: Sometimes we use big words to get people's attention. For example, I entitled this web page "Supercalifragilisticexpialidociousism" to do just that. At other times, we use complex words to inject humor. One well-known prophecy speaker, just for laughs, pitches the following tongue twister to his audience: "Well friends, today we're going to think anew about the contemporaneous implications of psychophysical monism."
Unfortunately, getting attention and laughs isn"t always the goal of some Christian speakers who use big words. One preacher, who wasn't joking with his audience, constantly used $10 words whenever he spoke. For example, instead of saying "prophecy," he would say "eschatology"; instead of using the word "Gospel," he would use the word "exegesis." It wasn't "Jesus" he was studying, it was "Christology."
The host of a local cable program frequently invited this preacher to appear on his show. The host, whose name was Joe, said that he received a number of complaints from viewers about his guest's vocabulary. After telling the preacher to tone down his talk and not getting any compliance, Joe finally decided not to have the preacher on the show anymore. I also learned from Joe that some people who went to the minister's church stopped going because he was using those annoying, graduate-level words.
You might be wondering why that joker was shooting himself in the foot by using that type of language. The reason was simply pride; he wanted to appear to "know it all." Unfortunately, his smart talk only ended up making him look foolish.

RITUALS
The dictionary describes Christian rituals as the use of symbols, gestures, objects, words, and music to involve the community in a church function.
The original purpose of Christian rituals was to symbolize or represent a certain aspect of the faith. What has happened, in many cases, is that rituals have become a substitute for true Christianity.
One good example of how rituals have replaced God's original intent is the idea that being baptized in water means you're saved. Instead of relying on the blood of Jesus to wash them clean, some folks believe that a dunking in earthly water has the power to make them ready for the heavenly world to come. I've met many people who live in total opposition to the Gospel message, yet because they were baptized in water, they believe they have guaranteed their salvation. I once worked with a woman who wants her baptismal certificate placed in her hand when she dies.
So far in my life, I've been baptized on three different occasions. I was baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; in the name of Jesus; and, while on a tour of the Holy Land, I was baptized in the Jordan River.
None of these baptisms has any power to save my eternal soul. After being baptized so many times, I should be able to freely rob banks and still be saved. Anyone who holds to the sole requirement of water baptism for salvation should ponder the situation with the thief on the cross.
Rituals cannot save us from our sins; they only act to hide them. You can put a priestly robe on pornography king Larry Flynt, have Charles Manson do the rosary, or have Bill Clinton recite the Lord's Prayer in Latin and change nothing. If you fail to reach the heart of a man, any changes you make on his outside are meaningless.

Traditions of Men
From the very beginning, men's traditions have been a continuous threat to the Gospel message. In most cases, when a groups adds a tradition to the Word of God, it has absolutely no concrete Scripture to support the alteration. If it's not in the Bible, then it's not valid. This should be every Christian's motto.
The teaching of purgatory is an example. Where did this come from? Look in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation and you will not find any hint of there being a halfway place for those who need to suffer or pray their way to Heaven. Nor will you find a mention of a place in which people can wait for their family members to give enough money to buy their dearly departed's way out of purgatory.
In my research of the topic of purgatory, I discovered four roots of its origin: 1) tradition; 2) a quote from "the lost books" which states that we should "pray for the dead" (2 Maccabees 12:46); 3) the Council of Trent, which said purgatory exists; and 4) a vision claimed by St. Frances of Rome, in which St. Frances, through divine revelation, claimed to have gotten a peek at this place, which appeared to have upper and lower levels.
None of these explanations for the existence of a purgatory had anything to do with the Holy Bible. Before the church fathers dreamed up the concept of purgatory, they should have read Revelation 22:18: "For I testify unto every man that hearth the words of the prophecy of this book, if any man shall add unto these things God will add to him the plagues written in this book."
In recent years, I've noticed that several traditions of men have been creeping into the Church. Some of these are environmentalism, liberation theology, politics, psychology, and self-esteem. These add-ons only work to choke true Christian doctrine.
Paul warns believers to be wary of strange new doctrines: "As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed (Gal. 1:9).

Yes! Jesus is Coming!

-Christian Issues Network- -Last Call Devotional Network- -Natzsal The Jewish Network-

Biblical Prophecy Today: "Gods Billionaires" - Rapture Ready

2011-08-22T15:02:00.001-07:00

Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today

Every day We Post Perspectives in Prophecy

(BiblicalProphecyToday@gmail.com)

(google: "Prophecy Today Q&A" or "Biblical Prophecy Today")

-The Classic Christian Network- -Biblical Prophecy Today Network- -Last Generation News Report-

"Articulating Prophecy Biblically"

Prophecy Today

"Answering Questions in Prophecy Biblically"

RAPTURE READY

by Todd Strandberg

Eternal Rewards
One of the most commonly believed myths concerning the afterlife is the notion that, in Heaven, eternal life is our only reward. Everyone's rank will be equal in God's eyes. This monolithic view of Heaven has us spending a large portion of eternity sitting on clouds, strumming our harps and preening our new wings.
The Bible could not disagree more strongly with this definition of a communal Heaven. Paul, in Corinthians, said we will receive rewards according to the deeds we perform here on earth: "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad" (2 Cor. 5:10).
Paul also said in 1 Corinthians 3:13-15 that Jesus will test the quality of our works with fire. Our works that are unprofitable will be burnt up; our works that give glory to Him will remain. Obviously, if someone performed works during life on earth for his own glory, he will suffer heavy loss. On the other hand, the folks who work unselfishly to advance the Kingdom will suffer little loss.
Jesus made it clear, in Luke 19, that each of us will receive different rewards for our service. In the story of the ten pounds, our Lord said, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a rich nobleman who gave his ten servants each a pound to invest while he was away on a journey. One servant generated a profit that was ten times his master's money, another servant made a five-fold return on the pound that was given him. The one who gained ten was made ruler over ten cities; the one who gained five was made ruler over five cities. The rest of the servants didn't make a profit on the nobleman's money.
Paul related that man has very little understanding of the splendor that God is preparing for His faithful children: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him" (1 Cor. 2:9).

Eternal Wealth Is Not Always Obvious
From our earthly vantagepoint, it is impossible to know exactly who is richer in the Kingdom of God. Jesus indicated from the example of the widow's two mites that what is in the giver's heart is more important than what is in the giver's hand. If one man had a million dollars to his name and he gave $1,000 to God's work, his gift would be dwarfed by a man who lived in poverty yet gave $20 to God.
Having a church which seats 10,000 people, a series of best-selling books, and a successful radio and TV outreach ministry might indicate that a pastor is building up great treasure in Heaven, but again, spiritual success can sometimes be hard to recognize.
Consider the case of Robert Morrison, the first Protestant missionary to China. He sailed into the port of Canton in 1807 and labored there 27 years until his death in 1834. During the entire span of Morrison's missionary career, he only baptized ten Chinese nationals. His pioneering work, which included a six-volume Chinese dictionary and a translation of the Bible, laid the foundation upon which other missionaries later built. The mind of man might perceive Morrison to be a complete failure, but God surely thinks otherwise.

God's Billionaires
The world has its various rankings of wealthy individuals. Right now, close to 1,000 people have achieved billionaire status. The Kingdom of God has its own roster of heavenly billionaires. The following list is just a small representation of some noteworthy people who have achieved spiritual greatness.

King David
God referred to David as a man after His own heart. David's historical legacy was his founding of the Judean dynasty. Most of David's greatest conquests were won on the battlefield. As a boy, he killed the godless giant, Goliath, with just one stone from his slingshot. David was God's greatest warrior, defeating the Philistines, Moabites, Aramaeans, Ammonites, Edomites, and Amalelekites. In both the Old Testament and the New Testament, the Messiah is referred to as the "Son of David." David is also credited with writing 73 of the Psalms.
John the Baptist
Gauging the amount of wealth John accumulated is not an easy task. John the Baptist did not write any books of the Bible, he had a very short-lived ministry, and even his life was abbreviated. Not until we read Jesus' comments about John do we learn that he was a man of great riches: "I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he" (Mat. 11:11).
Saint Paul
When polled, most Christians cite St. Paul as the man who has done the most to advance Christianity. This is an amazing designation for someone who initially tried to destroy the Church that is now so greatly indebted to him. If heavenly wealth were determined by deeds alone, Paul would have an overwhelming lead over his fellow heroes of the faith. Called the "apostle to the Gentiles," Paul probably holds the most patents in the field of missionary work. With the New Testament containing 13 letters bearing Paul's name as author, there can be no doubt of his mega-billionaire status in the Kingdom of Heaven.
St. Augustine
Augustine was born in Tagaste (modern Souk Ahras, Algeria) in 354 AD and died almost 76 years later in Hippo Regius (modern Annaba) on the Mediterranean coast, 60 miles away. In the years between, he lived out a career that bridged the gap between ancient, pagan Rome and the Christian Middle Ages. His writings profoundly influenced medieval religious thought, and his ideas also surfaced later in the teachings of John Calvin and Martin Luther.
Martin Luther
Martin Luther made his fortune by setting the Reformation into motion. The grand opening event was held when Luther nailed his "Ninety-Five Theses" to the door of the Wittenberg Church. The document contained an attack on papal abuses and the sale of indulgences by church officials. He basically helped revive what has always been the heart of the Gospel - the doctrine that justification comes by faith alone. Luther became the father of a huge network of denominations that bear his name.
John Bunyan
Probably the greatest Christian fiction writer of all time, Bunyan is most noted for his bookPilgrim's Progress. It has been said that his famous allegory about Pilgrim on his journey to the Celestial City is second only to the Bible itself in the number of copies sold through the ages and throughout the world. Bunyan was jailed many times for preaching the Gospel without an official license. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise; Bunyan did some of his best writing in the jailhouse.
John Wesley
Wesley was born June 17, 1703, in Epworth Rectory, England, the 15th of 19 children of Samuel and Susanna Wesley. Wesley was untiring and energetic in his efforts to advance the Gospel message. The Methodist movement was not an overnight success. Prosperity was only gained after a number of years, and amid some of the bitterest persecutions. In nearly every part of England, the proclaiming of the Gospel was first met by rock-throwing mobs. The name "Methodist" came from the business-like, organizing power that the movement displayed. After Wesley's death, the Methodist Church grew into a huge denomination. Its success was guaranteed by military perfection instilled into its leadership by its founder.
Charles Wesley
Some folks have described Charles Wesley as "the first Methodist." They point out that he first brought together a group of like-minded Christians to the "Holy Club" at Oxford. Leadership was not Charles' calling; he usually deferred executive matters to his brother John. Charles' main calling, and the source of much of his eternal wealth, was writing hundreds of hymns. You don't need to attend a Methodist service to hear them. Wesley's hymns have become standards in most Christian denominations.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Spurgeon was England's best-known preacher for most of the second half of the nineteenth century. In 1854, just four years after his conversion, Spurgeon, then only 20, became pastor of London's famed New Park Street Church. His congregation grew so large that it had to move several times before finally settling in the Metropolitan Tabernacle. Spurgeon frequently preached to audiences of more than 10,000--all in the days before electronic amplification. Greatly blessed by the Holy Spirit, his success and worldwide popularity were due, in large measure, to a genius intellect, a natural gift of oratory, and thoroughly biblical expository messages. Spurgeon's many writings and brilliant sermons are still widely published today, testifying to his timeless appeal.
William Booth
During the 1800's, there must have been something special in Britain's water because here we have yet another native of England who founded a prosperous global Christian organization. Booth was an evangelist in London, where he and his wife, Catherine Mumford Booth, established the movement that became known as the Salvation Army. It was originally founded under the name, "The Christian Mission," with the aim of addressing the evangelical and social-welfare needs of the inhabitants of the slums of London. In 1878, the Mission was reorganized along its present quasi-military lines and was renamed The Salvation Army. Today, Booth's organization has become one of the largest charitable organizations in the world.

Infamous Financial Fiascoes
The financial world has experienced a number of infamous financial fiascoes through the years, and the spiritual realm has seen several financial disasters of its own. Nothing is more tragic than someone having the opportunity to achieve eternal greatness and then losing it because of the person's own fraud or neglect.
Judas Iscariot
If anyone had the promise of great wealth, it was Judas Iscariot. The Bible says that the names of the 12 apostles would be inscribed into the 12 foundations of Heaven (Rev. 21:14). Jesus said they would also sit on 12 thrones judging the nations of Israel. Judas saw the miracles and walked with Jesus all that time, but still somehow he failed to see the eternal riches that were being placed in his name. We all know he sold everything that could have been his for a meager payment of 30 pieces of silver.
Asa Alonzo Allen
In my mind A.A. Allen stands as the saddest story of a preacher turned charlatan. He is most well known for telling his followers that he could command God to "turn dollar bills into twenties." Allen said he had "a new anointing and a new power to lay hands on the believers who gave $100 towards the support of our missionary outreach and bestow upon each of them power to get wealth." He was also known to have urged his followers to send for his "prayer cloths anointed with the Miracle Oil," and he offered "Miracle tent shavings" as points of contact for personal miracles. Allen was kicked out of the Assemblies of God denomination when he jumped bail after being arrested for drunk driving. Allen claimed that the drunk driving offense resulted from his being kidnapped and having alcohol forcefully poured down his throat by some thugs. On June 14, 1970, listeners of his program heard a recorded message in which he said, "This is Brother Allen in person. Numbers of friends of mine have been inquiring about reports they have heard concerning me that are not true. People, as well as some preachers from pulpits, are announcing that I am dead. Do I sound like a dead man? My friends, I am not even sick! Only a moment ago I made a reservation to fly into our current campaign. I'll see you there and make the devil a liar." At that moment, at the Jack Tar Hotel in San Francisco, police were removing A. A. Allen's body from a room littered with pills and empty liquor bottles. Allen died from liver failure brought about by acute alcoholism (James Randi, The Faith Healers, 1989, p.88).
Robert Tilton
From the very beginning, the sole purpose of the Robert Tilton Ministry has been to extract money from believers. Tilton got the inspiration for starting Success-N-Life from watching Dave Del Dotto's real estate infomercials. Tilton's love of earthly wealth is so prevalent that it even shows in his own personal testimony. He chose to go to a Hawaiian resort to get saved because, in his words, "If I'm going to go to the cross, I'm going to go in a pretty place. Not some dusty place like Jerusalem. Gravel is all that place is." Tilton built an empire that, at its peak, took in as much as $65 million per year. The end came when an ABC's news program found out that the prayer request letters he promised to pray over were being trashed, unread. All of Tilton's mail was sent directly to his Tulsa bank; the checks were removed and deposited, and the prayer requests were thrown in dumpsters. A reporter, while digging through the garbage, found desperate requests for things like healing of heart and eye conditions. Tilton's operation dwindled rapidly amid the revelations of the scandal. In his defense, Tilton said the prayer requests were planted, and he also said, "I laid on top of those prayer requests so much that the chemicals actually got into my bloodstream, and . . . I had two small strokes in my brain."
Mike Warnke
For years, Warnke claimed to be the former high priest of a 1,500-person satanic coven. It has been said, "Warnke did more to shape the Christian view of Satanism than any leader of his generation." The end of his multi-million-dollar-per-year empire came to a sudden halt when Jon Trott and Mike Hertenstein of Cornerstone magazine spent two years checking out his claims, and to their surprise they found them to be totally fraudulent. Tales of unbiblical divorces, extramarital affairs, drinking and enormous compensation packages for himself and his cronies didn't help matters. Warnke's second wife said, "Mike is one of the greatest con artists I've ever known in my life. And coming from my background, that says quite a bit." Warnke's greatest ploy was his appeals for money to help alleged victims of Satanism; the money instead went to his personal use.
Jim Bakker and PTL
I remember where I was when the news of Jim Bakker's sexual and financial misjudgment hit the newsstands. I was in San Antonio, Texas, going through my six weeks of basic military training. It was the only time I recall of hearing one of the instructors drop his authoritative persona to say, "Hey, have you guys heard this?" Disclosure of the gross over-booking of time-shares at Bakker's Christian theme park forced it into bankruptcy. The "Praise The Lord" satellite network was eventually doomed to obscurity by the circus that enveloped the ministry. After being tried and convicted of fraud, Jim Bakker went to prison for several years. He's now out of prison and last reports indicate that he is serving a small congregation of people - his once vast media empire a distant memory.
Pat Robertson and CBN
In the early 1980's, the Christian Broadcasting Network was one of the leading venues of Christian programming in the nation and the world. Pat Robertson was the founder of CBN, and everything was going fine until he got the idea of running for president of the United States. The American people were about as ready to elect a preacher to the highest office as they would have been to place an exotic dancer in that office. After losing big-time in the fall election, Robertson started a process that slowly transformed CBN into a worldly network. Bit-by-bit, nearly all Christian programming was replaced with shows that were secular in nature. When Robertson eventually decided to change the name of the network to The Family Channel, it was a logical move because little was left of CBN's Christian heritage. All hope was lost when Pat Robertson accepted a multi-million dollar buyout from Rupert Murdoch's Fox Broadcasting Company for the sale of The Family Channel.

Money Down A Rat Hole
In America today, there is $14 trillion in equity and real estate wealth. The longest economic boom in history has helped create a vast pool of prosperity. Men work endlessly to grow their portfolios, but for what purpose? A man who has $10 billion is just as overwhelmingly rich as someone who has $20 billion. Far too many people think they're poor because someone else has more money than they.
Unless you put money to some use, it really doesn't have any value. In fact, value is mostly created by the act of hoarding money. If everyone suddenly decided to sell all the stocks they own, wealth that is based on equity prices would instantly collapse. In the end, a rich person is not someone who has money; a rich person is someone who utilizes money.
To be a truly rich person in the eternal sense, you need to be investing your money in the Kingdom of God. In this area, people of earthly wealth fail miserably. One survey of people with $5 million or more in holdings found that only 2% of their money goes to religious charities. Wealthy celebrities rank even lower. One site that reviewed the tax returns of a number of well-known Hollywood personalities could not find one celebrity who gave money to a Gospel-minded organization.
When the rich finally do decide to give away a portion of their fortune, AIDS causes, libraries, secular colleges, museums, and medical research are some of the typical recipients of their donations. It's ironic that people can be wise enough to build up large sums of money through earthly investments, and they end up pouring those sums down a rat hole when it comes to eternal investments.
Probably one of the best descriptions of what the afterlife will be like for men of great wealth can be found in Charles Dickens's classic A Christmas Carol. The torment of men like Jacob Marley, Scrooge's departed business partner, was not that he and others were weighted down with giant chains; their torment was that they could see the need in the world, but they could no longer "interfere, for good, in human matters."
Jesus said, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God" (Mat. 19:24). Simply because so few rich people give to the cause of Christ, someone who is well off could easily overcome the burden of wealth by giving to God. There is a factor I call the rich man's mite. If someone like Bill Gates decided to give a generous portion of his holdings to something like missionary work, even though he would have plenty of money left over, I believe that person could be regarded as giving in a measure equal to the widow of Mark 12:42.

"Do You Make Any Money Off It?"
Whenever I talk to people about my web site, "Rapture Ready," one of the most common questions I receive is, "Do you make any money off it?" My answer is always "no." This site has actually cost me several thousand dollars over the years. Of course, it may not generate any earthly income, but I'm sure there's a heavenly positive cash flow constantly being produced from the site's operation. When I started RR, I never had any grand ideas of developing some great ministry. I just did it because there was a need.
I have found it to be very dangerous to try to speculate on how God perceives our labors. When someone looks boastfully on his own works, he runs the risk of allowing pride to creep in. Another much larger problem with reward speculation comes when people just give up after they fail to receive man's overwhelming response. The worst thing you can do is quit, because even someone who enjoys limited success is far superior to someone who does nothing.
Some people refuse to do anything for the Lord's work because they claim they have doubts about their own motivation. When you give or do something in Christ's name, nothing is wrong with a healthy expectance of some future reward. But it's true: personal gain should not be our only motivation.
Near the end of Paul's life, he knew very well he would be wonderfully compensated for his labors. He said, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing" (2 Tim. 4:7-9).
What keeps me going is the realization that someday Jesus is going to demand to know what good we've all done in our lives. "Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men..." (2 Cor. 5:11). With me being the type of person who has a hard time defending myself, even when I'm doing the right thing, I realize I need all the extra points I can muster.

Making Financial Plans
If the Bible promised us a full week's warning before the rapture was to take place, I guess most churches would be quite full the Sunday before the great event. Because of the huge bounty of giving, the ushers would probably have to go down the aisles using wheelbarrows to gather the offering. Of course, all this money given at the last minute would be nearly worthless.
When the rapture takes place, all the assets we have in banks and brokerages will indeed be worthless. As they pass into glory, some people whom God greatly blessed in this life might have to endure a dramatic reduction in their prosperity level.
Over 60 percent of the US population has a long-term investment plan to which they regularly contribute; however, the number of people who have eternally focused investment plans is only a fraction of that number. Among faithful church members, the giving rate is said to be only about 5% of their annual income.
The giving of tithes and offerings to various ministries is often motivated by what is commonly called the "prosperity gospel," which states that if you give God $100, He'll give you back $1,000 or even $10,000. With time being so short and with the valuations of this life so temporal, I would ask the Lord to just keep the money in the heavenly realm. "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matt. 6:19-21 NIV).
It's not just money we're talking about here, folks. You can cut out the middleman by witnessing to people yourself. The reward for winning a new convert to Christ is priceless. If you get someone saved, you could pretty much take the rest of the month off. "He that winneth souls is wise" (Prov. 11:30).
Most faithful Christians look forward to Christ's return. I believe if it was made known to us the current balance of our eternal reward, many believers who were once so eager to see Jesus return might instead be motivated to ask Him for an extension. Oh, but ready or not, Jesus is coming soon.

Yes! Jesus is Coming!

-Christian Issues Network- -Last Call Devotional Network- -Natzsal The Jewish Network-

Biblical Prophecy Today: "The Downturn of America" - Rapture Ready

2011-08-17T16:57:00.001-07:00

Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today

Every day We Post Perspectives in Prophecy

(BiblicalProphecyToday@gmail.com)

(google: "Prophecy Today Q&A" or "Biblical Prophecy Today")

grantphillips@windstream.net

"Articulating Prophecy Biblically"

Prophecy Today

"Answering Questions in Prophecy Biblically"

RAPTURE READY

The Downturn of America

By Grant Phillips

For the first time in our history, Standard & Poor (S & P) announced August 5^th, 2011 that it has downgraded the credit rating of the United States one notch below AAA. It said, “’political brinkmanship’ in the debate over the debt had made the U.S. government’s ability to manage its finances “’less stable, less effective and less predictable’”. The S & P also stated, that ‘politicians in Washington were becoming less able to get to grips with the country’s huge fiscal deficit and debt load’.

Russia’s Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, stated on August 1^st, 2011, “They (the U.S.) are living like parasites off the global economy and their monopoly of the dollar”. He also stated, “They (the U.S.) are living beyond their means and shifting a part of the weight of their problems to the world economy”.

China stated on August 6^th, 2011, that we, the United States, “need to cure our addiction to debt”. It also stated that we, the United States, need to, “come to terms with the painful fact that the good old days when it could just borrow its way out of messes of its own making are finally gone”. Further, “to cure its addiction to debts, the United States has to re-establish the common sense principle that one should live within its means”. And if that isn’t enough, they went on to say that “(Washington) has been spending like there’s no tomorrow … they have been irresponsible fiscally so they deserved it (the S & P downgrade)”.

This is where compromise and greed have gotten us in this land of plenty. All three of the entities listed above were dead on accurate in what they had to say concerning our predicament and what has transpired to get us here.

Every one of our “leaders” in Washington should be crimson faced at this entire fiasco. If they have even a smidgen of decency about them, they should be embarrassed to be seen in public. Some had an opportunity to stand their guns, so to speak, and failed miserably. Politics, immorality and greed, as with Rome in the past, is destroying the greatest nation that has ever existed in history. We started out as a self-sacrificing, Christian nation, and have spiraled downward to a selfish, satanic sewer of immorality and greed.

We have been “taken to the woodshed” by two countries that would love nothing better than to destroy us. But why should they bother? We are destroying ourselves. Give us enough rope, and we will hang ourselves. Actually, the rope is already over the tree limb, and the noose is around our neck. All that is left is for someone to slap the horse on the rump, and we’re done for. Frankly folks, I don’t see that as being very far off.

Here’s the sad part though. No one has done this to us. We have done it to ourselves. We vote scoundrels back in office time after time, because of our own greed and immorality. We listen to these silver-tongued orators promise us “pie in the sky”, and now we have gotten what we deserve, a rotten tomato in the face.

All the blame can’t be laid on Washington though, because we the people have held our hands out for years wanting more and more, not realizing or not caring, that those in Washington cannot give unless they take from someone else. Our generation is a spoiled nation of people, who can’t live within our means even in our own lives.

It is my belief that our great country must decrease in importance from the world scene, in order that the nations of the world are arranged as depicted in prophecy. This is rapidly happening right before our very eyes. Due to our own sins, we are rapidly decreasing economically, as shown above. Our dollar is on its way out globally, and will probably be replaced soon with a different world trade standard. Our economic lifestyles will also soon change in my opinion. And I hate to say it, but we probably haven’t seen anything yet with the unemployment rate that is going to befall us, possibly soon. Our dependence on oil is our Achilles heel, and could bite us hard at any time.

My advice would be that we need to “get our own house in order”, not just economically, but especially spiritually. If you’re in debt, get out of debt. Live within your means. If you’re in debt to Satan, come to Jesus Christ. He is our only hope, and as the Apostle Paul says, “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” (1 Corinthians 15:19) The fact is we do have hope in Christ, in this life and in the life to come, if we are in Christ and He is in us. Do not place your hope in man. There is none. There is no need to be miserable though when Jesus Christ lives within us by His Holy Spirit. Even when our earthly world is falling apart, there is always the glorious presence of Christ within us, and the expectation of His soon return.

Can there possibly be any good news from this mess that we are in and spiraling deeper into? Absolutely beyond a doubt there is. Even through the sadness of seeing a once great nation destroyed by Satan’s minions, know that God is still in control. He is allowing all this to transpire, and it is fitting perfectly into His plans for the removal of His Church (Rapture) and His judgment upon this world (Tribulation), which could kick into high gear at any time.

As I have repeatedly said, no one knows when the Rapture will take place, but God Himself, so I dare not guess. However, He does tell us to watch for the signs that He provides for the last days. The snatching away of the Church will occur before these signs reach their maturity, but even now we are seeing them ripen on the vine. The Rapture surely cannot be far off.

If you are living in a dream world, thinking that everything is going to be okay, and certainly will get better, please come down out of the clouds. You’re living in fantasy land. We are definitely at the final stages of God’s dealing with mankind. Everything is going to get worse, and worse, and worse. Somewhere in there, Jesus is going to remove His Church and the Tribulation will start, bringing hell on earth for seven more years. We are never going back to the United States of America that once was. Get used to it. Get ready for Christ’s return.

Grant Phillips

Pre-Rapture Commentary

http://grant-phillips.blogspot.com

Yes! Jesus is Coming!

-The Classic Christian Network- -Biblical Prophecy Today Network- -Last Generation News Report-

-Christian Issues Network- -Last Call Devotional Network- -Natzsal The Jewish Network-

Biblical Prophecy Today: "Too Optimistic" - Rapture Ready

2011-08-17T16:46:00.001-07:00

Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today

Every day We Post Perspectives in Prophecy

(BiblicalProphecyToday@gmail.com)

(google: "Prophecy Today Q&A" or "Biblical Prophecy Today")

-The Classic Christian Network- -Biblical Prophecy Today Network- -Last Generation News Report-

"Articulating Prophecy Biblically"

Prophecy Today

"Answering Questions in Prophecy Biblically"

RAPTURE READY

by Todd Strandberg

One of the most enduring qualities of mankind is its God-given ability to remain optimistic in the face of the direst situations. Optimism is a good attribute in someone who is trying to survive a tragedy or overcome a formidable setback; however, optimism can be a huge liability for someone who is facing up to his sin nature.

The Bible is extremely pessimistic about man's spiritual health. "There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one" (Rom. 3:10-12).

Optimism borders on foolishness for those who think they can qualify as Christians by just affirming their allegiance to the principles of Christianity. The only valid way I know to verify whether you're indeed a disciple of Christ is to determine whether you read the Holy Bible and follow Jesus' teachings.

The power of the human will just doesn't cut it. A man can jump off a building with great optimism that he'll be able to fly like a bird, but that doesn't mean he's going to sprout wings and achieve flight.

The average person on the street has a very rosy assessment of his current spiritual condition. You'd be hard-pressed to find someone who sincerely believes he is destined for eternal damnation. Some people, in a halfway-joking manner, will say, "I'm probably going to roast in Hell." That these people can speak so nonchalantly about such a dire destiny, I think, just highlights the danger of natural optimism.

Prisoners Of Our Own Beliefs

One thing I've learned by hosting Rapture Ready all these years is that we are very much prisoners of our own beliefs. When talking to people whose beliefs are in gross error, we often find it nearly impossible to convince them that they are wrong. I cannot recall ever having persuaded someone who believed in a post or mid-trib rapture view to switch over to my pre-trib rapture view.

I find this to be such a chilling reality that I'm always questioning my own stance on Scripture. There's no way I can say, "I'm right and everyone else is wrong." Every day, I receive e-mail messages from people who believe they have truth locked up in a bottle.

I eagerly read every message I receive from people who try to correct my theology. I have found that having an open mind about everything is not as taxing as one might think. I've noticed, in my case, that eventually you reach the point at which you receive the same message over and over. Most people fail to realize that this is not the first time I've heard their particular version of biblical reality.

"The word rapture is not in the Bible." Oh, I wish I had a nickel for every time I've received that little stinker. It always greatly annoys me when people send me challenges to my end-time views that I've already answered. I should be receiving rebuttals and not basic questions. I don't think the main problem is laziness; I think that they don't look through my web site to see if I've addressed their question because they already know they're right. The only reason they e-mail me is because they want me to agree with them. How will my agreement or disagreement validate them? They should be confident enough about their position that they don't need my approval. If they aren't, they had better keep researching!

Again, the problem is that most people have too much optimism in their own intellectual abilities. Truth can only be achieved when we bring our understanding in line with the Bible. Far too many people try to bend and reshape Scripture to fit their own special belief system. And pride keeps people from having teachable hearts when the Holy Spirit reveals truths different from those they have believed in the past.

Humanism

Optimism has been defined as a doctrine that states that this is the best possible world. This humanistic concept directly contradicts what the Bible tells us.

God's Word says this world is totally corrupt, and will someday be destroyed: "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea" (Rev. 21:1).

Humanists assert man is basically good at his core. They blame his environment as the source of his problems. This is partly why liberal judges are always so willing to give criminals second, third, and fourth chances at reform.

Humanism continually strives to create a better world without God as the central authority. The "love" gospel may sound nice, but it's a poor substitute for the loving guidance we get from the Bible. The "love generation" of the '60's turned out to be a disaster because it had no foundation of truth.

When you optimistically allow people to "just think for themselves" or "do their own thing," you end up destroying all concepts of moral absolutes. With no central law, who's to say Adolf Hitler's view of the world was wrong? If you read his writings, Hitler's main objective was to reform the world into a Utopian society.

Neville Chamberlain of Great Britain learned one of the hardest lessons of history when in 1938 he foolishly trusted that Hitler would honor the now-infamous Munich peace agreement. There was no humanity in Hitler's nature; his heart was evil to the core and he acted accordingly.

Realism

Realism is a mindset that focuses on things that best fit reality. It strives to filter out that which is impractical. A realist's outlook is derived chiefly from his own experiences and observations.

A healthy dose of realism can help protect us from making foolish decisions, especially when we're presented with choices that initially look very appealing.

I'm sure most of you folks have glanced at one of those TV infomercials that promises an easy way to gain instant wealth. A hopeless optimist would buy into this plan; however, a realist would know it's highly unlikely someone would be offering such a lucrative moneymaking secret to the public for just a nominal fee.

When it comes to realistically assessing your relationship with Jesus Christ, it's not an easy task. Our flesh says everything is A-OK, and the crowd of people around us seems perfectly satisfied with its current spiritual state.

The Lord gives a very sobering description of the number of people who will make Heaven their home. Jesus said in Matthew 7:13-14, "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."

To use eternal realism, you need to listen to the convicting voice of the Holy Spirit and the Bible. If we just use that little thing called judgment, even the most hardened sinner has the ability to realize his lifestyle is out of sync with God's perfect will.

God's Will Vs. Positive Thinking

One of the most common teachings in the Church today, is the idea that if you wish or pray for something hard enough, eventually it will materialize. The Bible does promise general blessings for those who trust in God, but by no means does it guarantee anything specific:

"Now listen to me, you that say, today or tomorrow we will travel to a certain city, where we will stay a year and go into business and make a lot of money. You don't even know what your life tomorrow will be! You are like a puff of smoke, which appears for a moment and then disappears. What you should say is this: If the Lord is willing, we will live and do that or this" (James 4:13-15).

Everything we hope to accomplish in this life has to harmonize with God's perfect will. I've seen numerous people struggle in endless frustration, trying to accomplish tasks that were clearly out of their reach. The fact that all of these people were working to advance the Kingdom of God only added to their frustration.

When God's will collides with man's misplaced optimism, doctrinal error is often the result. On several occasions in the early 1800's, followers of the Miller Movement looked for Jesus to return. The Bible says we will not know the time of His return, but William Miller and his followers thought otherwise. A direct byproduct of what is now called the Great Disappointment was the rise of two cultic organizations.

Optimism In Christ

If you haven't already placed your trust in Jesus Christ, I invite you to make that commitment now. If Jesus is coming tomorrow, you need to be ready today. The hardest part is taking that first step.

I'm sure many of you have seen the following three paragraphs before, at least written in a similar manner. They may read like wedding vows; but as in a marriage, the words are easy and the commitment is the hard part. But the Holy Spirit will help with the commitment. His conviction in your life and the strength He provides will give you what you need.

"Dear Jesus,
Without You there is no reason for optimism. I believe You are the Son of God, that You died for our sins and that You were buried, and on the third day rose from the dead to sit at the right hand of God the Father, as it is written in the Bible. I am truly sorry for all the things I have done that hurt You.

Forgive me, Oh Lord, for all my sins. Come into my heart; take charge of my life. Make me the way You want me to be. Open my heart and mind, so I may hear Your Word and do Your will.

With Your ever-present help, I renounce all my sinful practices of the past. Cleanse my heart, Oh Lord! I proclaim You now as my Lord and Savior. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit. From this day forward I have a new hope to trust in, one that will never perish.
Thank You, Jesus!

Yes! Jesus is Coming!

-Christian Issues Network- -Last Call Devotional Network- -Natzsal The Jewish Network-

Biblical Prophecy Today: "Nothing new under the sun" - Rapture Ready

2011-08-11T16:21:00.001-07:00

Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today

Every day We Post Perspectives in Prophecy

(BiblicalProphecyToday@gmail.com)

(google: "Prophecy Today Q&A" or "Biblical Prophecy Today")

-The Classic Christian Network- -Biblical Prophecy Today Network- -Last Generation News Report-

"Articulating Prophecy Biblically"

Prophecy Today

"Answering Questions in Prophecy Biblically"

RAPTURE READY

by Todd Strandberg

In the book of Ecclesiastes, there is a simple statement about the world in general that has become my core defense against false doctrine. From the Revised Standard Version we read: "What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done there is nothing new under the sun" (ECC 1:9 RSV).

If there is nothing new under the sun, how is it possible for people to keep finding new interpretations of Scripture? If the Bible is said to be sealed up (Rev. 22:18-19), why does God supposedly keep providing new information to select groups of people? The only valid answer I can think of is that this new stuff is just the same old lies and deceptions repackaged.

"For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book" (Rev. 22:18-19 KJV).

The Bible is God's complete and exhaustive manual on how to maintain a good Christian life. There is no need for us to go on a quest for higher understanding. Any difficulty on the part of man's understanding rests with his inability to just accept the boring truth. Satan keeps trying to say, "You're missing something," or "There's a better way." He told this lie to Adam and Eve, and we all know what happened to them.

"All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Tim. 3:16-17 NIV).

Standing On The Word Of God

Christian apologists spend a huge amount of time refuting every new teaching that springs up. Because the devil is continually on the job, erroneous doctrine tends to encroach upon us like jungle vines. In the early Church, every time Paul turned around, he had to combat some new falsehood that was creeping into the body of Christ.

Because an unlimited number of false doctrines is circulating in the world, rather than reading up on what everyone else believes, I think it's a far easier task to focus on what we should believe concerning God's Kingdom.

In many cases, heretical doctrine can be very difficult to detect. A lie can be wrapped in 95% truth and still be a lie. This is why we need to use the Word of God like a Geiger counter. And we don't just need to use it to help us discern the truth about what others believe, we also need to use the Bible to help us evaluate what we believe because deceived people are often led to believe that everyone else is in the grip of deception.

One of the easiest ways to identify false doctrine is to constantly remember that there is nothing new under the sun. If someone comes to you with a new revelation or a vision he or his organization claims to have received from God, this new doctrine needs to parrot what is already plainly written in the Bible in order to be considered truth.

New doctrine also must stand up against any opposing passages. Several years ago, a group in California claimed that the Bible granted the right to smoke marijuana. They cited Genesis 1:30: "I have given every green herb for meat." The local police allowed this band of potheads to get away with smoking grass in public on the grounds of religious freedom until they caught some of them selling the green herb to undercover agents.

Genesis 1:30 does say that God has given us every green herb; however, elsewhere in the Bible it says we should be sober-minded. Taking a stand against man's first choice of drugs and alcohol, the Word of God says, "For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation" (1 Th. 5:7-8 KJV).

My 1,000-Cults Rule

Many cults have sales pitches that sound very compelling. With recruitment being their primary goal, it should come as no surprise that most cults use a number of enticing tactics.

When approached by a cult member, you might get the hard sell: "If you don't join us, you'll end up getting tossed into the Lake of Fire with the rest of the harlot church. Or you might hear the soft sell, which might go like this: "Don't you want to be a part of God's perfect will?"

Before you get stressed out from trying to figure out whether they're right, you need to realize one very important fact. If 1,000 cults are active in the world, with each one claiming to be the one true religion, the law of mathematical improbability should put the burden of proof on them, and not you.

Your average cultist just assumes his group is the lucky one out of 1,000 that holds a monopoly on the truth. It should be obvious that they all can't be right. If it were legally possible to patent religious slogans, I'm sure there would be quite a fight at the U.S. Patent Office over who gets to claim the right to "the one true religion."

"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world" (1 John 4:1).

Where Do People Keep Coming Up With This Stuff?

It never ceases to amaze me how people can hold firmly to beliefs they never bother to verify. When we get into the shower, we first check to see if the water is too hot or too cold. When we go on an extended trip in our cars, we make sure the gas tanks are full. How in the world can people just blindly assume they have it right without first checking the Bible?

I fear many people must think the spiritual world runs exclusively on the power of positive thinking. Those blank pages at the back of your Bible are for dedications; they're not there for us to write in our own opinions of what constitutes biblical truth.

When men decide to implant their own ideas into the Bible, false doctrine results. And once it's conceived, the author of the false doctrine will often bend Scripture to support his new interpretation. Quite often, false doctrines are so much in conflict with the rest of the Bible that huge portions of Scripture need to be given special interpretation.

One of the worst cases of Scripture bending I've seen is the "Jesus only" doctrine. This cultic teaching says there is no God or Holy Spirit; there's only Jesus Christ. It is based on Acts 2:38, which records Peter telling people to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.

The Oneness people have an incredible task in trying to explain away hundreds of passages that imply oddities like God talking to or sitting next to himself. If Jesus is the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, then who was praying to whom at the Garden of Gethsemane?

"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears. And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables" (2 Timothy 4:3-4).

The Best Of Times; The Worst Of Times

With prophecy being fulfilled every day and with the rapture of the church ever closer, we could easily say we are living in the most exciting part of the Church Age. Because the end times are predicted to be times of gross apostasy, we are also living in very spiritually dangerous times.

We have the opportunity to be the first generation to not experience physical death, but we also have the same opportunity to come under God's unrestrained wrath. It behooves us to choose very wisely which path we intend to follow.

As we near the conclusion of this age, who knows what kind of tricks the devil has up his sleeve. It's not just the well-identified cults we need to worry about. Deception is erupting in some of the most unlikely areas of the Church. Denominations that once stood firmly on God's Word are now suddenly falling victim to false doctrine.

So what do you do when you hear some new teaching that sounds as delicious as homemade ice cream on a hot summer day? Remember to verify it against the Bible, first keeping in mind that there is nothing new under the sun.

Warnings From Scripture

"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth" (1 Timothy 4:1-3).

"For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect"(Matthew 24:24).

"But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not" (2 Peter. 2:1-3).

"Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming" (2 Thes 2:3-8).

Yes! Jesus is Coming!

-Christian Issues Network- -Last Call Devotional Network- -Natzsal The Jewish Network-

Biblical Prophecy Today: "Understanding Truth" - Rapture Ready

2011-08-10T12:12:00.001-07:00

Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today

Every day We Post Perspectives in Prophecy

(BiblicalProphecyToday@gmail.com)

(google: "Prophecy Today Q&A" or "Biblical Prophecy Today")

-The Classic Christian Network- -Biblical Prophecy Today Network- -Last Generation News Report-

"Articulating Prophecy Biblically"

Prophecy Today

"Answering Questions in Prophecy Biblically"

RAPTURE READY

by Todd Strandberg

The Quest For Truth

The difficulty in recognizing truth from fiction starts right after birth. From my earliest days, I recall being constantly bombarded with falsehoods. When I was age five, none of my peers questioned the popular belief that some fat guy in a red suit was sneaking into houses annually to deliver name-brand toys made by his worker elves.

I exposed this giant Santa conspiracy when I realized it was impossible for one man to visit all those locations in one single night. I remember encountering some true believers in Old Saint Nick up until the time I reached the higher grades of elementary school.

When I reached the age at which I knew people were telling me things that were full of contradictions, I began my quest for truth. It has not been an easy search. I've gotten off track a number of times, but the Word of God and determination have always quickly led me back to the straight-and-narrow path.

Truth is not something you can hold in your hands. Its existence is based on a process of eliminating every other possibility. In the grand summation of all things, truth will outlast and outweigh all other explanations of reality.

Truth becomes lost or hidden when people fail to diligently seek after it. When the Roman governor, Pilate, was judging Jesus, he asked, "What is truth?" Of course, he said this not knowing the Man of Truth was standing right before him.

In this article, it's not possible for me to tell you what is truth and what is not. You folks would be foolhardy to just blindly trust the words of some guy you located on the internet. My plan is to show some methods you can use to find truth for yourself.

A Strong Conviction Doesn't Make Something True

People have a natural tendency to assume that if you believe in something strongly enough it will become reality. No matter how dedicated people are to an idea, their positive confessions do not produce truth.

In the past decade, many radical terrorists have believed in their twisted ideologies so resolutely that they have been willing to die for their causes. I'm sure the hijackers who crashed the three jets into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were fully convinced that killing all those people was a supremely justified act that had the blessings of some divine being.

I realize the world has lost much of its grasp on morality, but I don't think we've fallen far enough from grace for the average person not to understand that these men were greatly mistaken in their actions. I'm sure the terrorists were quite shocked when they realized they were not in Heaven.

I'm constantly receiving email messages from folks who hold to some rather strange doctrines. In most cases, I can tell right away that their beliefs directly conflict with the Word of God. But nonetheless, they firmly believe that they are right. Sadly, most don't even bother to see whether the Bible agrees with them. It is simply the strength of their own human will that makes them correct.

You simply can't use faith and conviction to make something true. Even a person of great doubt can still be correct. The power of positive thinking is powerless in the real world of hard facts.

In many faith healing circles, many erroneous teachings tell people it's a sin to have a negative thought about your state of health. They're instructed to say goofy things like, "I don't have cancer"; "I'm not sick"; or "I don't have a bad back."

If you have a terminal illness, saying you don't have it isn't going to make it go away. God does not wait until someone is in the perfect state of denial before he heals that person. Until the Lord sees fit to answer your prayers for healing, it's dishonesty to claim a state of health you don't have.

Everyone has the right to have mangled logic. I'm just not sure that was their original intent.

Everything Has An Explanation

I got out of the debate business long ago. I used to argue with people for hours over some major issues, but after years of experience, I've learned it's impossible to corner someone who doesn't wish to be cornered. There is always a counter point to every point, and a counter, counter point to every counter point.

Pride is a huge obstacle to finding the truth by debating. One person has to be willing to admit he's wrong, and it's very unlikely this will happen. And just because someone acquiesces and admits he is wrong, the opposing point isn't necessarily the truth. I try to respond to emails that challenge the views I present on my site, but I rarely engage in a lengthy, back-and-forth discussion with people who are clearly in some other camp.

Any type of lie can be defended to some measure. Most everyone believes the Earth is round. Try putting yourself in the mindset of the members of the Flat Earth Society. Sure, we have pictures of the Earth from space, but any Hollywood graphic artist could dream up similar photos. As for those live images of men walking on the moon... hmmm, those rocks in the background do look suspiciously like foam rubber.

Because everyone you encounter has the potential to be a false witness, you should never completely let down your guard. Computers have firewalls that constantly check for viruses; we need to always have the latest version of common sense loaded in our minds.

Everything does have a potential explanation, but not every explanation makes sense. Some people need to know when to give it a rest. When you've become the only witness to truth, you've then gone too far. I like the slogan, "Don't put a question mark where God puts a period."

Rat Poison

I've always been amazed that the common poisons we use to control rodents are made of 99.995 percent inert ingredients. When you open up a box of Victor Rat/Mouse Bait, only 5 thousandths of a percent of the content is the actual poison that kills the little rascals--the rest is mostly grain. I guess if the mixture were 90 percent grain with 10 percent poison, the vermin wouldn't eat the stuff because it would taste repulsive.

The mixture of lies with truth often works the same way as rat poison. You only need an extremely small amount of falsehood to pollute any given belief, and by using a small dosage, the devil can make lies very palatable.

Adultery presents a very good example of the use of this type of subtle poison. Someone cheating on his wife could possibly detail a long list of reasons to support his affair. He may find the adulterous relationship has several positive benefits: It may give him happiness, companionship, or understanding, but every time he and his lover make their secret rendezvous, the toxin, sin, is also present.

Rodents lack the ability to realize they're eating something that's slowly killing them. In most cases, humans are fully aware they're consuming something that is poisonous. The lack of immediate negative consequences creates a false impression that the poison is manageable.

In John 17, Jesus talked about being in the world but not of the world. Even though we live our lives in this sinful world, we need to constantly be aware that everything of an earthly nature is tainted. We don't need to become monks to retain our faith. Just remember, it's all right for a ship to be in the ocean, but woe unto that ship if the ocean gets into it.

The Greater Truth Principle

In my many years of study, I've had to resolve where I stand on a wide range of issues. During my research, I have often found one source saying one thing and another source saying the opposite. After many years of study, I have come up with a rule that has been very helpful to me.

I call it the "greater truth principle." In all arguments for truth, some facts and statements overrule all others. In a murder case, a mountain of circumstantial evidence may point to the suspect's innocence, but all it takes is one signed confession of guilt to nullify the circumstantial evidence. The suspect may not have initially fit the profile of a killer, but if he admits to the crime and provides a motive, the lack of the profile match becomes irrelevant.

Here's a more in-depth illustration to drive the point home: One might say, "Tom and I are going bass fishing this weekend." Supporting this claim are the following true statements:

Tom and I have gone fishing each weekend during the past month.
Tom just bought a new fishing pole and wants to try it out.
We plan to go fishing this weekend.
Tom's brother is coming along with us.
The weather is going to be great well into next week.

These five points may be true, and they make it highly likely that Tom and the person making the statement are going bass fishing this coming weekend. However, other factors can instantly make them incorrect. Those factors instantly become the dominant truth outranking all other statements. Here are a few examples:

Tom had a heart attack and is now recovering in the hospital.
Tom's Army reserve unit was called up and he had to leave immediately.
Tom had to make an unexpected two-week business trip to Europe.
Tom died in an accident.

These four declarations override each of the first five statements. If Tom is barred by overwhelming circumstances from attending the fishing date, it doesn't matter what his plans were for that weekend.

Some people try to dance around the truth by promoting implausible answers to absolute statements. Here are a few examples of these types of remarks:

Tom Jr. was whom I was talking about.
Tom will be there in spirit.
Tom will rise from the grave.

The key to making the greater truth principle work is to honestly judge which truth outranks another lesser truth. You have to do this without injecting your own personal opinions into the decision-making process.

Examples of Greater Truths

The main purpose for my website is to defend the pre-trib rapture doctrine. I have included on the site dozens of articles that detail why I believe in pretribulationism; however, the greater truth that always puts the issue to rest is Matthew 24:44: "For this reason you be ready too; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will." There simply cannot be a rapture surprise if we already know the event is coming at the mid-point, pre-wrath, or end of the tribulation.

Many liberal scholars will tell you all religions lead to God. They quote passages that talk about God's eternal love for mankind. The greater truth facing universalism has to be Jesus' statement in John 14:6: "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."

Rev. Sun Myung Moon is the leader of the cult, "The Unification Church." One of his specialties is having a supernatural ability to match up strangers for his mass weddings. People who have never met before are told by Moon that they are perfect matches for each other. The first greater truth would be that Moon's teachings are not found in the Bible. The most pointed greater truth that disputes Moon's claim of being a divine matchmaker is the fact he's been divorced himself.

In the debate between eternal security and responsible living, those who believe in "once saved, always saved" quote John 6:47: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life." In James 2:26, we have one of the clearest examples of the power of a greater truth: "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." In order for James' statement to be correct, John 6:47 has to come with conditional requirements.

Regarding homosexual acts, Leviticus 18:22 makes it very clear where the Bible stands on the subject: "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination." I've never read a rebuttal that tried to use Scripture to counter the numerous passages that condemn the gay lifestyle. The most common approach is to say God was talking about the perversion of pure homosexuality, such as homosexual rape, prostitution, and lust. If you stick to the Golden Rule, there is no way you should misunderstand the Bible's view on this matter.

You can always find ads for baldness cures in men's magazines and on late-night cable channels. The hucksters selling these products claim they can restore anyone to a full head of hair. The greater truth disproving these ads is the fact that image-conscious male celebrities continue to suffer from various stages of baldness.

I realize some folks may disagree with me on my examples of greater truths. If that is the case, I challenge you to find in the Bible a greater, greater truth that invalidates any of the ones I've cited.

The Bible: Your Only Dependable Source for Truth

The Berean citizens, of the Book of Acts, are famous for their dedication to biblical truth. When the Apostle Paul was instructing them in the faith, every day they would check the Old Testament to verify the claims Paul was making about Jesus being the promised Messiah.

"And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so" (Acts 17:10-11).

Without the Bible there is no understanding of eternal truth. The truth that man has forever been trying to devise is subject to constant revision. In the final summation, it will have to be said: All truth begins with God and all truth ends with God.

I've searched the internet and book libraries for commentary on truth, and have found very little instruction on how to find it. I had zero trouble locating material that talked about the need for truth. The Bible goes on endlessly about the subject of truth. It boldly and emphatically says, look no further:

"Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth" (Psalm 119:142).

"The sum of thy word is truth" (Psalm 119:160).

"Sanctify them in the truth: thy word is truth" (John 17:17).

"And now, O Lord Jehovah, thou art God, and thy words are truth" (2 Sam. 7:28).

"And that from a babe thou hast known the sacred writings which are able to make thee wise unto salvation" (2 Tim. 3:15).

"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" (2 Tim. 2:15).

"Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32).

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works" (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

Yes! Jesus is Coming!

-Christian Issues Network- -Last Call Devotional Network- -Natzsal The Jewish Network-

Biblical Prophecy Today: "Prepping for the Crash" - Rapture Ready

2011-08-08T13:49:00.001-07:00

Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today

Every day We Post Perspectives in Prophecy

(BiblicalProphecyToday@gmail.com)

(google: "Prophecy Today Q&A" or "Biblical Prophecy Today")

-The Classic Christian Network- -Biblical Prophecy Today Network- -Last Generation News Report-

"Articulating Prophecy Biblically"

Prophecy Today

"Answering Questions in Prophecy Biblically"

RAPTURE READY

Aug 8, 2011

Prepping for the Crash

The Dow Jones Index fell more than 500 points on Thursday just past. Panicked European markets started the slide, and it is uncertain where the plunge will end. Fear is on the rise that a Great Depression-type economic crash is coming. Even the normally optimistic talk-show host Rush Limbaugh, who pontificates from his radio bully-pulpit about America’s resilience against cyclical damage to the economy by liberal presidential administrations, is heard these days grumbling in undertones of trepidation. He worries about America’s chances of survival with regard to the current debt crisis and the government’s refusal or inability to stop the profligate spending.

No sooner had President Obama signed the just-passed legislation to raise the nation’s debt ceiling, thus averting U.S. financial default, than monetary markets around the globe began reacting negatively. Wall Street stocks fell more than 2 percent. Japan’s Nikkei fell approximately the same amount. Standard & Poor’s economic outlook presented a bleak assessment; Moody’s ratings service placed Washington’s AAA credit score under a “negative outlook.” Dagong, China’s credit agency, downgraded America’s credit from A+ to A.

The S&P downgraded U.S. credit rating on debt over the weekend to AA.

No matter whether there is a temporary eventual uptick from these negative reactions, it is obvious that America’s influence on the world’s financial markets is profound, just as we have said in these Nearing Midnight columns time after time. The monetary moguls of planet earth are not favorably impressed with this nation’s printing of more money to cover debts. No other nation in history has long been able to sustain such economic madness without collapse. Now is different from any other threatened collapse because America’s crash would bring the entire world imploding to unprecedented depression.

The intricately linked ties every nation has to this economically crippled colossus called America finds the fiscal movers and shakers of the world doing much the same things many lesser mortals are doing these days as they cast their wary glances at the bleak outlook. While many average Joes are buying silver, gold, and other tangible commodities, and some are storing food and preparing to survive what they see as a coming world economic collapse, the power brokers at the top are prepping in their own special ways. They have been doing so for some time.

The monetary masters of the world know–have known for some time—that the current way of money manipulation is unsustainable. Things have got to give at some point. As Todd and I have many times discussed, it is utterly amazing that America’s, thus the world’s, economy hasn't long since come crashing down. It is my contention that it is not these economic gurus at the top that have been able to prevent such a collapse, but the very hand of God that is holding things together –allowing the massive bubble of pseudo-prosperity to build.

For whatever the reason the fall hasn’t come, the financial finaglers are more than aware that a crisis could bring cataclysm in terms of economic destruction. These are using the phenomenal technologies that have developed over recent years to prepare for such catastrophe, on a much grander scale than are the average Joes who are prepping for bad times ahead.

The collapse is coming; of that they are certain. The key in their prepping, I believe, is control. They want above all else to maintain control as things tumble. They want to be sure things are in place to bring the economic structure of their world down in a somewhat orderly manner so the framework and substance of their wealth aren’t scattered and far-flung. They want to have all materials within easy reach so as to be able to begin immediately reconstructing their kingdom to their liking.

It is interesting that the mindset of such planning encompasses the entire political spectrum, left to right. As a matter of fact, it is a conservative initiative that is at the nucleus of one such element to help control monetary matters at the basic consumer level through advanced technology.

Internet providers would be forced to keep logs of their customers' activities for one year--in case police want to review them in the future--under legislation that a U.S. House of Representatives committee approved today. The 19 to 10 vote represents a victory for conservative Republicans, who made data retention their first major technology initiative after last fall's elections, and the Justice Department officials who have quietly lobbied for the sweeping new requirements…the information that commercial Internet providers are required to store to include customers' names, addresses, phone numbers, credit card numbers, bank account numbers, and temporarily-assigned IP addresses, some committee members suggested. By a 7-16 vote, the panel rejected an amendment that would have clarified that only IP addresses must be stored. It represents "a data bank of every digital act by every American" that would "let us find out where every single American visited Web sites," said Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California. ("Source: House Panel Approves Broadened ISP Snooping Bill," CNET News, 8/1/11.)

The intrusion into the lives of and control of the American consumer has long been in development. Computers and the public's ever-increasing integration with the Internet through commercial transaction is one of many technological wonders that will give the would-be masters the control they believe they need to affect a manageable collapse of the U.S. and global economies, when such a fall eventuates.

The prepping continues apace, and the technologies for economic bondage are progressing geometrically. However, God’s prophetic Word foretells a different scenario for the ultimate system of control that will come from present planning by the globalist elitists–the Antichrist system of Revelation 13:16-18. Daniel the prophet was given the prophecy through God’s angel, who interpreted for him Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream involving history’s world geopolitical/socioeconomic kingdoms. In foretelling what would become of man’s attempt to establish a one-world government that excludes Almighty God, Daniel was told to prophesy the following.

Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. (Daniel 2:31-35)

All the prepping done by the would-be world architects who plan to bring about a new economic order from the coming collapse is destined for failure. Their attempt at rebuilding, leaving God out of their plans, will be crushed by the returning King of all kings –the Lord Jesus Christ. The only prepping that can assure a safe, secure future is the preparation already accomplished by Jesus Christ. He did it all on the cross at Calvary nearly two thousand years ago. He is the ark that will provide shelter from the destruction that is coming.

Terry

Yes! Jesus is Coming!

-Christian Issues Network- -Last Call Devotional Network- -Natzsal The Jewish Network-

Biblical Prophecy Today: "A Crisis of Faith" - Rapture Ready

2011-07-29T13:32:00.001-07:00

Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today Biblical Prophecy Today

Every day We Post Perspectives in Prophecy

(BiblicalProphecyToday@gmail.com)

(google: "Prophecy Today Q&A" or "Biblical Prophecy Today")

-The Classic Christian Network- -Biblical Prophecy Today Network- -Last Generation News Report-

"Articulating Prophecy Biblically"

Prophecy Today

"Answering Questions in Prophecy Biblically"

RAPTURE READY

By Todd Strandberg

In a world with few moral champions, Mother Teresa stands as one of the most well regarded religious leader in history. She spent most of her adult life caring for children in the slums of India. It turns out, the missionary who brought light to those in deepest darkness was herself in darkness.
The world recently learned of Mother Teresa’s struggle with doubt when her personal letters were made public in a book. She asked that all her writings and correspondence be destroyed, but the guardians of her earthly estate decided her notes should be preserved for the sake of posterity.
In one of her letters, she wrote an undated address to Jesus, "Where is my Faith -- even deep down right in there is nothing, but emptiness & darkness -- My God -- how painful is this unknown pain -- I have no Faith -- I dare not utter the words & thoughts that crowd in my heart -- & make me suffer untold agony."
She wrote the Rev. Michael van der Peet in September 1979, saying, "Jesus has a very special love for you. As for me, the silence and the emptiness is so great that I look and do not see, listen and do not hear."
Mother Teresa has been beatified but not yet canonized. One reporter mockingly quipped that she should be made the patron saint of doubters.
There is nothing special about Mother Teresa having a struggle with faith. Many great church leaders have had to deal with moments when they questioned their own faith.
What Is a Crisis of Faith?
"Crisis of faith" is a term commonly applied to periods of intense doubt and internal conflict about one's preconceived beliefs or life decisions. This doubt can be triggered by a single event, or it can build up as a general sense of dissatisfaction.
Some people think that any type of uncertainty is a sign of a crisis of faith. I would say the opposite is generally true. Someone who boldly declares that he or she has never had doubts is likely a person who was never a true believer.
True faith is about denying one's self and struggling to reject the sin nature. It is also about feeling like a stranger in a strange land. A person who has perfect peace with the world has never actually separated from it.
A crisis of faith takes place when you reach a dead end, then realize you simply have no faith in your faith.
Game Face
My 20 years of experience in running Rapture Ready has brought me into contact with thousands of Christians. I have learned that you can never be totally sure if someone is a genuine believer.
People know how to act like a Christian. They put on a game face, saying what a Christian should say, yet they lack what it means to be whole in the faith.
Mother Teresa admitted that there was a feigned effort in the to imagine she presented to the world. "The smile," she wrote, "is a mask or a cloak that covers everything. I spoke as if my very heart was in love with God, a tender personal love. If you were there you would have said, ‘What hypocrisy.’"
I’ve seen some examples that go far beyond Mother Teresa's lack of confidence. Some people remove their mask and reject Christianity altogether.
Not too long ago, I talked with someone who operates a site similar to Rapture Ready. During the phone conversation, I was surprised to hear this person openly admit not really being a believer in Christ. I was equally surprised by the endless stream of profanity coming from this person’s mouth.
I have long admired this individual’s articles. The website this person maintains offers Christians some sound scriptural advice, but there is this glaring contradiction.
The only sense I could make of the conflict was that this person's interest had more to do with the satisfaction of running an organization than the desire to serve the Lord. As a result, someone is telling people how to live a Christian life, but that person is following a separate path.
On the Rapture Ready message board, we occasionally have people lose their mask. I remember one woman who wanted to open a thread on wine tasting. When we decided it wasn't a good idea, she had an absolute fit.
Some of her messages were so profane, I wondered if she had switched to the hard stuff and was doing more than just tasting it. Beforehand she had been very sweet to me, but when we butted heads, I could tell she was straining to think of the most vile, hateful things she could throw in the direction of myself and the other moderators.
I understand that conflict and trials do cause people to say things they might later regret. They should never bring us to the point where we renounce our faith.
A Crisis Doesn’t Require a Crisis of Faith
Becoming a Christian does not mean everything will suddenly become a bed of roses. No matter how well isolated someone might be from the world, there are going to be times of difficulty.
For some people, a trial is the point when they doubt or abandon their faith. People assume that God has violated some unwritten contract with them, so they go their own way.
Ted Turner, the founder of CNN, is a very dramatic example of this type of outcome. At one point, Ted intended to be a missionary. He said that he has been "born again" seven times. Ted's sister, Mary Jane, came down with lupus and suffered terribly before dying. Ted had prayed for an hour each day--"for naught". Ever since, Ted has been mad at God and considers himself an "atheist" or an "agnostic" today.
The loss of a loved one is a very traumatic event that can cause anyone to question how a caring deity can impose such pain and suffering on loved ones. It’s often difficult to differentiate “free will” from the “will of God,” and it’s even harder to realize that certain things are simply beyond our control.
There is no broken promise on God’s part. When Adam and Eve fell, the Lord spelled out the consequences of their error right on the spot, and He has been true to His word. Because we live under a curse, hardship should not be a factor in our faith.
Consider the poor folks who lived during the Middle Ages. Their entire lives were spent going from one miserable experience to another. The vast majority of the population existed in abject poverty conditions, and there was a constant threat of war and disease. Someone dying at age 50 would be considered as having lived to a ripe old age.
Despite these miserable conditions, people in the Middle Ages were very solid in their faith. They labored six days a week from sun up to sun down, and packed churches on Sunday.
A cynic might say they were clinging to a false hope, but I don't think that is the root cause. I think the reason adversity causes people to be more devoted in their faith is because it forces people to realize that the Kingdom of God is more valuable than this world. Today, with all the carnal enticements around us, we put more value in this life. Adversity causes people to search their souls, and this is what produces faith.
We should never forget that this world is shadow of the glory that waits in the life to come. Any problem we have along the journey to our true home should be viewed as something that can damage our faith.
A Crisis of Faith Can Be a Good Thing
There are billions of people on this planet whom I wish would have a crisis of faith. The reason is because the faith they currently have is based on falsehood.
One sad situation is when someone is in bondage to a false religion, then realizes something is not right yet continues to be part of this group because he or she lacks the willpower to break free.
I would rather have someone reject a faith they have no trust in than go through life living a hopeless lie. It is foolish for someone to remain linked to a school of thought just because of some cultural or emotional attachment to it.
A lie doesn’t get better with age. It normally degrades as the light of the truth reveals its true nature.
The followers of Jim Jones could have used a crisis of faith. There was plenty of evidence that he was not the divine savior he claimed to be. People blindly put their trust in him--all the way to the point that they lost their lives.
I think the reason Mother Teresa felt so empty was her reliance on a religious experience that was based on works. It’s sad that her lack of fulfillment didn’t cause her to seek the true meaning of faith.
The Holy Ghost Connection
Most people believe faith is a matter of someone just being presented with the gospel message and deciding to become a believer. The Bible says the Holy Spirit is involved in the process. Without Him, no one would choose to become a believer in Christ.
James said that anyone who lacks understanding should ask God for wisdom. People who are in a state of confusion are often trying solve their doubts through their own ability.
"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all [men] liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him" James 1:5.
I’ve been serving the Lord for over 25 years and I can tell how God has guided me. I never had any special revelations of truth, but I’ve never had any crisis with my faith.
I have noticed the sustaining power in God when I reflect back on how many of my Christian friends from my youth have lost their vigor, while I have found strength to keep pressing forward each day.
If you place your trust in God, I am certain that He will also guide you through any obstacle that may come your way.
“By awesome deeds you answer us with deliverance, O God of our salvation; you are the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas. By your strength you established the mountains; you are girded with might. You silence the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, the tumult of the peoples. Those who live at earth’s farthest bounds are awed by your signs; you make the gateways of the morning and the evening shout for joy” (Psalm 65:5-8).

Yes! Jesus is Coming!

-Christian Issues Network- -Last Call Devotional Network- -Natzsal The Jewish Network-