Doug Brady wrote the following, and it is “right on”…and I sat just behind Doug. Here is his take:

Sarah Palin received a rock star’s welcome at the Sierra Cascade Logging Conference where she spoke before the first of two sold-out shows at the Redding Convention Center this afternoon.

That’s 4,000 people who paid between $54 for a balcony seat to $74 for a floor seat. I had a floor seat – second row, so near the tower of speakers that I followed the example of people around me and wadded tissue in my right ear to reduce the volume.

Even so, I heard every word and felt the crowd’s jostling adoration as they cheered and applauded throughout Palin’s speech.

The audience, still euphoric from the Official California Cowboys’ final song, “I’m Proud to Be an American” (where many sang along and shouted “Stand UP!” in unison at the song’s pivotal moment), was already on its feet when Palin was introduced.

The crowd applauded as Palin strode on stage waving and smiling as she took her place behind a lectern before a mammoth American flag in a stars-and-stripes-draped auditorium.

She began by acknowledging veterans’ sacrifices, and asked everyone who’d ever served in the military to stand for a heroes’ recognition.

After that, she read from a prepared speech, heavily peppered with Palin lingo that delighted the audience.

Loud laughter followed Palin’s references to “lame-stream media” and jeers accompanied every reference to global warming. Enthusiastic boos followed a reference to Nancy Pelosi.

She endeared herself to the logging conference crowd by holding her hand up to show what was written on the palm of her hand: “Loggers rock!” – an apparent dig at “lame-stream media” who recently ridiculed her for writing memory prompts on her hand. And toward the end of her talk she complimented logging industry folks when she referred to an administration that talks about green jobs.

The other day, I introduced a subject concerning Seventh-day Adventism (SDA).  I would like to take a few moments to highlight the subject of salvation within the framework of SDA theology.  In general, those within the SDA believe that they are Christian and that the salvation the adhere to is found in Scripture.  Is it?  If it is, then of course Seventh-day Adventists can be Christians!  If not, then they cannot be Christians, and it is as simple as that.

As it is people who belong to conservative churches who espouse the biblical version of salvation may also not be saved.  Just because someone attends church, gives their money, gives of their time, prays and reads the Bible is not the indicator of whether they have authentic salvation or not.  In fact, only God knows who is and who is not saved.  What we are responsible for is making our calling sure.  We need to take the time to search Scripture to determine whether or not each of us has actual salvation.

These Blogs can be viewed two ways; 1)  that I am using this as a forum to attack individuals because I enjoy attacking people, or 2) I am making relevant comments which should hopefully push us all to review our own doctrinal beliefs.  Though it is the second reason that I am doing what I am doing here, there will undoubtedly be a number of individuals who prefer to believe that I am lying and that I am really doing this because of the erroneous belief that I allegedly love to attack people.  For those who insist that my reasons for writing and posting these Blogs is based on number 1 (even though I have clearly stated that my reasons are based on number 2, then to these folks I would say:  why are you judging me, when I have stated clearly what my intentions are?  why are you in the position where you believe you can see my “true” motivation, which you believe is simply masked by my denial of reason number 2?

In essence, those who insist that what I am saying here is being said because I merely want to attack have actually become judges, with evil intentions.  Because I point out what I believe to be irregularities in certain dogmas, this in no way means that I am throwing stones as some would like to believe.  Because I critique writings of people like Steve Wohlberg does not mean that I am critiquing Steve Wohlberg himself, but merely what he writes.  There is a major difference.  Wohlberg, like any writer has put his work out there.  People will agree and disagree over his reasoning and his conclusions.  There is nothing that precludes me from commenting on what he believes.  In fact, what I find interesting is that Wohlberg is so convinced of his own view, that he has no difficulty referring to people like me as deceived or deluded.  Why?  Because I do not accept his viewpoint.

We are taught in the Bible to be on our guard, to learn to rightly divide the Bible, to understand that Satan is roaming around doing his best to steal the truth from us before it even gets to us.  If it is important enough for him to steal it, it must be quite important.  In today’s day and age, there are those who say that all paths or at least many paths lead to God.  Jesus said the exact opposite.  Taken as a whole, the entirety of the Bible points to Jesus only.  There are no other “saviors.”  He is the only one, though He, Paul and others warned that many would come in His Name.

In my next Blog, I will tackle some of the aspects of SDA salvation – what it means, how salvation is received and how salvation is maintained.  These are important topics in my view.  Either they square with Scripture or they do not square with it.  Unfortunately, this is not an area that one can be in error over.  An error here means eternal death in the next life.  To the sentimentalist who believes only that God is love and in Him there is no sense of justice, holiness, or even wrath, I ask that you would take the time to search the Scriptures yourself, because either the Bible says one thing, or it says nothing.  To those who would ask, who says that what I believe is what the Bible actually says?  That is an excellent question and I would ask the same question of you.  All I’m asking is that you find out what you believe, and why you believe it.

When you stand before God, it will be you and Him.  When I stand before God, it will be me and Him.  This life is the life He has given in order that we can know the truth of His salvation.  It is either here or never, and salvation is worth knowing, and it is worth knowing whether we have authentic salvation or not.  To those who still disagree, then there is unfortunately nothing I can say that will change your mind.  For that, I’m really sorry.

One of the Logos used by SDA

Recently, due to one of my Blogs, a number of issues came up related to Seventh-day Adventism (SDA).  Due to my calling it “cult-like” at least one individual took umbrage, in spite of the fact that I had not used that term in an attempt to deliberately offend anyone.

While I genuinely appreciate this man’s comments to me, it was clear that though we were both using English to get our points across, we seemed to “miss” one another’s meaning.  That caused me to think that maybe the subject needed a bit more of a chance to spread itself out over the space of a few Blogs.  What I’ve decided to do is take a few Blogs to highlight some of the more promiment teachings of SDA from the SDA itself (not what people believe them to teach, but what they actually teach), and then people can decide for themselves.  Is SDA a cult, or is it merely an outgrowth of an existing denomination, or a new denomination altogether?  The only reason I am broaching this subject is so that all of us (not just SDA adherents), will take the time to look at their own understanding of salvation and determine if what they have is the biblical version of it; the salvation that Jesus came to secure, to provide and what He Himself taught.

I have not arrived at the end of my learning.  In fact, I will be continuing to learn throughout eternity.  Yet, there are things we can know and should know in this life.  In fact the difference between knowing something as it is biblically taught or not, can be the difference between eternal life, or eternal death.  It is really that simply, and ultimately that dramatic.  I want no one to leave this life, and enter HELL, especially when that can be avoided.  God does not want anyone to perish either.  The reality though is far different, with 150,000 people dying every day – yes, that is 150,000 individuals leaving this planet and arriving in eternity.  Tragically, the fact may also exist that of those 150,000 people, most may not know Jesus at all.  Some may think they do, but find out that they do not, and only a smaller percentage will turn out to have actually been in a relationship with Him in this life; a relationship that granted salvation.

Because salvation is so extremely important to everyone (whether they believe so or not), it is also extremely important to know whether or not we actually have that salvation, the authentic salvation that Christ speaks of and warns against not having.  I will be using a number of sources for information for these Blogs I will be writing.  Of course, the Bible is the primary source, and all SDA teachings will be compared and contrasted to God’s Word.  I will also be using a number of other sources; one in particular is written by a gentleman who spent years as a Seventh-day Adventist, only to discover that what he had believed most of his life did not square with Scripture.  Of course, it could be said that this man (or anyone like him) simply has a axe to grind and because of that axe, he has deliberately made SDA teachings and beliefs something they are not.  That is always the possibility with anyone who writes about some theological framework with which they have come to disagree.  The reader will have to ultimately be the final judge.

I would like to clearly and without equivocation state that what I write here, including my comments for or against a particular teaching of the SDA, is not done to simply bash the SDA.  I would also like to state that I am not presenting this information as a form of “judging” those who believe the SDA is not teaching theology contrary to Scripture.  We are told numerous times throughout the New Testament alone that we are to “test the spirits” (cf. 1 John 4:1-3), to study to be approved (cf. 2 Timothy 3:16-17, and to learn to rightly divide (or fully comprehend) the Word of God (cf. 2 Timothy 2:15).  Why?  Because there is a great amount of error out there and much of it is brought to us by evil spirits.  This is where all of it starts and when given to gullible individuals who do not know God’s Word, it becomes easy for them to embrace that error.

By way of emphasizing the importance of knowing God’s Word, we need look no further than Jesus Himself.  After His baptism, he was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of Satan.  After 40 days and 40 nights, and at His weakest, Satan came to Him and began tempting Him.  Satan first tried to tempt Him to turn stones into bread, but the way he presented it to Jesus was of course, sneaky.  He wanted Jesus to prove that He was God, prove it by turing stones into bread.  He knew Jesus was hungry.  You and would also be very hungry, so it seemed reasonable at first glance to tempt Jesus with something that he was likely already yearning for:  food.

However, instead of giving into that temptation, Jesus responded with Scripture.  He said, “It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God,” (Luke 4:4b).  In other words, Satan was trying to get Christ to do something that would have been out of the Father’s will, by reminding Him how hungry He was, and that since He was hungry, God the Father would not mind if he turned stones into bread!  After all, God the Father would not want Jesus to die of starvation, would He?

When Jesus responded with Scripture – and by the way, Jesus quoted from Deuteronomy 8:3 there – He implied two very important things:

1. Fulfilling God the Father’s will at every point was the most important thing that He could ever do, and
2. Using His deity for selfish purposes was not in the Father’s will for Him.

Of course Satan did not give up.  He came at Jesus again, but from a different angle, and this time, Satan’s boldness grew exponentially.  In fact, it appears as though with this particular temptation, that Satan threw caution to the wind, took off his mask and literally implored Jesus to do what Adam and Eve did, when they switched their allegiance to Satan by choosing to believe what he said about God.  This resulted in calling God a liar.

Satan leads Jesus up to a very high place in the mountains and shows him the kingdoms of the world.  He offers them to Jesus…on one condition.  Satan wanted Jesus to worship him (Satan).  Notice that Jesus did not seem to get angry.  He simply responded again with Scripture.  Christ knew the devil’s game and He was ready for it.  Why?  Because He had spent years studying the Torah, the Pentateuch and other ancient writings.  He had been taught by some of the best teachers around and He also spent a good deal of time on His own, reading and memorizing and praying.  Jesus’ response shows how much He knew and how quickly it came to the surface.  “Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve,”  (Luke 4:8b).  What happened then?  Satan had one more ace up his sleeve and he desperately needed it to work!

On this third and final temptation (for now), Satan threw all caution to the wind.  He led Jesus up to the highest point of the Temple and said, “If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence:  For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone,” (Luke 4:9b-11).  Here, we see that Satan himself got involved in the act of quoting Scripture.  Of course since he does not know anything but lying, then we can be assured that though the Scripture he chose to use is true, by taking it out of its context, Satan actually wound up giving it a completely different meaning that the one intended by God.

Satan is quoting Psalm 91:11-12 to Jesus.  It certainly seems as though it might work for this situation, but what is the context?  If we carefully read through the entire Psalm 91, we find that the Psalmist is referring to those individuals who hide in the shelter of the Lord, and those who trust Him regardless of the circumstances that come to them.  More importantly, we understand the Psalmist to be saying that as we travel through this life, God will protect us.  The Psalmist is using poetic language to teach that God protects those whom He loves.  How does He do this?  He does this spiritually.  The Bible – to my knowledge – never teaches that He will bless us physically so that we are constantly protected from the trials and even the persecutions of life.  This obviously cannot be the case since so many saints of old (and even today!) have lost their lives for their faith.

More to the point, Satan was again trying to tempt Jesus to stumble by misapplying the truth of Scripture to a situation in which it did not apply.  Jesus did not fall for it, responding with “It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God,” (Luke 4:12b), which is exactly what it would have been, had Jesus taken the Tempter’s advice and jumped!  I’m certain you get the point.  It is that we are always in danger of misunderstanding Scripture if we are not careful.  If Jesus needed to study Scripture throughout His life, memorizing, and meditating on it, how much more do we?

We cannot go through life as Christians, thinking that we think we understand something.  If we cannot find it in the Bible, or explain it adequately to other individuals with a clear understanding of Scripture, then we really know nothing about that subject.  It is not good enough to say “I’m only human.”  Jesus was also human, yet remained fully God.  However, the only time He used His resident full deity, was when it coincided with the Father’s will.  He learned God’s Word by studying it, memorizing it, discussing it, and praying about it.  He got to the point that wherever He went, He had God’s Word because it had been hidden in His heart.  Again, if Jesus did this, how much more do we need to do it?

This particular Blog has been introductory.  The next one will get us right into a number of Seventh-day Adventist teachings and we will begin with their understanding of what constitutes salvation.  We will compare and contrast that with Scripture to see where they stand.  Join me please.

The excitement is building as time draws near for Sarah Palin in Redding. She will be speaking Monday, the 8th at 3 and 7 PM….and the evening is sold out and the 3 PM has a few tickets left.

This is part of the Loggers Conference, which is one of the biggest of its kind in the nation, with folks coming in from all over the States, and the World, I am told.

It all starts with Sarah Palin on Monday…and then the conference runs through Saturday. Put this on your schedule, for this will be a very special week for Redding and the North State.

All friends are invited to join us for our kick off fund raising event at the beautiful Pio Loco Restaurant in downtown Redding, CA on February 18th at 5 PM until 8 PM.  Chef Jeff is going all out with a sumptious buffet and the entertainment will be our own rising country western singing sensation, Summer Schappell. Ron will give an overview of his campaign for Shasta County Assessor-Recorder. This will be a time to connect with others in Redding and Shasta County; to enjoy the ambiance of Pio Loco; to have some great food, and to become part of a winning effort to “bring government back to the people” . Tickets are $25 and can be purchased by calling Patty at 530-223-2695.

On the heels of Death or Rapture? I have begun a new book, which covers a topic I have been studying and researching for a number of years.  It seems as though we are hearing more incidents of aliens visiting, communicating with, and/or abducting human beings.  They seem to do this for a variety of purposes, from channeling messages of hope, to harvesting genetic material from both women and men to obstensibly create a hybrid race.

What is the truth about these space entities?  Are they real aliens from other galaxies or planets, or are they merely demons disguised as aliens?  If the former, we need to find out why they are coming to this planet.  If the latter the Bible gives us information on why they would be involved in such a deception (impersonating aliens).

In this book, I do not necessaraily spend a great amount of time attempting to show what they are, but why they are here and what they hope to accomplish.  The preponderance of evidence suggests that they have created this complex masquerade to mask their real mission.  Certainly part of that is to lead humanity to a one world government, headed by a one world leader.  But exactly how are they getting all groups – New Age, professing Christian, agnostic, adherents of mysticism – to accept their one mission?

If you stop to consider that within Christendom, there exists a plethora of viewpoints related to Eschatology alone, then it becomes clear that somewhere along the way, something has been introduced into the mix to create confusion and havoc.  The focus of these “aliens” has always been on the future and their mission seems to be to change the understanding of certain biblical events that appear to be part of the Eschatalogical picture within the pages of Scripture.

It is interesting as I have read and studied how many coming events foretold by these aliens resemble the same events found in the Bible.  The reality is that while the events are in most ways, virtually the same, the version the “aliens” share with us reverses the meaning.

Stay tuned for mor as this book develops!

Roeder's Day in Court (Jeff Tuttle/AP)

Just this morning, I read on msn.com that alleged Christian Scott Roeder, was found guilty of first-degree murder, in the killing of a prominent abortion doctor from Kansas.  Roeder’s reason for killing the doctor is that he felt it was his job to protect the unborn children, which Tiller (the doctor) would have potentially killed during the abortion process.

Follow me for a second, will you, as I try to reason through this can of worms:

First, one is hard-pressed to judge Roeder guilty of being a Christian.  This is so for several reasons.  Jesus never would have advocated killing some doctor, who in the course of their profession, took the lives of babies.  That may seem to some as if I am cowering behind the laws of the land, but in actuality, I stand behind the principles found throughout Scripture.  Obviously Roeder and those who think as he does would vehemently disagree.

The idea that a Christian supposedly has not only the right, but the responsibility to take the life of another individual whom they deem worthy of death is patently ridiculous and tosses the entirety of God’s Word to the wind.  Deuteronomy 32:35 tells us bluntly that vengeance belongs to the Lord.  He is the one who will repay.  It is one thing to protect yourself or your family from attack, by keeping someone at bay who is attempting to break into your home, while you wait for the authorities to arrive.  It is one thing to defend yourself against a mugger, a rapist, or even someone who is trying to assault you physically, which may result in your death.  It is quite another thing altogether to deliberately move against someone who has absolutely no clue that you are out there, training a scope on the temple of their head.  To go up to someone who is completely and unexpectently unaware of your process, put a gun to their temple and pull the trigger is murder and there is no way around that!

The idea that Scott Roeder or anyone else believes it is their God-given right to kill abortion doctors is absurd.  This “responsibility” was never given to the hands of people by God.  The only thing God did was tell Noah that capital punishment was to be assessed in those situations when one human being came against another human being with the sole intent to kill that person.  In that case, the offending party should be tried and if found guilty, should be put to death.  The reason for this was due to the fact that humanity was made in God’s image.  To deliberately kill another individual was to literally strike out at God Himself.  Read about it in Genesis 9 onward.  God is clear.  Premeditated murder is punished by death.

The most asinine thing Roeder said in court was that murder (of unborn children) is wrong and he felt compelled to kill Tiller because he believed it was the will of his heavenly Father (my paraphrase).  Apparently, Roeder either did not hear himself or, he views his act of murder as self-defense.  Either way, he is wrong, absolutely wrong.  So, he goes to prison for the likelihood of at least 50 years to life, and as far as he is concerned, he is innocent, and goes to prison because he is being persecuted for his faith.

Let me say this in no uncertain terms:  what Scott Roeder did was reprehensible.  It was not even close to being something an authentic Christian would do.  Scott Roeder deserves to be put to death for the crime of premeditated murder.

By now, some of you may be asking, Well, what about Dr. Tiller?  He killed babies every day?!  How can he be let off the hook?  A couple of things come into play here.  First of all, what he did – as horrible as it is (and if you have ever looked into how an abortion is performed, I would suggest doing just that!) – Tiller was protected under the laws of the land, where he practiced medicine.  Does this mean that what he did was right?  Not by my understanding of God’s law.  Tiller himself was guilty multiple times each day of murdering one innocent baby after another, and all of it for profit.  Tiller was a murderer.  Unfortunately, because of the ridiculous laws in America, he was not guilty under the man-made system of law, therefore he had committed no crime in the land.  If Tiller had committed crime, then it is up to the system in place to determine his guilt, not some rogue individual who calls himself a Christian and believes that what he is doing, he is doing because the heavenly Father wants him to do it.

Ultimately, Tiller will have his day in the final court, a court which has the final say and metes out an irrevocable sentence, and there are no appeals.  Roeder will also have his day in the same court, and what he hears from God will undoutedbly surprise him, a great deal.

Christians do not have the right to take life for the sake of taking life, no matter how altruistic their motives appear to be.  We have the right to defend ourselves and our families.  We have the right to not place ourselves in situations, which may result in some type of harm coming to us (don’t walk down dark alleys in the middle of the city at night, because it’s a shortcut, or something similiar!).  We do not have the right to pretend that we are God, and that we decide who physically lives and who physically dies.

Capital punishment is one thing, and it was ordained by God in Genesis 9 (and never rescinded, not even by Jesus).  It was to be carefully meted out and only on those who were found completely guilty of their crime.  For those who accidentally killed someone, there were ten cities of refuge that God also ordained.  If the accused could get to one of these cities, he would present his case to the elders at the city gate.  If they were convinced that what he had done was accidental, and not premeditated, he would be allowed into the city.  There he would have to live and if he came out, he was fair game to the relatives of the one who was slain.  He would forfeit his protection.  He would ultimately be able to leave only after the High Priest had died and a new one was installed.  That transition annulled debts such as this.

God is a God of order.  He is a God of patience.  He does not want anyone to die without a saving knowledge of who He is and what He has accomplished through Jesus Christ, God the Son.  Dr. Tiller lost any further chances to come to know Jesus Christ as Savior and God.  Yes, he attended church, but attending church is no guarantee at all of authentic salvation.  It is doubtful that anyone who practices third trimester abortions would have a conscience that would lie mute, if they were a true Christian.  Any abortion is terrible, but third trimester abortions are despicable.  The baby is almost full term.  It cannot be denied that it looks and acts like a fullterm baby, a human being.  It is not a blob of fetal tissue.  Imagine, reaching into the mother’s uterus, and pulling the baby apart (literally), or injecting it with some strong saline solution (which burns it to death), or pulling it out of the mother virtually intact, only to place it on a nearby table as if it is an amputated limb, allowing it to die.  There is no way on earth that a doctor who believes him/herself to be a Christian could be part of such a ghastly operation as this, without feeling the pangs of guilt and remorse.  This is the taking of innocent lives and it is not allowed under God’s Law.  Because it is allowed under the law of the land only means that Christians must abide by that law and go through the system to change the law.  Barring that, they may not resort to their own law, which is not a law at all, but simply lawlessness.

The reason God says vengeance is HIS, and not OURS, is because He alone judges rightly.  No one else does.  No one.  Not you, not me – no one.  We must turn all things over to Him, rejecting our “right” for revenge.  We ourselves are not innocent by any stretch.  In fact, Paul tells us in Romans 5:12 “Whereas by one man, sin entered the world and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”  Sin is sin.  It does not matter to God whether I lie, I steal, I lust, or I am so angry with someone, I would like to see them dead.  As far as God is concerned, sin is sin and it is all punishable and will be punished by God and God alone.  We cannot punish for committed sins.  We can only punish for broken laws, which we call crimes.

By shooting that doctor in Kansas, Scott Roeder believed himself to be above the law.  He believed that Tiller’s sin was greater than his own, and he believes that God fully supports his actions.  The truth of the matter is that it only takes one sin to break God’s Law and it does not even matter which sin it is.  Human beings have a tendency to see themselves as “good” compared to “the other guy” because that other guy is a murderer.  We’ve never murdered.  That other guy is a thief.  We’ve never stolen.  That other guy is an adulterer.  We’ve never committed adultery.  WRONG.  If we have ever told a lie, we are LIARS.  If we have ever taken anything without paying for it (even from work, “I’ll just take this pen.  This place can afford a ton of pens!”), we are THIEVES.  If we have ever looked at another individual and lusted after them in our heart, Jesus said we are ADULTERERS.

Scott Roeder is no better and no worse than Dr. Tiller.  In fact, he has committed the same crime as he accused Tiller of committing.  There are too many whackos in society today, calling themselves Christian, but acting like devils.  I believe Roeder is one of them.  I also believe “his heavenly father” is none other than the devil himself.  Only God knows Roeder’s mind and only God can judge the situation perfectly and righteously.  May He judge both Tiller and Roeder accoring to His mercy as well as His justice.

I’ve been putting the finishing touches on the proof I have in my hands for this latest book of mine and I want to take the next few Blogs here to post some chapters.  Who knows, but I may end up putting the entire book here which can then be downloaded, free of charge.  Isn’t that swell?

I’m not interested in making money off the books I write.  I’m interesting in getting the information out there.  Unfortunately, I’m not a millionaire, so I am unable to buy a ton just to give away.  I wish I could, but the Lord has not provided a way for me to do that yet.  Maybe He will, but in the meantime, I will share at least some of the chapters with you folks here.

The upshot of this new book compares the Rapture scenario with our death.  As a PreTribber, I believe the Rapture to be imminent.  Of course, when many individuals hear that word (imminent), they tend to become unglued.  They not only do not agree with the my understanding of the use of the word imminent, but they tend to start frothing at the mouth at the mention of the PreTrib Rapture as well.

However, what about death?  My death.  Your death.  We are all going to die and we have no clue about our day or time of departure.  If I am living my life daily considering the fact that I could die at some point in each death, am I being spiritually mature, or lazy and unspiritual?

On the other hand, if I am living each day, believing that at any point during any particular day, the Rapture could occur and take me to heaven, am I being spiritually mature, or lazy and unspiritual?

It is funny how many believe anything to do with the PreTrib Rapture makes a person unspiritual or lazy.  However, replace the words “PreTrib Rapture” with “imminent death” and all of a sudden, we have a Christian who is serious about the Lord, dying to self daily, and endeavoring to serve Him as much as is humanly possible.

That’s what this book is about and I have had a good deal of fun writing it.  Frankly, if Christians argued less about Eschatology and united more in our Lord’s Great Commission, only good could come of that.  As long as people continue to believe that PreTribbers are deluded, deceived, unspiritual, lazy, blah, blah, blah, puke…, then this harmony of purpose will never occur.

Stay tuned and I’ll share some of the text of this book in the next few days.  I have decided to ignore the remainder of Wohlberg’s “Exploding the Israel Deception” because it’s just too easy to point out all the holes in his exegsis.

This is going to be an entirely random post.

You have been forewarned.

+ I love, love, love, love, love hearing cute and adorable stories about my God-daughter, Maya. My Mum likes to tell me random, but oh-so-I-wish-I-could-have-seen-that moments that involve her. She’s growing up sooooo fast and here I am, thousands of millions of gazillion miles away. MISSING. every.single.moment.of.it. It’s heartbreaking. But nevertheless, I love hearing all the stories. Aaaahhhhh….

+ I bought 2 bags of Tootsie Roll candy tonight. They’re the kind that I have never had before. And they’re Valentine-themed. So sweet.

+ I love Salt & Vinegar flavored chips. My husband doesn’t. What is wrong with him?

+ I am grateful for Skype. Anyone who either has family or friends overseas needs to invest in a Skype phone and get yourself the $10/month plan. Calling love ones on their home phone/cell phone at 0.02c a minute is an absolute blessing.

+ Helium balloons rock.

+ It was bloody cold outside today. It shouldn’t be that cold if there isn’t any snow. So snow, dammit!

It’s my husband’s birthday next week! And this perpetual kid turns 28 years of age. xx

]]> http://modres.wordpress.com/2010/01/27/alien-interviews-with-l-a-marzulli/ Wed, 27 Jan 2010 20:18:41 +0000 modres http://modres.wordpress.com/2010/01/27/alien-interviews-with-l-a-marzulli/

This book is a fascinating read!  Absolutely a must for anyone who is interested in this area of the “supernatural,” and paranormal.  I have been studying and researching this field for quite some time and own many of the books written by people interviewed in Marzulli’s book.  I have – for the longest time – come to the conclusion that these aliens are nothing more than demons in disguise (sounds like Transformers to me, because they literally transform themselves into something they are not, in order to deceive).

There are many interviews in Marzulli’s book.  You will find interviews with abductees, researchers, non-believers and the like.  One interview with Dr. David Jacobs (The Threat), it is interesting to note that Jacobs’ research leads him to the conclusion that the alien phenomenon is real, and to him, it is scary.  Why?  Because he firmly believes that the aliens have been in the process of inter-breeding with humans for some time.  He believes that their end goal is to infiltrate and eventually take over planet earth.  The difficulty is that though among us, it is next to impossible to determine that they are non-human because of the way they look, carry themselves and communicate.  In fact, if one considers the fact that there are so many individuals within our society who are “weird,” then the reality of determining who is and who is not an alien, becomes an overwhelming, if not impossible task.

Now I realize of course, that this sounds exactly like “Men in Black,” and other movies in which the plot revolves around the fact that aliens have already infiltrated our society, and for the most part, live and look as we do.  Makes for a fun movie, but is that a reality for us?  Does this phenomenon exist?  To Dr. Jacobs, it is a reality.  He believes it firmly and makes no apologies for it.  Others of course, are not convinced that these are real aliens.

In Marzulli’s interview with Joe Jordan, he believes he has uncovered some extremely interesting data that is never discussed, nor is it brought to the surface in general.  He believes that the so-called breeding program is a smoke shield, a deception, which these “aliens” use to cover their real purpose.  He believes their purpose is much more malevolent.  In that sense, he agrees with Dr. Jacques Vallee, who “has gone on record stating that he believes these entities are interdimensional rather than extraterrestrial.” [1]

For instance, Jordan has found that people have been able to stop abductions.  How?  By calling on the name and authority of Jesus Christ.  He interviewed a man in the mid-90s who stated that while he was actually experiencing an attempted abduction, “he called out in the name and authority of Jesus Christ.  He immediately woke up startled in his bed.” [2]  In fact, he began to come across more and more individuals who stated the same thing.  Jordan also provided insight into this area by pointing out a number of things:

• Christians who were devout, or solid in their faith never experienced any of this
• Christians who were weak in the faith, or who did not evidence a strong walk with Jesus were succeptible
• Children whose parents were involved in questionable and even occult practices were often the targets of these “aliens” for abduction

Ultimately, Jordan believes that “we are dealing with angels, fallen angels from biblical scripture.  There (sic) purpose is to cheat you out of your God-given promise of hope.  This is the conditioning program they are up to.  To take your eyes away from the one true God.” [3]

If we consider much of the evidence (or at least research) available regarding this area, we learn a number of things about these “aliens.”  When taken as a whole, I personally believe it tips their hat, and shows them for what they truly are; demons.  I also believe these demons are the result of the fallen angel/human intermingling that is hinted at in Genesis 6.  If they are the Nephilim, then it would appear that while their bodies can be destroyed (as in the Global Flood of Noah’s day), their spirits would continue to exist.  Since they are the unfortunate product of fallen angels (even though part human; e.g. their physical bodies), they are non-redeemable.  God’s salvation does not extend to them.  Until such a time that they are given the sentence of the second death (eternal separation from God in the Lake of Fire), these spirit entities simply roam the earth.  These demons are not devils (or fallen angels).  They do not necessarily fall into rank under Satan, yet obviously due his bidding.  What I mean by that is that these Nephilim are not the original fallen angels, who rebelled with Satan.  They are the product of the intermingling of the fallen angels with humans.  Because they are not able to be redeemed, then they fall under the same category as Satan and his “angels,” yet they did not choose to follow him in his original rebellion.  Unfortunately for them, since they exist in a fallen state, they too are under his influence.

I believe that these Nephilim are the demons of the New Testament and even of today.  In my research at least, there appears to be a growing incidence of demonic oppression, possession and havoc throughout the world.  Russia is a hotspot for it.

Regarding the “aliens” we hear so much about.  If as Dr. Vallee, Jordan and others believe, that they are interdimensional beings, as opposed to extraterrestrial beings, then this would explain a great deal.  In fact, it explains how Jesus in His resurrected form was able to do what He did (walk through walls, but still able to eat, etc.).  I’d like to be clear here though that Jesus Christ WAS and REMAINS God, the Son.  It could very well be THAT fact that allowed Him to walk through walls, and still eat.  However, I am inclined to think that this is not ONLY an attribute of deity, but of those in THAT particular dimension.  I am NOT at all trying to take anything away from God Himself.  There are an infinite number of things that beings in that dimension (including us when we arrive there) will NEVER be able to do, as God only does them.  However, the fact that Jesus did these things in His resurrected form may indicate something of the nature of beings within that dimension.

If we consider the fact that our world – earth – is governed by many physical laws.  We have gravity, physics, and a host of other things that make this world what it is now.  However, if the spirit realm is merely one or two dimensions away from us, then the spirits, which exist in that dimension are always near us, and are able to interact with our world.  Why?  Because it is highly doubtful that the laws, which govern our world govern theirs.  The laws of nature, laws of physics and other scientific laws are not needed in those other dimensions.

I’m sure we’ve all thought of what it will be like when we get to heaven.  Will we float or be able to glide through the air?  Will we eat?  If so, will we ever feel full?  What will we see?  How will we exist and in what form?  Obviously, Scripture tells us we will have bodies like the risen Lord, but we also do not know the details about that body.  If it is true that within that dimension of heaven, a new set of “physical” laws exist that will then apply to us, it makes sense that we will interact with God’s creation in a completely different way than we do now.  Our character and attributes will be more in line with the angelic realm, however we will be greater than the angels.

Because there is a good likelihood that the spirit beings within these other realms are not governed by our laws, then it is likely quite easy for them to manipulate things in our world.  When people speak of alien abductions, the question to ask is, is the abduction actually happening, or is it some grand illusion foisted upon the victim?  In the case of actual sightings of UFOs in the skies, could that also be an illusion on a similar grand scale?  In other words, if these aliens are in actuality, demons, they would not have to actually create anything physical at all, but merely create the illusion of it; an illusion so strong that the individual will firmly believe that it is actually happening and that they are awake, when in fact, they may be in a coma-like state experiencing that inner reality.

In one of the books I have (either Book of Jubilees, or Book of Enoch, or one of those; I can’t remember offhand), there is a narrative of Adam after he has been kicked out of the Garden of Eden.  One day, as he was busy taking care of his household, by gathering wood, etc., he glanced up and saw a beautiful woman standing in front of him (and it was not Eve).  The woman was nude and instantly tried to seduce him.  Interestingly enough, Adam cried out to God to be rescued (something he should have done in the Garden with the fruit), and God came to his aid.  The voice of God spoke to the woman and commanded Satan (for that is who it was) to reveal himself to Adam as he existed.  Satan was forced to do so and the form of the beautiful woman evaporated into Satan’s own form.  He looked at Adam with seething hatred.  Now, is this a true story?  Who knows.  In reality, it does not have to be, because the it obviously tells us that whoever wrote that narrative (whether true or not), was familiar with the fact that fallen angels (and Satan) can change the way they appear to humans.  Is it difficult for them?  I sincerely doubt it because of the fact that they exist in a completely different dimension than we do.  Even when they come into our realm, our laws do not apply to them because of the fact that they actually exist in their own dimension.

Marzulli’s book is a good one.  It highlights what I believe to be the power of Satanic deception at work today.  In fact, it is fascinating to understand how Satan is likely working today to achieve an artificial appearance in our world that is being more and more accepted by the masses.  He seeks to destroy faith in God by communicating through “aliens,” which are not aliens at all, but demons in disguise.  It stands to reason that this is the case, since the primary message of these entities is religious in nature.  Moreover, their messages always seek to downplay Jesus.  They always speak of Him as something much less than what He is in actuality.  In fact, the messages of these aliens is very much in line with the preponderance of New Age thought that has existed for decades, though has become more refined over those decades.

Satan is alive and well as the title of the book says and he is busy deceiving the entire world through aliens and UFOs.  More and more people believe that these ETs actually exist and they are here to “help” us improve, or to evolve to the next plane.  This is creating a major falling away from the faith because as Jordan said, it takes our eyes off of Jesus and the hope we have in Him, and puts our eyes on the aliens and the “hope” they promise to provide us.

Meanwhile, Christians are arguing about the timing of the Rapture, or if it is a real biblical doctrine at all.  This is nuts!  The deception is already HERE in the form of the New Age movement, which has made tremendous gains into the visible Church.  That version – the Emergent Church – is alive, well, and stealing people away from the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

If you are a Christian, you need to be armed with the Sword of the Lord and your faith solidly locked onto Jesus Christ.  You need to be in His Word and dedicated to prayer.  By the way, what if you HATE reading the Bible?  What?!  I know, no one likes to admit that, however, if truth be told, many of us would admit to finding the Bible at least boring at times.  If you find yourself there, then I have two suggestions for you to help you grow to love His Word:

1. Pray
2. Memorize Scripture

You see, Satan wants us AWAY from the Bible because he understand the power that it possesses.  I’m not talking about it being some magic trinket.  I’m talking about the fact that it is the very Word of God and as such, carries the weight and authority of God in it.  This, faith and prayer are the most powerful weapons the Christian has at his/her disposal.  If we go into battle without one or the other, we are sunk before we even begin.  We will have nothing for an offensive move, and will have to resort to being on the defense of the enemy’s onslaughts.  That makes no sense.

So, if you don’t like to read the Bible, then start memorizing it!  I guarantee that you will soon learn to LOVE His Word because those verse that you have memorized will begin speaking to your heart and prodding you to learn MORE from His Word.  In a previous Blog, I posted about memorizing Scripture.  Go back to that one and click on the link where you can download 101 Scripture verses.  Print them out on card stock (they are already formatted in Landscape mode with verses printed on them (in PDF format).  Put them on a round ring and take them wherever you go.  Hide the Word in your heart so that we will not sin against the Lord.

For anyone who would like to find out more about L.A. Marzulli and his books, you can find him here at his website:

http://www.lamarzulli.net/

[1] L. A. Marzulli, The Alien Interviews (Spiral of Life, 2009) 
[2] Ibid 
[3] Ibid

For those of us who believe that aliens have been visiting this planet for some time, it’s always interesting to read of a scientist who likes to think the same thing.  Of course, when they think about it or consider it, then there is real merit apparently.  When the rest of us consider it, we’re weird, extravagant, senile, eccentric or whatever.  It takes a scientist to bring credibility to the area of Alienology, I guess.

One particular scientist has come to the defense of the belief in aliens, and has decided a number of things about aliens and life on earth.  You can read the entire article here:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35083220/ns/technology_and_science-science/?GT1=43001

Part of it states, “Paul Davies, an award-winning Arizona State University physicist…said Tuesday that life may have developed on Earth not once but several times.”

Davies further believes that these aliens exist in the form of tiny microbes, which live within some of us.  If you think about it, claiming that aliens could be here (either under or in our noses), is a pretty safe thing for a scientist to say.  Shucks, they won’t have to worry about being drummed out of the scientist core.  Since there is not a tremendous amount of knowledge of microbial science, then it is very possible that at least some alien life form exists in at least some of these microbes.  Why?  Because we cannot detect them, or see them, or in most cases, determine if they are present or not, so we do not want to discount it.

An Aside:
Funny though, isn’t it?  Science came to the conclusion a long time ago that God does not exist.  Why?  Because you cannot detect Him, or see Him, or in most cases determine if He is present or not so we automatically assume that He is not.  That makes sense, doesn’t it?

Getting back to aliens, once again, science, far from leading the way, is actually kilometers behind.  Most of us who have any interest in aliens at all have read everything that we can get our hands on and have come to our own conclusions.  We are well aware that for decades, people like Barbara Marciniak and “Raphael” have been receiving transmissions from these “aliens.”  For the most part, these aliens have been sharing with us the “good news,” not of Jesus Christ, but of “Elohim.”  Elohim is apparently the name they give themselves for the body of aliens that are said to have created life on earth.  Somehow humanity got their wires crossed and soon came to believe that Elohim was the all knowing, all powerful God that created all things, and when humanity in Adam and Eve fell, He became Man, while remaining God, dwelt among us, died a horribly painful and brutal death, shedding His blood for us.  Isn’t that something?

It absolutely amazes me that people will literally tune into some space transmission from someone who simply SAYS they have the truth, but these same folks look at the Bible and laugh.  I asked one person who emailed me a week and a half ago, when I talked about Monjoronson, WHY he was taking what he was being told by these beings verbatim?  Why was he ASSUMING that what he was being told was the TRUTH?

This same individual told me that he had gotten WAY past needing the Bible.  He no longer needs it because he currently receives what he needs by direct communication in some form, with Jesus.  Jesus appears in clouds to him, or comes to him in some other way, depending on the situation.

One of his many comments to me was that the Bible does not contain all of God, because God is so much bigger than the Bible (my paraphrase).  This is another DUH.  Of COURSE God is infinitely bigger than the Bible.  The Bible does NOT contain everything about God because it would take an infinite amount of books to accomplish that.  But that also assumes that he has gotten everything out of the Bible he could possibly get and no longer needs it.

However, what we DO have in the Bible, I firmly believe is what God wants us to know about Him now.  The rest we will spend eternity learning about when we get to heaven, for those who are going (and I hope to see you there).

When you take the time to study Alienology, you quickly find that almost all of these “transmissions” – and it does not even matter which alien entity is the source – are essentially all the same, which small variances here and there.

Instead of telling us how to eradicate AIDS, or cancer, or even the common cold, the messages from these aliens are ALWAYS religious in nature!  Imagine that.  They say they want us to improve, and continue evolving, yet they are extremely fearful for us and our future.  They say things need to be done so that we will not obliterate ourselves.  They say that we need to learn to get along and the quicker, the better.  Why?  Because as soon as we reach that necessary level, they will be able to reveal themselves to us.  That will undoubtedly occur and I guarantee that they will not be the size of a microbe either.

Are you aware that some of Marciniak’s received transmissions speak of a coming “Great Evacuation” in which upwards of 20 million people will be taken off this planet in the “twinkling of an eye” (this is the phrase they have used)?  I must have mentioned that to you before – or maybe I just wrote it one of my books – I can’t remember.

So, in far less than a second – poof! – 20 million people gone, just like that.  Wow, sounds like the Rapture that Paul speaks of, if you ask me.  The fact that these aliens need to actually inform people of this coming evacuation is amazing in and of itself and it also tips their hand.  By the way, this is what they are telling people firmly entrenched in the New Age movement, who are not church goers, and are not part of any established religion.  Even if they once were, they probably never studied Eschatology (study of End Times).  If they DID study Eschatology and all of this sounds familiar to them, they will come to believe that Christianity has messed it up and the aliens have it right.

Of course, the fact that the aliens need to share this inside information indicates that they KNOW that something like the Rapture will happen, and they are forewarning their followers so that WHEN it occurs, it will not take them by surprise.  This is all very fascinating.  But where is science in any of this?  On the wrong side of the tracks, as usual.

Another book I found online in the form of a PDF is interesting because it perports to showcase the information received by a Mrs. Matilda O’Donnell MacElroy.  MacElroy (now deceased), was a Senior Master Sergeant with the Women’s Air Force Medical Corp, of Ireland.  There is no reason to doubt MacElroy’s veracity that she received messages and transmissions from aliens over the years.  She put all of this into a journal, which Lawrence R. Spencer edited and published after she sent him all of her documentation and written materials.  Spencer himself notes that he cannot corrorborate anything MacElroy claims.  As far as Spencer is concerned, he views MacElroy’s work (titled “Alien Interview) with a jaundiced eye and as fiction. 

What I question is the believability of the aliens who transmitted their information to MacElroy.  IF the transmissions actually occurred, why are we to believe without question that the being sending the transmission is to be trusted?  This makes no sense, considering the fact that these very same “aliens” could well be the demons that were written of since Christ’s day to the present.  Why should we believe that these aliens are benevolent?  They have given us no good reason to do so.  They have not helped our society one iota.  In fact, what they have “revealed” turns out to be nothing more than New Age mysticism, which is only its current name.  It has been around since nealy the dawn of time, just ask Nimrod.

Jacques Vallee (known from Close Encounters of the Third Kind, as well as his work in the fields of astronomy), did not believe that these aliens were actually from other worlds, but were in actuality, simply from other dimensions.  In one interview, he states, “my own personal speculation which I could not prove is that the phenomenon (alienology – author) represents a form of consciousness that is nonhuman.” [1]  The more Vallee studied these extra-terrestrials, the more he concluded that they were not aliens and that they were literally up to no good at all!  Isn’t this what demons do and how they operate?  They live, according to the Bible, in other dimensions, but can affect ours.  They are never that far away.  How difficult would it be for them to create dramatic sightings of weird-looking ships in the sky, if they exist in another dimension, which is more powerful than the dimensions in which we live?  It is clear from the Bible alone that these demons can inhabit and take people over.  They are extremely strong and they can manipulate things in our world without even touching them.

In the same interview, Vallee noted, “In Confrontations (one of his books – author) we report on a trip Janine and I took to Brazil where there seemed to be evidence of UFO hostility. Objects would literally zap people with beams. In several cases it seemed that it killed them. It certainly injured them. We couldn’t really prove a direct cause-and effect relationship in the cases of death, but there was a cause-and-effect relationship in the cases of injuries. People were, in fact, injured by those beams.” [2]

You know, when I read these things (and by the way, Vallee was not an idiot by any stretch), I picture demonic activity, and it reminds me of what times will be like during the Tribulation, as we read in Revelation.  There, we get a small glimpse into the coming apocalyptic period of seven years, in which the gates of hell will literally open, emptying its demonic hoards onto the earth and its denizens. 

Funny how Christians and non-Christians alike can argue about the Bible, and the meaning of many passages related to the End Times.  While we are arguing, demons continue their work, from their dimension and reaching into ours, either lulling people into sleep, entertaining them with the filth that pours out of Hollywood, or mystifying them with demons assigned the task of impersonating aliens.  In all cases, they create what people want to see, and so people become completely deceived.

The truth of the matter is that all of us are literally (and always) one breath away from death all the time.  Death for all of us is ever imminent.  Go ahead and try to argue that away, but you can’t. 

Christian: we need to be evanglizing the lost.  We need to be sharing with people about Christ, helping them to realize that they have a need and that need can only be found in Christ’s redemptive work.

The more I study God’s Word, and the more I realize what is going on around me in the world, and the more I understand the need to share Christ with as many people as possible.  People need the Lord and they need Him today.

[1] http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/ciencia/ciencia_vallee03.htm
[2] ibid

I was recently given a book by Steve Wohlberg called “Exploding the Israel Deception.”  After cruising through it, I will agree that some deception is definitely going on, but unfortunately, it is my opinion that Wohlberg is the one who is living under a deception.  I don’t say that to be mean at all.  My heart goes out to him (and he would likely say the say thing about me, since our views of Eschatology differ so greatly).  For me though, the reality is quite different from Wohlberg’s understanding of Scripture.

Wohlberg’s book is actually much more interesting for its omissions and his rather pointed attempts to prove his own position, but unfortunately, it is difficult for me to buy into the fact that even he believes what he is stating!  The book starts out at a gallop, right from the Forward and Doug Batchelor’s thoughts.  Batchelor is a well known individual within the Seventh-day Adventist movement.  In fact, he is one of the Seventh-day Adventist’s leading evangelists and pastors a church in Sacramento, CA.  Beyond this he is/was president of Amazing Facts, another Seventh-day Adventist ministry.  Batchelor is certainly not an idiot by any stretch.  I’ve listened to a number of his video and audio sermons.  He’s lively, informative, and sincere.  He also certainly seems to know what he is talking about. He is also a Jewish Christian (as is Steve Wolhberg).

The back cover of Wohlberg’s book makes this statement (in part):  “Steve Wohlberg is well qualified to address the subject of Israel and Bible prophecy.  A Jew from Los Angeles, Steve has for many years conducted Amazing Facts Bible Prophecy Seminars in Russia, Canada, New Zealand, Pakistan, and in cities across America…” Frankly, I have absolutely NO idea why being a Jew and a Christian automatically qualifies him (he is well-qualified), to address the subject of Israel and Bible prophecy.  This statement makes no sense, therefore it is nonsense.

I’m Italian, therefore I am well qualified to discuss the latest recipes related to Italian food.  It does not matter if it’s spaghetti, rigatoni, braciole, or anything else that Italians make.  Furthermore, because I am Italian, I am also automatically qualified to discuss the nuances of the Italian language.  The fact that I have never studied Italian is not a problem, because I am Italian, therefore I am Italian.  Or, maybe because I am Italian, I am well qualified to eat Italian food!  Maybe that’s it.

I apologize for my sarcasm, but Wohlberg’s statement is ludicrus, unless he was raised in an orthodox Jewish home, had spent a good portion of his life in Israel, spoke and wrote Hebrew fluently, and essentially lived as Jesus lived! Once again, I am really getting tired of statements like these, “A Jewish believer exposes false prophecies about Israel, the temple, and Armageddon.“  Declarative statements have little place in discussion and yes, I’m well aware of the fact that we all fall prey to them.  We all believe (firmly) that what we believe about God is the absolutely truth, and anyone who disagrees with us is simply wrong.  It is because of that knowledge, I can be dogmatic and declarative, right?

Actually, the only thing that we can truly be dogmatic about are the five fundamentals of the faith.  I will never (by God’s grace) deny my Savior.  I will never deny the integrity and infallibility of the Word of God.  I will never deny that Jesus – as God – was born into humanity through the virgin birth as a real human being, lived His life among us yet without sin, was crucified illegally, yet for the remission of sin, died by the shedding of His blood, was in the grave for three days and rose again.  These are areas of which I will not move.  I am resolute and I pray that I will always be that way.

In other areas, there is wiggle room.  There is room for discussion and give and take.  This certainly applies to the area of Eschatology.  Now, this does not mean that I do not have a strong opinion about this area, because like most who are interested in it, I do.  I make no apologies for that.  However, it is important for me to understand that not everyone will agree with my understanding of Scripture.  Not everyone will see it “my way” and because of that, there needs to be a great deal of compassion, love, understanding and patience.

Unfortunately, there is a good deal of animosity and rancor these days, within the area of Eschatology.  I pray that it will subside, because we as a Church – His Bride – are too focused on Eschatology and not focused enough on winning souls for the Lord.  What I mean by that is that it is my responsibility to bring people to the Lord.  I cannot change ONE single heart.  But I can (and better!) be a consistent witness of my faith and for my Savior.  God may choose to use some of the words I use when I talk to others about their need for salvation.  He may choose to open eyes as He did the thief on the cross roughly 2,000 years ago.  We need to understand that it is God who does that, not me, or you.  We plant, we water, but it is God who gains the harvest.

My next few blogs will go over aspects of Wohlberg’s book to hopefully shed some light on the possibility that he may not be as right as he believes he is about Eschatology.  He will not stand before Jesus and hear these words, “Steve Wohlberg!  Wonderful!  You understood EVERY aspect of Eschatology perfectly!  You did it!  You listened to me and learned!“  He will not hear those words, and I’m sure I will not hear those words regarding my understanding of Eschatology either.

In the meantime, the Christian – the authentic Christian – needs to live a balanced life.  While Eschatology is extremely important (if for no other reason than Jesus spoke of future coming events), because it can purify our minds.  It helps us to understand the shortness of our own lives here on earth.  We are but a vapor.  Will Eschatology save anyone?  No.  The most important, precious thing we can do for people is to tell them that they need Jesus.  If the Lord helps them see that they really do have an actual life and death need, then and only then will they seek THE solution:  Jesus Christ and His salvation.

Let’s re-cap exactly what we achieved this weekend, shall we?

1. Ate a LOT. Olive Garden gluttony on Friday. Sushi gluttony on Saturday. Chicken Nachos gluttony this evening. Sh*t that’s a lot of crap in one weekend!

2. Watched a lot of Criminal Minds. We’re still hooked on this show. And it helps that A&E is showing at least one ep everyday. It keeps our cravings sustained. It’s fantastic.

3. Laundry. I did three different loads on Saturday. Two loads of clothes, one load for all our blankies. And yes, we have blankies – you know, the kind you snuggle into when you’re lounging on the couch.

4. Sushi. I already mentioned it on point #1, but it deserves it’s own mention. Because we made a crapload of it with M&M:

5. I did a 10-minute exercise video and then STOPPED. I know I whinge a lot about needing to lose weight. But c’mon, exercising is BORING. To top it off, I am unmotivated and just plain L-A-Z-Y (hey, I’m not living in denial, I know it’s my failing). I’ll see if I keep up with me. At least it’s a “dancing” kinda exercise so it’s not your a-typical exercise video.

I love its name. Because, afterall, we do want the FAT blasted away!

The other day I was thinking about how difficult it is sometimes to find time to sit down, with no distractions and just read the Word.  Beyond that, I thought it would be great to have more time to memorize Scripture!  Wow, what a NOVEL idea, eh?!

Then as I continued ruminating on that, I realized something.  Looking back over my life, I spent some time acting.  I started off years ago, left it for quite some time, then half a dozen or so years ago, re-entered the hobby of acting.  I took a few college courses, then landed a few roles in some college productions.  From there, I branched out into community theater and then finally thought about getting an agent.  Eventually, I got an agent and then began doing some commercial work – print, voice and video.  It was fun, especially when I received the paycheck.

Of course, that was not good enough, so I began pushing myself toward movies and landed a few in independent movie projects.  Of course, I also did my share of “extra” work on some major studio productions. I learned a lot and had fun.  In fact, doing the “extra” work allowed me to gain the necessary number of vouchers to be able to join SAG if I want to do so.  Since I live in Northern CA and the cost to join is over $2000, I have found no need to join, but it is nice to have the option.

After I did this for a while, I really got sick and tired of all the hassles of being involved with people who seemed to have little or no moral standard.  What I mean by that is that most actors I met were willing to do anything at all for a part in a movie.  If you do some checking, it is not at all difficult to find current stars and celebrities who did some work in the “naughty” industry, or they took off their clothes for a movie role.  It’s pretty sad when you stop and think about the fact that most actors desiring to gain any type of foothold in the industry must get to that point, if they want to go further.  It’s an unwritten code and everyone knows it.

So once I became disgusted with that, I decided to make my own productions, so I purchased the equipment and began writing scripts.  It was a lot of fun and I made a few long trailers for projects that I was working on.  Even though it was fun, it went nowhere.

You are probably asking what this has to do with finding the time to read the Bible.  Well, as I was mulling over all the lost time in my past, I realized that when it comes to studying the Bible and memorizing Scripture, it is not something that should be relegated to the back of the bus.  It is something that needs to take priority.  It is something we should do whether we feel like it or not.

During one of the plays I performed in, and I had one of the lead parts.  It was hefty.  I retyped all of my lines onto their own pages, with the person’s last line before mine.  When I finished, there were literally 29 pages of dialogue that I needed to memorize for that character!  That was daunting.  What did I do?  I forced myself to memorize it until I could say my lines very fast without even thinking about them.  This is one of the things actors will do – say their lines quickly with no emotion in order to test themselves on whether they know their lines or not.  If there is any hesitation, they keep going over them.  If there is no hesitation, the dialogue is in the recesses of the brain and will not be forgotten easily.  Even if the actor “freezes” during the performance, there is usually something that he can grab onto which gets him right back into character.

I estimate it took me about 6 weeks to get my lines memorized.  I felt as though I had accomplished something big, and I had.  During the three week performance, I never dropped a line and never messed up.

The trouble is…why don’t I do this with God’s Word?  Why don’t I do this with memorizing Scripture?  There were many times during those 6 weeks where I did not want to work on the dialogue anymore, but I did.  I knew if I didn’t, I would suffer for it later.

It is the EXACT same thing with memorizing Scripture.  If we do not take the time NOW, when it might even be “inconvenient,” we will suffer for it later.  In Psalm 119:11, David tells the Lord that he has hidden His Word in his own heart, that he might not sin against the Lord.  If I can take 6 weeks of deliberately memorizing a script (even when it was not convenient), can I do any less with God’s Word?

I cannot get those weeks back, but I CAN and WILL do something about it NOW, where God’s Word is concerned.  Do you want to know where you can start, if you also are interested in hiding God’s Word in your heart?  There is a link which allows you to download 101 Scripture verses.  They are in PDF format and simply need to be printed out (I printed mine out on cardstock), and trimmed.  They even already have the small circle where they can be cut out and put on one of those metal rings to carry with you.

Here is the link and the file is FREE to download from School of Biblical Evangelism (Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron).  They do not ask you to register or sign-up or leave information.  The link to download the file (in zip format) the #1 on the following page:

http://www.biblicalevangelism.com/448

There may come a day when it will be against the law to own or carry a Bible.  Think that’s far-fetched?  It’s not because the Bible is currently outlawed in 52 countries around the world.  Like me, you may have one or two collecting dust.  Time to get the dustrag out and start reading and studying!

I missed TWO days of my Project 365. Uh-oh.

The first night (Wednesday), I just completely forgot to even think about it. Last night (Friday), I remembered just as I got into bed. By that time I just really couldn’t be stuffed to get out of bed and take a photo of something, just to get it out of the way. The warm bed won, hands down. Eh.

So now, Project 365 is two days off. Does that mean I’m disqualified?

In other news, today is SUSHI SATURDAY!!! Friends are coming over so that we can show them how to make sushi. I’m all stocked up on sushi rice, rice vinegar, nori sheets, chicken, salmon and even eel. Hmm…sushi indulgence tonight!

Also, the weather is still quite despicable. Gloomy, foggy and the threat of rain looms. I want to look at beach photos just to balance things out. I crave sunshine and a natural dose of Vitamin D.

To end, here’s a couple of photos that did make the Project 365 cut:

Plane tickets. Check. Check. CHECK!

Finally purchased my tickets to Oz Land this evening.

Even though I’ve known since January last year that I will be going back in May this year (for my Lola’s 90th birthday), the excitement is still unbelievably uncontainable (is that a word?). I was shaking when I was booking my flights (I’m weird like that) and even forced my poor husband to hover next to me until I clicked on the magic “Confirmation” button. And truth be told, I nearly cried tears of joy when it went through.

I found out on Saturday that my favorite carrier in this wide and wonderful world (QANTAS) was having an aptly named “G’day USA Sale”. Oh, music to my ears. Less than $US1400 for a flight back home, you can’t beat that. And since I knew that tickets were going to sell like hotcakes, I was determined to book my flights today (just had to get an A-OK from the boss) and book they were as of 5:39pm this evening. No turning back now. Not even the plague will stop me from visiting home!

But, going home always evokes conflicting emotions. There’s that expected high of “going home, being home, at home” and then the inevitable low of “leaving home, goodbye home, see you next time home” feeling that I feel for a good week or so upon returning to the Midwest. And I know that technically my home is here in CoMo, but my heart will always yearn for home-home. I am torn each and every time. It sucks.

And to make it even more awkward, about 7 nights into my trip home I will start missing CoMo, missing my husband, missing my bed, missing my work and the routine that goes into my everyday “reality” life. My emotional stability is controlled by a schizophrenic inner self. It really is, and pardon the French, f*@%ed up.

But anyway, I will leave you with the magic that is Simon & Garfunkel and the theme song for this post:

]]> http://modres.wordpress.com/2010/01/19/atrocities-in-south-africa-continue/ Tue, 19 Jan 2010 16:25:29 +0000 modres http://modres.wordpress.com/2010/01/19/atrocities-in-south-africa-continue/

Since 1980, when Mugabe became Prime Minister of Zimbabwe, he immediately pushed for – and got – a reworked Constitution, which made him president for life, among other things.  One of his first orders of business was to declare war on white farmers.  This is his version of “redistributing the wealth,” and the results are stunning.  White farmers and their families have been slaughtered since his declaration and their land has been taken from them, given to blacks of the regions, who know absolutely nothing about farming.  Oh, and by the way, these white families were/are full citizens of South Africa, born there, raised there, lived there.

Because of this move by Mugabe, he has effectively created a culture of chaos, with militant blacks attacking, torturing and in many cases, killing families, with the government of South Africa turning a blind eye to the entire mess.  According to the European Union Times:

1. “In the past 10 years, there have been over 31,000 viscious racially motivated attacks on whites, with over 3,000 of them tortured to death.
2. In April of 2009, two white farmers, a 77-year-old woman and her 57-year-old daughter, were attacked by a black gang and tortured to death. They were stabbed in their vaginas with glass, and their breasts were cut off while they were still alive.
3. The Zimbabwe economy is in the toilet; the racist government can’t feed its people, because they’ve killed almost all of the people who know how to grow food.
4. Nestle foods supports this sort of abject racism against whites by purchasing milk from a farm now owned my Mugabe’s family. Not that anyone in Mugabe’s family earned the farm or the money to buy it. They threatened the white owner with violence, forcing him to flee for his life, and Mugabe’s family took it over. If you don’t wan’t to support racism and help support brutal regimes, don’t buy Nestle food products.”

Not only is the above information tragic, but it is beyond comprehension, for those of us living in a country that still professes democracy.  The fact that ANYONE (must less, white people with people who are 77 years of age and older), can be treated worse than animals with no justice forthcoming, is not only reprehensible, but racism at its worst.  Yet, where is the media in all of this?  Why are they not even bothering to note these continuing atrocities?  In my opinion, it has everything to do with the age old problem of the Illuminati, made up of those über-rich individuals who have sworn to pit race against race until this planet will look like what most imagine hell to be like.

Obviously, NO amount of racism in any form should exist anywhere in the world.  Whenever there is even a HINT of it in this country (the U.S.), everyone and his brother comes out of the woodwork to condemn, and rightly so.  However, one must ask, why do we hear nothing from those who scream most loudly whenever they hear of, or see any form of what they consider to be racism?  The following individuals (or groups), have said or done nothing to help stamp out black on white atrocities in South Africa (as far as I am aware):

• President Obama
• “Rev” Jesse Jackson
• “Rev” Al Sharpton
• “Minister” Farrakhan
• United States Congress
• NAACP

The above listing is only representative of the more vocal individuals in this country alone.  Why are they so silent?  Why do they remain seemingly unaware of the problems in South Africa?  When it was the reverse, and the white-majority government was in charge, every possible event of racism was brought to the fore, but no longer.  Even Mugabe, at his most recent birthday of 85 said, “Land distribution will continue. It will not stop. The few remaining white farmers should quickly vacate their farms as they have no place there.” One can only imagine the results if some white official/leader in this country (or even in South Africa, or for that matter, any part of the world), stood up and said something like that about any minority, yet this type of racism seems perfectly fine with our black leaders.  Maybe they simply consider it to be part of the “payback” that white people apparently deserve?

A few weeks ago, Haiti experienced an extremely tragic earthquake, in which most of the country was devastated, leaving death and destruction in its wake.  Fears are that upwards of 200,000 Haitians may be dead.  In the immediate wake of that terrible event, President Obama was quick to promise to help “aggressively,” with $100 million in aid.  Interestingly enough, Haiti is roughly 85% black.

Most recently, a 6.3 magnitude earthquake has struck Argentina, with a 5.6 magnitude earthquake striking Venezuela.  Argentina is composed of a white population, totaling roughly 86%.  There has been no word from the White House; no offers of aid to these countries.  Simply silence, which is the same reaction that we have witnessed from the White House with respect to the South African atrocities against white farmers and their families.

As Christians, what should our response be?  Obviously, it should be one of prayer, and at least an attempt to reach out to these people (Haiti, Argentina, Venezuela, and South Africa), in some fashion, so that they know they are not suffering alone.  We should also continue to pray for our leaders that God may yet use them to bring about His peace.  The truth of the matter is though (in my opinion), that these atrocities in South Africa will continue unabated, until the entire economy of South Africa is crippled, which is rapidly happening.  In taking out their revenge on white farmers, these militant blacks have effectively killed the very people who provide food for their country, and in doing so, are taking their own lives as well.

Anyone who continues to think that this world is actually getting better, should really open their eyes wide, look around and note that not only is the world not getting better, but things are on the horizon that will usher in worse than what exists now.  The storm is gathering and the ill winds of epic violence are moving in.  In spite of what humanity would like to think, we are powerless to stop it.  God has foreordained it and because of that alone, it will happen.

In the meantime, Christians need to continue being and acting like Christians.  We need to pray, act, and evangelize.  There is no excuse for not doing these things.  This is what Jesus would be doing.  This world is headed for a huge wreck and the only survivors will be those who are “hidden in Christ.”  God’s patience continues, while authentic Christians continue to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ.  As more and more people turn to Him for authentic salvation, this world will still not get better.  However, those who are truly saved, will escape the coming judgment.  No, I am not referring to the Rapture here.  I am referring to the ultimate judgment; the Second Death.

What are your thoughts about Jesus?  Who do you say that He is?  If you do not see Him as God (the only God), then you do not see Him correctly.  Like the thief on the cross, you must acknowledge that He and He alone is God, and that He came to die for you, shedding His innocent blood on Calvary’s cross, in order that you might have life, eternally.  If you do not see, or are unwilling to see, Him as God, then pray that you do.

Do not be like some of my friends, who, in spite of my discussions with them, and nearly pleading with them, they have no room for Jesus.  They are not interested in turning to Him for the only salvation that is available.  Do you know why?  Because they do not yet see the NEED to turn to Him.  They do not realize that they are on a burning plane that is falling rapidly to the earth.  They are fine, they think.  However, they are not fine.  One of my agnostic friends said to me just yesterday, that you do not know how long you have on this planet…so you have to make every day last.  No, we have no idea how long we have on this planet, so we actually have to live each day as our last.  That is what I told him then, and this is what I am telling you now.

Turn TO Christ, believing that He is who He says He is, and He did what He said He did.  Then, and only then, will you be able to see your need for Him.

I was recently doing some research for one of the classes I teach at a local junior college and searched for ANGEL, which is a discussion board utilized by some educational institutions for fascilitating discussion between professor and students.  It is a great way to keep the students posted when not in class, and gives them an opportunity to post questions and obtain answers.  Beyond this, it allows students to become more adept at the computer and moving around the Internet.

Unfortunately, since I simply put in the words ANGEL DISCUSSION BOARD, the results that came up mainly had to do with angels of the supernatural kind.   I guess I wasn’t paying attention to what I was doing (or I’m the one who needs better instruction on how to get around the Internet   At any rate, the majority of results had to do with angels, as I stated, but these were angels as seen through the eyes of the New Age.

I came across a name I was not at all familiar with, as I had not heard or seen this particular name listed anywhere, though apparently he has been around for a few decades.  His name is Monjoronson, and he is said to be the next divine teacher; the one that the world has been apparently waiting for to arrive.  He is in fact, here now, but he has not been permitted to reveal himself physically yet.  There are things, which are keeping him at bay, things human beings can essentially correct, if we will but put our minds to it.

What is interesting of course (and not a bit unsurprising), is that Monjoronson’s message is nearly identical to the other divine teachers, who all claim to be the one the world is waiting for to reveal himself.  As an aside, another thing that is fascinating, or at least creates a question in the mind, is why all of these divine teachers are all male?  Though they may exist, I know of none that are female.  Why?  Allegedly, all of these divine teachers and ascended masters are far more intelligent that we humans.  They have spent eons perfecting themselves and this is what they hope to help humanity on earth achieve as well.  Would you not think though that out of all these ascended masters, divine teachers and the like, there would be at least one female among them?

Almost all of them, without exception, speak of the Mother.  In most cases, they are referring to our planet, Gaia, or Mother Earth, a living, breathing, viable entity, of which we are not taking the best care.  Apart from this, I have only seen reference to one other female, that she is Jesus’ mother, Mary.  What is also interesting (as another aside) is that Mary is apparently higher than Jesus. 

All of these divine teachers speak of a time when they will be able to physically reveal themselves to the world soon.  Their job (at least as they tell it), is to point to the “Father” in order that his will might be accomplished here on earth.  Reading many of these “transmissions” from these divine teachers to human beings is like reading a Bible, with some of the names changed as well as the events.  This should put to rest the question of whether Satan and his minions know the Scriptures far better than most of us do, and certainly far better than we give him credit for knowing.

ALL of these divine teachers speak of a time in which horrible things will be happening on this earth, which will lead up to their being physically revealed.  Interestingly enough, this sounds like the time just prior to the Tribulation/Great Tribulation period.  While some might pooh-pooh this idea, please stop to ask the question why they would bother to teach this if there was no chance of it happening?  Could it be that Satan knows what will happen and a terrible seven-year period known as the Tribulation will occur?  If so, it behooves him to let his human followers know this, so that they are not taken by surprise, wondering what on earth is happening.

To avoid this, these divine teachers speak of the approaching terrible times.  Of course, at this point, who needs a crystal ball to figure that out?  No one, since those terrible times in many ways are here now.  In my opinion (and I’m glad you asked), these terrible times are merely the tip of the iceberg.  I believe that as Jesus said, these are simply the “birth pangs,” which when they come to full term, will give birth to the Tribulation.  By that time, people will be looking for ANYONE who can solve the problems of the earth (and no, it will not be President Obama).

By the way, this coming divine leader is known as the Magisterial Son (Monjoronson).  He is the one who is to come after Jesus, according to numerous websites dedicated to New Age practices and beliefs.  According to some of these websites, the earth has had numerous teachers:

• Adam and Eve (were supposed to be divine teachers, but they failed)
• Melchisedek – “He chose to materialise, in order to try and limit the effects of the Lucifer rebellion, and the fallen angels, and thus prepare the way for Jesus’ coming. Once he guessed Jesus was coming here, he felt he had to do something. Abraham was taught by Melchizadek, so he led to the formation of the Jewish religion. He is now our Planetary Prince, and as such has full authority over earth.”
• Jesus - “also known as Michael of Nebadon, (which is his correct name, as the Creator Son of this Universe) chose to incarnate here. It was part of his personal development, you might say. As a Creator Son, he is required to live the lives of seven of his creations. Coming here was the last of his bestowal missions.”
• Monjoronson – “will materilise, together with his assistants. This will create an enormous wave, make no mistake. If it happens in our lifetimes, fabulous. It does seem to be close, but we do not know the hour.”

The quoted sections are taken directly from one of the websites and I’d rather not provide the URL.  If you’re curious, feel free to search for it.  Notice please what they teach about Jesus, that He is simply one of a number of divine instructors.  In His case, also note the derogatory implications (“part of his personal development,” “his correct name is Michael…” etc.).  Of course, the biggest prize of all is not Jesus, but this coming Monjoronson, who is said will create an “enormous wave.”

One of the other “through threads,” or commonalities between many of these sites is that there are many maladjusted individuals on this planet and they need to be dealt with accordingly.  This began, according to Monjoronson, with the celestial beings, who were eventually incarcerated.  However, the problem was that their rebellion was transferred to the earth through members of the human race.  Therefore, this rebellion perpetuates itself.

Here is another quote (this one allegedly from Monjoronson himself), as channeled through two separate individuals; one following the other:

Greetings. I have been trying to make myself known here and rest assured that I will be known to your planet as time unfolds. I am a Magisterial Son. There is resistance to receiving due to the nature of the discussion at this conference regarding my arrival, but the plans for a Magisterial Mission are progressing. The time element is indeed the question. We are patient and waiting for the events on your world to be most facilitating for my ministry. Whether these events will present themselves is not in question. These events will present themselves. The only question is time.

I would speak further this weekend, but at this time simply wish to greet you and to ask your receivers to feel free to open to my presence and allow, for here, indeed, we are conferring, are we not? Let us discuss the matters which will produce enlightenment for you individually, for your group, and perhaps on to the world at large. I will at this time withdraw and allow another to speak. I do rejoice in the spiritual intent that you all have and feel myself to be welcome in your presence and I welcome you in mine.

I have bolded certain parts for emphasis.  Note their meaning.  There is nothing there except New Age jargon, which has been around for decades, yet this was “transmitted” in February of 2009.  The main difference of course, is that these entities are much more free today to refer to Jesus, the Father, and other people well known due to Christianity.  As we read through more of Monjoronson, it appears obvious that he is unable to appear by his own will:

Receive my presence. I am Monjoronson, the Magisterial Son of whom you speak. We are in this place and in this time, practicing the presence. Feel your connection to the great web of life. Some of you can visualize it. It is indeed a tangible web of light connecting each and every one of you. When you leave this place and scatter to the far corners from which you have gathered, these threads will remain and I will be present in those threads. Think of them daily, hourly, constantly if you can. This is the meaning of continuous prayer, to continue the connection you have with your Creator who is far greater than I. Feel the reality of this truth. Pull it in to your solar plexus and hold it there. Now, my friends, for the message.

Monjoronson then gives a basic TM lesson, on how to collect his “truth” to your “chakra,” and for those who do not realize it, he also teaches the path of Kundalini, though does not use that term, but simply states “…let it rise to the top of your head. Now send it upward, climbing the ladder.”  This is wholely demonic, and yet people involve themselves in these type of practices on a daily level!

Continuing on, Monjoronson explains what it will be like when he comes and how his followers will know him:

When I come in the flesh you will know me because you will have already met me in these higher frequencies in your stillness and will have no doubt, nor hesitation to believe and to follow. My friends, this work cannot be overdone, nor overemphasized. It may seem like a small thing, such an easy thing, and yet the effects are far beyond what you can comprehend. You see the picture only from your perspective. We see you as points of light in a great web and the angelic realms are pouring in their light more and more every day until people like yourselves can’t miss it. You’re absorbing it every moment, surrounded by it, so when you awake in your awareness to work with it, it expands and it multiplies.

For those who do not see a coming Tribulation in Scripture, please understand that without exception, all divine leaders, teachers and instructors of the New Age do see it.  They speak of it, they are preparing their converts and followers for it, and in many cases, they are explaining it to them as something horrific that the world has never seen, nor will see again. 

Some of them even speak of a type of Rapture (something a few of them have named the “Great Evacuation”).  Of course, this coming evacuation is intended for people who are the malcontents, and the spiritually immature.  These are the ones who are holding this planet back from progressing to its next evolutionary stage.

At the same time, they are spending a good amount of time assuring their faithful that they themselves will not be harmed, or negatively impacted by the coming troubles IF they remain faithful.  That is caveat, and that allows all of these “divine beings” to excuse themselves when things do not go well for their followers.  Their followers will simply assume that they are experiencing troubles because they have weak faith.  They are falling down because they are not seeing through the coming problems.

These alleged divine beings have let themselves off the hook.  The greatest tragedy in all of this is not that a Tribulation is coming, but that too many souls hang in the balance.  It boggles my mind (and should not, according to Scripture) that so many people are willing to toss away God’s Word, in favor of some demons who are able to transmit their thoughts to humanity.  THESE thoughts people will believe, but not the Bible!  How tragic!

Here are just two of the comments left by people after reading Monjoronson’s full message:

“I do___ have a good feeling about that person. I would___ trust that source .“

“…this teaching is from Divine sources…I have recently finished reading about Nanook a great teacher who walked for 28 years across India preaching there is no Muslim there is no Christian. I was moved by his simplicity and how he surrendered to his Divine mission here on earth.“

I think for those Christians who are naysaying the possibility of a coming Tribulation (and if it happens in this generation’s lifetime), they will be surprised to find things ramping up to a terrible state prior to the time this Monjoronson appears on the scene.  In my view, whether it’s Monjoronson, the Mahdi, the Maitreya, or any other divine being from beyond who says he will appear, it will be none other than the Antichrist, the world’s final dictator and first true global dictator, who winds up deceiving most of the world, and sets himself up as god, to be worshiped.  Those who do not, will die and it is as simple as that. 

Again, it is something to consider.  The New Age movement has been teaching for years that a terrible time is coming, prior to a time of unprecedented peace.  Before that peace can come, the last divine teacher must appear on the world’s stage.  If this is what the New Age is teaching its followers, there is no point to it if it will not actually happen.  Satan has simply been wasting his time, preparing people for something that will not occur, when he could have bypassed all the upcoming “bad” times, and gone straight to the unprecedented peace part of the equation.  He has not done that though.  He has spent and continues to spend time educating New Agers on the problems that are upcoming.  Everything is crucial and everything is heading toward a global crisis.  This is the thought and teaching of the New Age.  Why?  Because Satan knows the Bible better than you, or me and he knows what is truth about the Bible and what is fiction.

Satan will never spend the time creating a completely fictional event or situation.  He will always try to parody God’s events, and circumstances because he knows that when they happen, he will receive credit.  To take the time to teach people things that will never happen only makes him look like an idiot and he will lose a great deal of credibility with his followers.  Why would he risk that when he can take what he knows God is going to eventually do, and make it sound like it is his idea?

Whether it is found within the New Age movement, Alienology, or some other secular area, people are being swept up into believing many supernatural events, told by supernatural beings.  Their unprecedented involvement in the lives of normal people has seemingly and exponentially increased dramatically over the past few decades.  Regarding this, Monjoronson states, “To motivate each and everyone individually. Many celestials have been volunteering to come to your world to be of assistance.“  Well, isn’t that nice?  So these “celestials” have volunteered to come to lowly earth to help us?  Help us what?  They offer nothing in the way of medical advice, nor do they tell us how to get rid of the common cold, or cancers.  They do not even share with us their knowledge of global finance!  All they do is talk about spiritual light and love and peace.  Because people desperately want that, they listen and unfortunately, believe.

What do you believe?  Do you believe that all these people in the New Age movement are simply crackpots?  Do you believe the massive increase in UFO sightings and Alienology in general is for the weird and lonely only?  Could it possibly be that as things rapidly progress toward the time when Jesus will return, physically establishing His presence on this planet, reigning with a rod of iron for 1,000 years from David’s throne in Jersualem, these “celestials” know their time is short?  Because of that, their activity has increased 100 fold, or more.

Not only do I think it’s possible, but I believe it is probable and I believe that is exactly what is happening in the spiritual realm today.

Just something to think about…

My church is involved in the Way of the Master Evangelism training program, created by Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort.  I have to say that I have never quite understood the actual process of evangelism provided by Jesus Himself.

I have witnessed, or shared my faith with many people throughout the years, but like most of Christians, we often feel like we’re pushing it on others who usually don’t want to hear it.  It’s either this, or we are afraid to share, or simply aren’t quite sure of working the Gospel into a conversation, so that we continue to appear normal, not as a zealot.

Understanding how Christ approached evangelism is extremely important.  He is the Master of evangelism, which is why Cameron’s and Comfort’s program is titled “Way of the Master.”

Today, the Gospel is often either trivialized by making it sound as if we simply “accept” Jesus into our heart, He will make our life WONDERFUL!  Our life will be stylin’ from that point on!  Yeah!!

However, the truth of the matter is that this is not what Jesus ever promised.  He never promised to give us a rose garden.  He in fact, promises trials and persecutions in this life, simply because the world hates (and continues to hate) Jesus, and if we become His followers, they will hate us as well.

If this is true, then why are some (maybe it’s “many”) trying to literally bamboozle people into thinking that if they receive Jesus now, they will get their best life?  Others are so involved in pushing a social action plan, that the only that connects with Jesus at all is the fact they are part of a physical church.

Tonight, the news was filled with Martin Luther King Jr. celebrations, due to the holiday named after him tomorrow.  I do not at all want to take away from, or minimize what King accomplished in this nation.  Without his efforts, God only knows what life would be like for minorities in America.

That said, why is the emphasis on society? Why is there so much emphasis from pulpits today on the socializing of the Gospel, or on a social Gospel?  It appears that too many pastors and professing Christians are more concerned about changing society, than introducing people to the Person who can change the outcome of their lives.

The labels “false prophet,” or “false teachers” are bandied about often in today’s society.    Tossed from one group to another, people accuse others of being false prophets seemingly as often as they buy bread.  The most interesting thing is that often, those on the launching and receiving end of these labels are found within the arena of Eschatology.  It is incredible to me how often I read or hear someone from one end of the Eschatological pool, lob name-bombs at another individual at the other end of the pool.

You see, our society has gotten to the point that we have forgotten what actually constitutes heresy, prompting them to be duly noted as a false prophet, or false teacher.  In the Bible, every time someone was referenced as a false teacher, a wolf in sheep’s clothing, a false prophet, or something similar, it always had to do with the area of salvation.  Paul fought against those who attempted to pervert the Gospel.  Their mission was to pull people away from the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, and they normally attempted to do this by adding things salvation, which is grace only, through faith.

In fact, salvation (in spite of what some individuals believe), is still by grace, through faith.  There is nothing a person can do to earn salvation.  It was deliberately completed by God in Christ so that no one would have to try to find a way to purchase it.  It is a free gift; always has been and always will be.

Unfortunately, the problems within society continue and many within the visible Church are trying to deal with the problem by changing society instead of giving people the information they need that will allow them to change within.

But the question is, why are so many within the visible Church ready, willing and able to dismiss or ignore the actual heresy that occurs regarding the representation of the true Gospel, yet seem to reserve their ire for the perceived heresies within the the realm of Eschatology?

What is more important, making sure people hear the true Gospel, so that people know that they need a Savior, and learn the way to find that Savior, or quarreling over what this person believes, or that person espouses regarding Eschatology?

The Emergent Church has quietly, and consistently moved into the visible Church, displacing the true Gospel in the process, with another gospel, which as Paul would say, is really not another gospel.  It is heresy, because it removes Jesus from the throne, replacing Him with a social gospel that teaches people how to change society, learn to have their best life now, and more besides!  Jesus will “improve your ride” through life, isn’t that cool?

If you consider that this is taking place, while at the same time, verbal volleys are shot from one cannon to another within Eschatology, we have to wonder, gee, has the Church become sidetracked?

It would certainly appear so, because it seems as though professing Christians are involved in changing society, or attempting to correct what they feel is aberrant End Times theology.  In either case, does anyone actually hear the authentic Gospel?  It does not appear to be so.

Authentic Christians need to learn the process of evangelizing.  We need to learn how Jesus fulfilled the Great Commission.  We need to realize that discussing topics which are peripheral to the area of salvation, should not be given as much time as salvation.

When we look at the visible Church today, we should not be seeing two main themes; a socialized Gospel and an overemphasis on Eschatology complete with all the differences within.

Whether we think the PreTrib Rapture is true, and will occur imminently or not, one thing that is sure, is that our death is imminent.  We can quarrel about whether we believe the PreTrib Rapture is true, the Mid-Trib, the Posttrib, or the no-Trib, and we can argue about them until the cows come home, but we will not be doing one thing to fulfill the Great Commission.

The Great Commission was the order that Jesus gave His followers, and that is what Christians need to be doing.  If we are discussing Eschatology without using it as a springboard into an evangelistic effort, then why are we placing such an emphasis on Eschatology?

Just something to consider…

My day went a little something like this:

+ Woke up with a sinus headache. At least I think it’s a sinus headache. Or maybe it’s a headache associated with teeth grinding? Perhaps…and I only say that because for the past 2 nights, I’ve been taking my mouth guard off when dawn breaks. Somehow my subconscious feels it’s alright to take it off a little early.

+ Met the in-laws at Cracker Barrel for brunch. I had the Mushroom Chicken Salad. With a dash of coffee (thanks to the waitress spilling some in my salad when she poured my Father-in-Law’s coffee. FAIL). Salad was so-so. But I felt like I owed it to myself to have something light (mind you, the salad had a crapload of blue cheese, an equal amount of bacon and grilled chicken). I was hungry by 2pm.

+ Went to Home Depot and started researching how much “Square Foot Gardening” is going to cost us this Spring. Lumber is affordable. It’s all that peat moss, vermiculite and compost that’s going to cost a pretty penny.

+ Visited Sam’s Club and bought BIG everything. I love bulk shopping!

+ Drove to Jeff City and visited TJ Maxx & Pier 1 Imports. Cleaned out those gift cards that were burning a hole in my pocket. I love clearance items. I do, I do, I do!

+ Went to the grocery store and bought a whole car full of chicken and ground beef. And to make myself feel healthy, I chucked in some greens and lots of fruit!

+ Came home and cooked 9 rolls of sushi. And ate 6 rolls worth an hour later. GLUTTONS. Yes.

And before I go, here’s today’s Project 365 photo:

The plates on clearance I hauled from Pier 1 Imports. $1.98 each, down from $8 (aka RIP OFF!)

Oh what a beautiful morning….NOT! In fact, it’s foggy/misty and just downright bleh.

I suppose I should be grateful that it’s not snowing. There’s my silver lining right there…

What’s up with me lately?

Well…
+ Work. (surprise, surprise)
+ Eating really badly. You know, fried and fatty. The good stuff.
+ Freaking out about the lack of time in the day. I need a pause button. And a nap.
+ Dreaming of Australia.
+ Watching a whole lot of Dexter, Big Love & Criminal Minds. Big bummer is, Netflix doesn’t have Dexter Season 3 on Instant Queue and we tried renting the discs at Blockbuster only to be told that Disc 2 had been stolen by somebody. Then what’s the point? And we don’t really want to buy the discs since I wouldn’t consider Dexter a show I’d like to re-watch multiple times.
+ I have lost my point and shoot camera. It is nowhere to be found.
+ I have a $50 VISA card from US Cellular (phone rebate) to spend this weekend. I am beyond delighted about this.
+ I have been wearing a night mouth guard to sleep each night this week and I believe it has made a difference in my TMJ issues. Goodbye, teeth grinding, hello healthy jaw.
+ Life is good, as a whole.

And here’s a few days worth of Project 365 photos:

I raided the library.

Thermals are sexy.

I nearly lost it here. Really didn’t feel like taking a picture.

Pasta sauce. Our go-to dish.

I love supporting my Cougars!

H is for Houston. Duh!

It was a misty morning.

Q:

As Salam Alaikum,

I have been looking for work for 2.5 mos now, sent 4000 plus applications, read somewhere to recite Ya Mughnee day & night (all the times) & have started from last week (is that OK?). I always insist on Rizq-e-Halal & all foods/lifestyle for myself & my kids, we perform regular salat & try to fulfill all duties but these times are very tough on my family I often think about killing me & kids since nothing seems to be working (May Allah forgive me & make my life easier) and do not know what to do anymore. Please provide me with suggestions/wazifa if possible and provide your thoughts on Ya Mughnee please. May Allah bless you.

Jazzak Allah

Time: Wednesday January 13

A: وعليكم السلام ورحمة الله وبركاته

Our nation is going through a profound set of trials. Muslims and other minorities are bearing the brunt of these challengers that surround them.  Although your situation is not new, it is tragic and we share your pain.

Shaytan has a plan too

You are reading the right things. Recognizing and repeating the great names of Allah (Suhanahu Wa Ta’Ala) would never go in vain. The benefit of your zikr would be sometimes given to you in this world, but in the hereafter, we would all wish we took the name of Allah (Suhanahu Wa Ta’Ala) in greater amount – for its reward would surly be tremendous. No good deed goes to waste. Due to your repeating His name, it could be well that Allah(Suhanahu Wa Ta’Ala) is protecting you from something more disastrous.

Give me now!

Muslims assume that due to the recital of specific phrases, a cure must follow. Humans are hasty in their approach and their level of patience is not filled with continual perseverance. We must be thankful that Allah (Suhanahu Wa Ta’Ala) loves us enough to allow us take His name. That fact that you can take His name with perseverance is a blessing from Allah (Suhanahu Wa Ta’Ala) and a showing of His Mercy towards you and your family. Muslims learn from the life of all prophets, more significantly, we learn that prophets remembered Allah (Suhanahu Wa Ta’Ala) greatly despite serious adversities. The sahaba have also emulated this pattern of endurance. So did other pious persons throughout history. Your patience would increase your rank.

Your depression

You need not be depressed. You must sincerely believe that Allah (Suhanahu Wa Ta’Ala) does not burden a person more than they can endure. Simultaneously, shaytan has work to do as well. As you are reading all these great phrases linked to Allah (Suhanahu Wa Ta’Ala) shaytan is placing negative thoughts in your mind, wanting you to abandon your superior service towards Allah (Suhanahu Wa Ta’Ala).

Rasulullah (SAW) has beautifully stated in the following similar words: look to those beneath you so as to be thankful. Shaytan only wants you to focus on your misery. When a person focuses on their misery, they become negative. Do not let the enemy win. Shaytan knows well, amongst the greatest sins are the ones of murder and suicide. Do not tread this negative path.

Eye on your goal

Keep your focus on what you are doing. For the sake of your children and family, keep a smile and a brave face when interacting with them. Even though finances may be enormously reduced and morale at its worst,  take your children to the park and allow them to make a snow man, take part in a playful snow fight, take  a jog as a stress breaker; take a class in college to learn a new skill via the financial programs that are available, etc. If you continue without changes to your current strategy, your current situation would continue to devastate you.

Your children need you. Suicide would not be an option by any standards. Stay strong and rest assured, Allah (Suhanahu Wa Ta’Ala) would open His doors for you when the times He feels is most right. This is something you must believe in for maximum success.

We share your pain and sincerely wish you the very best, Ameen

Allah Certainly Knows Best.

p.s. Kindly go to a local government agency etc. for immediate help. More so, if violence of any type is perceived. Call our Islamic Society should you feel the need. Kindly leave a message. Do not depend on our help alone.

(Please note:  I have added to this latest published blog today, January 13, 2010)

Declarative Statements
I am amazed how many times I either read or hear people make comments like this:

“I decided to lay out my biblical understanding of this much disputed doctrine here in this blog. During my walk with God, I have flipped flopped having first believed when I went to a Tim LaHaye conference several years ago. This occurred when I was a true babe in Christ and had only just begun a sincere walk. Subsequently as I began to read the Word myself and let the Holy Spirit guide me in all truth.”

The above quote – especially the bolded sentence - is similar to others that I have heard.  Even though people do not necessarily mean it to come across this way, by itself, it is an arrogant statement to make.  When someone makes that statement, what they are doing is stating that they have been directly taught by the Holy Spirit and anyone who holds a different viewpoint has not.  It’s really that simple.

Normally, this type of statement is made in connection with discussions concerning the PreTrib Rapture.  People will pretty much denigrate the Bible college learning that folks who believe the PreTrib Rapture have had, by making comments like “These people just take what they are taught at Bible college verbatim and believe it, without really thinking about, or studying the Scriptures on their own.”  This comment is also made with respect to the pastors who teach the PreTrib Rapture position.

Again, what is being stated is that the people who believe in a PreTrib Rapture position do so because they:

1. Do not think for themselves
2. Trust the teaching of others without studying on their own
3. Are not taught by the Holy Spirit
4. Are deceived (in some cases)

I’m all for simply discussing Scripture and anything directly connected to it, such as

1. Word studies
2. History
3. Cultural jargon and idioms
4. Context of Scripture

Talk to the Hand
Individuals who make the type of accusations and statements noted above are also usually the first to go outside the Bible for their “evidence” and “proof.”  Normally, one of the first people they run to is Dave MacPherson since he has eight (yes, EIGHT) books on the subject of the PreTrib Rapture.  Apparently, Mr. MacPherson considers this to be of supreme importance, as I have yet to see his name associated with any work that deals specifically with salvation.

But let’s be clear here.  When people start making statements like “I prayed that the Holy Spirit would teach me,” one must stop to ask how could the Holy Spirit be teaching three or four different versions of the same theological topic?  What’s more is that each person who holds a different view than another individual (who also prayed that the Holy Spirit teach them), believes they are correct in their view and that the Holy Spirit taught them.  Logic demands that not all views can be correct, so therefore the Holy Spirit could not have taught each of the opposing views as truth.  Yet, to each their own and their own views are correct.

Here is an example of the dogmatism that comes with believing that your view and your view only has been taught to you by the Holy Spirit:

“There is no PreTribulation Rapture.  Mark it down.  It is not in the Bible.”

“The PreTribulation Rapture has no basis in Scripture.  It is a myth.”

“There is nothing in the Bible that even remotely teaches a PreTribulation Rapture.”

Here is My Fact on the Subject
I’m sure I don’t need to continue.  You get the idea.  What is scary is when people have determined beyond doubt that issues, which are peripheral to salvation, are either correct or incorrect.  Had these opinions (that is what they are), been stated with disclaimers like “In my opinion…” or “I do not see…” or “I believe…” or something else along those lines, they would be easier to accept.  However, when people toss out declarative statements like the ones above, they are meant to stop all conversation that opposes it.  In fact, the person who makes these hard and fast statements obviously has no wish to discuss the possibility that they may, in fact, be incorrect in their view.  For them, they have been “taught by the Holy Spirit,” and because of this, they BELIEVE wholeheartedly that the Holy Spirit has brought them to certain conclusions.  Since this appears to be the case, then for them, the discussion IS closed.  There is no room for debate, because they are convinced that they are perfectly correct.

In studying any theological topic, it behooves us to thoroughly search the Scriptures and folks, as you are aware, this takes a great deal of time, in many cases, depending upon the depth of the particular topic being studied.  Eschatology is difficult at best.  Most of us should know this and it only takes hardly a glance in Daniel to know how much Daniel studied the writings of the prophet Jeremiah.  This is the same Daniel who prayed three times each day and the same Daniel who was greatly favored by God.  It is clear that Daniel wanted to know God’s will and it is clear that he dedicated himself to two things; 1) prayer, and 2) studying.

Daniel was Incorrect!
It is also interesting to note - and this is very important! – that Daniel arrived a certain conclusions, based on prayer and study.  Unfortunately, it turns out that his timeline was incorrect.  What?  How could Daniel have been incorrect?  After all, he studied and prayed diligently to know God’s mind and he arrived at an answer!  How could he have been wrong?  Well, as it turns out, he was wrong, but please note that he was also humble.  When it was pointed out to him that he was wrong, he was quickly able to change gears, acknowledging that this new information was correct.  Let’s look at the text, in Daniel chapter 9.

“In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of Median descent, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans– in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years,” (Daniel 9:1-2 NASB). 

But He was a Man of Prayer!
Here we see that Daniel has spent probably a good deal of time studying and praying.  Because of this, he arrives at a conclusion, which he believes is correct; that the number of years of Israel’s captivity was almost complete and that number was 70 years.  All right, so far, so good, but let’s continue.

“So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes,” (Daniel 9:3 NASB).

Daniel has just finished studying and believes that he has found the answer for which he had been searching regarding the end of Israel’s Babylonian captivity.  What does he do?  He does NOT issue declarative statements as if he has “arrived” at the truth and everyone else has not.  He immediately humbles himself before the Lord, by seeking Him in prayer and supplication.  He also fasted and put on sackcloth, and put ashes on his head.  Obviously, if someone is going to fast, we are talking about a period of time.  It is clear then that he prayed and fasted for several days.  How many days?  We do not really know.  It could have been one day or seven days.  However, it was during Daniel’s prayer of thanksgiving, confession and request that the angel Gabriel appears with the answer to Daniel’s prayer.  Please note though, that Daniel was in the middle of confessing HIS sins as well as the sins of Israel when he was interrupted by Gabriel’s appearance.

Gabriel Offers the Truth
Gabriel then reports to Daniel that it is NOT 70 years, but 70 sevens of years (cf. 9:24), or “seventy weeks”!  In one swell swoop Daniel goes from thinking that the time of captivity is almost over, to realizing that it is not 70 years, but 490 years!  The next chapter shows us Daniel’s grief and sorrow over this news.  In fact, verse 2 states that Daniel had been in mourning for three weeks (21 days)!  That is a long time to be in mourning, but then again, the news he had received from Gabriel had not been at all encouraging.  Notice though in Daniel 10:1, it says, “In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a message was revealed to Daniel, who was named Belteshazzar; and the message was true and one of great conflict, but he understood the message and had an understanding of the vision.”  (emphasis added; NASB)

Daniel Was Able to be Taught
So now Daniel actually understood the message, whereas before he only thought he understood it.  If anyone would have thought he was being guided by God’s Spirit, it would have been Daniel, who prayed three times daily, and kept himself as pure as possible.  He arrived at a conclusion based on his study, his way of life and his prayer and supplication to God.  Yet it was wrong and he was ultimately corrected.  However, if you had asked Daniel if he was sure about the 70 years (as opposed to the 490 years), he would have undoubtedly told you that he was positive!  Yet, he needed to be corrected.

My point is simple:  ALL of us need to be humble when we approach the Lord’s Word.  Even after we arrive at certain conclusions, we need to be willing to acknowledge that we might be incorrect in our view.  This does not mean that we become wishy-washy Christians, unable to show why we believe as we do.  It means that we have a teachable spirit, understanding that we will never arrive at perfect knowledge in this life.  It just will not happen, as much as we would like it to.

Eschatology Should NOT be a Fightin’ Word
Too many Christians have turned aspects of Eschatology into fighting words.  It seems as though words are used as weapons to defeat anyone who deigns to disagree with us.  “How dare he disagree with me!  Isn’t he aware that I have been taught by the Holy Spirit?!“  What about everything that Paul and Jesus taught?  Are we to not love the brethren with a pure love?  If so, how can that be happening if we are ready to “kill” them with words of rebuke?

In my opinion, the only views worth fighting for are those that are directly or indirectly connected to the following:

1. The Deity of our Lord Jesus Christ (John 1:1; John 20:28; Hebrews 1:8-9).
2. The Virgin Birth (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23; Luke 1:27).
3. The Blood Atonement (Acts 20:28; Romans 3:25, 5:9; Ephesians 1:7; Hebrews 9:12-14).
4. The Bodily Resurrection (Luke 24:36-46; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, 15:14-15).
5. The inerrancy of the scriptures themselves (Psalms 12:6-7; Romans 15:4; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20).

Compared to the above theological areas, how important is Eschatology?  Is it something you would be willing to die for?  Are you so sure of your particular belief regarding the Rapture, the Tribulation, the Second Coming, etc., that you are willing to lay your life on the line?  Moreover, why were Christians persecuted and killed during Paul’s day?  Why are Christians still killed throughout the world today?  Is it because they are unwilling to recant their belief in some aspect of Eschatology?  Hardly.  They are killed because they are unwilling to deny Jesus Christ, Savior, Lord and God.

Who is Deceived?
Yet, Christians are still caught up in believing that if someone has a wrong view of Eschatology, then they are in danger of going off the deep end spiritually.  Frankly, I am much more concerned about people who tell me unequivocally that the Holy Spirit taught them.  That scares me more.  This is not to say that the Holy Spirit does not teach, however, as I have stated, those who stand behind that use it as a means of negating any other viewpoint that is not in harmony with theirs.

It reminds me of the years I spent in the Charismatic movement.  All too often, people play the “The Lord told me to tell you” card and imagine if you ignored that.  They would assume that you were in rebellion, because the Lord have given them a “word” for you, and you were ignoring it.  It becomes ridiculous after a while.  Part of the problem within Christendom is not that the Holy Spirit does not teach us.  The problem is that we have developed this arrogant attitude that makes us believe that the Lord is required to teach us first or directly about some theological tidbit, or position.  What about people that God has actually raised up to pastor and teach those within the Church?  Of course, they are not going to 100% correct about everything, and neither are you (or me), but does that preclude our ability to trust their teaching?

God Gave Some to Be Prophets and Teachers…
There are very intelligent, godly individuals whom God has raised up who are experts in Hebrew and Greek.  There are others who are gifted in areas of history, or archaeology as it applies to the Bible and the cultures of the Bible.  There are other individuals who are blessed with the gift of applying Scripture to our daily lives.  To ignore these people (if they are on target theologically – the five fundamentals), is nothing more than rank arrogance and the Church needs to stop with that.

Jesus warned us that in these latter days there would be many false Christs, who would come presenting “another” Gospel.  Well, they are here and they have been here for some time now.  To the authentic Christian who understands what the Bible teaches about the five fundamentals of the faith, these false Christs are very obvious.  They are presenting another Gospel and pointing to another Jesus.  Understanding who they are and the error they teach keeps us away from them.

Theological Areas of Wiggle Room
However, there are also numerous areas in theology, in which wiggle room exists.  Eschatology is one of those places.  For me, reading a book by a Preterist on the End Times is like reading a comedy of errors.  I personally believe that the Preterists and the Covenant or Reformed theologian is completely wrong when it comes to the End Times equation.  However, they can be authentic Christians.  That does not come into question.  There are other areas, which are also not as fully established, such as water baptism.  Some argue that one must be fully immersed.  Others argue that sprinkling does the trick.

There are many other areas that we can touch on, like the sign gifts, including speaking in tongues.  Are these gifts for today, or did they die out after the last living apostle died?  Speaking of apostles, there are those who believe that people can be apostles today.  Others believe that there were those during Christ’s time (including Paul) and that is it.

The Great Commission Has Nothing to do with Eschatology
Now, what the Church needs to do is focus on the thing it was called to do:  evangelize the world.  This is the Great Commission, which Jesus gave to His followers as their marching orders.  When we all stand before Him, what will separate us from those who are lost is one thing and one thing only:  salvation.  Salvation is not affected if my belief in the End Times includes believing in a PreTrib Rapture.  In fact, for all those individuals who strongly believe that I am wrong and that it could mean ultimately being deceived, I am still waiting for an answer on why the fact that my death could occur at any moment does not create within me the same type of deception or error.

In other words, people deny the PreTrib Rapture for all sorts of reasons; many of them simply man-made.  One of the chief reasons has to do with the idea/belief that those who believe in a PreTrib Rapture will not only be shocked and disappointed when the Rapture does not occur prior to the Tribulation (if alive at that time), but because of it, they will have done nothing to secure their own maturity in Christ, believing that they will be whisked off the face of the earth prior to any real drama starting.  Apparently, I’m sitting here twiddling my thumbs in preparation of my twinkling of an eye departing from planet earth.  I can’t be actually dedicated to Jesus because I am waiting to escape the future trouble that this earth will undergo.  I can’t be spiritually mature because not only have I arrived at a different opinion about the Rapture than other people (who have apparently been taught by the Spirit), but also because of my waiting to be removed from the earth.

Is Today Your Last?
However, am I not supposed to live each day as if it was my last?  Could I not die tonight in my sleep, or tomorrow in a car accident, or sometime during the day sitting at my desk, composing another blog, or writing another book?  The answer is of course I could die, and my upcoming death is absolutely unknown to me.  I do not know when it will occur, nor can I pry that information from God.  He is not telling me.  I may realize my death is upon me mere seconds prior to dying.

So if I am to live every day as my last – which is really like expecting the Rapture to happen any day now – then someone needs to tell me the difference in these two scenarios.  In each situation, I am:

• living each day as if it is my last day on earth
• living my life submitted to His will, not mine, as best as I can
• living with the expectancy of seeing my God, my Lord and my Savior in the next second
• concerned about eternal things, not earthly endeavors
• separating myself from those things which have no eternal significance whatsoever

Now, for those individuals who are so sure that the Holy Spirit has taught them that the PreTrib Rapture is wrong, let me ask you this:  Are YOU doing the bulleted list above?  If not, why not, because your death is just as close to you as mine is to me.  I do not live those bulleted items perfectly – no one will in this life in spite of their claims to the contrary – but if I believe that I could be in His actual presence in any upcoming second, do you think for a moment that that makes me sit around filling my face with food, melding with the couch, as I watch my favorite TV show?  How absurd is it to think that this is what I’m doing.

Death: The Greatest Motivator
Think about something – those of you who firmly believe that the Rapture is far off (at least seven years; at the end of the Tribulation), what is your motivation to live as if every day is your last?  The answer is your death, and my friends, your death will bring you to the same place that the Rapture will bring you to – standing before Jesus Christ at the Bema Judgment.  If you are truly living your life as if you could die in the next second, then you are living your life no differently than the authentic Christian who believes that he could be Raptured out of here in the next second.  In either case, the thought of standing before Christ is enough to make your bowels loosen.  I am NOT being sacrilegious when I say that either.  Think about it.  In any one upcoming second, you and I could be transported into His presence – either through death or Rapture – and the thought of it should at once make us jump for joy and also cause us to examine our lives.  The people who never think about their deaths, or believe that they’ve got at least seven years to go before they see Him have less motivation to do what I have just described.

Far from being deceived, or straying into areas of erroneous doctrine, the PreTrib Rapture causes me to consider (daily) my standing before Him.  Will I be embarrassed?  Will I wish I had done things differently?  I’m sure I will because there is absolutely no way I will ever arrive at perfection in this life and in this sin-laden body.  However, the thought that I may see Him in the next instance tends to purify all that is within me, causing me to separate myself from those things, which are worthless.  Didn’t John say this in 1 John 3:2-3:  “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.  And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” (emphasis added; NASB)

Eschatology SHOULD Purify…
Isn’t John saying that as we think about seeing Him, we will instantly become like Him.  As we dwell on this change that will occur within us and to our bodies, we become purified because our mind is no longer connected to those things on the earth, which passes away.  We can then weigh what is truly important in this life, which is spreading the salvation message, and communicating the salvation that Christ purchased for us, to a lost and dying world.  We will be no good at it if we are concerned with life down here; if we focus on what we have or do not have, or how much time we believe we have before we are taken out of this world into His presence.

One day, at the precise moment in time, God will call each one of us home.  It will either be through the Rapture or through our death.  Are we living as if each day is our last?  Proving a point about a particular pet theology is one thing.  Living for Christ on a daily basis is another thing altogether.  Which one do you find to be more important?