THE INTERESTING
INFORMATION CHRISTIAN MINISTRY
CONFIRMING
BIBLICAL TRUTH
June 23, 2021
SECTION 1 – INTERESTTING
INFORMATION WEEKLY ARTILCLES
SECTION 2 – SUMMARIES/BOOK
REVIEWS/SPECIAL ARTICLES/CHRISTIAN LINKS
INTERESTING
INFORMATION MINISTRY 6/23/2021
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’s
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URL - THE LAST STAND OF THE PHILISTINES: ARCHAEOLOGISTS FIND
CLUE TO THE FALL OF GATH
CHRISTIAN MUSIC VIDEO
IT MATTERS TO THE MASTER
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK – “Man
crowns success; God crowns faithfulness” – Our Daily Bread
INTERESTING ARTICLES SUMMARY
·
It
does not take a village to raise a child; it takes a God-Centered Family
·
Nothing
new under the Sun
·
American
Family Association applauds American’ resolve to protect Female Athletes
·
How
spirit-filled believers can battle on behalf of Israel
·
The
talk beneath your feet
·
A
FAITHFUL CHURCH IN AN UNGODLY WORLD
INTERESTING ARTICLES
IT DOES NOT TAKE A VILLAGE TO RAISE A CHILD; IT TAKES A GOD-CENTERED
FAMILY (Excerpt)
Charisma News – Jun. 19, 2021 -- Bestselling
author Dr. Michael Youssef offers a timely reminder for Father's Day and warns
parents not to fall for the old African proverb that says it takes a village to
raise a child.
"The modern-day 'village' in this
proverb is all society, including schools, houses of worship, doctors and
businesses, but most of all, government programs. Some have used this idea to
advocate for various laws, regulations, welfare state programs and taxpayer
support of 'family planning' organizations (such as Planned Parenthood),"
Youssef says.
Instead, Youssef offers the words of
wise King Solomon in Psalm 127:3, which form the basis for the solution, even
for parents in the 21st century: "Children are a heritage from the Lord,
offspring a reward from him."
"The psalmist tells us that unless
God is at the center of the family, the family is adrift unless God is at the
center of our family life, our children will be unsafe, insecure and in
danger."
The reason is that the
"village" of today surrounding our families is a godless village.
"Prayer has been banned from
schools, so the schools cannot help families put God at the center,"
"Welfare state programs cannot help
families put God at the center. Planned Parenthood is certainly not going to
help families put God at the center. Doctors and businesses are not equipped
to help families put God at the center."
"So, the 'village' is essentially
godless and useless. A godless village can only produce godless children.
"I submit that it does not take a
village to raise a child," he adds. "God already designed the perfect
nurturing environment for a child. It's called the family. It is pointless to
talk about caring for the needs of children while we do nothing to strengthen
the family."
Youssef points out four wonderful
results that occur when God is at the center of the family:
To revitalize the family, keep God at
the center.
NOTHING
NEW UNDER THE SUN
Christian
Headline News – Jun. 2, 2021 – The key idea of our current cultural moment is
expressive individualism. The only way to be “true to ourselves,” we are told,
is to define who we really are psychologically and sexually.
This means that our identity is only truly known to ourselves, and others are
morally responsible to embrace whoever or whatever we claim about ourselves
even if, or especially if, what we reveal contradicts any observable realities.
The
Gnostics believed that there is a sharp distinction between the material and
spiritual worlds, with the former being evil and the latter good. Since humans
are both material and spiritual beings, our physical bodies are evil but our
souls are good, possibly even fragments of God that yearn to return to Him. But
they can’t do this while trapped in our bodies.
Salvation
comes through secret knowledge, known as gnosis in Greek,
hence Gnosticism. This knowledge differed from group to group. For one group,
the secret knowledge was in passwords that would allow adherents to pass
through crystal spheres until arriving at the highest heaven, the realm of pure
Spirit.
Gnosticism
arose in parallel with Christianity. Some Gnostics considered themselves
Christian, arguing that the God of the Old Testament was evil since He created
the material world. The Father of Jesus, in contrast, was the true God and
operated in the realm of spirit without mucking around with the material world.
Some of these Gnostics even believed that Jesus was not a true physical being
but only appeared to be one, an idea known as docetism.
So,
what does all this mean for how we live? Different Gnostic sects had different
answers. For some, the body was a hindrance to spiritual development, and so
they adopted an austere lifestyle. They might become vegetarians, drink only
water rather than wine, and abstain from sexual activity. The last is
particularly important since it could lead to babies, trapping another soul
into a body. For others, the body was irrelevant to the spirit, and so they
would adopt a hedonistic lifestyle, participating in orgies and the like, since
these activities don’t touch the soul.
Although
the details are different from ancient Gnosticism, our culture is awash with
Gnostic concepts. It starts with the idea that we need to be true to ourselves,
that if we follow the secret knowledge within us we will live a happy and
authentic life. External rules about behavior shouldn’t hold us back from the
things we know in our soul will make us happy. As Woody Allen said to justify
his affair with his girlfriend Mia Farrow’s daughter, “The heart wants what the
heart wants”—and following our heart, that secret knowledge within us, is the
advice pop culture consistently drums into children and young adults.
Thus,
we follow both sides of ancient Gnosticism: We are sexually promiscuous but
anti-natal, since children would hinder our pursuit of our happiness and truth.
Looking
within for our truth reaches its logical conclusion in transgenderism, the idea
that our true self has nothing to do with our bodies. But, this Neo-Gnostic
orthodoxy has nothing in common with God’s Word or the reality of His world and
the place of our bodies within it.
The
story of the Bible is that God created us good, both in body and soul, even if
sin has marred both. Our own intuitions about ourselves, and about right and
wrong are hopelessly distorted by sin, and so God in His mercy gave us His
revelation to tell us about ourselves and to teach us what is good.
Despite
the reality of sin all around us, God doesn’t make mistakes. Our bodies and
souls are matched to each other, and any attempt to fight this will result in
more brokenness in our lives. As Ryan T. Anderson put it recently at
Wilberforce Weekend, “No one is born in the wrong body, because you are not
‘in’ a body. You are a body.” God’s directions for how to live are better for
us than the advice of either our fallen desires or our fallen culture. We don’t
need secret, private truth. God has told us who we are, how we are to live, and
united us with Christ who is the Truth to empower us to live in truth.
AMERICAN FAMILY ASSOCIATION APPLAUDS AMERICANS' RESOLVE TO PROTECT
FEMALE ATHLETES (Excerpt)
Charisma News – Jun. 8, 2021 -- The American
Family Association (AFA) applauds
results of the recent Gallup poll, which confirm that the majority of Americans
support the biological fact that men and women are not the same.
The Gallup poll, conducted May 3-18
and released on May 26, assessed 1,016 American adults' views about
transgender-related issues. One of the questions asked respondents if
"transgender athletes should be able to play on the sports teams that
match their current gender identity [or] should they be allowed to play on
sports teams that match their biological gender?"
Among the poll's findings:
—62% of Americans expressed support for
requiring trans-identified athletes to play on the team that matches their
biological sex. Support was highest among Republicans (86%), self-described
conservatives (85%) and males (72%).
—34% of Americans believed that
trans-identified athletes should be allowed to play on sports teams that
correspond to their gender identity. Support was highest among self-described
liberals (63%), Democrats (55%), women (43%) and college graduates (40%).
"Even with a full-court press from
corporate America, Hollywood and Madison Avenue, the majority of people in this
country still intuitively understand that allowing biological men to play
women's sports is ludicrous, unfair and dangerous," said Ed Vitagliano, executive vice president of American Family
Association.
The Gallup poll's results come as
several states have passed legislation requiring student athletes to compete in
sports that correspond with their biological sex. On June 1, Florida became the
latest U.S. state to ban biological males from competing on female public
school teams when Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the bill into law.
However, Congressional Democrats are
pushing for passage of the Equality Act at the federal level, a legislative
initiative billed as a necessary measure to enshrine protections for the LGBT
community into law. Critics of such legislation on both sides of the aisle warn
that the Equality Act would not prevent discrimination as it claims, but would
in fact, specifically entrench discrimination against women, something which
women's groups have fought for decades.
HOW SPIRIT-FILLED BELIEVERS CAN BATTLE ON BEHALF OF
ISRAEL
Antisemitism is on the rise, and we are
faced with a decision. How will we interact and respond to Israel's physical
war?
Charisma News – Jun. 7, 2021 -- The
enemy is bringing division right now. He is using manipulation to turn people
against Israel and the Jewish state. As a result, the spirit of antisemitism is
growing, even within the borders of Israel.
As believers, we need to know the truth
about Israel and the Israel Defense Forces. We need to see it with our own
eyes, and we need to battle for the nation of Israel in prayer.
Battle in Prayer for Israel
Let us come together in unified prayer for
Israel and be the watchmen mentioned in Ezekiel 33:6-7 (NKJV):
"'But if the watchman sees the
sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and
the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his
iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand.'
"So, you, son of man: I have made
you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore, you shall hear a word from
My mouth and warn them for Me."
From these verses, we understand that
the watchmen have a responsibility to blow a trumpet, to warn.
We do not need to fear but to boldly
proclaim the truth that God loves and stands with Zion. We must shed light on
the truth about Israel and what they are really facing. We must warn others of
the dangers of not standing with Israel.
God is calling believers everywhere to
take a stand, not to remain silent, and to step into their assignment to be
watchmen for the house of Israel.
Ask these questions:
·
What
would happen if every believer started praying for God's protection and
deliverance to come to Israel?
·
What
would happen if every believer battled in pray for Israel, decreeing God's
warring angels be released and bring victory?
We could expect:
·
Our
own lives to be transformed.
·
Our
hearts to be aligned with God's.
·
Heaven's
will be done on earth.
·
Israel's
safety and protection to manifest God's glory.
According to the Word of God, those who
pray for Israel's peace and love the nation will experience prosperity and
peace within their walls.
Brothers and sisters, this is a call to
battle in prayer. The days and weeks to come could impact the world. It is our
responsibility to start praying for the following:
An awakening to take place in the
church.
·
God's
deliverance and strength to carry Israel through to victory.
·
The
Lord to release His prosperity and protection over you and your family.
Let us move forward and take our
assignments seriously in this critical hour.
THE TALK BENEATH
YOUR FEET
Psalm 96:12-13a “Let the field be joyful, and all that [is] therein: then
shall all the trees of the wood rejoice before the LORD:”
Creation Moments – Jun. 16, 2021 -- Some of
the most fascinating discoveries in recent years have to do with our growing
knowledge of plant communication. New research continues to reveal even more
amazing facts about the exquisite intricacy of God’s marvelous work.
Naturalists have long noted that plants
often choose to grow at precise spacing from each other and plants of other species.
Scientists at the University of California at Santa Barbara theorized that this
precision might be a result of communication between the roots of these plants.
So, they devised an experiment to find out. They designed a network of
interlocking, partially transparent growth boxes. These boxes allowed them to
watch how root growth took place in single plants, two plants of the same
species, and plants of different species.
They discovered that when burro weed roots
neared the roots of the creosote bush, the roots of the creosote bush slowed
the growth of the nearing roots. They also discovered that burro weed roots
will stop growing when they encounter other burro weed roots. This allows the
plants to send their roots out where they will not compete with their own kind.
Most astonishing is the discovery that burro weed roots continue to grow if
they encounter other roots from their own plant. The amazed scientists noted
that this means that even plants may have a sense of self.
When the Bible tells us that the whole
creation praises its Creator, it certainly suggests that at least every living
thing has a sense of itself as well as its Creator.
A FAITHFUL
CHURCH IN AN UNGODLY WORLD
A
church is able to stand firm in Christ when its members walk by faith, not
sight. Just as our salvation came through belief rather than feelings, our
daily decisions should be made the same way—but this is contrary to the world’s
approach.
Society
rewards self-assurance and independence, and it relies on what we can see. But
Scripture reveals the foolishness of depending solely on our circumstances or
other people (Jer.
17:5-6). Instead, our confidence is to be
placed in Jesus, and we are to rely on Him. In fact, Proverbs
3:5-6 says we’re not to lean on our own
understanding at all.
If
the church is to remain faithful, we must get daily spiritual nourishment
directly from God’s Word. Through study and application—both individually and
corporately—we will learn to be guided by the Lord’s wisdom and to let false
doctrine and error “go in one ear and out the other.”
A
church body that is knitted together in love, unity, and belief in Jesus will
be immovable in the world. Does this describe you and your church? Take a
moment to pray for faithful fellowship among believers and for a foundation of
strong belief.
In
Touch Ministry
PRIOR
ISSUE
INTERESTING
INFORMATION MINISTRY 6/16/2021
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URL - HEALTHY,
CHRIST-CENTERED MARRIAGES STAND ON THESE 4 CORE VALUES
URL - 70 NAMES FOR JERUSALEM, THE ETERNAL JEWISH CAPITAL
https://unitedwithisrael.org/70-names-for-jerusalem-the-eternal-jewish-capital/
CHRISTIAN MUSIC VIDEO
PEACE IN CHRIST
5-Year-old
Claire Ryann Crosby and Dad
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK – “Pride is irrational with respect to the
Gospel” – Pastor Jeff Levine
INTERESTING ARTICLES SUMMARY
·
As
“Pride” crowd waves LGBT flag this Month, remember God’s original purpose for
the Rainbow
·
Abortion
“Without Limitations”: 224 Democrats back bill eliminating all Pro-Life Laws
·
American
Family Association applauds Americans’ resolve to protect Female athletes
·
61%
of Christians believe in these 4 New Age ideas
·
The
end of Human Evolution
·
THE
PRIORITY OF LIFE
INTERESTING ARTICLES
AS 'PRIDE' CROWD
WAVES LGBT FLAG THIS MONTH, REMEMBER GOD'S ORIGINAL PURPOSE FOR THE RAINBOW
WND – Jun. 13, 2021 -- Although gay
pride has been celebrated toward the end of June for a few decades in more
liberal enclaves of the United States and elsewhere, the treatment of this
annual event as a “holiday,” as it were, as well as the entire concept of a “Pride
Month” is relatively new.
Yet it has exploded in prominence.
Now, just as Easter is marked with
pastels, Halloween with black and orange, and Christmas with red and green, the
rainbow, long claimed by the LGBT movement as its symbol of “Pride,”
dominates this new national tradition celebrating alternative sexual lifestyles
and identities with a full month of pro-LGBT propaganda and corporate
advertising campaigns.
The ubiquitous Pride
rainbow may be inextricably linked with homosexuality or other LGBT lifestyles
for many moderns, but this has not, in fact, always been the case.
Not only is the rainbow an important
Judeo-Christian symbol of God’s mercy towards mankind, but it was also actually
given to humanity, the Bible tells us, in the wake of the great,
global judgement that occurred when mankind fell away from God’s righteousness.
In other words, when humans followed the
whims of their own … pride.
Celebrating those whose sexual
preferences or gender identities were not maligned by mainstream society now
that the culture has more broadly embraced homosexuality and other alternative
sexual lifestyles is what the Bible constantly tells us is what so
often leads mankind to destruction.
Noah’s Ark is more than just a
story that makes for fantastic Sunday School crafts. It is a key biblical
narrative of God’s judgement and His grace towards humanity.
After Noah and his seven family members
survived the 40 days and 40 nights of deluge aboard the ark, and then many
more weeks afloat as the global flood slowly receded, God established a
covenant with the family that would go on to repopulate the earth and spawn the
nations from which we are all descended.
He signified this covenant with mankind
by putting a symbol in the sky as a testament of His mercy -- the rainbow.
Genesis 9:8-16 (ESV) reads: Then God
said to Noah and to his sons with him, ‘Behold, I establish my covenant with
you and your offspring after you, and with every living creature that is with
you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many
as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. I establish my
covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of
the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.’
And God said, ‘This is the sign of the
covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with
you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall
be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over
the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that
is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters
shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the
clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and
every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.’
Last week, the third annual “Freedom
March” was held in Washington by men and women who left the LGBT lifestyle
after experiencing the love of Jesus Christ.
According to The Christian Post,
marchers this year declared a “rainbow revival” as they praised the God who
first put this beautiful symbol in the sky, the same God who gave His only son,
Jesus Christ, to atone for all the sins of mankind, gay, straight or otherwise.
"We are taking back the
rainbow," said Angel Colon, who survived the Pulse Nightclub shooting in
2016 and later gave his life to Christ and turned from his
homosexual lifestyle, according to the Post. "It's His. For us, it's
something beautiful."
"We are here and we're loud,
letting the world know that the rainbow is something beautiful," he also
said. "And we shouldn't be ashamed of what it really is."
God, the Creator and Lord of the
universe, created the rainbow as a symbol of his promise to mankind that he had
given us a path to salvation.
As we see this symbol splashed
across popular culture to celebrate and glorify the pride with which so
many defy God and his design for sexuality, it is all the more important to
restore its original purpose.
As there can be no mercy without
judgment, the rainbow also reminds us of the judgment which is to come -- and
the urgency with which we must warn others of the only ark we have to survive
that storm.
That is, the saving power of the Lord
Jesus Christ.
We must also remember that the same God
who made the rainbow, established the covenant with Noah, and died as a man to
set us free also created the men and women who now
use his symbol to celebrate their sin.
Christians who warn the world that
embracing homosexuality is a defiance of God's laws are increasingly bullied,
mocked, maligned and marginalized by mainstream society, just as tradition
tells us that Noah was mocked for warning his peers of the coming flood.
The antediluvian world found out the
hard way that Noah was right.
Are we going to leave today’s world to
suffer in its sin, or will we take up the rainbow -- and the calling of its
Maker -- to warn the world of the price humans may pay if they do not
lay down their pride and seek Him while he can still be found?
ABORTION
“WITHOUT LIMITATIONS”: 224 DEMOCRATS BACK BILL ELIMINATING ALL PRO-LIFE LAWS
Koenig’s
Int’l News – Jun. 10, 2021 -- A bill that would overturn hundreds of state
abortion restrictions and guarantee the right to abortion “without limitations”
was introduced Tuesday by a coalition of Congressional Democrats, who said it
was needed with Roe v Wade under attack.
The
bill, known as the Women’s Health Protection Act, would codify Roe v.
Wade and legal abortion in federal law – goals that President Biden set during
his 2020 campaign.
It
has 48 co-sponsors in the Senate and 176 co-sponsors in the House of
Representatives. All are Democrats. The 224 co-sponsors represent 80 percent of
the Democratic coalition, according to Newsweek.
The
bill says its purpose is to “permit health care providers to provide abortion
services without limitations or requirements.” The bill’s legislative findings
note that nearly 500 abortion restrictions have passed on the local and state
level since 2011.
Pro-life
groups criticized the bill.
“This
egregious, deceptively named bill is the latest example of Washington
Democrats’ extreme abortion agenda,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser,
president of the Susan B. Anthony List. “While most Americans want reasonable
pro-life protections for unborn children, pro-abortion Democrats are moving
swiftly in the opposite direction. This radical bill would destroy existing
pro-life protections at the state level and prevent future pro-life limits from
being enacted. This is a direct attack on the will of the people, as
demonstrated by the groundswell of pro-life legislation we’ve seen this year.”
Under
the bill, abortion laws and regulations are illegal if they “do not
significantly advance reproductive health or the safety of abortion services.”
For a law to be legal, it cannot “make abortion services more difficult to
access,” the bill says. Further, the bill says, abortion laws and regulations
cannot “single out” abortion services with restrictions “that are more
burdensome than those restrictions imposed on medically comparable procedures.”
The
bill explicitly says it “supersedes” all state laws. It also lists a dozen
restrictions that are illegal under the act. Among those that are illegal:
-
laws that restrict an abortion at “any point” before fetal viability.
-
laws that restrict abortion after fetal viability when the pregnancy would
“pose a risk to the pregnant patient’s life or health.”
-
laws that limit abortion services via telemedicine.
-
laws requiring the abortion doctor to “perform specific tests or medical
procedures.” Under this, laws that require the doctor to test for a fetal
heartbeat – and that give the woman the option to listen to it – would be
illegal.
-
laws requiring that a woman “make one or more medically unnecessary” visits to
the clinic. Under this, waiting periods (such as 24 or 48 hours) would be
illegal.
“A
health care provider has a statutory right to provide abortion services,” the
bill says.
The
pro-life group Live Action said the bill would “ensure a woman can
have an abortion for any reason at all through all nine months of pregnancy.”
61% OF CHRISTIANS BELIEVE IN THESE 4 NEW AGE IDEAS
Charisma News – Apr. 12, 2021 -- It's
common knowledge that the New Age movement has a strong foothold on our culture
right now. Bookstores are lined with bestselling titles teaching people how to
use crystals, how to meditate and cultivate "higher consciousness"
and how to make contact with spirit guides, as people like Jim Carrey and Oprah
Winfrey continue to push things like Christ-consciousness and meditation on the
masses.
Popular teachers like Deepak Chopra and
Eckhart Tolle continue to sell millions of copies of books teaching the idea
that God is an impersonal force in the universe and that we are to cultivate
relationship with this force by shifting our consciousness and practicing
things like "mindfulness," "presence" or yoga.
This year, Netflix recently came out
with a series called The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, complete
with spell-casting, incantations and demonic manifestations right around the
same time the makeup company Sephora announced that they would
be releasing a starter with kit for little girls, complete with crystals, sage
and tarot cards.
A study found that witches now
outnumber Presbyterian Christians in the US by 100,000, with 1.5 million
self-identified witches as paganism continues to grow
"astronomically." Twenty-seven percent of
Americans identify as "spiritual but not religious", including
35 5% of Protestant Christians. This is one of the fast
growing spiritual-religious demographics in the West right now. In fact,
the population of those who identify as witches or pagans is continuing to
increase as those who identify as Protestant Christian continues to decrease.
We are even beginning to see this emerge
in politics, as witches have made headline news recently, having
rituals in an attempt to hex Brett Kavanaugh and Donald Trump by chanting
around an altar involving animal skulls and dolls with the faces of the two men
on them. But a new study, released on Oct. 1 by Pew Research, revealed
something shocking.
Pew Research surveyed Americans to see
what they thought about the following four New-Age beliefs: 1) spiritual energy
exists in physical things, 2) psychics have reliable insight into the future,
3) reincarnation and 4) astrology.
Not only did 62% of the general public
hold at least one of these New Age beliefs, 61% of professing Christians held
one as well.
Almost one-third of the professing
church of Christ believes they will live again in another body in another life
on this planet, even though the Bible says in Hebrews 9:27 that "it is
appointed for men to die once, but after this comes the judgment".
Reincarnation contradicts the entire gospel. We will stand before the judgment
seat of Christ. Four in 10 professing Christians believes in psychics as a
viable means of foretelling the future, even though the Bible repeatedly
condemns this practice:
There
must not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass
through the fire, or who uses divination, or uses witchcraft, or an interpreter
of omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts spells, or a spiritualist, or an
occultist, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination to
the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God will drive them
out from before you.
If this isn't troubling enough, we have
to remember that only four New Age beliefs were tested for in this study. This
study did not test for things like pantheism (the idea that God is a force that
is present within nature), oneism (the idea that all
spiritual paths lead back to God and are equally valid), karma (the belief that
there is a force in the world balancing the scales of good and evil) or the belief
that man is divine by nature.
If we were to take other such New Age
beliefs into account, it is a conservative estimate that at least 80 percent of
the professing church holds to at least one New Age belief, which is nothing
short of a theological crisis in the church. Atheism isn't the problem anymore
in our culture, and neither is naturalism. Sixty-two percent of Americans hold
to New Age beliefs, while only 3% of the American population is atheist. New
Age is the religion of the future, and it is beginning to invade our culture
and infiltrate the thought-life of Christians.
For additional reading: https://www.charismanews.com/us/85051-61-of-christians-believe-in-these-4-new-age-ideas
THE END OF HUMAN
EVOLUTION
Proverbs 9:10 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the
knowledge of the holy is understanding”
Creation Moments – Jun. 7, 2021 -- Human
evolution has come to an end. Not only are humans not evolving anymore, we are
actually devolving because of genetic mutations that are destroying our brains’
ability to solve problems. In a few centuries, human beings will have
insufficient intellectual capacity to use the technologies invented by their
ancestors.
These are not the words of frustrated
parents and schoolteachers, irritated by the attitude to learning of members of
the Millennial and Z Generations. These are the thoughts of Professor Gerald
Crabtree of Stanford University, California, as reported in the British
newspaper The Independent.
Crabtree is an evolutionary scientist. But
as creationists, we would suspect that there is an element of truth in what he
says. Clearly, we do not accept that humans stopped evolving – we do not accept
that they evolved in the first place. The Bible tells us that God created Adam
as a perfect human being and that he and his world were affected by his sin. So the devolution of mankind does, in fact, make sense.
We can understand this point when we read
the Bible. Apostles, such as Peter and John, were working-class fishermen but
lived in a high-information society where it was normal for such ordinary
people to be able to speak and write in three languages and to have large
portions of the Old Testament memorized. When even evolutionists are forced to
recognize that evolution has not occurred, we should sit up and take notice.
THE PRIORITY OF
LIFE
What
is the priority of your life—the one thing around which everything else
revolves? Jesus tells us that God’s kingdom and righteousness should be our
highest aim. This isn’t achieved through passivity; Matthew 6:33 uses the word
“seek,” which implies activity and persistence. God’s kingdom must be pursued
every day, moment by moment.
Life
on earth takes place amidst two opposing realms that are in constant
conflict—one under the control of this world and the other under God’s
kingship. To seek the Father’s kingdom is to submit to His rule over every area
of our life. The bottom line is obedience.
To
seek God’s righteousness means cooperating with His process of transforming us
into Jesus’ image. An integral part of this process is the renewing of our mind
with Scripture. The Word of God keeps the Father’s viewpoint and instructions
fresh in our thinking.
Take
a moment to evaluate who or what dominates your thoughts and affections: Where
do you invest time and money? What desires govern your choices? Making Christ
top priority requires submission to God, obedience to His Word, and trust in
His ways. And He promises to supply whatever you need in pursuing that goal (Phil. 4:19).
In
Touch Ministry
THE GRACE THAT WE STAND IN IS MORE THAN WE DESERVE
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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