Days of Elijah?

   Many churches play the anthem, "These are the Days of Elijah". But where are the Elijahs? Who will stand up now against the false prophets of Baal that have crept into the Church? Why do so many just go with the flow and allow compromise? When will we take a stand and say, "NO! This is not of God, and we will not have this in our church!"
   Jude exhorts us to "...earnestly contend for the faith that was once delivered to the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ" (Jude vv 3-4). This is not the time to remain silent! Men & women of God, arise!
   Second Kings 18 tells the story of Governor Obadiah who had hid 100 of God's prophets by 50 in a cave to protect them from Ahab & Jezebel. And maybe a lot of God's people, like these prophets, have been hiding out in "caves", merely dropping out of the churches that have compromised rather than confronting the leadership and congregation. I've been guilty of this myself. Maybe it's time to stand up and draw the line.
   Jesus said, "Truly Elijah must come first, and restore all things" (Mt 17:11). Malachi prophesied, "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord" (Malachi 4:5) I don't pretend to know when that day shall be, but I know it's time for the Church of Jesus Christ in America to clean house! We have allowed too much ungodliness in the sanctuary and grieved the Holy Spirit!
   Listen to God's call on the prophet Jeremiah: "See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant." (Jeremiah 1:10) In case you didn't get it, that's one part construction, one part landscaping, and four parts demolition! Yeah, folks, I'm an iconoclast from way back, so I ain't the most popular guy around. What I'm saying is, it's time for some righteous indignation, and for speaking up against spiritual compromise in our churches.  Pastors, Elders, Deacons, Council members, take charge, do the right thing, draw the line!
   Elijah was a guy like us, James reminds us, but he had a zeal for the Kingdom of God that wouldn't let him shut up even when he felt like dyin'. Folks, let's listen to that still, small voice and get out there and make a difference!

Ears to Hear

  You know you can read a passage of Scripture 1,000 times and not get what God is saying? How many times have you read a verse of the Bible and said, "I never saw that!"? But how often we can read a passage over & over, yet see nothing but our own church's or denomination's view? How often God's word goes in one ear & out the other! Or the thing is so cryptic, so hard, all the commentaries & translations you own can't make heads or tails of it? We've all been there.
   BUT I DON'T WANNA BE THERE!!!! Isaiah wrote it, Christ and Paul quoted it: (Isaiah 6:9-10, Matthew 13: 14-15, Acts 28: 26-27)  "Go, tell this people, Hear ye indeed but understand not; and see ye indeed but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes..."
   Lord, I DO NOT want to be one of those people! Don't know about you, I'm tired of not hearing what God is saying; tired of thinking I know what His word means when I'm not even close! In these days we're living in, we need to know what the prophets have written, what God has spoken, what the Spirit has revealed! "He that has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches" God, if I don't have ears to hear, "clean the potatoes out" as my Dad used to say! Anoint my eyes with eyesalve that I may see!
   I think a lot of people are hypnotized; they go to church each week, hear the Word preached, but it has no effect; it bounces right off like seeds the sower dropped on the sidewalk! "Today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts..." (Psalms 95 & Hebrews 4) How hard is my heart? How much bitterness & unforgiveness dwell there?
   Listen, I'm not content to jump on the bandwagon and just accept everyone else's eschatology! I know there are holes in their arguments! Remember when so many thought the Rapture was in 1988? I was sayin' "NO" And when they all thought the computers were gonna crap out in 2000? I said it wouldn't happen. There's a ton of stuff people are saying today, and some of it's good, a lot I agree with, but I don't want to miss God. If possible, even the Elect will be deceived. Count me out, no thanks!
   Jesus promised the Holy Ghost would lead us & guide us into all truth; that if we ask for wisdom , He'll give it liberally! He said the words of Revelation & Daniel were sealed unto the time of the end...LORD, I pray open those seals! Make us understand; we confess we don't get it with our natural minds! The Bible told us 1000's of years ago what would come to pass....yet we didn't get it! God, You're not the author of confusion....soften my heart, open my eyes, give me ears to hear....

There All Along

    As time goes by, I am amazed by how much of Bible prophecy is right on the money, and more so how it's been right in front of us for thousands of years, yet we just didn't get what God was saying. We could judge the Saducees & Pharisees who didn't get that Christ would come from Nazareth, but we've been just as blind to things He's telling our generation!
   One particularly disturbing passage of Scripture, the well-known axiom from Ecclesiastes, "there is nothing new under the sun", affronts our pride over our innovations and technology. Here is the passage in its entirety:
               "The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there anything whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us." Ecclesisastes 1: 9,10
   This goes against our natural minds and human pride, yet we see case after case of "advanced" technology showing up in "primitive" civilizations. (FYI: The Bible records metallurgy showing up in the 7th generation from Adam.) Skeptics scoff at the dimensions of Noah's Ark, saying a ship that large couldn't be built from wood; but really we don't know how advanced ship-building or other technologies were in Noah's day, since obviously, it was all washed away! If the Egyptians could build a really big pyramid, Noah could build a really big boat. It shouldn't surprise us to find "modern" technology in ancient cultures, since Solomon told us it was here before us.
    Another Scripture that was right there all along comes from Revelation 16: 13-14: "and I saw 3 unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth, and of the whole world..." OK: what are frogs like? They have no hair, green skin, long thin limbs & digits, big bulging eyes....and "aliens"? Same thing. Any of you not persuaded yet that aliens are demons, this verse spells it out nice & clear, ok? Seriously, what other race of beings are like frogs? Notice these "aliens" come out of the mouths of the beast, dragon, & false prophet....it's stuff they made up and are speaking to us thru the media! So are world leaders in cahoots with demons/aliens? Duh. Cuz X Files says so? Because the Bible says so!
    What else has God been telling us all along that we're just figuring out now? And what haven't we figured out yet? I'll have more next time. Thanks for stopping by.
 

Noah They Didn't!

   Imagine a film about the American Revolution where George Washington doesn't want us to win, Benedict Arnold stops Franklin from killing Jefferson, and the Nazis help us defeat the British. This gives you some idea of how backwards, upside-down, and inside-out "Noah" turns the familiar Bible story! Watching this travesty is like taking some leftovers that have been in the fridge a bit too long and eating them anyway.
   From start to finish the film spits in God's face, depicting Noah as a family anhililator who doesn't want mankind to survive the Flood, can't hear God, and won't let his single sons take wives on board. Weirder by far is the notion that "the Watchers", fallen angels cast down to earth (i.e. demons) looking like giant scorpians molded in Play-doh help Noah build the Ark. In this absurd tale, God is sending the Flood because humans hunted down these Watchers: what? Moreover the Watchers are ticked off at us because we betrayed the Creator (like they didn't?).
   Once a-sail, Noah recounts the story of Creation....while accompanying video unabashedly portrays the Big Bang and Evolution! I kid you not! When Shem's wife gives birth to twin girls on the Ark (news to me!), Noah wants to kill them to keep Ham & Japheth from having mates. But the CGI babies are so adorable, Noah can't go through with it, and has a change of heart.  Mrs. Shem tells Noah God gave HIM the choice whether the human race survives or not!
   Honestly, I found Jack Black's Year One less offensive! This New Age, humanistic, feministic, Ancient Alienistic version of the Biblical epic has been out since March, but I hadn't heard any protests or objections from any Church leaders. (Maybe I missed it: you hear anything?) Had someone made a film painting Mohammad in as bad a light as this film depicts Noah, surely Hollywood would be a pile of smoldering ruins by now!
   In a vision the Apostle John saw "a great mouth speaking blasphemies". I know the feelng.

Red Meat for the Soul

Greetings once again! Let's get right into our text, Hebrews 5:11-14, KJV:
"...we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. for when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God, and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. for everyone that uses milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongs to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."
   The Writer(s) of the epistle say it was difficult for them to communicate with their audience due to their lack of spiritual maturity! The "strong meat" spoken of here means deep spiritual truths, revelations way over some believers' heads. We're talking Theology & Doctrine here....too "boring" for many believers who just want candy! Paul warned Timothy, "...the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine: but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears: And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables." (2 Timothy 4:3-4)
   That is, immature Christians who just wanna hear junk will surely find "teachers" who will feed them a steady diet of spiritual junk food. The more they listen to junk, the less able they will be to process TRUTH!
Christ rebuked the Church of Pergamos for allowing Balaam, the for-profit prophet whose motto was, "Show me the Money!". We have so many hucksters out there writing books & blogs, giving seminars & conferences, airing TV shows & movies, getting rich and famous as "Bible Prophecy Experts". (There are at least 3 who call themselves "THE LEADING Bible Prophecy Expert"!
   Moses & Jesus both said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by EVERY WORD OF GOD" : EVERY word has to include sound doctrine and Theology. Believers need to be taught the ABC's of the faith before they can go on to maturity. People say, "Doctrine divides!"; yea, it divides those who want to grow up from those who don't.
   I'll have more to say. Grace,  peace, and thanks for stopping by!

Who is a False Prophet?

"False Prophet" is a term that gets bandied about quite often in some circles. But what is a false prophet? To some, it's pretty much anyone who doesn't accept their eschatology! When the Bible uses this expression, it has a specific meaning.
   A false prophet is NOT someone who misses a prediction.  I could look at data & analyze trends, review history, consult experts, construct a hypothesis and make a prediction based on the available data & my understanding of it. If I say, "I think the New England Patriots win will the Super Bowl this year" and they don't even make the playoffs, am I therefore a false prophet? No, because I was just telling you WHAT I THINK, and made it clear that's what I was doing.
   A few years ago, comedienne Tina Fey did a skit where she impersonated Sarah Palin and said, "I can see Russia from my house". People got confused and thought that was an actual quote from Palin. She never said anything like that! And Palin never authorized Fey to speak on her behalf. What Fey did to Palin is just what the false prophet does to God!
   A false prophet claims to speak for God, saying, "God told me" or "thus saith the LORD" as if God spoke in their ears a word to give the rest of us. They act presumptuously! Just as Sarah Palin never gave Tina Fey permission to speak in her place, so God never called or anointed the false prophet to speak for Him. "I sent them not, yet they ran" Scripture says (Jeremiah 23:21).
   Do you even know what a true prophet looks like? He or she will be heart-broken over the sin of God's people. When they intercede, they include themselves in confessing the sins of their people. The true prophet fears God, and is careful what he says & how he says it. The true prophet will warn people to turn from their sin.
   A false prophet, on the other hand, denies Divine judgement on sin is coming! "It's OK; God understands; we're only human, it's natural, blahblahblah!" A false prophet condones sin, excuses it, allows it. He or she uses the same logic as the serpent in the Garden: no, God didn't really mean that, nothing's going to happen, go ahead, have fun.
Under Mosaic Law, a false accuser would receive the penalty for the crime he accused the innocent person of. So be careful who you call a false prophet: it's a serious charge, and you'd better be able to back it up.

Date Setters, Beware!

   I recall years ago a little book came out called, 88 Reasons the Rapture Will Be in '88. I never read the book, 'cuz I knew it wasn't going to be in '88. But, Dude, how does it feel to be wrong 88 times?! Yet the date-setters continue: 2000, 2012, etc. "Family Radio" guy announced Big Day three different times! I think he should have retired after the first miss! So what's my problem?
   It's that the Church has like zero credibility with the unbelievers after all the foolish talk and predictions that don't come true. They're laughing at us: The Simpsons did a parody of Left Behind! The Scripture says, "My Name is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you." (Isaiah 52 & Romans 2) Newsflash folks: unbelievers can read the Bible too, and they can see it doesn't say what you're preachin'.
   Don't you realize you can't possibly predict the day of the Lord's return? For Jesus said, "The Son of Man comes at a time when you think not". So any date you pick is automatically wrong because it's not a day you think not! Some of you, that went right over your head. If you say He's coming next Christmas, then next Christmas is a time you think so, not a time you think not.
   Moreover, Christ told the Apostles, "It is not for you to know the times or the seasons" concerning the end & the Second Coming. If it ain't for us to know, then the Holy Spirit ain't telling, and you're only guessing. I don't care how many trips you've made to the Holy Land, or how many years you've studied Greek! Nobody knows, OK? Here's a tip: next time you think you got it figured out when the Rapture happens, just keep it to yourself, huh? Then when nothing happens, no one will label you a false prophet.
   It's like these guys who think they've ID'd the AntiChrist cuz they tallied up the letters in the dude's name and it works out to 666 with a little creative math. (FYI: no one was ever named DCLXVI) Well, your Bible says the Son of Perdition will be revealed in his time. So it won't be revealed until then, and trust me, your puny mind ain't twisted enough to figure out Satan's plan for global domination. Plus, he's had a 5,000 year head start on you.
   Bottom line:  God "...frustrates the tokens of the liars, and makes diviners mad; that turns wise men backwards, and makes their knowledge foolish." (Isaiash 44:25) Those who presume to figure out hidden knowledge just make themselves, the Church, and God look bad.  You don't know, and can't know, so just say you don't know. You'll look a whole lot smarter. Pardon my attitude.