Pie, Grandmothers, and Other Great Things

Yesterday, I made a pie from my own homegrown dolgo crabapples.

I love making pies because it reminds me of my grandmother, who went home to be with the Lord in 2007. My grandmother was an amazing woman, one of that last generation who could bake, cook, preserve, needlework, sew, and butcher a chicken. It’s a regret of mine that I became interested in learning all these arts after it was too late to learn them from her. Thank heaven for pinterest and all those folks on youtube who are taking the time to upload their knowledge to teach all of us all those skills we should have learned from our family, but didn’t.

I’ve been thinking of, and missing my grandmother a lot lately. How she used to take me spontaneously camping, how I used to spend the night at her house, sleeping in her massive waterbed with her and a very territorial and irritable chihuahua. Every night she would tell me a story, sometimes a retelling of a book she’d recently read, sometimes – my favorite – a story out of her own imagination, spun just for me on the spot. “Tell me a story about an indian, a horse, and a bear,” I’d say, and she would. Only occasionally would she get to the end and – “You forgot the bear!” I’d exclaim. But I wasn’t really upset. All her stories were amazing; it was a special talent she had.

I think one of the reasons she’s been so much on my mind lately is because I know I’m going to be reunited with her very soon. Have you been seeing all the crazy things happening on the news lately? The massive hailstorms, the earthquakes, the flooding, the wildfires, the fire tornadoes, the marine die-offs, the new alliances in the middle east, and so so so much more? Nearly every headline has the words “unprecedented” “biblical” and “apocalyptic”…and the headlines aren’t an exaggeration. We are living in unprecedented, biblical, apocalyptic times. The world as we know it IS about to change forever.  Jesus himself told us what to watch for in Matthew 24:

And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.
Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.
And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

I especially like the part about “many being offended” because if you think that doesn’t perfectly describe our day, you haven’t been paying attention. People are offended by everything today. It’s incredible, and sad.

The surest sign we are in the end times comes from the prophets, and from the Book of Revelation. The prophet Ezekiel tells us of an alliance of countries that will come at the end, an alliance never before seen in the history of mankind, an alliance many said was impossible.

Turkey, Iran, and Russia are now in an uneasy alliance with each other, formed in part by the failing of their economies, and the pressure of looming revolution inside their countries. Ezekiel 38-39 says that these three countries (along with several others) will become to desperate to ‘take a spoil’ that they will attack Israel at a time when she is at her most prosperous. They will come unexpectedly from the north (Syria) and no other country will intervene to save her, although Saudia Arabia and a few others will verbally protest and accuse them of attacking out of greed. Just within our lifetimes, people said this was a ridiculous prophecy, because it was impossible that Russia, of all countries, would be involved. But then the Syrian civil war happened, and Obama set back on his heels and allowed Russia to come into the middle east and quietly become the new superpower of that area. Russia is now not only perfectly poised to attack from the north, but they have been frustrated at all turns to make a profit from the Syrian war as they planned. They are becoming increasingly desperate, and Israel, who does not currently believe their own bible, is inviting them closer and closer, even right to the very border of Israel.

In the Book of Revelation, Jesus himself tells us what will happen in the end times. War will affect a quarter of the world (which has already come to pass) and it will only grow worse from there. Famine, disease,  and persecution of Christians will be widespread. People will be clamoring for “peace and security”, and in that time sudden destruction will come upon them.

And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

People across the entire globe will be so frantic with fear that they will seize upon anyone who claims to be able to save them…and someone will make such a claim. A charismatic man will step forward, make a temporary peace and appear to solve the world’s problems through a one-world government. Sadly, his peace will be short-lived, and he will reveal himself to be the most evil person the world has ever known. He will turn on the Jews and attempt to eradicate them from the world, along with the Christians. He will use modern technology to make a single world economy, requiring all peoples to take a ‘mark’ in either their hand or their forehead in order to buy or sell anything, including food. If anyone refuses to comply, they will killed. Again, this is a technology that seemed impossible just a few years again. Today, it’s here. Everything the bible warns us of is here, right at this very moment. If you are watching, you can see all the threads pulling together on a daily basis.

The bible says that the generation who witnesses ‘all these things’ (including, most specifically the rebirth of Israel as a nation) is the generation that will not die until ALL the end-time prophecies are fulfilled. That is the generation that was born in 1948. The bible is extremely specific when it comes to prophecy. It is not like the Nostradamus, where you can ‘interpret’ his words to mean almost anything you want. The bible names names, gives dates, tells of exact countries and events. A lot of the bible’s prophecy was fulfilled through Jesus’ first coming, when he came to live and die as a man to pay the penalty for our sin. These prophecies were so exact, that the Jews were told the exact day he would arrive in Jerusalem on the back of a donkey. They ignored these prophecies, because he did come on the back of a donkey, to die, when they were falsely expecting to see him come as a king, in power and glory.

Well, this time when he returns to earth, it WILL be in power and glory. Every eye will see him, and no one will be able to doubt that he is exactly who and what he claims to be. But before he sets foot back on earth, he will be paying one quick visit, in what is called the rapture. Throughout history, there have been many times when God has had to step in and punish either a solitary city or once, the entire world, for some extraordinary act of destructive sin. But in every case, he has supernaturally removed his faithful people out of the danger zone first. He’ll do this again, and I absolutely believe it will be within (at most) three years, and quite probably, in 2018.

The problem is, not every one who considers themselves a ‘christian’ will be saved from the coming destruction. Going to church is not enough. Doing good things and ‘being a good person’ is not enough. Having religious relatives, or being baptized is not enough. There is absolutely nothing you can do to save yourself…except trust in Jesus. God knew that mankind could never be good enough, so God put himself into a human body and came down to earth to live and die as a human to pay the penalty for every evil deed or thought you’ve ever done. He was perfect, and sinless, and so filled with love for us that he wanted to save the entire world…even the child molesters and mass murderers. His love and willing sacrifice was enough for all – if they would only recognize what he did, and accept his free gift of salvation.

People say: “Oh, I’d believe if he’d show himself, if there was actual evidence of his existence.”

There is. There is so much evidence for God, and for Jesus, that no one has any excuse whatsoever for not believing. People choose not to believe because they don’t want to, or because they haven’t sincerely looked into, and examined the evidence. The very heavens declare the existence of God!

I urge you, whoever you are, to honestly seek and discover the truth – before it is too late. Once the genuine Christians are miraculously taken out of the world, you will still have a chance, but this world will quickly become such a horrific place that you will not want to live through the final seven years to when Christ returns to make this world his final home. And you probably won’t. There will be natural disasters on a scale you can’t even imagine. Global earthquakes, meteor strikes, volcanoes, the destruction of nearly all drinkable water, and all the ocean life. The sun will become so hot that you won’t be able to step outside without being burned. And there will be wars, and man-made terror that will dwarf anything this world has ever experienced. There will not be a single safe place on the entire earth.

And if you are tempted to scoff at this, be warned: by scoffing, you are helping to fulfill yet another prophecy….

2 Peter 3:3-4
3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

Have you seen the global wildfire map? Not just America is affected. All of Europe is burning. Even where I live, although there are no actual fires, there is smoke. It’s making some dramatic and ominous sunsets.