March 25, 2008

I have been silent, (again) for several weeks. I have noticed there is a method to this, and not of my own doing. As a cooking pot that gets to the boiling point and then blows its lid off with its steam, I do not write at will but only when moved to do so, I find myself bubbling over with new insights and urgency in the matter of prophetical (End Times) study. I am just coming out of one of these periods and I have to say that this time, the mood is quite different. Long time readers of this column know what I am talking about.

Let me be quite explicit, without being speculative or appearing manipulative: I am quite positive that we have crossed into Final Days matters and that this year, 2008, will be a pivot point for several threads which lead into the End zone. Prophecy unfolding before our eyes indeed and while it is a sad fact that most Christians do not understand prophetical events even if slamming headfirst into one of them, nonetheless there are some who are aware of the times.

I remember seeing a movie, in my pre-Christian days, which left with me with a powerful image of what I am trying to say here. The movie, “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” a sci-fi directed by Steven Spielberg, was a huge hit back then and it dealt with space aliens wanting to land on earth and all that. In the movie plot, several men and women were “impressed upon” by the aliens about their landing spot so that they would be obsessed to understand what it all meant and eventually to find their way to Devil’s Mountain, the not-so-accidental name of the mystic landing spot. Now, never mind about the aliens blah blah blah, the principle being used was very interesting. For whatever reason or criteria, somebody was being chosen while others were not. When I became a Christian (born again) and the Lord impressed strongly on my spirit the study of the Bible’s End Time prophecies, I was simply amazed that most Christians were neither interested nor concerned about them as if those prophecies were reserved for a very nebulous future and/or a very different people, if they would reach fulfillment at all. In the course of my Christian life, I found out that there were “others” who like me, were strongly impressed with the same interest and urgency regarding the Times of the End. As in the movie, those who were/are impressed with this knowledge, find it very difficult to communicate to others what they are experiencing.

Leaving the movie comparison aside, one fact however appears extremely clear: The Lord has always had His sentinels through whom He reaches out to His people and apart from the present sad and painful state of the Church, the Holy Spirit is impressing the sentinels with the urgency of the hour.

In this column, we strive to present events which we believe are related to Biblical prophecy fulfillment and as we move ahead, there is so much happening worldwide that even a child could put two and two together, but the Church, in true ten-virgins-mode, remains mysteriously asleep. But the sentinels MUST speak up and speak out.

One of the principal (if not the most important) thread which has to do with End Time prophecy is the Jewish people.
They are indeed the chosen people, and while they will fully inherit the promises of God, before that happens, Scripture, both in the Old and in the New Testament tells us that they will undergo a terrible time of trial, (Jacob’s trouble - “Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.” Jeremiah 30:7)
Unfortunately, it is not over for them. One would think that after the Holocaust of recent memory, humanity would never have to live through another such dark and evil time, but it will, and if possible, it will be even worse than that.

Sometimes I despair over the aloofness of the Jewish people. Surely some of them see the darkness coming, but most of them (like the Church) are uncaring and totally unprepared. The Christian sentinels are sounding the alarm, but alas, they are deaf and they do not hear the sound of the trumpet over the walls of Zion. Rightly God several times called them a “stiff-necked people”:

“Furthermore the LORD spoke to me, saying, ‘I have seen this people, and indeed they are a stiff-necked people.” Deuteronomy 9:13

We, at Apocalypse soon have been sounding this alarm for years, while things have been growing steadily worse.

Report: Anti-Semitism on the rise globally

March 14, 2008
WASHINGTON (CNN) — A report from the U.S. State Department details “an upsurge” across the world of anti-Semitism — hostility and discrimination toward Jewish people.

“Today, more than 60 years after the Holocaust, anti-Semitism is not just a fact of history, it is a current event,” the report says.

The report — called Contemporary Global Anti-Semitism and given to Congress on Thursday — is dedicated to the memory of the late U.S. Rep. Tom Lantos, a survivor of the Holocaust, the extermination of 6 million Jews during World War II.

The report details physical acts of anti-Semitism, such as attacks, property damage, and cemetery desecration. It also lists manifestations such as conspiracy theories concerning Jews, Holocaust denial, anti-Zionism and the demonization of Israel.

“Over much of the past decade, U.S. embassies worldwide have noted an increase in anti-Semitic incidents, such as attacks on Jewish people, property, community institutions, and religious facilities,” the report says.
>>read rest of the story here

Of Mice and Men

November 7, 2007

I sustain that genetic modifications through Dna manipulations is the “sign” that we have gone too far and judgment is upon us. Specifically, this “sign” is not among those given by the Lord Jesus Christ, when His disciples asked

“Tell us, when shall these things be? and what [shall be] the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Mat. 24:3

Certainly it would have been quite a challenge to the sacred writers to come to terms with such a concept, but regardless, if we read Jesus reply with attention and most importantly, in the spirit, we can see pointers and reflections of that very fact.
The business of creation, as I have said before, does not belong to fallen man.

Enter SuperMouse

For a while, we have been hearing of strange experiments, starting from Dolly (not the first case, but surely the most talked about) and ending up with today’s super mouse. Every time a new case surfaces, we suffer the usual diatribes of the pro and cons and then, after two days all is gone and forgotten from public view. Personally, I find it boldly daring that these kind of news surface at all. I do not want to even imagine what is NOT brought into public scrutiny.

England is much at the forefront of this type of weird “science.” Just a few weeks ago, a law was passed in the United Kingdom, allowing for the “scientific” mixing of human and animal Dna, thus producing the strange hybrid, called “Chimera” (Wikipedia).

These kind of experiments, which not long ago would have horrified any sane person are becoming so common place and are actually being welcomed by a selfish population whose only objective is to extend their self-indulgent lifestyle to the max and perhaps, eternally. The fools!

Most people are totally ignorant about how much gene and Dna manipulation has advanced. Big Pharma and Big Bio are going, excuse the pun, really big on this. They can engineer a “new” something, copyright it and just sit down and collect. These self-appointed benefactors of humanity are very shrewd in placing their money where the biggest profits are foreseen, bypassing or leaving behind “minor” infirmities or third world diseases, where there is no money to be made. And when people read that the super mouse … can run for hours at 20 meters per minute without getting tired, lives longer, has more sex, and eats more without gaining weight the unanimous reaction is “I want in.”

Egoism is a very dangerous state of being. It blinds and it leads to destruction those who practice it especially when coupled with pride.

And the LORD said, Behold, the people [is] one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Genesis 11:6

As I read these verses I am in awe: certainly the people of that time had progressed much in matters that concerned their lives and moreover they were planning for their future: We must assume that their plans for the future were wildly out-of-order if God decided to intervene. God knew that their evil imaginations could become reality, just like God knows today that these evil experiments will bring much sorrow upon a deluded humanity. Experiments, as a rule, have a way to get out of hand. Past history and literature offer ample proof to that.

Whatever man can conceive, he will realize, sooner or later, such is the power of the human mind. Today, the cat is out of the bag and it will not be placed back in. With visions of a super body and a life span approaching eternity dancing before its eyes, mankind slides instead into the ancient trap. As it was in the beginning, so … the circle closes.

Scientists have been astounded by the creation of a genetically modified “supermouse” with extraordinary physical abilities – comparable to the performance of the very best athletes – raising the prospect that the discovery may one day be used to transform people’s capacities. The mouse can run up to six kilometers (3.7 miles) at a speed of 20 meters per minute for five hours or more without stopping. Scientists said that this was equivalent of a man cycling at speed up an Alpine mountain without a break. Although it eats up to 60 per cent more food than an ordinary mouse, the modified mouse does not put on weight. It also lives longer and enjoys an active sex life well into old age – being capable of breeding at three times the normal maximum age.

American scientists who created the mice – they now have a breeding colony of 500 – said that they were stunned by their abilities, especially given that the animals came about as a result of a standard genetic modification to a single metabolism gene shared with humans.

By Steve Connor, Science Editor - The Independent
02 November 2007

As it happens, God wants the same benefits (and much much more) for his creatures, and He will soon deliver the promises to the His faithful, but it is going to be His Way, which is the Right Way. God wants to change FIRST our heart and then the our body and our surroundings, while man wants to change his body and his surroundings, and does not give a hoot about the heart and there lies the problem. All technical marvels will turn deadly in the hands of unregenerate men. Science fiction movies, unconsciously, have well depicted the hopelessness of a future without God, where danger and evil are always waiting in the wings. In God’s Kingdom there will be no place for that.

And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. Apoc 21:4

The Pope and the Catholic Church

 

When Pope Benedict XVI was elected, I nurtured some reasonable hope that he would move the Catholic Church closer to the Biblical standard of truth, being an intelligent and theologically well-versed scholar. I had heard him, on a televised interview, dissect the cause of Christ just as any good evangelical would have. Moreover, his personal and extensive knowledge of Protestantism promised a solid and sound season of confrontation. However, as times goes by, he is revealing himself as an abject failure in just about any field he has addressed and an open embarrassment to many in the same Catholic church.

Indeed, he demonstrates two (at the very least) profound truths:

1) study and scholarship do not a man of God make

2) the Catholic Church remains unrecoverable

One truly remains stupefied at the gross Biblical ignorance practiced by the Catholic clergy and by the quite, resigned and naive acquiescence of their faithful. It seems the all are under a spell, and in a way, they are. As stated in other parts of this web site, I know that there are many, many Catholics which are saved. God knows the heart, and God knows how much light they received. I do differentiate between clergy and faithful, for the simple fact that the latter were until recent times ignorant of the Sacred Scriptures, at least in many countries, like Italy, were I grew up.

I was about to write a rebuttal to the pope’s latest outburst (about the Catholic Church being the only true church), just as I happened upon an article which amazingly said what I wanted to say, so I will post this whole article and my resounding Amen! to it. By the way, as the article writer, I also grew up in the Catholic Church and served Mass and was tops in catechism. Only nobody ever bothered to tell me about the New Birth, a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and that He is willing and able to help anyone with a contrite heart who asks Him to. And He can do it right now and instantly, not in the bye and bye.

He is risen and very much alive and He’s got the whole world in His Hands …

Non-Catholics who are up in arms of the proclamation by Pope Benedict XVI that the only true church in the world is that of Catholicism shouldn’t even bother getting upset. Just chalk it up to an old man trying to get a little attention.

For him to even suggest that only the Catholic Church can provide true salvation to believers in Christ shows that he is wholly ignorant of the Scriptures that I have known all my life.

Sorry, let me take that back. I’ve really only known the Bible for the last 13 of my 38 years. That’s because those first 25 years were spent as a die-hard Catholic.

That’s right, I was born and raised in the Catholic Church. One of the first meetings to build the church I was raised in — Our Lady Star of the Sea in Houston — took place in my grandparents’ living room. Many of my Saturdays and Sundays were spent serving as an altar boy, Catholic Youth Organization leader, dedicated student of Catechism, and constantly reciting the Holy Rosary.

And the reality is that we were never really encouraged to study the Scriptures. The standard practice was for all of us to read the same pamphlets passed out by the church, recite the readings from the New and Old Testaments, listen to the Scripture chosen for us in the Gospel and hear a normally bland homily.

That isn’t always the case at some Catholic churches. If you visit St. Sabina in Chicago, Father Michael Pfleger will surely have your soul jumping with his strong sermons and willingness to engage the community to get involved in direct action.

Yet as I reflect on my years as a Catholic, it pretty much was a wasted experience, as there was more identification with the church, and not with Christ.

And that’s why Pope Benedict XVI is meaningless, along with his decision to re-state the primacy of the Catholic Church. This week, the pope released a document correcting interpretations of the Second Vatican Council, which some say modernized the church. But for hardliners like Pope Benedict XVI, the liberals went too far in some of their declarations.

But what ticked folks off was his assertion in the 16-page document by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith that the only denominations that can call themselves true churches are ones that can trace their roots back to Jesus Christ’s original apostles. He even suggested they suffer from defects.

This is nothing but a naked attempt by Pope Benedict XVI to “own” Jesus by virtue of the Catholic Church considering the apostle Peter as its leader. He refuses to acknowledge the reality that Jesus didn’t consider a church to be most important. What was? The Great Commission.

The Bible records in Matthew 28:16 that Jesus called his 11 disciples (the other, Judas, hanged himself after betraying Jesus) to Mount Galilee and decreed, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (New International Version).

It doesn’t matter what Pope Benedict XVI has to say, or for that matter, any other religious leader. A Christian believes in Jesus Christ and what He had to say, not what a man of God has to say. This is not an attempt to completely dismiss religious leaders, but is further evidence of what happens when ego is more important than the work of Christ.

John 14:6 says, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Nowhere does it say that Peter, Pope Benedict XVI or anyone else can supplant Jesus as the leader of the church.

It is these kinds of missives by Pope Benedict XVI that do nothing to support or build the community of faith. All it does is divide.

Protestant leaders: Don’t buy into the foolishness. Let Pope Benedict XVI keep running off at the mouth and making pointless declarations. If you keep bringing good news to the poor, setting the captives free and assisting those who seek to know Jesus, then you’ll make more headway in doing the work of Jesus than any 16-page document will.

By Roland S. Martin

CNN Contributor and a talk-show host for WVON-AM in Chicago

updated 5:04 p.m. EDT, Fri July 13, 2007

Global Warming 2

June 5, 2007

I could post dozens of articles on the effects of climate changes which have been occurring in the last few years, and I do not have to go too far to notice them. Right where I live we have been experiencing freak and record breaking weather. Farmers are stunned at the irregular weather patterns and noticeable damage has been done to the agricultural sector as in other parts of the world. And this brings us to the subject of FAMINE, one of the end times signs. The skeptics will say that we have had famines throughout the history of mankind, so what? Let me expand somewhat the vistas of such people. While it is true that famines have been reported in the past, then, it was mostly a local event involving a limited number of persons. What is being prepared here is something radically different in nature and scope: It will be global, and it will involve most people on the face of the earth.

According to the International Programs Center, U.S. Census Bureau, the total population of the World, projected to 06/05/07 at 16:14 GMT (EST+5) is  6,599,707,750.

While I cannot say for sure, I believe that there has never been such a large number of human beings living at the same time on this planet. A widespread famine will have devastating effects upon all (the rich, as usual, will take care of themselves).

Famine will be just one judgment which will be poured on a reckless sinning humanity which has no time for God. Well, God has His ways to get our attention and He certainly will get it.

In my last article which can be read below this one, I said:

In truth, something is indeed happening, surely and not so slowly.

As to confirm my statement, the following article has just been published:

Global warming ‘is three times faster than worst predictions’

By Geoffrey Lean, Environment Editor

The Independent - 03 June 2007

Global warming is accelerating three times more quickly than feared, a series of startling, authoritative studies has revealed.

They have found that emissions of carbon dioxide have been rising at thrice the rate in the 1990s. The Arctic ice cap is melting three times as fast - and the seas are rising twice as rapidly - as had been predicted.

News of the studies - which are bound to lead to calls for even tougher anti-pollution measures than have yet been contemplated - comes as the leaders of the world’s most powerful nations prepare for the most crucial meeting yet on tackling climate change.

The issue will be top of the agenda of the G8 summit which opens in the German Baltic resort of Heiligendamm on Wednesday, placing unprecedented pressure on President George Bush finally to agree to international measures.

The study, published by the US National Academy of Sciences, shows that carbon dioxide emissions have been increasing by about 3 per cent a year during this decade, compared with 1.1 per cent a year in the 1990s.

The significance is that this is much faster than even the highest scenario outlined in this year’s massive reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) - and suggests that their dire forecasts of devastating harvests, dwindling water supplies, melting ice and loss of species are likely to be understating the threat facing the world.

The study found that nearly three-quarters of the growth in emissions came from developing countries, with a particularly rapid rise in China. The country, however, will resist being blamed for the problem, pointing out that its people on average still contribute only about a sixth of the carbon dioxide emitted by each American. And, the study shows, developed countries, with less than a sixth of the world’s people, still contribute more than two-thirds of total emissions of the greenhouse gas.

On the ground, a study by the University of California’s National Snow and Ice Data Center shows that Arctic ice has declined by 7.8 per cent a decade over the past 50 years, compared with an average estimate by IPCC computer models of 2.5 per cent.

As I am wrapping up this post, here comes another “crazy climate” event:

An unusual event is happening over the next 48 hours, as the first tropical cyclone with hurricane-force winds, and major hurricane-force winds at that, is approaching the Gulf of Oman, to strike the eastern coast of Oman, curve northward, and make landfall on the coast of Iran. In the tropical cyclone best tracks and the modern era of weather satellites, there is no record of such an occurrence.

… This is an unprecedented event. NO CYCLONE has ever entered the Gulf of Oman. And there are no custom ’storm surge’ models available for that area. This forecast is based on my experience and subjective analysis of the seabed slope and storm surge interaction with the sea floor. Considering the region has never experienced a hurricane, let alone a strong one it is highly unlikely the loading facilities or platforms were constructed to withstand the forces - both wave action and wind force - that they will experience. Significant, damage will occur. How much long term damage, and the volumes associated with it - can not be determined at this time.Dr. Jeff Masters’ WunderBlog - June 5, 2007

Global Warming

May 15 , 2007

Global Warming is the buzzword of the moment. Some people have become militant believers of this movement, others make plain fun of it while most people don’t know what to make of it and in truth, who can blame them, given the constant barrage of contradictory data and reports which the media have been spewing out in these last months.

I find it extremely amusing that there are scientists on both side of the fence: some affirming without the shadow of a doubt that we are into a man-made global warming era and scientists who seriously debunk the whole thing and since both camps display ample scientific or pseudo-scientific data in support of their positions, the humble man-on-the-street is left as usual dazed and confused. I have believed (till now) that science was based

on gathering accurate information about reality and to model this in a way which can be used to make reliable, concrete and quantitative predictions about future events and observations. In a more restricted sense, science refers to a system of acquiring knowledge based on the scientific method, as well as to the organized body of knowledge gained through such research.
Wikipedia

Relativity and pluralism gone wild have created a society incapable of discerning even the simplest of facts. Everything and everyone is open to criticism and doubt and this creates a self-collapsing reality, without fundamentals. Now, the Word of God (and any self-respecting architect) warns us that if a house is not built upon a solid foundation, it will fall down, sooner than later.
Modern scientists, are very biased and very politicized, having as a result a very warped sense of reality seeing only what they want to see in the way that they want to see them. While it can be argued that the present situation is not entirely or directly attributable to them, whom can people they trust when one plus one makes three?
Well, enquiring minds who want to know should try to listen to God for a change. He never misses and He never contradicts Himself and that’s a miracle!

In truth, something is indeed happening, surely and not so slowly.

My God-given interest and love for the Word of (Bible) prophecy, has strongly shaped my vision of world events and happenings. While this does not happen to all Christians, I know many who do share this vision. I believe the Holy Spirit impresses upon us the urgency of the moment and spiritually completes, piece by piece, the grand prophetic mosaic of the Bible. It is difficult to explain to those who do not share the experience it but to those who do, no explanation is needed. So, for the benefit of those who do not have this vision, I have gathered some data to ponder upon. These news, if seen separately, might not mean much to an observer, but when collected and connected, do indeed shed a strange light upon our world, being the harbingers of the major upheavals described in the Word and referring to the End Times, in which we dwell:

The tiny Indian island of Ghoramara, in the delta where the River Ganges meets the Bay of Bengal, is a symbol of the crisis the world is facing as it struggles to feed a growing population.

It is a tiny place - just a few kilometers across - and it is getting tinier.

The island, part of a chain called the Sundarbans, was first settled by farmers in colonial times when the authorities decided to expand rice production to feed the multitudes in the city of Calcutta.

But when I visited Ghoramara there was powerful evidence that soil erosion caused in part by farming and the rising surrounding sea level caused by global warming were gradually making the island disappear.

Ajoy Kumar Patra, the headman on the island, stood on the shore looking across the broad choppy waters.

In the far distance a couple of kilometers away I could just make out another low-lying spit of land:

“This island and that piece of land over there used to be separated by just a narrow channel of water”, says Mr Patra. “All the land which is now underwater used to be rice paddies”.

BBC News - 28 March 2007,
by Mark Doyle

And the bees …

VISALIA, Calif., Feb. 23 — David Bradshaw has endured countless stings during his life as a beekeeper, but he got the shock of his career when he opened his boxes last month and found half of his 100 million bees missing.

In 24 states throughout the country, beekeepers have gone through similar shocks as their bees have been disappearing inexplicably at an alarming rate, threatening not only their livelihoods but also the production of numerous crops, including California almonds, one of the nation’s most profitable.

“I have never seen anything like it,” Mr. Bradshaw, 50, said from an almond orchard here beginning to bloom. “Box after box after box are just empty. There’s nobody home.

New York Times - By ALEXEI BARRIONUEVO
Published: February 27, 2007

and the Pole caps melting away …

GOING, GOING, GONE: April’s Arctic ice cap was smallest in recorded history.
Imagine three-fourths of the land mass of Alaska disappearing in a decade. That’s roughly the amount of sea ice that has vanished from the Arctic ice cap in recent years — and now it’s melting faster. So say two new reports from ice experts last week that climate-change scientists consider troubling, since sea ice keeps the Earth cool. An ice-free ocean warms it up.

One report noted there was less Arctic sea ice in April than had ever been recorded that month since satellite imagery of the northern ocean began in 1979. Another found that the melting of the Arctic ice cap is proceeding faster than anyone expected.

That second finding — announced jointly by scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Center and the National Center for Atmospheric Research — concludes that all the summer Arctic sea ice should disappear “about 30 years” sooner than mainstream climate models earlier predicted.

Anchorage Daily News - May 7, 2007
By GEORGE BRYSON

I don’t know if these climate shifts are normal or not, and I don’t know whether it is man’s doing or what (sure thing we humans have messed up the earth quite a bit). But I KNOW for sure that we are not entering a glacial era, but rather a “hot” time period.

To be continued ….