Israel

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

2 Timothy 4:3-4

False prophets were tolerated in ancient Israel and are in our own day because they teach the smooth things which people in rebellion against God what to hear. Through His true prophet Jeremiah, God asked the question ‘but what will you do in the end thereof?’ A smooth talking false teacher may say that which makes life more comfortable now but what about in the end when we will stand before God who is Truth itself?

Take heed, too, you who love these false teachers that you follow, for your end shall be as like theirs — when one blind man leads another, both shall fall into the ditch (Luke 6:39).

Delivered by pastor Lamar Martin of Grace Church of North Atlanta.

You can also access the sermon directly at SermonAudio.

Soli deo Gloria!

Sharing a few interesting bits of news from around the world:

• Masab, son of West Bank Hamas leader Sheikh Hassan Yousef, is now a Christian and calls himself Joseph. (Haaretz)
• British Newspaper Readers Vote To Keep Todd Bentley out of UK. At least it’s not all bad in the UK! (End Times Prophetic)
• Ken Silva was on Crosstalk Radio filling listeners in on what has been happening to him and his site since the threat of a lawsuit from Richard Abanes. (Crosstalk Radio)
• My good brother, Yong Chun, writing on City Harvest Church, has a great sermon-by-sermon MP3 comparison of how the same parable — The Sower — has been badly mangled and interpreted by three pastors of the church. (All of Grace)
• New Christian radio stations worth a listen-to: Pirate Christian Radio and Fighting for the Faith.
• I’ve put up a new poll — have fun!
• And, finally, some humor for the weekend: Introducing the Evolution Mix…

What is it with female teachers nowadays? — a female teacher in Australia, Nazira Rafei, has been charged in court for allegedly telling her 15-year-old male student to treat her like a “sex slave”.

Is it me or has there been an escalation in the number of such cases involving female sexual predators?

Handing out Gospel tracts in a Muslim area is a “hate crime” — according to WorldNetDaily, two American pastors were told that it was a “hate crime” to hand out Gospel leaflets in a predominantly Muslim area in Birmingham, England.

I wonder if the same rule applies if a Muslim evangelist hands out Islamic tracts in a predominantly Christian area.

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I found these two great video presentations of the prophecies contained in Ezekiel 38 and Ezekiel 39, and am sharing them here with you, for surely these things that have been prophecised shall soon come to pass if one has an eye on what’s happening in the Middle East, Russia and Iran.

Ezekiel 38

Ezekiel 39

Watch, I pray thee, and be prepared for the return of our Lord very soon.

Previously, I had highlighted in a post that Mark Biltz, pastor of El Shaddai Ministries in Bonney Lake, Washington, was suggesting that a rare string of lunar and solar eclipses said to fall on God’s annual holy days in 2015 could herald the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jack Kelley over at Grace Thru Faith has written a response to the videos. Now, my disagreement with his take on the Rapture aside, I think he makes some valid points on the speculation that the above-mentioned phenomenon possibly points to the return of our Lord Jesus Christ in 2015.

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May 14 this year sees the 60th anniversary of the restoration of the state of Israel — a miracle in itself fulfilling Biblical prophecy!

These are exciting times indeed for us who look forward to the return of our Lord Jesus Christ, for the Lord has told us that when we see Israel back in the land that God has given to the Israelites He shall soon return.

From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.

Matthew 24:32-34

This video discusses some of the prophecies that were fulfilled when Israel was restored on 14 May, 1948.

The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes (Joel 2:31)

Mark Biltz, pastor of El Shaddai Ministries in Bonney Lake, Washington, suggests that a rare string of lunar and solar eclipses said to fall on God’s annual holy days in 2015 could herald the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Counting back seven years (the final week in Daniel’s prophecy), are we going to see the beginning of the Tribulation late 2008?
Related story: Solar and Lunar Eclipses 2014 - 2015.

First Pesach (Passover) sacrifice since 70 A.D. carried out in Israel

The robes are ready, the utensils recreated, and the descendents of Aaron, ordained of God to serve Him in His temple, identified through DNA. Now all that’s needed is the actual temple to be built which the Anti-Christ shall desecrate in the middle of the final week.

Gulf States May End Dollar Pegs, Kuwait Minister Says

Gulf states are considering dropping their pegs to the dollar after the U.S. currency’s decline stoked inflation across the region, Kuwaiti Finance Minister Mustafa al- Shimali said. It’s interesting to see how this develops as I believe that the 10 kings might be 10 economic regions each overseen by a “king” that is in effect a council.

VeriChip Markets Its Implantable RFID Tags and Services Direct to Consumers

The company is trying to market its direct-to-consumer initiative called Health Link to consumers in South Florida. For $149, a consumer can have a passive 134 kHz RFID chip implanted in his or her arm, with the transponder’s unique 16-digit ID number linked to a database containing that individual’s medical records and, if they so choose, a living will.

I’ve just finished reading a great booklet called “The Holidays Of God: The Spring Feasts” by Kevin Williams, published by the Discovery Series at RBC Ministries, the same people who have been giving us the “Our Daily Bread” series for a good while now.

I decided to write in and requested copies since I thought my wife would enjoy them, as it was also part of the literature in my growing years.

The booklet came with the package and piqued our interests immediately because it talked about the Spring Feasts that the Jews celebrate. It was also very useful because it gave a diagram of the Jewish months alongside our Gregorian calendar months and indicated when the feasts were celebrated.

What caught my attention was the account of the broken matzah eaten during Pesach (the Passover).

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Who would have thought that the joke that my wife always loves to use on me when I’d inevitably get lost while driving would have made it as a comic?

Yes, she’d always tell me that the reason why Moses was in the 40 years in the desert with the Israelites was because he, being a man, would not stop to ask for directions.

I don’t think I’m alone in this, am I? Not asking for directions is a manly trait that runs across all cultures, I say!

And I’m not about to become one of those sissy men culled into stopping the car and asking for directions just because my wife says so. Who cares if we are lost and petrol isn’t cheap anymore? We’ll get you there in time even though it does look like we’re horribly lost now.

Have a good laugh for the weekend, and Shabbat Shalom!

Footnote to the husbands out there: Heeding my tongue-in-cheek advice can land you in rather hot soup. Self-preservation behavior, including stopping the car to ask for directions, is highly recommended.

HT: Way of the Master Radio.

In Jeremiah 36, we read of how Jeremiah the prophet was instructed by God to write down all the warnings against Israel and Judah on a scroll and have it read to King Jehoiakim and the people of Judah during the fourth year of the latter’s reign.

This was during the time when the Babylonians under King Nebuchadnezzar had subdued both Israel and Judah and made the latter a vassal state.

After spending a period of time in Babylon, Jehoiakim was restored to his throne by King Nebuchadnezzar and made a vassal.

Alas, he continued to sin against the LORD, and stubbornly refused to turn away from his evil ways even after having tasted punishment when he lost the kingdom of Judah.

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There are many who don’t believe that December 25 is the day on which Christ Jesus was born more than 2,000 years ago in Bethlehem, Israel.

They are not wrong.

For even many discerning Christians recognize this, and know that Christmas was birthed out of a pagan winter observance.

So when was Christ Jesus’ birth?

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Some who know me well will know that I get very riled up when I see Israel sinning and her leaders giving away land that is rightfully God’s in exchange for false peace. I feel indignant when Israel is being condemned and maligned, and when the world turns a blind eye to her troubles.

Nowadays, my wife will be the one to calm me down with these words “Dear, if these things don’t happen, how then shall what God has ordained to happen come to be then?” (I am paraphrasing a little here, but the essence is there).

This coming from a woman who used to scoff at my “doomsday prophet” sayings as she used to call them, ha ha!

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I love it when I come across music videos showing how all the people of the earth who love the Lord, though of different races and from different cultures but all of one voice, come to sing praises to Him and dance to celebrate His glory and majesty!

Here’s our meditation this Shabbat:

for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

Galatians 3:26-29

Hallelu et Adonai! Amen, and amen!

If you love Messianic praise music as much as I do, check out Ted Pearce, a former atheist who came to give his life to the Lord Jesus Christ and today composes and sings some of the most amazing Messianic praise music.

I was having an MSN chat over lunch with a Christian acquaintance and we were just asking each other how life was.

It seems that both of us are doing alright.

Then he asked me this — how do you keep God continually in your life when things are going all fine and dandy? Because it seems that we usually only call upon the Lord when things aren’t going well.

I didn’t have a straight answer for him, because to be honest, I am often guilty of the same sin that Israel of old was.

Forgetting God when things are going fine.

It also reminded me of a lesson I learned a long time ago, when I first backslided and asked my Bible Study leader why I was facing so much trouble, that sometimes the trials and tribulations we face are there not just to test us and make us stronger, but also to bring us back to Him.

Our God is faithful indeed, even when we are unfaithful!

While we are beaten by the trials, we will be strong in our prayers, in our thanksgiving and in our faith, and God will straighten things out when He thinks we have had enough.

Then, wham!, prayers and thanksgiving almost cease or come to a screeching halt once things are back on track. Sin rears its ugly head again because the devil knows its the perfect time to start the temptations again.

In my experience, I can sink so low and usually don’t crawl out of the quicksand until God starts putting me through enough trials to make me prostrate myself and cry out for His forgiveness and help.

Do you go through the same phases as these? And if so, how do you prevent yourself from slipping when things are going great?

I am determined that I shan’t let myself slip again!

Shalom Aleichem.

Picture of Sunflower by Chunyang.

The Muslim Religious Authority (Waqf) in Israel, citing permission from the Israeli government, is tearing up the earth around the Temple Mount and in the process potentially destroying priceless artifacts from the Second Temple and possibly even from the First Temple era.

The Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism.

According to Gideon Charlap, a top Jerusalem architect and an expert on the Temple Mount, the 1-meter deep trench, running north to south, is obliterating artifacts that might reside in the Ezrat Nashim (or Women’s Courtyard) of the Temple as well as rooms that served as the Temple’s offices and other functions.

Even if you aren’t pro-Israel, I hope you see that, as with any civilization, the wilful destruction of its artifacts by another is a sensitive issue — one pertaining to a people’s heritage and history.

One Jerusalem is trying to gather together enough voices through the petition to beseech Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to actually take action and stop the madness that is continuing to destroy Jewish history daily.

I strongly urge and hope that you will join me in helping to sign the Temple Mount petition and circulate it.

Shalom!

Photos of the destruction taken from Boker Tov, Boulder!

Phase 1: Indignation

I just read this piece of news saying that as part of the ‘peace’ deal between Israel and the Palestinian people, Ehud Olmert’s government has turned over control of the Temple Mount to the enemy.

According to top Palestinian sources, the proposal is for Jerusalem’s Old City holy sites near the Mount to be governed by a Jewish, Christian and Muslim task force; and the Western Wall plaza below the Mount to be controlled by Israel.

In addition, Israel will evacuate from most of the West Bank and cede the eastern sections of Jerusalem.

The Temple Mount is Israel’s holiest site, for crying out loud, and people who have no claim whatsoever to land either historically, religiously or otherwise are demanding that the Jews give up their holiest site within their own state to foreign control?!

That made my blood boil with indignation.

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