THE INTERESTING
INFORMATION CHRISTIAN MINISTRY
CONFIRMING
BIBLICAL TRUTH
January 16, 2019
SECTION 1 – INTERESTTING
INFORMATION WEEKLY ARTILCLES
SECTION 2 – SUMMARIES/BOOK
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SECTION
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INTERESTING INFORMATION 1/16/2019
The following material is provided for
information purposes only. Any
conclusions or opinions formed should be based on the principles as outlined in
Acts 17:11. The material is intended for
use as a witnessing tool and to keep you informed so you will not be unaware
(Luke 21:34) of what is happening according to Scripture.
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URL - CHILDREN ABUSING CHILDREN: THE SEXUAL REVOLUTION’S LATEST VICTIMS
URL - JESUS AS SON OF GOD?
MUSLIMS NOW CLAIM CHRISTIAN BELIEFS 'MOCK ISLAM'
https://www.wnd.com/2018/12/jesus-as-son-of-god-muslims-now-claim-christian-beliefs-mock-islam/?cat_orig=world
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THANK HIM FOR THE MIRACLE
The Booth Brothers
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: “We can do nothing outside the power of
Jesus” —Pastor Mark
Cable
INTERESTING ARTICLES
·
A virgin really did
give birth to Jesus – Part 3
·
The Jews and Jerusalem
are one
·
Our Country is
embracing “Satanism” at an alarming rate
·
All “Glory” goes to
Christ, says Clemson coach
·
Archaeologists dig up
proof of Biblical people, miracles in Shiloh
·
Remembering Apollo 8
·
CHRIST IS THE PATTERN
·
·
‘S
INTERESTING ARTICLES……
HISTORICAL EVIDENCE- A VIRGIN REALLY DID
GIVE BIRTH TO JESUS – Part 3
AN
AGNOSTIC PROFESSOR OF MYTHOLOGY IS CONVINCED
Charisma
News – Dec. 21, 2018 -- C.S. Lewis was the agnostic professor of Renaissance
literature at Oxford University, a prolific author and a recognized expert of
mythological texts. He too had bought into the idea that the Bible was not a
book of reliable history and that the New Testament was filled with all sorts
of mythical stories, created by individuals far removed from the events
described.
But
through the influence of his childhood, and friends who challenged his
agnosticism, Lewis began to read the Bible. He was astounded at what he
encountered in the Gospels, for it was obviously a different genre from the
ancient mythologies with which he was so familiar. His surprised response was,
"This is not myth!" Lewis went on to become a dedicated follower of
Christ and perhaps the most significant Christian apologist of the 20th
century.
At
the time, higher criticism was being popularized in German seminaries. Certain
theologians, such as Rudolph Bultmann, were claiming
that the New Testament accounts of the virgin birth of Jesus, His miracles and
His resurrection were myths created by His followers.
Lewis
challenged these theologians, saying, "I would like to know how many myths
these people have read!" He went on to explain that he had been a
long-time professor and critic of mythological literature and knew how a myth
sounded and felt. "And the gospel story," he said, "Is not
myth!"
THE JEWS AND JERUSALEM ARE
ONE
Israel365 – Nov. 11, 2018 -- In his prayer, Daniel
lists three compelling reasons for God to accept his prayer and redeem the
people from Babylonia: For the sake of Jerusalem, of the Holy Temple and of the
Jewish people. Regarding Jerusalem, Daniel points out that it is
an embarrassment to God when His beautiful city lies in ruins. He further questions
how Hashem can ignore the Temple Mount where His presence was manifest
most clearly on earth. Lastly, it is a desecration of God’s name when His
chosen people are despised. Daniel groups Jerusalem and the Jewish
people together, “Jerusalem and Your people have become a mockery among all who
are around us,” since the Jews and Jerusalem are one. Without their holy city,
how can they succeed in exile, and how can Jerusalem flourish without her
children?
OUR COUNTRY IS EMBRACING SATANISM AT AN
ALARMING RATE (Excerpt)
Charism News –
Dec. 25, 2018 -- As attendance declines at Christian churches all over America,
many Satanic groups are experiencing tremendous
growth. For some, embracing Satanism is the ultimate form of rebellion, for
others it is about making an anti-Trump political statement, and yet others
claim that they are attracted by the very real power that they discover in
Satanism.
Every week,
bizarre rituals are conducted in basements, meeting halls and public facilities
all over the country, and most Americans have absolutely no idea what is going
on. Of course, most mainstream news articles about Satanists attempt to portray
them as ordinary people who have simply been "misunderstood." And
ultimately that is what the Satanists are trying to do for Satan—they are
trying to get all the rest of us to view Satan or Lucifer as a
"misunderstood" being that only has humanity's best interests at
heart. And since the values of Satanism line up more accurately with the values
of modern society than Christian values do, Satanists are finding increasing
success in bringing in new recruits.
Today, there
are Satanic churches just about everywhere. For example, a Satanic
high priest named Adam Daniels started "the Church of Ahriman" in the
heart of Oklahoma City.
Adam Daniels,
35, is the "dastur"—or high priest—of the
Church of Ahriman, which is based in Oklahoma City, USA.
The Church of
Ahriman has 15 members and worships Ahriman, another name for the original
Persian devil figure Angra Mainyu—the
god of hell.
The church's
followers meet in Daniels' home, where he has converted a storage room into the
ritual chamber in which he performs ceremonies including devil worshipping
weddings and Satanic exorcisms.
Daniels says
that he was attracted to Satanism after a deadly encounter with an armed thief sent
him on a quest for answers:
Seeking a way
to come to terms with ending another person's life, he began to see a therapist
and turned to a variety of religions—all of whom suggested he should have
turned the other cheek.
Daniels said:
"I tried to find solace and I was told that I had committed the sin of
wrath by the Christians and the Buddhists—even by my mom."
Instead he
found comfort in The Satanic Bible by Anton LaVey,
whose motto is "self- preservation is the highest law."
The truth is
that Daniels is not a pleasant man. In fact, he openly admits that he purposely
commits blasphemy, and that his entire goal is to offend God...
He said:
"I have ritualistically burned the Holy Bible, the Qu'ran,
the Talmed, the Torah, Buddhist Sutra's, different
Hindu Sutra's you name it, I've burned it out of
blasphemy.
"I am not
responsible for God and no God is responsible for me.
"Through
my words and my deeds, I am offending God and that is my whole goal, to make
his people miserable, to bring about apostates, to bring about anguish."
At one time,
nuts like Daniels would have been a very rare anomaly, but times have changed.
Today there
are Satanic communities that gather from coast to
coast, and the following is how the Los Angeles Times described one of
these gatherings in the L.A. area...
In November,
in the candlelit basement of a house just above the Silver Lake Reservoir,
Alexandra James walked over to an altar where her husband, Zachary, waited near
a bleached human skull, teeth locked in eternal rictus. From the altar, she
lifted a sword and drew points across his chest while a circle of onlookers
watched solemnly (well, a few giggled too). An organist played eerie minor key
chords and Alexandra turned to face the group.
"On this
altar we consecrate swords to direct the fire of our unholy will," she
said. "A human skull, symbol of death. The great
mother Lilith created us all, and will destroy us all."
"Hail
Satan! Hail Satan! Hail Satan!" The group chanted back.
So how many
people are we actually talking about nationwide? Well, there is not a single national
organization, but all major Satanic groups have
claimed large increases in membership since the election of Donald Trump.
In particular,
the Satanic Temple reported gaining "thousands" of new members within
the first 36 hours of Trump's victory...
The Satanic
Temple attracted "thousands" of new members in just the first 36
hours after the election of Donald Trump, according to co-founder Lucien
Greaves. The 4-year-old temple, which had a pre-Trump membership of around
50,000, has never before seen a spike in registration nearly this big.
"It's
crazy," Greaves said after a speech in front of some adoring fans at
CU-Boulder. The emails, registrations, donations and social media posts are
pouring in faster than the temple can respond. "People have a desperate
need for something to rally to right now."
Right now,
membership in the Satanic Temple is somewhere around 100,000,
and it has become a hub for the anti-Trump resistance.
‘ALL THE GLORY’ GOES TO CHRIST, SAYS
CLEMSON COACH
Christian
Headline News – Jan. 8, 2019 -- Clemson had just won its third national
championship Monday night in a rout of Alabama, but head coach Dabo Swinney wasn’t interested in staying in the spotlight.
“All the credit
– all the glory – goes to the good Lord,” Swinney said during a nationally
televised postgame interview.
The Tigers
defeated the favored Crimson Tide 44-16 for their second national title in
three years. Clemson also because the first college football
team to finish 15-0.
Swinney has
built the program into a powerhouse. He was named interim coach six games into
the 2008 season when former coach Tommy Bowden resigned after
a 3-3 start. At the time, Swinney was the wide receivers coach. He was named head
coach after the Tigers defeated rival South Carolina that year to become bowl
eligible.
Clemson slowly
climbed the college football ladder under Swinney, finishing 9-5 in
2009, 6-7 in 2010 and then 10-4 in 2011, when the Tigers won their first ACC
title since 1991.
The Tigers
have won at least 10 games eight straight seasons. They’ve also won four
straight conference titles and have played in the College Football Playoff all
four of those seasons.
“You can’t
write a Hollywood script like this,” Swinney said, referencing his rise from a
wide receivers coach to a successful head coach. Prior to coaching at Clemson,
he worked in real estate. “Only God can do this. … Only God can orchestrate
this.”
Swinney has
never been shy about discussing his Christian faith. It’s even drawn
complaints from atheist groups.
“For me
personally, joy comes from focusing on Jesus, others and yourself,”
he said during the TV interview.
Clemson’s
program, Swinney said, is full of players who are “passionate about winning.”
“There’s so many great coaches that are so deserving of a
moment like this and never get the chance to experience it,” he said. “To get
to do it once and now to get to do it again, it’s a blessing. It’s just simply
the grace of the good Lord to allow us to experience something like
this.”
Swinney isn’t
the only prominent outspoken Christian on the team. Starting quarterback
Trevor Lawrence previously said his “identity” is in
Christ, not football.
“Football is
important to me, obviously, but it is not my life,” he said. “It is not
like the biggest thing in my life. My faith is. That just comes from kind of
knowing who I am outside of that. I just know, no matter how big the situation
is, it is not really going to define me.”
ARCHAEOLOGISTS DIG UP DEFINITIVE PROOF
OF BIBLICAL PEOPLE, MIRACLES IN ANCIENT CITY OF SHILOH
Charisma News
– Jan. 11, 2019 -- Driving along the route known as the Way of the Patriarchs
in Samaria, the heart of biblical Israel, you'll come to ancient Shiloh.
The Bible says
this is the place where Joshua parceled out the promised land
to the 12 tribes of Israel. It's also where the tabernacle of the Lord stood
for more than 300 years.
Dr. Scott
Stripling directs the excavations at Shiloh. Along with dozens of volunteers,
he and his crew are digging into history.
"Welcome
to ancient Shiloh," Stripling greeted us. "This is the first capital
of ancient Israel, and it's a sacred spot because the Mishkan
was here, the tabernacle, where people came to connect with God."
"We're
dealing with real people, real places, real events," he continued.
"This is not mythology. The coins that we excavated today—we're talking
about coins of Herod the Great, Pontius Pilate, Thestos,
Felix, Agrippa the First, Agrippa the Second. The Bible talks about these
people. We've got the image right here."
That
"image" includes a fortified wall built by the Canaanites. The team
finds a treasure trove of artifacts there, which includes ancient coins and
some 2,000 pieces of pottery a day.
Read the rest
of the story at: http://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/israel/2018/july/this-is-not-mythology-archaeologists-dig-up-the-bible-at-ancient-city-of-shiloh
REMEMBERING APOLLO 8
Genesis 1:16
“And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the
lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.”
Creation
Moments – Jan. 10, 2019 – As a small boy, I avidly watched the Apollo space
program. I am glad that I developed my interest before Apollo 11 landed in
1969, so that I was able to watch each new mission with eager anticipation.
Apollo 8 broke
new ground and made it obvious that NASA was determined in its pledge to get
people on to the Moon. Launched on December 21, 1968, this was a Christmas
mission, taking nearly three days to reach the Moon. This was an experimental
flight, and NASA was not yet ready to get its astronauts to land, but it was
the first occasion that human beings had ever left Earth orbit to reach another
world. Just short of three days after launch, the crew set the rocket engines
burning for exactly four minutes seven seconds to get the craft into orbit
around the Moon.
The lunar
orbit created a number of exciting firsts. The orbit took Apollo 8 around the
back of the Moon. The Moon has a synchronous rotation, so it always keeps one
side permanently facing the Earth. Therefore, the back of the Moon is always
hidden from the Earth. This was, therefore, the first time that human beings
had gazed directly on the Moon’s hidden side. Then, as the craft returned to
the visible side, they experience the beauty of an Earthrise.
The mission
was notable for the December 24th Christmas broadcast, during which the
astronauts William Anders, Jim Lovell, and Frank Borman
read the first ten verses of Genesis 1 between them. This was a fitting tribute
and reminded us that it was God that made the Moon.
CHRIST IS THE PATTERN
If Christ were
not our burden bearer, every one of us would be lost and on our way to eternal
separation from God. Jesus bore our sins in His own body on the cross so that
we might live righteously (1 Peter 2:24). To those who are tired and
downtrodden, He says, “Come to Me, all who are weary
and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). Because our salvation
is the result of Jesus being the sin bearer, He is our perfect role model.
God
predestined us to be conformed to the likeness of Christ (Rom. 8:29). That’s why suffering alongside those
enduring the trials of life is in our spiritual DNA—it’s part of being a child
of God. The hallmark of a Christian is love, and this should be evident in the
way we treat others.
But bearing
other people’s burdens is difficult, particularly when we have cares and
struggles of our own. Nevertheless, we should not try to wait until all of our
problems are solved before deciding to emulate the work of Jesus Christ. The
apostle Paul, who faced many obstacles, continued to serve others. He said, “My
God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ
Jesus” (Phil. 4:19). That means we can share someone
else’s burden even when we have our own. God’s grace is more than sufficient
for both.
God is never
too busy to tend to our cares. People all over the world are hurting deeply
today. The Lord knows how you can be a servant to someone who needs your
friendship. Ask Him to use you as a healing salve to bring another person
freedom from burdens.
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INTERESTING INFORMATION 1/9/2019
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THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: “To follow the Lord, you must walk with the Lord”—Our
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INTERESTING ARTICLES
·
A virgin really did
give birth to Jesus – Part 2
·
How bad do you want
freedom from sin?
·
Most Christians not
sharing the Gospel
·
Abortion leading cause
of death in 2018 with 41 million killed
·
FATWA issued against
Christmas
·
Oil in the Bible
·
WHY DO PEOPLE FOLLOW
JESUS?
·
‘S
·
INTERESTING ARTICLES……
HISTORICAL EVIDENCE:-A
VIRGIN REALLY DID GIVE BIRTH TO JESUS – Part 2
AFFIRMED BY MODERN ARCHAEOLOGY.
Charisma
News – Dec. 21, 2018 -- Luke's status as a world-class historian, accurate in
even the smallest details, has been brought to light by modern archaeology. For
example, Sir William Ramsay, considered one of the greatest archaeologists of
all time, originally thought he would scientifically discredit Luke's accounts
by visiting and examining the places mentioned in his Gospel and Acts.
Ramsay,
an Oxford professor, was a product of the skeptical, German higher criticism of
the 19th century, and he taught that the New Testament is an unreliable
religious treatise written in the mid-second century by individuals far removed
from the events described. But after years of retracing Luke's account of
Paul's travels and doing archaeological excavations along the way, Ramsay
completely reversed his view of the Bible and first-century history.
Ramsay
became convinced that Acts was written in the first century by the traditional
author, and he acquired a very high regard for Luke as a historian. He wrote,
"Luke
is a historian of the first rank; not merely are his statements of fact
trustworthy, he is possessed of the true historic sense; in short, this author
should be placed along with the greatest of historians."
In
1896, Ramsay began publishing his discoveries in a book entitled St. Paul the Traveler and the Roman Citizen. The book caused a furor of dismay
among the skeptics of the world, for its affirmation of the biblical record was
totally unexpected. The evidence was, in fact, so overwhelming that many
atheists gave up their atheism and embraced Christianity.
Over
the next 20 years, Ramsay published other volumes showing how he discovered
Luke to be accurate in the tiniest details of his account. In his book, The Bearing of Recent Discovery on the Trustworthiness of
the New Testament, he
wrote, "You may press the words of Luke in a degree beyond any other
historian's and they stand the keenest scrutiny and the hardest
treatment."
Archaeology
has, indeed, affirmed not only Luke, but the entire biblical account. William
F. Albright, renowned archaeologist and late professor of Semitic languages at
John Hopkins University spent many years leading archaeological excavations in
the land of the Bible. He wrote, "Discovery after discovery has
established the accuracy of innumerable details, and brought increased
recognition to the Bible as a source of history."
The
evidence begs the question that if Luke was this careful to get his facts right
about names, places, events and dates, can we not be confident that he was just
as careful to get his facts right concerning the more important things about
which he reported, such as the virgin birth of Jesus Christ?
HOW BAD DO YOU WANT FREEDOM FROM SIN?
(Excerpt)
Christian
Headline News – Dec. 3, 2018 -- I remember reading an article about a man who
avoided the beach in the summer after admitting his addiction to pornography to
his wife. He concluded that being around people who were barely covered often
triggered his compulsion. Other cases involved a man who stopped visiting
certain sections at a local video store and a woman who stopped reading romance
novels. Both concluded that viewing this material was stimulating lust. What about
the gym and the yoga pants trend? Enough said.
How bad do you
want freedom? Although these examples may seem extreme, to counter lust as
believers we must avoid places, people, or things that stimulate that desire. I
find it ironic that most of the Christian books that were written over a
hundred years ago have a strong emphasis on holiness and obedience, but today
we find these words offensive. We want New Testament power but not New
Testament holiness. For example, J.C. Ryle (1816–1900) in his book on holiness
said that we must stand guard as a soldier on enemy ground. The problem is that
many love the world and have a hard time separating. They believe in heaven,
but they don’t truly long for it. They “say” that they fear God, but they don’t
live like it. They indulge temptation rather than fight it. They enjoy sin
rather than confront it. And they compromise rather than conquer.
The lukewarm
church disdains the heat of conviction. Holiness, to them, is outdated,
old-fashioned, and too conservative, but holiness is clearly biblical and
always linked to freedom from sin. Most people want to coddle their sin rather
than crucify it. Again, how badly do you want freedom? An extreme attack
requires an extreme defense.
Proverbs 5:3
reminds us that “the lips of an immoral woman drip honey, and her mouth is
smoother than oil.” Sin is always enticing: it fascinates before it
assassinates! But be encouraged: being tempted isn’t sin—surrendering to it is.
Temptation is also an opportunity to do what is right by turning from it. First
Corinthians 10:13 states, “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is
common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond
what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape,
that you may be able to bear it.” The door of temptation swings both ways—you
can enter or exit. If you choose to enter, once inside, you
may not see the exit sign so clearly again.
To hit SIN
right between the eyes, we need to “go back to the old paths” (Jeremiah 6:16)—the old paths of holiness and a deep
hunger for righteousness. Accountability is great, and software protecting your
phone or computer is important, but nothing compares to keeping your eyes on
Christ and obeying Him. This forward motion leads to the filling of the Spirit.
You can’t be filled with sin and the Spirit at the same time. One or the other
will prevail depending on whether you feed your flesh or starve it.
The context of
Jeremiah's words is very relevant for us today. God said, “When I had fed them
to the full, then they committed adultery and assembled themselves by troops in
the harlots’ houses. They were like well-fed lusty stallions; every one neighed
after his neighbor’s wife” (Jeremiah 5:7–8). Since we crave more of what we
feed, consider fasting to silence the voice of the flesh. Gordon Cove reminds
us in his book, Revival Now through Prayer and Fasting, that “fasting arrests
the appetite of sex because food feeds all desires and appetites of the flesh
and fasting starves them. A luxurious diet and habitual over feeding
produce an unbalanced animalism” (Schmul, 1988).
Conviction is
a gift from God; use it to return to the old paths. We also must stop making
excuses and see the death in sin. America’s porn epidemic will continue to
pervert, with the ultimate goal of destroying. Men, stop the silly video games,
get off Facebook, kill your porn habit, and tell your ungodly friends to hit
the road. You’re called to lead, love, and die if necessary for your family. We
are the reason the nation is deteriorating. We are the reason the family is
breaking down. We must stop blaming everyone and everything, from God to the
government, and face the truth that we are the stench in the nostrils of a
righteous, holy, pure God.
MOST CHRISTIANS NOT SHARING THE GOSPEL
A new survey
suggests that Christians are not sharing their faith despite many feeling the
responsibility to do so.
Christian
Headline News -- In a survey of over 1,000 Canadian Protestants, 43% claimed
they felt a "personal responsibility to share my religious beliefs about
Jesus Christ with non-Christians".
However, 78%
had not "shared with someone how to become a Christian" in the past
six months.
The survey was
conducted by Nashville-based LifeWay Research, a
group that offers qualitative study services to the Christian community to
better understand both themselves and their mission fields.
They asked
questions including "How many in your city really attend church?",
"How receptive are people to invitations to attend church?",
"What are residents' perceptions of churches in your city?" and
"What affinity (interest) groups exist in your city and do they attend
church?"
The study
looked into the activities of believers who reported visiting church at least
once a month.
Lifeway
Research described it as part of an "an extensive discipleship research
project" that was focused primarily on "measuring spiritual
maturity".
The organization
wanted to measure eight biblical attributes they believe are to be found in the
lives of "spiritually mature" Christians, including selflessness,
obedience and biblical engagement.
Other
statistics emerging from the data proved similarly discouraging. Although 58% of
those asked reported that they felt comfortable sharing their faith, 59% had
also not invited anyone to church for at least six months. Twenty-one per cent
said they had invited one person to church in that time, while only 10 per cent
said they had invited three or more people.
President of LifeWay Research, Ed Stetzer,
said the researchers did find that mature Christians are more likely to
evangelize than those who are new to the faith.
"Many
times we've been told new Christians are most active in sharing their
faith," said Stetzer. "In reality, people
who have been a Christian longer have higher responses for Sharing Christ than
newer Christians."
There was more
optimism on the issue of praying for non-Christians to come to faith, with 10%
saying they prayed for non-Christians daily, while 30% said they prayed for
them several times a week.
"If you
are going to be intentional about sharing your faith, praying for others is a
great way to start," Stetzer said. "We
often acknowledge the importance of prayer in people coming to faith in Christ,
but we also found it has an impact on the person praying."
ABORTION LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH IN 2018
WITH 41 MILLION KILLED (Excerpt)
Abortion was the number one cause of death worldwide in 2018,
with more than 41 million children killed before birth, Worldometers
reports.
Prophecy eNewsletter Update – Jan. 1, 2019 -- As of December 31,
2018, there have been some 41.9 million abortions performed in the course of
the year, Worldometers revealed. By contrast, 8.2
million people died from cancer in 2018, 5 million from smoking, and 1.7
million died of HIV/AIDS.
Worldometers, voted one of the best free reference websites by the American
Library Association (ALA) — keeps a running tally through the year of major
world statistics, including population, births, deaths, automobiles produced,
books published, and CO2 emissions.
It also
records the total number of abortions in the world, based on the latest
statistics on abortions published by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Globally, just
under a quarter of all pregnancies (23 percent) were ended by abortion in 2018,
and for every 33 live births, ten infants were aborted.
There were
more deaths from abortion in 2018 than all deaths from cancer, malaria,
HIV/AIDS, smoking, alcohol, and traffic accidents combined.
The staggering
number of deaths from abortion, in fact, has led certain observers to call
abortion “the social justice cause of our time,” since judging from the sheer
magnitude of the problem other human rights issues pale in comparison.
The year 2018
also saw the repeal of Ireland’s Eighth Amendment, one of the last laws
recognizing and protecting the right to life of unborn children.
Last week, the
UK Department of Health revealed that in 2017 — the last year for which it has
revised abortion statistics — the number of UK abortions hit a 10-year high.
The figures
were released just before the Christian celebration of the Feast of the Holy
Innocents on December 28, commemorating the decree by King Herod that all male
children in Israel under the age of two were to be killed.
FATWA ISSUED AGAINST CHRISTMAS
'Also includes a prohibition against the New Year's celebration'
WND – Jan 1,
2019 -- A ministry that works in support of persecuted Christians
worldwide reports it had joyful news this holiday season: the government’s
cabinet in Iraq declared Christmas a national holiday this year.
But then
Sheikh Abdul Madhi al-Sumaidaie
torpedoed the whole idea.
He issued a
fatwa, an Islamic religious decree that forbade Muslims from participating in
celebrations “of the cross” or even congratulating Christians during the
season.
“The fatwa
also includes a prohibition against the New Year’s celebration, which is often
mistakenly assumed to be an official Christian holiday,” the ICC report
confirmed.
Al-Sumaidaie is the grand mufti for Iraq.
“The violence
Christians in Iraq have faced over the last two decades has gained widespread
attention following the rise of ISIS in 2014,” the report continued, “Iraqi
Christians, however, have frequently warned that these waves of violence are
driven by an absence of law and Islamic extremism which encourages social ostracization and discrimination even in times of peace.
“The
Christian population in Iraq has significantly shrunk as a result of these
factors,” the report said.
Iraq,
actually, is where some of those who played a role in the Bible’s text lived,
and where some of the earliest Christian churches to exist were
located.
Many of those
artifacts were destroyed by Islamic over the last decade or so.
OIL IN THE BIBLE
Exodus 27:20
“And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring thee pure
oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always”.
Creation
Moments – Dec. 27, 2018 -- While compiling a chemistry textbook on the subject
of oil, I thought it would be instructive for students to look at what the
Bible says about oil. The sort of materials that we usually think of as oil
usually come from petroleum, the crude mineral oil obtained from the ground.
Hence, the name petroleum comes from the Greek words for Rock Oil.
However, oil
in the Bible is always olive oil. In fact, the words oil and olive have the
same etymology, so the word oil is originally derived from the word for olive.
Truly, the olive tree could really be called the oil tree. Our comparison of
oily properties, therefore, begins with olive oil.
The first use
of oil in the Bible is as an anointing to an altar. After Jacob wakes from his
vision of a stairway leading up to heaven, he took the stone that he had used
to rest his head and poured oil over it as he named the place the House of God
(Bethel).
Oil appears
quite frequently in the laws given by Moses. One of its most important uses is
to anoint people. In Exodus 29:7, God told Moses, “You shall take the anointing
oil and pour it on his head.” Such anointing with oil was more particularly
used to anoint a king. Samuel anointed David as king in this way. The reason
for such anointing is that oil is symbolic of the anointing by the Holy Spirit.
Its use in anointing and its use for giving light when burnt is a picture of
how the Holy Spirit works through us.
WHY DO PEOPLE FOLLOW JESUS?
When Jesus
walked this earth, a vast multitude followed Him. They came for many
reasons—some noble, some self-serving. The same is true today. It’s important
to understand what motivates people to come to Christ, since not all who seek
Him are really His followers. In fact, we should each analyze our own Christian
walk by asking ourselves, What do I want
from Him? How committed am I to being His disciple?
Many of the
people who followed Jesus did so because they had urgent needs that He alone
could meet. Everywhere He went, the sick and demon-possessed were brought to
Him—this is one of the ways God draws us to Himself. Those who can solve their
own problems don’t know they need a Savior.
Others came
for sensationalism—to see signs and miracles and feel a thrill of excitement.
Today some people come to church or conferences to get pumped up. But
mountaintop experiences are always followed by valleys. When challenges come,
such people are quick to abandon the Lord.
But Jesus’
disciples followed Him because they genuinely believed that He was the Messiah,
the very Son of God (Matt. 16:16). Their commitment went beyond
emotions. They wanted to know Christ and walk closely with Him.
Are you more
interested in what Jesus can do for you than in just being with Him? Do you
find it hard to stay committed without some impressive experience to sustain
you? Our physical and emotional needs can draw us to the Lord but cannot
sustain our walk with Him. Consider starting the new year
by reevaluating your commitment to the Lord.
In Touch
Ministry
SECTION II - SPECIAL ARTICLES/ BOOK
REVIEWS
IN THIS
SECTION:
· WHAT HAPPENS
AFTER WE DIE? (WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS)
· WHAT’S IN A
NAME?
· "BOB
PIERCE - THIS ONE THING I DO" - A
BOOKREVIEW/SUMMARY
· "THE
HIDDEN CODES OF THE BIBLE" - A BOOK REVIEW/SUMMARY
· "SIGNS
OF THE TIME” - A BOOK REVIEW/SUMMARY
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER WE DIE?
By D.E. Davis
For Christians, we are told in Scripture in 2Cr 5:8 that to be
absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. For those who turn away
from God, we are told that they are eternally separated from God and go to a
place called Hell. Rev 14:11 says that
the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and
ever.
The question that everyone ponders is: What really happens after we
die? Do we just lay dormant until the Lord takes us to be with him or until
judgement is handed out at the Great White Throne as called out in Rev. 20:11?
Are we conscience? Do we feel, touch, think, recognize loved ones, know what is happening around us? All questions that we have
ask ourselves, no doubt, at some time in our life.
My own personal review of the Scriptures has led me to believe that
after we die, even though our body may be dead and buried, our Spirit is alive
and fully conscience. Chuck Missler likens this state
of conscienceness to the software that runs the
Computer; once the hardware goes, the software remains intact and available for
further applications.
There are two illustrations in the Bible that makes it clear as to
what happens after death, when we're in the spirit.
The first one is illustrated in the Luke account of Lazarus and the
rich man in Chapter 16. After death, Lazarus, a man of God, is escorted into
Abraham’s Bosom, a holding compartment in Hell for the Believers prior to the
Cross. The non-believing rich man was "buried" and went into a
separate compartment in Hell (Hades), apart from Abraham’s Bosom, where he was
in Torment according to Scripture. Both were in a Spirit state; yet by the
account, they could see each other and speak to each other.
The second account is in Revelation, where John is taken (in the
Spirit) to Heaven to see those things that shall come to pass prior to the
return of Jesus Christ to the Earth, or Second Coming (not the Rapture).
I had to conclude from the study, based on the following Scripture,
that all of the senses we have here on earth will be with us throughout
eternity, even unto death.
·
THE
ABILITY TO LOOK/SEE - Luke 16:23;Rev. 1:12;4:1,4; 5:1,2; 6:1,2,8,9; 7:1,2; 8:2;
9:1,17; 10:1,5; 13:1,2,3;14:1,6; 15:1,2; 16:13; 17:3,6; 18:1; 19:11,17,19;
20:1,4,11,12; 21:1,2,22; 22:8
·
THE
ABILITY TO HEAR - Rev. 1:10; 4:1; 5:11; 6:1,3,5,6,7; 7:4; 9:13,16; 10:4,8;
12:10; 14:2,13; 16:1,5,7; 18:4; 19:1,6; 21: 3; 22:8
·
THE
ABILITY TO BEHOLD ( to obtain knowledge of: understand: perceive) - Rev.
5:6,11; 6:5,8,12; 7:9; 8:13; 13:11
·
THE
ABILITY TO REASON - Luke 16:30
·
THE
ABILITY TO CRY (even though there will be no more crying in Heaven) - Rev.
5:4,5; Luke 16:24
·
THE
ABILITY TO SPEAK - Rev. 5:13; 10:9; 21:6,15; Luke 16:24, 29,30,31
·
THE
ABILITY TO FEEL/TOUCH - Luke 16:23, 24,25
·
THE
ABILITY TO REMEMBER - Luke 16:25
·
THE
ABILITY TO WONDER - Rev. 17:6
·
THE
ABILITY TO WRITE - Rev. 1:11; 10:4; 19:9
·
THE
ABILITY TO QUESTION - Rev. 7:13
·
THE
ABILITY TO TAKE (THE BOOK/ROD) - Rev. 10:8,9,10
·
THE
ABILITY TO FALL (ON KNEES) - Rev. 19:10; 22:8
·
THE
ABILITY TO STAND - Rev. 13:1
·
THE
ABILITY TO WORSHIP - Rev. 19:10; 22:8
·
THE
ABILITY TO PERFORM TASKS - Rev. 11:1
God has promised in 1 Thess 4:16 and 1
Cor. 15:52,53 that one day, we shall be reunited with Him in body and will be
transformed and conformed to Him - in the twinkling of an eye. We are also told
in Scripture that we shall see Him face to face- see the Lamb that was slain
for you and me. We know by His Word, that we will Praise Him, Worship Him and
Rule with Him.
One thing in the study that I found extremely fascinating was the
difference in treatment between Lazarus and the non-believing rich man.
Scripture says that Lazarus was escorted to Heaven by an Angel, but there is no
indication in Scripture about how the rich man arrived at Hell. Could it be
that God had a specific purpose why He chose not to tell us in Scripture?
Finally, knowing that others may have varying interpretations of
these Scriptures, I strongly urge you to review the Scriptures yourselves to
determine what you find as the truth according to God’s Word.
WHAT’S IN
A NAME?
For those who
wish you had some other name because you don't like the name you were given,
you had better think twice. It is most
likely that the name your parents picked out for you was not their choice but
God's choice. Let’ s
face it, the word of the Lord is true.
That's why in Eph. 1:4, God proclaimed that He had chosen us from before
the very beginning of the world.
If you follow
the Genealogy of Adam in Genesis, Chapter 5 (*) you will receive an insight
into what importance God put in names - It's an exciting message:
Genealogy Meaning
Adam Man
Seth Appointed
Enosh Mortal
Kenan Sorrow
Mahalalel The
blessed God
Jared Shall
come down
Enoch Teaching
Methuselah His
Death shall bring
Lamech The Despairing
Noah Rest,
Comfort
Now let us look
at God’s Plan for Redemption:
"Man (is)
appointed mortal sorrow; (but) the Blessed God shall come down teaching (that)
His death shall bring (the) despairing rest."
Let us now look
at the Genealogy of Abraham (*):
Genealogy Meaning
Abraham Predestination
Isaac Called
Jacob Justified
Joseph Glorified
(*) Source:
Chuck Missler’s Briefing package: “A Walk Thru the
Bible”
WELL YOU SAY!
BUT THAT WAS ALL OLD TESTAMENT AND WOULDN'T BE APPLICABLE FOR TODAY - WOULD IT?
Well, let us see.................. As a Christian, did God not choose you by name at the same time he chose Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph - before the very foundation of the world? If God had a purpose for their name, would you expect anything less for your name since He chose you at the same time?
As a Christian,
You ought to thank God daily that you, by your given name, was written in the
Lamb's book of life before the very foundation of the world and that you will
be a partaker in all the promises of Rev
21:27.
Within the last
couple of years, researchers have found many startling discoveries through the
use of super computers, specifically, hidden codes that God supernaturally
placed within the Hebrew text of the Bible.
Over 2000 years ago, the names of historical and current leader’s names
were placed in the Bible. Such names as Adolph Hitler, Eichmann, Arafat, Peres,
Rabin, Rabin's murderer Amir, Ben-Zion Netanyahu, Saddan
Hussein, George Bush, Schwarzkoph, Peter Arnet (CNN), Timithy McVeigh,
Bill Clinton.
Do you think
that God would limit His calling out to just those who had a highly visible
historical impact on this world? There
is no doubt that He had a purpose in doing this, if nothing else, just to get
your attention that He is the Creator; that He alone knows the beginning from
the end.
It is my firm
belief that as we advance further with our computer technology and peel back
the layers of the Hebrew text of the scriptures, we will make many more
startling and exciting discoveries. One
being that God has written each and every one of our names in His Word.
HERE IS WHAT GOD
SAID: Isaiah 66:22 "For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will
make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so
shall your seed and your name remain."
BOOK REVIEW by D. E. Davis (September 1997)
BOB
PIERCE -"THIS ONE THING I DO"
By Franklin Graham with Jeanette Lockerbie
It is amazing the worlds that open up to an individual, once the
Power of the Holy Spirit comes upon him. Just three years ago, where once I was
blind to Missions, to all the inspired men and women God has called to service
and the multitude of people all over the world who have been saved,
new worlds are ever opening to me to see how awesome the power of God is in our
Christian lives.
Such was the power and strength of faith Bob Pierce had in our Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ. It is
difficult for me to even attempt to assess where God has put Bob along
with other past great men of the faith, but from what I read about his life
with Christ, he certainly had his eyes focused on Jesus! I personally feel inadequate and humbled to
even put in words, my thoughts about this man.
Bob was a man Blessed by God. I feel sad that I never had an opportunity to
know him, but look forward to meeting him one day in heaven.
If ever there was a verse of scripture that represented Bob Pierce,
it had to be the title of this book as taken from Philippians 3:13,14
".......this one thing I do,....I press toward the mark for the prize of
the high calling of God in Jesus Christ."
Bob was raised in Los Angeles and at the age of 12, gave his life
to Christ and was baptized in the Nazarene Church. "God simply called me
to give my heart to Jesus, and I followed Him." He died in 1978 of leukemia but lived his
life for Christ in between in between those dates as if Christ was coming
tomorrow and he still had to witness to the whole world before dawn broke. Throughout his career, he dedicated his life
mainly to Missions and over the years was responsible for founding such World
re-noun programs as "World Vision", an organization dedicated to
meeting the emergency needs in crisis areas such as Korea after the Korean war. During that time
of need, he established
a Korean Orphanage, serving over 30 thousand Korean war orphans. Bob was also responsible for starting the
World re-noun Korean Orphan's Choir. As
an outgrowth of "World Vision" he founded "World Medical
Mission" which covered all emergency medical needs in countries all over
the world which had no medical facilities.
He was also founder of "Samaritan's Purse" and organization
dedicated to funding World emergency need, no matter where they were. These organizations are still meeting the
needs of those in crisis today.
If his work through these organizations was not enough, he became a
United Nations War Correspondent during World War II; was Co-founder for
"Youth for Christ"; and became a Motion Picture producer/Radio
program host, author and a lecturer, but first and last, he always considered
himself an evangelist! Even though Bob knew that he was "extraordinarily
gifted by God, he was never impressed with himself - he considered himself just
an earthly vessel, available at all times for the exclusive use of the
Lord".
In his own words, he had "many flaws, failings but had
abundant faith in God who lives and cares about people."
If I had to pick four areas of the Christian life that I feel truly
represented Bob Pierce, they would be 1) Unwavering Faith, 2) Compassion for
others, 3) Obedience to God and 4) Commitment to accomplish the Will of God in
his life.
From the Beginning, Bob knew his calling was for Missions to the
Asian Countries. His first mission led
him through Hawaii to Hong Kong and eventually to China. Getting to China was his first big test of faith
- he had no money, even for the first leg to Hawaii. Bob held the opinion that God knows ones
needs already and if He has called you to a task, He will provide and enable
you - just move out! He did just that and went to the L.A. airport that day without
any money in his pocket. His faith paid
off as God provided the funding for each leg of his trip just at the moment he
needed it. This was the norm rather than the
exception throughout his career as an evangelist. What ever
it was, where ever it was, if God called, Bob would act no matter what the
circumstance......he knew that God would always provide.....and He did!
Bob had a compassion for the spiritually and physically suffering
of the world. "He was the friend of
the little people, the forgotten, the hurting, the maimed, the unheard and the
unsung". Bob's theme was "Let
my heart be broken with the things that break the heart of God". It was
Bob's personal belief that "wherever you find men and women who really
love Jesus Christ, you find the compassion of Christ spilling out of them to
meet human need." Over the years World Vision, Samaritan's Purse and other
organizations like them; one in particular, Mission Aviation Fellowship Pilots
(MAF), who flew Missionaries around the world in crisis situations, helped so
many helpless and needy men, women and children. They knew first hand the
healing power of God.
Bob dared it all to be obedient to the Lord's call. Once he had in focus the mission that God
wanted him to accomplish, he followed in Faith to bring the unsaved to
Christ. It was his opinion that " If you are an ambassador, act like one!"- no matter where you are. Bob would bring to memory how other
great men of Faith were obedient even in the face of death. During World War II, a young South Korean
Pastor, Mr. Im was mistaken for a North Korean
Communist and imprisoned. During his
internment, he would go around camp singing "Jesus Loves Me" and
other Christian songs. He not only
uplifted and inspired other fellow Christian prisoners to come together, he brought many more to Christ. Together he and another prisoner, Chaplain Voelkel, established a Bible Study where over 6,000
prisoners finished a six month Bible Study.
Six Hundred (600) of those finishing the Bible Study became pastors and came back to Korea
to preach the Gospel. In another
instance, he related how a Korean school teacher was put to death in front of
his students because of his faith and obedience to the Lord.
To be an ambassador for the Lord "is one of the greatest
things that could ever have happened to anyone - to let God put a fish hook
into you so deep that there is no way of ever getting off the hook."
"Bob did one thing all
of his life, and that was to lead people to the foot of the Cross where they
would put their faith in a risen Lord Jesus Christ. He lived every minute completely amazed that
God could use him. No matter how much he
was able to do in how many places, it was never enough." This was the kind of commitment Bob made to
Jesus; "to commit yourself, give yourself away to God irrevocably, forever. Say to Him, go ahead and burn me up. Spend
me. Eat me up. Use me for you
Glory." And that's exactly what he did.
Being a man of God was not always easy for Bob and he paid a high
price. In one measure or another he had
to forsake his wife, his family, his Mother and Father, his brothers and
sisters and other worldly possessions to follow Jesus. He not only lost his health, he lost his
Daughter, Sharon, to death.
Committing your life to Christ in a Godless society is never easy;
many times you feel like you may be the only one putting your life, your self image, your social acceptance on the line. As Bob came to realize, ". Someone has to go and pay that humiliating
price of literally letting your ego be stomped on- not just pushed in and
suppressed, but laid out there for people to stomp on. We need to do this by the grace of God with
love and patience: sow the seed on rocky soil, nurture it, and maybe never be
applauded."
Committing your life to Christ really comes down to this; What really matters
to you in Life?
On his death bed in the City of Hope, Bob left us this one message
- "I don't care what you have attempted. What you have succeeded at, or
what has been your work in Christ's name while you are here on earth - only one
thing matters when you have reached the last step before you go to stand before
Christ:
- Did you tell men and women who Jesus is?
- Did you bring them to some comprehension of His redeeming love?
- Did you make it plain to them that He alone can pay their way to
heaven throughout His atoning death on the cross?"
Such was the life of a man of God, Bob Pierce.
HIDDEN CODES OF THE BIBLE
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ACT 17:11 - Exhorts you to daily review the scriptures
to see if what is being said is true
References: Grant
R. Jeffrey - "The Signature of God"- RECOMMENDED READING
Other reading: "The Hebrew Factor" by Yacov
Rambsel
Prepared
by D. E. Davis
Daniel 12: 4 - "But thou, O Daniel, shut
up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to
and fro, and knowledge shall be increased."
Here is undeniable proof, the third in the
series, that every word, every letter and every punctuation in Bible text was
put their by the inspiration of God. It gives new meaning to the words
"increase knowledge". It's just
one of the many signs, and without a doubt, the most exciting revelation that
God said he would reveal to man in the "end time". As you will see, God has put his signature
throughout the Bible, has revealed History before it ever happened, all through
hidden codes that were supernaturally placed into text which was written over
2,000 years ago; which could only be found with today's computer technological
advances. The codes are found in what
scholars call "Equidistant Letter Sequences" or ESL. That is, each sequential letter in an encoded
word or phrase was found the same distance apart numerically; The exact interval designed by God.
Actually, the discovery of hidden codes in
scripture dates back to before WWI and it was not until 1988 that the use of computers were able to detect a significant amount of
coding in scripture. Since then, the
research that Grant Jeffrey and others have done has just exploded and new
discoveries are happening every day.
Here is a summary of what has been found and outlined
in Grant's book, referenced above. It is
my understanding that he is in the process of writing another book to tell what
he has found subsequent to "The Signature of God".
Luke 21:15 - " For I will give you a
mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay
(refute) nor resist."
Proverbs 25:2 - "It is the glory of God
to conceal a thing: but the honor of kings is to search out a matter."
What follows is what most of the human race
would find hard to believe. It
unfathomable to think that the Hebrew Bible, containing 304,805 Hebrew letters,
written by 40 individuals could contain hidden messages that if one letter was
taken out of the text, one word was removed, the hidden message could not be
revealed......yet the message has been sustained for over 2,000 years and has
been revealed to man just as Jesus said it would be. Jesus has actually placed His name and other
messages about Himself into text which proves he is the creator of all; King of
Kings and Lord of Lords.
GOD'S
SIGNATURE
God has personally signed scriptures
throughout the Old and New Testaments in various ways. For example in the Old Testament, he has
encoded his name, Jesus, in the following scripture:
God has also encoded unbelievable detail
about many of the things we read about and which touch our lives daily. For example, he outlines:
PLACES
AND THINGS
·
Gen. 2: 4-10 - The key word "Eden" was
spelled out sixteen (16) times in the span of 379 Hebrew letters. The letters were all equidistant from each
other.
·Gen. 2
- In this chapter which deals with the garden of Eden, scientists found
encoded in the Hebrew text, Twenty-five (25) names of trees that were in the
Garden
of Eden.
·
Gen. 1:1 - Starting with the first appearance of the
Hebrew letter "Tav", the word
"Torah" was found every 50th letter.
·
Ex. 1: 1 - Again, starting with the first appearance of
the letter "Tav" and counting every 50th
letter, the word "Torah" was spelled. Num./Deut.
- In the book of Numbers the word "Torah" was found spelled backwards
every 50th letter. In the book of
Deuteronomy, "Torah" was found again spelled backwards, but this time
every forty-ninth (49) letter.
NAMES
AND EVENTS
·
Holocaust
·
Deut. 10: 17-22 - Beginning with the second to last
appearance of the Hebrew letter "bet" in this passage, they found
every Thirteenth (13) letter, the phrase "b'yam marah Auschwitz" which means "in the bitter sea
of Auschwitz." Also encoded in
this passage were the names of the other Nazi Concentration camp, "Belsen".
·
Deut. 33:21 - Beginning with the letter (resh) that appeared in the Hebrew word "Yisreal," and counting every twenty-second (22) letter
from the left to right they found the phrase "re'tzach
alm" discribing the
Holocaust, which when translated, means "a people cry murder,
slaughter."
·
Adolph Hitler
·
Deut. 10: 17-22 - The word "Hitler" spelled
out in Hebrew was found every twenty-second (22) letter.
·
Deut. 33:16 - Beginning with the first appearance of the
Hebrew letter "mem" and every two hundred and forty-sixth (246)
letter from left to right you find that the coded letters spelled out the
phrase, "Melek Natzim,"
which translates as the "king of the Nazis."
·
Eichmann
·
Deut. 32:52 - Beginning with the appearance of the first
letter (aleph) and counting from left to right every six hundred and seventy
(670) letters, the name "Aik'man" is spelled,
which is the Hebrew form of the name "Eichmann."
·
Egyptian President Anwar Sadat
·
"Sadat occurred together with the name of the
leader of the Moslem Brotherhood
assassinating team that killed him.......it contained the year of his
assassination, 1981, and the words
"president," "gunfire," "shot'" and
'Murder".
·
Desert Storm
·
Beginning in Gen. 1:7 and continuing through the rest of
Genesis, Grant Jeffrey indicated at the Prophesy Conference in Irvine,Ca. on 27 Sept. 1996 that
they had recently found information in hidden code in scripture relating to
Desert Storm. I believe more details
will be available in Grant's next book.
·
The French Revolution
·
Gen. 39,41 - "Another
passage in the Book of Genesis revealed a cluster of encoded words that deals
with the French Revolution. The
following words are clustered ogether" "Mapecha HaSarfatit" which
spells "the French Revolution" in Hebrew, "Louis," the name
of the French king, and the word "Beit (house of Bourbon,") his royal
dynasty. In the same cluster were the
following words: "Hamarseilles" (the name of the French anthem) and the
word "Bastillia" (the infamous French
prison for political prisoners........"
OTHER
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
·
Word pairs - "In their initial experiment,
.......the scientists arbitrarily chose three hundred (300) Hebrew
word-pairs that were logically related in meaning, such as hammer and anvil, or
tree and leaf, or man and woman." ".....the researchers were
astonished to find that every single word-pair had been located in Genesis in
close proximity to each other."
·
King David's Ancestors
·
Gen. 28 - " Every one of the five Hebrew names of
these ancestor of King
David (Pharez, Zerah,
Boaz, Obed, Jesse) were found encoded at forty-nine (49) letter intervals,
hidden within the text of Genesis 38".
·
Famous Jewish Rabbi - "The Jewish people celebrate the
memory of their famous sages by commemorating their date of death. Incredibly, the computer program found every
single one of the sixty-six names of these famous rabbis embedded in the text
of Genesis paired at significantly close proximity with their actual date of
birth or their date of death."
IS
THE HEBREW BIBLE UNIQUE TO GOD' S INSPIRED EMBEDDED CODES?
Grant points out that "The researchers
attempted to reproduce these results by running the computer program on other
religious Hebrew texts outside the Bible, including the Samaritan Pentateuch.
.......the researchers could not detect word pairs in the Samaritan Pentateuch
or any other Hebrew text outside the Bible.
In fact, an exhaustive analysis reveals that no other Hebrew text
outside the Old testament contains these mysterious
codes, not even the Hebrew apocryphal books written during the four hundred
years before the birth of Christ"
A
WORD OF CAUTION
"No one can search the Torah using these
codes to foretell future events. The
reason is that it is impossible to extract the encoded information unless you
already know what the future facts are."
"The prophet Isaiah warned against false prophets and declared that
only God can Prophesy
future events accurately
(Isa. 46: 9,10).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Computer tapes are now available so
that anyone with a computer can personally verify the existence of these codes
beneath the text of the Scriptures.
As Christians, we can stand firm in the word and shout for joy. God has given us "the words and the wisdom that none of our adversaries will be able to refute or contradict", no matter how much they try!
PRAISE
THE LORD!
SIGNS OF THE TIME
References: Grant
R. Jeffrey - "The Signature of God"- RECOMMENDED READING
Prepared by D. E. Davis
June 10, 1997
Prelude
How do we know that Jesus is the one true God when there
are so many religions, cultures and cults that claim that they serve the one
true god? How about Buddha, Allah?
Scripture says that God alone knows the beginning from the
end. The way that God establishes His
authority is through Biblical Prophesy. There are over 500 prophesies that were
prophesied over 2,000 years ago that have all come to pass. There are still some Old Testament that have
yet have to be fulfilled (Daniel Ezekiel), but there has never been an event
prophesied that has not come to pass in it’s time.
100% accuracy tells us that the God of the Bible is the only true God. No one else in the history of the world,
living or dead, can make this claim.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In Matthew 24:3, just before Jesus' ascension
into heaven, the disciples of Jesus ask Him what would be the sign of His
second coming. Over the centuries
various groups have attempted to guess when Christ would return to the earth to
claim His inheritance as promised throughout scripture. As we know, no one has been right yet!. God clearly states
in Matthew 24:36 that no man, not even the angels, know the day or the time
when Christ will return. Only God the Father knows.
This summary is
clearly not another attempt to forecast this event. This summary does, however, attempt to
provide an awareness of what is happening around you so that you will not be
caught unaware. (Ref. Luke 21:34 and Matthew. 24:42).
ACT
17:11- Exhorts you to daily review the scriptures to see if what is being said
is true.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------THE
SIGNS OF THE TIME-------------------
Grant Jeffrey has done a wonderful job of
providing critical information about events that are happening in this
generation that all Christians need to know;
Events that were prophesied over 2,500 years ago. Approximately 90% of the material contained
herein was extracted and summarized from Grant's book. I highly recommend reading this book as it
contains so much more that you will want to know.
THE
REBIRTH OF ISRAEL
The rebirth of Israel was prophesied in
several scriptures throughout the Bible.
Isaiah 66: 8 predicted that Israel would be born again in
"one" day. Ezekiel 4:3-6 and Levitcus
26:18 foretold the exact number of days that it would take Israel to
re-establish themselves as a nation in the last days. ( The
exact calculation can be found in Grant Jeffrey's book referenced above). On
May 14, 1948, the Jews proclaimed their independence of the reborn state of
Israel.....The exact day that was predicted over twenty-five (25) centuries
ago.......No other ancient nation ever ceased to exist for a period of
centuries and then returned to take its place on the stage of world
history."
PRESENT
ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT
In Psalms 83:2-8, God inspired King David to
predict that upon Israel's rebirth as a nation it would be immediately surrounded
by their enemies. The modern names of
those nations named in scripture include Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and
Syria....the nations that have now joined the Palestinians in their attempt to
destroy Israel.
In Gen. 12: 3, God has promised to punish those
nations that come against Israel.
"I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee; and in thee shall all families of the earth
be blessed."
RESTORATION
OF THE HEBREW LANGUAGE
When Israel was captured by Nebuchadnezzar in
approx. 562 B.C., Israel was no longer allowed to speak the Hebrew language,
but had to learn the language of the Chaldeans.
The Lord predicted, however, through Zephaniah 3:9, that he would restore
a pure language to Israel so that they may "serve him with
one consent". It was in the
early part of this Century that the Hebrew language was revived from the dead
language. Today, Hebrew is a living
language to over 5 million Israelis.
THE
FERTILITY OF ISRAEL
In Isaiah 27:6; 35:7 and Joel 2:23, the Lord
prophesied through these prophets that the deserted, unproductive, barren land
of Israel would once again become productive in the last days and that Israel
would experience tremendous increases of rain.
Ever since Israel has returned to the land, they have flourished in the
land and now supply over 90 percent of the citrus fruit consumed in
Europe. Rainfall has increased by more
than "10 percent every decade for the last century and Israel has planted
in excess of two hundred (200) million trees and transformed the complete
environment of the Promised Land."
According to the United Nations, Israel is now "the most
agriculturally efficient land on earth."
THE
UNWALLED CITY
Ezekiel 38:11 speaks of the future invasion
of Gog and Magog (Russia) saying "And thou shalt say, I will go up to the
land of un-walled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell
safely, all of them dwelling without walls and having neither bars nor
gates". Grant explains that "even army bases and Israel's settlements
in the West Bank and Gaza have no walls today.........How could Ezekiel have
known twenty-five centuries ago that the development of modern weapons such as
bombs, airplanes and missiles, would have made walls and gates irrelevant for
defensive purposes in the last days. In
the ancient past even small villages as well as cities depended on walls for
defense against invading armies."
PLANS
FOR REBUILDING OF THE TEMPLE
Revelations 11:1, 2 foretells of Israel
rebuilding the Temple in the last days.
There is much controversy between the Israelis and the Muslim's because
the Dome of the Rock (Al-Aqsa Mosque) it is believed, sits on the very spot
where the Temple is suppose to be built. In recent years, however, aerial Infra-red
photography shows that this may not be the case. Ezekiel 44:14-18, tell about the sacred
vessels and linen robes that must be used in the Temple. "The Temple Institute in Jerusalem has
already prepared over 75 of the objects, vessels, and linen garments required
for future Temple service.......over 500 men from the tribe of Levi have
already been trained to fulfill the duties of Temple worship and
sacrifice."
Update:
Just recently in the Washington Post on May
28, 1997, it was reported that a 10 month old heifer named "Melody" is the
first red heifer to be born in Israel in over 2,000 years. "In ancient times, the ashes of a red
heifer were mixed with spring water to purify high priests before they entered
the Temple."
THE
REBUILDING OF BABYLON
We know that the old city of Babylon (now
called Iraq) will be built again in the end times because Isaiah 13:6, 19
foretells of its destruction. In Isaiah
34:8-10 it is prophesied that the rebuilt City of Babylon will burn for ever.
"As unlikely as it seems, the Iraqi
government of Saddam Hussein has spent over one billion dollars rebuilding the
ancient city of Babylon and intends that it will become the center of their
future renewed Babylonian Empire.
Interestingly, the whole city of Babylon was built over an underground
lake of asphalt and oil."
THE
ANOINTING OIL
The prophet Daniel prophesied in Dan. 9:24
that the when Jesus returns, that the most Holy of Holies will be anointed with
the anointing oil. "One of the five
ingredients, afars' mon, was
thought lost forever, when the Temple was destroyed in A.D. 70 and the only two
groves of afars'mon trees in existence were burned
to the ground. Incredibly, several years ago, archeologists
in Israel found a clay flask buried near the Dead Sea caves filled with the
ancient oil of anointing. Scientists
confirmed that the oil is two thousand years old and is composed of the precise
ingredients described in Exodus 30:25,26."
PESTILENCE/FAMINES/EARTHQUAKES
Matthew 24:7 prophesied that in the last days
"For nation shall rise against nation and Kingdom against Kingdom: and
there shall be famines, and pestilence, and earthquakes, in divers (various)
places." Grand Jeffrey writes
regarding these matters:
·
Pestilence - In 1991, the Central Intelligence Agency
produced a report which "concluded that up to 75% of the population of
Africa living in the area south of the Sahara Desert may become infected with
AIDS over the next 12 years. This will
mean the death by AIDS of over three hundred million people in Africa alone. In July 1991, the South African Medical
Journal reported that a staggering 47% of black male and female blood donors
tested positive for AIDS during 1989."
In Nov. 1996, the
Associated Press reported that "Sexually transmitted diseases are
diagnosed 12 million times a year in the United States - including a staggering
3 million cases among teen-agers".
·
Famine - The
United Nations today "claim that over thirty million in Africa are now at
risk of dying from the most devastating famine in this century. The UN estimates that one billion people are
in danger of starvation while another billion lack proper nutrition. North American food reserves (grain and corn)
are at the lowest level in sixty years."
·
Major killer earthquakes – “Major Killer earthquakes
(7.2 or greater on the Richter scale) occurred
only once per decade throughout history until our century. However, since A. D. 1900, the growth in
major earthquakes has been
relentless. From 1900 to
1949 it averaged three major quakes per decade.
From 1949 the increase became awesome with 9 killer quakes in the
1950's; 13 in the 1960's; 56 in the 1970's and an amazing 74 major quakes in
the 1980's. Finally, in the 1990's, at
the present rate, we will experience 125 major killer quakes in this
decade."
WORLD
WIDE COMMUNICATION
In Revelation 11:9,10,
it is prophesied that during the tribulation period, the antichrist will have
the two witnesses that God sent killed and their bodies will lay in the street
for three and a half days while the whole world watches.
Did not the whole world watch Desert Storm on
CNN television? With all the
technological advances in telecommunications, including the recent opening of
the World Wide Net to our computer industry, any event happening in any part of
the world can now be viewed while it is happening. The prophesy of the two witnesses could literally be fulfilled
today. This could not have happened just
10 or 15 years ago.
INCREASED
KNOWLEDGE AND TRAVEL
Daniel 12:4 prophesies how much knowledge and
travel will increase in the end time. "But thou, O Daniel, shut up the
words, and seal the Book, even to the time of the end: Many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall
be increased."
Today, it is estimated that "Human
knowledge is growing so quickly that it literally doubles every twenty-four
months." With the discovery
through the use of modern "Super" computers by Grant Jeffrey and
other researchers of the hidden codes that God supernaturally designed into the
original Hebrew text of the Torah describing not only the history of the world
in advance, but also verifying his Authority through His personal signature
throughout his scripture, we realize that God chose this generation to reveal
this unique aspect about himself.
It is also amazing that in this century, we
have gone from horses to cars, from cars to supersonic spacecraft; not only can
we now travel the world in a matter of hours, but in the case of the U.S. Space
Shuttle Discovery, we can now travel at speeds in excess of eighteen thousand
miles per hour.
REVIVAL
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE
Daniel 2:40-44 predicts that the old Roman
Empire will be revived in the end times into a ten Nation alliance. We currently see the foundation being laid
today through the European Economic Community. "In 1957, six (6) Countries
signed the Treaty of Rome laying the foundation for the future United States of
Europe.............Since then the Maastricht Treaty consolidated the fifteen
(15) Nations of the European Union into the worlds
first superstate." All it will take is the re-shuffling and/or
the consolidation of Nations to bring this prophesy to
a literal fulfillment.
ODDS
THAT THESE PROPHECIES WERE FULFILLED BY CHANCE IN THIS GENERATION
"In the Bible there are several types of
generations. One generation is defined
as the length of life of the average person - seventy or eighty years. However, a generation of governing is usually
defined as forty years,...........During the last two
thousand years since the days of Christ, there were fifty such forty-year
generations. Therefore, the odds are one
chance in fifty that any one of these specific prophecies happened by chance in
our generation rather than some other generation."
"The odds that more than one event
happening in our life time are:
"Another way of looking at this is that
the chance that the prophets of the Bible correctly guessed these prophecies is
also one in 97,500 trillion............in other words, it is simply impossible
that men alone could
have written the Bible
without the supernatural assistance and inspiration of God."
Matthew 24:32-35 - "Now learn a parable
of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth
forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see
all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This
generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my
words shall not pass away."
Luke 21:28 - "And when these things
begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your
redemption draweth nigh."
ANTI-CHRIST
TO BE REVEALED
As of today, no one knows who the Anti-Christ
is, but we do know what God has told us about him:
Many people try to spiritualize or say the
events prophesied in the Bible are just symbolic. Any doubt about how God handles these
prophetic events should have been erased on May 14,1948. God is literally fulfilling scriptural
prophesy before our very eyes. Can we
expect anything less for those few remaining prophesies for which He has
promised the world; 1) the removal of the one who restrains the man of
lawlessness/Sin (the rapture of the Church), 2) His second coming to take
possession of His inheritance, 3) The millennial kingdom and 4) the new heaven and new earth.
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Ezekiel 33:6 - "But if the watchman see
the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the
sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his
iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand."
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