Tag Archives: rapture

It’s SOON.

Posted on June 7, 2019 | Leave a comment

I don’t know an exact day, but I do think it’s extremely probable it will be this year, highly likely to be this month…even within days. The sense of anticipation, of longing – it just keeps getting stronger and stronger.  And it’s not just me. Every one of us who is awake and watching is feeling the same thing. It’s SOON. We’re going home soon.

I could cry, just typing that. Soon I will be face to face with the person who loves me most in the world, who loves me unconditionally, even before I was even born. The person who was thinking of me, two thousand years ago, while he was dying a horrific death to pay my penalty for everything I would ever do in the future. Thinking of me, loving me, while he died to set me free and give me a future of eternal joy and happiness.

It’s so impossible, and so unlike anything found anywhere else, in any of the world’s religions. God, all-powerful and all-knowing, chose to set aside his power and knowledge in order to take on the flesh and frailties of a human being. Born into the world he created as a helpless baby, he suffered everything we suffer, was tempted as we are tempted. He intimately knows and understands how loss and rejection rips through you, how illness and stubbed toes, impatience and anger feels. He went through all of it, but because he was still God, he remained sinless and perfect.

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So perfect that he was able to lay down his life, go willingly to the worse death the ancient Romans could devise, in order to be a sacrifice in our place. He took the punishment we all deserve, because we all have sinned. You might say, “Well, I’ve been a pretty good person. I haven’t killed anyone, or slept with a married person, and I’ve tried to be nice to other people and I give money to the Red Cross and even do some volunteer work.”

But Jesus said that whoever is angry with another person commits murder in his heart, and whoever looks on another person with lust commits adultery with them, for it is a person’s heart where the sin first happens. If you’ve ever lusted, or been angry at someone for cutting you off in traffic, or lied about something you’ve done, it is the same as if you had committed murder. There are no small sins. They all destroy. If they don’t destroy another person, they destroy you. And the penalty for sin is death. Eternal death.

There is only one way to be free of guilt and sin, and that is for the debt you owe to be paid. Imagine you did a crime, and after the court sentenced you, someone in the audience stood up and said, “I will pay the penalty for that crime. Even though I am completely innocent of it, I will pay the fine, I will go to prison, I will even take the sentence of death onto myself. Just let my friend go free. Because I love her.”

This is what Jesus did. The only perfect man to ever walk on the earth stood up in the only courtroom that really matters, and took our sin onto himself.  And he did it out of pure love.

He loves us. Every single person this earth is so important to him, and so loved by him, that he was willing to give up everything in order to save us. And not only that, but he wants to live with us in perfect companionship, in the perfect place he has made for us, forever.

I can’t even express you to how much I want to feel his arms wrapped around me. Imagine the person you love most in the world. Now imagine you have been separated from him/her for a very long time. You get the most amazing letters from him, filled with love and humor that make you love him more every time you read them, and once or twice you’ve gotten a phone conversation where you’ve heard his voice. He sends you gifts, perfectly chosen things that are always exactly what you need or want. When you are in trouble, he sends help.

And he promises that one day, he will come back and pick you up, and take you to a place he’s been working on, a place he made with just you in mind, and the two of you will live there forever in perfect health and perfect happiness. This is Jesus. And this is what he’s given me, and what he’s offering you.

So many people say, “Well, that sounds nice, but believing in God is like believing in Santa Claus. I just can’t do it.” Have you asked him if he’s real? I mean this sincerely. Have you? He promises that anyone who seeks him out, will find him. All you have to do is ask. Other people say, “If what you say is coming happens, then I’ll believe.” I hope that’s true. But even if the world as we know it ends this weekend, as it very well could, you have no guarantee that you’ll be here to see it. Every minute 108 people die. You might be one of them. Or, when the Rapture happens, you might not survive it. When we go up, wrath is coming down, and I believe it will utterly destroy America. There will be a worldwide earthquake, and the sun will dark and the moon will turn to blood. There will be tsunamis, and, I believe, the outbreak of WW3. In one hour, everything will change, and nothing will ever be the same. By the end of seven years, most of the world’s population will have died of famine, war, lack of drinkable water, earthquake, volcanic activity, meteors, and disease. The world has seen nothing remotely like what’s going to happen; it’s going to be utterly unique in all of history.

And it’s just about to happen. Soon. The dominoes are all set up, everything is in place, exactly how the Bible said it would be, down to the last detail. Thousands of prophecies, made thousands of years ago, describing our current political and geographical alliances, our technology, our mindset and culture, our recent history. It’s too exact to be coincidence. He’s coming. The person I love more than anyone or anything is coming to take me home, and I pray that you change your mind about him before it’s too late.

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Spring Wedding?

Posted on March 12, 2019 | 2 comments

I have a brief critter update at the end of this post, but first I want to talk about weddings. Specifically, Jewish weddings around 33 A.D. They had some beautiful traditions.

The marriage would be agreed upon between the two families, and with the future bride’s consent, the betrothal agreement would be signed. Although they were now firmly and legally joined together, the marriage itself would not happen for at least a year. During this time, the future groom would go away to his father’s property, and build a house for his new wife – a house as good as, or better, than the home she would be leaving. The bride would be working on her wedding dress, and making herself ready to leave for this new house at a moment’s notice – because no one (not even the groom!) knew when the wedding would take place. It was the groom’s father who decided, based on when he felt the house was finished to his satisfaction.

I can just imagine the impatience and longing with which the bride waited, wondering each day, as she saw the signs of her future home being built, and heard rumors from her friends and family of how fine it was, and how close her future husband was to finishing it! But finally, all was prepared to the father’s satisfaction, and he said to his son: “Go and bring home your bride!”

 

The groom would immediately go to the outskirts of his bride’s village, and sound a trumpet to announce his arrival. The bride, who had been seeing the signs and knew it had to be soon, had started sending out her friends to watch and wait for him. When they hear the trumpet, she dresses herself in her wedding finery and runs out to meet him. He scoops her up in his arms and takes her back to his father’s house, where they go into a private room for seven days to consummate the marriage. After that week alone, they are announced to the world as husband and wife, and celebrate a massive wedding feast with their families and guests.

Jesus says that he is the bridegroom, and his bride is all those who believe in who he is, and accept his free gift of salvation. After his death and resurrection, when he legally and irrevocably bound his life to ours, he went away to build us mansions in his father’s house, in heaven. When all is ready, and all the signs say that now is the time, he will return and catch us away for seven years, to protect us from the horror that will come upon the earth. At the end of the seven years, he will return with us to earth, to destroy evil and return the earth to a state of perfection. And there we will have our ‘marriage supper’ with the King of Kings, he who loves us more impossibly and more incredibly, than we will ever be able to understand.

 

We’ve been waiting for our Bridegroom a very long time, but now, finally, all the signs are here that he told us to watch for, and any time now we will hear that trumpet, and feel him wrap his arms around us and lift us up, and take us home.

1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 
15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are [a]asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

I feel so incredibly fortune to be alive on earth during this time. This will be the single greatest moment of the past 2,000 years – and one of the three greatest moments in the history of the entire world.

But while I’m waiting, I have work to do here. The very first job ever given to mankind was in the Garden of Eden, right after the world was created.

Genesis 1:26 
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

Genesis 2:15 
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.

It is a running theme throughout the Bible that God cares deeply for all his creation, and he does not take kindly to those who destroy and mistreat it. This is why I have a garden and an urban farm. This is why I don’t use chemicals in my garden, and why I give my animals the absolute best and most natural life I can. Nothing I raise or grow in my garden is mine – it all belongs to God, and I am merely the steward and caretaker of it. One day, I will stand before him, and he will examine my work, and judge the value of it.

Hopefully, that day will be soon!

Song of Solomon 2:10-13

My beloved speaks and says to me:
“Arise, my love, my beautiful one,
and come away, for behold, the winter is past;
the rain is over and gone.
The flowers appear on the earth,
the time of singing[d] has come,
and the voice of the turtledove
is heard in our land.
The fig tree ripens its figs,
and the vines are in blossom;
they give forth fragrance.
Arise, my love, my beautiful one,
and come away.

My pigeons have laid their second egg, and have begun to sit on them.  In about two weeks, the eggs should hatch.

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And just today, I found a local woman who has Muscovy ducks. She has eggs that will hatch next week, and they are just the color I’m interested in. So if I’m still here, I will finally get some ducklings. I think 7-8, to be sure I get a good ratio of drakes to hens. I plan to keep three of them, one drake and two hens.

The mama “Peanut” is such a cutie.

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In chicken news, two nights ago I went out to shut them up in their coop. It was getting a little dim out there, so I walked down the length of the perch, petting each chicken and counting them as I did. One of the chickens felt…funny. I looked closer and discovered she was wearing a necklace!

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Can you tell what that is? It’s a paper plate! They’d had some leftover mashed potatoes earlier, and obviously she’d managed to rip out the bottom and slip it over her head! It was too dark them to take a picture, but I saved the plate so I could recreate the moment for you guys. Is she hinting that I should make her a costume? It is true that I’ve seen those pictures of chickens wearing tulle tutus and always wanted to make one!

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What’s Happening Next…

Posted on February 5, 2019 | Leave a comment

Everything seems to be building to April. I don’t know if the Rapture is before or after then, but I definitely believe that if the Rapture doesn’t happen in April, something hugely prophetic is going to happen. Even the secular world sees it. I don’t know if predictive programming is real (I rather doubt it) but the references to the rapture, disaster coming to America, WW3, is everywhere. From the Department of Homeland Security publishing a report that the energy grid in America is subject to failure and all Americans should have a minimum of 2wks food and water (preferably 6months!) in their houses, to Amazon’s super bowl commercial:

To the super bowl’s half time show itself, everything is pointing to something.

(Seriously? Trumpets, followed by a shower of meteors? Could they be any more Biblical?)

Marvel put a song about the coming rapture in the Black Panther movie. Here’s just a sample of the lyrics:

Mass destruction and mass corruption
The souls are sufferin’ men
Clutchin’ on deaf ears again, rapture is comin’
It’s all prophecy and if I gotta be sacrificed for the greater good
Then that’s what it gotta be

Who gon’ pray for me?
Take my pain for me?
Save my soul for me?
‘Cause I’m alone, you see

I could go on and on with these sorts of things. They are literally everywhere, and gaining in intensity.

One Israel’s most prominent rabbis has even predicted that the Messiah will appear before the Israel election on April 9th. Of course, they are still blinded to the truth, and don’t yet realize they already missed the Messiah. The one who will appear to them now is the false Messiah, the anti-Christ. They won’t realize their mistake until this evil man stands in their newly rebuilt temple and desecrates it. Speaking of the Jewish temple, it won’t be long until they build it. After two thousand years, they are calling for it.

They have raised the funds, recreated all the temple artifacts, done DNA tests to discover who are the true descendants of the priestly line, trained those priests, dedicated the new altar for the temple, and found the pure red heifer they need to purify the new building when it’s finished.

The people ARE ready.

Are you? Not for the temple, which won’t affect you unless you are Jewish, but for the end of the world as we know it?  For the day when all the genuine believers in Christ will be taken away to indescribable joy and happiness (including, I believe all the babies, born and unborn, and also children too young to have sin imputed to them). Here’s what I believe, based on the Bible, will happen next.

In the same hour as we leave, destruction in going to come on the earth. There will be a massive earthquake, so large that mountains and islands will be moved out of place, and meteor strikes. The sun will be darkened, and the moon turned to blood, probably as a result of that great earthquake, and the resulting volcanic eruptions and ash.

Revelation 6: 12-17
12 I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, 13 and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. 14 The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.
15 Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16 They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can withstand it?”

America (the modern Babylon) will be judged for the terrible sins she has inflicted on the entire world, either with massive natural disasters – possibly the Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake in the Pacific Northwest, or by a nuclear attack, probably causing an EMP event. Or perhaps both. If the Cascadia Subduction Zone goes, it will cause world-wide tsunamis.

Luke 21:25

And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. 

I feel almost certain that New York will be destroyed in this first hour:

Revelation 18:

5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
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.
8 Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.
9 And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,
10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
11 And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:
12 The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble,
13 And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.
14 And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all.
15 The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing,
16 And saying, Alas, alas that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!
17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
18 And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!

With America gone or incapacitated, the financial systems of the world will crash, and the earth will be such chaos and terror that whole governments will collapse, and everyone will be crying out (too late) for a savior.

The worst part is, a “savior” will appear.  A man who will seem to have the answer to all the world’s problems. He will bring peace to the middle east, and Israel will proclaim him to be the Messiah. He will be able to do great miracles and supernatural signs. At one point, he will be fatally wounded, and return to life. He will establish a one world government, and set up a system of digital currency, involving a “mark” in either the right hand or the forehead, without which, no one will be able to buy or sell anything. This mark won’t simply be a RFID chip, but something much, much worse. It will change your very being in some way so that you will be incapable of being saved by the true Messiah, Jesus Christ.

Though all the genuine Christians left the earth before this in the rapture, afterward many people will realize their mistake, and know that everything I’ve been trying to tell you is true. 144,000 Jewish men will begin preaching the gospel to all the world, and in addition, two men will stand and preach with miracles in the city of Jerusalem. For a time, the anti-Christ will appear to be on the side of Israel and the Jewish people, but then he will walk into their newly re-built temple and begin a massive persecution of both Jews and Christians that will dwarf what happened in the first holocaust. People will be beheaded for their faith, and 2/3 of all the Jews will be murdered, including the 2 preachers in Jerusalem. All the people in the world who follow the anti-Christ will watch on their smartphones as the witnesses lay dead in the street for three days, and will rejoice and send gifts to each other. But after three days, they will resurrect, and be taken up to heaven.

During this time, horrific natural disasters will destroy the world. The waters of the ocean and of the rivers will be turned to blood (red algea?) and the fish will all die, and the water become poisonous. Many more great earthquakes, meteors, and hailstones weighing 100lbs, will strike the earth. Disease and famine will be everywhere, and war. The sun will grow so hot it will scorch the earth. Most people alive now will die.

But at the end of the seven years, exactly three and 1/2 years after anti-Christ stands in the temple and declares himself god, the True God will return for the final time, to stay. He will destroy the anti-Christ and everyone who took the mark, and judge everyone according to how they treated Israel and the Jews. If a nation was involved in persecuting them, that nation will be destroyed. If they helped Israel, they will be saved. The world will be restored back to its original perfection, before mankind rejected God, and all the Christians who were taken away in the rapture will return to earth as Kings and Queens, to rule over the restored earth. And everything will finally be the way it should be, filled with peace and joy, without thorns and poison and hate and fear. There will be no more tears, or sickness. No more fear of anything. Even the animals will live in perfect peace and happiness, the wolf lying down with the lamb, and a little child able to put his hand in a viper’s nest without being hurt.

All of this is on the very verge of happening. I hope you’re read through all of this, even those of you who think it’s all insanity. God tells us the future before it happens, so that when it happens, we will believe. When you see the genuine Christians vanish (there will be many who call themselves “Christians” who do not have genuine faith and who will be left behind) I hope you will remember some of this. I hope you will find a Bible (if you manage to survive the first great round of earthquakes and destruction) and I hope you will read the Gospel of John and the book of Revelation.  God loves you. He wants you to just trust him, so that you won’t have to suffer through any of these things to come, but if you won’t believe it’s real until it’s happening, just know it’s not too late. Find a bible. Call out to God, and you will be saved.

 

 

 

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Best of 2018

Posted on January 3, 2019 | Leave a comment

Normally I do a ‘Best Books I Read in 2018’ post. This past year, however, instead of reading my usual 150+ books, I only read around 30 – and most of those were early in the year. By the end, I wasn’t really reading anything at all other than the Bible. I just can’t get interested in books or tv anymore. They just don’t seem relevant to my life anymore, and real life is so much more exciting and wonderful – how can I be drawn into fictional worlds when I know this world is about to suddenly and violently change, God is about to reveal himself to the world, and the rapture is going to happen absolutely any moment now?

So what I’m doing a modified list instead. Three best books I read this year, plus three best things I did, plus three things I’m working on this year.

Three Best Books I Read in 2018:

  1. Spinning Silver, by Naomi Novik

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This woman writes so well – and these re-imagined fairy tales are utterly fantastic.

2. The Homesteader’s Herbal Companion, by Amy Fewell

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I’ve long been interested in using more herbs and essential oils, for me, and for the livestock. This book covers all of that, and makes it simple, reassuring, and practical.

3.The Rapture, by Chuck Missler

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Love Chuck Missler, loved this book. I cannot wait!

The Three Best Things I Did in 2018:

  1. Got meat rabbits. I love these critters, and they are so easy to care for, and provide so much good food. I cannot support the horrors of factory animal farms, but I can’t afford to get all my meat from sustainable, grass-fed natural farms.  This is something I can do.

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2. Started using reusable cloth pads. Seriously. These are THE BEST. I cannot believe I waited this long to try these. I mourn for all those wasted years! I’ve been using them for about 4-5 months now, and I love them more every time. My periods are so much easier to manage, less pain, no discomfort, no expense, and unlike regular disposable pads, I haven’t had a single leak or ruined a single pair of panties!

3. Started cooking from scratch more. I always did cook, but I tended to do the same old quick and easy recipes over and over.  This year, I decided to stop just pinning things to my Pinterest boards, and actually start making them. I discovered I really like cooking, and I really like trying new things. Using different cuts/types of meat, using fresh herbs, etc. The goal is to stop using canned/packaged items, and use all fresh, real foods.

Three Things for 2019:

  1. Get Muscovy ducks. I’m not going to go over this again, because I just did.ducklings-1588915_640

2. Start making my own herbal medicines. I’ve been interested in this forever, but this is the year I’m finally doing it. I already bought a bunch of dried herbs and a big bottle of vodka, and am planning to plant a lot more herbs this spring, as well as start harvesting and preserving them. I am not a big believer in modern medicine. Sure, there are times you need it, but for ordinary injuries and illnesses, you’re far better off staying far, far away from doctors and their drugs. Not to mention that the miracle age of using antibiotics is almost over. Within a very short time, they simply will not work any longer, and it will be a new age of superbugs and a return of illnesses we thought were gone forever. spices-2548653_640

3. Start seriously prepping. Everything points to terrible times coming for the USA and the world. There is going to be a complete financial collapse, and catastrophic natural disasters. Everyone who hasn’t got their head buried in the sand knows this. Everyone is warning of it – two different branches of government (military and Homeland Security) put out reports warning of things like power grid collapse and the advising citizens to have enough resources in their home for at least two weeks – and more probably, up to six months or longer. While I think most, if not all, of these things are going to hit the USA after the Rapture, there are no guarantees of that. Natural disasters and financial chaos can hit at any time, and so I am doing my best to ensure that family is prepared. Just last month, my area had an unusually severe windstorm (including a tornado – and we just don’t get tornados here!) that knocked out the power in many areas for days. My power stayed on, but one of my friends had her power off for three days. If you’re not putting away some extra groceries and needed items – and figuring out a way to provide heat and cook food, you’re not paying attention to what’s going on in the world right now. Not sure how to start? I love Survival Mom by Lisa Bedford – and also check out this video:

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The World in 2019

Posted on November 14, 2018 | Leave a comment

Everyone sees it. The financial CPAs and stock gurus are preparing for the largest crash the market has ever seen, and the rich are building bunkers – a guy who builds bunkers for a living says he normally does two or three a year, now he has a wait list of thousands. The news is jam-packed full of disaster stories using the words “apocalyptic” “biblical” and “unprecedented”. World records are being made for flooding, fires, earthquakes, and storms. The USA is staggering under debt and division. It’s only a matter of time before we collapse, and when we go, it will have a huge impact on the rest of the world. The Economist, known for its colorful predictive covers, has only this to say:

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And that’s only if America survives long enough for a financial or civil collapse. There are several powerful natural events that are overdue. The Cascadia Subduction Zone is locked and ready to go at any moment. I know a guy who is doing a documentary on it, and he’s interviewed most of the seismologists and local scientists (including Chris Goldfinger) and they all say it’s going to go. Soon. Some of them have to say it off the record, because they’ve been told not to ‘fear-monger’, but they all say it. He also interviewed FEMA employees, who said this area is completely unprepared, and there will not be help for the people who live here. The Northwest will be almost completely on its own. If you don’t have basic survival items, food, and water, on hand, you’re not going to make it.

And that’s just one natural event that’s poised to happen. There are many others, and there is now evidence to suggest that if one huge fault gives way, others would be triggered and also give way. This includes the supervolcano underneath Yellowstone, which is showing some alarming signs of waking up all on its own.

Things are beginning to happen in the world, things we have not seen before. But thousands of years ago, it was prophesied and written down in the Bible, the only book with a 100% track record when it comes to prophecy. There are over 300 prophesies concerning the first coming of Jesus Christ to earth, and each of those was fulfilled in exact and perfect detail.  The Bible says he is coming back again, and gives equally precise details about how the world will look right before he comes, and what will happen – and every one of those precise details is either happening (right now!) or else clearly in the process of coming together.

You think it’s bad now? Just wait. It will get so much worse. Unbelievably worse until the majority of the world’s population die from natural disaster, famine, disease, and war. But before those final seven years of horror, Christ will remove all his people from the earth, to protect them from that time. No one has to stay and experience that. God doesn’t want that. He loves every single person on the earth so much that he died a humiliating, horrifically painful death to pay the price of mankind’s sin. Of your sin. And because he rose again to eternal life, he can give that life to you.

But it’s a gift. Just like you can’t be perfect enough to earn your own way into eternal life, you could never do enough to earn God’s gift. In fact, God says that if you try to earn it with good works, everything you do is like ‘filthy rags’. He alone can give you perfection to wear, his perfection. Never yours.

I think the reason so many people try to earn their way to eternity is because God’s way seems far too easy. Just believe? Just trust? That’s all? But what about people who accept Christ, and then do bad things? How can they possibly be worth of heaven?

It simple because God loves us.  He wants all of us to be saved, and he doesn’t want it to be hard, or wearisome, or a heavy burden. Plus, he knows us. He knows our current bodies are formed of dirt, and that our nature is always going to be fundamentally selfish, prideful, and self-righteous while we are here on earth living in those dirt bodies. All he demands from us is our trust that he will eventually change our bodies into perfect ones, and our willingness for him to transform us into perfect people, filled with joy and made complete. Does this mean we can accept Christ and then do whatever evil we want? No. Once you’re saved by Christ, you will be a different person. You will feel differently, think differently – and your eyes will finally be opened, and you will see the world around you as it truly it. You will never be the same as you were before.

If you were with a person who you truly love – husband, child, parent – would you think to yourself, I love this person, and I know they love me, so I can do whatever I want to them, and it’ll be ok. I can cheat on them, and abandon them, and ignore their wishes, and be however selfish I want. Because we’re together. No. If you love someone, you want to do good for them. You want to be kind, you want to make them happy. Your relationship with God is no different. You want to do things to make him happy and proud of you…but not because you feel you have to constantly prove yourself and earn his love. On earth, that would be a bad relationship, and it’s no different with God. He loves you, and just like a good father, he will continue to love you, no matter what you do. Once he has adopted you into his family, he will never abandon or abuse you. And you, if you are a good child, will try to earn his praise – but you can never earn or lose his love. You are eternally secure, and bound for more pleasure and happiness that you can ever imagine.

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Posted on August 29, 2018 | 1 comment

The most frequent argument atheists make is: If God is real, why doesn’t he show himself? 

Well, that’s about to happen, literally. God is just about ready to show himself to the entire world. He’s going to appear in the clouds, above every nation on earth, and on that day, there will not be a single atheist left on earth. Many people have this perception that when God comes to rescue his adopted children, his people who have believed in his death and resurrection, his heirs and future kings and queens, it will be a silent, secret event. Genuine Christians will just vanish, leaving a little stack of clothing behind. I don’t believe the Bible says anything about the rapture being silent or secret. It will be sudden, it will come without warning to those who haven’t been watching and looking for it, but it will be filled with noise and drama – because that is our God. He is a dramatic God – just look at the world he created!

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The sad part is, mere belief is not enough. Many of those people will still turn their back on him. And for many others, sudden belief will not come soon enough, because on that same day, violent disaster will come upon at least part of the world. I don’t know if it will be a terrible earthquake, or an attack by another country – or both – but I suspect this destruction will be centered on the USA. We were blessed for two hundred years because we blessed God, but things have changed in America. Evil is now prevalent, and just as the Bible foretold, those doing the evil are so confused that they believe they are doing good.

“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”  (Isaiah 5:20)

But the Bible is clear that those who genuinely believe in his son’s sacrifice will not only know the day in which he will come, but will escape all the horror that will come.

“But concerning the times and seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. But you brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober.” (I Thes. 5:1-5)

That day is coming. It’s almost here. I think all of us that have been watching and waiting, the ones that have been reading the news and studying the earth in light of God’s prophetic word, see that now is the time. Now is the last chance you have – all of you who don’t believe in God because you haven’t bothered to look for him. Once he appears in the sky, it will be too late for you to escape. You will still be able to turn to him, accept his truth and his life, but you’ll have to live through the most horrific time earth has ever experienced, and you will probably be killed for your new faith. If you don’t believe in God, if you think you can’t because you weren’t raised in the faith, or because you had a bad experience in some church somewhere – then just try this. Pray to God and ask him to show you whether or not he exists. He will answer, if you genuinely want to know the answer.

Because here’s the thing about God. He doesn’t force himself on you. He loves you enough to come down to earth, take on the mortal body of a man, and die a horrific death to pay the penalty for every one of your sins. Every evil thought, every deed, however large or small. He wants you to be with him, forever. He wants to adopt you into his family, make you one of his heirs and seat you on his own throne, a royal king or queen, to rule over all the earth. He wants to give his own joy – a joy that cannot be found anywhere but in his presence. More than your father, he wants to be your friend. But he will not force you, and it’s very hard for you to see him and understand who he is. The evil in this world is purposely blinding you to the truth. An unbeliever literally cannot see what is right in front of them.

It’s an amazing transformation, once you accept him and his free gift of salvation. Suddenly your eyes are opened, and everything -literally everything – is different. The way you understand the world is changed, the way you look at a butterfly is changed.

 

As for me, I know that he is returning for me – very soon. There is such a sense of urgency in me…and so much anticipation! The Bible uses the analogy of a Jewish wedding to explain Jesus and his believers. Among the ancient Jews, after a man became betrothed to his future bride, he would leave her behind in her home, while he went to his father’s house to prepare a place for them to live. He would often spend a year or more building this new house, and during that time, the bride would have no idea when he would be coming back for her. She was supposed to prepare herself for her new life, and keep watch for his return. Then, when all was prepared, the groom would return, suddenly, blowing a trumpet and shouting for her, and she would drop everything and travel with him to the place he had prepared for her, where they would celebrate their wedding. The Bible calls true believers the “bride” and Jesus the ‘groom’. He has indeed gone to prepare a place for us, a place so fantastic that it is beyond our ability to comprehend it. But he is coming back, with a shout, and with the trumpet of the Lord, to take us away with him.

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And he is coming. In September? Maybe. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised. There are so many signs that it could be. But if not, I know it will be soon. This world doesn’t have much time left. You don’t have much time left.

“And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” (Revelation 22:17)

 

 

 

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Pie, Grandmothers, and Other Great Things

Posted on August 15, 2018 | 1 comment

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

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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.

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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.

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