Archive for March, 2016

It’s Easter again, what exactly happened at the tomb?

Posted: March 22, 2016 in Shared Thoughts
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Trips to the Tomb

I know it;s an old post, but since it is Easter this coming Sunday I figured it would be a good repost it once more for those who may have missed it. I hope it blesses you.

For centuries there has been much confusion when people try to reason the different accounts of Jesus’ resurrection as recorded by the apostles. The fact that they all seem to have a different story to tell does not help. Perhaps, a good way to consider their seemingly different reports is to view them like transparent overlays, similar to the one’s we have seen in books showing the skeleton, then the nerves and blood vessels, organs, muscular and finally the skin and hair.

The Gospels, similarly, are each reporting different events which had taken place around a major singular occurrence, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The fact is that these different events are recorded in God’s word and are therefore true. Perhaps the answer to the confusion is to consider that there were multiple trips made to the tomb.

The best way to determine the possible order of these trips to the tomb is to consider the different details that have been given about the time of day and light of the sun. Was the sun going down or coming up? These questions are actually quite easy to answer. However, we must remember that the Sabbath, like all the other biblical days, began and ended with sundown, see Gen. 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31 and Lev. 23:32.

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Why the Nations are Mad

Posted: March 10, 2016 in America, End Times, Shared Thoughts
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Three times in Revelation it is stressed how the nations of the world have become guilty before God for having become drunken by indulging in the wine of the harlot’s fornication.

Revelation 14:6 – And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, 7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come: and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. 8 And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that Great City, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.

Revelation 17:1 – And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: 2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.

Revelation 18:1 – And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. 2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. 3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

In the first verse, Revelation 14:8, it states Babylon “made [potizo] all nations drink [potizo] of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” A quick reading of that would almost make it sound as if Babylon was forcing the other nations to drink this wine. However, when examining the Greek word, it doesn’t support the idea of a forced consumption, but simply that of offering or making available. The word “potizo” by the Strong’s Greek Interlinear, simply means to furnish drink or to irrigate. It is further illustrated with “give (make) to drink, feed, water.” The implication of “give make to drink” is in the sense of irrigation, so as to “make” it possible for the land to drink the water. “Potizo” is from a derivative of “pino” which occurs only as an alternate in certain tenses and means to imbibe, swallow, guzzle, gulp, and absorb (literally or figuratively): or simply “drink.”

Having done a study on the Greek word “potizo,” I found that it is used twenty-three times in only fifteen verses in the New Testament and has been translated the following ways:

2 times: give/gave…drink
6 times: give/gave
7 times: drink
1 time:   watering (an animal)
3 times: watereth (a crop)
1 time: fed (milk)
1 time: have been
1 time: made to drink
1 time: made

In none of those verses has the idea been implied “to force” intoxicating drink upon anyone. As a matter of fact, potizo’s very first usage in scripture recorded in Matthew’s Gospel was by Jesus.

Matthew 10:42 – And whosoever shall give to drink [potizo] unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.

The verse where it was translated “fed”-

I Corinthians 3:2 – I have fed [potizo] you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.

The verse where it was translated “watereth” –

I Corinthians 3:6 – I have planted, Apollos watered [potizo] but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth [potizo] but God that giveth the increase. 8 Now he that planteth and he that watereth [potizo] are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.

The verse where it was translated “have been” and “made to drink” is also in I Corinthians.

I Corinthians 12:13 – For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been [potizo] all made to drink [potizo] into one Spirit.

Again, in none of the verses above or any of the verses can the notion of forcing drink upon anyone or thing be justified. The idea is simply that of offering, making available, or supplying by means of irrigation.

Therefore, when it says in Revelation 14:8 that “Babylon is fallen… because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication,” it is because she was “providing or irrigating” the nations, “watering” them as it were with the “wine of the wrath of her fornication.” Babylon wasn’t forcing the nations to drink, rather the fruit [outcome] of her fornication [sins] was causing the wine [temptations] thereof to spillover to all the other nations, who freely received and drank of them. For that reason, they too are deserving of the wrath that God will pour out in His indignation upon Babylon.

This accusation in Revelation, that all the nations became drunk because of the wine of Babylon, actually goes back to a prophecy in Isaiah.

Jeremiah 51:7 – Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD’s hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.

Once “a golden cup in the LORD’s hand,” Babylon was used by God to chastise Israel for her sins in order to bring forth the peaceable fruit of righteousness in her. God even gave unto Babylon one of His greatest prophets to help guide it by allowing Daniel to go into captivity. For Daniel’s righteous presence served as an effectual light in Babylon, as God used Daniel repeatedly to warn Nebuchadnezzar of things to come, and even to address the king’s pride; something that would have cost any other man his life.

However, after many years Nebuchadnezzar grew older and his son Belshazzar ascended to the throne. It did not take long before Daniel’s proven importance became overlooked and neglected. That is till one night in drunken arrogance, Belshazzar “brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them.” The boldness of his sin made it evident that Belshazzar had not only abandoned the wisdom of his father mentioned just a few verses earlier; he trampled it underfoot by celebrating his own egotism to the thorough frustration of God’s longsuffering and patience.

Even though Babylon had once been “a golden cup in the LORD’S hand,” when Belshazzar its king so grievously sinned by treating what was holy as profane, he foolishly poured out any residue of God’s mercy and filled up his own cup with the wine of the wrath of his fornication to worthless idols of other gods.

Daniel 5:1 – Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand. 2 Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein. 3 Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them. 4 They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.

Thus when the fullness of time that God foretold through Jeremiah had concluded and His grace towards Babylon now frustrated, God was going to force Babylon to drink the cup of His fury for their sins of arrogance and their forgetting His words given them through the Prophet Daniel.

Jeremiah 25:12 – And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations. 13 And I will bring upon that land all My words which I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations. 14 For many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of them also: and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the works of their own hands. 15 For thus saith the LORD God of Israel unto Me; Take the wine cup of this fury at My hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it. 16 And THEY SHALL DRINK, and be moved, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them.

 As it was with the fall of Babylon, that “great city” and capital of the Chaldeans, so shall it be with the fall of The Eight Beast and Mystery, Babylon the Great. For their leaders have given way to drunken arrogance and have completely abandon both the wisdom and the fear of God of their founding fathers; trampling it underfoot while celebrating their egoistic narcissism to the absolute frustration of God’s longsuffering and patience. For today in America, whatever was once considered holy is now treated with disdain as profane.

For America was once a nation of which it could be said stood as a light for the whole world, boasting on its currency that was once valued above all others that “In God We Trust.” The Ten Commandments once being boldly displayed in public buildings; engraved on walls and monuments of stone to constantly remind us of both their eternal immutability and the stability they gave to all who acknowledged them. Likewise, pledges of loyalty to uphold the integrity of the nation’s many offices of government were once publicly affirmed with true reverence on the foundation upon which she was built; as a nation recognizing the responsibilities of men to their Creator. A concept that was later summarized as “One nation, under God” and added to the Pledge of Allegiance  in a response to the threat of godless communism in 1954.

But now, just as it says concerning Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots, who holds a “golden cup in her hand, full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication,” so too America been providing this same maddening wine and irrigating all the nations with/by the excess of her iniquities. That’s because too many Americans, be they government leaders or just common citizens, have carelessly forgotten what was committed to their charge. Therefore, they are either spiritually dead or dying, being lukewarm in their faith and love for God and therefore derelict in their obligations… all the while quoting how they’re still “saved by grace.” Therefore, America’s churches will be held accountable for having received God’s grace in vain, and for yielding to those who have now successfully changed the godly’s “Freedom of Religion” into the wicked’s freedom from religion. Having risen to power, these apostates will now tirelessly wage war to purge all traces of God and His word from the public eye.

Sadly, the most popular “churches” in America are now acually the perpetuating source of her curses instead of the procurers of her blessings. Huge mega-churches, mere religious-corporations, are growing like malignant tumors all across America; literally racking in the money while they instruct their congregants how to be happy by living their new “Purpose Driven” lives in dedicated service to the church and community.

What happened to real men of God living holy lives and teaching others the fear of the Lord, and how to love God and effectually apply His word to the glory of God? Or instructing people how to pray and wait on the Lord; so as to hear His voice and be led and empowered by His Holy Spirit?

But no, instead it is the blind are leading the blind as these so-called “Christian leaders” are making their fortunes promoting their own concocted self-help methods to “Become a Better You,” and promising those eagerly waiting in line to buy their next book that they too can have “Your Best Life Now.”

If the likes of Joel Osteen is openly being called “America’s Pastor,” how can they or their followers avoid the ditch that is set before them? Have they not read what Jesus said to such leaders whose eyes are no longer on His Kingdom, but their own? Probably not, for they are forsaking His righteousness for the riches and popularity of this world…

Matthew 15:14 – Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.

Matthew 23:13 – But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. 14 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.

We’re here at the edge of the ditch folks. The judgment of America will doubtless begin (if it hasn’t already) with a judgment getting ready to be poured out upon the churches; for judgment must begin in the house of the Lord. As accountable stewards, they have not been faithful; as watchmen, they have not warned the people there was an enemy creeping in among them unaware. Christians really do need to wake up and face the facts: it is because the churches have fallen that America has fallen. They have compromised and settled for institutionalism over intimacy with God; programs instead of walking by the Spirit. They have become worthless salt, good for nothing; not even fit to throw upon a heap of manure.

Matthew 5:13 – Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

Luke 14:34 – Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned? 35 It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

God will reward ALL these vain so-called “believers” with a “greater damnation” who “knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will.” Therefore, they are no longer “fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill.” Such is why judgment will be rewarded unto her in double portion.

Revelation 18:6 – Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double. 7 How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow [or wars on my land].

The godly standard has been removed, therefore Americans today can’t see how far removed they are from the original pilgrim settlers’ Puritan work ethic, morality and desire to sincerely promote and live by the gospel before a lost and dying world. Just how deep America has fallen into iniquity is probably best attested to by what is now asserted to be her largest two exports, both being trash. One of these exports is America’s literal refuse and recyclable debris, and the other is our moral garbage, i.e. pornography whereby America’s sins have overflowed her borders and have caused the “kings of the earth [to] have committed fornication with her.” Now they too will drink of the wrath of God; though America will have “the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.”

Here’s a few other translations of Revelation 18:3 that I found to be “revealing.”

…because all the nations have drunk of the wine of the fury of her fornication; and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have been enriched through the might of her luxury. (Darby’s Translation)

For all nations, having drunk the wine of the frenzy of her fornication, are fallen; And the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, And the merchants of the earth have grown rich by the power of her wantonness.” (Montgomery’s New Testament)

…for she has caused all the nations to drink of the wine of her raging whoredom; and the kings of the earth have committed whoredom with her, and the merchants of the earth have been enriched by the abundance of her luxuries. (Living Oracles New Testament)

For, after drinking the maddening wine of her licentiousness, all the nations have fallen; while all the kings of the earth have had licentious intercourse with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich through the excess of her luxury. (Twentieth Century New Testament)

Sadly, America has so deteriorated it has become the habitation of embezzlers and purloiners with people on both sides, employees and employers, greedily trying to take advantage of each other.  Most people now feel they deserved to be paid simply because they have to wake up and go to work and cannot go off wherever and just do whatever they want whenever they want… and now here we sit buried under trillions and trillions of dollars in debt. And what do the leaders do? They’re still borrowing and spending with no end in sight. In America they have forgotten God’s law of the harvest, that if a man will not labor, plow and plant his seeds, he simply will not have a field from which to reap a harvest.

Jeremiah 5:25 – Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you. 26 For among My people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men. 27 As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich. 28 They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge. 29 Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? 30 A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land; 31 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and My people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?

 Forgive me if I sound like I’m just ranting… but oh how I truly do agonize over these things and wish they were not so…

Fleeing the City of Destruction

Posted: March 8, 2016 in America, End Times, Prophecy
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City of Destruction

One of my all time favorite books is Pilgrims Progress by John Bunyan, so I am starting this post with a short excerpt from the beginning of the first chapter –

“As I walk’d through the wilderness of this world, I lighted on a certain place where was a Den, and I laid me down in that place to sleep; and as I slept, I dreamed a Dream. I dreamed, and behold I saw a Man cloathed with Rags, standing in a certain place, with his face from his own house, a Book in his hand, and a great Burden upon his back. I looked, and saw him open the Book, and read therein; and as he read, he wept and trembled; and not being able longer to contain, he brake out with a lamentable cry, saying What shall I do?

“ In this plight therefore he went home, and refrained himself as long as he could, that his Wife and Children should not perceive his distress, but he could not be silent long, because that his trouble increased: Wherefore at length he brake his mind to his Wife and Children; and thus he began to talk to them: O my dear Wife, said he, and you the Children of my bowels, I your dear friend, am in myself undone by reason of a Burden that lieth hard upon me; moreover, I am for certain informed that this our City will be burned with fire from Heaven; in which fearful overthrow, both myself, with thee my Wife, and you my sweet Babes, shall miserably come to ruin, except (the which yet I see not) some way of escape can be found, whereby we may be delivered.

“At this his Relations were sore amazed; not for that they believed that what he had said to them was true, but because they thought that some frenzy distemper had got into his head; therefore, it drawing towards night, and they hoping that sleep might settle his brains, with all haste they got him to bed: But the night was as troublesome to him as the day; wherefore, instead of sleeping, he spent it in sighs and tears. So, when the morning was come, they would know how he did; He told them Worse and worse: he also set to talking to them again, but they began to be hardened: they also thought to drive away his distemper by harsh and surly carriages to him; sometimes they would deride, sometimes they would chide, and sometimes they would quite neglect him.

“ Wherefore he began to retire himself to his chamber, to pray for and pity them, and also to condole his own misery; he would also walk solitarily in the fields, sometimes reading, and sometimes praying: and thus for some days he spent his time. Now, I saw upon a time, when he was walking in the fields, that he was, as he was wont, reading in his Book, and greatly distressed in his mind; and as he read, he burst out, as he had done before, crying, What shall I do to be saved?

“ I saw also that he looked this way and that way, as if he would run; yet he stood still, because, as I perceived, he could not tell which way to go…”

I believe the only wise way to “go” in order to flee the City of Destruction my friends is to “Come out of her My people.” Now please rest assured that I know John Bunyan was speaking about leaving the world and sin and seeking first the Kingdom of God. I love the book and I have read it joyfully and with tears many times. But in scripture, sometimes things we read are not just parables and proverbs for teaching us principles. Sometimes they are actual instructions revealing the will of God for His people their need to flee the wrath to come.

It is easy to find “believers” who readily acknowledge that the call to “come out from among her My people” applies to one’s spiritual life to live as it were separate from the world; I mean it’s a whole lot easier to find those who admit that than do it. But I am persuaded time is running out and it is rapidly becoming necessary (for all those who can) to wake up and literally comply with this call of God to physically, geographically, separate themselves from wherever He is getting ready to pour out His judgment and wrath, and right now it looks like it is America. (more…)

Netanyahu, Israel, and the LGBT

Posted: March 6, 2016 in End Times, Shared Thoughts
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Back on February 23rd Benjamin Netanyahu spoke before the Knesset and purportedly, in some eyes, was supportive of homosexuality on “LGBT Day.” I must humbly admit that such was my original thought too upon hearing about his address.

Even Jonathan Kahn tweeted about this, though without making any comment. His tweet was nothing more than just an open acknowledgement of the Jerusalem Post’s article about it. Understandably so too, for this has been troubling me since it happened and I must admit that I’ve been looking and waiting for someone somewhere like Jonathan Kahn to speak about this and share their prayerful insight. Yet for almost two weeks it has been eerily silent out there. I find that peculiar since we all know that Netanyahu has been quite an impressive statesman who boldly confronted the nations of the world at the UN regarding their hypocrisy towards Israel and for their constant blaming them for the lack of peace in the Middle East.

So how does this happen? Was Benjamin Netanyahu suddenly bowing to political pressure regarding the LGBT? (more…)

The Eighth is Headed for Destruction… Soon…

Posted: March 2, 2016 in America, End Times, Prophecy
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destruction

Why is it we don’t hear anyone crying out about this entity called “the eighth” that scripture tells us is headed for perdition?

Why are preacher’s so silent regarding it?

How is it they miss it when the angel clearly tells John that Revelation chapters 13-18 is all about the rise of “the eighth” and final empire in the last days that will go into destruction?

Revelation 17:9 – And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. 10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. 11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.

So why don’t preachers talk about this? Why aren’t they searching this out and teaching their people these things? Especially if the angel clearly connects the willful ignorance and consequent confusion of those who fail to understand these things with those who names are not written in the Lamb’s book of life?

Revelation 13:8 – And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Revelation 17:8 – The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

Have you ever considered these things?

Do you know where you stand before the Lord when it comes to all this?

Does it matter to you if you understand these things or not in light of the two verses above?

Because the angel makes it very clear that the seven heads on the beast are there as prophetic imagery to stir up your mind and heart so that you would seek divine wisdom. For these clues are given so that the diligent seeker might have a starting point from which to search out understanding of the significance of the rise and fall of these empires; some of which are recorded in scripture both historically and prophetically specifically for our benefit today; all them having a direct correlation to the nation of Israel.

Are you one of those who is diligently seeking?

Hebrews 11:6 – But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.

I am desperately trying to stir up as many people as I can, because the seduction of false religion has crept into the church and is everywhere today. Sadly, it is lulling so-called “believers” into a deep sleep of procrastination causing them to believe it’s really no big deal and doesn’t matter one way or the other whether they understand these things or not.

II Peter 2:1 – But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.

Jude 1:4 – For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Yet that is precisely how this Jezebellian spirit seduced the other empires represented by the seven heads of the beast, through their false religious systems that were full of empty promises and lies. All of which was the angel reveals was stemming from this Mother of Harlots that has “sat” upon all them throughout the ages. This can be clearly witnessed in scripture. (more…)