It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity . . . Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities.

Hello everyone, I have received permission from Steven Yates to reprint these articles on the blog site. What is happening to America? Why does it seem the the more things change, the more they remain the same? Why are we working harder for less and in most families, husband and wife have to work and the husband many times has a second job? Why are those who were supposed to look at tax reform now discussing the taking away of the only significant deduction the American people have at tax time and that is the home mortgage deduction? How is it that now cities can confiscate your land and sell it to corporations who can develop it to generate more revenue for the city? How is it that our children can be taught that homosexuality is a good and healthy alternative lifestyle and that Bible believing Christians are radical right extremist?

Well, the answers are not that simple but they are answers just the same and available for anyone who would like to understand what is happening to us. To my utter amazement, many people do not want to see the truth because if they do, it means they have to do something about it. It is easier to sit back and hope that things won’t get worse for America. Or better yet, go back to the old used up phrases of, “It won’t happen here”, or, “We are still the greatest country in the world”. Those two seem to pacify our feelings for a little while.

The only hope to hold back the evil a little longer is for the American people, one by one, to realize that these facts are truth and unite to do something about it. I fear it has gone too far but with an awakened citizenry, change can still be achieved. Steven Yates has written this series and it will clarify a lot of what we are seeing happen. I will be posting one article a week.

I beg you to prayerfully read these articles and begin to pray for our beloved nation. Next, ask the Lord to show what you can do to help in the battle. Get involved somehow today! Our children and grandchildren are worth it.

God Bless
Elaine


THE REAL MATRIX, PART 1
By Steven Yates
December 7, 2004
NewsWithViews.com

The Matrix, easily the most thought-provoking film in a generation, tells the story of a computer hacker going by the alias Neo (played by Keanu Reeves) who discovers that the world he has taken for granted his entire life is an illusion. The “Matrix” is a virtual-reality simulation created by a powerful artificial intelligence. Since birth Neo has been wired directly into an immense computer system that can project a panorama of sensory information directly into his brain and central nervous system. This creates the illusion of his living in a world where by day he is Thomas A. Anderson, a programmer for a software giant. One of the working premises of the film is that the majority of human beings are born, live out their lives, and die inhabiting cocoon-like structures, plugged into this system, never suspecting the truth. Their life-experiences are fabricated, while their life-energies sustain the ruling entity.

Neo has long suspected that something is amiss without being able to put his finger on it. It was this something that drew him into hacking and into the world of computers generally. His presence became known to Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), leader of a band of rebels fighting to free the human race from bondage to the artificial intelligence. Of course, Neo’s nocturnal computer explorations have also become known to the “agents,” living programs who service the artificial intelligence. The first half-hour or so of the film is a race to see which side can get to him first.

One of the rebels, Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss), hacks into his computer and lures him to a Gothic nightclub. There she confronts him with his unease:
“I know why you’re here, Neo. I know what you’ve been doing. I know why you hardly sleep, why you live alone, and why night after night you sit at your computer. You’re looking for him. I know, because I was once looking for the same thing. And when he found me, he told me I wasn’t really looking for him. I was looking for an answer. It’s the question that drives us, Neo. It’s the question that brought you here. You know the question just as I did.”
Neo: “What is the Matrix?”

Trinity: “The answer is out there, Neo. It’s looking for you. And it will find you, if you want it to.”
The pivotal scene occurs when she introduces Neo to Morpheus. With a thunderstorm in the background, some gripping dialogue ensues:

Morpheus: I imagine that right now you’re feeling a little like Alice, tumbling down the rabbit-hole…I can see it in your eyes. You have the look of a man who accepts what he sees because he is expecting to wake up. Ironically, this is not far from the truth…Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here because you know something. What you know, you can’t explain. But you feel it. You’ve felt it your entire life. That there’s something wrong with the world. You don’t know what it is, but it’s there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to me. Do you know what I’m talking about?

Neo: The Matrix?
Morpheus: Do you want to know what it is?
Neo: (nods)
Morpheus: The Matrix is everywhere. It is all around us, even now, in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window, or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work, or when you go to church, or when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.
Neo: What truth?

Morpheus: That you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else, you were born into bondage, born inside a prison that you cannot smell, taste, or touch. A prison for your mind. Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself. (Produces a box containing two colored pills, one blue and one red.) This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill, the story ends, you awake in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes. (Pause. Neo reaches for the red pill.) Remember: all I’m offering is the truth, nothing more. (Neo swallows the red pill with a glass of water.)
After that, things happen pretty quickly. Neo is jerked free of the artificial intelligence and finds himself in the “desert of the real,” with Morpheus, Trinity and the others on board the Nebuchadnezzar who are struggling to free the human race from control by the artificial intelligence, while simultaneously battling superhuman “agents” and monstrous mechanical “sentinels” sent to destroy them.
Science fiction, right?

Unquestionably, many viewers watched The Matrix convinced that all they were seeing was a science fiction action film—entertainment, without further significance.
I believe it’s more. The Matrix—which has begun to generate a secondary literature in academic disciplines like philosophy and cultural studies—may be seen an allegory for our present situation after the past hundred-plus years. The allegory is about power and concealment. The “real matrix” is then a world most of middle America takes for granted—a world where “they hate us because we are free,” and where the public schools educate. A world where we can trust the federal government and believe Dan Rather. A world where the former obeys its founding document, the U.S. Constitution. In other words, a fantasy world.

Let us conduct a thought experiment. Let us remove the obviously evil artificial intelligence and its minions—“agents” and “sentinels”—and substitute a power system controlled by a few hundred extremely wealthy and well-placed individuals—a super-elite, I will call it. I use this term to distinguish it from visible, national elites. This super-elite operates at an international level, outside all national loyalties. Its only loyalties are to money and power. It exercises control by controlling not just much of the Western world’s finances but much of the information released to the public. It controls the mainstream mass media (television networks and newspapers mostly owned by six or so megaconglomerates) and most education through top-down policies permeating the prevailing form of education in this land: government (“public”) schools. So-called higher education is part of this system. The super-elite bent academic disciplines such as history and psychology in the direction it wanted them to go by generously supplying foundation and grant money to compliant graduate students who then become compliant professors and administrators. Through the endowment system it gained control over Ivy League universities. The latter, via their enormous prestige and control of flagship organizations within academic disciplines (such as the American Historical Association or the American Psychological Association), set the course for those disciplines that others can be expected to follow automatically.

Members of the super-elite that controls this power system were never elected to anything, but elected officials in national elites answer to them. Those without the tacit approval of the super-elite have no chance of coming within a thousand miles of the Oval Office. The masses of people, meanwhile, will have been “educated” to adjust to society, which in this context means following the crowd and automatically withholding support from anyone who “can’t get elected.” Combine these two, and you have a reason why no Libertarian Party or Constitution Party candidate has a chance of becoming President of the United States or even reaching high office at the state level as long as this power system remains in place.

The media elites continue to promote a system which plays Democrats against Republicans although both parties are controlled at the top. There exists, in other words, a strict gatekeeping system. Only those with certain values and attributes, and a certain mindset, need apply.

Let’s now go beyond the thought-experiment stage. Does this super-elite really exist, or is this just more armchair “conspiracy theory”? It is not a theory. It is now quite well documented. The information is available to anyone willing to seek it out. To paraphrase what Trinity told Neo in their initial conversation, the answers are out there, and will find you if you want them to. Or, you can find them, if you go looking.

Note from me:
Well that is part one of “The Matrix Articles”. Think about it and do some research for yourself. I pray that truth continues to come out and that the Christians of this nation will wake up and stand against the evil with prayer and determination. The Holy Spirit who lives and dwells within the heart of every believer can and will hinder evil if a child of God stands firm against it.

No man is an Island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were; any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee.
John Donne, Meditation XVII
English clergyman & poet (1572 - 1631)
Next week: Part 2

Acts 2:21
And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Good morning everyone,

As I watch Fox News this morning, I am once again so saddened by what has happened to our neighbors on the Gulf Coast. When something of this horrible magnitude happens to us, it is sometimes more than we can understand. However, it also makes me realize once again how short life is. I think about the years I spent in pursuit of things that I believed defined me as a "successful person" and gave me the false feeling of prosperity. In light of what we have seen happen to our sister states we must once again evaluate what is important in our lives and the lives of others.

It does not take long to understand that the fruitless pursuit of material things and the race to have bigger and better is a journey that never ends. Katrina has once again proven that material possessions are temporary and that there are much more important things to life.

The most important need of man is a right relationship with his Creator,the God of the Bible. Life is hopeless without knowing Him and I cannot understand how people live through what we have just witnessed without the love and protection of our Heavenly Father.

We also need a right relationship with our family and friends and community. We lost that concept during the Cultural Revolution of the 60's and it is something we need to get back to. It is here that we find support for each other that can come from no foreign land or government. It is a network that can carry a whole community through the horrors of something like Katrina. We need a good Bible Believing Church to attend. Here we are built up every week in the knowledge of the Word of God and recieve assurance from His Word that He will never leave us or forsake us. I wouldn't wast my time in a dead church that no longer believes the Bible is the Word of God. How in a disaster can they refer you to a book they do not believe in. Get out of these churches and find one that preaches the Word when it is popular and when it is not popular.

Last but most important is a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. He came and died for a lost world and shed His precious blood on Calvary's Cross and rose again from the dead to save every man and woman who will simply call out to him for salvation and the forgivness of sin. I know personally that this is the most important thing for man today because He saved me when I called out to him and I would never give up this precious relationship I have with my Lord.

The last thing man needs to know is that this same Jesus is coming again! First He will rapture the church out of here and then the world will be plunged into 7 years of hell on earth. Yes, Katrina will look like a Sunday School picnic in those days. He has promised to save all of those who have put their trust in Him from the horror that is coming to this old earth. Are you ready? Do you know my Jesus. Call out to him today to save you and He will.

Take a look at this article by Hal Lindsey for another perspective on Katrina.

God Bless
Elaine

Signs From the Heavens

Hal Lindsey

Katrina is also an object lesson on how dangerously close to the edge of the cliff our economy actually functions. This week’s Category 4 storm damaged or disrupted about a quarter of America's oil refining capacity. As a result, it may require the release of part of America’s Strategic Oil Reserve to help stabilize prices and prevent another crippling oil shortage. And science is now beginning to make some disturbing discoveries.

These discoveries at least partially explain why the weather is going berserk. But these scientific findings also reveal the possibility of even greater catastrophic threats than those posed by a precarious oil supply and a fragile global economy. 2005 is shaping up as the hottest summer on record, beating the two previous records set in 2003 and 2002.

In 2002, the United Nations predicted that winters were warming so quickly that winter sports would die out in Europe's lower-level ski resorts. Many Swiss glaciers are showing dramatic retreats.

Italian scientists estimate that their own country’s glaciers are now 20-percent smaller than they were in1987. The ten hottest years on record have all now occurred since 1990. But since the century turned – just four years ago, it seems the whole solar system has been undergoing an upheaval.

For example, scientists have been monitoring the solar cycles since 1755. A pattern of 11-year cycles of sunspot activity emerges from the detailed records of the 21 sunspot cycles observed since 1755. They are comprised of 11 years of maximum solar activity followed by 11 years of minimal solar activity.

In 2003, in the midst of a solar minimum, an unusually powerful series of solar storms erupted that took scientists by surprise. Also in 2003, a global warming study conducted by NASA determined that the sun is getting both hotter and brighter.

In the NASA report, Doctor Richard Wilson concluded, “Historical records of solar activity indicate that solar radiation has been increasing since the late 19th century. If a trend, comparable to the one found in this study, persisted throughout the 20th century it would have provided a significant component of the global warming the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports to have occurred over the past 100 years.” Now we know that those sun trends did continue.

The global sea level has already risen by four to eight inches in the past century. Scientists’ best estimate is that sea level will rise by an additional 19 inches by the year 2100, and perhaps by as much as 37 inches. Also, a report this year in The New York Times concluded that the Earth is perhaps 150 years into the collapse of its magnetic field. The report concludes, “The field’s strength has waned 10 to 15 percent, and the deterioration has accelerated of late, increasing debate over whether it portends a reversal of the lines of magnetic force that normally envelop the Earth.”

The Earth’s magnetic field helps shield the globe from solar winds and storms of deadly particles. A weak field could let solar storms pummel the atmosphere with enough radiation to destroy significant amounts of the ozone that protects the Earth from harmful ultraviolet light.

Ultraviolet radiation – the short, invisible rays from the sun – can harm some life forms, depress crop yields, and raise cancer rates, causing skin cancer and cataracts in humans.

When climatologists are not warning of impending ecological disaster, astronomers take the podium to warn of the threat of a catastrophic asteroid strike upon the earth. They contend that a major asteroid strike somewhere in the earth’s oceans would cause a tsunami that would make last’s year’s Asian tsunami look like a minor ocean ripple in comparison.

So what does all of this mean? I believe that Jesus Christ predicted these very things as a sign of His soon coming.

I have written for decades about the “Birth pains” the Lord Jesus predicted would increase in frequency and intensity in Matthew chapter 24 and Luke chapter 21:

• Religious deception and turn to the occult
• Wars and rumors of wars
• Nation against nation (international upheaval)
• Ethnic group against ethnic group
• Great earthquakes
• Famines
• Plagues

But one of the ‘birth pains’ has not been really clear. Jesus predicted, “And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; "men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven will be shaken.” (Luke 21:25-26 NKJ)

There is a cause and effect relation between the first and second clause. I am going to translate this literally from the Greek text. “And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars” – then the second clause, “and on the earth, distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves.”

The distress and perplexity of the nations caused by the violent roaring of the sea and the waves are the result of the signs in the sun, moon and stars. This indicates that violent storms upon the sea would be caused by “the signs in the sun, moon and stars.”

The scientific statistics quoted above show that global warming is primarily caused by what is happening in the sun and moon. Man’s use of fossil fuels contributed in a minor way, but the primary cause is from the unusual increase in solar storms.

The signs from the stars have to do with the scientific discovery of meteors that threaten to catastrophically collide with the earth.

What I quoted above clearly shows that the global climate is changing because of the increase in the mean temperature of the earth. This temperature change increases at a greater rate along the equatorial areas of the oceans, dramatically raising the heat of the water. And it is the oceans’ temperature that is the generator of greater and greater storms.

There is no question that Hurricanes and typhoons are increasing in frequency and power. Here we are at only the first of September and we are already at the letter “K” in named storms. That is a rare phenomenon.

Hurricane Katrina has just destroyed one of our largest and most important seaport cities. It also virtually destroyed Gulfport, Biloxi and many other smaller cities. It killed untold thousands of people. It has caused misery, suffering and distress on a level never before experienced in the Unites States. And the worst of the calamity is not yet known.

Jesus warned that these storms roaring in from the sea would cause “men’s hearts to fail them because of what is coming upon the earth.” He also warned that “the very powers of the heavens will be shaken.”

If this is the time on God’s prophetic clock that I believe it is, ‘Katrina’ is just the beginning of even worse super storms in the future. Not to mention the coming of more catastrophic earthquakes, tsunamis and diseases that result from the conditions these bring.

I believe that the Lord Jesus is very near is His coming for all true believers to snatch us out of this world in the ‘twinkling of an eye’. As He promised, He will instantaneously transform us from mortal to immortal and take us to be with Him.

If you are a believer, it is time to make your life count for Christ as never before. There is no time to waste in frivolities that do not count for eternity.

If you are not sure that you are a believer, tell God that you are a sinner. Ask Christ to come into your life and give you the pardon for all your sins that He purchased for you by dying under the penalty of your sins.

The hour is late. Do not put off a decision that could cost you eternity under God’s judgment.

Pray now and change your eternal destiny.



ARE YOU READY FOR THE RAPTURE?



JOHN3:16

Ezekiel 38
18 And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, that my fury shall come up in my face.

19 For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;

20 So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.

21 And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man's sword shall be against his brother.

22 And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.

23 Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the LORD


Hello everyone,

It is amazing how the Lord works in our lives and directs our steps. While I was planning to use this blog site for political exposé’s and happenings in our nation, it seems as if the Lord wants this site used as an indicator for His soon return. I pray if this is so that someone will chance upon the site and through it, find the Lord as Savior. I believe with all my heart that He is coming soon and we must be busy winning souls for His kingdom.

I fear for America as our leaders are flying about in the Middle East and forcing Israel to give away Covenant Land. Condoleezza Rice is busy doing this and she informed Mr. Sharon on this trip that the evacuation of the Jews must occur on time. No sympathy is given to the Jewish people who have developed these lands, loved them and built them up from nothing. They are going to be rounded up and herded out of their homes.

Take a look at the heat wave in this nation that is killing people. Take a look at the weird weather patterns. In Europe, which is also forcing this agreement in Israel, they are experiencing heat waves and death, terrorist bombings, dust bowls and much more. Italy is even being hit with a plague of grasshoppers. I believe as we see these nations entangle themselves more in the God of the Bible and Israel's business, the more trouble they are going to experience. Gods Word says so.

I am posting an article by Hal Lindsay today that is so pertinent for this time. We have to remember that as watchmen, we must remind others of what the Lord has given us in His Word. This article by Hal Lindsay does so. May you have a blessed new week.

Elaine

Israel: The True Wonder of the Ancient World

By Hal Lindsay

I thought, “How amazing that the world will focus on Nostradamus’ predictions, which at best are so nebulous that they are capable of many interpretations.”

But it did impress me how interested the average person is to discover what is going to happen in the future. The tragedy is that the world ignores Ezekiel’s prophecies that are amazing beyond compare. They pinpoint an exact time, place, and precise historic conditions of a future world catastrophe. Ezekiel names the peoples and nations involved in an intricate convergence of history. And he predicted all these things more than 2600 years ago.

Ezekiel chapters 36 through 39 contain one of the most amazing series of prophecies in the Bible. Certainly it is more amazing than anything the so-called prophets of the world have to offer.

In chapters 36 through 38, Ezekiel foresaw the following events. And remember, this must be seen from Ezekiel’s perspective of 7th Century BC.

(1) The Israelites would be driven from their land for a very long period of time

(2) The Israelites would survive as a distinct people

(3) Their land would be confiscated by the surrounding nations

(4) These nations would be descended from Esau and Ishmael

(5) These peoples would have a perpetual hatred of the Israelites

(6) The land of Israel would become an utter desolation and not respond to the agricultural efforts of the usurpers

(7) Against all odds, the Israelites would return and become a nation

(8) The land would miraculously respond to them and flourish

(9) The Arab nations would conduct an unending war against the Israelites

(10) Israel would survive all assaults and prosper

(11) This will finally provoke a confederation of the Russians and a Persian led Confederacy of all the surrounding Muslim nations to Israel

Most important to this prophesy is WHEN if would take place. Ezekiel carefully pinpoints the time:

“After many days you will be summoned; in the latter years you will come into the land that is restored from the sword, whose inhabitants have been gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel which had been a continual waste; but its people were brought out from the nations, and they are living securely, all of them.” (Ezekiel 38:8 NAS)

Note that when Ezekiel made this prediction, Israel had not been scattered throughout all nations. Its land had not been reduced to “a continual waste”.

Its people had not been brought back to the land from a very long worldwide dispersion. It was not “the last days.” And Israel by no means was restored to the land to dwell securely.

Historically, this can only apply to the events that began to take place in the early 20th Century and culminated with the creation of the State of Israel in May 1948.

Moses first predicted that this would happen. He predicted that this would occur in the second destruction of the nation. The first was the Babylonian Holocaust. The
Second was the Roman Holocaust of Titus and the Roman Tenth Legion in AD70. Moses predicted both the Babylonian and the Roman dispersion.

About the second destruction, Moses forewarned, “Moreover, the Lord will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth; and there you shall serve other gods, wood and stone, which you or your fathers have not known. Among those nations you shall find no rest, and there will be no resting place for the sole of your foot; but there the Lord will give you a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and despair of soul. So your life shall hang in doubt before you; and you will be in dread night and day, and shall have no assurance of your life. In the morning you shall say, `Would that it were evening!' And at evening you shall say, `Would that it were morning!' because of the dread of your heart which you dread, and for the sight of your eyes which you will see.” (Deuteronomy 28:64-67 NAS)

All of this is assumed by Ezekiel’s prophesies in chapters 36-39.

One of the most amazing wonders concerning the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is that they could remain a distinct people in spite of the centuries of exile and relentless persecution.

Ezekiel clearly predicts that God would scatter them among all nations, “Also I scattered them among the nations and they were dispersed throughout the lands. According to their ways and their deeds I judged them.” Yet he predicts that in the latter days God would gather them from all nations, “For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land.” (Ezekiel 36:24 NAS)

Ezekiel forewarns the surrounding nations of the Arab people who confiscated HIS Land;

“Therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God. Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes and to the forsaken cities which have become a prey and a derision to the rest of the nations which are round about, therefore thus says the Lord God, ’Surely in the fire of My jealousy I have spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all EDOM, who appropriated My land for themselves as a possession with wholehearted joy and with scorn of soul, to drive it out for a prey.” (Ezekiel 36:43-5 NAS)

Ezekiel forewarns the Arab people of the last days who would confiscate Israel’s land;

“Because you have said, ‘These two nations and these two lands (Israel and Judah) will be mine, and we will possess them,’ although the Lord was there, ‘therefore as I live,’ declares the Lord God, ‘I will deal with you according to your anger and according to your envy which you showed because of your hatred against them; so I will make Myself known among them when I judge you.’” Ezekiel 35:10-11 NAS)

The whole world has been drawn into this ancient conflict. No one has been able to resolve it because of the supernatural hatred that has been enshrined in the Muslim religion toward Jews.

When Ezekiel made these predictions, Israel was not an utter desolation. But he foresaw the terrible desolation that would come upon the land during the centuries the Israelites would be scattered among the nations.

Ezekiel refers to this desolation when he predicts Israel’s restoration to the land; “After many days you will be summoned; in the latter years you will come into the land that is restored from the sword, whose inhabitants have been gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel WHICH HAD BEEN A CONTINUAL WASTE; but its people were brought out from the nation …” (Ezekiel 38:8)

Samuel Clement, or Mark Twain, said of Israel while touring there in 1867;

“ ... [It is a] desolate country whose soil is rich enough, but is given over wholly to weeds—a silent mournful expanse ... A desolation is here that not even imagination can grace with the pomp of life and action ... We never saw a human being on the whole route … There was hardly a tree or a shrub anywhere. Even the olive and the cactus, those fast friends of the worthless soil, had almost deserted the country.” (From his book, Innocents Abroad)

This was the condition of the land until the Jews began to return around the end of the 19th century.

When the British Christians began to argue for what became the ‘Balfour Declaration’, they argued for returning the Jews to Palestine by saying, “A people without a land for a land without a people.” That is how desolate and barren it was.

Ezekiel predicted that the Israelites would miraculously begin to return and become a nation again in the last days. God made it clear that He would do this despite the fact that the Israelites did not deserve it. God said He would do this for His great name’s sake. He swore an oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that He would establish David’s Throne and kingdom on earth. So His Word is at stake.

This is why God said, “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God, ‘It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went. I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord,’ declares the Lord God, ‘when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight. For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God.” (Ezekiel 36:22-28)

Something that is almost as great a miracle as the rebirth of the people scattered throughout the world for 2000 years is the agricultural rebirth of the land. Yet Ezekiel predicted this would happen:

“But you, O mountains of Israel, you will put forth your branches and bear your fruit for My people Israel; for they will soon come. For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you will be cultivated and sown.”

None of the people who occupied the land during Israel’s exile could ever make it productive. But when the Israelites returned, it became a modern agricultural marvel. Fruits and vegetables from Israel supply most of Europe today.

The Arab-Israeli Conflict continues to upset the whole world. The world’s great powers have sought to resolve this conflict without success.

Since the world’s economy depends on a steady flow of oil, and since most of the world’s oil supply is controlled by the Arab/Muslim nations, whatever troubles the Arabs troubles the world. And Israel troubles the Arabs most. And with the Muslims, the real issue is not economically based. It is religiously based.

The Muslim’s third holiest place on earth is Jerusalem with its Temple Mount. Whatever agreements of peace with Israel can only be temporary. Ultimately, Islam will never accept a Jewish State in what they consider their sacred land.

Ezekiel predicts that this will ultimately cause a war that will envelop the whole earth.

Zechariah predicts this also:

“Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it.” (Zechariah 12:2-3 NKJ)

Jerusalem will become a cup that causes all the surrounding Muslim nations to become intoxicated. That will make them do irrational things. This will cause all the nations of the world to become involved and go to war. Current events certainly are moving that way.

No matter how we seek to resolve this conflict, there is no way to satisfy the religious issues that are at the very heart of both Islam and Judaism over possession of Jerusalem.

Ezekiel predicts that Israel will miraculously survive all attempts to throw her out of the land. Not only this, he predicts that Israel will become very, very rich. According to Ezekiel 38:1-7, this will cause an all out invasion of Israel led by a power from her extreme north. There is only one nation to Israel’s extreme north – Russia. Russia will arm and lead a Muslim confederacy headed by Persia or modern Iran.
Israel has prospered and gathered much wealth, but not of the kind that would provoke this kind of reckless invasion. I believe that Israel will strike oil in a big way.

This will cause Israel to become a world economic center. Ezekiel predicts the rationale for the Russian led invasion;

“and you will say, ‘I will go up against the land of unwalled villages. I will go against those who are at rest, that live securely, all of them living without walls and having no bars or gates, to capture spoil and to seize plunder, to turn your hand against the waste places which are now inhabited, and against the people who are gathered from the nations, who have acquired cattle and goods, who live at the center of the world.” (Ezekiel 38:10-11)

Israel will apparently be living in the false security of the Antichrist’s covenant that Daniel predicted they would sign. This will cause them to tear down the security walls they are now building to protect against Palestinian terrorists.

Everything except this final invasion is already a matter of history. Iran is moving quickly into the leadership role of Islamic Fundamentalists with a full-blown nuclear program. Russia has been arming and siding with the Muslim nations for decades.

So nothing in Ezekiel’s scenario is out of line with what is happening before our eyes. There are only a few details yet to be fulfilled. I believe that Israel must have a vital chip to play in the world arena to survive. And I believe that ‘chip’ is the discovery of a large oil reserve. Watch! I believe that will happen soon.

Folks, we are really at the very threshold of the Lord Jesus’ return. It is all happening so fast. The things I have looked for some 50 years are already here.

All of this proves that we can have total confidence in God’s Word.

Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.” (John 5:24 NAS)

Isn’t that wonderful? All who believe in Jesus as his Savior has already passed out of judgment and death into eternal life. And as the days get darker, Christ’s sudden return to snatch us up to meet Him grows nearer.

These are the most exciting days to be alive -- if you are a Christian. If not, they must be terrifying times indeed.

ARE YOU READY FOR THE RAPTURE?



JOHN3:16

Matthew 7:20
Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

When President Bush and the Republicans won their first election, I warned that we must see what they do and not what they say. Anyone with eyes to see realizes that we are on a slippery slope in this country and forces beyond our control are pushing us into a New World Order and One World Government. To the Christian who has knowledge of Bible Prophecy, this is no new thing. However,I fear many have put their faith in a government that promises one thing and does another. The above scripture gives us a gauge as to understanding the actions of others. Along with this one, forcing Israel to give covenant lands is a great sin against America and the Bush Administration is the leader in this project. We will pay for this inteference because we are going against Almighty God and his love for Israel. We must pray for our leaders but we must also be "wise as serpents". Remember that the "proof is in the printout".
The article below is just one more piece of mounting evidence that indicates the secret plans of our government. May the Lord help us.

Have a great weekend,
Elaine


The LOST Treaty

Hal Lindsey Oracle
As part of the overall public-relations makeover strategy, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice declared the president wants to see the Senate ratify the Law of the Sea Treaty ratified "as soon as possible."

The Law of the Sea Treaty, or, appropriately enough, LOST, would effectively turn control of seven-tenths of the earth's surface to the United Nations. Ratifying LOST would empower the U.N. to collect royalties on seabed mining and regulate exploration and commercial development anywhere in any of the world's oceans.

Overseeing the LOST provisions is a multinational bureaucracy that sounds like something out of an Ira Levin novel.

At the core is the International Seabed Authority, or, as it likes to call itself, "The Authority." "The Authority" supervises a mining subsidiary called "the Enterprise," which is all ruled by "the Assembly," which then answers to "the Council," etc.

Mining operations would be approved or rejected by the Authority based on rules set by the Authority and enforced by the Enterprise for the good of the Assembly. Companies allowed to mine would owe substantial fees to the Authority and be required to do surveys for the Enterprise, their government-subsidized competitor.

According to Dr. Rice, "Joining the convention will advance the interests of the United States military," she claimed on Jan. 18. "The United States, as the country with the largest coastline and the largest exclusive economic zone, will gain economic and resource benefits from the convention. ... And the United Nations has no decision-making role under the convention in regulating uses of the oceans by any state party to the convention."

As Dr. Rice noted, the U.S. already has the largest coastline and economic zone. Ceding it to U.N. control won't make it bigger. It will only make it taxable.

As far as Dr. Rice's assurance the U.N. will have no decision-making role, Article 2, paragraph 3 of the treaty says, "The sovereignty over the territorial sea is exercised subject to the Convention and to other rules of international law." By ratifying LOST, the U.S. is, in principle, ceding territorial sovereignty over our own seas to the U.N.

History suggests that placing 70 percent of the ocean's surface under U.N. control will advance U.S. military interests only if they are interests shared by the United Nations. If the U.N. restricts the Navy from the Persian Gulf, do we obey? Or go to war with the U.N.?

Among the provisions buried in LOST is the recognition that the seas are reserved for peaceful purposes. The Navy could legally interfere with ships from other nations to investigate or interdict piracy, slave trade or some forms of unauthorized broadcasting, but not terrorism.

Under LOST, the U.N. will finally have the tax and regulatory powers it has lusted after for so long, together with a commercial income stream, independent of the purse strings of national legislatures. Any entrepreneur wishing to explore or mine the ocean floor would have to pay the Authority and provide technical assistance to the Enterprise, the ISA's own commercial ocean mining corporation. Articles 192 through 237 are loaded with environmental legalese that will provide U.N. autocrats and their NGO allies at Greenpeace and the Sierra Club with unrestricted power.

But with all of this, the administration is still bent on having the Senate ratify it. At first glance, it might seem like a good idea for a "quick fix," but on closer examination, it's much too high a price to pay to erase the "stain" of unilateralism from our national resume.

Proverbs 14:12 warns, "There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death."


NOTE FROM ME! I did a search for information on an interesting organization known as the CFR, Council on Foreign Relations. Here is a few descriptions of the group and it is is my understanding after numerous searches on the internet that Condelezza Rice is a member. You can research this for yourself because there are many articles online. The quotes are as follows:

The late Carroll Quigley (Bill Clinton’s mentor), Professor of History at Georgetown University, member of the CFR, stated in his book, "Tragedy & Hope":
"The CFR is the American Branch of a society which originated in England, and which believes that national boundaries should be obliterated, and a one-world rule established."

Rear Admiral Chester Ward, a former member of the Cfr for 16 years, warned the American people of the organization’s intentions:
"The most powerful clique in these elitist groups have one objective in common — they want to bring about the surrender of the sovereingty of the national independence of the United States. A second clique of international members in the CFR comprises the Wall Street international bankers and their key agents. Primarily, they want the world banking monopoly from whatever power ends up in the control of global government."

And Dan Smoot, a former member of the FBI Headquarters staff in Washington, D.C., summarized the organization’s purpose as follows:

"The ultimate aim of the CFR is to create a one-world socialist system, and to make the U.S. an official part of it."

In other words, the CFR’s activities are treasonous to the U.S. Constitution. Their goal is to put an end to the United States of America, and to make the country a part of their global government scheme.

Watch the Fruits!!!!

ARE YOU READY FOR THE RAPTURE?



JOHN3:16

We are headed into the New World Order like Bee Martins to the gourde and the people in this country are asleep!

For the most part, Republicans are just as guilty as Democrats for getting us to this juncture of our history. Most of the Republicans are supporting the Bankruptcy Bill that is being voted on in the Senate today. This will take away the relief that the people of this country have had in the past for over-extention of their debts. Bankruptcy has grown in America and it is not just that people are poor stewards.
If you add up Slavery Income (voluntary)Tax, State tax, property tax,county taxes, sales tax, gasoline tax, telephone tax, environmental tax, day care, medical bills, clothing bills, church tithe, use taxes, car tags, car insurance, rent or mortgage payments and on and on, you can see why the American people are strapped to the hilt with indebetness. Now the Banksters and the Congress have joined up to enslave them more.

Also, thanks to a treaty the the U.S. signed with the World Trade Organization, we are now under a law that as of June will prevent us from buying Vitamins and Supplements from anyone but Pharmaceutical Companies. If the US. refuses to abide by this law, they will be taken to the World Court! Hmmm! Now that is interesting.

The article I am posting today is from News With Views. It speaks the truth about what is going on in America today.

Elaine


THE BEAST OF JEKYLL ISLAND

John Newby
March 10, 2005
NewsWithViews.com

If it wasn’t so serious, I’d chuckle reading the latest quote from the news media’s intellectual owners, the AP wire service, it reads, “Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan seems like he’s everywhere these days, peering out from black horn-rimmed glasses and waxing on about Social Security, Medicare, deficits, consumption taxes, FINANCIAL ILLITERACY, even liquefied natural gas.” The key words here are ‘financial illiteracy.’ This is the state of mind our mainstream media occupies and thus so does the majority of otherwise intelligent Americans. Why do I say this? I say this because your average American hasn’t a clue as to the devastation dished out by the banking cartel called the Federal Reserve System which was created in secrecy on Jekyll Island.

To better explain. First, let’s determine what the Federal Reserve System isn’t. It isn’t a government entity as most believe. While the name was carefully crafted to deceive, it isn’t a Federal institution nor does it have any reserve. The only system likeness is that of a mafia-like arrangement set-up to fleece the American people. The fact of the matter is, it’s an international banking cartel made of the largest banking and financial personalities in the world. Now if that doesn’t at least raise an eyebrow, this should. The federal income taxes you pay don’t go to run the government, this ceased years ago. The federal taxes you pay go to the Federal Reserve to be loaned to the USA and other countries. Just imagine; we pay all our taxes to the fed who in turns lends that and more back to us with interest. Let me further explain.

All tax dollars go to Federal Reserve. For every $1 the Federal Reserve receives, it loans $10. Where does this $10 come from? It’s simply created from absolutely nothing. But the real kicker, the Fed charges interest on the entire $10, so in essence they’re collecting high interest on nothing from the American people. Then to make matters worse, they artificially induce inflation to increase interest payments on that nothing. Just imagine the amount of money going into the coffers of the international cartel at our expense. The interest being received from purchases, mortgages and so forth in our country is far more than our minds can comprehend. Quite a productive scam if I might say so myself. Some might even classify this as criminal.

Let’s get back to the quote by Greenspan. He and the Federal Reserve System are banking (no pun intended) on the FINANCIAL ILLITERACY of the American people. We go to work each day and pay far more than is due Caesar. Fifty years ago, Americans paid 3% of their income in taxes. Today that 3% has grown to over 52%. But at least there is a bright side. Our 52% assures that millions are aborted each year, assures dictators around the world will stay in power, assures the UN will continue to siphon off our dollars in massive ways, assures corporate welfare will continue, assures many continue in a state of perpetual poverty and continue to fund the international bankers drive for more power, corruption and gain.

I guess what is even more alarming is the mindset of the American shee-ple. Most appear not to care or worse, they know something is wildly wrong and refuse to acknowledge it and do their own homework. In fifty years we have gone from 3% to 52%, the chickens will come home to roost. What will our children be shackled with? Even worse, what will our grandchildren be shackled with? But at least we’ll go to our graves not having rocked the boat and let our children and grandchildren deal with the outcome of our fears, apathy and ignorance.

I’ve used the word ‘patriots’ in the past, most really don’t know what that means. For the sake of keeping it simple, a true patriot is one that will stand up and say, enough is enough without fear of reprisal because they are fighting for their children’s future. However, on the other hand, apathy and fear create a common coward. Unfortunately, we have far too many cowards than patriots willing to stand up and be counted and that is an indictment that we; no, our children will have to live with.

© 2005 John Newby - All Rights Reserved

John Newby is currently the Circulation Director and Columnist for the Moline Dispatch Publishing Company. Prior to his current 15 year career in the media industry, he served his country as a Weather Forecaster in the Air Force. He's a regular speaker at industry training sessions and enjoys the opportunity to present his ideas.

While not adored in most newsrooms, his columns consistently generate excellent response as he concentrates on media biases, fact-less reporting and the ongoing attacks on the Constitution. John is happily married to his eternal partner Kathy and have been blessed and kept busy with their nine wonderful children.





Those people who are not governed by God will be ruled by tyrants. -- William Penn

News and the Bible

Jeremiah 8:7
Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the LORD.

What awesome things have happened in our world since the Christmas Holiday's.
More and more the birth pangs bringing forth the deliverance of our sin sick world increase in frequency and intensity. Jesus is coming and I am excited that one day we are going to meet in person our Savior and Lord! Hal Lindsey at his website:
http://www.hallindseyoracle.comhas posted the following article and it is really one I pray many will think about. So many have not been taught about the rapture and return of the Lord for a Thousand year reign of peace on this earth but nevertheless it is going to happen and our job is to help bring many to Jesus before that great and glorious day. Call on the Lord today if you do not know him and he will forgive your sins and save you from the coming great tribulation.

God Bless
Elaine


Assessing Current Events

It is a world in which a Catholic archbishop can cause headlines by referring to homosexuality as "epidemic."

It is a world where people find no contradiction in demanding that everybody else conform to their narrow views because the view of the majority makes them feel like outsiders.

A world in which the prevailing legal view is that there is a "God-given right" for the God-haters to not be offended by the mention of "God" in public.

A Houston, Texas judge ruled that a Bible in a courthouse might give the impression Houston's Harris County has a preference for Christianity. A Bible in a courthouse! Is he kidding?

Up seems to be down and black seems to be white. For the first time in the history of mankind, the main topic of debate is over a question no previous generation would even entertain. The question baffling this generation is not "where did I come from?" or, "Is there an afterlife?" That doesn't seem to be as important as whether marriage should be between a man and a woman.

Meanwhile, the Earth itself seems to be in rebellion. The Asian mega-quake that changed geography caused the planet to vibrate like a tuning fork. It knocked the planet far enough off its axis to momentarily change time – and this may only be the beginning.

There are warnings of a sudden shift in the Earth's poles, a reversal of the Earth's magnetic fields and the fear of the onset of a new Ice Age.

Environmentalists warn that global warming will raise the world's sea levels, resulting the catastrophic flooding and loss of life. Many scientists warn that the shift of mass from the concentration of solid ice caps due to melting and being distributed in the oceans could further exacerbate the Earth's wobbling axis.

Meanwhile, the sun continues to convulse, sending out massive showers of debris into the solar system, while irradiating the Earth with unprecedented doses of solar radiation. It is, according to some prominent Russian scientists, the most active period of solar activity in 8,000 years.

The past year broke all the records in terms of natural disasters. This year began with earthquakes, floods, unseasonably cold weather in some places, unseasonably warm in others, and nobody seems to be able to explain what is going on.

The economy is at once both robust and growing and teetering on the edge of catastrophe. Economists warn that it would take just one push in the right direction at the right time for the whole house of cards to come collapsing around our ears.

Meanwhile, NASA just spent hundreds of millions to launch a spacecraft designed to impact with a comet in deep space to see if it is possible to deflect a killer asteroid. Does anyone else beside me feel like he is in a Stephen King movie?

The Bible prophets describes the last days as a period of ever-increasing wars and natural disasters. Jesus, Himself, predicted that there would be wars and rumors of wars, great earthquakes, plagues of deadly diseases, cataclysmic weather changes and famine just before His return. He likened all these things to birth pangs. He said that as the time approached, they would increase in both frequency and intensity.

He spoke of signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars. He warned of the distress of nations, saying things would grow so frightening that men's hearts would fail them for fear, just in looking at what is coming.

But all these terrors are just the beginning of a period of catastrophe and death so profound that Jesus, Himself, said no time in history has ever been like it before – nor ever will be again.

Amidst all the fear and uncertainty, however, Jesus promised great hope. He said that, just before the beginning of the 7-year period, He would come again and receive to Himself all those who put their faith in Him and receive the gift of pardon He paid for with His own blood.

We see the shadows of predicted events that tell us the time known as the Tribulation Period is almost upon us. To those who understand the prophecy of the Bible that means time is extremely short. Do not put off receiving the gift of pardon that Jesus purchased for you and put your name on it. Don't get left behind. The consequences of that will be beyond anything you can imagine.


Jesus is coming soon!
ARE YOU READY FOR THE RAPTURE?



JOHN3:16