Thank You For Being a Friend!

Whether it’s just a casual “how are you?” or a heartfelt, “sit down and tell me what’s going on in your life,” or a caring comment on Facebook… friends can bring you great joy and comfort. I’ve never needed friends more than now as I go through this health crisis – and I have old and new friends that have been so comforting and supportive.

Proverbs 17:17 says, “A friend loves you all the time, and a brother helps in time of trouble.”  That goes for sisters, too!

When I think of our new friends like Rabbi Cahn or John Shorey, or perhaps YOU, I am overwhelmed with gratefulness to God for enriching our lives with such wonderful people!  Continue reading

“The Days Of Acceptable Christianity in America Are Over”

The chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom says the days of it being easy to be a Christian in America is over.

“The days of acceptable Christianity are over. The days of comfortable Catholicism are past. It’s no longer easy to be a faithful Christian, a good Catholic, a faithful witness to the truths of the Gospel,” Dr. Robert P. George said Tuesday.   “They threaten us with consequences if we refuse to call what is good, evil, and what is evil, good. They demand us to conform our thinking to their orthodoxy, or else say nothing at all.”

Dr. George, a Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton, made his address at the 10th Annual National Catholic Prayer Breakfast.  George said that while he meant his comments to be pointed at Catholics, they are equally as valid for all other Bible believing Christians.

“To be a witness to the Gospel today is to make oneself a marked man or woman. It is to expose oneself to scorn and reproach,” he said.  “To place in jeopardy one’s security, one’s personal aspirations and ambitions, the peace and tranquility one enjoys, one’s standing in polite society.”

“One may in consequence of one’s public witness, be discriminated against, denied education opportunities and the prestigious credentials they offer, one may lose valuable opportunities of employment or professional advancement, one may be excluded from worldly recognition.”

He reminded Christians that we are judged by God, not the world, and that we should reject those demanding Christians change their beliefs to stay on the “right side of history.”

The Rapture Chapter (Pt. 6)

The good news is that God will reward His servants, the small and the great (Matthew 16:27; Revelation 22:12). The bad news is that He will “destroy those who destroy the earth,” not just ecologically, but through the effects of their sin. Ironic, isn’t it? The people who live for the earth and its pleasures are often the ones who are destroying the very world they worship. In truth, the world does not belong to them. Continue reading

2012 Arrives Amid Great Confusion

Here we go into a new year!  This is not just any new year, but 2012, which I believe is a pivotal year in the “Beginning of Sorrows.”  This year could be our last full year to get our houses in order.  God has spoken to me that this will be a year of great CONFUSION in the world.  God needs His Church to be in full force for what is coming!

These are the days of 2012, they have arrived with all the ominous warnings of ancient prophets, contemporary watchmen and Biblical prophecies of being prepared (spiritually and physically) for the months ahead.  People have been talking about 2012 for centuries, and now it is upon us.  We’re not on the precipice or the verge or the brink.  We are there!

“What does it all mean?  Can somebody please break it down?”

This week on your TV, Rabbi Jonathan Cahn and I will be discussing his new book, The Harbinger.  You can also view these broadcasts in the Video Archive section of our website. I want everyone who can to tune in – this is  one of the most important series I’ve ever done and I don’t want you to miss it.  Time is very short and unless we are fully aware and spiritually tuned to prophetic events, even those who have been in the Church all their lives might miss the signposts of the most important time in the history of the world.

The word “harbinger” means a sign, omen, warning, herald of something to come.  Rabbi Cahn unravels the prophetic events surrounding the great 9/11 calamity and warns us of what is coming next.  He left most of us speechless with his teachings regarding the judgments of God upon this nation.

The World Trade Center bombing on 9/11 was a warning from God.  That warning went unheeded, and for the most part, it was responded to with prideful defiance and a powerful denial of its purpose.  Why does God send his judgment as a warning to a nation?  It is for one reason and one reason only – so that they will repent, turn around, and honor Him.

I remember the outrage of the world and especially of some in the Christian community, when anyone dared suggest that perhaps God was warning this nation through the devastation of 9/11.  “Why God wouldn’t do that!  He’s a Good God!”  Yes, God would and God did…  BECAUSE He is good and He doesn’t want any to perish in their sin, not even one.

Though this nation was founded upon Godly principles, we have turned away from His ways and now we must turn back – or we will receive the full wages of our sins (Romans 6:23).  I believe even at this eleventh hour, if we put 2 Chronicles 7:14 into radical action, we could stay the hand of God in His righteous judgment of this nation, and lessen the misery of the consequences of our rebellion.

“Then if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves, if they will pray and seek me and stop their evil ways, I will hear them from heaven. I will forgive their sin, and I will heal their land.”

At this time, however, the prophetic clock is still ticking away and the events preceding the Second Coming of Jesus will happen (are happening), just as it says and is foretold in Matthew 24, Luke 21, countless other Old and New Testament passages, and especially in the Revelation.  We are not going to change the prophetic unfolding of End Time events, but we can change what judgments are meted out and we have a choice how God deals with us individually and as a nation, based upon our responses to His warnings.

The economies and the governments of this nation and the world are falling apart, natural disasters are at an all-time high, and the whole of humanity is ready to plunge right into the doomsday scenario that is presented in the Book of Revelation.  Food could disappear off grocery shelves in a matter of hours.  Electricity and gasoline may be completely unavailable.  The world is on the brink of World War III.   Iran and Israel are  poised to unleash weapons of mass destruction at each other, not to mention the U.S., Russia, China, and others. THE STAGE IS NOW SET for the arrival of the antichrist.  We are on the very threshold of more calamity than the world has ever seen before.

The antichrist will use everything in his power to try to get Christians to deny Christ and renounce their faith.  Some people think we, as Christians, won’t have to go through that part of the tribulation – that God will take us all out of here before it comes down to that.  But what if He doesn’t?  What if we are so dull in our spiritual senses that we’re like that proverbial frog in the pot – you back off a little at a time from God’s standards and before you know it, you’re in hot water.  Could we even recognize our spiritual condition that has been so compromised with the world that it feels normal?

You can if you stay in God’s Word!

How then, should we try to live?  When the world comes apart, people everywhere will flock to the churches for answers.  There will be a last great awakening – a last great harvest of the ages.  We need to have ourselves ready spiritually and physically, and be ready to show others our faith in Jesus, the One that purchased life eternal for us on the Cross over 2,000 years ago.  That requires some practical preparations like food and water so that we will be able to minister the Gospel and help to bring souls into the Kingdom for all eternity.

As Christians, we sometimes forget that this life is but a vapor (James 4:14) and there’s an eternal life that quickly follows.  Eternal means everlasting, unending, perpetual, endless, ceaseless, and timeless.  That’s the life that God wants to spend with you, not just this life only.

You can’t go wrong serving God with all your heart, all your mind, all your strength.

Get into the Word!  Know God’s Word!  Be ready to recognize the enemy’s movement and his tactics.  Know what righteousness is.  “Be ye Holy as I am Holy!”  (1 Peter 13-16)  We have made far too much of ‘religion’ and far too little of ‘holiness’.

There will be a lot of people running “to and fro” in the church world too – Confusion – and that means in a spiritual sense as well as a natural sense.  Don’t be confused.  Know what God says! (2 Timothy 4:3)

Some might say “well, if it gets that difficult, I’d rather just go be with Jesus.”  Do I need to remind you of Luke 12:47 or any of the other parables that deal with this kind of attitude?  “And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes… for to whom much is given, much is required.”

You don’t have to store food, but it will be easier for you to avoid entering an antichrist system if you do.  You don’t have to get as healthy as possible by eating right and exercising, but you can minister to more people in the Times of Trouble if you do.  You don’t have to have survival plans and equipment, but what good are you to a dying world if you’re dead too?!  “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.”  Matthew 9:37 NAS

There is also a dangerous philosophy of waiting until the last minute to get right with God and to get prepared – not only by the world but by Christians.  The twinkling of an eye is not much time, people!  It’s faster than you can snap your fingers!

So, get ready for the ride of your life!  We are about to enter a time when you need to be rock solid about your priorities, and nothing will deter you or cause you to waver, or even be distracted.  I’ve been telling people about the CONFUSION the enemy is going to throw at us this year.  It will take all of our resolve and great faith, coupled with God’s Amazing Grace to get us through.  If I could break it down to the simplest of terms, here is what I am endeavouring to do and I hope you will too:

  1. Get yourself still so you don’t have so many distractions
  2. Study your Bible
  3. Hear from God
  4. Do what God says!

Join us on TV this week too, if it’s at all possible.  Rabbi Cahn will take our world’s events and break it all down for you.  I’m confident this series of shows will leave you as speechless as it did all of us at Morningside when we taped them on Grace Street – but it will leave us more aware than ever before.

Love,

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Woe Is Me (Pt. 1)

In the entertainment crazed society we live in, very few people, even Christians, will endure a message of what they consider ‘gloom and doom.’  They would much rather hear some cleverly told story containing a lot of humor!  Nevermind that we are living in the days that demand a sobriety and a vigilance to understand and be ready for the events of Revelation.

As I begin a series of blogs titled “Woe is Me”, I guess I feel the need to try and preempt some of the negativity to such a serious subject.  I felt the same way back in the mid-nineties when I was given the message that was contrary to what a lot of people had been preaching, including myself, of the prosperity gospel. Continue reading

Who is on the Lord’s Side?

This was the question that Moses asked the people of Israel.  In those days, Moses stood as a type of Christ.  Exodus 32:26 says, “Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, “Who is on the LORD’s side?”  Let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him.”

Moses issued that confrontation to the people of Israel, God’s people, who had turned to worshipping idols as they waited for Moses’ return.  Only the sons of Levi came forward to separate themselves from the idol worship.  Only a select few answered that call to repentance.

Today, the Lord is drawing the same line in the sand.  He is calling out to His People “Who is on My side?”  The seriousness of the days we live in demand a sobriety and attention to the things of God.  They demand a concentration and a fixed gaze.  These are Revelation Days that we’re living in.  It’s no ordinary time in history – it’s an appointed time for which we have been chosen.    

If there ever was a time to consider the things of God and understand that the enemy (the devil) is engaging us in a spiritual battle, it is NOW.  Yet, people go on about their business as if this time is common.  It’s not!  The Word of God speaks of these Revelation Days in order to alert us to be ready and to be on guard, because your adversary (the devil) still roams about, seeking whom he may devour.

The fact that there is another side is something that most people miss in today’s church environment.  Spiritual warfare is greatly ignored by those who teach and those who call themselves shepherds.  These are the Revelation Days and that means these are days of intensified spiritual warfare against principalities, powers and spiritual wickedness – yet most Christians deny the battle and continue as if that reality wasn’t genuine.  Spiritual warfare is a serious reality in the Revelation Days and the Lord is again issuing the call.

When we answer that call  and step over the line in the sand to the Lord’s side, we identify ourselves as those who belong to the family of the living God, we arm ourselves with the armor of God, and we stand ready to do battle with the enemy.  We are shaken out of our lethargy and we are able to focus on His priorities.  We are no longer distracted or nonchalant.  We are no longer concerned with silly things that try to capture our spiritual attention and strength.   We never, never, never give up!  We keep on going even when we’re tired. 

We are on the Lord’s side!

Monster May – Recap

I recently returned from a mission trip with my crew to several states where flooding and storms have caused death and destruction in the lives of many people.  We are emotionally spent.  You can’t look on that much human suffering without it taking its toll.  Everything else that may be going on, pales in light of it.

I have seen other newscasters unable to speak or describe the scenes they were looking upon – it was all so overwhelming. We are doing what we can to alleviate some of the suffering.  It will take the efforts of millions of people, organizations and especially churches to reach out with whatever they have to give – and everyone has something to give! Continue reading

Will We Go Through the Tribulation? (Pt. 6)

The Origin of the Pretrib View

When I dug into the matter further, I was surprised to discover that many of the ideas associated with the pretributional Rapture originated not in the Bible, but in an extrabiblical vision experienced by a young Scottish woman named Margaret Macdonald in 1830.  The woman sent handwritten copies of her “revelation” to Edward Irving, a controversial minister, who, with his great gifts of oratory and his magnetic personality, was drawing large crowds to his church in London.  In his pamphlet, “Why I Believe the Church Will Pass Through the Tribulation,” David MacPherson described what happened after Irving got hold of Margaret Macdonald’s vision.

It was from this supposed revelation that the modern doctrine and modern phraseology respecting the pretribulational rapture arose; it came not from Scripture, but from that which falsely pretended to be the Spirit of God.  Irving accepted this teaching and it was taught at prophetic meetings at Powerscourt House in Ireland, attended by Plymouth Brethren organizer John Darby.  Irving’s views influenced Darby, C. H. Mackintosh, and C. I. Scofield, whose Bible popularized the new theory.  Later, some of the leading Plymouth Brethren scholars, including Benjamin Newton and S. P. Tregelles, rejected this pretrib theory.  For 1,800 years the Church had believed only in a postrib coming which, during persecution, was occasionally thought to be imminent.  There is not a shred of historical evidence before 1830 that the Church ever believed in a double coming, or rapture before the Tribulation.

David Mac Pherson goes on to list some of the elements of Margaret’s radical vision, which included splitting the second coming of Christ into two phases – first, a pretrib rapture; then later, after the tribulation, the return of Christ to earth.  Her own statement clearly contains more of the major tenets found today in pretrib dispensationalism – meeting the Lord in the air, secrecy, suddenness, invisibility, immanency, a pretrib separation of believers and unbelievers, distinction between the raptured bride and the tribulation elect.

How, you may wonder, could a vision experienced by a relatively unknown young woman with no platform or sphere of influence have such an impact?  Actually, most people of her time did not know the vision was Margaret Macdonald’s.  They thought the new truth was something Edward Irving had discovered in the Bible.  Keep in mind that Irving was a popular preacher in those days, and his views were quickly adopted.  In The Rapture Plot, David MacPherson lists four reasons why he believes the young woman was not “credited” with her vision at first:  “She was a female in the male-dominated theological world of 1830; she was young; she was uneducated; and she had been a Christian only a year.”  Interestingly, many of the tenets in the teachings of highly respected prophetic teachers, and other advocates of a pretribulational Rapture, are similar to those first espoused by Margaret Macdonald.

(To Be Continued)

Will We Go Through the Tribulation? – Part 1
Will We Go Through the Tribulation? – Part 2
Will We Go Through the Tribulation? – Part 3
Will We Go Through the Tribulation? – Part 4
Will We Go Through the Tribulation? – Part 5
Will We Go Through the Tribulation? – Part 7
Will We Go Through the Tribulation? – Part 8
Will We Go Through the Tribulation? – Part 9
Will We Go Through the Tribulation? – Part 10
Will We Go Through the Tribulation? – Part 11

Excerpt from Prosperity and the Coming Apocalypse

Published in 1998

Major March “A Time of Acceleration”

When the Lord told me back in December that this would be a “Major March”, I knew the events that were coming would be remarkable. I felt that there would be major events that would shake the World this month and it would be a wonderful time of healing and blessing for some of God’s people.

Today, I know that what is happening in the world is only going to accelerate and NOW is the time for the Church’s finest hour.  Listen to me now, and believe me when I say that when the world is coming apart, the true Church will come together and be prepared! Continue reading