by Heidi Swander

“The motivation for Christians working to delay the coming collapse of our nation is not to preserve our way of life, but to buy more time to share the life-changing gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as possible before America is swept away by God’s judgment,” (emphasis mine).  Read that again.  This statement by Pastor Robert Jeffress in his book, Twilight’s Last Gleaming: How America’s Last Days Can Be Your Best Days, revolutionized my thinking on the important matter of actively affecting the culture around us during these days of moral decline.

As we catapult toward this fall’s coming election, the debate will grow more heated. “Many Christians equate efforts to stop the murder of the unborn, uphold the biblical principles of morality, and elect godly leaders with rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.  ‘If we are going down anyway, why bother?’ people wonder.”  Pastor Jeffress isn’t at all sure about that way of thinking, and having read his explanation about why he is unsure, I’m inclined to agree.

“I have a different perspective today.  While our responsibility to delay our culture’s decay is not our primary mission here on earth, it is a necessary prerequisite if we are to fulfill our ultimate calling of pointing people to Jesus Christ,” (emphasis mine).  Point well taken! I was motivated by Pastor Jeffress’ position here.

If the purpose of standing up against abortion or battling the incessant encroachment of homosexuality or trying to bring our culture back from the brink of all-out socialism is simply, “a better America,” then that does nothing to inspire me. I would have to throw my hat in the ring with those who say, “Let the ship sink.” But if the rationale behind running for office or fighting to put people of principle in positions of leadership or working to defeat an ungodly congressional bill is the eternal goal of, “redeeming the time,” in order to provide ample opportunity for as many souls as possible to come to eternal life, that is a goal I can thoroughly stand behind!

And then he poses this question: “How do you balance your primary calling to share the gospel with the calling to stand up against ungodliness in our nation?” That was the premise for the book. It’s more than a fair question and it’s one that demands an answer from each of us.

He talks about being salt and light in our world  as Jesus admonishes us. “Most Evangelical Christians understand (even if they don’t obey) the mandate to serve as lights in this dark world, pointing people to Christ’s offer of salvation to all who believe. But I have discovered that many Christians do not comprehend Jesus’ command to delay the decay of our culture by acting as salt in the world,” (emphasis mine).

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by Russ Jones of One News Now

Overseen by the National Security Agency (NSA), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is constructing the billion-dollar, million-square-foot Utah Data Center. Constitutional attorney Gary Kreep, president of the United States Justice Foundation, believes the U.S. government is using the guise of “Internet protection” to infringe on personal privacy.

“The federal government, in its infinite wisdom as to what they should do to protect all of us, now has the capability at that facility to listen in on every telephone call, every tweet, every Twitter, every Facebook,” Kreep details. “Anything that goes over electronics, they can now listen into – all on your taxpayer money.”

He notes that the Obama administration on Wednesday threatened to veto a House bill designed to defend critical U.S. industries and corporate networks from electronic attacks by foreign governments.

“Obviously, he knows nothing about the U.S. Constitution and obviously doesn’t care about the U.S. Constitution,” the attorney decides. “I’ve been involved in politics [since] 1964, been a lawyer since 1975; this is the first time in my life where I genuinely fear for the future of our republic because of the actions of the federal government.”

Kreep goes on to note that a few months ago, the federal government acknowledged it had a database of every Tweet ever issued.

by Joel Rosenberg

Bible prophecy indicates that in the End Times, the nation we know today as the Republic of Iraq — known variously in Scripture as Babel, Bablyon, Babylonia, Mesopotamia and Shinar — will emerge as the global center of wealth, power and terrible evil. Eventually Iraq will pose a direct and existential threat to the State of Israel, particularly during the Tribulation.

Since the fall of Saddam Hussein and his regime in 2003, Iraq has not been a regional threat, much less a danger to Israel. Some have assumed, therefore, that Iraq would no longer play a major role in Middle Eastern or global affairs in the future. But such a conclusion would be a mistake. As I wrote about in my first non-fiction book, Epicenter, those who read, understand and believe Bible prophecy have been watching for Iraq to: 1) begin rebuilding its offensive military capability; 2) begin rebuilding its economy; 3) continue rebuilding the ancient city of Babylon into a major center of commerce and tourism.

Interestingly, all three developments are currently underway.

IRAQ IS REBUILDING ITS MILITARY

Now that the Iraqi government has forced the American military out of their country, they have embarked on a dramatic arms build-up, including the purchase of American weapons systems that could be used for offensive purposes in the future. Examples:

• The Iraqis are buying 140 state-of-the-art American M1A1 combat tanks. “The Government of Iraq has purchased 140 tanks from the United States, all of which have arrived in Iraq,” reports an Iraqi business website. “131 of those tanks are already in the possession of the Iraqi Army. The nine remaining tanks are in Iraq, but in U.S. possession.”
• The Iraqis are buying 36 advanced American F-16 fighter jets. “Israel is monitoring Iraq’s rearmament program, particularly Bahgdad’s acquisition of 36 Lockheed Martin F-16s, with some disquiet amid intelligence reports Iran is consolidating its influence in Iraq following the U.S. military withdrawal,” reports UPI. “Baghdad ordered the F-16 Block 52 multi-role Fighting Falcon jets — enough to equip the Iraqi air force’s first two fighter squadrons — in two 18-plane batches in 2011 at an estimated total cost of $7 billion.”
• In 2010, the Iraqis embarked on a $13 billion weapons spending spree. “Iraq is preparing to buy as much as $13 billion in American arms and military equipment, a huge order of tanks, ships and hardware that U.S. officials say shows Iraqi-U.S. military ties will be tight for years to come,” reported USA Today. “‘It helps to build their capabilities, first and foremost; and second, it builds our strategic relationship for the future,’ said Army Lt. Gen. Michael Barbero, the ranking U.S. officer responsible for training and advising Iraq forces.”

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by Heidi Swander

I’ve been memorizing the tiny book of Jude in the last few weeks. It is amazing to me to think of Jesus’ brother writing to first century Christians and saying, “For certain men have crept in unnoticed . . . ungodly men who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ,” (v. 4). It’s amazing because it sounds like the DVD I’ve just previewed; a new and timely video entitled, The Submerging Church: How the Emerging Church is Drawing Multitudes Away from Biblical Christianity. What we’re observing in the 21st century was already prevalent at the inception of the church.

Actually, Paul warned about it when he said his goodbyes to the Ephesian church elders in Acts 20: “For I know this, that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also, from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves,” (vv. 29, 30).

To illustrate how these verses relate to what I’ve just viewed,  The Submerging Church quotes Rob Bell, in his notorious book, The Velvet Elvis: “What if tomorrow someone digs up definitive proof that Jesus had a real, earthly, biological father named Larry, and archaeologists find Larry’s tomb and do DNA samples and prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the virgin birth was just a bit of mythologizing the gospel writers threw in to appeal to the followers of the Mithra and Dionysian religious cults that were hugely popular at the time of

What was it that Jude said? He said the ungodly men he’s referring to deny “the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ,” i.e., His Deity! For an Emergent pastor to even suggest the possibility that Jesus Christ was not born of a virgin denies the virgin birth and the deity of the Lord Jesus all in one fell swoop! Joseph Schimmel, the producer of The Submerging Church, says, “This kind of comment shows that [Rob Bell's] faith isn’t built upon Jesus Christ as God-in-the-flesh — the God-man who came to die for our sins.”

Rob Bell is a spiritual leader to thousands. Shades of Paul’s chat with the Ephesian elders: “From among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things . . . ”

Of course, the root cause of this kind of radical and heretical departure from a foundational truth regarding God the Son is an obvious lack of respect for, and adherence to, the Word of God –  the final and objective truth of all time according to Jesus Christ. It is not surprising, therefore, to find that a peer of Bell’s, Tony Jones — a “theologian-in-residence” at the Emergent Solomon’s Porch located in Minneapolis, Minnesota — is quoted as saying, “So we must stop looking for some objective truth that is available when we delve into the text of the Bible,” (Postmodern Youth Ministry, p. 201).

But that’s nothing. In an article entitled, “ Why is the Emerging Church drawn to deconstructive theology,” Jones explains that he believes the Bible to be a subversive text and uses perverse language to express the degree of his displeasure regarding what he deems “the transgressive nature of our sacred text.”

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by Rob Waugh of Online Mail (UK)

When people download a film from Netflix to a flatscreen, or turn on web radio, they could be alerting unwanted watchers to exactly what they are doing and where they are.

Spies will no longer have to plant bugs in your home – the rise of ‘connected’ gadgets controlled by apps will mean that people ‘bug’ their own homes, says CIA director David Petraeus.

The CIA claims it will be able to ‘read’ these devices via the internet – and perhaps even via radio waves from outside the home.

A Sony internet TV: The rise of 'connected' devices in the home offers spies a window into people's lives - CIA director David Petraeus says the technologies will 'transform' surveillance

Everything from remote controls to clock radios can now be controlled via apps – and chip company ARM recently unveiled low-powered, cheaper chips which will be used in everything from fridges and ovens to doorbells.

The resultant chorus of ‘connected’ gadgets will be able to be read like a book – and even remote-controlled, according to CIA Director David Petraeus, according to a recent report by Wired’s ‘Danger Room’ blog.

Petraeus says that web-connected gadgets will ‘transform’ the art of spying – allowing spies to monitor people automatically without planting bugs, breaking and entering or even donning a tuxedo to infiltrate a dinner party.

‘Transformational’ is an overused word, but I do believe it properly applies to these technologies,’ said Petraeus.

‘Particularly to their effect on clandestine tradecraft. Items of interest will be located, identified, monitored, and remotely controlled through technologies such as radio-frequency identification, sensor networks, tiny embedded servers, and energy harvesters -  all connected to the next-generation internet using abundant, low-cost, and high-power computing.’

Petraeus was speaking to a venture capital firm about new technologies which aim to add processors and web connections to previously  ’dumb’ home appliances such as fridges, ovens and lighting systems.

This week, one of the world’s biggest chip companies, ARM, has unveiled a new processor built to work inside ‘connected’ white goods.

The ARM chips are smaller, lower-powered and far cheaper than previous processors – and designed to add the internet to almost every kind of electrical appliance.  It’s a concept described as the ‘internet of things’.

Futurists think that one day ‘connected’ devices will tell the internet where they are and what they are doing at all times – and will be mapped by computers as precisely as Google Maps charts the physical landscape now.

Privacy groups such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation have warned of how information such as geolocation data can be misused – but as more and more devices connect, it’s clear that opportunities for surveillance will multiply. source – Daily Mail UK

By Jack Kinsella

“And He spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees.” (Luke 21:30)

In the Scriptures, there are three specific trees that are used as euphemisms for Israel; the vine, the fig tree and the olive.

In Scripture, the vine is the symbol of Israel’s spiritual privileges; the fig tree symbolizes Israel’s national privileges and the olive tree symbolizes Israel’s religious privileges.

“Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it. Thou preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land. The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars. (Psalms 80:8-10)

The Psalmist is here painting a graphic picture of Israel being removed from the soil of Egypt and being transplanted into the fertile soil of Israel.

Once the “Vine” was transplanted it began to grow and spread over the land, until in the words of the Psalmist, it sent out its boughs unto the Mediterranean Sea, and its branches unto the Euphrates river, as in the reign of King Solomon.

“Now will I sing to my Well-Beloved a song of my Beloved touching His Vineyard. My Well-Beloved hath a VINEYARD in a very fruitful hill (Canaan): and He fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the CHOICEST VINE, and built a Tower in the midst of it, and also made a Winepress therein.” (Isaiah 5:1-2)

The olive tree is used to symbolize Israel and the Church by the Apostle Paul:

“For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.” (Romans 11:16-18)

The Apostle Paul refers to the good olive tree (Israel) and the wild olive tree (the Gentiles).  The good olive tree was “good” because it was separated, or set apart, (holy), whereas branches from the wild olive tree (the Gentiles) are grafted in.

“For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree?” (Romans 11:24)

Notice carefully that the good olive tree (Israel) is NOT rooted up and destroyed with the wild olive tree planted in its place.  That would be the case if the replacement theologians were right and that the Gentile Church has taken the place of Israel.

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by Jack Kinsella

There is so much going on in the world related to Bible prophecy that it is sometimes helpful to take a step back and contemplate a bit on the Big Picture.

It is easy to get so caught up in the details that one misses the awesome power of the Big Picture itself; the embodiment of the old saying about being unable to ‘see the forest for the trees’.

Bible prophecy is more than a prediction about the future.  It is a promise about the future. God doesn’t just list events out of context, the events emerge later out of the promises He makes.

God promised the restoration of Israel in the last days as a benchmark against which to measure other end-time’s promises.

To bring about the restoration, God promised that the Jews would be forced out of Israel, scattered worldwide, persecuted worldwide, and that they would then return to Israel.

All of these promises were fulfilled in the context of the greater Promises of the Big Picture; the return of Christ for His Church and the national redemption of the Jews.

The Bible contains hundreds of prophecies. Some were fulfilled more than 3000 years ago.  Others have been fulfilled since then.

The most astonishingly unlikely prophecy of Scripture was fulfilled on May 14, 1948, when Israel resumed its seat at the table of nations after a 2700 year absence, as prophesied by Daniel, Ezekiel, Hosea, Isaiah and Jesus.

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This video speaks for itself.  May we each take this man’s words to heart.  It isn’t all about discerning false religions and getting our prophecy stance straight and relating it to current events.  We must KNOW GOD and live for and with Him.  Love Him. Commune with Him. Exemplify Him. Take note . . .

Note from Heidi:  This article is half of one that Jack sent to me a couple weeks ago.  Over the holidays a number of people I am aware of entered eternity.  The ones I am thinking of are Christians, though many lost souls died during this time as well.  My thoughts have been, “What if we, as Christians, could even begin to grasp what has happened to our saved loved one?  They aren’t ‘dead,’ they’re just not with us right now.”  This is partly why I wanted to share this with you.

The other reason is because of what Jack brings out at the end — it gives us a better idea of what will happen to those who don’t know Jesus Christ as personal Savior after they die.  And, hopefully, will spur us on to be prepared to share the gospel with them as our Father provides the opportunity.

by Jack Kinsella

As a Christian, I have absolutely no fear of being dead.  (I am here referring to physical death).  But getting that way gives cause for pause.

I can think of very few ways to shuffle off this mortal coil that don’t involve some measure of discomfort, not to mention fear.

We’re born into this world in much the same way — it is a God-given blessing that we are incapable of remembering the experience.

At the moment of death, as our physical eyes close, our spiritual eyes open.  The best illustration I’ve ever seen of how this works is this diagram drawn by Clarence Larkin, explaining the threefold nature of man.

Note the outer ring of the diagram, labeled the carnal body, or soma.  This is the physical part — the part that dies. The body is an input device, similar in function to the keyboard and mouse on a computer.

It receives sensory input through the ability to see, hear, smell, taste and touch.

This is what physical life is.  It is the ability to see, hear, smell, taste and touch, and through those sensory inputs, we find the enjoyment of life.

Everything a natural man knows, feels or experiences comes to him through one of these sensory gates.

The next ring of the diagram is the one Larkin labels the soul, or the psyche.

Larkin also labels it ‘natural’ — for the ‘natural man.’  All human beings have souls, which consist of the mind, will and emotions.

Taken together, they make up that part that distinguishes you from all other human beings.  Your soul is what makes you you – my soul is what makes me me.

It is the part that owns all the rest of your existence.  You have a body, but that body is not you — it is your possession.  Your soul is you.

When you die, your soul leaves your body, which is then discarded as an empty shell.  Your soul no longer receives input from the five sensory gates, but it continues to exist.

One way to illustrate this is by looking at “cloud” computing — the next wave of data processing.  In cloud computing, one’s data is located online instead of on one’s computer.  This protects it from crashes, infections, etc., and makes it possible to access your data from any computer.

In pure cloud computing, even the operating system is located online.  So everything about your computer that makes your computer yours is not on your computer at all.

Your physical computer still sits on your desk and you still use it to input your data, but the data is stored in the ‘cloud’.  So if your computer dies tomorrow, your data doesn’t die with it.

Your data was never actually part of your computer — and so it exists independently of it in the cloud.

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by Nathan Jones

What signs can we specifically see happening right now that are indicating that the Rapture of the Church is close at hand?

On Saturday, November 19, 2011, I was interviewed by host August Rosado of the BlogTalkRadio show Signs of the Times. August is a Bible prophecy teacher and preacher and founder of a ministry called Today in Bible Prophecy. He has and continues to be a personable guest on our television program Christ in Prophecy. He and I spent some time discussing the signs of the times that point to Jesus Christ’s soon return.

Signs of Nature

Nathan Jones: Oh, my goodness! There are just so many signs that demonstrate the Lord’s soon return.

Nathan Jones: Take the signs of nature for one. Luke 21:11 says, “there will be great earthquakes in varies places, plagues and famines, there will be terror and great signs from heaven.” We know that as the time approaches for Jesus to come back, Matthew 24:8 says it will be like birth pains. You and I have children, August, so we have gotten to watch our wives (thank goodness we didn’t have to go through it), but our wives went through labor. The labor pains get stronger and closer together and faster as the baby is about to come. With the signs of nature, natural disasters the world has always experienced because it is a fallen and cursed world, but the disasters of the last days will come more frequent and intense. They will get stronger and cause more devastation.

It used to be years and not merely months between natural disasters, but now it seems like every week we hear about another natural disaster. As a matter of fact, I’m reading here some of Dr. Reagan’s research, that between October of 1991 and 2004 nine of the ten largest insurance natural disasters happened. Nine of the ten greatest disasters ranked by FEMA caused relief crises. Five of the costliest hurricanes happened in history. And, three of the four largest tornado swarms occurred.

I’m in Texas right now and we are having the worst drought ever. If you go out to Lake Lavon near us you can literally walk across where it once was because there’s almost no water left in it.

While there are terrible droughts, meanwhile in other parts of the world like up in the New England area and in Thailand. Bangkok is pretty much under water.

We are having earthquakes all over the planet in strange areas like in Washington D.C. and Oklahoma where we don’t usually experience them.

We have hurricanes like Katrina and a number of others which come destroying huge swaths of land.

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