Tuesday 27 October 2015

CHRISTIANS AND HALLOWEEN! HOW SHOULD A BIBLE BELIEVER RESPOND??

LOOKING AT HALLOWEEN FROM THE BIBLE’S PERSPECTIVE

“And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.” Ephesians 5:11,12 (KJV)
The Bible says that the Christian is called to liberty, that we are under grace and not under the Law. New life in Jesus Christ has given us freedom to live as we choose to live. But with that freedom comes the awesome responsibility of living our lives in such a way that we are prepared for the Judgment Seat of Christ. Good choices, Godly choices made here on earth will reap crowns in Heaven. But using that same liberty as an occasion for our own selfish desires results in the loss of those crowns. Choose you this day whom ye shall serve, the Bible says. God allows us to make the choices.
should-a-christian-celebrate-halloween-all-souls-days-hallowed-eve-bible-believer
All through the Bible we read about Satan, the Devil, whose only goal in life is to trip us up, cause us misery and sorrow. The Bible says that he only comes to seek his victims, kill his victims, and destroy as many lives of the saved and unsaved as possible. He is a constant force luring us astray, and never-ending downward pull to the dark side, and he uses any means possible to complete the mission.
Halloween in America in 2015 is one the most-celebrated “holidays” all year, and Christians participate in it nearly as much as any other group of people. Parents dress their little darlings in princess and cowboy costumes, knock on doors for candy, and decorate the inside and outside of their houses with festive jack-o-lanterns, hanging ghosts, adorable witches and warlocks. But where did this day originate? Let’s take a look.
Many Christians celebrate holidays, such as Halloweenwithout thinking about their origins or true meaning. It is impossible to separate Halloween from the Druids because they originated the “holiday.” For several hundred years before Christ, the Celts inhabited what is now France, Germany, England, Scotland and Ireland. Celtic priests were called Druids. These people were eventually conquered by the Romans. Information about the Celts and Druids comes from Caesar and the Roman historians, Greek writings from about 200 B.C., and very early records found in Ireland. Greek and Roman writings about the Druids dwell heavily on their frequent and barbaric human sacrifices. The ancient Irish texts say little about human sacrifices, but detail the Druids’ use of magic to raise storms, lay curses on places, kill by the use of spells, and create magical obstacles.
The cute jack-o-lanterns on your front porch were first used by the Druids in their human sacrifices. After they killed their victim, they drained the fat from their body and filled the gourd or pumpkin with it and put a candle wick inside. A sinister face was carved on the outside face of the pumpkin and the wick was lit, burning the fat as fuel. This was done to appease their gods, the dark spirits, Satan.
October 31st was celebrated by the Druids with many human sacrifices and a festival honoring their sun god and Samhain, the lord of the dead. They believed that the sinful souls of those who died during the year were in a place of torment, and would be released only if Samhain was pleased with their sacrifices.
Irish records tell of the fascination the Catholic monks had with the powerful Druids, and Druids soon became important members of their monasteries. Pope Gregory the Great decided to incorporate the Druids’ holiday into the church. He made the proclamation, “They are no longer to sacrifice beasts to the devil, but they may kill them for food to the praise of God, and give thanks to the giver of all gifts for His bounty.” Pope Gregory III moved the church festival of October 31st to November 1st and called it All Hallows or All Saints’ Day. Pope Gregory IV decreed that the day was to be a universal church observance. The term Halloween comes from All Hallows Eve.
The founding fathers of America refused to permit the holiday to be observed because they knew it was a pagan holiday. Halloween was not widely celebrated in the U.S. until about 1900. In the 1840’s there was a terrible potato famine in Ireland which sent thousands of Catholic Irish to America. They brought Halloween with them. The modern custom of going from door to door asking for food and candy goes back to the time of the Druids.They believed that sinful, lost souls were released upon the earth by Samhain for one night on October 31st while they awaited their judgment. They were thought to throng about the houses of the living and were greeted with banquet-laden tables. People greatly feared these spirits and thought that the spirits would harm and even kill them if the sacrifices they gave did not appease Samhain. They carved demonic faces into pumpkins or large turnips, placing a candle in them to keep the evil spirits away from their homes.
The modern custom of going from door to door asking for food and candy goes back to the time of the Druids. They believed that sinful, lost souls were released upon the earth by Samhain for one night on October 31st while they awaited their judgment. They were thought to throng about the houses of the living and were greeted with banquet-laden tables. People greatly feared these spirits and thought that the spirits would harm and even kill them if the sacrifices they gave did not appease Samhain. They carved demonic faces into pumpkins or large turnips, placing a candle in them to keep the evil spirits away from their homes.
The tradition of bobbing for apples and giving out nuts came from a Roman addition to the Druidic New Year’s eve. The Romans worshiped Pomona who was the goddess of the harvest. They combined their harvest festival to Pomona with Halloween. Very little archeological evidence of the Druids has been found, but there is excellent agreement between the Roman and Irish documents. Both clearly state that the knowledge of the Druids was never committed to writing but passed from generation to generation by oral teaching. This was to protect their secrets. Nothing is put into writing. The Druids continue on secretly with much the same traditions.
When we, the Christians, participate in Halloween we are continuing the Druid tradition that was begun in human sacrifices and worship of the gods of the underworld. The Bible tells us to not merely avoid evil, but to also avoid anything that might appear evil. We are called to be “salt and light” to a lost and dying world. We are called to be a “peculiar people”, visibly different from the world around us. Participating in the Devil’s holiday, at the very least, is a bad testimony and sends confusing messages to our children.
Use your liberty in Christ any way you chose this October 31st, just remember that one day Jesus will ask you about it at the Judgment Seat
What answer will you give Him in that day?

Wednesday 21 October 2015

THE FIFTY POUNDS LESSON!


THE FIFTY POUNDS LESSON!

Recently, while I was working in the flower beds in the front garden, my neighbours stopped to chat as they returned home from walking their dog. During our friendly conversation, I asked their 12 year old daughter what she wanted to be when she grows up. She said she wanted to be Prime Minister someday.

Both of her parents who are Socialist Labour were standing there, so I asked her, "If you were Prime Minister what would be the first thing you
 would do?” She replied, "I'd give food and houses to all the homeless people.” Her parents beamed with pride!

"Wow! What a worthy goal!" I said. "But you don't have to wait until you’re Prime Minister to do that!" I told her. "What do you mean?" she replied. So I told her, "You can come over to my house and mow the lawn, pull weeds, and trim my hedge, and I'll pay you £50. Then you can go over to the grocery store where the homeless guy hangs out, and you can give him the £50 to use toward food and a new house."

She thought that over for a few seconds, then she looked me straight in the eye and asked, "Why doesn't the homeless guy come over and do the work, and you can just pay him the
 £50?”
I said, "Welcome to the Conservative Party.” Her parents aren't speaking to me anymore.

Monday 19 October 2015

"ONE FAT AND SASSY CHURCH" BY THE ALWAYS READ-ABLE WENDY WIPPEL!!




One Fat and Sassy Church By Wendy Wippel.

Believers see the UN’s Agenda 2030 as a blueprint for one-world government ratified September 25, as a harbinger of the seven-year period called the Tribulation. Doubters point to the persistence of deep divisions in world views, most significantly with respect to religion. No argument there. But when the church is gone only delusion will remain. 
We saw a couple of weeks ago that the Pope, at the UN, concurred with the UN’s call for global government in order to accomplish peace and parity for all, through the 17 comprehensive global issues areas that are now slated to come under UN control.  And high on the list of his methods of affecting world peace is to iron out differences in religious views.
Iron out meant literally. As completely remove them.
And he got started almost the minute he donned the Popely garb.
In July of 2013, His Holiness wished for Muslims celebrating Ramadan that their efforts would bear great spiritual fruit.

Despite the fact that by definition, according to the Qur'an, the purpose of Ramadan is to "magnify" Allah.
A short time later, he sent a message to the Grand Imam of the Al-Azhar Mosque, Ahmed Al Tayyeb, expressing his respect for Islam and hope that a mutual understanding could be achieved so that Islam and the Vatican could work together for peace and justice.

Not long after, the Vatican issued a statement expressing their opinion that profound respect for the beliefs and texts of other religions (in the context, specifically, of Islam) is "an essential precondition for the peaceful coexistence of peoples."
And in one intriguingly unguarded moment, Pope Francis defined what, for him, Christianity consisted of:
"Fundamentalism is always a falsification of religion and goes against the meaning of religion which is, instead, an invitation to share God's peace throughout the world ... The basic message of religion must be against violence."
So…through this religion named “peace”, an invitation, in the name of the generic God, to share world peace can succeed, according to Francis. Which would seem doubtful, unless he had an ace up his sleeve of some sort.
And perhaps he does. An ace named The Virgin Mary.  
Largely under the American religious radar, Virgin Mary apparitions have been going on all over the world. Particularly in Islamic countries.
Like Egypt. A socioeconomic crisis in 1968 was accompanied by an image of the Virgin Mary above a Coptic Christian church in Cairo and remained five months. More than a million Islamic Egyptians saw the apparition, and largely viewed it as a supernatural sign of support.  Mary again appeared, clothed in light, in 2009, and again in Cairo, in 2010. A Catholic priest who saw her then believed that her appearance was meant to bring about the end of the state of tensions between Muslims and Christians and an end to extremism.
Like Syria. Mary (our lady of Soufanieh) appeared in Damascus in 1982, during a civil war.  And this time she spoke, delivering messages that focused on peace among all peoples. (The house in which Our Lady of Soufanieh appears is now a focal point of prayer in Damascus for both Christians and Muslims.)

Like Lebanon. an 8- minute apparition of the Virgin Mary appeared in Harrisa, Lebanon, in 2012, telling all Christians to give, and never, ever to judge.
And of course, in Bosnia, Herzegovina, where the mother of Jesus has ostensibly appeared in the town of Medjugorje repeatedly since 1981. Her website records her nearly 15 years of messages, and includes Arab translations.
As well as translations in nearly every other language.  Because the apparitions aren’t appearing just to Arabs. Mary appeared to Rwandans shortly before the genocide there. And in Japan, beginning in 1983.
And in Mexico, and in Italy, and in Spain, and in Canada, and in Russiaa, and in Peru, and in Vietnam, and in France, and in Nigeria, and in Korea, and in Argentina, and in Zaire, and in Ukraine, and in Camerron, and in the Phillipines. and in Haiti.
And in Israel. All in just the last 30 years. Islam, particularly, in fact, has revered the Virgin Mary, and for centuries, as she is the only woman mentioned in the Koran and mentioned many more times than Mary is mentioned in the Bible.

So aside for us pesky Christians, for whom Christianity is not about world peace or social justice, but about spiritual truth. it would seem that the whole world, in fact, could rally around the Christianity shaping up under the new Vatican (with a little bit of help from Old Scratch himself in the form of the Virgin Mary) . Whose workings with respect to the new world church on the horizon are evident in the fact that many Protestant churches are now adding veneration of Mary to their practices.
Can you say Laodicea?  
As for the real church? Well, we’ll be safe in the arms of our Redeemer, having been snatched out ahead of the chaos to come.
True religion, accord to the Pope, must…"promote dialogue, reconciliation and peace." Jesus said… "Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword”.
Pretty big gap there, between “Christianity” and Christ.  And from where I sit? Gets bigger every day.
Which only means His return gets closer, right?

Maranatha!
Wendy.



Friday 16 October 2015

"THE EUROPEAN STAGE IS SET FOR THE ANTICHRIST" BY ALAN FRANKLIN FROM "THE FREE PRESS ONLINE"!!

Europe is being prepared for a one continent government with one leader: Antichrist. The second most important prophetic development of the last century – after the rebirth of Israel– was the creation of The European Union which in major ways already runs its 28 nation states as one country.
The continent is in turmoil. The nations of the European Union – 28 countries from the United Kingdom to the Baltics - are facing an influx of immigrants unseen since the end of the Second World War. Hundreds were filmed attacking Hungarian border guards while screaming “allahu akbar” which in Arabic means “god is great”.
I write “god” with a lower case “g”. For the key point for those looking at the spiritual dimension of this invasion is that we do NOT all worship the same god. We detail this in our book Cults and Isms: True or False? which is stocked in our web shop. We would like to see a copy on every believer’s bookshelf, as a way to quickly discern the difference between true and false faith.
Most of the current immigrants are Islamic, with up to 90 per cent being men aged around 25 to 35. So are they mainly coming to Europe to work, when Europe already has an average of eleven per cent of its workforce unemployed?  Further, there is over 20 per cent unemployment of those under 25 across the EU. If the immigrants were really being attacked by terrorists, would they not wish to stay and defend their wives and children?  When Hitler threatened to invade England, the men dug in and were ready to defend inch of British soil; they did not run away.

Couple this unwanted influx with major financial and political problems and you have the calls for drastic action – and the entry of a commanding figure to lead the continent out of its crisis. However, he will NOT be Islamic, despite the false prophetic interpretations being spread by those who misunderstand the book of Daniel.
This article describes the chaos engulfing the European Union, written with an eye on prophecy.
It looks like a tale of woe and is certainly not good news. However, the real good news is that when we see these things happening, the end times turmoil, we are to look up, for our redemption draweth nigh!
As the world hurtles headlong into the ultimate crisis, understand that all of this was predicted and it indicates the soon return of our Lord Jesus Christ. So be encouraged! The right understanding of prophetic events leads to the conclusion drawn by a dear old friend of ours who said this: ”Alan and Pat, all these things mean our Lord will soon be back to rule and reign from Jerusalem.” So we should adopt her attitude and pray: ”Maranatha, come quickly Lord Jesus.”

So let’s look at the EU, future base of the Man of Sin. According to London-based TV news network Sky News, Germany alone expects one million refugees this year.Saudi Arabia, our alleged “ally”, is coming to the rescue. Although refusing to take a single refugee or asylum seeker themselves, they are offering to build 200 mosques for their fellow religionists now flooding into Germany!
Mosques in the west have in the past been bases for extremist preaching and the spreading of their savage ideology. As I write this, Saudi Arabia has just sentenced a 74 year old English grandfather to 350 lashes for doing some home-brewing in a nation that bans alcohol (except when wealthy Saudis arrive in London and send for the whisky and call girls, of course).
Saudi Arabia doesn’t permit any Jew to set foot in its territory, bans all Christian services and Bibles, yet is allowed to fund mosques around the world, including all over the USA and UK, many of them massive, lavish, structures towering over ancient church steeples in England, giving them a good vantage point to blast out the calls to prayer.
On an island off England’s south coast is a Baptist church where I have spoken. Around the corner is Chapel Street. However, the picturesque old chapel that gave the street its name is now a mosque. Our nations are being transformed before our eyes at lightning speed.
This is from the Sky News report: “In a letter to party members, Germany’s vice chancellor, Sigmar Gabriel, said other EU nations should  take their fair share of refugees, and wanted a ‘common European effort’ to tackle the crisis.”  

Alan’s comment: Note the reference to the need for joint European action – the way things are fast traveling.“With the Schengen system of border-free travel through much of the continent under increasing pressure, the European Commission is to outline plans to distribute 160,000 refugees across 22 EU member states over the next two years. Several countries are opposed to the quota policy.”
That’s putting it mildly! Poland has spoken against the planned quota scheme, with its Prime Minister, Ewa Kopacz, insisting: "We will accept only as many refugees as we can afford, not a single one more or less."  This is the reaction of the average resident of The United Kingdom: You are talking about fundamental and permanent changes to the countries of Europe. Housing, schools, welfare and health services will all be overwhelmed.
The EU asylum laws give anyone allegedly at risk of ‘serious harm by reasons of indiscriminate violence in situations of international or internal armed conflict’ the right to admittance to the European Union. This means they stay permanently, as anyone touring the big cities of Great Britain can see from their car windows: in many areas the former local inhabitants are either a minority or long dispersed to outer suburbs.
When I speak at churches in the large cities of the United Kingdom I often hear the same story. It goes something like this: “Our family lived in (a big city) for decades. Islamics started to move in. They were all right at first, when there were just a few of them.
“The numbers increased and a redundant church was turned into a mosque. We were made increasingly unwelcome and eventually the area became dangerous for those of us who grew up in it. It was clear we had to move out.”

One old man told me that he went back into the inner city area where he grew up. It was now Islamic. A group of aggressive Muslim youths came up – Islam is a very aggressive ideology. They surrounded the old man. He said to them:”That’s the house where I grew up.” Their response went something like this: “This is our town now and you’d better get out of it, old man.”
Another man said Islamic young men started driving their cars at him when he crossed the street. Not quite hitting him, but not far off. He got the message and moved away. A woman said that in a supermarket a burka-clad woman barged ahead of her and snarled: "This is our area now - you can clear off.”
Now as a reporter for many years, then a chief reporter and editor, I know that people exaggerate. I like provable facts. This is first hand. In one Islamic area of a big English city, Pat and I were in our car when a crowd of Islamic youths in a van drove at us on the wrong side of the road. Yes, this in England today.
Don’t expect gratitude.

  • In Macedonia Muslim “refugees” refused Red Cross food parcels, as they were not “halal” (prepared in a way acceptable to muslims).

  • In Germany Muslim illegal immigrants have refused donated food for reasons including it not being halal.

  • In Hungary they were filmed  hurling away food gifts – non halal – and even water bottles, the latter because Hungary refused to send them to the welfare haven country of their choice.

  • Destroyed windows lie in front of a first registration center for refugees in Suhl, eastern Germany. One of the smashed signs has a heading in English, which looks almost satirical after what happened: “How to behave properly.” Lesson clearly not learned….

Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban was the first European leader to take decisive action after the flood of immigrants reached  10,000 a day into his small nation. He put up fences, which hordes of angry young men have been trying to storm ever since, starting  fights with guards. 
He said his nation, one of the newer members of the European Union, put up fences to ‘protect our way of life’ saying ‘Hungary has had 1000 years of Christian culture.  We Hungarians don’t want the worldwide movement of people to change Hungary.’”
I saw one TV commentator describe this as “racism.” This is the caliber of so-called commentators: they don’t know the difference between race and religion!
The fence between Hungary and Croatia is an extension of one built along Hungary’s border with non-EU member Serbia. It is designed to reduce the influx of people, now hitting 8,000 to 10,000 a day, many coming via Croatia in the hopes of reaching Western Europe.
Patriotic Dutch politician Geert Wilders called the refugees pushing into Europe an "Islamic invasion", during a September parliamentary debate. He commented: “… Masses of young men in their twenties with beards are singing Allahu Akbar across Europe. It's an invasion that threatens our prosperity, our security, our culture and identity."
Former Libyan leader Ghaddafi said: “Islam will take over Europe without violent force within a few decades.   We have 50 million Muslims in Europe.  There are signs that Allah will grant Islam victory in Europe– without swords, without guns, without conquests. The Muslims of Europe will turn it into a Muslim continent within a few decades.”

The bulk of migrants seeking asylum in EU countries are not from Syria, despite media coverage suggesting otherwise. Only one-in-five appear to be fleeing the Syrian conflict.
Of 213,000 arrivals in the EU in the second quarter of 2015,  44,000 were from Syria. The second largest group – 27,000 – were from Afghanistan. Another 17,700 claims were made by Albanians, where there is no war or serious  unrest. Meanwhile, 13,900 asylum seekers came from Iraq.
The figures have been compiled by Eurostat, the EU’s number crunchers. They also show that migration from April-June was double the level for the same quarter last year.
So far this year, half a million migrants have arrived in Europe, 156,000 in August. They cross the Mediterranean and usually arrive in the south of the continent, with half landing in Greece and Italy, before trying to reach  northern Europe, from Germany to Sweden. Others are causing havoc in the Channel Tunnel, where thousands sneak on to trains heading for the United Kingdom, hiding in the backs of trucks.
So what are all these vigorous young men going to do when they arrive in Europe? Few women travel with them.  There have been a series of trials and ongoing investigations in major British cities of Islamic sex-grooming of often very young girls, while much the same has been reported in nations across Europe. French girls are often at risk in cities like Paris if caught out in the wrong clothes and in the wrong area.
The usual liberal media and bleeding hearts – the people whose views are paradoxically the opposite of Islamic fundamentalism - describe concerns about this as “Islamophobia” or racism, despite the fact that race and religion are unconnected. Many Muslims do want peace and a quiet life, but their religion contains exhortations to violence and at any time they can turn to those tenets.  

The problem is that Europe is borderless. You can drive across Europe, as our son has done, without showing a passport until the Ukrainian border. So the mainly Islamic mass migration engulfing Europe means that the whole continent is affected. Once in any European country, you are free to move to others.
Already parts of major cities in Europe from Malmo in Sweden to Marseille in France have Muslim quarters where non Muslims are intimidated and driven out and the police and emergency services are afraid to enter.  Much of the outer suburbs of Paris are like this.
A district of The Hague in Holland is run by unofficial Sharia law, while in Belgium radical Muslim leader Abu Islam is head of a group called Sharia4Belgium.  He says it is a matter of time before Muslims, with their high birth rate compared to the low birth rate of Europeans, are a majority in the country.  At that point he hopes to impose Sharia law on Belgium. Here is how the Daily Telegraph of London reported the tidal wave of Islamic immigration: “Britain and the rest of the European Union are ignoring a demographic time bomb: a recent rush into the EU by migrants, including millions of Muslims, will change the continent beyond recognition over the next two decades, and almost no policy-makers are talking about it.

“The numbers are startling. Only 3.2 per cent of Spain's population was foreign-born in 1998. In 2007 it was 13.4 per cent. Europe's Muslim population has more than doubled in the past 30 years and will have doubled again by this year (2015). In Brussels (main capital of the European Union), the top seven baby boys' names recently were Mohamed, Adam, Rayan, Ayoub, Mehdi, Amine and Hamza.
“Europe's low indigenous birth rate, coupled with faster multiplying migrants, will change fundamentally what we take to mean by European culture and society. The altered population mix has far-reaching implications for education, housing, welfare, labor, the arts and everything in between.”
This is fundamental, fact-based reporting, of the type that is too rare. I wonder how many Germans know that the number of Muslims in the country is now nearly six million? Islam is the fastest growing religion in post-Christian Germany with many former church buildings converted into mosques, some of which are publicly sounding calls to prayer (the adhan) from outdoor loudspeaker systems.
A German document dated August 18th this year from a refugee center in Hessen (Germany) sounds the alarm about Muslim immigrants raping the women AND children. They clearly state that it is not incidental: it happens a lot. Women don’t dare go to the bathroom at night and sleep in their day clothes.
In Germany a campaign called "A Koran in Every Home," is distributing 25 million copies of the Koran, in German, to every household.  At the same time the media and the political establishment are attempting to silence critics of the rise of Islam inGermany, accusing them of hate speech.
Lebanese education minister Elias Bousaab told British Prime Minister David Cameron that two out of every 100 Syrian migrants into Europe are ISIL fighters.  He said the extremist group is sending trained jihadists under cover to attack targets in the West.  If true, thousands of jihadists could be entering Europe without passports, avoiding detection.

According to the US Migration Policy Institute, Muslims  will account for more than 20 per cent of the EU population by 2050 and already do so in a number of cities. In Brussels, self-styled “capital of Europe”, they number over 300,000.
If you just looked at news stories, and believed in a coming world leader called Antichrist, you might be deluded into thinking that an Islam-dominated Europe will produce such a man. This is not what will happen. The Bible clears the mind of error.
Scripture tells why we won't have an Islamic Antichrist. Daniel 9: 26 confirms the Antichrist’s Roman origin. Verse 27 shows he will make a peace/protection treaty with Israel, which will signal the start of the Tribulation. Chapter 11:37 is interesting in that the NASB correctly translates it as stating Antichrist will show no regard for the gods – plural - of his fathers. That again proves he will not be Islamic. Islam has one (false) god - Allah.
1 John 2:22 says, "He is Antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son."  While Islam states that God has no son, Muslims don't deny there is a God in heaven. And that is what this verse is portraying. See also 2 Thess. 2:4: The Antichrist "opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the Templeof God, showing himself that he is God."
The Antichrist will not only deny the Son of God, he will claim worship himself, which would not be acceptable to any Islamic.  Islam wants the world to accept Allah as the true god with Mohammed as his prophet.
The fact that he shows no regard for the desire of women indicates that he may be homosexual which, I suspect, is the reason for the worldwide move to promote homosexuality as just another "normal" lifestyle.
The reason I wrote my first book, EU: Final World Empire, was to wake people up to the fact that Antichrist will be based in the EU, which he will lead. The EU is the Revived Roman Empire, established at The Treaty of Rome, held at The Vatican in1957. It is a profoundly Catholic institution and all heads of it have been RC.
However, world religions are fast merging, with the Pope to the fore. Mary is being used to bring many Catholics and Muslims together and Mary-like beings, the "Mother of God," are found in all the main religions. This is, of course, a demonic spirit with many names in many religions, right back to Babylon, the fount of all false religion.

Despite this I do not see Islam as a major end times force and Psalm 83 indicates that the Arab nations around Israelwill shortly be dealt with once they unite to attack Israel. Next comes the Ezekiel 38/9 Russian-led invasion which puts paid to the Russian Army plus all the outer ring of Islamic states.
Europe is where the power will be, as America, like the UK, is ripe for judgment, and will shortly be out of the picture - America is not in end times prophecy.
You are seeing prophecy fulfilled before your eyes here in Europe, happening at ever faster speed. The role of Europe as the future base of Antichrist is clearly set out in the book of Daniel as the late Dr. Noah Hutchings explains  in his book: Daniel The Prophet. The EU has arisen out of the remnants of the old Roman Empire (see Daniel 2 and 7 and Revelation 13).
It takes a crisis to force actions that in normal times people wouldn’t tolerate - like giving up their sovereignty, or what’s left of it. One EU official even said, as a major problem emerged: “Never waste a good crisis.” In most major respects Europe is already run as one nation, with common borders, laws, a court, parliament, a president and much else. The motto is: “Ever closer union.”
Those who live under the 12-starred flag of Europe are mainly unaware that the stars are the stars of Mary, which indicates the EU’s spiritual origin and base.  Remember: the Revived Roman Empire is the world’s last empire prior to our Lord’s return.
  • If churches in America would like to learn more, I am available in 2016 to talk about this and other subjects, from cults and isms to the Middle East in Bible Prophecy, majoring on the Bible in the News. alan@thefreepressonline.co.uk

Monday 12 October 2015

"IS THE PRE-WRATH RAPTURE VIEW VALID" BY DR DAVID REAGAN.

Is the Pre-Wrath Rapture View Valid?
Dr. David R. ReaganBy Dr. David R. Reagan
Founder & Director, Lamb & Lion Ministries

Let's begin with some definitions and clarifications. The term, Rapture, refers to the idea that a day will come when Jesus will appear in the heavens, at which time the dead in Christ will be resurrected to meet Him in the air and to receive their glorified bodies. Living believers will be taken up also and will be translated en route from mortal to immortal. Both the resurrected believers and the living ones will then return to Heaven with Jesus. This event is viewed by most as being separate and apart from the Second Coming of Jesus when He will return to earth to reign for a thousand years.

The word, Rapture, does not appear in English language Bibles, but it can be found in the Latin Vulgate translation of Jerome, which served as the basic Bible of the Western world for over 1200 years, from 400AD to 1611 when the King James Version was published.The word appears in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. In English versions it is expressed as "caught up." The concept of the Rapture can be found in many other places in the New Testament — for example, in John 14:1-4 and 1 Corinthians 15:51-53.

One other thing that needs to be made clear about the Rapture is that it is a promise to the Bride of Christ, which is the Church. It will not include Old Testament Saints. They will be resurrected at the time of the Lord's Second Coming, at the end of the Tribulation (Daniel 12:1-2). The Tribulation Martyrs — those who accept Jesus as Lord and Savior during the Tribulation and who are killed for their faith — will also be resurrected at the time of the Second Coming.


The Question of Timing

Among those who believe in a Rapture of the Church, there is disagreement as to the timing of the event. Until recent years, there were three concepts of the Rapture's timing:
1) The Pre-Trib View — This is the idea that the Rapture will take place before the Tribulation begins.
2) The Mid-Trib View — This viewpoint places the Rapture in the middle of the Tribulation.
3) The Post-Trib View — According to this view, the Rapture and the Second Coming are all one event that takes place at the end of the Tribulation.

The "Pre-Wrath" View

In 1990 Marvin Rosenthal presented a fourth viewpoint in his book,The Pre-Wrath Rapture of the Church. Rosenthal was not the originator of this new viewpoint. Rather, he was the one who popularized it with his book.

The person who conceived the "Pre-Wrath" view of the Rapture was a man named Robert Van Kampen (1938-1999). Van Kampen became one of America's richest men through his involvement in investment banking. During his lifetime he accumulated one of the largest private collections of rare and antique Bibles in North America.

In the 1970's Van Kampen began developing the "Pre-Wrath" concept of the timing of the Rapture. Once he had completed his work on the concept, he started trying to find a well known person in the field of Bible prophecy to endorse his new view. That person finally turned out to be Marvin Rosenthal, who at the time was serving as the director of a very influential ministry called Friends of Israel. Rosenthal tried to convince the board of the ministry to abandon its commitment to the Pre-Trib view and accept the new viewpoint. They refused, and Rosenthal was forced to depart. He went to Florida where he built the Holy Land Experience — a Christian theme park which has since been taken over by the Trinity Broadcasting Network. Today, Rosenthal serves as the director of Zion's Hope, a ministry located in Winter Garden, Florida.

Rosenthal's book was financed by Van Kampen's fortune, and he mailed out thousands of copies to pastors all over America. Later, Van Kampen wrote his own books about the "Pre-Wrath" view, the most important being The Sign (1992).


The Meaning of the "Pre-Wrath" View

The "Pre-Wrath" view of the Rapture argues that the first three-fourths of the Tribulation is the wrath of Man and the wrath of Satan, and not the wrath of God. Therefore, the proponents of this view argue that the Church will suffer through the first three-quarters of the Tribulation since the Church is promised protection only from the wrath of God.

Those who espouse this viewpoint of the Rapture's timing believe that the Seal Judgments are the wrath of Man and Satan and that they continue throughout the first half of the Tribulation and into the second half, right up to the three-quarters point, or shortly thereafter. They place the Trumpet Judgments in the last quarter of the Tribulation and the Bowl Judgments in the first 30 days following the end of Daniel's 70th Week of Years.
The Pre-Wrath Rapture

Objections to the Viewpoint

I have a number of objections to this concept of the Rapture's timing.

1) The Name — I object to the name given the viewpoint by its proponents. The name is both confusing and vague. It is confusing because both the Pre-Trib and Mid-Trib views are "Pre- Wrath." The Pre-Trib view argues that the entire 7 years of the Tribulation (Daniel's 70th Week of Years) constitutes a pouring out of the wrath of God. The Mid-Trib view takes the position that only the second half of the Tribulation is the period of God's wrath. So, Rosenthal's name for his viewpoint does not distinguish it from the Pre-Trib and Mid-Trib views. All three are prewrath views.

The "Pre-Wrath" name is also vague because it does not give a clue as to when the Rapture occurs in relation to the Tribulation. The name of the Pre-Trib view signifies a belief that the Rapture will occur before (pre) the Tribulation begins. The name of the Mid-Trib view clearly indicates a belief that the Rapture will occur in the middle of the Tribulation. The name of the Post-Trib view puts the Rapture after (post) the Tribulation. But the name, "Pre-Wrath" gives no indication of when the Rapture will occur with relation to the Tribulation.

For that reason, I have decided to call the "Pre-Wrath" view the Three-Quarters Tribulation Rapture viewpoint. And I will be abbreviating it throughout the rest of this article as the "3/4 Trib Rapture." I have given it that name because its proponents believe the Rapture will occur about three-quarters of the way through the Tribulation, or shortly thereafter.

2) The Chronology — I object to the 3/4 Trib Rapture because it violates the chronology of the book of Revelation. The sequence of events that is pictured in the book of Revelation clearly places both the Seal Judgments and the Trumpet Judgments in the first half of the 70th Week of Daniel. And the Bowl Judgments are clearly contained within Daniel's 70th Week, near its end. The 3/4 Trib view scrambles all this. As you can see in the diagram above, the Seal Judgments are continued over into the second half of the 7 year period, the Trumpet Judgments are moved from the first half to the end of the second half, and the Bowl Judgments are appended to a 30 day period after the close of Daniel's 70th Week!

3) Imminence — One of my strongest objections to the 3/4 Trib view is its destruction of the imminence of the Lord's return. The Bible emphasizes that the Lord could return at any moment and that we should live looking for His return (Matthew 24:44, 1 Corinthians 1:7, Philippians 3:20, Philippians 4:5, Colossians 3: 4, 1 Thessalonians 1:10, 1 Thessalonians 5:6, Titus 2:13, and Revelation 16:15). The 3/4 Trib view says the Lord cannot return until after the Antichrist appears, the Jewish Temple has been rebuilt and the world has suffered through about 5 years of the wrath of Man and Satan. Thus, according to the 3/4 Trib view, we should be living looking for the Antichrist and not Jesus Christ.

Rosenthal asserts that the Bible never says that any prophesied end time events could not occur before the Rapture. He is correct. The re-establishment of Israel is an example. The war of Gog & Magog could prove to be another example. Imminency does not preclude the fulfillment of some end time prophecies before the Rapture. Rather, it asserts that none have to happen before the Rapture can occur.

4) The Wrath of God — Another strong objection I have to the 3/4 Trib Rapture view is its mistaken concept of the sovereignty of God. The view attempts to distinguish the wrath of Man and Satan from the wrath of God. Both Man and Satan operate under the sovereignty of God. That's why Psalm 2 pictures God sitting in Heaven laughing at the evil plots of the world's political leaders. His laughing is not motivated by a lack of concern. He laughs because He has the wisdom and power to orchestrate all the evil of Man and Satan to the triumph of His Son.

Further, the Bible portrays God pouring out His wrath both directly (Sodom and Gomorrah) and indirectly (the destruction of both Israel and Judah). God poured out His wrath upon the rebellious northern nation of Israel by allowing the Assyrians to conquer it. He even referred to the Assyrians as "the rod of My anger" (Isaiah 10:5) and "My war-club" (Jeremiah 51:20).

When the prophet Habakkuk complained about God doing nothing about the evil of the southern nation of Judah, the Lord revealed that He was going to pour out His wrath on that nation through Babylon (Habakkuk 1:6). And when the Lord was finished with Babylon, He raised up the Medes and Persians to conquer the Babylonian Empire, referring to the conquering army as "My consecrated ones" (Isaiah 13:3).

During Daniel's 70 Weeks of Years, much of the wrath of God will be executed through the Antichrist, but it is still the wrath of God.

5) The Tribulation — I object to the way in which the 3/4 Trib Rapture view denies that the first half of Daniel's 70th Week is part of the Tribulation. The fact of the matter is that both halves of Daniel's 70th Week are referred to in the Scriptures as a time of tribulation. Matthew 24:9 refers to the first half as "tribulation," and Matthew 24:21 classifies the second half as "great tribulation." Incidentally, Jesus' reference to the second half as the "great tribulation" does not mean it will be worse than the first half. Rather, Jesus called it that because He was speaking to a Jewish audience, and the second half of the Tribulation will be when the Antichrist will try to annihilate the Jews.

6) The Purpose of Daniel's 70th Week — I object to the way in which the 3/4 Trib Rapture view distorts the purpose of Daniel's 70th Week. Daniel 9:24-27 makes it clear that the purpose of Daniel's 70 Weeks of Years is to accomplish six things among the Jewish people:
  1. To finish transgression
  2. To make an end of sin
  3. To make atonement for iniquity
  4. To bring in everlasting righteousness
  5. To seal up vision and prophecy
  6. To anoint the most Holy Place
Just as the first 69 weeks of years (483 years) of the prophecy had nothing to do with the Church, neither does the final week of years. The last seven year period of Daniel's prophecy is about the accomplishment of the purposes listed above among the Jewish people. Accordingly, the entire period of Daniel's 70th Week is referred to in Jeremiah 30:7 as "the time of Jacob's trouble." There is no purpose for the Church during Daniel's 70th Week.

7) The Church — I object to the 3/4 Trib Rapture view of why the Church must be present during the Tribulation.Incredibly, the argument has been proclaimed that the Church must suffer "for purging and purifying."1 The Bible says that the blood of Jesus is sufficient to cleanse us of all sin (1 John 1:7). The idea that the Church needs to be purified creates a Christian Purgatory, which is a blasphemy of the blood of Jesus. Furthermore, why is it that only the end time Church deserves this fate?

8) The Seal Judgments — I strongly object to the 3/4 Trib Rapture view that the Seal Judgments do not constitute any portion of the wrath of God. The judgments originate at the throne of God when Jesus begins to open each seal (Revelation 6:1). Further, they are referred to as "the wrath of the Lamb"(Revelation 6:16-17).

9) The Length of Daniel's 70th Week of Years — I object to the fact that the 3/4 Trib Rapture view extends Daniel's 70th Week by 30 days beyond the 7 years or 2,520 days it is supposed to run (Revelation 11:3 and 12:6). There is just no scriptural basis for this extension.

10) The Day of the Lord — I object to the 3/4 Trib view of the Day of the Lord. Rosenthal contends that it begins with the opening of the 7th Seal, and he therefore argues that the wrath of God does not begin until this point.

The problem here is that the Day of the Lord is a term that is used in many different ways in the Bible, and it must always be interpreted in context. There are places when it refers to specific national judgments from God, as when Israel was destroyed by Assyria (Amos 5:18-20) and when Judah was destroyed by Babylon (Lamentations 2:21-22 and Ezekiel 13:5). In like manner the fall of Babylon is called the Day of the Lord (Isaiah 13:6-13).

But there are also times when the term refers to end time events. In this regard, it sometimes refers to the return of Jesus at the end of Daniel's 70th Week (Isaiah 2:10-22, Joel 3:9-17 and Zechariah 14:1-9). In other end time contexts, the term is used in a broader sense. For example, in Zephaniah 1:14-18 it is used to refer to the entire period of the Tribulation when "all the earth will be devoured in the fire of His jealousy..."

In 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3 it says the Day of the Lord will come at a time when people are feeling safe and secure — which would be at the beginning of Daniel's 70th Week, after the Antichrist negotiates a treaty that guarantees peace for Israel. But the prophet Isaiah repeatedly uses a shorthand version of the term — "in that day" — to refer to the Millennium (Isaiah 4:2-6). I therefore think that in reference to the end times, the broad use of the term refers to the period of time from the beginning of Daniel's 70th Week to the end of the Millennium.

Friday 9 October 2015

PLEASE DO NOT MISS THE NEWPORT CONFERENCE TOMORROW FEATURING THE DYNAMIC RESEARCH OF THE INSPIRATIONAL DEBORAH MENELAWS FROM BETHEL COMMUNICATIONS!!

Dear Friends,

As most of you are all now aware, The Upper Room Fellowship (TURF) has now closed and along with it, all branch meetings of the PWMI for NEWPORT.

As a result, we have cancelled two of our conferences planned for the Autumn and early winter period, but we have decided to proceed with our last venture for Newport, which is the splendid teaching seminar lined up by the dynamic researcher Deborah Menelaws from Bethel Communications in Scotland (pictured below) on Saturday, the 10th October. 


This final PWMI event for Newport before its disbanding will now take place at:

The Breakthrough Church Of Wales,
128, Lower Dock Street,
Newport,
NP20 1EG.

It is an upstairs building above the "Sigma 3 Kitchens" showroom, also at 128 Lower Dock Street, and just down the road and nearly opposite "The Kings Church" at 69 Lower Dock Street.

The first of the three meetings will commence at 10am under the title of "THE ENEMY WITHIN", which is part of The Watchman Series, which is based on End Times and Last Days Events and Scenarios.

Session One (10am): WHERE SATAN DWELLS!

Session Two (11,30am approx): BABYLON RESURRECTED!

Lunch Break (12.30 to 1.15pm approx) where light refreshments and nibbles will be supplied.

Session Three: (1.30pm approx) PREPARING FOR PERSECUTION!

Final Summary and Q&A section at around 2.30pm for 3pm closure.

Because of lack of support in the Newport and surrounding area, the Newport branch of the PWMI will be closing down after this meeting, unless sufficient people come forward to offer their support and attendance at meetings.

So please come along so that Deborah's long trip from Scotland will not be a disappointing affair with a low attendance. She is a dynamic researcher in the film and media industry, particularly relating to the persecution we, as part of the Laodicean Latter Day Church, are going to have to endure if our faith remains resolute under the severe persecution likely to come our way!

If you need any further information, please give me a ring on 07808 251502 or contact me via email at nev1233@yahoo.co.uk.

Maranatha Blessings,

Nev.