Bill Cloud of Shoreshim Ministries wrote a very good article that can be downloaded as a PDF at his website about some correlations he found between the story of the Titanic and America as we are today. Just click here to go to his website, and then click on the link on the right side that says "Download current copy of our printed newsletter." It is worth the read.
.j.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Are You a Friend of the World?
"What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, "He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us"? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you."
Ya'acov ("James") 4:1-10
Ya'acov ("James") 4:1-10
Saturday, January 17, 2009
And There Arose A New King...
The Jewish people follow what is called the Parashat Hashavua (weekly portion) in the synagogues, which is a portion of the Torah (first five books of Moses), along with what is called the Haftarah (a reading from the Prophets that corresponds to the Torah portion). There are two differnt cycles, one being a triennial (a 3 year reading cycle), and an annual cycle. My family has been following the annual cycle for a couple of years now, and it has been amazing to see how many times things in our life fall in line with the portion for that week.
This weeks portion is called Sh'mot (lit. "names", which is the Hebrew name for the book of Exodus) and begins in Exodus 1:1 and goes to Ex. 6:1. In this portion we read in ch. 1 vs. 8 the following:
This weeks portion is called Sh'mot (lit. "names", which is the Hebrew name for the book of Exodus) and begins in Exodus 1:1 and goes to Ex. 6:1. In this portion we read in ch. 1 vs. 8 the following:
"Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph."
Now, what I find very interesting is that in just a couple of days we are going to inaugurate a new President. This new president is not like our Presidents that came before. Previously, all of our Presidents have had similar backgrounds in that they came from a Judeo-Christian background, regardless of whether they actually lived it out in their official term. Their thinking was, for the most part, according to the ethic of America which was established upon Judeo-Christian values and ethics. What is interesting to note is that our new President-elect has foundations which are drastically different from every previous President - and that is Islam. I don't care to argue whether Obama is actually a Muslim right now (there are opinions either way), but I simply want to note that his beginnings were grounded in Islam, which is foreign to the American foundations.
Now, is it interesting or not that this weeks Torah Portion tells us that a new King arose in Egypt that did not "know" Joseph?
Hence, I am lead to end this post with a link from WND, a link that happens to be the Headline article for today (01/17/09). Please go *here* to read an article that should cause your eyebrows to raise a bit.
A new king arose that knew not Joseph. God be merciful.
.j.
Now, is it interesting or not that this weeks Torah Portion tells us that a new King arose in Egypt that did not "know" Joseph?
Hence, I am lead to end this post with a link from WND, a link that happens to be the Headline article for today (01/17/09). Please go *here* to read an article that should cause your eyebrows to raise a bit.
A new king arose that knew not Joseph. God be merciful.
.j.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
The Curse That Is Pursuing Us
There is no doubt at all, if anyone wants to take the time to investigate, that this Country was largely started with Christian foundations, by largely Christian men who held a "Christian/Judaic" belief system that certainly informed our Republic, policies, and even foreign perspective, especially towards Israel. Were there non-Christian, as well as even "New World/Age" Luciferian, Illuminatists involved as well? Sure. But for the most part, we were largely Judeo/Christian in our heritage. This is evident by the fact that not only do our founding documents show a foundation that is firmly rooted in the Hebrew scriptures (the bible), but also in the personal writings of many of the "founders" of this Country. There is also the undeniable evidence of God's incredible blessing upon this Nation for the last 232 (counting from 1776 to present) years.
However, this is drastically changing. Both the fact that we were a "Judeo/Christian" Nation, and God's blessing upon us. A read through Deuteronomy 28 reveals how God deals, first with Israel, and then in likewise manner any Nation that follows Him, or turns from Him (cf. Jeremiah 18 on God's dealing with Israel, and the Nations). Is it not apparent that America is beginning to go down the road of curses? Case in point: Several articles that WND posted recently about our own Border Patrol agents not firing back when fired upon by drug smugglers for fear of losing their jobs, or even being arrested as was Border Patrol agents Ramos and Campean. You can read about them here, and here, et al, thus allowing us to be overrun with "aliens" (strangers, ie, non-citizens). We are being invaded daily, and increasingly so as time goes on.
What is happening in, and to our Country? I'll tell you what is happening. Whether or not every single person in this Country from the time of it's inception to now was/is a "Christian", we did indeed once function as a whole under biblical principles, and we supported Israel to a large degree (probably more so than any other Nation in History has). We no longer function so. Though just about as many people today claim to be Christian, the behavior of most, our "entertainment", our elected officials, our dealing with Israel (trying to divide up the land into a two-state "solution"), etc., etc., etc. (to quote the King and I) proves to be quite the opposite. We are not a largely Christian Nation (I mean in practice as a whole). And thus, per Jeremiah 18, we are beginning to be "pull[ed] down, and...destroy[ed]" (cf. Jer. 18:7).
America (this means you if you live in America) - repent! Wake up! Open up your eyes!
.j.
However, this is drastically changing. Both the fact that we were a "Judeo/Christian" Nation, and God's blessing upon us. A read through Deuteronomy 28 reveals how God deals, first with Israel, and then in likewise manner any Nation that follows Him, or turns from Him (cf. Jeremiah 18 on God's dealing with Israel, and the Nations). Is it not apparent that America is beginning to go down the road of curses? Case in point: Several articles that WND posted recently about our own Border Patrol agents not firing back when fired upon by drug smugglers for fear of losing their jobs, or even being arrested as was Border Patrol agents Ramos and Campean. You can read about them here, and here, et al, thus allowing us to be overrun with "aliens" (strangers, ie, non-citizens). We are being invaded daily, and increasingly so as time goes on.
What is happening in, and to our Country? I'll tell you what is happening. Whether or not every single person in this Country from the time of it's inception to now was/is a "Christian", we did indeed once function as a whole under biblical principles, and we supported Israel to a large degree (probably more so than any other Nation in History has). We no longer function so. Though just about as many people today claim to be Christian, the behavior of most, our "entertainment", our elected officials, our dealing with Israel (trying to divide up the land into a two-state "solution"), etc., etc., etc. (to quote the King and I) proves to be quite the opposite. We are not a largely Christian Nation (I mean in practice as a whole). And thus, per Jeremiah 18, we are beginning to be "pull[ed] down, and...destroy[ed]" (cf. Jer. 18:7).
America (this means you if you live in America) - repent! Wake up! Open up your eyes!
.j.
Friday, December 19, 2008
The New World Order is Coming (whether we like it or not)
I have been hearing rumors, and receiving emails for well over a year now (more like 2 years) about a coming enactment of Martial Law in the United States fueled by riots over the financial issues here. This morning, World Net Daily had this to share with us. Are we being prepared for what (I, and many others believe) will be a forced world merging politic under the guise of "possible civil unrest over the failing market?" Biblically we know that the world will eventually see the rise of a world ruling superpower, with a single, worldwide monetary system and leader. We're beginning to feel the first rumbles before the "big one" hits!
.j.
.j.
Friday, December 5, 2008
God's Timetable
I was listening to a talk by Pastor Mark McClellan of The Harvest Fellowship in Thornton, Colorado the other day on my trusty ol' ipod, and he mentioned some very interesting things concerning 9/11 and the recent (September) drastic fall in the stock market.
See, YHWH is a God of order, structure, and pattern, or, better stated, He works within order, structure, pattern, etc. If you are even remotely familiar with the bible, you are aware of the repeated pattern of biblically significant numbers throughout the scriptures, such as 3, 7, 12, 40, et al. For example, 7 signifies completion, perfection, wholeness, etc. So...
9/11 happened, obviously, on September 11, which happened to be exactly 7 days before Rosh Hashanna (or, more accurately Yom Teruah - the Feast of Trumpets) in 2001. The Feast of Trumpets is also known as "the day of the awakening blast" because the shofar (rams-horn "trumpets") are blown throughout the day (up to 100 times traditionally) as a wake-up call to everyone that judgment is coming (exactly 10 days later at Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement). So, we start with the attack on Sept. 11, then 1 week later we have the Feast of Trumpets. Now fast forward 7 years to September 29, 2008. This just happened to be the eve of, you guessed it, the Feast of Trumpets, when it was announced that the stock market had dropped 777 points!
What makes this extremely fascinating is that, there is an interesting story from 9/11. There is a Church in N.Y. called St. Paul's Chapel, located across the street from the (former) Twin Towers, and it happens to be one of, if not the oldest churches in America. George Washington attended this Church for a time, just to give you the historical significance of this place.
There was an old Sycamore tree in the yard of St. Paul's, and when the towers fell, massive debris went flying everywhere. It is believed that this Sycamore tree took the brunt of the debris that would have severely damaged, if not destroyed St. Paul's, thus, saving the historic church building. Afterwards, a local artist heard about this tree, and came up with the idea to memorialize it by making a mold of the roots of the tree (which had been removed with the remaining trunk, and replaced with a Spruce tree - more on this in a moment), and creating a sculpture from the molds. He made more than 300 bronze castings of the roots, and created a 20 ft. long sculpture of it. The sculpture now sits at Trinity Church Wall Street.
Immediately after the 9/11 attacks, various leaders gave the American public the typical speeches of how we are going to overcome this; we are going to build again; we will come together and overcome this evil, etc. In fact, for a season there was a tremendous rise in what seemed to be a return to the Lord. Our Government leaders were even singing hymns and patriotic songs together! But this did not last very long, and soon enough, it was business as usual. The problem was/is, when they were telling us about how our great country was going to "build again", rather than call the people to repent (they invoked the name of God all right, but they simply said over and over "God bless America." No repentance, no calling on the people to change their ways. They should have done like the King of Nineveh when Jonah came to them, and repented in sackcloth and ashes, and called for the people to do the same in the hope that God would relent, and that He would have mercy towards us!)
So, as was pointed to by Pastor Mark, Isaiah 9:8-13 says the following: "The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel. And all the people shall know, [even] Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart, The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycamores are cut down, but we will change [them into] cedars. Therefore the LORD shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, and join his enemies together; The Syrians before, and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand [is] stretched out still. For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the LORD of hosts."
It is interesting that it was a sycamore that was knocked down! No, they did not plant a Cedar in it's stead, but they did plant a Spruce, both of which are of the Pine family. But notice what Isaiah tells us - rather than the people repenting, they stand up in their pride and say WE will build again.
So back to the "Trinity root sculpture." It is noteworthy that this relic of a terrible attack upon us was memorialized, and is being used as a symbol of how we will unite and rebuild. It was placed on Wall Street, the seat of Finance for America. Pastor Mark pointed out (at this point I should mention that much of what he was sharing he derived from Norm Franz of Ascension Ministries) that by casting the roots in bronze (which biblically is the metal of judgment) and placing the sculpture on Wall Street, we either wittingly or unwittingly invited God's further judgment upon us. Now some might not see things like 9/11, the drastic drop in the stock market, the fires, earthquakes, etc. as judgments from God. I mean, if He were going to judge us, wouldn't it be comprehensive, and throughout the entire United States? Well, biblically we can see a precedent for judgments coming in little blips, and then steadily growing in frequency, size, and intensity. He does this because He is trying to get our attention, that we might repent, so that He may relent concerning the judgment He has intended -
See, YHWH is a God of order, structure, and pattern, or, better stated, He works within order, structure, pattern, etc. If you are even remotely familiar with the bible, you are aware of the repeated pattern of biblically significant numbers throughout the scriptures, such as 3, 7, 12, 40, et al. For example, 7 signifies completion, perfection, wholeness, etc. So...
9/11 happened, obviously, on September 11, which happened to be exactly 7 days before Rosh Hashanna (or, more accurately Yom Teruah - the Feast of Trumpets) in 2001. The Feast of Trumpets is also known as "the day of the awakening blast" because the shofar (rams-horn "trumpets") are blown throughout the day (up to 100 times traditionally) as a wake-up call to everyone that judgment is coming (exactly 10 days later at Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement). So, we start with the attack on Sept. 11, then 1 week later we have the Feast of Trumpets. Now fast forward 7 years to September 29, 2008. This just happened to be the eve of, you guessed it, the Feast of Trumpets, when it was announced that the stock market had dropped 777 points!
What makes this extremely fascinating is that, there is an interesting story from 9/11. There is a Church in N.Y. called St. Paul's Chapel, located across the street from the (former) Twin Towers, and it happens to be one of, if not the oldest churches in America. George Washington attended this Church for a time, just to give you the historical significance of this place.
There was an old Sycamore tree in the yard of St. Paul's, and when the towers fell, massive debris went flying everywhere. It is believed that this Sycamore tree took the brunt of the debris that would have severely damaged, if not destroyed St. Paul's, thus, saving the historic church building. Afterwards, a local artist heard about this tree, and came up with the idea to memorialize it by making a mold of the roots of the tree (which had been removed with the remaining trunk, and replaced with a Spruce tree - more on this in a moment), and creating a sculpture from the molds. He made more than 300 bronze castings of the roots, and created a 20 ft. long sculpture of it. The sculpture now sits at Trinity Church Wall Street.
Immediately after the 9/11 attacks, various leaders gave the American public the typical speeches of how we are going to overcome this; we are going to build again; we will come together and overcome this evil, etc. In fact, for a season there was a tremendous rise in what seemed to be a return to the Lord. Our Government leaders were even singing hymns and patriotic songs together! But this did not last very long, and soon enough, it was business as usual. The problem was/is, when they were telling us about how our great country was going to "build again", rather than call the people to repent (they invoked the name of God all right, but they simply said over and over "God bless America." No repentance, no calling on the people to change their ways. They should have done like the King of Nineveh when Jonah came to them, and repented in sackcloth and ashes, and called for the people to do the same in the hope that God would relent, and that He would have mercy towards us!)
So, as was pointed to by Pastor Mark, Isaiah 9:8-13 says the following: "The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel. And all the people shall know, [even] Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart, The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycamores are cut down, but we will change [them into] cedars. Therefore the LORD shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, and join his enemies together; The Syrians before, and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand [is] stretched out still. For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the LORD of hosts."
It is interesting that it was a sycamore that was knocked down! No, they did not plant a Cedar in it's stead, but they did plant a Spruce, both of which are of the Pine family. But notice what Isaiah tells us - rather than the people repenting, they stand up in their pride and say WE will build again.
So back to the "Trinity root sculpture." It is noteworthy that this relic of a terrible attack upon us was memorialized, and is being used as a symbol of how we will unite and rebuild. It was placed on Wall Street, the seat of Finance for America. Pastor Mark pointed out (at this point I should mention that much of what he was sharing he derived from Norm Franz of Ascension Ministries) that by casting the roots in bronze (which biblically is the metal of judgment) and placing the sculpture on Wall Street, we either wittingly or unwittingly invited God's further judgment upon us. Now some might not see things like 9/11, the drastic drop in the stock market, the fires, earthquakes, etc. as judgments from God. I mean, if He were going to judge us, wouldn't it be comprehensive, and throughout the entire United States? Well, biblically we can see a precedent for judgments coming in little blips, and then steadily growing in frequency, size, and intensity. He does this because He is trying to get our attention, that we might repent, so that He may relent concerning the judgment He has intended -
"The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make [it]. Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay [is] in the potter's hand, so [are] ye in mine hand, O house of Israel. [At what] instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy [it]; If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And [at what] instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant [it]; If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them."
Jeremiah 18:1-10
Jeremiah 18:1-10
I believe God's hand is upon these things that are coming to pass on America. I believe His fingerprint is all over the drastic drop of the stock market back in Sept. when it dropped 777 points on the eve of the Feast of Trumpets, exactly 7 years to the month after 9/11, which I believe was a wake up call, though very few have heeded it. America woke up for a couple of days, and then hit the snooze button. Theses judgments will grow if we do not listen, and turn back to Him, and it will eventually lead to a comprehensive judgment that will bring us to our knees. We need to pray for our leaders, family, and neighbors, as well as ourselves to repent, and put away the evil from among us.
.j.
.j.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)