Edition 53. 26th September 2010

In this edition:

●The great dispensation debate

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Dispensations:

This is a controversial subject with two major divergent views, but it's actually very clear if you take the Bible at face value. Those that reject the dispensation view have a problem making certain things fit together, while the dispensational view sees all pieces of the jig-saw puzzle of prophecy fit together perfectly.

What the Bible says:

Firstly, before we get into the meat of this subject lets define our terms from a pure Biblical perspective.

The word "dispensation" in the Bible comes from the root word Oikonomia, which is also the root word for "economy". It means a system of administration. God worked differently with man in the different dispensations. There were different ways God worked and different responses required by man. Each new dispensation brought in new factors. Sometimes various things were carried over from previous dispensations and sometimes certain things were not.

There are nine times the word is used in the New Testament. These are the most important:

Hebrews 1:1 "God who at various times (dispensations) and in different ways spoke in times past, to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son."

Ephesians 1:10 "In the dispensation of the fullness of the times, He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both in heaven and on earth." (This relates to the dispensation of eternity, beyond the Millenium)

Ephesians 3:2 "If indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God, which was given to me for you." verse 9 "and to make all people see what is the dispensation of the mystery (church age), which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God."

Those who believe there are no different dispensations have a problem with the above verses.

There are eight dispensations revealed in the scripture in which God spoke and dealt with mankind in different ways. Here the are:

In the above image note that the dispensation of law is the same colour as the later shorter tribulation period of seven years. This is simply because the age of grace or church dispensation is a parenthesis in the middle. In a certain sense the tribulation period is the closing of the Old Testament.

Some Bible names for the seven year tribulation period:

Here are some of the names or titles the Bible uses for the entire seven year period.:
The tribulation. The wrath of God. The wrath of the Lamb. The Day of wrath. The wrath of Almighty God. (17 references to wrath of God as the entire tribulation period) The time of Jacobs trouble. Daniel's 70th week (week of years-original) The time of affliction. the days of vengeance, the hour of temptation to come upon the whole world. The indignation. The time of sorrows and trouble.

In each of the above portions of scripture only Israel and the Jews are in view. The church is called the mystery dispensation. It was hidden to previous dispensations. It is not in view in any of the tribulation verses. If it is not, this adds weight to a pre-tribulation rapture of the church.

Why the controversy:

The controversy essential boils down to one big issue. Will we go in a pre-tribulation rapture or go through the tribulation, which is also called the wrath of God. Rapture or wrath is the question.

The Bible teaches that "God reserves His wrath for His enemies." Nahum 1:2  Romans 9:22-24

Some argue that there are no dispensations, because God doesn't change. Of course God is the same yesterday today and forever, but God changes the way he deals with man from time to time and He requires man to change in his response.

The question and controversy relates to the Mosaic law and the church age or dispensation of grace. The tearing of the veil n the temple in Jerusalem as our Lord died, indicated that the law of Moses was no longer in effect as a rule of life, because the veil separated believers from the Holy of Holies. The Bible declares that we are now a "kingdom of priests a holy nation and a royal priesthood" This is new and very different from the Mosaic law period.

The grace of God was obviously here in the Old Testament period, but the new dispensation of grace brought about a new way of functioning. Paul says that "you are not under law but under grace."

The final seven years of the Mosaic dispensation is also called the time of Jacob's trouble or the tribulation period. It is also called the 70th week of Daniel. This period completes the Old Testament in a way.

Let's have a look at the incredible prophecy of Daniel's 70 weeks. The word "week" is the original word 'shabua' and means "a seven" It can refer to a week of days or a week of years. In the context its a week of years. The prophecy indicates a 490 year period of God's dealings exclusively with Israel and Jerusalem and not the church.

The prophecy reveals that it will take 69 weeks of years until Messiah is cut off. Then comes the 70th week or seven year tribulation. God determined that all 70 would be for Israel. The church was not in the 69 and can't be in the 70th! To be consistent with other portions of scripture there has to be a gap between the 69th and 70th week. This gap is the 2000 year church age or age of grace, also called the mystery dispensation in the Bible.

The church will not be present during any part of the 70th week.

The church is absent in all verses of scripture relating to the 70th week, the tribulation or Jacob's trouble in the entire Bible.

The only references to the church in the Revelation are in chapters one to three, preceding the 70th week or tribulation period and right at the end where they are seen returning with our Lord to the earth at the end of the period. (There are references to tribulation saints on earth in this time. These are they that are saved during the tribulation period)

The 144000 of the Revelation who are commissioned with evangelism during the tribulation are all Jews. (Revelation 7:4-8) If evangelism is the job of the church how come only Jews are in view here?

Arguments against dispensations:

Many argue that the word dispensation is not in the Bible. Well, as seen above, it is and many times!

Some argue that the last trumpet of Revelation 11:15 is the same as the last trumpet of 1Thessalonians 4:16 and 1 Corinthians 15:51. It is not the same. In the Revelation it says "The seventh angel sounded his trumpet...the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord." This is simply the last trumpet for the tribulation. It signals the end of the tribulation period or the close of the Old Testament dispensation.

1 Corinthians 15:51 "Behold I tell you a mystery, we shall not all sleep (die) but we shall all be changed, in a moment in a twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed." This trumpet is the last trumpet of the dispensation which began at Pentecost, called the church age or mystery dispensation. There is a last trumpet for both the church and Israel.

1 Thessalonians 4:16 "The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel  and with the trumpet of God and the dead in Christ will rise first."

The last trumpet for the church sounds before the wrath of God. The last trumpet in Revelation sounds right at the end of the wrath of God or tribulation.

The last trumpet of 1 Corinthians 15:51 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16 has no trumpets preceding it, so it is not the last in a series. It is the last for the church dispensation. The last trumpet of Revelation is the last of a series of seven trumpets.

The trumpet closing the church age occurs in a "twinkling of an eye" while the last trumpet of the Revelation does not.

There are resurrections of the dead who are part of the church and a different resurrection at the end of the tribulation. Some argue that this can't be. Actually there have already been many resurrections in history. For example; Elijah, the dead body of Moses, many at the resurrection of our Lord and others. So it is quite conceivable that we have two resurrections!

If you mix these up into one, there are many problems created with many other portions of scripture. Many things will not add up.

Many argue that God doesn't deal separately with Israel and the church. This makes a total mockery of a huge number of passages of scripture and creates an untidy illogical mess.

There are many who become believers in the tribulation period. These are called tribulation saints and will meet the Lord at His second coming. But they are not part of the church as such.

The rule of logic:

If the way you put the Bible together ends up with pieces that don't fit, something is wrong. This would mean that you have to either ignore portions of scripture or adhere to the terrible allegorical method of interpretation, which allows you to make it say what you want it to.

Logic dictates that the method or belief that has has everything fitting together like a jig saw is correct. We need to consider and take all of scripture in its context.

If you reject dispensations:

If you reject dispensations there can be no rapture at all. The dispensation rejecters believe in a post tribulation rapture. It's also called the grand U-turn. At the end of the tribulation the Lord returns to the earth with His saints. If the rapture happens then, people will rise to meet the Lord in the air and came straight back to the earth with Him.

A simple view of the church as a mystery dispensation in between the Old Testament is consistent with the Bible.

The dispensation problem:

The problem that continues to hover around dispensationalism has nothing to do with the Bible itself. It has been and is caused by some people who take dispensations to an extreme and over-apply it. They claim that there can be nothing carried over from one to another. This is not the case. Many people over-apply dispensations on the one hand and on the other many reject dispensations completely. Both are wrong.

The Bible itself is clear. The big picture can only be seen without contradiction with dispensations in view.

Titus 2:13 "Looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ."

Heaven or hell:

Young Palestinian, you still have time to make right with God. You have a very, very important choice before you. You can go the way of your family and your friends and your people or you can break away from the traditions that will lead you to hell. Our Lord and Messiah may be Jewish, but he loves you much more than any of your own people ever will or can. He will set you free indeed.

Old woman, you have very little time left. Have you made right with God? If you have God will make right with you and welcome you into His glorious Kingdom for all eternity. It would be a terrible situation if you have a hard life of suffering now and on your death your eternal suffering begins. The Kingdom of our God is a Kingdom of never ending peace, and joy.

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Here is a painting by Rembrandt of the prophet Jeremiah mourning over the future of Jerusalem.

Kind regards and many blessings...Shalom and grow in grace!

Edition 52. 12th September 2010

In this edition:

●Devastating famine coming soon

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Famine is coming now:

If you read through other editions you will notice that we have far too many prophetic things all dovetailing together at the same time. You need to be an idiot not to see it! It's all pointing to the soon coming of our great King and Messiah, who is the only One with the real solution for all the world's problems.

Jeremiah 9:10 "I will take up a weeping and wailing for mountains and for the habitation of the wilderness and a lamentation because they are destroyed.

There is a perfect storm coming soon...a nasty one. This storm of circumstances is gathering momentum fast and could have dramatic consequences for the world economy.

"We will soon be experiencing a worldwide food crisis of unprecedented magnitude" says Agriculture News. It goes on to say: "Water shortage crisis to hit the US and the world" This story is being repeated by many agricultural experts around the world right now. "Will 2010 be the year the world runs out of food" says one specialist publication.

Record setting droughts, exploding populations and crippling crop failures all over the world are combining to set the stage for a devastating food crisis which will escalate into 2011.

Many parts of the US are now starting to suffer crop failures. The US has always been seen as the world's reservoir. A new disease called "late blight" is absolutely devastating tomato and potato crops in the US. The prices of these are just starting to rise now. In addition farmers all over the US are reporting disappointing harvests. Wheat harvests in particular have been poor in some states.

Ug99 is confounding agricultural scientists. It's a new horrific wheat fungus also called stem rust. It's very difficult to get rid of. Scientists estimate that it could decimate 80% of the world's wheat crop.

29% of the world's fisheries are in a state of collapse according to a Canadian Scientist. This number will rise in coming years.

The World Bank has just warned: "80 countries are now facing serious water shortages that will threaten their citizens and economies."

At the moment there are some 1 billion people in the world who go to bed hungry, with 3.6 people starving to death every second.

World famine comes with its partners pestilence, disease, starvation, and death. It will lead to world economic collapse. The world economy is heading for double dip recession without any of this as a contributor!

China:

The floods in the south of China have been in the news of late, but almost the entire north of this massive country is now experiencing its worst ever drought. This has resulted in massive crop failures. Ground water has dried up so there are no working wells for irrigation. The land has become parched. The problem with this is that it has prevented planting for next season. So crop failure for the new season is guaranteed.

90% of the groundwater of the cities and surrounding has now dried up. 75% of all of the lakes and rivers are now polluted. 700 million people are now drinking polluted water.

Russia:

This enormous country has also seen devastating drought and wild fires recently. The drought has led to crop failures on a massive scale. Because of this Putin has intervened and stopped all wheat exports until next year, when the situation will be reviewed. But the drought has been so severe that it has prevented planting for the next season. So, as with China, next years there will be little or no crops to fail.

It's not just wheat, but other grains and crops that are failing throughout Russia.

Desertification:

The spread and growth of deserts is alarming. It goes hand in hand with deforestation which is also alarming particularly in the Amazon region and the central African rain forests. Desertification is like a disease of the earth drying up fertile land and upsetting the balance of nature. The degradation and degeneration of land is spreading so fast in some regions that scientists believe there will soon be an imbalance in the very structure of our atmosphere, due to missing elements. This adds to climate and weather instability. Many rivers that were once strongly flowing are now seasonal with many drying up completely.

Arable land is now being lost at 35 times the historical rate due to the advance of deserts.

It's a losing battle simply because there isn't the political will do take action on these issues. A new global effort is needed to stem these tides. In some cases it is too late anyway.

The UN has just issued this brief:

One third of the earth's land surface is now under threat! Already 250 million people are directly affected by desertification. A further 1.2 billion people in over 110 countries are at risk now.

The fastest growing desert now is in northern China, where much of the region has become a dust bowl.

Spain is seeing large areas of land that were once fertile now turning to desert. 36 countries in Africa are now deteriorating due to the influence of desertification. Canada is being affected by rapidly growing desert.

The big bottom line in this is that food production will come under pressure causing the prices to rise. Right now some commodities are still okay with large stockpiles while others are in trouble. Most of them are heading in the wrong direction now. The wheat price is rising fast although not at 2007 record levels yet, but it won't be long before it gets there and then goes higher.

The wheat price:

Disappearing bee syndrome:

This is also called colony collapse disorder (CCD)

One third of the bees have gone in the US and South America. Colony collapse is escalating around the world.

Bee colonies are disappearing fast. This is not only bad news for honey production. Bees play a vital part in the pollination of many plants including fruits and vegetables. Flowering plants require insect pollination. As many as 90 commercial crop species are pollinated by bees. Some of these include: apples, citrus fruits, strawberries, onions carrots, sunflower, nuts, coffee, soya beans, cottons and many others.

This will cause a worldwide decrease in these products and many other that are related like cattle feeds etc.

Scientists are now warning that this will soon cause a collapse in the food chain.

The Guardian has just published this report: "Fears for crops as shock figures from America show the scale of the  bee catastrophe. The world may on the brink of a biological disaster after news that a third of US bee colonies have gone."

"Bees in terminal decline" says the Observer.

The problem is that colony collapse is coming along at the same time as world water shortages and growing famine, which will exacerbate the whole problem.

What the Bible says:

There are hundreds of Bible verses speaking prophetically of dramatic famine, pestilence, starvation and death coming. Most of these relate to the tribulation period, but we need to realise that this won't all happen overnight. We are now in the forerunner period leading up to the tribulation. It's also called the time of "birth pangs". So we can expect many of the prophesied catastrophes of the tribulation to begin to appear now.

There are many judgements of the tribulation that will be an instant supernatural act of the wrath of God and others that will involve environment and nature going crazy. These will be progressive in development.

 I won't deal here with any of the prophetic judgements of the Revelation, because all of them occur in the seven year tribulation period. They are much worse than any of the forerunners. The subject of this article is the forerunner time period we are in now. 

Luke 21:10 "Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom and there will be great earthquakes in various places and famines and pestilences with fearful sights and great signs from heaven." This is one of the "signs of the end of the age" It is a verse relating to the tribulation, but as said many of these things will start to appear just before hand as the season approaches.

Why are these terrible things happening?

The big bottom line is that "God is not mocked" You can ignore Him and disobey Him, but at the end of the day, you pay. The same principle applies on a global level.

There are many verses of scripture relating to agricultural land being allowed a "Sabbath rest". 2 Chronicles 36:21 is one of them. If the land is not permitted its Sabbath or jubilee rest it will revolt!

Mans great commission was also to steward nature and not abuse it blindly for pure monetary gain.

Read the verses below, and then also just read the underlined sections.

Leviticus 26:1-19  "You shall not make idols etc and bow down to them. You shall keep My Sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary...if you keep My word then I will give you rain in its season, the land will yield its produce and the trees their fruit ...but if you do not obey Me and keep My word, I will appoint terror over you, wasting disease and fever and you shall sow in vain...I will break the pride of your power.

Deuteronomy 28:15 "If you do not obey the Lord your God and keep His commandment, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you. (includes famine pestilence etc)

Ezekiel 5:11-13 "Because you have defiled My sanctuary with your detestable things and your abominations, therefore I will diminish you, My eye will not spare you, nor will I have any pity. One third of you shall die of pestilence and famine in your midst...thus My anger shall be spent and I will cause My fury to rest upon them..."

Ezekiel 14:13 ""When a land sins against Me by persistent unfaithfulness, I will stretch out My hand against it; I will cut off its supply of bread and send famine on it."

Hosea 4:1-10 "There is no truth or mercy or knowledge of God in the land...therefore the land will mourn and everyone will waste away with the birds of the air and even the fish will be taken away...because you have forgotten the law of God...they shall eat but not have enough because they have ceased obeying the Lord."

Jeremiah 14:13-16 Is a discourse on false prophets who prophecy peace and say that there will be no famine. "These prophets prophecy lies in My name and I have not sent them".

The above verses show that it's not God's fault at all. It is the fault of rebellious man.

Here is God's way:

Psalm 37:18 & 21 "The Lord knows the days of the upright and their inheritance shall be forever, they shall not be ashamed in the evil time and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied."  "I have not seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread."

Joel 2:18 "Then the Lord will be zealous for His land and pity His people and will say "Behold I will send you grain, new wine and oil, I will no longer make you a reproach among the nations." vs 22 "Don't be afraid you beasts of the field; for the open pastures will spring up and the trees will bear fruit..." This occurs as Israel repents and turns to the Lord.

Economic collapse:

The nature of the coming food crisis and its related partners will cause an economic collapse. The world economy is just starting to emerge from recession. It is still on crutches. In fact the recovery has now topped out and is just starting to head back down again. Growth rates are slowing. It's easy to knock over a person on crutches. The world economy is fragile and simply doesn't have the capacity to sustain any new shocks at this time.

The problem is that natural calamities can intensify and spread rapidly.

Social upheaval and riots.

Because of the very nature of man, he is inclined to react with violence when he can't get what he wants. Food -price riots have just started as basic food prices rise. Five countries have just seen food riots. We are still in the early days of this, but these are things that wars are fought over.

One of the amazing things about the coming big war of Ezekiel 38 and 39 (also called the war of Gog and Magog) is that one of the reasons for the invasion of Israel relates to food. Israel has had many crippling famines in the past, but as their spiritual eyes begin to open, God is blessing them with abundance.

Summary:

Of course you may ask and legitimately...why does God pour His judgement out on innocent people and why does God allow this to happen when in it's in His power to stop it all? The answer is actually quite simple. The battle really originates in the spiritual world and God's solution to all the evil emanating from Satan himself, is salvation through the blood sacrifice of Yeshua / Jesus on the cross. Obedience to His word follows. Everything outside of the work of His cross has to come under judgement.

Besides, you can't really blame God when He has spelt everything out clearly in His word. He has warned very clearly that these things will occur. He has warned that you are hell-bound without the saving grace of Christ. Through His love He has promised safety and eternal salvation for those who want it, and it's for free! He has given us His word and He places the author in the hearts of His family by His Spirit.

At the end of the day everything that God does will be just and righteous and nobody will be able to disagree. Everyone will rightly have to say amen to their own judgement. It will. At the end every knee will bow to Him. It's enlightened self interest to bow the knee to Him now rather than at the great white throne judgement where it will be too late.

These coming natural catastrophes are going to intensify greatly. They will create stress, distress, and depression on a wide scale. During the tribulation period untold masses will turn to the Lord.

What's coming is untold disaster, judgement then comes eternal absolute glory. There will be no more Satanic influence in this world, and no more curse. Nature itself will be set free, never again to be subject to satanically driven man.

Peace will soon be taken from this earth, but it's coming back in purified glorious form.

Isaiah 32:15 "The wilderness will become a fertile field, justice and righteousness will dwell in nature"..

Romans 8:18-23 "For I consider that the suffering of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God...because the creation itself will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole of creation groans and labours with birth pangs together until now and not only they but we also who have the first fruits of the Spirit, we also groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body."

Job 38:8 The range of the mountains is His pasture, and He searches after every green thing."

Heaven or hell:

None of you will ever be able to hide from the eyes of the living God. You may be able to do so now, but soon all will be laid bare before God. If you have made right with Him while alive you are safe forever. If not you will stand before God and you will see Him. He will cast you into the prison of hell.

Heaven awaits all of those that are His. We will be deliverd into the glorious liberty of the family of God. What awaits all believers is unimaginable glory. The universe will be our playground.

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Here is a woodcut done by Gutave Dore. This is one of the "Paradise Lost" series representing Lucifer surveying Eden. Thanks to the Adelaide Library.

Kind regards and many blessings...Shalom and grow in grace!

Edition 51. 5th September 2010

In this edition:

●The Centrality of the Cross

●News on the peace talks.

●New videos under video tab

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●The earthquake that has just hit Christchurch New Zealand was a big one. No deaths but half the city wrecked. Could this be a sign that the Christ's church is about to be hit with a spiritual earthquake? Maybe!

●The peace-talks that have just kicked off in Washington are worth keeping an eye on. It all sounds good, noble and right.

Netanyahu has just returned from Washington and in a briefing told his cabinet that he felt the Arabs had turned the corner and were ready for peace. He said that he is now working out a new deal. He told them has was now ready to "divide Jerusalem and surrender Judea and Samaria."

This peace effort is a dangerous work. They are going to get a lot of resistance from Hamas and other sources, but they will also get a huge following. This peace effort will raise the barrier between those who love the ways of God and those who love the ways of the world.

This peace effort ushers in a time to fear. "When they say peace and safety, sudden destruction comes"

● Palestinian leader Abbas speaking to Palestinians says that he will not make one concession or compromise in the peace negotiations.

● The Palestinian Authority said on Sunday (in Arabic) that their goal is to take the whole of Jerusalem. The international press have ignored these two comments completely.

I have been part of the media all my adult life. If you want to see what I think of it please read edition 23.

The Centrality of the Cross:

This just may be the most important message you have ever been presented with! It could have real eternal implications for you, or it could cause you to reject it all, again with eternal implications.

The cross is an ugly instrument of torture, suffering and death. For our Lord it was the way to the crown of glory. For us it's just the same!! Revelation 19:11 pictures our Lord on a white horse riding triumphantly wearing "many crowns." He had to go thought Calvary first. Revelation 3:11 speaking of believers says "Beware that no one takes your crown." The only way anyone could do this is by robbing us of our own cross which we need to bear daily!

Many believers are warned in the Bible that they are enemies of the cross of Christ. They're not enemies of Christ, but enemies of the cross and its workings in our lives.

I'm not talking primarily about the cross of Christ as a once-off work, as part of our spirit-salvation. I'm talking about the daily application of the cross as part of the ongoing salvation of our soul. Both applications are necessary.

We can't add to the finished complete work of the cross of Christ. It completely saves and sets us apart into His kingdom, but there is another work of the cross, greatly neglected today, which we need to apply.

It's only as you embrace the cross of Christ that you can see your own desperate state and need for the transfer of His glorious life as you embrace and take up your own cross.

What the cross is not:

The cross is not some item you wear around your neck. It is no good luck charm. It is not something that Ratzinger carries with a forever-dying Jesus still hanging there. (No I won't call him pope, which means father. He is not my father!!) It's not something held in the hands of a concrete statue or a carving on a tombstone.

The cross of Christ is not something you believe in as a once off work and then never need again.  It was a complete act, but there a cross for all of us to bear on a daily basis as well.

What the cross is:

Obviously the work of the cross of Christ is the only way to salvation and new birth. We are told in Revelation 1:5 that we are washed in the blood of the Lamb. This ongoing application of the cross has got nothing to do with spirit salvation, but it has plenty to do with the salvation of the soul.

Many say that they love God. They might be right, but the god that they love is a god of their own creation and imagination. The one and only true God says, if you love Me, "take up your cross daily", "die daily" and follow Me. You can't follow our Lord without taking up your own cross.

The cross that we need to bear comes in many forms. As we seek God's will for our lives, He reveals to us what is a cross to take up and bear.

The cross that we are to take up is simply denial of self, yielding to God, surrender to Him, brokenness in relation to the self life, humility before our Lord. It involves much suffering as our very identity changes. The cross that we need to take up is always something that hurts our pride. When my own self-life is offended and rises up, a cross is right there in the midst of that situation, which I can reject or take up by humbling myself and denying self it's expression.

The resurrection power of the cross of Christ is the actual power that gives us strength. We need to pray and ask for this great transforming power. It's only this resurrection power that gives us the strength to die daily and take up our own cross.

John 15:5 "Without Me you can do nothing" Obviously this doesn't mean you can do nothing. It means that without the risen Messiah at work in your life, all that you do will amount to nothing...a wasted life. Everything done in the power and energy of the un-crucified flesh has no eternal value and is essentially worthless.

Regular fasting is an act of cross-bearing. It's a denial of self and has powerful positive implications.

Back in 1980 I was part of a group of seven brothers / friends who decided to follow the Lord no matter what. We came together regularly on an exciting road of discovery as we fasted and prayed together. This started a life of regular fasting. During our times of fasting our Lord revealed to each of us individually a cross to bear. Here is my cross list from back then: To remain single. Never to go to a movie again. Never to go on a holiday (work trips exempted) Forsake the entertainment world. Never to vote again. Avoid all traditions of man. Forsake luxury and the desire for it. Make time for regular diligent Bible study.(This included resigning from a successful job)

Things didn't happen overnight. This was for me an exciting vision and goal. Over a short time these things were worked into my life and are now part of my being. What started as a cross is now a welcome friend. I don't say this in any way to boast but to share as testimony, and yes I've still got a way to go. It's all My Lord's doing.

As you embrace the cross the things of the world and it's ways grow strangely dim! That's not just a line in a song...it is very true, and wonderfully so. The way of the cross is the way of transformation and of real peace. It's actually very exciting being on the right road with our glorious Messiah leading the way.

The entire application of the the cross and brokenness flies in the face of modern psychology. It's the exact opposite. Modern psychology and counselling says give expression to self, to ego, to pride. It says; let it all out and get rid of obstacles to self expression. This is allowing the sin-nature to thrive. The work of the cross is the opposite.

God's way is to liquidate the sinner and then raise him up in newness of life.

John 3:30 "He must increase, but I must decrease." This is the glorious transfer. This is the way the cross works in us.

The work and application of the cross works life-changing wonders deep into our very being and character with eternal reward.

The failure of cross-less Christianity:

The image above is a sad tragic truth. It's the exact opposite of this verse: 1Corinthians 1:10 "Now I plead with you brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing and that there be no divisions among you" Cross-less Christianity is the way of good ideas and the best that humanism can do. It's the way of self-will. It's the way of division and not unity. Cross-less Christianity is in unity with the world and its traditions and ways.

The Bible says to take up your own cross daily. Have a guess what this means? Shall I tell you? It means take up your cross daily! Let me ask you this: If we are to do this daily, on an ongoing basis, why then does most of the modern church never ever teach on it? This is one big reason why the modern church is such a tragic mess.

Is Christ divided against Himself? Is He a polygamist? Then why is the church so divided? It's because it has forsaken the cross and therefore has to trust in its own power and strength.

A church divided has no power. It can imitate and think it has power, but it's only power is from the energy of the flesh rather than the Spirit. Division is related to pride and pride goes before a fall. A church divided against itself will never be able to stand securely in the coming satanic onslaught.

The Messianic believers have a much better grasp of truth than most of the church. The Messianic believers adhere to the Abrahamic expression of truth, which is to the Jew and the Gentile. (See edition 47)

The Work of the cross:

The work of the cross is the great divider. It separates, identifies and creates a gulf between us and the world, the flesh-nature and the demonic. No application of the cross and you can't even see what the world is never mind get victory over its influences. No application of the cross and you will never even see the sin nature operating in the flesh or see the demonic at work in your own life.

In all of us human beings there are some things we are born with that we need to get rid of. Pride of race, face, place and grace are things that creep up on us as we grow up. Pride of race is simply pride of our race above others. Pride of face relates to our appearance, dress and the like, while pride of place relates to our possessions or standing in community or business etc. Pride of grace is very dangerous and relates to self sufficiency in our religion. The application of the cross, puts all pride to death. The Bible declares that we are to humble ourselves. It says that God gives grace to the humble and resists the proud.

The cross kills. But then as with our Lord it leads to resurrection. It's interesting that after the resurrection our Lord only appeared to His own. The type in this is that once the cross has done its deadly work in us, we are separated in a way. We have a much cleared view of the Kingdom of God which is separate from the kingdom of the world and its god Satan.

1Corinthians 2:14 "The natural man (un-crucified) does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him." The person dying daily and taking up his cross is essentially being led and enlightened by the Spirit of God. No cross-bearing no revelation knowledge or deep insight. This is exactly why many people just can't see it!

The one who is truly after God's heart will be after His ways. To really know God and His will, one has to be delivered from brain power, human reasoning and cleverness. This all needs to be broken by the power of the cross. Self confidence in our own ability and wisdom causes us to be self sufficient and self centred. It must all die.

Self- will and sin go hand in hand and whatever is done in and out of the un-crucified self-life will be burned up as useless works.

It was on the cross that our Lord became a curse for us. He took the curse and paid for our sin. The cross at work in our lives also has a powerful way of sanctifying us and bringing holiness into our lives.

Matthew 10: 38-39 "He who does not take up his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me, He who finds his life will lose it and he who loses his life for My sake will find it."

Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I that live but Christ lives in me."

1Corinthians 2:2 "I determined to know nothing but Christ and Him crucified."

Cross-less Christianity waters down truth:

With the cross obscured or left lying on the sidewalk, your truth will not be truth. It will mixed and watered down with all sorts of worldly occult and satanic garbage and the opinions of man.

Let me ask you this: You say you love our Lord, then don't you want to know and walk in His truth and ways? I know I do. There should be something right in our hearts that desires to know and follow the One we say we love. If you say you love our Lord and still blindly obey and follow the occult traditions of the church, there is something wrong there. Our Great King and Lord says "If you love Me, you will obey what I command." (John14:15) Obviously this doesn't mean that it all happens overnight, but it most certainly does means that you want to obey and that you're on that road.

Many preach the right words but with no power. In fact some are really anointed with the power of the flesh, because the centrality of the cross is missing. Failure of the people to receive the life of God is failure of the preachers. How can you give or transmit what you don't have? The messenger of the cross must be a crucified person taking up his own cross daily. People who are not experiencing the work of the cross in their lives are not qualified. What many preachers are delivering is clever thoughts and concepts mixed with Bible verses, but with no real enduring Spirit- life or transforming power.

They are preaching and teaching 'nice' sermons to motivate and inspire the self-life.

With the cross absent in the church it is left with doomed psychology and human thought. The one who is not taking up his cross and preaching in its power is a fake. We must bear the cross we preach. The problem is that many in this day don't bear it or preach it.

With the cross obscured or absent that church will not even be able to see or identify the Jezebel spirit working in its midst. This is one of the biggest problems in the western church today. Not only will these ones not be able to see it they will ill-equipped to deal with it. The tragedy of the day is that many don't even know what it is and its right in their midst.

With the cross obscured or absent there will no real power in and behind the so-called supernatural gifts of the spirit. What they have is lies and presumption at work. Only the application of the cross produces the transfer of the real power of God. The Bible talks about many "lying signs and wonders" in the last days.

The cross and the world:

Galatians 6:14 "I will glory in nothing but the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me and I to the world." This incredibly powerful verse of scripture reveals how the work of the cross sets us free and apart from the world system and its ways. It is the power of the cross, that when applied, kills worldliness in me. But more than that it causes the world to think of us..."We have no use for this dead man" It works both ways.

1John 5:4 "He who is born of God overcomes the world." We can only do this with power coming from the applied cross.

1John 5:19 "We are of God and know that the whole world lies under the power of the evil one." Without the active work of the cross, we will not even see this!

Can you see why cross-less Christianity is so dangerous. It is one with the world! The world motivated by it's god Satan, can and will use these Christians. There is no separation.

A good way to know if the cross is working in your life is simply to sit back and examine yourself in relation to the attractions of the world. Do you still love its ways, it's entertainment, it's demon possessed celebrities? Do you have a drive to keep up with the Joneses of the world?

If the cross is working in your life you will become more and more uncomfortable with the world. You will not be able to fit in anymore. It will be lifeless and dead to you. Only when you see this can you be effective in rescuing people out of the kingdom of the world. Salvation isn't getting people saved and leaving them to go with the flow of the world. It's getting people saved and leading them out of the world.

Of course we are still "in the world" and need to be the best at what God has called us to be, but we are essentially not "of it" anymore. We are Christ's ambassadors here on earth, but we are from another place entirely.

The application of the cross has a deadly effect on the world's power in our lives. When we forsake the cross the world will quickly manifest in our lives. The cross keeps the world at bay. Released from the influence of the cross anything or anyone will quickly manifest the power of the world behind it.

With the cross at work in your life you will be able to say with the Psalmist "Indignation and horror has taken hold of me because of the wicked who forsake Your law." (Ps119:53)

Are you horrified at the world and its ways, or tolerant and part of it all?

Cross-less Christianity can mix with all religions:

Cross-less Christianity is dangerous. When you get saved, you enter a spiritual environment and climate and there's a battle on the go in this dimension. The battle is everywhere and you need eyes of discernment to see it and see the evil one trying to bring you down. Only our risen Messiah can see all things. When we are dying to self, dying daily and decreasing, it is He that is increasing in us. He has eyes to see and will reveal to us the hidden dangers and deceptions out there.

The word Babylon means 'confusion' or to 'mix together'.

Only the work of the cross can put a barrier between truth and error and separate between these forces. The early church was powerful, full of light and in unity with a pure doctrine. The church plunged into the dark ages when the Catholics mixed occult practises into it. Mixture of truth and error spells defeat.

Cross-less Christianity can, will and is dancing with the devil in the dark. It can coexist happily with error and the occult. It is forming alliances doomed to hell and all in the name of love and tolerance.

Hell awaits the tolerant. Now please don't take what to say out of context. Of course there are many times where tolerance is needed and when yielding produces results. But there are many things where yielding and tolerance will sweep you off your feet into a Christ-less eternity. Our Lord will give those that are humble before Him eyes to see all these things.

Cross-less Christianity will become part of the great end-time servant of Satan called the false prophet. This will be a massive one-world religious organisation...a counterfeit religion. In fact it is already in formation stage.

Cross-less Christianity leads to hell:

Cross-less Christianity leads to a Christ-less eternity. With the cross obscured or absent, your life is a dance of eternal death! With the cross obscured you will not see the Lord's coming and you will be unconcerned. You will be blind to the coming Kingdom and it will be irrelevant. A cross-less church won't preach or teach on eschatology. Cross-less Christianity is a clever deception. It's dressed in all the right garb but is dead right in the heart. It is the counterfeit church.

The cross is the way to the crown and genuine peace:

No cross, no crown. The real true seal of the believer is the ongoing work of the cross in their lives.

With the cross at work, you will be invincible. This is simply because Christ is invincible and if it's "not I, but Christ that's alive"...I'm invincible.

That which is done in our lives, emanating from the power of the cross, has more value than we can imagine, and it's value is eternal. This is the way to deep peace.

Some people might say the cross is a crutch. They are right. The cross IS the ultimate crutch, but as you lean on it, it kills, then delivers you to the most glorious life of victory imaginable.

With the cross working in your life you will see hell and heaven. You will see kingdoms in conflict and you'll be set free into real deep, clam peace, joy and satisfaction. Genuine Christ-powered love will make you effective in reaching the lost.

The most powerful prayer anyone can pray would go something like this: "Lord lead me to know You more deeply and intimately, so that my love for you may increase and be genuine. Show me how to apply the cross to every area of my life. Show me what is a cross to take up and what is not. Give me your resurrection power that I may die to self, the world and the demonic. Lord. take me forever forward with you."

On a character level, the work of the cross will transform you into a person full of the fruits of the Spirit of God. "The axe is laid at the root of the tree" says the Bible. So as the work of the cross strikes deeply into your life and kills the very root of all that's not right, a new tree full of eternal fruit arises. This isn't 'manufactured or superficial fruit, it's "fruit that remains".

Summary:

Today there is immense pressure to conform to the world and its ways. This kingdom of darkness is presented as an attractive desire. Today there is enormous pressure to be self sufficient and to allow the flesh unhindered expression. Cross-less Christianity blinds you to all of this and sets you up as one of the masses on a hell-bound journey.

There are so few who teach and preach the message of the cross today it's frightening. We are moving fast into ever increasing perilous times because of all the self-love out there.

But there are many who hunger and thirst for the truth and the right way. They want to be right with God. They are prepared to pay the price.

Our Lord never sinned, but he fell many times under the weight of His cross on the way to be slaughtered. When you fall, taking up your cross...same thing. Get up and go again. Don't take the easy way out by leaving the cross aside. If our Messiah did that, we would not be saved. We must suffer under the weight of our own cross whatever that may be, until it's deadly work is done. Then comes true victory. If you are taking up your cross, one day you will wake up in the morning and just know that you are free indeed!

Philippians 3:7-14 "What things were gain to me, these I have counted as loss for Christ, I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as dung, that I might gain Christ."

Heaven or hell:

Bridgette Bardot you have not aged well. You were an animal rights activist and an activist for homosexual rights. You were known as a beauty and also an intellectual. You were a strong liberal with no religious convictions. You were idolised by John Lennon and many other celebrities. You made a few suicide attempts, but Brigitte you have neglected our Lord and saviour the one who has the keys into one of two eternal destinations. You have been worshipped by many, but you you have not worshipped the one true God. You are in danger.

Pablo Picasso, as a Catholic did you put your trust and faith in our Lord before you died or did you depart from this earth believing that as a church member you would be okay? You were a brilliant artist and had a fine mind, but that won't save you. Celebrity of whatever sort is meaningless to God. Where are you now Pablo? are you in hell or heaven?

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Here is a painting done in 1916 by Trento Longaretti depicting the crucifixion.

Kind regards and many blessings...Shalom and grow in grace!

Edition 50. 29th August 2010

In this edition:

●An important day in world history

●New videos under videos tab

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A day of major prophetic developments:

A new day has dawned prophetically for the world with very few being aware of the significance at all! This new day signifies peace, war, the anger and fury of God on an unprecedented scale. There are few occasions where the direct fury of God is aroused. The world and the church are continuing on in unconcerned ignorance and blindness in the face of two major developments at the same time.

The weekend of the 21st August saw Russia cement its ties with Iran, as it supplied and fuelled up Iran's first nuclear reactor. This will be an ongoing arrangement. The US State Department also warned that Iran would be able to produce nuclear weapons within a year. (Other agencies believe the time is much shorter.) There is no way in the world that Israel will let Iran get to the nuclear weapons stage.

The US State Department announced, on the same day, that it had made a breakthrough in peace-talk negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. This will result in a series of meetings to set the agenda for the dividing of Jerusalem and the state of Israel into two separate states. It is anticipated that the new Palestinian state with part of Jerusalem as its capital will come into existence in a year's time. The meetings kick off on September 3rd, with a one year deadline for the dividing of Israel.

There have been many attempts at bringing in Middle Eastern peace all of which have failed. In fact I personally attended a White House meeting between then president Carter and Israeli premier Begin back in the 70s for this very purpose (I was doing a stint on the Washington Post back then)

Many Christians and churches say they love the Jews, but also that the Palestinians have a legitimate human right to a state within Israel. They are wrong. There has never been a Palestinian state before.

In a previous edition I remarked that a very easy way to tell if something like a Feast, holiday etc is of God, is simply to observe if the world accepts it. I used the examples of Sunday Sabbath, Easter and the like. Does the world accept these? Yes, while rejecting God's Sabbath and Passover. Well in the same way; does the world accept the "roadmap to peace" by dividing the land of Israel? Yes it does, while rejecting God' plan for Israel.

As we move into the coming peace negotiations, all you need to do is look at what the world thinks is the right way. It will be the opposite of God's way.

Some background:

I have covered these things in other editions, but I need to lay this as groundwork for these new developments:

Matthew 24:32-34 "Now learn the parable of the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that the summer is near. When you see all these things, know that it is very near, at the doors. This generation will by no means pass away till all these things are fulfilled."  It goes on to say a bit further down that "of that day and hour, no one knows."

There is unanimous agreement that the '"fig tree putting on leaves" is Israel becoming a nation. This is confirmed in Luke's account of the same thing, which adds that Jerusalem will be trampled by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. The term "know that it is very near" in the original text is similar to a military command to know. It's "I command you to know"

The Bible does not say "No one knows the time" as many claim. It says that "no one knows the day and hour". This speaks of a very specific point in time. It could also be a play on words, which is quite common in the Bible, likening the "unknown day and hour" to the Feast of Trumpets, which is also called the Feast of which no one knows the day and hour. This is because the Feast begins on the sighting of the new moon. People do know the approximate time of the new moon, but not the exact time.

So then, the Bible gives a time frame until the coming of our Great King and Lord. It says that there will be one generation in which all things relating to this era will be wrapped up and then the Lord will return. The thing that kicks off the generation is the birth of Israel as a nation, which occurred in 1948.

Now then, we need to establish how long a Bible generation is to give us a clue as to when it comes to an end. There are many views out there, but obviously only one can be right. Please note that what I am now saying is not cast in stone. I am giving you a likely probability.

Psalm 90:10 says that the "generation of man is 70 years". So if we simply add 70 to 1948 we come to 2018, which would be the outer limit for the end of the great tribulation and the coming of our Messiah. Now, we need to come forward seven years for the tribulation period, which brings us to 2011 for the start.

It is highly likely and probable (note my words) that the seven year tribulation period, also called the "time of Jacob's trouble" will start on a Feast of Trumpets. This is the next of the seven feasts to be fulfilled. I've used these tables before, but they are so important they're worth looking at again. Each feast has a prophetic fulfilment that it points to.

We see in the image above of the seven Feasts of the Lord, that four have been fulfilled and three remain to be fulfilled with "Trumpets" being the next. The Feat of Trumpets is also known by the rabbis as the Feast of regathering and which begins the time of Israel's judgement.

When the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement, seven years later, are marked by a period of 86 moons, they mark out a period of 2550 days. This1260 days for the first half of the tribulation and the1290 (Daniel12:11 adds 30 days) for the second half. This adds up to 2550 days. This is truly amazing! Only the years 2011 and 2014 qualify for this, both with an 86 moon separation, but only 2011 fulfils the 70-year generation condition.

The Feast of Trumpets 2011 will fall on 29th September. It will begin on the sighting of the new moon.

Now, we have both the 70-year generation issue and the Feast of Trumpets issue both pointing to 2011 for the start of the seven-year tribulation. There are other indicators as well, all dovetailing to this point, but we'll leave them for now. It's highly likely and probable that the seven year tribulation period will start on the Feast of Trumpets 2011. If not time is short!

Dividing the land and the fury of God:

Okay, let's now have a look at these two major news items that have just broken and their importance. It seems that the world is hell bent on making Israel bow to its wishes to divide up the land of Israel. The verses of scripture below are very important and show exactly what God thinks of the world's plans. The image below shows some of the world leaders who will be players on this stage. They are: Netanyahu, Ahmadenajahd, Obama, Gaddafi, Putin and Abbas.

Joel 3:1-2 "In those days, when I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat (means the Lord will judge) and I will enter into judgement with them there on account of My people, My heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; They have also divided up My land."

Micah 5:15 "(This is in the context of the coming of the Lord, with this chapter headed "Judgment on Israel's enemies") "I will execute vengeance in anger and fury on the nations that have not heard My word."

Daniel 11:39 (Speaking of the antichrist) "He will acknowledge a foreign god and advance its glory and will cause the people to divide the land for gain."

Amos 1:13 (Speaking of the people of Ammon or the modern day Palestinians) "That they might enlarge their territory."

Zechariah 3:2 "The Lord rebuke you Satan, says the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem."

Zechariah 12:2-3 "I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem. I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples and who would move it away will surely be cut in pieces," (end of age context)

Zechariah 1: 13-16 "I am zealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with great zeal. I am furious and exceedingly angry with the nations at ease...I am returning to Jerusalem with mercy; My house shall be built in it, says the Lord of hosts" (armies)

Micah 4:11 "Many nations have gathered against you (Israel), who say: let her be defiled and let our eye look upon Zion, but they do not know the thoughts of the Lord, nor do they understand His counsel, He will gather them like sheaves to the threshing floor."

Zephaniah 2:8-9 "I have heard of the arrogant threats against My people and against their borders. Therefore as I live says the Lord of hosts those people will be as Sodom and Gomorrah."

Ezekiel 25:14-17 "I will lay My vengeance on Edom (Arabs which includes Palestinians) by the hand of My people Israel, that they might fulfil My anger according to My fury, and they shall know My vengeance. Because the Philistines (Palestinians) dealt vengefully and took vengeance with a spiteful heart and destroyed, because of the old hatred...I will execute great vengeance on them with fury."

Ezekiel 35: 5-15 "Because you have an ancient hatred and have shed the blood of the children of Israel, by the power of the sword at the time of their calamity, when their iniquity came to an end, therefore as I live says the Lord, I will prepare you for blood and blood shall pursue you...Because you have said, these two nations and these two countries (Judah and Israel) shall be mine and we shall possess them, although the Lord was there....thus with your mouth you have boasted against Me and multiplied your words against Me...I will leave you desolate.

Ezekiel 36:2 "Because the enemy has said of you "Aha! The ancient heights have become our possession...surely I have spoken in My burning jealousy against the rest of the nations and against all Edom (Arabs) who gave My land to themselves as a possession...Therefore thus says the Lord God I have lifted My hand in an oath, that surely the nations that are around you shall bear their own shame.

The above verses all fly in the face of Obama and his deceived friends. These verses fly in the face of every so called 'peace' attempt. These verses are all prophetic and relate to the time period we are entering now, they are pretty scary!

The world's peace plan, like that of Hitler's is doomed right from the start. It is the dawning of devastation on a massive scale. (By the way, it's important to remember that Hitler's main purpose wasn't to exterminate the Jews, it was to bring about a new world order of peace. The Jews simply got in the way of this as is the case now)

The above verses of scripture all speak prophetically of the fury and anger of God being aroused over the dividing of Israel, the land and the city of Jerusalem.

The world motivated by its god, Satan has put together a "roadmap to peace" Obama and the US administration are the prime movers now. It will lead them straight into massive conflict and judgement. As of last weekend, this hell-bound journey is again on the go. It's heading right down the road spelt out in the above verses!

Here is God's plan and roadmap to peace:

Genesis 13: 14-15 " The Lord said to Abram: Lift up your eyes now and look from the place where you are - northward -southward -eastward and westward, for all the land which you see, I give to you and your descendants forever."

Psalm 105: 8-10 "He has remembered His covenant forever, the word which He commanded for a thousand generations, the covenant which He made with Abraham and His oath to Isaac and confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, to Israel for an everlasting covenant."

Jeremiah 16: 14 "Behold the days are coming says the Lord, that it shall no more be said, the Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt (exodus), but the Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north and all the nations where they had been scattered. For I will bring them back into their land, which I gave to their fathers."

Zechariah 10:10 "I will bring them back into their land until no more room is found for them."

Hosea 10:11 "He will roar like a lion and His sons shall come trembling from the west.

These verses spell out God's plan for Israel and the Jews. It will happen this way in the end and the world's plan will explode in their faces.

Possible scenarios:

The US State Dept. has now got the Palestinians and Israel to come together in the US for a series of meetings to decide how to divide up Israel and Jerusalem. The Palestinians may accept some form of surrender from Israel, but this will only be strategic as they don't want pieces of Israel, they want all of it. This 'peace' effort may produce the seven year peace treaty spoken of by Daniel, which launches the tribulation period.

These meetings may well break down and restart. Netanyahu may capitulate to the demands of the world. Either way, this is all very interesting especially from a timing point of view. Hamas will have no part in the process as it is not interested in peace of any description. It wants the destruction of Israel. Hamas will attempt to derail the talks.

If this 'peace' process succeeds, which I believe it will, God Himself will stand up in rage and fury. This could be the cause of the yet unfulfilled wars, soon to come.

We have a big conflict involving the destruction of the city of Damascus, the capital of Syria. This is spoken of with very little detail in Isaiah 17. It could be part of the great war of Ezekiel or a separate war. It will be devastating and leave the entire city in ruins. (Damascus has never been destroyed in history, placing this conflict in the future.)

The big war of Ezekiel:

Please watch the two videos under the video tab titled World War 3 parts 1 and 2

Untold millions of people will be caught off guard. 1Thesselonians 5:3-4  "When they say peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them and they shall not escape. But you brethren are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief."

The participants of the war of Ezekiel 38 & 39 are shown in the map above within their modern locations.

Ezekiel 38:2 reveals the main one as Magog = modern day Russia.

Ezekiel 38:5 identifies one of the nations to come against Israel as Persia. In modern day terms, Persia includes Iran and parts of Syria. There is no doubt that Iran will be one of the attackers.

Isn't it very interesting that a nation like Iran, which has declared that it wants to "wipe Israel off the map" is now an ally with Russia, which is Biblical Magog? Isn't it interesting that the US State Dept. says that Iran is less than a year away from the production of a nuclear warhead?

Many people (who have a problem reading) make the mistake of identifying this war in Ezekiel with the reference in Revelation 20:8. Here, Gog and Magog are referred to in type. The Revelation event takes place right at the end of the millennium.

Zechariah 13: 8  "One third of the people will be struck down and die and one third will be refined by fire." This verse applies to the tribulation period, but a very large number will be killed in the Ezekiel war. This will be the third world war.

Daniel11:40-45 "At the time of the end the king of the South shall attack him (Israel) and the king of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind..." The king of the South is Egypt and the king of the North is Syria. Then further down in verse 43 Egypt, Libya and Ethiopia are brought in. This is most probably Daniel's account of the Ezekiel war. He brings in Syria and Egypt, while Ezekiel already has Libya and Ethiopia among the attackers.

Psalm 83:4-6 "They have said come let us cut them off from being a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more, they have consulted together (peace talks) with one consent. They form a confederacy against You: The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites." Edom is the Arab regions around Jordan and into a part of Egypt, while the Ishmaelites are the people of modern day Saudi Arabia. Other Arab nations are also mentioned and Lebanon is mentioned in some other verses as also coming against Israel.

It is highly likely that all of the above nations will come against Israel in the great war of Ezekiel. If not they will be on the stage in within a close timeframe.

There has never been a people hated as long as the Jews have been hated. The Bible reveals why. Mathew 24:9 "They are hated for My name sake." and because of this Satan opposes them. 1 Chronicles 21:1 "Satan rose up against Israel..." This everlasting hatred is about to intensify. If you are a true believer it will be seen in your love for God's word, His plans and His people the Jews who are soon to become brothers and sisters in Messiah. You will "pray for the peace of Jerusalem" You will "bless Israel and be blessed". As much of the church together with the world comes against Israel, you will stand out, and be forever different.

Why are these two news events important?

The Bible reveals what the actual event is that will start the tribulation period.

The tribulation will be started by the revealing of the antichrist, who will be the individual to sign a seven year peace treaty with Israel.

Daniel 9:27 "And he shall confirm a covenant (treaty) with many for one week." (Shabua in original, meaning a seven. The context implies a seven of years and not days)

●We now know that God's fury will be aroused  when the land of Israel is divided. Zechariah brings the dividing of Jerusalem into this as well.

●We now have a new 'peace' imitative just starting between Israel and the Palestinians. This is due to be concluded with a peace treaty that will divide Israel and Jerusalem, within a year. That is the deadline set by the US and the two participants.

●We now have Iran with Russia's help on the road to nuclear weapons within a year. There is now inevitable conflict coming between Israel and Iran (backed by Russia)

●The tribulation period could possibly start as soon as the Feast of Trumpets 2011. If so it will start with the signing of a peace treaty.

Can you see what I see? There are just a few too many ducks lining up in a row for all this to be coincidence!

Other pointers:

●Please go to the video tab above and click on the short video clip titled "Messiah Revealed" This really is astounding and very amazing. It is true! Watch for the death of Ariel Sharon. (He is still in a coma)

The Bible also reveals events that have not yet taken place but will in the run up to the tribulation period.

One of the terrible things that will occur in the tribulation is the setting up a monumental financial control system. We are now in the forerunner period of this. The world is currently heading for double dip recession. I was chatting to a well know economist and friend the other day, who said that he believed we were not only heading for double dip, but for depression again. One of the reasons why a double dip recession is crippling and much worse than a normal recession is because the world has not yet recovered from the first recession. It's like a man on crutches being hit by a truck. He has no chance.

The entire modern financial system has within it inherent problems that are doomed to explode one day, double dip or not. The modern monetary system is designed to produce slavery to debt. Banks don't lend money, they create it from unlimited self-generating debt. Therefore the supply of money is unlimited. If all debt was repaid there would be no money. In the great depression the money supply dried up and there was no money to lend out. This is why money has changed from being gold-backed to paper to plastic and soon to bio-metric ID money.

World economic meltdown is on the way, which will lead the way to massive financial control, which the Bible outlines and predicts in a number of places.

Coming large scale famine:

One of the four riders of the apocalypse during the tribulation brings world famine. Right now the price of wheat and other crops are going through the roof due to crop failures in many regions around the world. Russia and a large part of northern China are seeing massive drought-induced crop failures. Food prices will soon rocket higher. The threat of world famine is rising dramatically. Reserves are still quite high in some countries, but the balance is tipping.

Famine is also linked to rising economic tough times. The situation in the US and other western nations is fine for now, but this situation can change fast.

The Bible does predict that famine and it's family, pestilence and disease will be a major issue in the tribulation period. This won't just suddenly appear out of the blue. We are now seeing a great many of these forerunners appearing together.

Warning:

Please be aware that in dealing with future events, we can't be 100% sure of exactly how things will pan out. We can and must know what God wants us to know and has revealed to us. We need to keep the door open to change our tune if needs be on the smaller details. All of this edition fits into this category. The major events are an absolute certainty but the details and time scales are a very likely scenario. We must however always be ready to make adjustments, BUT we must always be ready for our Lord.

Summary:

The ultimate glory of Israel and Gods plan is revealed right here: Isaiah 60:12-15 "For the nation and kingdom that won't serve you will perish...the sons of those who afflicted you shall coming bowing to you and those who despised you shall fall prostrate at the sole of your feet. I will make you an eternal excellence, a joy of many generations."

There are a great many things all dovetailing together at the moment. They are all pointing to the fact that time is very short.

Unfortunately before Israel becomes a field of dreams it becomes a field of blood, because the world and much of the church has an agenda backed by the invisible Satan.

One of the most amazing and powerful prophecies of the Bible, which is right in the midst of fulfilment now is quite innocuous. Matthew 24:38 "For in the days before the flood, they were eating, drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark." Quite simply, this means that people were continuing life as normal. They had no regard for the warnings that were before them. As Peter declares in 2 Peter 3:3-4 "Scoffers will come in the last days saying, Where is the promise of His coming, all things will continue as they were."

Many people don't want to know about these things because it interferes with their long-term happy-life plans and many are plainly ignorant. Some have been deceived by the modern materialistically orientated church. Yet others  have set themselves to work with and for Satan himself against God and His purposes and plans for Israel.

A shockingly large number of churches are propagating full blown replacement theology now and will work hand in hand with Satan, and his inter-faith movement. These are in fact already laying the groundwork for a second holocaust!

A great terror awaits them.

Thankfully there are a great many who are stirring and awakening to God's wonderful word and ways. Many are hungering for more of our Messiah Himself and are preparing their hearts and minds for the glory that lies ahead.

At the end of the day our own heart before the Lord is all important. To know our God and be moving forward on the road of deep intimate knowledge is the very thing that causes God to want to know that person! This is the way to deep peace, security, safety, contentment and fulfilment. Paul said "That I may know God" and the Bible says of him..."This one is known by God"

Jeremiah 65:12 "Therefore I will number you for the sword and you shall all bow down to the slaughter; because when I called you did not answer, when I spoke you did not hear, and chose that in which I do not delight."

Heaven or hell:

Old man your life was a gift to you and it had a plan and purpose to it. You died at 108 years old. What a long life you had, full of opportunity to get to know our Lord and King. Did you? Did you waste your life away day after day. Did you make your long life count with God? Now you know all about it! If you were given a second chance at life, knowing what you know now, what would you do with it? Perhaps you are in heaven now or maybe in hell. We will all find out soon!

Old lady, where are you now? You died at 110 years old! The Bible says that to whom much is given much is required and to whom little is given little is required. Perhaps not much was required of you. You most probably didn't need to know all the ins and outs of eschatology. But one thing you did need and that was to get saved the Bible way! Were you a "virtuous woman"? Did you make right with our Messiah before you died? You can't change things now.

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Here is a painting by Marc Chagall showing an angelic sword of judgement over the people.

Kind regards and many blessings...Shalom and grow in grace! 

Edition 49. 20th August 2010

In this edition:

●Important news item

●New videos under media tab

●The church in mortal danger

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● This is an important news item!!

●A potentially devastating Middle East conflict looms large now. US Ambassador to the UN has just said that "Israel only has a few days left to attack Iran's nuclear instillations." Russia will be delivering uranium nuclear fuel rods to Iran this weekend. These will be used to fire-up Iran's brand new 'Bushehr nuclear plant. The reactor is scheduled to be running by the 21st August. Israel will not move to take action after the fuel rods have been inserted, because the fallout would release radiation into the population.

This reactor and the spent fuel rods can be used to build nuclear arms.

Israel has an attack plan in place. If Israel is going to do anything it will have to be within days. If Israel does nothing, it will most certainly complicate any later action. We will see what happens.

●●●There are now new short videos under the 'media' tab. I will carefully select videos that deal with relevant issues. Many more will be coming, some which I am making myself.

The church in mortal danger

The church is in mortal danger simply because God says so. The messages to the seven churches in the Revelation are God's assessment and warnings to the church. There are very many other portions of scripture which outline the dangers as well. (Obviously not all of the church is in the same boat.)

Firstly I want to say that I am fully, prayerfully aware of the grave responsibility on me now. I stand first and foremost before My God and Lord, and I stand in fear! My passionate desire is not to prove myself right and others wrong (which only increases ones own guilt), but to set my heart and mind after our Lord, His truth and His ways with everything in me.

Before we look at the central issues, Let's have a brief look at just some of the warnings and dangers ahead for the church. Please be aware that in many cases, church leaders are completely responsible and in other cases, the people as well as the leaders are responsible. In some cases church members are simply innocent victims. In many cases there is hope of change, but in many others there is no hope. The Bible reveals all of this clearly.

Warnings and dangers:

In the Revelation the church at Laodicea is warned that it will be "spat out of the Lords mouth" because it is lukewarm to the gospel. Some within this church are told; "To him that overcomes, I will grant to sit with Me on My throne." The "dead" church at Sardis is warned; "You have a name that you are alive, but your dead...If you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief and you won't know what hour I come." It says that there are a "few here that will walk with Me in white" obviously implying that there are many who will not!

The church of Thyatira is warned that because "it tolerates Jezebel", or the occult and teaches others idolatry, it will be "cast into great tribulation". This church, amongst which orthodox churches can find their identity, is condemned because it "knows the depths of Satan." There are some in this church who "overcome." Two churches among the seven are warned that because they tolerate the doctrine and deeds of the Nicolaitans, they are in trouble! This doctrine is the separation of the clergy above the laity, giving supreme influence and power to a small group of clergy to keep the people in subjection. This doesn't negate the authority of the five-fold ministry offices. The Nicolaitan spirit can be best described as the desire to subjugate, control or dominate those under their influence, by separating and elevating themselves in many areas, even in terms of dress.

In other parts of the Bible we also find many warnings to the church, most relating to the time before the run up to the coming of the Lord. In this time period we see that a large part of the church will become flooded with materialistic and other worldly ways. As the spirit of the world floods in so the Spirit of God leaves! These churches continue on in the energy and power of the flesh, the world and the demonic and in many cases don't even know that the spirit leading them is false!

2 Thessalonians 2:3 "Let no one deceive you by any means; for that day will not come unless the great apostasy comes first and the man of sin is revealed." The man of sin here is obviously the antichrist. Note that it is the Spirit filled church that keeps him from being revealed. Some believe that the great apostasy is a reference to the rapture, because in the original, it is the definite article and not a more general apostasy. This may be so. Either way this is what is keeping the antichrist from being revealed. If this is referring to the rapture, nevertheless there is coming a big falling away of much of the church as well.

Matthew 24:12 "Because lawlessness will abound the love of many will grow cold." This verse of scripture is in the context and time period running up to the coming of the Lord.

1Corinthians 1:10 "Now I plead with you brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing and that there be no divisions among you." Divisions (denominations) within the church create weakness. There is strength in unity. A divided church is a sitting duck for attack and defeat.

The funny thing is that most people would acknowledge that an army needs to be strongly disciplined to be in unity, if it has any hope of being effective. Yet when it comes to the church, they don't seem to be aware of their weakness and vulnerability because of their divisions.

The safety of the gospel:

The following verses deliver a curse on those who add to or take away from the scriptures: Revelation 22:18 Deuteronomy 4:2, 27:26 If this is the case, it follows that it's not a good idea to take away from or add to the preached or taught gospel...not so?

Acts 20:27 "For I have not failed to declare to you the whole counsel of God."

Romans 15:19 "I have fully preached the gospel of Christ."

2 Timothy 4:3 "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine...because they have itching ears."

2Timothy 3:13, 16 "Evil men and imposters will grow worse and worse, deceiving an being deceived."...All scripture is profitable for doctrine reproof etc"

Romans 1:18 "The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness."

The above verses are clear and self explanatory. We need all of the whole, full, gospel taught and practiced experientially and not just selected favoured proof verses.

The way of victory is to have unity, and a love for the truth...all of it, and a resistance to error. We need to affirm and reject. Not just affirm and be wishy washy on error.

In many respects the church is in mortal danger because it has "killed" the prophetic word. Prophecy is the eyes of the church. Matthew 23:37-38 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets...your house is left to you desolate." This shows the tragic end of rejecting prohecy.

Truth only offends those that don't love it. If you love the truth you will welcome all of it in, even the hard sayings.

The church has added to and removed many Bible truths:

 In our era the church has tried to throw out many absolutes and change the truth to suite modern times. Church leaders have deemed many things in the Bible objectionable, so they've just removed them and added other things instead.

There is huge danger in tampering with the gospel. Ezekiel 13:10-11 "My people have been seduced saying peace when there is no peace...they build a boundary wall and plaster it with whitewashed un-tempered mortar - say to those who plaster it with whitewashed un-tempered mortar that it will fall..." Un-tempered mortar is cement mixed with the wrong mixture. It is useless as a border to keep error and evil out. It may look good, but it won't last especially when the pressure is on.

Truth and error don't mix. If you try to make them mix, the Spirit of God will leave and what will be left is a mixture devoid of truth, which will fail.

Today the message of the cross is missing. The cross and it's daily application into our lives is the great divider. It keeps the world system, the flesh nature and the demonic at bay! No application of the cross and these things come flooding in!

The application of the cross slays our pride and brings us down in humility. "God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble" Humility gives us eyes to see! All spiritual blindness is caused by self righteousness and pride.

Yeshua / Jesus did not say "follow Me." He said "take up your cross daily and follow Me."

The modern church has removed the teaching and preaching of hell, coming judgement and repentance. There is no fear of God. In it's place it teaches self confidence, self motivation, self fulfilment and many other such things.

The Bible does not suggest that people become believers! It teaches "Repent and believe." How can you repent if you have nothing to fear.

The fear of God is integral to the gospel. The Bible says that we are to consider the goodness and severity of God. When you remove the severity of the gospel there is no conviction, no repentance and no conversion.

Psalm 119:63 "I am a companion of all those who fear You and those who keep your precepts."

I recall being in a church in the late 70s. The pastor was a born-again hippie who was an ex circus clown and he looked the part. But he had a powerful way of pulling the carpet out from under us! He would say that you are worthless scum and on the road to hell. It was controversial, but deep repentance and true conversion was the result.

In place of the cross and it's deadly work, the church has added nice happy motivational preaching that glorifies and keeps self on the throne. It is one with the world and its ways. It loves the world.

Because the cross is absent in much of the church the demonic reigns. It's not just the occult practices of Babylon that have flooded into the church of Rome, and through to much of Christendom. Many occult practises of the ancient Egyptians are also central. Isn't it interesting that both Egypt and Babylon are scriptural types for the world. We know that Satan is the god of this world. So, it's actually Satan and the demonic that have been added into the church in the form of many traditions.

Some of these that are rooted in the occult include infant sprinkling called child baptism. Christmas, Easter, Lent, St, Valentines day and many others.

The church has removed Passover and replaced it with Easter. The image below (left) is of the Ishtar (Easter) gate in Babylon. (This is a rebuild, now in a museum in Egypt) It was the entrance to a Satanic temple in which you worshipped the Ishtar goddess by having sex. Rabbits, eggs and other fertility symbols were all over the place.

The call of the church is to preach against sin, to preach of coming judgement, hell and the love of God through the sacrifice of the cross. Instead the church preaches how you can get more things, like a rolex and a jet. Materialism is central, sanctioned. Love has become liberalism and tolerance. Tolerance is the last virtue of a collapsing society.

Today many don't even know what salvation is. Salvation means to be saved from something and to something. We are saved from hell, judgement, the devil, the devil working in the flesh nature, the power of the world and its god. We are saved through repentance and brokenness to new resurrection life, righteousness, holiness and to heaven.

The Bible says that a "tree is known by its fruit", but the forsaken part of that is "the fruit must remain." Today there is little endurance. Churches are like sausage factories producing happy sausages that soon get devoured by wolves.

The church has removed from it's gospel and practice the Feasts of the Lord, which are holy convocations for all of the Lord's people. Instead it has added occult-rooted pagan rituals and traditions. It has removed the true Sabbath and replaced it with the watered down Sunday Sabbath.

Saturday Sabbath observance should be a matter of identification with God's word and our soon to be brothers and sisters (the Jews) If we ignore the Sabbath and continue with the normal Sunday stuff, we are identifying with the Catholic church and its pagan practices as well as ignoring God's word.

Our Lord is called "The Lord of the Sabbath" Mark 2:28

We are to "remember the Sabbath to keep it Holy" we are to have a day of rest, reflection, fellowship and prayer on the Saturday Sabbath (which starts at 6pm on Friday evening and ends at 6 on Saturday.)

Here is something shocking:

Here is a very powerful and easy way to test and see if some tradition or convocation is of God or not. Do atheist and the unsaved world recognise it and celebrate it?

Does the world accept and celebrate Christmas, Easter, infant sprinkling, lent, St. Valentines day? Yes they do, without question.

Does the world accept and celebrate Passover, Shabbat ( Saturday Sabbath) adult baptism by full immersion, the Feasts of the Lord etc? No not at all, they have no part in these! That speaks volumes doesn't it?

The church is full of pagan idols dressed as Christian. Hosea 8:4 and Numbers 33:52 speak of "idols for destruction." Traditions founded and linked to idolatry need to be destroyed from our practise.

Passover, the truth and the Easter sex symbols from the ruins of Babylon:

The Bible teaches that the teacher or disciple has a weighty responsibility. Firstly, the qualification for discipleship is severe: Luke 14:27 "Whoever does not take up his cross and come after Me is not worthy of being My disciple." Then in Matthew 28:19-20 "Go therefore and make disciples among the nations...teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. A true disciple is one taking up his cross and dying to self the world and the demonic and then teaching others to observe all things the Messiah has taught.

Here is an example I've used before. Many exalt mother Theresa. She believed that her duty was to help a Hindu, Muslim or any other on their road to death, and not try to convert them at all. In fact she rejected her faith in a letter to the pope because it was not inclusive of other religions. Did she fulfil the role of a disciple, bearing in mind the above to verses?

The church's failed in it's responsibility to the world.

The advance of Christianity has not kept pace with the advance of heathenism. Over 100 times more people are born than born anew! These figures were drawn up by Clarence Larkin in 1915, so by now the figures would be vastly different and much worse.

The church is supposed to be the "light of the world" and the "salt of the earth" It's call is to speak judgement into the evils of the world. It is supposed to be the restrainer of evil and the evil one! The salt has today lost its savour. The "light of the world" has become self-obsessed. Darkness advances when the light goes dim.

Today, in the name of love, the church has befriended the world. James 4:4 "Friendship with the world is enmity with God. 1 John 2:15 Do not love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him."

As believers we are to have an invisible line of separation to and with the world and its god. BUT we are to be the light in the world shining on its evils and offering the way out. The following two verses are amazing indeed. They can be applied to a nation, a family or an individual:

Hosea 4: 1-3 "There is no truth, mercy or knowledge of God in the land...They will break all restraint, therefore the land will mourn and the people will waste away with the beast of the field, birds of air, even the fish will be taken away."

Proverbs 28:4 " If you forsake the Word of the Lord, you will praise the wicked."

Instead of keeping the wicked at bay, the church has forsaken the Word of God in this regard, resulting in wickedness being exalted or at least tolerated.

Too many have stolen their lives from God and given it to the god of the world.

In it's quest to become relevant to the world, the church has become tolerant of it and it's ways (and of course it's god)

The church was never commissioned to tolerate the evils of the world. The true church will never ever be able to become a friend of the world. True Biblical love can only be understood when the light shines into the darkness.

Psalm 119:53 "Indignation and horror has taken hold of me because of the wicked who have forsaken your law."

Let me ask you this. Are you horrified at the modern world?

The church has failed the Jews.

The Bible teaches that the gospel is to go the Jew first and then the Gentile. It also teaches that the Gentile church is supposed to make the Jews jealous. The salvation of the Jews is integral to the coming of our Messiah.

Here is something shocking:

1 Chronicles 21:1 "Now Satan stood up against Israel" Zechariah 3:2 "The Lord said to Satan, the Lord rebuke you Satan, the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you."

Israel, Jerusalem and the Jews have been in Satan's sights and targets for a long time. Replacement theology in essence is a demonic, church invented doctrine that replaces Israel with the church. A large part of the church mixed with a large inter-faith group will work with and for the false prophet, antichrist and Satan himself. In the end-time scenario these will come against God's work with Israel, Jerusalem and the Jews. These churches think are doing God's will! According to the verses above they are doing Satan's work!!

The whole world will soon turn against Israel in an evil campaign. It will have the counterfeit church working with it.

The church that is neutral to these things relating to Israel, is in trouble. The Bible says that if you are not with and for the work of God you are against it.

The true church needs to completely forsake all replacement theology, propagated especially by the denominational churches. It needs to stand with and for Israel and an undivided Jerusalem. The church needs to understand the Jews will soon become part of Messiah's family. They are our brothers and sisters in waiting!!

The answer:

The church needs to break free from the snares of occult influences, traditions and convocations. It needs to return to the Lord in deep repentance. Of course there are many who are just fine and this is confirmed by God Himself in the messages to the seven churches in the Revelation

The church needs to restore its first love to God and His word before it can be effective in bringing that love to the lost.

There is a fast growing revival on the go now. No it's not your normal miracles and revival meeting. It's a revival of truth. It may come as a shock to many, but the only significant revival comes when there is a revival within the church first of all. A church that has cast off the weights of idols and the occult and returned to truth is powerful indeed.

Summary:

In many regards the church today has become no different to the local sports club. It needs to "Ask for the old paths where the good way is and walk in it, then you will find rest for your souls." Jeremiah 6:16

In the midst of the failure of Christianity to fulfil it's God given duty, its very important to realise and understand that you and I as individuals can soar high like an eagle. Hebrews 6:2..."Let us go on to perfection." Only the Kingdom of God is unshakable! Everything else will shake and fall in its time.

Jeremiah 5:51 "The prophets prophecy falsely and the priest rule by their own power, and My people love to have it so."

Hosea 7:8 "Ephraim has mixed himself among the peoples and he is a cake unturned" (or half baked) Aliens have devoured his strength".

Heaven or hell:

You guys look so smug and self assured as you leave the interfaith conference. You've just decided to come together in unity. Unity between the Catholics, Anglicans, Muslims, Rabbic Judaism, Hindus, Buddhists and more. Ah, that sounds so gooood! Priest with the cross around your neck, let me ask you this. In your newfound unity what happens to the true cross of Christ? If other religions are legitimate, the cross of Christ was meaningless! Why do you mock the cross of Christ by wearing it around your neck?

Old lady, you have every right to look sad. The church of Jesus Christ has failed you. It has lost its strength to be effective in evangelism. It has become self centred and materialistic. It has joined the fast growing Satanic interfaith movement resulting in a loss of power. Yes it has let you down. But you can turn the story around swiftly by turning to Yeshua/ Jesus. Don't wait for the dead church to come to you.

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Here is a painting by Marc Chagall called The Yellow Cross

Kind regards and many blessings...Shalom and grow in grace!