I have a friend who’s an experienced pastor, teacher, and Christian apologist. He’s very well educated, articulate, teaches in a way that hits the mark, and has a passion particularly for grounding young people in the faith during their high school and early college years.
Currently, he’s employed with Youth for Christ and a while back he felt a burden to try and help churches in our area do what he does best, which is equip youth to defend the Christian faith in the world and know what/why they believe.
Because he’s developed a number of curriculums to use for such situations, he sent a letter to all the churches in our metropolitan area (which is quite a lot) explaining what he does, and offered to come to their church free of charge and conduct Christian apologetic training for their youth.
How many churches took him up on his offer?
Zero. None. Zilch.
Now, any Christian leader who doesn’t have their head in the sand knows how depressing the statistics are for young people who walk away from the faith in the late high school/early college years. At times, I’ve had atheists toss such data in my face in an attempt to argue that people ‘smarten up’ when they get older, but that isn’t it at all.
The fact is some in this particular demographic leave the Church because they get talked out of a faith that they were never sure of in the first place. The storyline is sadly familiar.
Maybe a young person was brought up in a church. Or, maybe they weren’t and began to investigate Christianity on their own. Either way, sooner or later they begin to ask hard questions, good questions, questions that deserve solid answers. But they don’t get them. So, because they rightly need what they believe in their heart to connect with their mind, they disconnect from Christianity.
Why does this keep happening?
In short, it happens because much of the Church today is dumb. Don’t misunderstand me, I mean no disrespect when I use the term ‘dumb’. What I mean is that the Church is dumb in that they aren’t well educated in what they believe, fail miserably in fulfilling 1 Peter 3:15 that says all Christians should be prepared to give a reason for why they believe, and are woefully unable to handle any challenge to Christianity that comes from unbelievers or the cults.
The Age of the Dumb Church
Dr. R. C. Sproul has said many times that he believes we are living in the most un-intellectual period in the history of Western civilization. Over 30 years ago, former Lebanese ambassador to the United States, Charles Malik, said the following in his speech at the dedication of the Billy Graham Center in Wheaton, Illinois: “I must be frank with you: the greatest danger confronting American evangelical Christianity is the danger of anti-intellectualism. The mind in its greatest and deepest reaches is not cared for enough.”
Such statements made by Sproul, Malik, and others were not always heard in the Church. The fact is, the Church dominated intellectual thought and discourse for hundreds of years, producing such thinkers like Augustine, Aquinas, Calvin, Edwards, and others. Such men had their opponents (the Church always will), but their detractors never ridiculed their brainpower because the Churchman’s intellectual prowess left no room for it.
But shortly after the era of Edwards, something changed. Gospel preachers like Charles Finney arose and replaced the intelligent presentation of the Gospel, which was backed by meaty Biblical exposition and solid philosophical rationale, with emotional appeals, questionable theology, personal anecdotes with humor, a celebrity-style leader, and engineered publicity.
Sound familiar? Unfortunately, in many seeker friendly or liberal churches today, the characteristics of Finney and his followers are played out each Lord’s Day with the end result being a church body unable to intellectually defend the faith they espouse.
Characteristics of the Dumb Church
How can you tell if your church exhibits traits that characterize a dumb church? Although not exhaustive, I offer these criteria that I believe help contribute to a church becoming ‘dumb’:
Where the church leadership is concerned:
Preaching is always topical and never expository. Selective topical series allow tough and deep theological subjects, as well as ‘controversial’ passages of Scripture, to be avoided with ease.
Although the church leaders offer strong external facing statements as to how they are a “Bible believing church”, the Bible is actually used and referenced very little in the sermons.
Few quotations from Scripture are heard in a message, with the vast majority of all sermons consisting of personal rhetoric, humor, videos, and personal stories.
Biblical terms such as justification, reconciliation, sanctification, propitiation, etc., are avoided like the plague.
There is little to no instruction for new (or existing) believers on the core doctrines of the Christian faith, and no requirement for new believers to attend such instruction.
There is no continuous offering of apologetic training classes that are designed to train Christians in the evidences and defense of the faith, and little to no interest of the pastors in the subject area.
There is no easy way for the congregation to have tough questions answered by the lead pastors; such a thing is quietly ignored, discouraged or not practiced regularly.
Deep Bible study programs are either absent or deliberately pushed out in favor of more ‘relevant’ classes that deal with softer subject matters (e.g. money management).
Adult and children’s Bible studies before/after the main church service are either omitted or are second class citizens to “Community Groups” that seek to have members meet in each other’s homes during the week, where no oversight is given as to what is done or taught. These groups, where teaching is concerned, are run “hands off” where the church leadership is concerned.
There is a huge emphasis on relationship building and serving in areas of the church, but no similar importance placed on growing more Biblically and theologically literate.
The youth department has an unmistakable concentration on entertainment, games, social interaction, etc., vs. actual teaching of Christian doctrines.
The church either has no library or one that is not kept up to date.
There is either no staff member assigned specifically to church education, or it is assigned to an already overburdened associate pastor.
Doctrinal statements of the church are missing or are not prominently made available. If they exist, they do not address any controversial theological topics or make very vague statements concerning them.
Where the congregation is concerned:
The term “Christian apologetics” is completely unfamiliar to the vast majority of the members.
Most of the congregation has no knowledge of church history with the names of Polycarp, Martyr, Luther, Calvin, Edwards, Wesley, Whitefield, Tyndale, and others being completely foreign to them.
Attendance of offered classes are very low compared to overall church attendance.
A Warning to the Dumb Church
God warns us in His Word about cultivating a dumb church. For example, chastising his readers, the writer of Hebrews offers this admonition against fostering a dumb church environment: "For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.
For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil” (Hebrews 5:12-14).
When you have a dumb church, the writer of Hebrews says the outcome is a body of believers that is incapable of properly discerning good and evil. Slowly but surely, error and heresy creep in with no one being the wiser. The end result are churches championing teachings such as universalism, applauding homosexual marriage, and calling evil good and good evil.
My friend Greg continues to train young believers in apologetics, but he does so at the co-op school used by Christian homeschool families and at his home. To date, no church has yet taken him up on his generous offer to ground their youth in the Christian faith, which is very sad.
My hope and prayer is that such situations stop happening, that dumb churches become the exception rather than the rule, and that smart people who are asking good questions about the Christian faith get the answers they’re looking for from learned believers and pastors like the ones Jeremiah describes: “I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding” (Jer. 3:15).
Describing today’s current climate and the type of Christianity that’s needed to meet the challenge, apologist and author Ravi Zacharias said: “World leaders don’t have answers anymore. And I think America’s youth will rise up to the occasion . . . but it will have to be a passionate and thoughtful Christianity and not a mindless, emotive one that has no staying power.”
Some say such a thing is not need, but I disagree. One of the most haunting questions I’ve ever seen was on the back of my first church history textbook I got in seminary: “How can you live out your faith if you don’t understand it?” Anyone have a good answer?
Robin Schumacher from http://blogs.christianpost.com/
Sunday, 1 July 2012
Saturday, 30 June 2012
COLIN BAINES, A MODERN DAY SAINT OF THE LORD OF THE HIGHEST CHARACTER.
Below is a photo of our dear saint in the Lord, Colin Baines from Leyburn, which was taken at Saltburn last week. Colin has been a Christian for over seventy years, and walks very closely with the Lord. His devotional on Thursday on Mary smelling of the "Odour Of Jesus" after washing the feet and drying the hair of her Master (John 12:3) was the highlight of the week for me, and many others from our time in the North East Yorkshire Christian Resort. He started his message with one of his many jokes (listed on this blog), which had us all crying with laughter. But by the end of his twenty minute devotional, he had us crying again, but this time with tears of joy and emotion in our eyes.
Colin is deaf in one ear, and with the help of a hearing aid, he can hear just a little in the other ear if you speak loudly. He has one glass eye, and has poor sight in the other. He had to use the largest print Bible available, and even then he had to use a magnifying glass to read his beloved Scriptures. He uses a walking stick, and gets about in a very hesitant manner.
Despite his ageing body, Colin is full of the joy of the Lord, and he knows that one day he will receive his new glorious resurrection body from Yeshua, and these "temporary" ailments will be a thing of the past. I also know he will receive that highly deserved accolade, "Well done my good and faithful servant. Enter thou into the joy of My presence" (Matthew 25:21). Please pray for Colin as he awaits these two highly merited rewards, for he is a true saint of the Lord and a shining light in this dark age in which we live (Neville).
Colin is deaf in one ear, and with the help of a hearing aid, he can hear just a little in the other ear if you speak loudly. He has one glass eye, and has poor sight in the other. He had to use the largest print Bible available, and even then he had to use a magnifying glass to read his beloved Scriptures. He uses a walking stick, and gets about in a very hesitant manner.
Despite his ageing body, Colin is full of the joy of the Lord, and he knows that one day he will receive his new glorious resurrection body from Yeshua, and these "temporary" ailments will be a thing of the past. I also know he will receive that highly deserved accolade, "Well done my good and faithful servant. Enter thou into the joy of My presence" (Matthew 25:21). Please pray for Colin as he awaits these two highly merited rewards, for he is a true saint of the Lord and a shining light in this dark age in which we live (Neville).
THERE IS NEVER A DULL MOMENT WHEN SALLY RICHARDSON FROM LONDON IS AROUND!
Below is a picture of the effervescent Sally Richardson from London, who was a constant source of humour and uplifting conversation during our week in Saltburn. One minute she could be passing on a prophetic word from John Hayward for Brian Gemmell to read out at one of the meetings (see further down this blog), then the next she would be joking around with many of her humourous stories. Here is one, which I think I am just about allowed to publish, without offending too many Christians with this "toilet" style of humour!
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An English lady, while visiting in Switzerland, was looking for a room and asked the schoolmaster if he could recommend any. He took her to see several rooms and when everything was settled, the lady returned home to make the preparations for her move. When she arrived home it occurred to her that she had seen no Water Closet (toilet) around the place. So she immediately wrote a note to the schoolmaster asking him if there was a "WC" and the only solution he could find for the letters was Wayside Chapel. The schoolmaster then wrote the following note to the English lady.
Dear Madam,
I take pleasure in informing you that a "WC" is situated nine miles miles from the house in the centre of a beautiful grove of pine trees. It is capable of holding 229 people and it is open on Sundays and Thursdays only. As there are a great number of people expected during the summer months, I would suggest you come early, although there is plenty of standing room. This is an unfortunate situation, particularly if you are in the habit of going regularly. You will no doubt be glad to hear that a goodly number bring their lunch and make a day of it, while others who can afford to go by car arrive just in time.
I would especially suggest that your ladyship go on Thursdays when there is an organ accompaniment. The acoustics are excellent and even the most delicate sounds are heard by all.
It may interest you to know that my daughter was married in the "WC" and it is there she met her husband. I can remember the rush there was for seats. There were ten people to a seat usually occupied by one, and it was a revelation to see the expressions on their faces! The newest attraction is a bell donated by one of the wealthy town residents. It rings whenever a person enters. A bazaar is to be held to provide plush seats for all since the people feel it is a long-felt need.
My wife is rather delicate, so she does not go regularly. It has been almost a year since she last went. Naturally it pains her very much not to attend more often. I shall be glad to reserve the best seat for you, if you wish, where you can be seen by all. For the children there is a special time and place, so they wont disturb their elders.
The Schoolmaster.
PS. It was Sally who coined the phrase "Winston Churchill" in the Brian Gemmell joke further down this blog, so next time you talk to her, beware in case she starts talking about her WC again!
PPS. Sally lives near the BBC in London, or the Babylonian Broadcasting Corporation, as she calls it!!
PPS. Here is Sally's dramatic testimony:
I wonder, if you were asked what was the best gift that you had ever
received would be, what would your answer be? A surprise holiday,
perhaps? A new car? Or maybe, a piece of jewellery!
If I were to be asked what was the best gift I had ever received, it
could only be one thing, and that is, my salvation. Without it, I would
not even be writing this article, because I would be dead. On Christmas
Day, 1975, I fully intended to kill myself, and had it not been for the intervention of the Lord, I most certainly would have done so. Let me explain.
Although I was born into a home where I wanted for nothing
materially-speaking, nevertheless, I myself was unwanted, as my
mother continually reminded me. She always used to tell me I was an accident, and that she wished I had never been born. My younger sister Sue had been wanted, she told me, but not myself. My father loved me, and tried to make amends for my mother's behaviour, as did Sue, but, nevertheless, I was always aware of a very deep sense of rejection and abandonment. In later years, I tried to block this out by promiscuous behaviour, heavy drinking, drug abuse and involvement in the occult.
received would be, what would your answer be? A surprise holiday,
perhaps? A new car? Or maybe, a piece of jewellery!
If I were to be asked what was the best gift I had ever received, it
could only be one thing, and that is, my salvation. Without it, I would
not even be writing this article, because I would be dead. On Christmas
Day, 1975, I fully intended to kill myself, and had it not been for the intervention of the Lord, I most certainly would have done so. Let me explain.
Although I was born into a home where I wanted for nothing
materially-speaking, nevertheless, I myself was unwanted, as my
mother continually reminded me. She always used to tell me I was an accident, and that she wished I had never been born. My younger sister Sue had been wanted, she told me, but not myself. My father loved me, and tried to make amends for my mother's behaviour, as did Sue, but, nevertheless, I was always aware of a very deep sense of rejection and abandonment. In later years, I tried to block this out by promiscuous behaviour, heavy drinking, drug abuse and involvement in the occult.
Then, in Spring 1975, I found I was expecting a baby. To say that my
parents were horrified was putting it mildly. When I refused to consider having an abortion, my parents reacted by throwing me bodily out of the family home, followed by a suitcase hastily packed with a few of my belongings, and telling me never to come back. The baby's father could offer me no support either, so I found myself at the mercy of our local Social Services. All credit due, Social Services were absolutely marvellous, finding me a room in a hostel for unmarried mothers (as they were known in those days!), providing me with furniture and baby things, and helping me apply for benefits, etc.
However, being a single parent with no support from family and friends was very difficult. Yes, I received help from the statutory services, but my family did not care, and my friends did not appear to care either. I struggled on, but became more and more depressed as time went by.
Things came to a head on Christmas Day 1975. All the other mums and babies in the hostel had gone home to their families for Christmas, but Laura, five months old, and I were left on our own in the hostel. Never had I felt more alone, never had I felt more unwanted and abandoned as I did then.
I began to think to myself, what was the point of living? What sort of
life could I, a single parent living in one room in a grotty hostel in the
worst part of town on State benefit, give my daughter? The answer was
nothing, absolutely nothing. Laura deserved better, I told myself, but I could not provide it for her and I could not see any hope of my doing so in future.
I decided that it would be best for both of us if I killed myself. I
planned my suicide meticulously, changing Laura, feeding her and laying her in her cot to sleep. I wrote a note, asking my social worker to find some good adoptive parents for Laura, before going to the corner shop around the corner (its Muslim owner being the only person to open his shop in our area on that Christmas Day of 1975) and bought a bottle of 50 Paracetamol tablets. I timed my suicide carefully for when Carol, who had the room next to mine, returned from spending Christmas with her parents. I began to take the tablets.
However, I had only taken three or four tablets when there was a loud
and persistent knocking at the hostel front door. I tried to ignore it and
took another tablet, but the knocking continued. I knew that the
person knocking on the door couldn't possibly be for me, but it was very intrusive. Losing my temper, I went to the door, intending to give the caller a piece of my mind. Imagine then, my astonishment when I found that the caller was none other than my old schoolfriend Maggie!
I hadn't seen Maggie for over five years, and so great was my
amazement at seeing her standing on my doorstep after so long that I completely forgot about my suicide attempt and let her in.
Maggie must have noticed the tablets, the glass and my suicide note
when she came in, but she did not say anything. Instead, she told me that she had only just heard about what had happened to me, hence her visit.
As we caught up with all our news, I could not help but notice that
Maggie had changed hugely since we had last seen one another five years ago. Then, she was like I was in 1975 - in other words, a complete emotional mess, angry, rejected and confused. Now, however, she was at peace and had a wonderful radiance about her, beautifully and gloriously reflected in her face, which was absolutely shining with joy.
I had to ask Maggie what on earth could have happened to her to bring
about such a change. This was her answer. "I've come to know the
Lord!" Maggie exclamed excitedly. I've come to know the Lord, and I've been born again!"
I couldn't understand what Maggie was talking about. What DID she
mean, she had come to know the Lord? She WAS mixing with illustrious company! The only Lord I could think of was the one who owned the local newspaper! And as for being born again - well, it was a physical impossibility!
Maggie soon put me straight, this time without the Christian
terminology. She had, I learned, been wonderfully and gloriously saved out of her previously sinful and wretched way of life, having repented of her sins and having put her faith and trust in Jesus Christ.
In the days immediately following Maggie's visit, I bumped into two
more long lost old friends, who, like Maggie, had come to know the
Lord. They, like Maggie, came alongside me, and provided me with the love and support I needed and craved for so much.
A few weeks later, and I was attending church with my new found
friends, Maggie, Bob and Liz. Amazingly, they all went to the same Anglican church in the centre of our town, a church where the word of God was faithfully taught, and where believers were regularly baptised in water as well as in the Holy Spirit. After hearing Roger, the Vicar, preach from Acts 2, I came under conviction, repented of my sins, and asked Jesus to be Lord of my life. Two weeks later, I was baptised by full immersion - yes, that's right, in an Anglican church!
Over the years, the Lord has ministered His healing and deliverance to
me, firstly through Roger, our Vicar, and Marguerita, our Pastoral Worker. On the first occasion, I felt like Mary Magdalene, because I had seven demons cast out!
Since then, I have had so much to thank God for - my husband and
children, good friends and my family at Bridge Lane Christian Fellowship, Golders Green. Truly, the Lord has done more than I could think or imagine.
I will end by quoting a few verses from my favourite psalm, Psalm 103.
parents were horrified was putting it mildly. When I refused to consider having an abortion, my parents reacted by throwing me bodily out of the family home, followed by a suitcase hastily packed with a few of my belongings, and telling me never to come back. The baby's father could offer me no support either, so I found myself at the mercy of our local Social Services. All credit due, Social Services were absolutely marvellous, finding me a room in a hostel for unmarried mothers (as they were known in those days!), providing me with furniture and baby things, and helping me apply for benefits, etc.
However, being a single parent with no support from family and friends was very difficult. Yes, I received help from the statutory services, but my family did not care, and my friends did not appear to care either. I struggled on, but became more and more depressed as time went by.
Things came to a head on Christmas Day 1975. All the other mums and babies in the hostel had gone home to their families for Christmas, but Laura, five months old, and I were left on our own in the hostel. Never had I felt more alone, never had I felt more unwanted and abandoned as I did then.
I began to think to myself, what was the point of living? What sort of
life could I, a single parent living in one room in a grotty hostel in the
worst part of town on State benefit, give my daughter? The answer was
nothing, absolutely nothing. Laura deserved better, I told myself, but I could not provide it for her and I could not see any hope of my doing so in future.
I decided that it would be best for both of us if I killed myself. I
planned my suicide meticulously, changing Laura, feeding her and laying her in her cot to sleep. I wrote a note, asking my social worker to find some good adoptive parents for Laura, before going to the corner shop around the corner (its Muslim owner being the only person to open his shop in our area on that Christmas Day of 1975) and bought a bottle of 50 Paracetamol tablets. I timed my suicide carefully for when Carol, who had the room next to mine, returned from spending Christmas with her parents. I began to take the tablets.
However, I had only taken three or four tablets when there was a loud
and persistent knocking at the hostel front door. I tried to ignore it and
took another tablet, but the knocking continued. I knew that the
person knocking on the door couldn't possibly be for me, but it was very intrusive. Losing my temper, I went to the door, intending to give the caller a piece of my mind. Imagine then, my astonishment when I found that the caller was none other than my old schoolfriend Maggie!
I hadn't seen Maggie for over five years, and so great was my
amazement at seeing her standing on my doorstep after so long that I completely forgot about my suicide attempt and let her in.
Maggie must have noticed the tablets, the glass and my suicide note
when she came in, but she did not say anything. Instead, she told me that she had only just heard about what had happened to me, hence her visit.
As we caught up with all our news, I could not help but notice that
Maggie had changed hugely since we had last seen one another five years ago. Then, she was like I was in 1975 - in other words, a complete emotional mess, angry, rejected and confused. Now, however, she was at peace and had a wonderful radiance about her, beautifully and gloriously reflected in her face, which was absolutely shining with joy.
I had to ask Maggie what on earth could have happened to her to bring
about such a change. This was her answer. "I've come to know the
Lord!" Maggie exclamed excitedly. I've come to know the Lord, and I've been born again!"
I couldn't understand what Maggie was talking about. What DID she
mean, she had come to know the Lord? She WAS mixing with illustrious company! The only Lord I could think of was the one who owned the local newspaper! And as for being born again - well, it was a physical impossibility!
Maggie soon put me straight, this time without the Christian
terminology. She had, I learned, been wonderfully and gloriously saved out of her previously sinful and wretched way of life, having repented of her sins and having put her faith and trust in Jesus Christ.
In the days immediately following Maggie's visit, I bumped into two
more long lost old friends, who, like Maggie, had come to know the
Lord. They, like Maggie, came alongside me, and provided me with the love and support I needed and craved for so much.
A few weeks later, and I was attending church with my new found
friends, Maggie, Bob and Liz. Amazingly, they all went to the same Anglican church in the centre of our town, a church where the word of God was faithfully taught, and where believers were regularly baptised in water as well as in the Holy Spirit. After hearing Roger, the Vicar, preach from Acts 2, I came under conviction, repented of my sins, and asked Jesus to be Lord of my life. Two weeks later, I was baptised by full immersion - yes, that's right, in an Anglican church!
Over the years, the Lord has ministered His healing and deliverance to
me, firstly through Roger, our Vicar, and Marguerita, our Pastoral Worker. On the first occasion, I felt like Mary Magdalene, because I had seven demons cast out!
Since then, I have had so much to thank God for - my husband and
children, good friends and my family at Bridge Lane Christian Fellowship, Golders Green. Truly, the Lord has done more than I could think or imagine.
I will end by quoting a few verses from my favourite psalm, Psalm 103.
Psalm103: 2 - 6 (Amplified Version)
"Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul, and
forget not (one of) all His benefits - Who forgives (every one) of all your iniquities, and who heals (each one of) all of all your diseases, Who redeems your life from the pit and corruption, Who beautifies,
dignifies and crowns you with loving-kindness and tender mercy; Who satisfies your mouth (your necessity and desire at your personal
age and situation) with good so that your youth, renewed, is like the eagle's (strong, overcoming, soaring!) The Lord executes righteousness and justice (not for me only) but for all who are oppressed."
forget not (one of) all His benefits - Who forgives (every one) of all your iniquities, and who heals (each one of) all of all your diseases, Who redeems your life from the pit and corruption, Who beautifies,
dignifies and crowns you with loving-kindness and tender mercy; Who satisfies your mouth (your necessity and desire at your personal
age and situation) with good so that your youth, renewed, is like the eagle's (strong, overcoming, soaring!) The Lord executes righteousness and justice (not for me only) but for all who are oppressed."
Truly, this is what my precious Lord has done for me.
Be encouraged, for with God, all things are possible, and He can melt
the hardest heart. After all, He melted mine!
the hardest heart. After all, He melted mine!
SALLY RICHARDSON 05/02/06
Thursday, 28 June 2012
SOME LIGHT HEARTED HUMOUR FROM SUNNY SALTBURN!
In between the serious Bible studies, the uplifting devotionals, and the friendly fellowship, there has been much merriment and mirth, and here are just a couple of examples of the hilarious humour presented by a couple of the people who were leading us from the front!
Number one, offered by the excellent senior servant in the Lord's company, Colin Baines:
"At a gathering of the local clergy in the town, the ministers were encouraged to come to the front of the audience and confess one of the major sins in their life. The first one to stand up was the local Catholic priest, who confessed he had a terrible drinking problem, and could not wait for the meeting to finish so that he could hit the bottle again!
The second minister to stand up was the local Methodist preacher, who confessed he had a real problem with smoking, that he could not give it up, that he smoked sixty ciggies a day, and could not wait for the meeting to end because he was dying to light up again!
The third offering was presented by the local Anglican vicar, who confessed to a terrible gambling problem. He had a season ticket at the local bookies, spent all of his money of the horses, and could not wait for the meeting to end so that he could dash down town and put a few quid on the favourite in the 3.30 at Kempton Park!
The fourth one to stand up was the local Pentecostal minister. He stated that his problem was that he was a terrible gossip, that he could not stop giving away people's secrets, and was always wanting to talk behind the backs of his congregation. He concluded by saying that he could not wait for the meeting to end either, for he wanted to dash out and tell everyone about the newly found secrets of his three companions in the local clergy!!!
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Offering number two, was by David Brooking who is the Manager of Brockley Hall where we are staging our Christian Retreat, and who is also an elder of the local Evangelical Mission in Saltburn.
He started by saying that "As you know Brian Gemmell is a very well known figure in Christian ministry, and for those of you who are not aware of this, please take my word for it that he is extremely well known, for Brian has assured me that his cheque is in the post!
To prove the fact that Brian is easily recognised by the "faithful" everywhere, let me tell you that on a recent vacation to Italy, Brian was being shown around the Vatican along with the rest of his tour group. Once inside, however, Brian was overcome with the need "to spend a penny". The guide gave him directions to the nearest "Winston Churchill", so that he could make his urgent call of nature.
Unfortunately, Brian is renowned for getting lost and losing his way on the directional route! He tried a couple of doors without success, then finally he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the door he thought was going to give him his urgent relief.
As he opened the door, however, and hurried through, he found himself on the balcony overlooking St.Peter's Square at the Vatican! Such is Brian's recognisable frame, that the adoring crowd below were heard shouting, "Who is the guy in the white robes standing next to Brian Gemmell!!!"
Number one, offered by the excellent senior servant in the Lord's company, Colin Baines:
"At a gathering of the local clergy in the town, the ministers were encouraged to come to the front of the audience and confess one of the major sins in their life. The first one to stand up was the local Catholic priest, who confessed he had a terrible drinking problem, and could not wait for the meeting to finish so that he could hit the bottle again!
The second minister to stand up was the local Methodist preacher, who confessed he had a real problem with smoking, that he could not give it up, that he smoked sixty ciggies a day, and could not wait for the meeting to end because he was dying to light up again!
The third offering was presented by the local Anglican vicar, who confessed to a terrible gambling problem. He had a season ticket at the local bookies, spent all of his money of the horses, and could not wait for the meeting to end so that he could dash down town and put a few quid on the favourite in the 3.30 at Kempton Park!
The fourth one to stand up was the local Pentecostal minister. He stated that his problem was that he was a terrible gossip, that he could not stop giving away people's secrets, and was always wanting to talk behind the backs of his congregation. He concluded by saying that he could not wait for the meeting to end either, for he wanted to dash out and tell everyone about the newly found secrets of his three companions in the local clergy!!!
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Offering number two, was by David Brooking who is the Manager of Brockley Hall where we are staging our Christian Retreat, and who is also an elder of the local Evangelical Mission in Saltburn.
He started by saying that "As you know Brian Gemmell is a very well known figure in Christian ministry, and for those of you who are not aware of this, please take my word for it that he is extremely well known, for Brian has assured me that his cheque is in the post!
To prove the fact that Brian is easily recognised by the "faithful" everywhere, let me tell you that on a recent vacation to Italy, Brian was being shown around the Vatican along with the rest of his tour group. Once inside, however, Brian was overcome with the need "to spend a penny". The guide gave him directions to the nearest "Winston Churchill", so that he could make his urgent call of nature.
Unfortunately, Brian is renowned for getting lost and losing his way on the directional route! He tried a couple of doors without success, then finally he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the door he thought was going to give him his urgent relief.
As he opened the door, however, and hurried through, he found himself on the balcony overlooking St.Peter's Square at the Vatican! Such is Brian's recognisable frame, that the adoring crowd below were heard shouting, "Who is the guy in the white robes standing next to Brian Gemmell!!!"
PROPHETIC WORD GIVEN BY THE LORD TO JOHN HAYWARD RECENTLY.
I have warned about deception on this blog many times, for I believe it is Satan's greatest weapon in these last perilous days. Here we have a prophecy warning against such deception. Similar to the prophecy given by the renowned Lance Lambert (below) regarding judgement from the Lord on the British Isles, here we have another prophecy of judgement on the church in Britain for its apostate state read out at Saltburn this week.
It was passed to Brian Gemmell to read out by our good friend Sally Richardson from London, and it is from the respected Pastor John Hayward: It reads as follows:
"Behold, I am bringing a further wave of deception to your shores, a stronger delusion. Many shall err and embrace this teaching and deception, and only those who have a heart for My purposes shall stand and warn of this My judgement upon a back-slidden, self-absorbed church.
Behold, I have sent it unto bringing a clearer division between My true church and that which is apostate. Behold, it will come, it will not tarry, and many are ripe for it, and ready to be led astray by it. What else could I do? How I have waited for repentance, but not a sound. Waited for a turning, but the masses would not. How they have despised My sacrifice and My altar. There is little weeping and much mirth; merriment which is not in accordance with what I am feeling.
As for My people, those who stand with Me, turn aside from that which is full of deception. Come of that which would make you err. Do not be entangled in deception. Be not lenient in your hearts lest you open the door to that which will lead you astray. Rather, call on Me. Hold fast to the head and cling to what is good. Seek Me and live. Hold to My Word, My ways, My teaching of you, and you shall be spared from all that will swallow up the unsuspecting. And pray, seek My face that some might escape this coming tide of deception, that there may be yet a testimony unto My Son in your land, a remnant that shall proclaim all that I stand for. See, I have spoken to you, discern My Word and live".
It was passed to Brian Gemmell to read out by our good friend Sally Richardson from London, and it is from the respected Pastor John Hayward: It reads as follows:
"Behold, I am bringing a further wave of deception to your shores, a stronger delusion. Many shall err and embrace this teaching and deception, and only those who have a heart for My purposes shall stand and warn of this My judgement upon a back-slidden, self-absorbed church.
Behold, I have sent it unto bringing a clearer division between My true church and that which is apostate. Behold, it will come, it will not tarry, and many are ripe for it, and ready to be led astray by it. What else could I do? How I have waited for repentance, but not a sound. Waited for a turning, but the masses would not. How they have despised My sacrifice and My altar. There is little weeping and much mirth; merriment which is not in accordance with what I am feeling.
As for My people, those who stand with Me, turn aside from that which is full of deception. Come of that which would make you err. Do not be entangled in deception. Be not lenient in your hearts lest you open the door to that which will lead you astray. Rather, call on Me. Hold fast to the head and cling to what is good. Seek Me and live. Hold to My Word, My ways, My teaching of you, and you shall be spared from all that will swallow up the unsuspecting. And pray, seek My face that some might escape this coming tide of deception, that there may be yet a testimony unto My Son in your land, a remnant that shall proclaim all that I stand for. See, I have spoken to you, discern My Word and live".
A SHORT NEWSLETTER FROM SUNNY SALTBURN!
Dear Friends,
Just a brief newsletter from sunny Saltburn on the beautiful North East Yorkshire coast. There will be fewer postings this week on the blog, as I am away at the Bible Prophecy Foundation Teaching and Fellowship Retreat with Brian Gemmell at the splendid Brockley Hall in Saltburn, one of the many Christian Endeavour Holiday Resorts in Great Britain.
Brian held one of these Teaching Retreats in Saltburn last year, he held another one in Cromer in Norfolk in March, earlier this year, and is staging another one next March on the Isle Of Wight. Look out for details and save up, for they are well worth attending with a superb mix of Bible Teaching and plenty of recreation time to enjoy yourself.
We have covered the possible terrorist action at the upcoming Olympic Games in London, the prophesied judgements to come on the USA this year, the continued judgement from the Lord over the British Isles (see Lance Lambert's prophecy below), the financial chaos covering Europe and now spreading to the rest of the world, the probable election of a Mormon to lead the Western World come the November elections in America, the probable retirement of Pope Benedict due to ill health as is becoming more and more expected, resulting in the "Final Pope" of our time, and also the Mayan calendar with its December predictions for catastrophes of Armageddon proportions!!
And these were all just side issues discussed in the fellowship times, after we had deviated from the main themes of "The Book Of Revelation"; "Balanced Urgency In These Last Days"; "Do Not Ignore The Bible Times"; "We Believe In The Father And The Son"; and "This Is The End Of A Terrible Judgement And Just The Beginning Of Love". There have also been some superb devotionals (please see the one by Colin Baines on this blog), and some sweet fellowship as we enjoyed a little glimpse of what things might be like in the Millennium.
There has been a fantastic time of Prophetic Teaching which you will not find in your local church, or even on our "supposed Christian" stations on television. Fortunately our good friend, Keith Cline from Bristol, is here to record the event to his normal very high standards, and they will be available shortly on both DVD and MP3 formats. Please let me know if you would like either version, and I will gladly pass on your details to Keith and Brian.
There are some other articles, prophesies, and testimones from Saltburn on this blog which are well worth reading. In the meantime dear friends, keep looking heavenwards for the Rapture of the Church to Glory, and your redemption is drawing ever nearer in these perilous last times.
Maranatha Blessings,
Neville.
PS. Below is a lovely prayer from Saltburn.
Just a brief newsletter from sunny Saltburn on the beautiful North East Yorkshire coast. There will be fewer postings this week on the blog, as I am away at the Bible Prophecy Foundation Teaching and Fellowship Retreat with Brian Gemmell at the splendid Brockley Hall in Saltburn, one of the many Christian Endeavour Holiday Resorts in Great Britain.
Brian held one of these Teaching Retreats in Saltburn last year, he held another one in Cromer in Norfolk in March, earlier this year, and is staging another one next March on the Isle Of Wight. Look out for details and save up, for they are well worth attending with a superb mix of Bible Teaching and plenty of recreation time to enjoy yourself.
We have covered the possible terrorist action at the upcoming Olympic Games in London, the prophesied judgements to come on the USA this year, the continued judgement from the Lord over the British Isles (see Lance Lambert's prophecy below), the financial chaos covering Europe and now spreading to the rest of the world, the probable election of a Mormon to lead the Western World come the November elections in America, the probable retirement of Pope Benedict due to ill health as is becoming more and more expected, resulting in the "Final Pope" of our time, and also the Mayan calendar with its December predictions for catastrophes of Armageddon proportions!!
And these were all just side issues discussed in the fellowship times, after we had deviated from the main themes of "The Book Of Revelation"; "Balanced Urgency In These Last Days"; "Do Not Ignore The Bible Times"; "We Believe In The Father And The Son"; and "This Is The End Of A Terrible Judgement And Just The Beginning Of Love". There have also been some superb devotionals (please see the one by Colin Baines on this blog), and some sweet fellowship as we enjoyed a little glimpse of what things might be like in the Millennium.
There has been a fantastic time of Prophetic Teaching which you will not find in your local church, or even on our "supposed Christian" stations on television. Fortunately our good friend, Keith Cline from Bristol, is here to record the event to his normal very high standards, and they will be available shortly on both DVD and MP3 formats. Please let me know if you would like either version, and I will gladly pass on your details to Keith and Brian.
There are some other articles, prophesies, and testimones from Saltburn on this blog which are well worth reading. In the meantime dear friends, keep looking heavenwards for the Rapture of the Church to Glory, and your redemption is drawing ever nearer in these perilous last times.
Maranatha Blessings,
Neville.
PS. Below is a lovely prayer from Saltburn.
A PRAYER FROM SALTBURN.
As well as all of the more serious Bible studies, and the in-depth look at the Book of Revelation, there have also been some delightfully encouraging and uplifting devotional sessions, and some inspirational times of fellowship.
One of the devotional classes concentrated on the Magnificent Brilliance of the One Who makes all of these things possible, the Majestic Lord Jesus Christ. The meeting closed with this lovely prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ,
You are Magnificently Brilliant in the fullest sense of the word,
You are Majestic, You are Supreme, You are the True Glory of God in all of its Shining Radiance,
You are The Alpha and The Omega, The First and The Last,
You are brighter than the Jasper, the Sapphire, the Emerald, the Sardonyx, the Beryl, the Topaz, the Jacinth, or any precious jewel.
Lord Jesus Christ,
You are Omniscient, You are Omnipotent, You are Omnipresent,
You are King of Kings,
You are Lord of Lords,
You are a Prince above all Princes,
You are God of all gods,
You are our Lord, our God, and our Saviour.
Thank You so much for Your Magnificence and Your Brilliance,
Thank You so much for saving our souls,
Thank you so much for being "The Friend Who Will Never Leave or Forsake Us",
Thank you so much for being YOU,
Thank You so much for being our Great God And Saviour.
We love You. We adore You. And we worship You afresh today in Your rightful place.....
In the Heavenly Places, Far Above All Principalities and Powers,
At the Right Hand of The Majesty On High.
We praise Your Holy Name, that Name which is above every name, that Name at which every knee will bow and confess You As Lord and God.
The Name of Yeshua, The Lord Jesus Christ,
Amen.
One of the devotional classes concentrated on the Magnificent Brilliance of the One Who makes all of these things possible, the Majestic Lord Jesus Christ. The meeting closed with this lovely prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ,
You are Magnificently Brilliant in the fullest sense of the word,
You are Majestic, You are Supreme, You are the True Glory of God in all of its Shining Radiance,
You are The Alpha and The Omega, The First and The Last,
You are brighter than the Jasper, the Sapphire, the Emerald, the Sardonyx, the Beryl, the Topaz, the Jacinth, or any precious jewel.
Lord Jesus Christ,
You are Omniscient, You are Omnipotent, You are Omnipresent,
You are King of Kings,
You are Lord of Lords,
You are a Prince above all Princes,
You are God of all gods,
You are our Lord, our God, and our Saviour.
Thank You so much for Your Magnificence and Your Brilliance,
Thank You so much for saving our souls,
Thank you so much for being "The Friend Who Will Never Leave or Forsake Us",
Thank you so much for being YOU,
Thank You so much for being our Great God And Saviour.
We love You. We adore You. And we worship You afresh today in Your rightful place.....
In the Heavenly Places, Far Above All Principalities and Powers,
At the Right Hand of The Majesty On High.
We praise Your Holy Name, that Name which is above every name, that Name at which every knee will bow and confess You As Lord and God.
The Name of Yeshua, The Lord Jesus Christ,
Amen.
Sunday, 24 June 2012
BEWARE OF THE EMERGING NEW CHRISTIANITY, AND THE NEW AGE MOVEMENT! PLEASE WATCH THIS SHORT DVD TRAILER AND GET INFORMED OF WHAT IS HAPPENING IN OUR CHURCHES TODAY!
Dear Friends,
You need to watch the short DVD trailer link below, titled "Wide Is The Gate", as it will open your eyes to the deception being taught in our churches today, and also of the rise of the Emerging New Christianity and the New Age Movement with their FALSE teachings and methods.
Beware of false prophets such as Rick Warren, Mike Bickle, Benny Hinn, Cindy Jacobs, Kenneth Copeland, Todd Bentley, Rodney Howard Browne, and a host of others highlighted in this video presentation.
It also warns of the rise of Chrislam, Eastern Mysticism in its many forms, "christian yoga", the power of the meditative state, anti-semitism, and lots more!
Please watch this video, and pass on the warnings to your friends and family. Satan knows that his time is very short now before The Rapture of the Church to Glory, and he is rampant right now as the "roaring lion", masquerading as "an angel of light", and living up to his Biblical names of "the prince of the power of the air", and also "the god of this age".
Deception is one of his major tools today, so do not be taken in by so many false doctrines and teachings which are being propogated by so many false prophets in our world today!
Just click on the link below, then scroll down and click on the trailer for volume two of "Wide Is The Gate". It is less than 15 minutes, and it will blow your mind if you have not come across this type of teaching before.
Neville.
http://www.carylmatrisciana.com/site/
You need to watch the short DVD trailer link below, titled "Wide Is The Gate", as it will open your eyes to the deception being taught in our churches today, and also of the rise of the Emerging New Christianity and the New Age Movement with their FALSE teachings and methods.
Beware of false prophets such as Rick Warren, Mike Bickle, Benny Hinn, Cindy Jacobs, Kenneth Copeland, Todd Bentley, Rodney Howard Browne, and a host of others highlighted in this video presentation.
It also warns of the rise of Chrislam, Eastern Mysticism in its many forms, "christian yoga", the power of the meditative state, anti-semitism, and lots more!
Please watch this video, and pass on the warnings to your friends and family. Satan knows that his time is very short now before The Rapture of the Church to Glory, and he is rampant right now as the "roaring lion", masquerading as "an angel of light", and living up to his Biblical names of "the prince of the power of the air", and also "the god of this age".
Deception is one of his major tools today, so do not be taken in by so many false doctrines and teachings which are being propogated by so many false prophets in our world today!
Just click on the link below, then scroll down and click on the trailer for volume two of "Wide Is The Gate". It is less than 15 minutes, and it will blow your mind if you have not come across this type of teaching before.
Neville.
http://www.carylmatrisciana.com/site/
Friday, 22 June 2012
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA FULFILLS THE ISAIAH 9:10 PROPHECY - AGAIN!
The handwritten message Barack Obama scrawled on a new building site at Ground Zero last week sounds optimistic, upbeat, non-controversial – at first glance.
However, the message continues a pattern of American leaders fulfilling an ancient biblical prophecy and a curse of judgment on the U.S., according to the best-selling Christian book of 2012 and the No. 1 faith movie.
While Obama was creating a stir in Manhattan with star-studded celebrity fundraisers, he also took a side trip that got less publicity. His official presidential business was a visit to the new World Trade Center building site where he signed a steel girder with a message of interest to the hundreds of thousands who have read “The Harbinger” or seen the video documentary “The Isaiah 9:10 Judgment.”
“We remember,” he wrote. “We rebuild. We come back stronger!”
The book and the video have shocked readers and viewers around the country and the world by showing the eerie and striking parallels between the vows of the leaders of ancient Israel before its judgment and fall and those of American leaders since Sept. 11, 2001.
“What was foreshadowed in ‘The Harbinger’ and ‘The Isaiah 9:10 Judgment’ film is now being fulfilled by the president of the United States,” said Jonathan Cahn, the messianic rabbi-pastor and author.
The book and film specifically connect Obama’s words from his first State of the Union message in January 2009 with the ancient vow that brought judgment to ancient Israel.
“The ancient vow begins with these words: ‘The bricks have fallen, but we will rebuild with hewn stone,’” explains Cahn. “The vow declares Israel’s defiance of God, in the face of a devastating strike on the land. The hewn stone, which begins the rebuilding, symbolizes the nation’s intention to come back stronger than before. The book then reveals the parallel a proclamation given by Obama:
“Tonight I want every American to know this: We will rebuild. And the United States of America will emerge stronger than before,” he said.
However, that comment, which represented the theme of his first major speech upon taking office, was not addressing the attack of 9/11. It was addressing the economy and the state of the country generally. Yesterday, Cahn points out, Obama returned to the location of the attack – bringing the message full circle.
He points out how Obama’s words even parallel a Bible commentary on the verse Isaiah 9:10: “They boasted that they would rebuild their devastated country and make it stronger than ever before.”
In “The Harbinger” and “The Isaiah 9:10 Judgment,” the focal point of this vow of judgment is the tower rising up out of the ruins of Ground Zero. It comprises the fourth harbinger – and remains the one harbinger that is still under construction.
“On June 14, two of the mysteries of ‘The Harbinger,’ foreshadowed in the book came true,” explained Cahn. “Obama went to Ground Zero to see the still rising tower. He was given a beam which will constitute the tower’s final and highest beam. On the beam, the president wrote eight words – which were, in effect, a summation of the ancient vow of judgment: ‘We Remember, We Rebuild, We Come Back Stronger!’”
Cahn continued: “So now the now the tower will be crowned and finished with words paralleling Isaiah 9:10, the ancient vow of national judgment. The tower was begun with the laying down of a hewn stone, the very same object mentioned in Isaiah 9:10 which begins the rebuilding.”
“Now the words and the tower have been joined together in reality – and the one who did it was the president of the United States,” he told WND. “One subtle difference in the words, is that the vow is spoken in the future tense. But now the words inscribed on the towers are in the present tense. In other words, they not only speak of the defiant vow, but of the fact that the vow is being fulfilled. This,” says Cahn, “constitutes another ominous sign.”
The last time the tower at Ground Zero became the focus of media attention was April 30, 2012, the day it became the tallest building in New York City. In the chapter titled The Mystery Ground, “The Harbinger” provides the reader with a date that holds the key to the mystery behind Ground Zero – the same date – April 30.
In January, “The Harbinger,” by Cahn, a messianic rabbi from New Jersey, exploded onto the publishing scene, immediately becoming a surprise New York Times bestseller.
“A number of years ago, as I was standing at the edge of Ground Zero in New York City, I came across the first puzzle piece of an ancient biblical mystery and a prophetic message known as ‘The Harbinger’ that concerns the future of America,” explains Cahn, who helped write the two-hour documentary “The Isaiah 9:10 Judgment.”
Cahn say he has since found nine harbingers that tie the problems America has experienced beginning Sept. 11, 2001, with parallels that led to the destruction of ancient Israel.
“Before God judges a nation, He sends warning,” explains Cahn. “He sent warning to ancient Israel. He even allowed its enemies to breach its borders in a devastating strike that would traumatize the nation. It was a wake-up call, the call to return to God. But the nation responded with defiance. God then gave nine harbingers of judgment, nine prophetic signs, alarms and foreshadows of what was to come. Now America is the nation in rapid departure from God’s will. And God likewise allowed an enemy to breach its borders in a devastating strike – the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. It was, likewise, a wake-up call. But America, like Israel, has not responded with repentance, but with defiance. And now the nine harbingers of judgment have reappeared and have done so on American soil.”
Isaiah 9:10 is a verse in which Israel’s national leaders utter a vow of defiance following an attack by Assyria. It declared that the nation would not repent before God, but would defy Him instead. Cahn reveals in “The Harbinger” – and in even more dramatic fashion in the video – that beginning the day after Sept. 11, 2001, American leaders began repeating that 2,500-year-old vow, word for word.
He continues: “According to the ancient mystery revealed in the Book of Isaiah, if after that first calamity and warning, the nation doesn’t return to God but responds in defiance, it will end up triggering a second calamity. It was because of this ancient key, that, seven years after 9/11, the American economy collapsed. In the days after 9/11, the Federal Reserve slashed the base interest rate in an attempt to defy the consequences of the attacks. That action put us on the path leading to the collapse of the American economy seven years later. In 2008, the government made a second fatal mistake, another ill-fated financial decision, that would trigger the collapse of the American economy. Amazingly, it took place on the seventh anniversary of the uttering of the ancient vow on Capitol Hill.”
Cahn also reveals in “The Harbinger” and “The Isaiah 9:10 Judgment” something that readers and viewers universally find astonishing – that New York’s Ground Zero actually represents more than the former financial center of the country. It represents the exact place at which America was first consecrated to God in prayer by the country’s new leaders.
“When judgment came to Israel, the calamity returned the people’s attention to the place where the nation had been consecrated to God – the Temple Mount,” says Cahn. “God was calling the nation back to Himself. What about 9/11? Could there be, in the American calamity, as well, a mystery of return? Could there be a prophetic message hidden in the place where it happened? There is a place where America was consecrated to God in prayer. It is also a place linked to a prophetic warning given on that same day – uttered by the nation’s first president – now coming to pass.”
In 1789, newly inaugurated President George Washington gave a prophetic warning at Federal Hall in New York City. He declared that America’s prosperity and protection were dependent upon its adherence to God. Later, the political leaders of the young nation gathered at St. Paul’s Chapel to commit the nation’s future to God’s purposes. That chapel is located at Ground Zero and miraculously survived 9/11 virtually unscathed.
Cahn, the pastor of the Jerusalem Center-Beth Israel Congregation in Wayne, N.J., says America is uncannily re-enacting ancient Israel’s behavior prior to its judgment and eventual fall. He found a sympathetic ear for his message in WND founder Joseph Farah, who produced “The Isaiah 9:10 Judgment,” as a follow-up to “The Harbinger.”
“I had a chance to hear Jonathan Cahn’s message last fall,” said Farah. “Then I had an opportunity to read an early manuscript of ‘The Harbinger’ before it was released in January. I was determined to produce this video documentary, ‘The Isaiah 9:10 Judgment,’ because I believe its message is the most important one for Americans at this moment in history. In fact, I believe this project may be the most important one of my life. That’s how strongly I feel about it.”
The key to decoding the harbingers, Cahn says, is found in understanding the seemingly innocuous words of Isaiah 9:10 (King James Version) what it meant to Israel and how the history seems to be repeating itself in America today: “The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: The sycamores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars.”
These words were first uttered by leaders in Israel and in response to a limited strike by Assyria on the lands of Zebulun and Naphtali – an attack the prophet makes clear is actually part of a limited judgment by God against apostasy. It wasn’t meant to destroy the nation, but to awaken it, according to most commentaries.
But, says Cahn, Israel didn’t take the cue. Instead, the response from the people in Isaiah 9:10 is one of defiance. The brick buildings were toppled, but they vowed to build bigger and better. The little sycamore trees may have been uprooted, but they vowed to plant bigger and better cedars in their place.
God, speaking through Isaiah explains what will happen as a result of their pride and arrogance and failure to heed the harbinger: Bigger and more potent attacks will follow. Because neither the northern kingdom of Israel nor the southern kingdom of Judah truly repents, the first is eventually swept away by Assyrian invaders and the latter is carried off into captivity by the Babylonians for 70 years.
But what does this have to do with the United States of America – particularly what the U.S. experienced on 9/11 and since? Cahn has found some eerie parallels.
“In the aftermath of the attack, the nation was stunned,” said Cahn. “Everyone was trying to make sense of what had happened – this unprecedented attack on America. The very next day, Sept. 12, then Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle presented America’s response to the world. And what did he say?”
Daschle said: “America will emerge from this tragedy as we have emerged from all adversity – united and strong. Nothing … nothing can replace the losses of those who have suffered. I know there is only the smallest measure of inspiration that can be taken from this devastation. But there is a passage in the Bible from Isaiah that speaks to all of us at times like this.”
He then went on to read Isaiah 9:10.
“Daschle has no idea what he is doing here,” explains Cahn. “He thinks he’s offering comforting words to a grief-stricken people, but he is actually embracing the spiritually defiant and arrogant words of the children of Israel, proclaiming the ancient and ominous vow of the leaders of that nation. He doesn’t realize it, but he is actually inviting more judgment on the nation.”
It might be of some significance that Daschle, one of the most powerful men in the nation when he spoke those words, later fell into disgrace – to the point where he couldn’t even serve in Barack Obama’s Cabinet.
That might have been the end of the story – if no other top leader in the nation uttered those strange and obscure words after 9/11. But that’s not the case.
On the third anniversary of the attack, Sept. 11, 2004, another powerful U.S. senator running for vice president that year and who would famously run for the presidency four years later, gave a speech to the Congressional Black Caucus.
This time, John Edwards’ entire speech was built on a foundation of Isaiah 9:10:
“Today, on this day of remembrance and mourning, we have the Lord’s Word to get us through,” he said. He then read Isaiah 9:10. He went on to talk about how America was doing just that – rebuilding with hewn stone and planting cedars.
In “The Isaiah 9:10 Judgment,” viewers get to see these remarkable, largely forgotten or overlooked speeches, which directly link the events of 9/11 and the events referred to in Isaiah 9:10.
“Like Daschle, Edwards thinks he’s invoking inspirational and comforting words from the Bible, but he’s actually inviting judgment on America,” says Cahn. “He’s repeating the vow that provoked God to bring calamity on ancient Israel.”
Even more astonishing, Daschle and Edwards were not alone among U.S. leaders in making similar statements, as “The Isaiah 9:10 Judgment” shows.
But aside from such statements, which could be chalked up to political talk and coincidences, is there anything else linking Isaiah 9:10 to 9/11?
The video documentary, like the book, is full of shocking parallels. There was actually a very famous sycamore tree felled in the attack on the World Trade Center. It was replaced by trees in the same genus as the cedar. There have been many plans made to rebuild the twin towers bigger and better and a large “hewn stone” was actually quarried out of the Adirondack Mountains in New York and brought to Ground Zero as a cornerstone.
“The parallels are truly stunning,” says Farah, founder of WND, who produced the documentary for WND Videos. “In fact, they are overwhelming in their number and their exactitude. I am persuaded God is trying to tell America something and Rabbi Cahn has found the key to unlocking the message.”
This article is published courtesey of "Prophecy News Watch Headlines".
The Isaiah 9:10 Judgment DVD is available from Prophecy News Watch by clicking here
However, the message continues a pattern of American leaders fulfilling an ancient biblical prophecy and a curse of judgment on the U.S., according to the best-selling Christian book of 2012 and the No. 1 faith movie.
While Obama was creating a stir in Manhattan with star-studded celebrity fundraisers, he also took a side trip that got less publicity. His official presidential business was a visit to the new World Trade Center building site where he signed a steel girder with a message of interest to the hundreds of thousands who have read “The Harbinger” or seen the video documentary “The Isaiah 9:10 Judgment.”
“We remember,” he wrote. “We rebuild. We come back stronger!”
The book and the video have shocked readers and viewers around the country and the world by showing the eerie and striking parallels between the vows of the leaders of ancient Israel before its judgment and fall and those of American leaders since Sept. 11, 2001.
“What was foreshadowed in ‘The Harbinger’ and ‘The Isaiah 9:10 Judgment’ film is now being fulfilled by the president of the United States,” said Jonathan Cahn, the messianic rabbi-pastor and author.
The book and film specifically connect Obama’s words from his first State of the Union message in January 2009 with the ancient vow that brought judgment to ancient Israel.
“The ancient vow begins with these words: ‘The bricks have fallen, but we will rebuild with hewn stone,’” explains Cahn. “The vow declares Israel’s defiance of God, in the face of a devastating strike on the land. The hewn stone, which begins the rebuilding, symbolizes the nation’s intention to come back stronger than before. The book then reveals the parallel a proclamation given by Obama:
“Tonight I want every American to know this: We will rebuild. And the United States of America will emerge stronger than before,” he said.
However, that comment, which represented the theme of his first major speech upon taking office, was not addressing the attack of 9/11. It was addressing the economy and the state of the country generally. Yesterday, Cahn points out, Obama returned to the location of the attack – bringing the message full circle.
He points out how Obama’s words even parallel a Bible commentary on the verse Isaiah 9:10: “They boasted that they would rebuild their devastated country and make it stronger than ever before.”
In “The Harbinger” and “The Isaiah 9:10 Judgment,” the focal point of this vow of judgment is the tower rising up out of the ruins of Ground Zero. It comprises the fourth harbinger – and remains the one harbinger that is still under construction.
“On June 14, two of the mysteries of ‘The Harbinger,’ foreshadowed in the book came true,” explained Cahn. “Obama went to Ground Zero to see the still rising tower. He was given a beam which will constitute the tower’s final and highest beam. On the beam, the president wrote eight words – which were, in effect, a summation of the ancient vow of judgment: ‘We Remember, We Rebuild, We Come Back Stronger!’”
Cahn continued: “So now the now the tower will be crowned and finished with words paralleling Isaiah 9:10, the ancient vow of national judgment. The tower was begun with the laying down of a hewn stone, the very same object mentioned in Isaiah 9:10 which begins the rebuilding.”
“Now the words and the tower have been joined together in reality – and the one who did it was the president of the United States,” he told WND. “One subtle difference in the words, is that the vow is spoken in the future tense. But now the words inscribed on the towers are in the present tense. In other words, they not only speak of the defiant vow, but of the fact that the vow is being fulfilled. This,” says Cahn, “constitutes another ominous sign.”
The last time the tower at Ground Zero became the focus of media attention was April 30, 2012, the day it became the tallest building in New York City. In the chapter titled The Mystery Ground, “The Harbinger” provides the reader with a date that holds the key to the mystery behind Ground Zero – the same date – April 30.
In January, “The Harbinger,” by Cahn, a messianic rabbi from New Jersey, exploded onto the publishing scene, immediately becoming a surprise New York Times bestseller.
“A number of years ago, as I was standing at the edge of Ground Zero in New York City, I came across the first puzzle piece of an ancient biblical mystery and a prophetic message known as ‘The Harbinger’ that concerns the future of America,” explains Cahn, who helped write the two-hour documentary “The Isaiah 9:10 Judgment.”
Cahn say he has since found nine harbingers that tie the problems America has experienced beginning Sept. 11, 2001, with parallels that led to the destruction of ancient Israel.
“Before God judges a nation, He sends warning,” explains Cahn. “He sent warning to ancient Israel. He even allowed its enemies to breach its borders in a devastating strike that would traumatize the nation. It was a wake-up call, the call to return to God. But the nation responded with defiance. God then gave nine harbingers of judgment, nine prophetic signs, alarms and foreshadows of what was to come. Now America is the nation in rapid departure from God’s will. And God likewise allowed an enemy to breach its borders in a devastating strike – the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. It was, likewise, a wake-up call. But America, like Israel, has not responded with repentance, but with defiance. And now the nine harbingers of judgment have reappeared and have done so on American soil.”
Isaiah 9:10 is a verse in which Israel’s national leaders utter a vow of defiance following an attack by Assyria. It declared that the nation would not repent before God, but would defy Him instead. Cahn reveals in “The Harbinger” – and in even more dramatic fashion in the video – that beginning the day after Sept. 11, 2001, American leaders began repeating that 2,500-year-old vow, word for word.
He continues: “According to the ancient mystery revealed in the Book of Isaiah, if after that first calamity and warning, the nation doesn’t return to God but responds in defiance, it will end up triggering a second calamity. It was because of this ancient key, that, seven years after 9/11, the American economy collapsed. In the days after 9/11, the Federal Reserve slashed the base interest rate in an attempt to defy the consequences of the attacks. That action put us on the path leading to the collapse of the American economy seven years later. In 2008, the government made a second fatal mistake, another ill-fated financial decision, that would trigger the collapse of the American economy. Amazingly, it took place on the seventh anniversary of the uttering of the ancient vow on Capitol Hill.”
Cahn also reveals in “The Harbinger” and “The Isaiah 9:10 Judgment” something that readers and viewers universally find astonishing – that New York’s Ground Zero actually represents more than the former financial center of the country. It represents the exact place at which America was first consecrated to God in prayer by the country’s new leaders.
“When judgment came to Israel, the calamity returned the people’s attention to the place where the nation had been consecrated to God – the Temple Mount,” says Cahn. “God was calling the nation back to Himself. What about 9/11? Could there be, in the American calamity, as well, a mystery of return? Could there be a prophetic message hidden in the place where it happened? There is a place where America was consecrated to God in prayer. It is also a place linked to a prophetic warning given on that same day – uttered by the nation’s first president – now coming to pass.”
In 1789, newly inaugurated President George Washington gave a prophetic warning at Federal Hall in New York City. He declared that America’s prosperity and protection were dependent upon its adherence to God. Later, the political leaders of the young nation gathered at St. Paul’s Chapel to commit the nation’s future to God’s purposes. That chapel is located at Ground Zero and miraculously survived 9/11 virtually unscathed.
Cahn, the pastor of the Jerusalem Center-Beth Israel Congregation in Wayne, N.J., says America is uncannily re-enacting ancient Israel’s behavior prior to its judgment and eventual fall. He found a sympathetic ear for his message in WND founder Joseph Farah, who produced “The Isaiah 9:10 Judgment,” as a follow-up to “The Harbinger.”
“I had a chance to hear Jonathan Cahn’s message last fall,” said Farah. “Then I had an opportunity to read an early manuscript of ‘The Harbinger’ before it was released in January. I was determined to produce this video documentary, ‘The Isaiah 9:10 Judgment,’ because I believe its message is the most important one for Americans at this moment in history. In fact, I believe this project may be the most important one of my life. That’s how strongly I feel about it.”
The key to decoding the harbingers, Cahn says, is found in understanding the seemingly innocuous words of Isaiah 9:10 (King James Version) what it meant to Israel and how the history seems to be repeating itself in America today: “The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: The sycamores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars.”
These words were first uttered by leaders in Israel and in response to a limited strike by Assyria on the lands of Zebulun and Naphtali – an attack the prophet makes clear is actually part of a limited judgment by God against apostasy. It wasn’t meant to destroy the nation, but to awaken it, according to most commentaries.
But, says Cahn, Israel didn’t take the cue. Instead, the response from the people in Isaiah 9:10 is one of defiance. The brick buildings were toppled, but they vowed to build bigger and better. The little sycamore trees may have been uprooted, but they vowed to plant bigger and better cedars in their place.
God, speaking through Isaiah explains what will happen as a result of their pride and arrogance and failure to heed the harbinger: Bigger and more potent attacks will follow. Because neither the northern kingdom of Israel nor the southern kingdom of Judah truly repents, the first is eventually swept away by Assyrian invaders and the latter is carried off into captivity by the Babylonians for 70 years.
But what does this have to do with the United States of America – particularly what the U.S. experienced on 9/11 and since? Cahn has found some eerie parallels.
“In the aftermath of the attack, the nation was stunned,” said Cahn. “Everyone was trying to make sense of what had happened – this unprecedented attack on America. The very next day, Sept. 12, then Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle presented America’s response to the world. And what did he say?”
Daschle said: “America will emerge from this tragedy as we have emerged from all adversity – united and strong. Nothing … nothing can replace the losses of those who have suffered. I know there is only the smallest measure of inspiration that can be taken from this devastation. But there is a passage in the Bible from Isaiah that speaks to all of us at times like this.”
He then went on to read Isaiah 9:10.
“Daschle has no idea what he is doing here,” explains Cahn. “He thinks he’s offering comforting words to a grief-stricken people, but he is actually embracing the spiritually defiant and arrogant words of the children of Israel, proclaiming the ancient and ominous vow of the leaders of that nation. He doesn’t realize it, but he is actually inviting more judgment on the nation.”
It might be of some significance that Daschle, one of the most powerful men in the nation when he spoke those words, later fell into disgrace – to the point where he couldn’t even serve in Barack Obama’s Cabinet.
That might have been the end of the story – if no other top leader in the nation uttered those strange and obscure words after 9/11. But that’s not the case.
On the third anniversary of the attack, Sept. 11, 2004, another powerful U.S. senator running for vice president that year and who would famously run for the presidency four years later, gave a speech to the Congressional Black Caucus.
This time, John Edwards’ entire speech was built on a foundation of Isaiah 9:10:
“Today, on this day of remembrance and mourning, we have the Lord’s Word to get us through,” he said. He then read Isaiah 9:10. He went on to talk about how America was doing just that – rebuilding with hewn stone and planting cedars.
In “The Isaiah 9:10 Judgment,” viewers get to see these remarkable, largely forgotten or overlooked speeches, which directly link the events of 9/11 and the events referred to in Isaiah 9:10.
“Like Daschle, Edwards thinks he’s invoking inspirational and comforting words from the Bible, but he’s actually inviting judgment on America,” says Cahn. “He’s repeating the vow that provoked God to bring calamity on ancient Israel.”
Even more astonishing, Daschle and Edwards were not alone among U.S. leaders in making similar statements, as “The Isaiah 9:10 Judgment” shows.
But aside from such statements, which could be chalked up to political talk and coincidences, is there anything else linking Isaiah 9:10 to 9/11?
The video documentary, like the book, is full of shocking parallels. There was actually a very famous sycamore tree felled in the attack on the World Trade Center. It was replaced by trees in the same genus as the cedar. There have been many plans made to rebuild the twin towers bigger and better and a large “hewn stone” was actually quarried out of the Adirondack Mountains in New York and brought to Ground Zero as a cornerstone.
“The parallels are truly stunning,” says Farah, founder of WND, who produced the documentary for WND Videos. “In fact, they are overwhelming in their number and their exactitude. I am persuaded God is trying to tell America something and Rabbi Cahn has found the key to unlocking the message.”
This article is published courtesey of "Prophecy News Watch Headlines".
The Isaiah 9:10 Judgment DVD is available from Prophecy News Watch by clicking here
Thursday, 21 June 2012
A LITTLE LIGHT HUMOUR TO GIVE US ALL A GOOD CHUCKLE.
A 50-something year old Muslim man arrived at his seat on a crowded flight and immediately didn't want the seat. The seat was next to an elderly white woman reading her Bible.
Disgusted, the Muslim man immediately summoned the flight attendant and demanded a new seat. The man said "I cannot sit here next to this infidel." The flight attendant said "Let me see if I can find another seat."
After checking, the flight attendant returned and stated "There are no more seats in economy, but I will check with the captain and see if there is something in first class." About 10 minutes went by and the flight attendant returned and stated "The captain has confirmed that there are no more seats in economy, but there is one in first class.
It is our company policy to never move a person from economy to first class, but being that it would be some sort of scandal to force a person to sit next to an UNPLEASANT person, the captain agreed to make the switch to first class."
Before the irate Muslim man could say anything, the attendant gestured to the elderly woman and said, "Therefore, ma’am, if you would so kindly retrieve your personal items, we would like to move you to the comfort of first class as the captain doesn't want you to sit next to an unpleasant person."
Passengers in the seats nearby began to applaud while some gave a standing ovation!
I say, can I get an Amen to that!
Feel free to pass this one to others.
Disgusted, the Muslim man immediately summoned the flight attendant and demanded a new seat. The man said "I cannot sit here next to this infidel." The flight attendant said "Let me see if I can find another seat."
After checking, the flight attendant returned and stated "There are no more seats in economy, but I will check with the captain and see if there is something in first class." About 10 minutes went by and the flight attendant returned and stated "The captain has confirmed that there are no more seats in economy, but there is one in first class.
It is our company policy to never move a person from economy to first class, but being that it would be some sort of scandal to force a person to sit next to an UNPLEASANT person, the captain agreed to make the switch to first class."
Before the irate Muslim man could say anything, the attendant gestured to the elderly woman and said, "Therefore, ma’am, if you would so kindly retrieve your personal items, we would like to move you to the comfort of first class as the captain doesn't want you to sit next to an unpleasant person."
Passengers in the seats nearby began to applaud while some gave a standing ovation!
I say, can I get an Amen to that!
Feel free to pass this one to others.
Wednesday, 20 June 2012
THE ALIEN AGENDA HAS BEEN ALIVE FOR MANY YEARS NOW! WATCH THIS VIDEO AND BE AFRAID, BE VERY AFRAID!
THE STRONG DELUSION- ARE YOU READY FOR IT?
The alien/demon agenda is about to be initiated to confound Christians and destroy the Truths found in the Bible by introducing aliens onto the world scene. This is all a part of the ‘strong delusion’ that is going to usher in the one-world-religion of the Antichrist. Don’t believe the aliens no matter what they say and what they do (cure disease, stop wars, end famines, etc)…
Jesus is the only Truth, and the Bible has all the answers we need to counter this LIE from the enemy.
PS. For further information on how Satan uses fallen angels and demons to infiltrate the human race, to mingle the good and bad seeds, and to lead people astray (even believers in this short video), please scroll through the pages on this blog, and read the articles on "Jude, Enoch, And The Hybrids", and also "The Return Of The Nephilim". If you are not acquainted with this teaching, it will blow your mind! (Neville).
Tuesday, 19 June 2012
SHALOM FROM JERUSALEM, BY THE RESPECTED AND WELL INFORMED JOURNALIST, DAVID DOLAN.
SHALOM FROM JERUSALEM.
Below are two items that I think most of you will find interesting, and hopefully informative as well. The first is a letter that was published last Friday in the weekly Jerusalem Post Magazine. It concerns the role of "democracy" in the turbulent Middle East. The columnist mentioned is also the magazine's editor. Below the letter is a longer article about the possible prophetic implications of the escalating violence in Syria and increasing prospects of a larger war in the region. I realize that some of my subscribers are not religiously inclined, so you may want to skip that if so. As with all of my writings, feel free to copy, post or pass it along as you wish, however please with attribution. The possibility of a regional war seems to grow every day, as even the UN chief noted last week, so we do certainly appreciate your prayers at this time. My monthly Israel news update will be sent out in two weeks time.
Sir--Israel Kasnett's column on the war in Afghanistan was a good summary of the many serious challenges facing the United States and Israel in the ongoing "war on terror." However I question his contention that Israel "would clearly benefit from the presence of democratic countries on all its borders."
Israel already has one neighbor that holds regular democratic elections, Lebanon. Despite this, the country has been racked by constant sectarian strife and occasional civil war. Since 1982, Lebanon has hosted Hezbollah, one of the most dangerous terrorist organizations in the world.
I received mostly negative feedback when I wrote a commentary for World Net Daily on the eve of the 2003 war in Iraq, warning that President Bush's declared goal of promoting Western-style democracy there was not necessarily a good thing. I pointed out that Algeria had tried to go the democratic route in the early 1990s. When the militant Islamic Salvation Front won the first election round, the army stepped in, sparking off a decade of bloodshed that took 160,000 lives. Last year, Islamists won the first democratic elections in Tunisia and they are now taking over Egypt--both as a result of the "democratic process." Will the Muslim Brotherhood be better for Israel? If unfettered elections were held in neighboring Jordan, Muslim militants would probably prevail. When the Palestinians held parliamentary elections in early 2006, it was the radical Hamas movement that triumphed.
The sad fact is that all of Israel's neighbors are Islamic dominated states comprised of "voters" who would most likely follow the same paththat Egypt is currently embarked upon, to Israel's clear peril.
David Dolan
Jerusalem.
Jerusalem.
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WAR IN THE MIDDLE EAST
BY DAVID DOLAN
With the Middle East spinning around at present faster than a Hanukkah dreidel, some have been writing to seek my opinion on the possible prophetic implications of the escalating warfare in Syria and the dramatic Muslim Brotherhood advance in Egypt. Although I am a journalist by profession, having reported the news from Israel and the region since the early 1980s, I also have a longtime personal interest in eschatological biblical prophecy. This is evidenced by my authorship of two prophetic novels, THE END OF DAYS and MILLENNIUM: THE LORD REIGNS. I also touched upon some prophetic themes in my 2001 book, ISRAEL IN CRISIS: WHAT LIES AHEAD? Plus there is the fact that the essence of all biblical prophecy is nothing less than news that has not yet transpired. It is history (His story) revealed before it has actually unraveled on the world stage. In other words, it is hardly divorced from the news.
In particular, I have been getting inquiries concerning the possible connection of the growing Syrian conflict with prophecies found in Isaiah 17, Psalm 83 and Ezekiel 38-39. As some of you will know from reading the aforementioned books, or other articles or public talks I've given over the years, I have long felt that Isaiah 17 is most likely the next major end-time biblical prophecy that will unfold in the turbulent Middle East. This prophecy seems to be echoed by a similar one found in Jeremiah 49, verses 23-27, which tells of a future time when "panic" would grip the Syrian capital city, Damascus, as its "young men fall dead in her streets" and the city's walls are "set on fire."
As most of you will already know, Isaiah's prophecy begins with the total destruction of Damascus, which the seer foretells will become completely uninhabited with only "flocks" of animal wandering around in its ruins (17:1-2). Located fifty miles inland from the Mediterranean Sea east of Lebanon, the historic city is home today to nearly two million people, with another half million living in its suburbs.
Isaiah's stark prophecy goes on to speak of Israel suffering greatly during the same time frame, implying that an intense war between the two longtime enemy countries stands at the heart of the jarring oracle. It mentions that while Damascus will be "removed from being a city" and "sovereignty" will disappear from it as well (17:1,3), the "glory of Jacob will fade, and the fatness of his flesh will become lean" (17:5). As bad as that sounds, the Hebrew prophet is foretelling that Israel will NOT be destroyed as Damascus will be, but instead "gleanings will be left in it like the shaking of an olive tree" (6). So many "olives" will be shaken off the Tree of Israel, but by no means all of them. Isaiah uses the olive tree analogy later on in Chapter 24, which speaks of the final judgment of the world, giving further evidence that Isaiah 17 is also an "end time" prophecy.
Note that in the very first verse, the great Hebrew prophet wrote that, "Damascus is about to be removed from being a city." So was this prophecy fulfilled in or near his time on earth, meaning around the 8th century before the birth of Christ? There is no evidence at all to suggest this was the case. In fact, Israel's sufferings during that era were largely due to internal wars and invasions from the Persian and Babylonian empires, not conflicts with Damascus per se. Although historians say the renowned Syrian capital city has been conquered at least 17 times during recorded history, it has never been destroyed and abandoned as Isaiah foretold would one day take place. So why did the prophet write that the city's demise was "about to" take place?
Many scholars believe, as I do, that this is what is widely known as the "prophetic tense." This occurs elsewhere in prophetic biblical literature when something extremely important and life changing is described as either being imminent when it is not actually looming in an historic timeline, or as if it had already occurred, which is an even more dramatic prophetic voice to employ.
Many scholars believe, as I do, that this is what is widely known as the "prophetic tense." This occurs elsewhere in prophetic biblical literature when something extremely important and life changing is described as either being imminent when it is not actually looming in an historic timeline, or as if it had already occurred, which is an even more dramatic prophetic voice to employ.
The potential for a massive armed conflict between Israel and Syria at this time is quite obvious. I was struck by the comments from a senior Israeli army commander recorded in last Friday's Jerusalem Post newspaper and other Israeli media outlets. Addressing his troops at the end of major military exercise held in the Jordan Valley to prepare for possible war with Syria and Lebanon, Nahal Brigades commander Colonel Yehuda Fuchs said "We are prepared for war, which draws closer with every day that passes." This came two days after air raid sirens were sounded all over Jerusalem last week as part of a three day drill to test the capital city's readiness for a major missile attack. While I knew from the news that such action would take place, many others missed that information, causing some momentary panic as the loud rising and falling wailing went on for around two minutes just before 5:30 in the afternoon.
An earlier commentary by one of Israel's most respected columnists, Chemi Shalev, focused on the depth of conflict that is at the center of the current fighting inside Syria. Writing for the Ha'Aretz (The Land) newspaper on June 1, he pointed out that the escalating conflict is mainly about the survival of the minority Alawite Assad regime in the face of majority Sunni Muslim attempts to topple it. He noted that the two rival Islamic groups have been viciously battling each other for many centuries. With each contemporary Alawite atrocity (the sect is an offshoot of the Shiite wing of Islam), the chances that Assad will obey Hillary Clinton's repeated demands, echoed by many other Western officials, to immediately give up power fade ever further into the waning sunset, he wrote.
The Syrian dictator and his cronies are not about to forget what happened last year to Hosni Mubarak or to the late Muamar Kadaffi. Shalev opined instead that the international demands are mainly forcing Assad and his cronies into a corner (which I agree is the case), and the only way out might be an attack upon Israel. He warned that the vicious Syrian regime has a huge army at its disposal--at least 300,000 men, about twice the size of Israel's fulltime forces--and one of the world's largest chemical weapons arsenals, plus a massive stockpile of long, medium and short range missiles, mostly supplied by Russia.
The Syrian dictator and his cronies are not about to forget what happened last year to Hosni Mubarak or to the late Muamar Kadaffi. Shalev opined instead that the international demands are mainly forcing Assad and his cronies into a corner (which I agree is the case), and the only way out might be an attack upon Israel. He warned that the vicious Syrian regime has a huge army at its disposal--at least 300,000 men, about twice the size of Israel's fulltime forces--and one of the world's largest chemical weapons arsenals, plus a massive stockpile of long, medium and short range missiles, mostly supplied by Russia.
This leads Shalev to conclude that Syrian strongman Bashar Assad may choose what he calls the "doomsday option." He wrote that "Faced with his own political demise and convinced that his people may face murderous retribution, it is not too outlandish to imagine a scenario in which Assad comes to believe that a conflict with Israel or an all-out regional war is his best remaining option. He is, one should never forget, capable of wreaking havoc and destruction not only on most Israeli cities but also on Turkey, Cyprus, Jordan, Iraq and Saudi Arabia--and this before one factors in Hezbollah, with its 50,000-plus stockpile of rockets and short range missiles, and Iran, which views the Assad regime as an irreplaceable strategic asset and which may also come around to viewing a regional conflagration as a way of overcoming crippling sanctions and growing isolation."
As I often point out when speaking to audiences around the world, Israeli leaders have long made clear that they will not be the first to introduce weapons of mass destruction onto the regional stage. However they then make equally clear that they will be the second to do so if such weapons are used in any significant way against the tiny state of Israel, just 280 miles from north to south and less than 30 miles across in most places. Of course, this is meant to be a deterrence to such a heinous non-conventional attack, not a threat to launch one out of the blue. Still, Israeli leaders mean it when they say they will not sit idly by while their determined enemies attempt to "complete what Hitler began," as the late Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini often put it.
The implication from Isaiah's prophecy, buttressed by Jeremiah, is that Damascus will be destroyed by something akin to powerful nuclear warheads, which would leave deadly radiation in their wake. This would preclude human occupation for some time afterwards, but not the influx of animal flocks that would naturally be unaware of the lingering deadly nature of invisible radiation.
The implication from Isaiah's prophecy, buttressed by Jeremiah, is that Damascus will be destroyed by something akin to powerful nuclear warheads, which would leave deadly radiation in their wake. This would preclude human occupation for some time afterwards, but not the influx of animal flocks that would naturally be unaware of the lingering deadly nature of invisible radiation.
Are we on the verge of the fulfillment of Isaiah 17? Obviously no human being can say for certain, at least not without a revelation from the ultimate Author of the prophecy, the God of Israel. I do not claim to have such a revelation. However having studied this prophecy for over 35 years, and given my work as a journalist for three decades in this roiling region at the center of the world, I would say the prospects are now quite high. Would this be the possible opening scene in another prophecy found in Ezekiel 38 and 39 as some suggest? I personally do not think so, since that prophesied invasion is said to be led by a great power located to the "far north" of Israel, which many, including myself, assume to be Russia. The increasingly autocratic Putin government does not seem ready to intervene militarily at this time to save Assad's widely condemned regime.
Israel is said to be "living securely" in its land (Ezk 38:8) when the massive invasion takes place, which it is clearly not doing at present, with preparations for massive missile strikes from Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas and possibly Syria, ongoing. Also the main goal of the invasion foretold by Ezekiel's pen is revealed to be the destruction of Israel, which does not seem to be in the current interests of the Kremlin. Putin and his comrades surely know that any such Russian invasion would undoubtedly spark off a worldwide nuclear showdown with NATO nations, not to mention with Israel itself. More than that, the massive invasion forecast by Ezekiel, also involving Libya and possibly Sudan along with Iran, ends with the salvation of all Israel and the divine ingathering to Israel of all Jews living outside of the Jewish state (Ezk 39: 27-28).
These seem to be occurrences set to unfold at the conclusion of the prophesied end-time "Great Tribulation," also know as the time of Jacob's Troubles, and not at its beginning. Note also how closely the description of what occurs to the invading armies in Ezekiel's prophecy dovetails with what is predicted to occur in the New Testament book of Revelation at the end of the final battle of Armageddon.
Psalm 83 is said to involve eight regional enemies of Israel who "conspire together" to destroy the Jewish state. I noted in Israel in Crisis that seven of the ten named conspirators were located in what is today the Arab country of Jordan, along with northern Saudi Arabia. This indicates to me that as long as the pro-Western Hashemite royal family rules from Amman and holds onto the late King Hussein's 1994 peace treaty with Israel, this prophecy is not ready to be fulfilled.
These seem to be occurrences set to unfold at the conclusion of the prophesied end-time "Great Tribulation," also know as the time of Jacob's Troubles, and not at its beginning. Note also how closely the description of what occurs to the invading armies in Ezekiel's prophecy dovetails with what is predicted to occur in the New Testament book of Revelation at the end of the final battle of Armageddon.
Psalm 83 is said to involve eight regional enemies of Israel who "conspire together" to destroy the Jewish state. I noted in Israel in Crisis that seven of the ten named conspirators were located in what is today the Arab country of Jordan, along with northern Saudi Arabia. This indicates to me that as long as the pro-Western Hashemite royal family rules from Amman and holds onto the late King Hussein's 1994 peace treaty with Israel, this prophecy is not ready to be fulfilled.
However with over 100,000 Syrian refugees now pouring into the small, financially troubled country, and with revolution and upheaval sweeping most parts of the Arab world, the chances for instability and political chaos in Jordan increase every day. The ascent of the extremist Muslim Brotherhood to power in Egypt (amazingly facilitated by the US and other Western powers) surely strengthens radical Islamic Arab forces everywhere in the region, with the stepson Hamas movement--which is very popular with many Jordanians who claim Palestinian descent--increasingly active in the country.
It should also be noted that even if the Assad regime is somehow overthrown in Syria despite strong support from Russia, Iran and Hezbulloh, any replacement Sunni Muslim government seems increasingly likely to be at least as hostile to Israel as Assad has been, meaning the seeming military clash alluded to in Isaiah 17 would remain an active possibility at any time. Of course, a military strike by Israel and/or the United States and its allies upon Iran's multiple nuclear sites--increasingly likely as defiant Tehran digs in its heels--could spark off a regional war that ends with the destruction of Damascus. Only time will tell, but with the way things appear at present, it might not be a long time!
It should also be noted that even if the Assad regime is somehow overthrown in Syria despite strong support from Russia, Iran and Hezbulloh, any replacement Sunni Muslim government seems increasingly likely to be at least as hostile to Israel as Assad has been, meaning the seeming military clash alluded to in Isaiah 17 would remain an active possibility at any time. Of course, a military strike by Israel and/or the United States and its allies upon Iran's multiple nuclear sites--increasingly likely as defiant Tehran digs in its heels--could spark off a regional war that ends with the destruction of Damascus. Only time will tell, but with the way things appear at present, it might not be a long time!
As I've written before, I suspect that Psalm 83 might be the Arab world's ultimate response to an Israeli destruction of Damascus, which is one of Islam's holiest cities on earth. However it is certainly possible that some future war will begin with Isaiah 17 and then be quickly followed by the joint anti-Israel attack plan unveiled in Psalm 83 (which historians also say never took place in ancient times), or vice versa. Only the Good Lord knows for sure. One thing is certain…the Middle East is currently reeling like it has not done since at least 1973. That being the undeniable case, thank you for your prayers, and may the will of the Sovereign Lord be done on earth even as it is in heaven!
David Dolan
Jerusalem.
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DAVID DOLAN is a Jerusalem-based author and journalist who has lived and worked in Israel since 1980.
MORE ASTONISHING NEWS FROM THE EVANGELICAL "MODERN DAY NOSTRADAMUS", THE HIGHLY RESPECTED AND RENOWNED PROPHECY EXPERT JOEL ROSENBERG.
At a time of skyrocketing federal debt, declining morality and growing spiritual apathy and apostasy, New York Times bestselling author Joel C. Rosenberg – known as a “modern-day Nostradamus” – says America may face cataclysmic collapse in the not-too distant future.
In his new book, Implosion: Can America Recover from its Economic & Spiritual Challenges in Time? (Tyndale House Publishers), Rosenberg explores the question a growing number of politicians, academics, authors and others are asking about the future of the United States.
“My concern is we are experiencing an epic failure of leadership at almost every level of American society right now,” Rosenberg told WND. “Something has gone terribly wrong with the American experiment. Our families are imploding, our national debt is exploding, experts on the left and right are warning us that we need to change our direction because we’re on an unsustainable trajectory economically, socially and culturally.
“Unfortunately, too many leaders in our country are stuck in business as usual mode and Americans are getting anxious that the ice is cracking under our feet.”
The book, released this week, comes as people at nearly 300 locations nationwide are set to listen to Rosenberg on Saturday morning discuss whether America is headed for implosion or revival during a live, three-hour “Implosion Simulcast” from First Baptist Church in Houston, Texas. Details have been posted at JoelRosenberg.com.
Rosenberg is a bestselling author with more than 2.5 million copies of his books in print. One of his books – “The Last Jihad’ – put readers in the cockpit of a hijacked jet on a kamikaze mission into an American city. It was written nine months before the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Afterwards, U.S. News & World Report described him as a “modern-day Nostradamus.” He also wrote about the U.S. at war in Iraq four months before the war began.
See for yourself exactly what could happen to the United States of America, in “Implosion: Can America Recover from its Economic and Spiritual Challenges in Time?”
The son of a Jewish father and a Gentile mother and an evangelical Christian, Rosenberg has served as a communications adviser for a number of U.S. and Israeli leaders, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Forbes magazine Publisher Steve Forbes.
A front-page Sunday New York Times profile called him a “force in the capital.” He has been profiled by the Washington Times and the Jerusalem Post, has been interviewed on ABC, CNN, FOX, MSNBC and the History Channel, and has addressed audiences all over the world, including the White House, the Pentagon, the U.S. Capitol and the European Union Parliament.
Earlier this week, Rosenberg received a note from Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of evangelist Billy Graham and author of “Expecting to See Jesus,” regarding his new book.
“Reinforced with Joel Rosenberg’s brilliant research, delivered with a prophet’s authority, and wrapped in hope, ‘Implosion’ will keep you riveted page after page. It is a clarion call to wake-up, America, before it’s too late!” Graham Lotz wrote.
In the book, Rosenberg explores whether the United States – long the wealthiest, most powerful nation in history – is an empire in decline or a nation poised for a historic renaissance. The book asks whether America’s religious past can be repeated today with a Third Great Awakening, or whether the rise of China, Russia and other nations, coupled with America’s internal struggles, will plunge the country into terminal decline.
The book comes as the nation faces soaring federal debt, severe economic turmoil, political uncertainty, declining morality, a weak church, growing spiritual apathy and apostasy, a spate of historic natural disasters and many other daunting challenges.
Many Americans have come to believe that the U.S. has entered a period of severe and potentially irreversible decline and fear the nation is in serious risk of economic and social collapse, Rosenberg wrote.
In the book, he cites several startling polls. A 2008 NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found 73 percent of Americans believe the U.S. is in a state of decline. A 2010 Fox News Poll found nearly 80 percent of Americans believe the U.S. economy could collapse entirely. And a 2011 CNN poll found nearly half of all Americans fear the U.S. is heading for another Great Depression.
In “Implosion,” Rosenberg outlines the reasons why the U.S. faces a real and growing risk of collapse.
Economically, the nation is more than $15 trillion in debt and is fast approaching $65 trillion worth of unfunded liabilities – promises the government has made regarding Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid that it can’t afford, Rosenberg says.
Further, America has lost 53 million children to abortion since 1973.
“That’s horrific in its own right – murder in my view,” Rosenberg says. “But on top of that, as if that weren’t bad enough, it’s having an economic affect that liberals didn’t intend, which is if you build a social welfare system in which young people pay the bills of older people through taxes and then you kill 53 million younger workers you are going to have a crisis.”
Meanwhile, the nation’s ‘horrible pornography industry,” which exports its lurid materials worldwide, earns more money than NBC, ABC and CBS combined, Rosenberg says.
Morally and spiritually, marriages and families are imploding as the foreclosure and economic crises exact unexpected consequences, Rosenberg says. A Federal Reserve report released earlier this week found the median wealth of families dropped 39 percent from $126,400 in 2007 to $77,300 in 2010.
“You can feel that, but the idea of an economic collapse is hard for people to grasp,” Rosenberg says. “They say, ‘Well, we’re not really Greece.’ But in terms of our families, we see that. We can see the family imploding. The question is this: Is there a point at which we hit a tipping point and all of this economic, cultural and moral trouble sends us into a death spiral we can’t get out of.
“The question, in a broader sense, is there a point at which God can no longer show us grace and mercy as a country, but will remove his hand of favor or actually set in motion judgment.”
In the book, Rosenberg chronicles a growing national discussion of whether American society could implode.
In 2010 during an interview with former U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H. – onetime chairman of the Senate Budget Committee – Fox News host Greta Van Susteren raised the possibility that the economy could “implode.”
“That’s right,” Gregg told Van Susteren. “That’s exactly what’s going to happen.”
In the book, Rosenberg cites other examples of highly respected officials warning the nation is on a path of “implosion” unless dramatic, historic steps are taken to change course.
In a Nov. 17, 2010 Yahoo News story entitled “Rubin Warns of Bond Market ‘Implosion,’” Robert Rubin, U.S. treasury secretary during the Clinton administration and now co-chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations, said the soaring deficit and the Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing (the printing and pumping of money into the economy) was putting the nation in “terribly dangerous territory.”
Not long after this, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., chairman of the House Budget Committee, told members of Congress the nation is on an unsustainable path where its debt is expected to rise from 68 percent of Gross Domestic Product to 800 percent of GDP in the coming decades.
Last week, Ryan said witnesses at a Congressional Budget Office hearing testified the nation has two years “before we have a debt crisis like Europe is experiencing.”
Rosenberg also examines in the book what the Bible has to say about the future of America and whether the U.S. is ever mentioned directly or indirectly.
The short version, Rosenberg says, is America is not specifically mentioned in the Bible. While many Bible prophecy teachers have speculated America is Babylon – the “great harlot that sitteth upon many waters” that is destroyed in an hour, according to the Book of Revelation – Rosenberg says he believes that is actually a reference to the historical city of Babylon in modern-day Iraq, a city that is being rebuilt.
When he tells people that America is not mentioned in the Bible, Rosenberg says many are often stunned, asking how could the wealthiest and most powerful nation in the history of mankind not be a specifically defined-player in the “last days.”
“The answer to that is I don’t know,” Rosenberg says. “But by the absence of us not being clearly defined in the text means something has happened to us. The question is what. What will happen to us to neutralize our ability or desire to be an influential player in these last of the last days of history before the return of Jesus Christ.”
In “Implosion,” Rosenberg raises several possibilities. First, the U.S. could implode financially and economically. The nation could be devastated by a surprise military or terrorist attack or a series of attacks. The nation could be devastated by an unprecedented series of natural disasters. Or, the U.S. could suddenly lose tens of millions of people during the “Rapture,” a prophecy that says God takes the church out of the world instantaneously – triggering any number of cataclysmic events.
“Maybe it will be a combination of these,” Rosenberg says.
At the same time, Rosenberg is also concerned about the role the U.S. is playing in the nuclear showdown between Iran and Israel. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has threatened to destroy Israel. Many Western nations are concerned Iran is developing nuclear weapons. In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is mulling an attack – possibly this summer or fall – to destroy Iran’s nuclear capability.
At a conference in March at Biola University in Southern California – “Israel, the Church and the Middle East Crisis” – Rosenberg told the audience the showdown could set in motion the fulfillment of prophecies in Ezekiel 38 and 39 regarding the “war of Gog and Magog.” This biblical prediction, Rosenberg says, refers to an end-times attack on Israel by a coalition of nations, including Russia and Iran.
Concerned about the level of America’s support of Israel during this time of crisis, Rosenberg says Genesis 12:3 is clear that God will bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse Israel.
“We already have enough moral and spiritual problems,” Rosenberg says. “The last thing we need to find ourselves is being cursed by God for turning our back on the nation of Israel. That is a very critical point and as we approach a possible major war between Israel and Iran, maybe this summer or fall, this is a time for Christians and all Americans to be standing with Israel in this fight against radical Islam and the threat that radical mullahs could get their hands on some nuclear weapons. We cannot let that happen.”
Finally, in the book, Rosenberg looks at historic lessons from the remarkable and sweeping Christian revivals known as the First Great Awakening of the early 1700s and the Second Great Awakening of the early 1800s and considers the possibility of a Third Great Awakening today.
Rosenberg says the U.S. has experienced two great spiritual revivals in the past and it could experience another. Rosenberg bases this belief on 2 Chronicles 7:14: “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
That’s what God told the ancient Hebrews, Rosenberg says. While it’s not a promise for the U.S. or other nations, Rosenberg says he believes it sets forth a biblical principle.
“The history of Israel in the Bible gives us an understanding of how God operates,” Rosenberg says. “Let me put it this way. God is not a vending machine where if you put in enough prayer quarters we get a Reese’s Pieces bag that pops out.
If we pray, fast and humble ourselves, it doesn’t mean God is obligated to give us a massive spiritual revival to save America because maybe we’ve passed that point. But we can be sure if we don’t pray, fast, humble ourselves and changed our wicked ways, then we definitely can’t expect God to give us a massive revival.”
In his new book, Implosion: Can America Recover from its Economic & Spiritual Challenges in Time? (Tyndale House Publishers), Rosenberg explores the question a growing number of politicians, academics, authors and others are asking about the future of the United States.
“My concern is we are experiencing an epic failure of leadership at almost every level of American society right now,” Rosenberg told WND. “Something has gone terribly wrong with the American experiment. Our families are imploding, our national debt is exploding, experts on the left and right are warning us that we need to change our direction because we’re on an unsustainable trajectory economically, socially and culturally.
“Unfortunately, too many leaders in our country are stuck in business as usual mode and Americans are getting anxious that the ice is cracking under our feet.”
The book, released this week, comes as people at nearly 300 locations nationwide are set to listen to Rosenberg on Saturday morning discuss whether America is headed for implosion or revival during a live, three-hour “Implosion Simulcast” from First Baptist Church in Houston, Texas. Details have been posted at JoelRosenberg.com.
Rosenberg is a bestselling author with more than 2.5 million copies of his books in print. One of his books – “The Last Jihad’ – put readers in the cockpit of a hijacked jet on a kamikaze mission into an American city. It was written nine months before the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Afterwards, U.S. News & World Report described him as a “modern-day Nostradamus.” He also wrote about the U.S. at war in Iraq four months before the war began.
See for yourself exactly what could happen to the United States of America, in “Implosion: Can America Recover from its Economic and Spiritual Challenges in Time?”
The son of a Jewish father and a Gentile mother and an evangelical Christian, Rosenberg has served as a communications adviser for a number of U.S. and Israeli leaders, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Forbes magazine Publisher Steve Forbes.
A front-page Sunday New York Times profile called him a “force in the capital.” He has been profiled by the Washington Times and the Jerusalem Post, has been interviewed on ABC, CNN, FOX, MSNBC and the History Channel, and has addressed audiences all over the world, including the White House, the Pentagon, the U.S. Capitol and the European Union Parliament.
Earlier this week, Rosenberg received a note from Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of evangelist Billy Graham and author of “Expecting to See Jesus,” regarding his new book.
“Reinforced with Joel Rosenberg’s brilliant research, delivered with a prophet’s authority, and wrapped in hope, ‘Implosion’ will keep you riveted page after page. It is a clarion call to wake-up, America, before it’s too late!” Graham Lotz wrote.
In the book, Rosenberg explores whether the United States – long the wealthiest, most powerful nation in history – is an empire in decline or a nation poised for a historic renaissance. The book asks whether America’s religious past can be repeated today with a Third Great Awakening, or whether the rise of China, Russia and other nations, coupled with America’s internal struggles, will plunge the country into terminal decline.
The book comes as the nation faces soaring federal debt, severe economic turmoil, political uncertainty, declining morality, a weak church, growing spiritual apathy and apostasy, a spate of historic natural disasters and many other daunting challenges.
Many Americans have come to believe that the U.S. has entered a period of severe and potentially irreversible decline and fear the nation is in serious risk of economic and social collapse, Rosenberg wrote.
In the book, he cites several startling polls. A 2008 NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found 73 percent of Americans believe the U.S. is in a state of decline. A 2010 Fox News Poll found nearly 80 percent of Americans believe the U.S. economy could collapse entirely. And a 2011 CNN poll found nearly half of all Americans fear the U.S. is heading for another Great Depression.
In “Implosion,” Rosenberg outlines the reasons why the U.S. faces a real and growing risk of collapse.
Economically, the nation is more than $15 trillion in debt and is fast approaching $65 trillion worth of unfunded liabilities – promises the government has made regarding Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid that it can’t afford, Rosenberg says.
Further, America has lost 53 million children to abortion since 1973.
“That’s horrific in its own right – murder in my view,” Rosenberg says. “But on top of that, as if that weren’t bad enough, it’s having an economic affect that liberals didn’t intend, which is if you build a social welfare system in which young people pay the bills of older people through taxes and then you kill 53 million younger workers you are going to have a crisis.”
Meanwhile, the nation’s ‘horrible pornography industry,” which exports its lurid materials worldwide, earns more money than NBC, ABC and CBS combined, Rosenberg says.
Morally and spiritually, marriages and families are imploding as the foreclosure and economic crises exact unexpected consequences, Rosenberg says. A Federal Reserve report released earlier this week found the median wealth of families dropped 39 percent from $126,400 in 2007 to $77,300 in 2010.
“You can feel that, but the idea of an economic collapse is hard for people to grasp,” Rosenberg says. “They say, ‘Well, we’re not really Greece.’ But in terms of our families, we see that. We can see the family imploding. The question is this: Is there a point at which we hit a tipping point and all of this economic, cultural and moral trouble sends us into a death spiral we can’t get out of.
“The question, in a broader sense, is there a point at which God can no longer show us grace and mercy as a country, but will remove his hand of favor or actually set in motion judgment.”
In the book, Rosenberg chronicles a growing national discussion of whether American society could implode.
In 2010 during an interview with former U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H. – onetime chairman of the Senate Budget Committee – Fox News host Greta Van Susteren raised the possibility that the economy could “implode.”
“That’s right,” Gregg told Van Susteren. “That’s exactly what’s going to happen.”
In the book, Rosenberg cites other examples of highly respected officials warning the nation is on a path of “implosion” unless dramatic, historic steps are taken to change course.
In a Nov. 17, 2010 Yahoo News story entitled “Rubin Warns of Bond Market ‘Implosion,’” Robert Rubin, U.S. treasury secretary during the Clinton administration and now co-chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations, said the soaring deficit and the Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing (the printing and pumping of money into the economy) was putting the nation in “terribly dangerous territory.”
Not long after this, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., chairman of the House Budget Committee, told members of Congress the nation is on an unsustainable path where its debt is expected to rise from 68 percent of Gross Domestic Product to 800 percent of GDP in the coming decades.
Last week, Ryan said witnesses at a Congressional Budget Office hearing testified the nation has two years “before we have a debt crisis like Europe is experiencing.”
Rosenberg also examines in the book what the Bible has to say about the future of America and whether the U.S. is ever mentioned directly or indirectly.
The short version, Rosenberg says, is America is not specifically mentioned in the Bible. While many Bible prophecy teachers have speculated America is Babylon – the “great harlot that sitteth upon many waters” that is destroyed in an hour, according to the Book of Revelation – Rosenberg says he believes that is actually a reference to the historical city of Babylon in modern-day Iraq, a city that is being rebuilt.
When he tells people that America is not mentioned in the Bible, Rosenberg says many are often stunned, asking how could the wealthiest and most powerful nation in the history of mankind not be a specifically defined-player in the “last days.”
“The answer to that is I don’t know,” Rosenberg says. “But by the absence of us not being clearly defined in the text means something has happened to us. The question is what. What will happen to us to neutralize our ability or desire to be an influential player in these last of the last days of history before the return of Jesus Christ.”
In “Implosion,” Rosenberg raises several possibilities. First, the U.S. could implode financially and economically. The nation could be devastated by a surprise military or terrorist attack or a series of attacks. The nation could be devastated by an unprecedented series of natural disasters. Or, the U.S. could suddenly lose tens of millions of people during the “Rapture,” a prophecy that says God takes the church out of the world instantaneously – triggering any number of cataclysmic events.
“Maybe it will be a combination of these,” Rosenberg says.
At the same time, Rosenberg is also concerned about the role the U.S. is playing in the nuclear showdown between Iran and Israel. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has threatened to destroy Israel. Many Western nations are concerned Iran is developing nuclear weapons. In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is mulling an attack – possibly this summer or fall – to destroy Iran’s nuclear capability.
At a conference in March at Biola University in Southern California – “Israel, the Church and the Middle East Crisis” – Rosenberg told the audience the showdown could set in motion the fulfillment of prophecies in Ezekiel 38 and 39 regarding the “war of Gog and Magog.” This biblical prediction, Rosenberg says, refers to an end-times attack on Israel by a coalition of nations, including Russia and Iran.
Concerned about the level of America’s support of Israel during this time of crisis, Rosenberg says Genesis 12:3 is clear that God will bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse Israel.
“We already have enough moral and spiritual problems,” Rosenberg says. “The last thing we need to find ourselves is being cursed by God for turning our back on the nation of Israel. That is a very critical point and as we approach a possible major war between Israel and Iran, maybe this summer or fall, this is a time for Christians and all Americans to be standing with Israel in this fight against radical Islam and the threat that radical mullahs could get their hands on some nuclear weapons. We cannot let that happen.”
Finally, in the book, Rosenberg looks at historic lessons from the remarkable and sweeping Christian revivals known as the First Great Awakening of the early 1700s and the Second Great Awakening of the early 1800s and considers the possibility of a Third Great Awakening today.
Rosenberg says the U.S. has experienced two great spiritual revivals in the past and it could experience another. Rosenberg bases this belief on 2 Chronicles 7:14: “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
That’s what God told the ancient Hebrews, Rosenberg says. While it’s not a promise for the U.S. or other nations, Rosenberg says he believes it sets forth a biblical principle.
“The history of Israel in the Bible gives us an understanding of how God operates,” Rosenberg says. “Let me put it this way. God is not a vending machine where if you put in enough prayer quarters we get a Reese’s Pieces bag that pops out.
If we pray, fast and humble ourselves, it doesn’t mean God is obligated to give us a massive spiritual revival to save America because maybe we’ve passed that point. But we can be sure if we don’t pray, fast, humble ourselves and changed our wicked ways, then we definitely can’t expect God to give us a massive revival.”
Wednesday, 13 June 2012
ADVANCE NOTICE OF THE HIGHLY RESPECTED ALAN FRANKLIN FROM THE FREE PRESS ONLINE SPEAKING FOUR TIMES IN OUR AREA IN SEPTEMBER.
We are delighted to announce that we have the highly respected, and very knowledgable Alan Franklin speaking four times in our area in September, and believe me, he is well worth travelling to hear teach. He is always bang up to date with prophetic events in the world today, and particularly the middle east, and he is also a mine of information when it comes to the Bible and the end time programme of events.
Alan, and his wife Pat, run the excellent Free Press Online website, and please take some time to visit it for some great articles and information. It can be found at http://www.thefreepressonline.co.uk/.
Alan's first stop on his mini tour of our area will be the Swindon branch of the PWMI, where he will speak on "CULTS AND ISMS - TRUE OR FALSE?" Alan's description of his talk is: "The powerpoint presentation will focus on end times deceptions, false faiths and isms - and show how they are contradicted by the Bible. This meeting will take place on Thursday, the 20th September at The Storehouse Fellowship, 150 Cricklade Road, Gorse Hill, Swindon, SN2 8AG (for more details, please contact Tony McLellan on 07931-421157).
Alan and Pat will then cross over the Severn Bridge the next day into South Wales to speak at the Ebbw Vale branch of the PWMI, when his theme will be the same "CULTS AND ISMS - TRUE OR FALSE?" but Alan does promise that all presentations of this talk vary from venue to venue, for those who like to travel to support more than one meeting. The meeting will take place at the Apostolic Church, Crown Buildings, Cemetery Road, Ebbw Vale, NP23 6XQ. Please contact Dulcie Evans on 01495 302523 for more information.
The following day, Saturday the 22nd September, Alan will be at the Newport branch of the PWMI, where he will minister twice. The first subject will be "ARE YOU READY FOR THE RAPTURE?" where Alan looks at the Biblical evidence for a pre-tribulational Rapture and examines types, prophecies, and the Jewish Feasts to make his case.
His second presentation will be called "JERUSALEM, THE FUTURE CAPITAL OF THE WORLD" which will be an overview of King David's City, and its 3000 year history. Alan will then look ahead to the time when the Lord Jesus Christ will return to rule and reign from the earth's new capital city!
The venue for these splendid powerpoint presentations will be The YMCA, Mendalgief Road, Newport, NP20 2HF. Please contact Neville Stephens on 01495 772323 (home) or 07808 251502 (mobile) for further information.
These powerpoint sessions will be fully illustrated, and will be packed with information you will not hear in your local church. It is vital that we get our end time message out to a society, both Christian and secular, who are asleep to what is happening around them in the world today, and how near the Rapture and The Second Coming Of Christ are. Please come along, I promise you will not be disappointed.
Maranatha,
Neville.
Alan, and his wife Pat, run the excellent Free Press Online website, and please take some time to visit it for some great articles and information. It can be found at http://www.thefreepressonline.co.uk/.
Alan's first stop on his mini tour of our area will be the Swindon branch of the PWMI, where he will speak on "CULTS AND ISMS - TRUE OR FALSE?" Alan's description of his talk is: "The powerpoint presentation will focus on end times deceptions, false faiths and isms - and show how they are contradicted by the Bible. This meeting will take place on Thursday, the 20th September at The Storehouse Fellowship, 150 Cricklade Road, Gorse Hill, Swindon, SN2 8AG (for more details, please contact Tony McLellan on 07931-421157).
Alan and Pat will then cross over the Severn Bridge the next day into South Wales to speak at the Ebbw Vale branch of the PWMI, when his theme will be the same "CULTS AND ISMS - TRUE OR FALSE?" but Alan does promise that all presentations of this talk vary from venue to venue, for those who like to travel to support more than one meeting. The meeting will take place at the Apostolic Church, Crown Buildings, Cemetery Road, Ebbw Vale, NP23 6XQ. Please contact Dulcie Evans on 01495 302523 for more information.
The following day, Saturday the 22nd September, Alan will be at the Newport branch of the PWMI, where he will minister twice. The first subject will be "ARE YOU READY FOR THE RAPTURE?" where Alan looks at the Biblical evidence for a pre-tribulational Rapture and examines types, prophecies, and the Jewish Feasts to make his case.
His second presentation will be called "JERUSALEM, THE FUTURE CAPITAL OF THE WORLD" which will be an overview of King David's City, and its 3000 year history. Alan will then look ahead to the time when the Lord Jesus Christ will return to rule and reign from the earth's new capital city!
The venue for these splendid powerpoint presentations will be The YMCA, Mendalgief Road, Newport, NP20 2HF. Please contact Neville Stephens on 01495 772323 (home) or 07808 251502 (mobile) for further information.
These powerpoint sessions will be fully illustrated, and will be packed with information you will not hear in your local church. It is vital that we get our end time message out to a society, both Christian and secular, who are asleep to what is happening around them in the world today, and how near the Rapture and The Second Coming Of Christ are. Please come along, I promise you will not be disappointed.
Maranatha,
Neville.
Sunday, 10 June 2012
REVIEW OF BRIAN GEMMELL'S MINI TOUR OF SWINDON AND PONTYPOOL.
We were very privileged last week to have Brian Gemmell from York, and The Bible Prophecy Foundation, perform a mini tour of our area, teaching us from a Biblical level you will find difficult to discover in our so called Evangelical Churches throughout the UK.
Brian is a highly respected Bible teacher and preacher, and is one of the best Bible Prophecy Expositors in the whole of Britain. Not only were we very blessed to receive his superb ministry, but we were also a little fortunate to have Brian at all. He only stood in at short notice as a tremendous favour to us, to replace the cancelled Prophecy Weekend planned with Bob Mitchell, who is not well enough to travel and preach at present.
Brian had only just returned from a whole month in the USA on May 31st, yet despite jet lag and general tiredness, Brian spoke at a Prophetic Teaching weekend in Southport on June 2nd and 3rd, before coming down to Swindon on the 7th, Pontypool on the 8th and 9th, then leaving Saturday evening to travel up to Reddish in Stockport to take further meetings on the 10th!!!
At Swindon on the Thursday, Brian, Gilly and Kathleen were hosted by the splendid Tony and Diane McLellan as they seek to get an exciting meeting off the ground in this major Wiltshire town. He took as his subject EVENTS THAT MUST TAKE PLACE IN THE TRIBULATION (at Tony's request), and for over an hour and a half, the teacher from York had his larger than normal audience spellbound as he expounded on Daniel 9, Matthew 24, Leviticus 26, but primarily on Revelation 6, and the judgements to come upon this earth of ours on people who have missed out on the Rapture, and instead have chosen to follow the Antichrist of Satan.
Having crossed the Severn Bridge into South Wales, the Gemmell contingent made their way to Pontypool for the Friday evening session, via the usual splendid hospitality of dear Nancy Williams at her fabulous 17th century farmhouse in Bassaleg, near Newport.
This meeting was the first of five for a Pontypool Prophecy Teaching Weekend titled "THE BATTLES OF THE LAST DAYS". Part One on the Friday was called "IT'S WAR!", then on the Saturday Brian took four further sessions under the headings of "PROPHESIED LITERAL BATTLES"; "WORLD WAR THREE!"; "SPIRITUAL BATTLES"; and a final uplifting and emotional talk called "VICTORY". This was followed by his usual entertaining "Question and Answer Session" to round off a superb day of teaching and fellowship.
There is far too much to cover in a short review such as this, as the Glaswegian expounded delightfully in his dulcet Scottish tones through many prophetic passages from the Scriptures, covering topics such as The Last Days "Perilous Times" of 2 Timothy 3; The Prophesied Literal Battles of Psalm 83, Amos 1:3-5; Isaiah chapters 17 and 19, The Gog and Magog War of Ezekial 39 and 39, and The Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse of Revelation 6.
He also warned of the rising dangers of Islam, Apostasy in the what we would call the Evangelical Church, the rise of New Age and Occultic teachings; the rise of the "Emerging New Church" with its false jesus; Satanism in its many guises (and not just demonic and occultic), Secular Humanism, Atheism, Declining Morality throught the world; Worshipping the gods of Mammon, Materialism, Sport, Filmstars, Worldy icons etc; The shocking low standards of modern "Christian" Television with its false teachers, money-orientated TV Evangelists, plus frivilous and vacuous programmes, and a host of other subjects too numerous to mention here.
However, our good friend Keith Cline from Bristol was on hand to record all five meetings to a high standard, and they will be available to purchase as a complete DVD set for just £12 in a week or so. You can contact him via email at keith.cline@talk21.com, if you would like to order a copy, or just contact me and I will be pleased to pass on your request.
Everyone commented on the warm fellowship and the dynamic teaching of the anointed Scot from York , and we prayed over Brian, Gilly, and Kathleen on the Saturday evening as they left for Stockport near Manchester to continue their superb service in their desire to please the Lord. We praise our great God and Saviour for the Gemmell family, and the blessings they bring whenever they travel in His Name.
Shalom In Yeshua,
Maranatha,
Neville.
Brian is a highly respected Bible teacher and preacher, and is one of the best Bible Prophecy Expositors in the whole of Britain. Not only were we very blessed to receive his superb ministry, but we were also a little fortunate to have Brian at all. He only stood in at short notice as a tremendous favour to us, to replace the cancelled Prophecy Weekend planned with Bob Mitchell, who is not well enough to travel and preach at present.
Brian had only just returned from a whole month in the USA on May 31st, yet despite jet lag and general tiredness, Brian spoke at a Prophetic Teaching weekend in Southport on June 2nd and 3rd, before coming down to Swindon on the 7th, Pontypool on the 8th and 9th, then leaving Saturday evening to travel up to Reddish in Stockport to take further meetings on the 10th!!!
At Swindon on the Thursday, Brian, Gilly and Kathleen were hosted by the splendid Tony and Diane McLellan as they seek to get an exciting meeting off the ground in this major Wiltshire town. He took as his subject EVENTS THAT MUST TAKE PLACE IN THE TRIBULATION (at Tony's request), and for over an hour and a half, the teacher from York had his larger than normal audience spellbound as he expounded on Daniel 9, Matthew 24, Leviticus 26, but primarily on Revelation 6, and the judgements to come upon this earth of ours on people who have missed out on the Rapture, and instead have chosen to follow the Antichrist of Satan.
Having crossed the Severn Bridge into South Wales, the Gemmell contingent made their way to Pontypool for the Friday evening session, via the usual splendid hospitality of dear Nancy Williams at her fabulous 17th century farmhouse in Bassaleg, near Newport.
This meeting was the first of five for a Pontypool Prophecy Teaching Weekend titled "THE BATTLES OF THE LAST DAYS". Part One on the Friday was called "IT'S WAR!", then on the Saturday Brian took four further sessions under the headings of "PROPHESIED LITERAL BATTLES"; "WORLD WAR THREE!"; "SPIRITUAL BATTLES"; and a final uplifting and emotional talk called "VICTORY". This was followed by his usual entertaining "Question and Answer Session" to round off a superb day of teaching and fellowship.
There is far too much to cover in a short review such as this, as the Glaswegian expounded delightfully in his dulcet Scottish tones through many prophetic passages from the Scriptures, covering topics such as The Last Days "Perilous Times" of 2 Timothy 3; The Prophesied Literal Battles of Psalm 83, Amos 1:3-5; Isaiah chapters 17 and 19, The Gog and Magog War of Ezekial 39 and 39, and The Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse of Revelation 6.
He also warned of the rising dangers of Islam, Apostasy in the what we would call the Evangelical Church, the rise of New Age and Occultic teachings; the rise of the "Emerging New Church" with its false jesus; Satanism in its many guises (and not just demonic and occultic), Secular Humanism, Atheism, Declining Morality throught the world; Worshipping the gods of Mammon, Materialism, Sport, Filmstars, Worldy icons etc; The shocking low standards of modern "Christian" Television with its false teachers, money-orientated TV Evangelists, plus frivilous and vacuous programmes, and a host of other subjects too numerous to mention here.
However, our good friend Keith Cline from Bristol was on hand to record all five meetings to a high standard, and they will be available to purchase as a complete DVD set for just £12 in a week or so. You can contact him via email at keith.cline@talk21.com, if you would like to order a copy, or just contact me and I will be pleased to pass on your request.
Everyone commented on the warm fellowship and the dynamic teaching of the anointed Scot from York , and we prayed over Brian, Gilly, and Kathleen on the Saturday evening as they left for Stockport near Manchester to continue their superb service in their desire to please the Lord. We praise our great God and Saviour for the Gemmell family, and the blessings they bring whenever they travel in His Name.
Shalom In Yeshua,
Maranatha,
Neville.
Wednesday, 6 June 2012
MUSLIM MAN BEHEADED IN TUNISIA FOR REFUSING TO RENOUNCE HIS CHRISTIAN FAITH.
John 16:2b, “… the time is coming when those who kill you will think they are doing a holy service for God.”
Qur’an Sura 8:12b, “… terrorize and behead those who believe in scriptures other than the Qur’an.”
BY RAYMOND IBRAHIM FROM THE "MIDNIGHT WATCHER'S BLOGSPOT": “Liberal talk show host Tawfiq Okasha recently appeared on ‘Egypt Today,’ airing a video of Muslims slicing off a young man’s head off for the crime of apostasy — in this instance, the crime of converting to Christianity and refusing to renounce it.
A young man appears held down by masked men. His head is pulled back, with a knife to his throat. He does not struggle and appears resigned to his fate. Speaking in Arabic, the background speaker, or ‘narrator,’ chants a number of Muslim prayers and supplications, mostly condemning Christianity, which, because of the Trinity, is referred to as a polytheistic faith: ‘Let Allah be avenged on the polytheist apostate’; ‘Allah empower your religion, make it victorious against the polytheists’; ‘Allah, defeat the infidels at the hands of the Muslims,’ and ‘There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger.’
Then, to cries of ‘Allahu Akbar!’— Allah is greater!’—the masked man holding the knife to the apostate’s throat begins to slice away, severing the head completely after approximately one minute of graphic knife-carving, as the victim drowns in blood. Finally, the severed head is held aloft to more Islamic slogans of victory.
Visibly distraught, Tawfiq Okasha, the host, asks: ‘Is this Islam? Does Islam call for this? How is Islam related to this matter?…These are the images that are disseminated throughout the electronic media in Europe and America…. Can you imagine?’ Then, in reference to Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and Salafis, whose political influence has grown tremendously, he asks, ‘How are such people supposed to govern?’
Only the other day, a prominent Egyptian Salafi leader — referring to the canonical hadiths, including Muhammad’s command, ‘Whoever leaves his religion, kill him’ — openly stated that no Muslim has the right to apostatize, or leave Islam.
Any number of Islamic legal manuals make explicitly clear that apostasy is a capital crime, punishable by death. The first ‘righteous caliph,’ a model of Muslim piety, had tens of thousands of former Muslims slaughtered—including by burning, beheading, and crucifixion—simply because they tried to break away from Islam. According to the Encyclopaedia of Islam, the most authoritative reference work on Islam in the English language, ‘there is unanimity that the male apostate must be put to death.’
Finally, a word on the ‘prayers’ or supplications to Allah made by the Muslim executioners in the video: these are standard and formulaic. In other words, these are not just masked, anonymous butchers who pray to Allah as they engage in acts of cutting throats and holding up heads, these are top-ranking Muslim leaders, who appear regularly on TV, who invoke such hate-filled prayers.
See here for examples of Muslims supplicating Allah to strike infidels with cancer and disease ’till they pray for death and do not receive it;’ there are even formalized prayers in Mecca, blasted on megaphones as Muslims honor their obligation to go on a pilgrimage at least once in their lives, supplicating Allah to make the lives of Christians and Jews ‘hostage to misery; drape them with endless despair, unrelenting pain and unremitting ailment; fill their lives with sorrow and pain and end their lives in humiliation and oppression.’
‘Is this Islam?’ You decide.” Source – Gatestone Institute.
By Raymond Ibrahim from http://www.midnightwatcher.wordpress.com/.
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