The Saved will Soon be Evacuated (Raptured) from Planet Earth

 The Saved will Soon be Evacuated (Raptured) from Planet Earth - By Daymond Duck - https://www.raptureready.com/2023/08/19/apocalypse-by-daymond-duck/ The word “Revelation” (as in the book of Revelation) comes from the Greek word “apokalupsis.” It means “the uncovering, the unveiling, or the disclosing.” “Revelation” is the disclosing of Jesus Christ. It can be taken two ways: 1) as the disclosing of the person called Jesus, or 2) as the disclosing of what He intends to do. Since the book of Revelation begins with the words “The Revelation of Jesus Christ,” and most of the book of Revelation (chapters 6-19) is about the terrible things that willtake place during the coming Tribulation Period, many commentators refer to that coming seven-year period as the “Apocalypse.” As I am writing this (on Aug. 10, 2023), wildfires are devastating Hawaii’s main island (Maui). Early this morning (on Aug. 10), it was reported that 53 people have died, more than 1,700 buildings have been destroyed, hospitals are overwhelmed, the air people breatheis polluted with smoke, thousands of people have been removed from the island, thousands of people are unaccounted for, cell-phones are not working, people can’t call 911 for help, thousands on the island don’t have electricity, some waded into the ocean tokeep from being burned to death, and the numbers will probably keep rising. Officials, residents, and witnesses are saying things like apocalyptic, catastrophic, decimated, shocking, looks like someone dropped a big bomb, etc. I have no problem with the use of these words. Pres. Biden has signed a declaration of disaster, and I cannot imagine how awful it is. But people need to know that the coming Apocalypse (Tribulation Period) will be a billion times worse. Following the seven seal judgments (the rise of the Antichrist, wars, famine, pestilences, etc.): •Hail, fire, and blood will destroy one-third of the plants on earth (Rev. 8:7). •Something like a great burning mountain will crash into a sea and destroy one-third of the sea creatures and ships (Rev. 8:8-9). •A burning star will fall upon the earth and pollute one-third of the fresh water (Rev. 8:10-11). •The sun, moon, and stars will be struck and darkened (Rev. 8:12). •Satan will release demon-possessed locusts on earth, and they will torment the wicked (Rev. 9:1-12). •Fire, smoke, and brimstone will kill one-third of the people on earth (Rev. 9:13-21). •And there will still be seven bowls of God’s wrath to be dumped (Rev. 11:15-12:12). Jesus said, “Except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened” (Matt. 24:22). Just like it was on the island of Maui, calling 911 or wading out into the ocean will not stop the “Apocalypse,” but know that those that have truly accepted Jesus as theirLord and Saviour will not be on earth when the Apocalypse takes place. (Note:On Aug. 13, 2023, it was reported that the death toll has risen to 93, and the search for people that did not survive is continuing. This is now the highest death toll on record for a natural disaster in Hawaii.) (Note: On Aug. 15, 2023, it was reported that the UK’s King Charles extended his deepest possible sympathies to the families of victims, former Pres. Trump offered his sympathyand warmest regards to the victims, and Pres. Biden said, “No comment.” Biden is being criticized for showing no signs of sympathy.) Here are some recent events that seem to indicate that the saved will soon be evacuated (Raptured) from planet Earth, and the Apocalypse (Tribulation Period) will begin. One, concerning homosexuality and the days of Lot at the end ofthe age: earlier this year (May 2023, I think), the Ugandan parliament passed a bill to protect families, children, and others from people pushing homosexuality upon them. The law does not outlaw homosexuality, but it outlaws people trying to force homosexuality upon others (Christians, children, and students). As might be expected, the Biden administration strongly objected to protecting Christians and children from the LGBTQ+ group and threatened to cut aid to Uganda if the nation’spresident signed the bill. Pres. Museveni signed the bill anyway, and the World Bank notified Uganda that it was freezing all loans to his nation. On Aug. 10, 2023, Museveni told Ugandans his nation will not abandon its faith, culture, principles, or sovereignty for money. Uganda will do what is best for its citizens with or without the money. America desperately needs leaders that will put its Judeo-Christian heritage above the gay agenda and not try to force its immorality on others. Two, concerning deceit and a population reduction at the end ofthe age: on Aug. 11, 2023, it was reported that a U.S. Dept. of Justice (DOJ) attorney representing the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in a case before the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals said doctors do have the authority to prescribe Ivermectinfor the treatment of Covid. Readers will recall that during the Covid crisis, the FDA discouraged the use of Ivermectin and contended that using it was medically irresponsible. According to the report, now a “large body of accumulated studies has found it (Ivermectin) to be irrefutably highly effective for treating Covid when given early and withthe correct protocol.” According to the report, during the Covid Crisis, officials knew more about the safety and effectiveness of Ivermectin than they knew about the safety and effectiveness ofthe Covid vaccine, but they discouraged the use of Ivermectin and promoted use of the Covid vaccine, which is now known to be unsafe and ineffective in many cases. Because of the deceit and the globalist desire to reduce the population of the earth, many medical workers were fired, many were blasphemed and censored, and many people diedthat were not allowed to receive this proven “irrefutably highly effective” treatment. A lot of people have blood on their hands. Why do so many people ignore the fact that Bible prophecy teaches that government officials will deceive and kill multitudes during the Apocalypse? Three, concerning deceit and a population reduction at the endof the age: on Aug. 11, 2023, it was reported that a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report says 120,000 children in the U.S. have died suddenly following an mRNA vaccination for Covid. One must wonder why Biden and Fauci were saying the vaccination is safe and effective for all ages when so many children were dying. (Note:According to Klaus Schwab, head of the World Economic Forum, no one in the world will be safe if everyone is not vaccinated.) Four, concerning the Battle of Gog and Magog (Ezek. 38-39) inthe latter days and latter years: on Aug. 12, 2023, it was reported that an intelligence document based on information gathered by Netherlands, Sweden, and Germany concluded that Iran may soon test a nuclear weapons device. According to a senior researcher in Israel, Iran probably views U.S. and EU policy toward her as weak, passive and unintimidating, which serves as a motivation to continueher development and testing of nuclear weapons. (Note:On Aug. 13, 2023, it was reported that Israeli Prime Min. Netanyahu canceled his upcoming vacation, stayed in Jerusalem, and called an unplanned security meeting to discuss Israel’s preparedness for war since some reservists are refusing to serve. There iswidespread disagreement over Israel’s readiness for war and who is responsible for the reservists refusing to serve. Understand that Israel’s safety is in God’s hands, and her enemies would be wise to back off.) Five, concerning the spirit of antichrist and the persecutionof believers at the end of the age: during the so-called Covid pandemic, several churches in Canada were fined hundreds of thousands of dollars for refusing to limit church attendance. The churches sued, their case went all the way to the Canadian Supreme Court, and on Aug. 11, 2023, the Court refused to hear their suit. Believers should understand that giving unbelievers the authority to determine what is a pandemic, when it begins, when it ends, and the authority to control every aspectof people’s lives during a pandemic will eventually cost believers their freedom to assemble, speak and worship. It will impact if they can meet, how many can meet, where they meet, what their preacher can say, how disobedience will be punished, and more. Six, concerning the coming cashless society and the Mark of theBeast at the middle of the Tribulation Period: on July 18, 2023, it was reported that Fla. Gov. Ron DeSantis said, “If I am the President, on day one we will nix Central Bank Digital Currency. Done. Dead. Not happening in this country.” DeSantis got Florida to pass a law that refuses use of a CBDC. He hopes to prevent the Biden administration from using an executive order to force a CBDC on U.S. citizens and to require Biden to go through Congress if he wants to establishone in the U.S. (Note:On July 25, 2023, it was reported that Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH) called upon Congress to ban and criminalize CBDCs. If that has happened, I am not aware of it.) Seven, concerning the coming cashless society and Mark of theBeast at the middle of the Tribulation Period: on July 25, 2023, it was reported that Russian Pres. Putin approved the use of a digital ruble (Central Bank Digital Currency or CBDC) for money transfers. The digital ruble will not replace existing forms of money, the money citizens have in the bank will not be converted to digital rubles, no one will be forced to use digitalrubles, and it will take 2-3 years before the use of digital rubles is widespread. Eight, concerning the coming cashless society and Mark of theBeast during the Tribulation Period: on Aug. 11, 2023, it was reported that four major banks in Australia have stopped allowing customers to withdraw cash from their bank accounts in preparation for a switch to a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). So, what comes next? Customers must spend their money by a certain date or lose it, accounts will be seized if customers do not espouse the government narrative, etc., etc.? Nine, concerning wickedness (corruption) in crime-ridden Washington,D.C.: on Aug. 15, 2023, a federal appeals court ruled that Washington, D.C. was discriminating against citizens because the police arrested pro-life protestors for writing chalk messages on sidewalks, but the police never arrested Black Lives Matter (BLM)protestors for writing chalk messages on sidewalks, spray painting messages on public property, private property, etc. (My opinion:The laws in the U.S. should be equally enforced, and the illegal activities of some groups should not be overlooked because of their race, gender, or the fact that they support corrupt politicians.) Ten, concerning wickedness (corruption): on Aug. 14, 2023, Gov.Mike Huckabee posted the following: •The watchdog group OpenTheBooks just released about 1,500 unredacted pandemic-era records showing that the leaders of the National Institutes of Health and the National Instituteof Allergy and Infectious Diseases, including Dr. Fauci (already the highest-paid “public servant” in DC), made over $325 million in profits off of COVID-19. NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins and former NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci “got 58 royalty paymentsfor allowing companies to use their COVID-19 vaccines, which in return (were) developed with funding from U.S. taxpayers by private pharmaceutical firms.” Eleven, concerning deceit: in Canada, a biological man that callshimself a woman and competes against women in weight-lifting competitions keeps defeating his female opponents. Some women have stopped competing because they know they do not have a chance and the truth does not matter. FYI: God does not send anyone to Hell (all of us are born witha sin nature and destined to go to Hell because we sin), but God has provided a way (Jesus) for everyone to go to Heaven (and He is the only way to get there; John 14:6). Finally, are you Rapture Ready? If you want to be rapture ready and go to heaven, you must be born again (John 3:3). God loves you, and if you have not done so, sincerely admit that you are a sinner; believethat Jesus is the virgin-born, sinless Son of God who died for the sins of the world, was buried, and raised from the dead; ask Him to forgive your sins, cleanse you, come into your heart and be your Saviour; then tell someone that you have done this.

The Lord Promises to Rescue Us Before the Start Of The Day Of The Lord!

 The Lord Promises to Rescue Us Before the Start Of The Day Of The Lord! – By Jonathan Brentner - https://harbingersdaily.com/our-hope-and-comfort-during-these-perilous-times-starts-and-ends-with-gods-amazing-grace/ Our hope and comfort during these perilous times starts and ends with God’s amazing grace. It’s all because of Jesus that the blessings of Ephesians 1:3-14 belong to us bothnow and forever. I love the certainty of verses 7-8, which point to the finishing of our salvation: “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdomand prudence.” It’s easy to get caught up in our glorious future and overlook God’s great plan of redemption that makes it all possible for us. The words of 2 Corinthians 5:21 never ceaseto astound me. Not only did Jesus bear the punishment for our sins upon the cross, but we become the “righteousness of God” at the moment of our salvation. Is this not the best news ever? In the midst of describing salvation by grace alone through faith in Ephesians 2:1-10, we come across this wondrous outflow of God’s great love for us in verse 7: “That inthe ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.” Is it any wonder we long for the Rapture? It marks the beginning of our never-ending experience of God showering His kindness upon us. It’s got to be a whole lot better thanour experience in this world. Sacred Promises As we watch the world grow increasingly violent and lawless, how do we know that the Lord will rescue us before the world feels the full weight of God’s wrath? What if weare not walking with the Lord at the time of His appearing? Will we still meet Jesus in the air? 1 Thessalonians 5:1-10 answers these questions for us. For those of us in Christ, it’s a passage that drips with God’s mercy and love toward us as New Testament saints. More than that, these verses base our hope on sacred promises that flow directly from God’s lavish outpouring of His unfailing grace upon us. 1. The Lord Promises to Rescue Us Before the Start Of The Day Of The Lord The first assurance that Paul gives us in this passage is that the Rapture will occur before the Day of the Lord’s wrath descends upon this world. 1 Thessalonians 5:9 makesthis clear distinction: “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.” The “wrath” Paul mentions this verse is not that of hell, but rather that of the Day of the Lord. In verses 1-3, Paul refers to the “sudden destruction” that will overtakethe world at the beginning of this time of God’s wrath described by numerous prophets in the Old Testament. The prophet Isaiah, for example, wrote of a time when much of the earth’s population would perish (13:9-12). Zephaniah says this about the coming day, “A day of wrath is thatday, / a day of distress and anguish, / a day of ruin and devastation, / a day of darkness and gloom, / a day of clouds and thick darkness (1:15). The salvation that Paul writes about in 1 Thessalonians 5:9 is not that of our regeneration but that of our deliverance from this time of terror upon the world. Over fortyyears later, the Apostle John further described these “Day of the Lord” judgments in Revelation 6-18. With all the fires purposely set to destroy homes and kill people, the catastrophic worldwide flooding, and all the rumors of pending nuclear war, some might be tempted todespair thinking that Tribulation period has already arrived. That’s why the promise of 1 Thessalonians 5:9 is so encouraging. We know it hasn’t yet begun. What we see today are precursors to the horrific Day of the Lord that’s ever so close. They tell us as believers that Jesus’ appearing is ever so close. They warn those outsideof Christ that God’s fierce judgment on this world is imminent. 2. The Lord Will Take All Believers To Heaven What’s also so very reassuring is the second promise found in 1 Thessalonians 5:10, which flows from God’s grace, “. . . who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleepwe might live with him.” This verse assures us that Jesus will not leave any saint behind when He comes for us. Let me explain how I arrive at that conclusion. In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Paul distinguishes between living and dead saints. Because of this, many assume that he has the same distinction in mind in 1 Thessalonians 5:10. However, the apostle has something else in mind with verse 10; the words he uses for being “awake” and “asleep” differ from those he used in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17. As such,they align much closer with the preceding verses that distinguish between those spiritually awake versus those asleep in their walk with the Lord. The Greek verb Paul uses for “awake” in verse 10 is gregoreo, a word that denotes moral alertness. In 5:4-8, Paul uses the word along with that of being “sober” to portraythe idea of temperance in our walk with the Lord versus that of drunkenness or carelessness. “So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober” (v. 6). Jesus used the word gregoreo in Matthew 24:42 and Mark 13:35 to signify watchfulness for His return. The word Paul uses for believers who are “asleep” in 5:10 is katheudo. This word most often refers to someone who is physically asleep, not dead. Of the 22 times this wordappears in the New Testament, it only once refers to someone who had died and then Jesus used the word to refer to the girl He intended to raise from the dead. In 1 Thessalonians 4:17, Paul uses a different Greek word, zao, to refer to living saints at thetime of the rapture. In 1 Thessalonians 5:4-8, the apostle uses katheudo to designate believers who are asleep in their walk with the Lord (v. 6) and contrasts them with the sober saint, or theone who is gregoreo. Based on Paul’s usage of the same words in the preceding context as well as in 1 Thessalonians 5:10, we know that His reference to believers that are “awake” and “asleep” is much different than 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17. It leads us to this wonderful assurance: When the Lord comes for His church, He will take all those who are alert spiritually as well as all those who are asleep in their walk with Him. Because of what the New Testament tells us about the Judgment Seat of Christ and our rewards, we know it will be more advantageous for those whose lives have been characterizedby spiritual alertness rather than living for themselves. However, the Lord will not leave either one behind to endure His wrath during the Tribulation. Being “in Christ” guarantees our heavenward journey when He appears. I’m grateful that the Rapture didn’t happen during my past, times that I now deeply regret because of my lack of trust in Him and even my anger toward Him. However, I would’vemet Jesus in the air just the same with the immortal and imperishable body that He had given to me a brief moment earlier. Are You Rapture Ready? I will close the same way that beloved prophecy expert Daymond Duck ends all his articles on the Rapture Ready website: “Are you Rapture ready? The sacred promises noted above apply to those in Christ. Those who through faith have put their confidence in Jesus alone for the forgiveness of their sins and the receiptof eternal life (Ephesians 2:8-9). 1 John 5:11-12 points to Jesus as the sole reason for our hope of eternal life and thus our inclusion in the Rapture: “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternallife, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” Jesus alone is the reason for our hope and the sole focus of our eager expectation of glory. On the night before He died on the cross for our sins, He said, “I am the way,and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). If you have not yet put your trust in Jesus, please see my post, Jesus Is the Only Path to Eternal Life. In it I explain how you can know that God has forgiven your sins andthat your possess eternal life. Please don’t delay; call upon Jesus while you may! Tomorrow may be too late. Yes, people will turn to the Savior and receive eternal life during the horrific Tribulation,but you don’t want to risk such suffering.

Revelation 16: Death and judgment upon the waters

 Revelation 16: Death and judgment upon the waters - By Mark Creech- https://www.christianpost.com/voices/revelation-16-death-and-judgment-upon-the-waters.html Sarah was a hardworking college student who received an email from her professor informing her that her final project was due on Friday. The message read, “Be sure to bringyou’re A-game; failure is not an option!” However, Sarah took the professor’s statement figuratively. She assumed the professor was emphasizing the importance of doing well on the project. Rather than interpreting it literally as a warning about the consequencesof failure. Confident in her abilities, Sarah decided to focus on other assignments and leisure activities throughout the week, assuming her work would be adequate to avoid failure. Shespent much time during the week catching up with friends, binging on her favorite TV shows, and neglecting the entire project. As Friday approached, Sarah started to realize she may have misunderstood her professor’s intention. Panicked, she hurriedly tried to work on the project at the last minute,but it was too late. With limited time and a lack of preparation, Sarah’s work fell short of expectations. She ended up submitting a subpar project, and not meeting the required standards. Sarah keenly felt the consequences of her misinterpretation as her professor returned her assignment with a failing grade, seriously impacting her overall performance in thecourse. In hindsight, Sarah realized her egregious mistake. If she had only taken the professor’s statement literally, understanding that failure was not an option, she would haveundoubtedly approached the project with more seriousness and dedication. Sarah’s experience could serve as a parable for making the error of interpreting some parts of Revelation figuratively when they should be taken literally. To fail to judgethem literally can result in failing to take some of the prophetic events described with necessary seriousness and dedication. For some, it could even mean being insufficiently prepared for Christ’s return. In his commentary on the book of Revelation, the late Dr. M.R. DeHann wrote: “Observe the rule of literal interpretation. The greatest curse of the Christian Church is the evil of spiritualizing the Bible. Although there are many symbols and signsin the book, as in every other book and our daily conversation, the context indicates whether a passage is to be interpreted literally or symbolically. Interpret literally, except where the context or grammatical structure clearly indicates that the referenceis a symbol or a sign.” One strong argument for interpreting the seven plagues of Revelation chapter 16 as literal is that the biblical text itself describes them in vivid, concrete terms. The bookof Revelation, which often is filled with symbolic language presents these plagues as specific events with clear cause-and-effect relationships. Each of the seven plagues is described in some detail, such as “malignant sores’ (v. 2), “the sea … became likethe blood of a corpse” (v.3), and “the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, causing it to scorch everyone with its fire” (v.8). These unambiguous prophetic descriptions indicate each of them should be taken plainly. Moreover, the plagues in Revelation 16 align with similar plagues that are described in the Old Testament, particularly the plagues of Egypt mentioned in Exodus. These plaguesare depicted as tangible, real, historical events that affected the physical world and had significant consequences for those involved. Therefore, it is only logical to interpret the plagues in this chapter of Revelation as literal occurrences of things tocome. Here is what the Bible says about a second and third plague among seven that God has ordered for an unbelieving world in its final days. These plagues have to do with thesea and the freshwater supply. “Then the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it became like the blood of a corpse. And everything in the sea died. Then the third angel poured out his bowl onthe rivers and springs, and they became blood. And I heard the angel who had authority over all water saying, ‘You are just, O Holy One, who is and who always was because you have sent these judgments. Since they shed the blood of your holy people and yourprophets, you have given them blood to drink. It is their just reward.’ And I heard a voice from the altar, saying, ‘Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, your judgments are true and just’” (Revelation 16:3-7). This is a horrific scene almost beyond imagination. It’s hard to conceive of life without the glory and beauty of the sea. Herman Broch said, “Those who live by the sea can hardly form a single thought of which the sea would not be part.” Certainly, someone who would have agreed, Jacques Cousteausaid, “The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.” Nevertheless, according to Revelation, the majestic expanse of the ocean, once so vibrant and teeming with life, will in the end stagnate as an unnerving tableau of desolation,mirroring the pallid hue and stillness that permeates the blood of a lifeless being. In his book, Revelation, the late Dr. Charles Ryrie wrote about this text: “The illustration vividly depicts a dying person wallowing in his own blood. Under the second trumpet, one-third of the sea creatures died (8:9); now the destruction is complete.The stench and the disease this will bring, especially along the shores of the seas of the earth are unimaginable.” One of the worst marine disasters in recent history took place in April of 2010, when the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, operated by BP, exploded in the Gulf of Mexico. The incidentresulted in the largest marine oil spill to date, releasing millions of barrels of oil into the ocean over an extended period. The disaster had devastating consequences for marine ecosystems in the region, leading to extensive damage and the loss of countless marine organisms. The spill contaminatedthe surface and deep underwater, killing a wide range of marine species, from small zooplankton to large fish, marine mammals, and even birds. Following the oil spill, the water’s appearance was profoundly affected by the accumulation of dead organisms, other marine life, and oil residue. This, in turn, led to changesin the ocean’s color that resulted in a reddish hue. Red Tide is a natural phenomenon caused by blooms of microscopic algae in the ocean, particularly a type called dinoflagellates. These algae produce quite rapidly and generatea reddish discoloration in the water, hence the name “red tide.” The blooms release toxins that are very harmful to marine life, including fish, shellfish, and marine mammals. These toxins have negative effects on the central nervous system of animals, leadingto illnesses and death. Red tides also deplete oxygen in the water, which causes what are called “dead zones” of countless marine life. North Carolina, my home state, has had its challenges from red tides before. It can occur in both saltwater and freshwater environments. The regions most known for red tide,however, include the Gulf of Mexico, the coast of California, the Caribbean Sea, and certain parts of Asia, Europe, and South America. Here’s the way The Tampa Bay Times described a red tide that plagued the Gulf from the border of Alabama to the Florida Keys in 2005: “The impact on sea life was so catastrophic that it created a dead zone — an area of the gulf devoid of oxygen and sea life … The algal bloom thoroughly decimated everythingon site that year. It killed everything from bait fish and crabs to rays and dolphins. The final death toll included thousands of fish and birds that fed on infected animals. “Red Tide was the leading cause of death of the endangered manatee that year, killing 93. It also slew more than a hundred sea turtles. “Tarpon Springs sponger Jeff Love, the owner of Rock Island Sponge Co., told the then – St. Petersburg Times … that the Red Tide snuffed out everything it touched. “‘Every plant life, every vertebrate, everything on the bottom is dead,’ he said. ‘It’s bare rock — and it was the lushest area we had.’ “From June to September … Pinellas County [Florida] alone picked up 732 tons of dead sea animals from its coastline. That’s nearly 1.5 million pounds of rotting marine flesh.Local governments had to pay overtime and hire more workers to remove the reeking carcasses. “The water smelled like rotten eggs.” It seems unlikely any single oil spill or red tide event could destroy the entire ocean. The Earth’s seas are vast bodies of water covering more than 70% of the planet’s surface,and these bodies of water are remarkably resilient. Natural processes such as evaporation, precipitation, and movement of ocean currents help maintain the balance and health of the seas. Nevertheless, one must remember this bowl poured out by an angel on the sea is because of God’s wrath, and anything is possible with God. In his wrath, more specifically,in this certain event, which is more than catastrophic but apocalyptic, God shows not the slightest scintilla of mercy, for those days are over. But then, the Bible says a third angel pours his bowl on the fresh waters (the rivers and the springs) and they become like blood, too. Someone once said, “Amid troubles upon troubles, life feels like a dark tunnel, with no sign of light at the end.” Indeed, and here again, God sends more trouble and thosewho have despised him are catapulted through a tunnel of darkness where there is no light at the end — only the outer darkness of Hell. The world is firmly in the talons of Hell on Earth at this point. This is hypothetical but it seems reasonable to think the situation might go something like this: Still mourning the death of the sea, the news of the worldwide freshwater contamination will start to spread almost immediately afterwards. Panic, no doubt, will set in. Peoplewill likely rush to the grocery stores, hoping to stockpile as much bottled water as possible, but the shelves will empty quickly. Desperation will fill the air, and chaos ensue. Scenes by the rivers and springs, once filled with families having picnics, and people swimming, will be abandoned and appear eerie. The flowing streams will have turned intostagnant pools of murky red, emitting the foulest of odors. Wildlife and aquatic creatures will struggle to survive, their habitats devastated. The lack of uncontaminated water resources will place immense strain on healthcare systems, sanitation facilities, and agricultural practices, escalating at almost lightningspeed public health crises and food shortages. There is a strong possibility long lines will form in major cities outside makeshift water distribution centers. People clutching to empty containers, hoping to receive eventhe most limited quantities of uncontaminated water. Water becomes a precious commodity, coveted by everyone, rich and poor. Wasting water will become unthinkable; bathing will hardly be possible anymore, and clean laundry a rare luxury. Industries relianton water, such as agriculture, manufacturing, and energy production, will face severe disruption or have to shut down. The economy, forgive the pun, will go in the tank, and job losses will be on a massive scale. Some hoping to reach deep underground reservoirs will dig provisional wells, while others set up rudimentary filtration systems with the objective of purifying the putrefiedwaters. Still, others will have adapted systems to catch rainwater or harvest clouds. Some of these efforts may be somewhat successful, but ultimately, they will fail. The fate of this unbelieving world is to be like that of the rich man in Hell, whom Jesussaid, in his torment, asked for just one drop of water to be given him in his agony, but there was none (Luke 16:19-31). Perhaps many will read of this forthcoming judgment and declare it overly stringent, excessively severe. But lest anyone lay that accusation against God, the angel with authorityover the waters says this judgment is unprejudiced and fair. God is holy and everything He does is ethical and reasonable, says the angel. The angel adds that those who embraced a self-centered life, ignored God’s sovereignty and grace, engaged in immorality, lived without integrity, characteristically ignoredGod’s law, despising those who lived opposite to the way they lived and murdered them, making their blood flow as deep and as wide as the sea, the rivers and the streams, should have to drink blood. They thirsted for the blood of God’s people and they shouldhave it to drink. Then a voice comes from the altar, declaring a sort of celestial, “Amen,” saying, “Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, your judgments are true and just” (Revelation 16:7). The late R.C. Sproul, the incomparable American theologian, pastor, author, and educator said: “The Bible is meant to be taken literally because it is the ultimate authority from which we derive our understanding of God’s will and path to salvation.” Are you on the straight and narrow highway? Perhaps you might pray a prayer like this one: “Lord Jesus Christ, remember me. Open my heart and my mind to you. Save me now, in this day of opportunity, worth more than all the gold and precious possessions in the world.Be merciful to me now, forgive me, and cleanse me from my sins. May I be numbered among those who enter into your kingdom? Give me the gift of eternal life. Spare me of your wrath, which is to come. Amen.”

“Rapture Verdict” Overturned

 “Rapture Verdict” Overturned – Terry James - https://terryjamesprophecyline.com/2023/08/20/rapture-verdict-overturned/ “There are a lot of people coming against the pre-Trib Rapture,” a friend I was on the phone with said. I asked him to name names, and he said, “Guys like Joel Richardson and Walid Shoebat.” These and many others, my friend said, are saying things like those of us who believe in and teach a pre-Trib Rapture are heretics. And some are saying worse, like we’re leadingpeople to Hell with our false teaching. I, of course—as reported in these commentaries—have heard those invectives and worse against those of us who believe in and teach the pre-Trib Rapture of the Church. However,I’ve met both Joel Richardson and Walid Shoebat. Mr. Richardson never came across as a man who would make such strong condemnation. And I haven’t heard much about Mr. Shoebat, an admitted former Mideast terrorist who is now a Christian, since we met at a prophecyconference some years ago. He was passionate, to be sure, and I knew he didn’t believe there will be a pre-Trib Rapture, but I never heard from him any such diatribe accusing us of being heretics, as my friend said he and others were declaring. So I did some research to see, in particular, what Joel Richardson (not his real name for his own reasons, I’ve heard) was saying. I could find no written documents of significance by Joel on the subject, so listened to his in-depth discussion with a podcast host as they dealt specifically with Joel’sopposition to the pre-Trib Rapture of the Church. I totally disagreed with all of his reasons the pre-Trib view is unbiblical. I found them so weak as to wonder why anyone should even worry about his view making inroads againstthe truth regarding the timing of the Rapture. I did agree with him on one thing, though. The pre-Trib view is diminishing amongst believers. But it is not, in my view, Richardson and others providing anti-pre-Trib Rapture teaching that is causing the diminishment. Rather, it’s a part of the end-times falling awayfrom the faith in general that is caused in part by the lack of biblical prophetic truth being preached and taught in churches. That said, however, when I met Joel Richardson, I found him to be a gentleman and a gentle man, as Paul Harvey used to say about those he found to be so. And, upon listeningclosely to him and the podcast host who was of the same anti-pre-Trib Rapture mindset, I heard the same gentleness in his presentation. As a matter of fact, he lamented that some within the pre-Trib prophecy preacher camp had called him a heretic and much worse. Someone who had hosted, or cohosted, a seventhousand-attendee prophecy conference had said these things about him. Mr. Richardson said when he confronted the Christian brother, the conference host admitted he was wrong, but had just “needed a scapegoat” to make his point while speakingat the gathering. I don’t know of any prophecy conference of that size, or what the man meant by “needing a scapegoat” in this case, but I believe Joel Richardson to be a brother in Christin every respect, and one who tells the truth as he understands it. (It’s just that, after listening to him and the host of the podcast, neither understands the truth in the matter of when Christ will call the Church to Himself.) Another anti-pre-Trib Rapture Bible-prophecy proponent I find to be otherwise quite accurate on the way things are trending toward the Tribulation is Michael Snyder. He isexcellent at gathering information and reporting news of developments in the Ephesians 6:12 minions’ attempts to bring in Antichrist’s regime of control. He wrote a book with the title The Rapture Verdict, in which he attempted to tear apart evidence from God’s Word for the pre-Trib Rapture. His “verdict,” of course, was thathe had managed to prove there will be no pre-Trib Rapture. Neither Mr. Richardson nor Mr. Snyder denies there will be a Rapture. But they lump Israel and the Church together, so to speak. Their verdict is that both Israel and believerswho comprise the Church will go through the Tribulation. Mr. Richardson, at least—I can’t remember the position of Mr. Snyder—denies that God deals with people in dispensations. They both put forth that the Rapture will take place within the Tribulation, asI understand. Their belief is based upon the “last trump of Revelation,” to a large extent. Mr. Richardson, as I heard him in the interview—and the host agreed wholeheartedly—said the best we pre-Trib Rapturists could come up with was Revelation 3:10. He admittedit did seem to indicate believers will escape God’s wrath. However, he said that Scripture didn’t mean we will not go through the seven years of Tribulation, but that we will be kept “through” that time, which will be, according to the Lord Jesus, the worstin all of human history. To me, Mr. Snyder and Mr. Richardson’s “Rapture verdict” is overthrown–overturned—in one simple word in the following promise from our God: Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.(Revelation 3:10) As I understand, Joel Richardson believes the word “wrath” means in the eternal sense, not in the sense of the physical—i.e., we won’t suffer the eternal wrath reserved forthe lost, but must be here for the physical punishment phase. But even more confusing is the that he said, if I heard him correctly, that this Scripture says we will be kept “through” this period of horror during which God judges andmakes war on unbelievers and on Satan and his angelic hordes. I find this to make little sense, as millions of new believers will die during that era. But one word totally overturns the Rapture verdict of the anti-pre-Trib argument, in my view. That term is the simple little word “from.” It is the Greek word ek, which means “out of,” not “through.” We will be kept “out of” that hour that will come upon the whole world of rebels during the Tribulation. Of course, there is an overwhelmingly extensive body of evidence that could be brought into play that proves the pre-Trib Rapture is truth. And that evidence has been presentedover and over, beginning with the great Apostle Paul’s words that we should “take comfort.” No “comfort” can come from knowing you are going through the worst time of all human history. Here are Paul’s words of comfort: For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we whichare alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:16–18)

Red Heifer Could Already Be Here!

 The Kosher Red Heifer Is the Missing Piece in the Prophetic Puzzle, and It Could Already Be Here! – Olivier Melnick - https://www.newantisemitism.com/antisemitism/the-kosher-red-heifer-is-the-missing-piece-in-the-prophetic-puzzle-and-it-could-already-be-here Almost a year after five red heifers were found in Rockwall, Texas, and flown to Eretz Yisrael, how close are we to the animals being qualified for the critical sacrificerequired to generate the ashes of a red heifer needed for purification at the time of the third Temple (Revelation 11:1)? It could be closer than we think! Israel currently doesn’t have a Temple in Jerusalem. The remains of Herod’s Temple are all that’s left, and the foundation of that building is what is known as the Kotel orWestern Wall. Are things about to change? The Bible speaks of a third and a fourth Temple or Millennial Temple (Ezekiel 40-48). The third Temple is a project that has been at the heart of the Temple Institute in Jerusalem for decades. A section of religiousJews is convinced that they will be rebuilding their Temple and once again resume the sacrificial system in Israel, and they are absolutely correct. Towards that end, they have painstakingly recreated all the implements necessary for the resumption of Templelife. Everything has been ready for a while now, even the priests from the tribe of Levi (remember that the tribe of Levi is the only one that can be identified since its identity was preserved in the name of its members such as Levy and Cohen and other derivatives).So, what remains to be done before the Temple is rebuilt? Well, not a whole lot. Obviously, the location of the Temple remains a very controversial topic since the current Temple Mount is more of a Muslim site than anything. The Al-Aqsa Mosque is builton top of the Temple Mount, and that is currently the biggest hurdle to rebuilding a Temple at that location. I do believe that part of the peace treaty that the Antichrist will sign with Israel will include the possibility of rebuilding and that the Antichristwill be successful at making Arabs and Jews get along. The Temple could even be rebuilt through a collaboration of the two groups and including Gentile assistance (Zechariah 6:12-13). This would be a great example of world peace brought by the Antichrist,especially during the first half of the Great Tribulation. A false world peace that is! Let’s assume that the Temple could be rebuilt today. That doesn’t automatically mean that Temple duties and the sacrificial system could resume because to resume Temple duties,a red heifer is needed. It is also important to note that the third Temple, while simply called the third Temple by its Jewish proponents, is also known by Yeshua’s followers as the Tribulation Temple. It is a building that never was and never will be condonedby God. It is needed for the end times agenda to unravel, but it is not the Temple that God wants. Sometimes God allows for events to take place for his plan for mankind to be possible. The Tribulation Temple is such an edifice, and yet, there is a criticalaspect of Temple purification that remains unfulfilled, and it pertains to the ashes of the red heifer. The reason why a red heifer is needed is that Jewish people at the Temple must present themselves in a state of ritual purity before they perform their duties. We get thisfrom the Passover celebration in the wilderness in Numbers 9:5-7, “They observed the Passover in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, in the wilderness of Sinai; according to all that the LORD had commanded Moses, so the sons ofIsrael did. But there were some men who were unclean because of the dead person, so that they could not observe Passover on that day.” The 113th commandment of the 613 found in the Torah stipulates that “the ashes of a red heifer are to be used in the processof ritual purification.” (Numbers 19:1-22.) Only nine red heifers were ever found in the entire history of Israel, so it goes without saying that they are extremely rare and valuable. So, the possibility of five newred heifers in existence today is extremely important. Much mystery surrounds the reason for using the ashes of a red heifer. It is even mentioned in the New Testament in Hebrews 9:13-14 as an example of Yeshua’s spotless, sinless sacrifice being greater thanthe ashes of the animal. Recently, on the biblical site of Shiloh, where the Tabernacle once was (Joshua 18:1), a group of Levites went through a practice run. One of the five red heifers broughtfrom Texas in 2022 was presented at that ceremony. The animal is just months away from being of age for the sacrifice, and if it continues to grow and not show more than two white hairs, IT WILL QUALIFY FOR SACRIFICE very soon. This means that Israel willhave everything needed to rebuild a temple and resume the sacrificial system interrupted in A.D. 70. This is both exciting and terrifying. Let me explain. This is exciting both for Jews and Christians. The idea that the Third Temple could be erected and functioning in this generation is very exciting to some of the Jewish peoplearound the world, but especially in Israel. This being said, only about 15% of all Jewish people are religious and even less within that percentage long for a Temple to be rebuilt. Those who await that day, like the people from the Temple Institute in theOld City of Jerusalem, are very excited. To them, this announces the coming of the Mashiach, the messianic age, and peace on earth, so who wouldn’t want that? To the Christians who study eschatology (the study of the end times), this coming temple is also very real. It is known as the Tribulation Temple and is required to be builtand functioning during the seven-year Tribulation (Daniel 9:24-27). This is the Temple that the Antichrist will desecrate (2 Thessalonians 2:4) after the first 3 1/2 years of the Tribulation, so it has to be rebuilt soon. To Bible-believing followers of Yeshua,this confirms the veracity of the Bible and its flawless prophetic word. We know that the Third Temple will be rebuilt because God’s word says so, and God cannot lie (Numbers 23:19; Titus 1:2; Hebrews 6:18.) From the perspective of end times events and theirbiblical accuracy, this is very exciting, unfortunately, for Christians, there is another side to that coin. As soon as the Tribulation starts and the Temple is fully functioning, the clock is ticking, and it is a short span of time in comparison to world history. The proverbialrubber will be meeting the road in a very bad way for all people on earth at that time. It is understandable when Christians get excited about the rebuilding of the Temple because it means that we are that much closer to the return of Yeshua the Messiah. Thesad reality for many people is that around the time of the resumption of the sacrificial system in Jerusalem at the Third Temple, things will start going south very rapidly. What first will appear as a beautiful Jewish Temple reminiscent of Herod’s Temple about 2,000 years ago, will become a place desecrated by the Antichrist (Daniel 9:26-27;2 Thessalonians 2:4.) This coincides with the time when people will “willingly” take the Mark of the Beast and seal their fate as followers of the Antichrist. This will be an unprecedented time of great turmoil, as prophesied in Jeremiah 30:7 and Daniel 12:1. The red heifers are getting really close to being kosher and ready for the sacrifice producing the ashes to be mixed with water for purification. All the Temple implementsare ready to go and the Levites have been trained. It is 11:59 PM on the prophetic clock, and yet, so much can still be accomplished in the last minute before the prophetic midnite call. Our desire to share the message of hope with the lost should be boilinginside us. I don’t know if I will witness the making of the purifying water in my lifetime, but I know without a doubt that it is coming and that once that part of God’s program is inmotion, there is no looking back. I have been on God’s side for the last 40 years. I hope you are too, and I pray that you will be bold about the hope that you have in Yeshua. NOW IS THE TIME!

No Good Thing Will He Withhold

No Good Thing Will He Withhold (Part One) Solomon writes in Proverbs 3:27-28: Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do so. Do not say to your neighbor, "Go, and come back, and tomorrow I will give it," when you have it with you. When God instructs us how to think and act, He is revealing how He thinks and acts. Here, God is showing us that when He knows what is good for us—after all, He is all-knowing and has all power—He will not even wait a day to act. He is "chomping at the bit,"aggressively searching for opportunities to do us good (II Chronicles 16:9). Notice the last part of Psalm 84:11, "No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly." No good thing, not even one, will He withhold, not even waiting a day, according to Proverbs 3:28. So, when we are in a trial and wondering why God has not intervened, we can conclude that a change is not what is best for us now, no matter what we might think (Isaiah 55:8). God has each of us exactly where we need to be at this moment because, in His love and wisdom, He knows what is good for us. Former Church of the Great God pastor, John Ritenbaugh, in his Bible Study, "Matthew (Part Twenty-Seven)," explains God's thinking: We understand the principle that God will do for us only what we cannot do for ourselves. So, what is God doing with us? He is reproducing, recreating Himself, and developing us to the maturity, understanding, knowledge, and wisdom in whichwe will be able to rule and teach in the World Tomorrow. We will need to be problem solvers, and the best way to produce problem solvers is to make them solve problems. If God used the childrearing techniques that many people use, we would grow up unable to solve our problems because our Parent always solved them for us. God, however, is not a defective Parent by any means. If it is good for us to go through something, God will make us go through it. If we need the experience, education, or character that can be gained through doing it, He will not remove us from it or it from us. He will make us experience it. If He "saved" us every time we felt uncomfortable, we would grow up to be unable to do anything—uneducated, untrained, and unfit for His Kingdom. So, because He is love, He cannot answer most of our requests for deliverance since to do so wouldbe detrimental to our developing character. He must let us go through trials, so why even pray to that end? Why not instead ask Him for the power to overcome it? That He will grant! Our approach needs to be to pray for that power. Then, we should rise from our knees and go to work as though everything depended on us, as though God is not even in the picture, although we know He is. That is how we grow. That is how we shoulduse prayer, to give us the ability to accept our cup, our circumstances. (Edited transcript.) Do we believe God loves each of us just as much as He loves Jesus Christ? Our Savior says so in John 17:23. Do we believe Him? Do we trust in God's love for us in every circumstance? Regarding accepting our cup, John Ritenbaugh goes on to give the examples of the apostle Paul and Jesus Christ: Remember in II Corinthians 12:1-10 how Paul stated he sought God three times to remove the thorn in his flesh, which he called "a messenger of Satan"? Each time, God said, "No." Through prayer, Paul came to accept his condition, whatever it was, and to realize that God would never remove it. Even so, he understood thatGod would give him the power to endure or overcome it. So, he accepted God's answer. Many of us do not accept God's answers, and because we do not understand this principle, we become bitter and discouraged. We despair and feel deep self-pity. "Woe is me!" we cry, when God is doing His best to develop knowledge, understanding,wisdom, empathy, compassion, and all kinds of positive attitudes and character in us through our circumstances. We fight Him tooth and nail because we do not accept His decisions. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus came to God and said, "I would like to get out of this trouble. Nevertheless, not My will, but Yours be done." How did He come to accept the Father's answer? By prayer. In prayer, He realized He would acceptGod's will, God's decision, regardless of what it led to—ridicule, weakness, pain, shame, and ignominious death. He determined He would accept it. John Ritenbaugh ends this section with a comment on prayer: "We should use prayer to ask God for the ability or the power to endure. If we come to regard prayer as merely a means to escape, we will end up bewildered and disappointed." Why isthis true? Paul, in the last part of I Corinthians 10:13, writes about escaping temptation: ". . . but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it." On its face, "escape" cannot be what the apostle meant. If we escape, what is there to bear? We arefree. New Testament writers use the underlying Greek word for "escape," ekbasis (Strong's #1545), only one other time, in Hebrews 13:7, where it is rendered "outcome." On his website, Greek language scholar William D. Mounce defines ekbasis as "way out; outcome, end, result." Two Bible versions give a more on-the-mark adaptation of Paul's thought: •But when you are tempted, he will also give you the ability to endure the temptation as your way of escape. (GOD'S WORD Translation) •[B]ut when he tests you, he will also bring about the outcome that you are able to bear it. (Evangelical Heritage Version) Our problems, large and small, are training exercises God uses to perfect us (Ephesians 4:13). Our focus should not be to escape but to learn the lessonsand overcome. The quicker we do so, the faster God can change the situation once we have passed the test. But for the others, the long-lasting trials, our way of escape is learning patience and endurance with God's help through prayer. So, like Paul, we are victorious rather than crushed by the trial (ICorinthians 15:57). Because of God's help, we can bear it and be better prepared for leadership in God's Kingdom. The Contemporary English Version renders the last part of Exodus 34:6 as, "I show great love, and I can be trusted" (emphasis added). Jesus and Paul trusted God. Because of this trust, Paul could write in I Thessalonians 5:18, ". . . in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." He could thank God for everything, even sore trials, because he trusted in God's love and that His will was for Paul's greatest good—to perfect him (Psalm 138.8; Mathew 5:48). In His Word, God says, "I can be trusted," and adds, "No good thing will [I] withhold." Do we believe Him? In Part Two, we will see more about trials. - Pat Higgins

The Rapture—I Can Only Imagine!

 The Rapture—I Can Only Imagine! - by Bill Perkins - https://compass.org/rapture-i-can-only-imagine/ There are all kind of rumors circulating regarding what's going on in the world. Who knows what's true and what's meant to make us fearful. Always remember that in times like this we know the Lord is in control. Nothing is happening that He isn't allowing to happen. Whether we're a few weeks from our exhilarating departure, or a long time, God has us here for His purposes. I believe He's given us special insight in the times. So we shouldboldly share what we know, while we can. The article is about Rapture, always a fun subject. Enjoy! The foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 1Cor. 1:25 I Can Only Imagine I love the lyrics of the song, I Can Only Imagine. Bart Milard wrote the lyrics when he was inspired by his dad’s death—wondering what it must be like meeting the Lord inheaven. The song strikes a chord with a lot of people, including me. I too wonder what it’ll be like the first time I’m surrounded in heaven by the glory of Jesus Christ, our Creator God. I do know, whether I transition at the Rapture or because my appointed time is completed on this earth, it’ll take just a nano-second to move from this life to the next. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, 1Cor. 15:52a So it will be instantaneous…here one moment, the next moment in heaven. Believers don’t die, we just change places. Something to look forward to. At the Rapture, I don’t think it’ll be like all those Rapture paintings showing people lazily floating up to heaven. I think it’ll be more like when Jesus moved the disciple’sboat to shore…in a nano-second. Then, when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near to the boat; and they were frightened. But He said to them, “It isI; do not be afraid.”So they were willing to receive Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going. John 6:19 Similar to salvation, once they received Jesus, they were immediately where they wanted to be. Or another example of God moving people instantaneously to another place was Philip when he was witnessing to the Ethiopian eunuch in Gaza. After baptizing the Ethiopian (Acts8:27) Philip was inexplicitly zoomed up the Mediterranean coast to Ashdod, some 25 miles away (as the crow flies). So God has a history of moving people around similar to "Beam me up, Scottie" on Star Track. Although at the Rapture we'll get a new change of clothes—which means my wifewill want to examine the color and thread count. Just kidding. Not really. But certainly possible! I digress... (I've been reading too much C&C!) But with the LOUD booming Rapture, we'll not only fly away to the heavens, we'll immediately be with the Lord. And we have some interesting reactions in scripture of peoplefirst seeing God. First Seeing God on the Earth Job could hardly talk when he found himself convicted of sin in the presence of the Lord. “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You; Therefore I retract, and I repent in dust and ashes.” Job 42:5-6 Peter felt the same conviction as Job: But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!” Luke 5:8 John the Apostle didn’t mince words about his feelings when he saw Jesus on the Isle of Patmos. When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. Rev. 1:17 First Seeing God in Heaven Isaiah seemed to be quite awed when he was taken up to the throne of God in heaven. He immediately realized he’d arrived in his sinful condition—his sin yet to be atoned. I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Is. 6:1b Then I said,“Woe is me, for I am ruined [“undone” or “brought to silence”]! Because I am a man of unclean lips [a sinner], and I live among a people of unclean lips; For myeyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.” Is. 6:5 Once Isaiah realizes he’s in the presence of the Lord, his impure human sin is all the more evident. Interestingly, it took a seraphim taking a coal from the altar and touchedhis lips before he could remain in the presence of God. I’m guessing our first time coming directly into God’s presence in heaven, regardless of what precipitates our arrival (Physical death or Rapture), will be a moment in oureternity that we’ll remember forever. The difference for Church Age Believers is that when we arrive, we’ll come fully vested. God will look at us but see no sin. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. Psa. 103:12 In our post-cross arrival, we’ll be able to talk. We know this because of the description of those Believers in heaven who were martyred in the Tribulation. And they cry out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” Rev. 7:10 I like that I can get excited and shout to the Lord! I can relate to that too. So I can imagine that at my sudden arrival at the pearly gates*, I’ll have a quite giddy twist-and-shoutmoment. No selfies needed. I'll remember that moment forever. What do you imagine? CQLJ! BP To head off some email— Yes, I know there are no pearly gatesin Heaven with Peter standing behind a podium. Calm down, it's just a figure of speech! But just as it is written, “THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVEHIM.” 1Cor. 2:9

The Perils of Preterism

 The Perils of Preterism – Jonathan Brentner - https://www.jonathanbrentner.com/https/jonathan-brentner-g8fgsquarespacecom/config Preterism is one of today’s popular views of the end times; its adherents among church staff continue to rapidly grow in number. Below is a list of itsbasic beliefs: 1.Nero was the Antichrist. There will be no future individual Antichrist. 2.The Tribulation Period is already over. It occurred when the Roman army besieged Jerusalem in AD 66-70. 3.Christ “returned” in the clouds in AD 70 to witness the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman army. 4.God replaced Old Testament Israel with the Church. Therefore, all the biblical promises to Israel belong to the Church.[i] 5.Armageddon already happened in AD 70. 6.Satan is already bound in the abyss and cannot hinder the spread of the Gospel. Revelation 20 has already been fulfilled. 7.We are already in the Millennium, but it is not literal. Some preterists equate the entire Church Age as the Millennium [as do other end time positions].[ii] Some preterists believe in a bodily resurrection of the saints as described in 1 Corinthians 15:47-54 and Philippians 3:20-21, which necessitates, in their view, another returnof the Savior. Many advocates of preterism don’t believe in a future bodily resurrection of the saints as described in these passages. The popularity of a doctrine that believes Jesus fulfilled His Matthew 24:29-31 promise in AD 70 is just an initial cause for alarm. Below I describe other reasons why wemust reject the teachings of preterism. It’s also because they . . . NULLIFY WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT JESUS’ FUTURE GLORY In Matthew 24:29-31, Jesus described His glorious return at which time everyone on earth will mourn as they see “the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power andgreat glory.” We see this magnificent display of dazzling supremacy recounted in Revelation 19:11-20:6. To assert that an obscure vision of chariots clashing in the sky, which only one person reportedly saw, fulfilled these prophecies of Jesus’ breathtakingly spectacular returnto earth, as the preterists do, makes no sense whatsoever. To say that that this happened in AD 70 has a chilling impact on the glory that Scripture ascribes to Jesus at His Second Coming Preterism also attacks Jesus’ glory by negating His future inheritance of the nations. Listen to what the Father promises the Son in Psalm 2:8-9: “Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage; and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’svessel.” It’s clear from the context that these are physical nations with real kings. The promise of Psalm 2 as well as that of Isaiah 9:6-7 relate to a time when Jesus will physicallygovern the nations. Denying Jesus’ thousand-year reign cancels His future glory associated with both His return and kingship. I believe that the most serious error of the preterists is that they do great damage to the Name of Jesus by placing His return to earth in AD 70. POUR COLD WATER ON OUR “BLESSED HOPE” It’s abundantly clear throughout the New Testament that God intended our future expectation to be solely upon Jesus and His appearing at which time believers will receiveglorified bodies (Philippians 3:20-21; 1 Corinthians 15:47-54), experience eternal victory over death (1 Corinthians 15:54-56; 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10, 4:13-5:11), and be caught up to forever be with the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). This is the substanceof our “blessed hope” (Titus 2:11-14). As New Testament saints, we have a glorious expectation rooted in the sure promise of Jesus’ appearing. Don’t let anyone pour ice-cold water on your joyous hope of meetingJesus in the air. This day is surely coming. CONTRADICT WHAT SCRIPTURE REVEALS ABOUT GOD’S CHARACTER I retired seven years ago to begin a fulltime studying and writing career devoted mainly to defending Jesus’ thousand-year reign and our expectation of His appearing beforethe seven-year Tribulation. I have recently come to the conclusion that if someone were to ask me why I’m so convinced of these things, I would begin my response this way: The future and glorious restoration of Israel seamlessly aligns with what Scripture reveals regarding God’s character. I also know Jesus, who perfectly mirrors the Father,and He will rescue His bride, the body of Christ, before His wrath encompasses the earth. It’s what I know from Scripture about the Lord that confirms my belief in these things. Of course, the words of Scripture solidly back up these beliefs and I would quickly go there in defending our “blessed hope.” As for the return of future glory to the nation of Israel, which preterists soundly deny, the Lord makes it clear that He must fulfill His covenants and promises because ofHis holiness. In Exodus 32:11-14, Moses bases His argument for God to preserve His people, after they worshipped the golden calf, upon His character and reputation. In Ezekiel 36:22-38, the Lord copies Moses’ argument from Exodus 32 stating that His holinessdemands the restoration of Israel as detailed in this wonderful passage. Teachings that place the fulfillment of most end-time biblical prophecies in the past also contradict what the Bible tells us about our God. Isaiah 46:8-11 tells us that Heloves to declare “the end from the beginning.” The vast number of prophecies relating to our day stem both from His great love for us and His shear delight at revealing the future from ancient times. The One who prophesied about His Son defeating Satan all the way back in the garden of Eden is definitely not Someone who would leave us with no signs of the end times orwithout a clue as to when Jesus might appear. REST UPON AN UNTENABLE VIEW OF CHURCH HISTORY Preterists maintain that John authored the book of Revelation in about AD 65. If the apostle penned it after AD 70 then preterism can’t possibly be true since John would bewriting about the future return of the Lord after it took place. It’s impossible, however, to maintain such an early date for the origin of the book. Writers in the early centuries of the church place John’s banishment to the Isle of Patmosand the writing of Revelation late in the reign of the Emperor Domitian, who ruled over Rome from AD 81-96. Irenaeus, who grew up in the church at Smyrna and later became a prominent leader and writer, stated that John wrote Revelation near the end of Domitian’srule. Irenaeus’ mentor in the faith, Polycarp, was not only a disciple of the Apostle John, but also most likely the one who would’ve read the book to the church at Smyrna. SurelyIrenaeus would’ve known the date of its writing. A question that preterists can’t answer is this: “Why did all the prominent leaders of the church during its first three centuries regard the Second Coming as a future event?Influential church fathers such as Papias (70-163), Irenaeus (130-202), Justyn Martyr (100-165), and Tertullian (155-240) all wrote regarding the future certainty of Jesus’ return to earth as well as His thousand-year reign over the nations. Until the timeof Augustine in the fifth century AD, the church believed in Jesus’ future one-thousand year reign with few exceptions. The testimony of church history makes preterism untenable. Besides the almost unanimous witness to the later date for the writing of Revelation, everyone in the early centuriesof the church regarded Jesus’ return as a future event. How is it possible that the entire church missed Jesus’ return if it had already happened? The idea that Jesus returned to earth in AD 70 didn’t even exist anywhere in the church until the seventeenth century when a disgruntled Jesuit Catholic priest, Luis de Alcazar,began teaching the past fulfillment of biblical prophecy associated with Jesus’ Second Coming.[iii] HURT THE SAINTS Preterism deprives New Testament saints of the blessedness of their “blessed hope.” It does so by turning the New Testament expectation of glory into one of certain death.During the past decade, I’ve heard several pastors say that all believers will die before Jesus returns even though the Bible says otherwise in I Corinthians 15:47-54 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. Do you see how this not only blinds the eyes of believers, but also hurts them by shifting their attention away from Jesus’ appearing? Preterists, as well as amillennialists, do considerable damage to the cause of Christ by ignoring myriad of signs pointing to Jesus’s soon arrival to take us home. They tellus that eschatological positions are “tertiary,” or of third-rate importance, and we must not talk about something so nonessential lest we upset someone. Apart from what the Bible reveals about the end times and our hope, how do we deal with the massive number of deadly fires, the floods, and wholesale murder of multitudes,as well as innocents? How do we cope with such great wickedness apart from the Bible’s assurance that God is in control and that He will justly judge the world after He takes us up to glory? It’s deeply troubling to anyone aware of the times in which we live. God’s Word relieves our fears in that it tells us the last days before the Tribulation would look likethis and promises us that Jesus will appear to take us home before the start of the Day of the Lord’s wrath. The end of the age wrap-up so prominent in both amillennialism and preterism beliefs keeps believers from hearing the biblically sound encouragement they so desperately needin today’s world. Such bland end-of-days scenario ignores the glories of Jesus’ Second Coming and His glorious rule over the nations. For us, it dampens our joyous expectation of His appearing as clearly annunciated in so many New Testament passages. Biblical prophecy, as well as the book of Revelation, magnifies the person of Jesus from beginning to end. The teachings of preterism assign a far less glorious place to Jesusin the scheme of end time events. This is the key reason to reject it. For New Testament saints drawn into this egregious error, it moves their hope away from Jesus’ appearing to the certainty of death leaving them to hope in things that willnever calm their fears or enable them to cope with the terrors ahead should Jesus not come for His Church in the very near future. My primary concern for writing The Triumph of the Redeemed-An eternal Perspective that Calms Our Fears in Perilous Times was to provide a solid foundation for placing ourhope in Jesus’ soon appearing. There are an abundance of reasons to reject teachings that discredit our hope the Rapture and allegorize the biblical basis for Jesus’ thousand-year rule over the nations. Pastors that have a heart for the people they serve will reject preterism and proclaim the joyous hope of Jesus’ imminent appearing! Note: Please consider signing up for my newsletter on the homepage of my website at https://www.jonathanbrentner.com/. Thanks! [i] Amillennialists also deny the thousand-year reign of Jesus and believe that the church has inherited the promises God made to the nation of Israel and its people. [ii] Ed Hindson, The New Last Day Scoffers, May 2005, at: https://www.according2prophecy.org/Preterism.html [iii] David Reagan, The Fallacy of Preterism, at: https://www.according2prophecy.org/Preterism.html

Multiplication or Division?

 Multiplication or Division? - Nathele Graham - twotug@embarqmail.com Deep down, most Christians want more people to come to a saving faith in Christ. Whether we think of a relative or a friend, our desire is that someone we love does not endup in Hell for eternity. Were you baptized as an infant? You didn’t make your own choice, nor did you repent from your sins. Let’s be clear, there is no purgatory. The individual choice has to be made before we leave this earth. No matter how sweet Aunt Clarais, or how kind and reliable Uncle Bill is, without faith in Jesus before death, they won’t go to a better place. Neither will you. Another truth to understand is that everyone lives forever…some to eternal life, while others join Satan and his minions inthe Lake of Fire that burns forever. Forever is a long time to live with poor decision. he Apostle Paul understood this. After he met Jesus, his life was spent sharing the Gospel. The only way anybody can accept Christ is for someone to share the truth withthem. “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” Romans 10:14. Today, I see a lot of people who think that bribery is the way to spread the Gospel. Missionary work today is not what it once was. There are groups who think the way to spreadthe Gospel is to do repair work on homes (provided the person has insurance) or to give Christmas gifts to children who have no idea who Christ is. Brothers and sisters, the Biblical way to bring someone to understand who Christ is and why they need salvationis to share the Gospel. I attended a church for many years that has forgotten who Christ is and it is under the leadership of a very seeker-friendly pastor who seldom preaches from the word of God. Pew-sitters will multiply, but true believers will be divided. God’s word must be understood from Genesis through Revelation. Each concept and each verse is important and must be applied to each person in the congregation. “All scriptureis given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17. It might be a feather in the cap of a preacher to have a full congregation to speak to every Sunday, but if those people aren’t hearing God’s truth, it profits nothing…excepta stuffed collection plate. I hear so many people yearning for revival, and so do I. The problem is, it seems that people want revival without Christ. This is a sign that we are in the end of days. Too many people have turned away from God’s truth found inScripture and cling to the man-made ideas of “church doctrine”. When the rules and regulations of the denomination you attend conflict with God’s word, obey God. There is much division among denominations, and that doesn’t honor God. Today outright sin isaccepted by many Christians, but if the Bible is seen as authority, the sinner would be shown God’s love, but the sin would be rejected. After Moses died, Joshua was the strong leader of the Israelites. The first thing he did was to lead the people back to God. He re-established the celebration of Passover,and brought the people back to a covenant relationship with God. This meant all the men had to be circumcised. Yes, it hurt, but unless they were right with God, they couldn’t expect God to bless them. Giving up a sin may hurt, but we can’t honor God if wepick and choose what rules we will follow. Years passed and Solomon desired to build a temple to honor God. Solomon’s father, King David, wanted to build it, but God didn’t allow him the privilege, so the honor fell to Solomon. God was pleased with what Solomonhad built. Then God told him “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways: then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles7:14. Today we just want God to bless us because we want Him to. We take no responsibility for our actions as we dabble in sin and accept false teachers into the pulpits. God wantsChristians to multiply, but we must follow His ways, or we will be divided. Time passed and the people forgot to honor God. Israel divided into two kingdoms, and the Northern Kingdom was destroyed because of the evil leadership and pagan worshipwhich they embraced. The Southern Kingdom fared much better, for a while. They didn’t fully follow God’s Law like they were supposed to. It’s never wise to pick and choose which part of God’s word you want to obey, or twist Scripture to condone your sin. Thebeautiful temple which Solomon built was destroyed and the people were taken captive to Babylon. Years later, the time had come for the temple to be rebuilt, but there was much turmoil. Read Ezra and Nehemiah to understand what all went on, but once the templewas rebuilt, it was time for revival. “And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate; and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded to Israel.” Nehemiah 8:1 The first thing that must be done in order to bring revival and be in a right relationship with God is to understand God’s word. “And Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit ofwood, which they had made for the purpose; and beside him stood Mattithia, and Shema, and Anaiah, and Urijah, and Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, on his right hand; and on his left hand, Pedaiah, and Mishael, and Malchiah, and Hashum, and Hashbadana, and Zechariah,and Meshullam.” Nehemiah 8:4. Revival cannot happen unless God is honored. “And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the LORD with their facesto the ground.” Nehemiah 8:6. Does your pastor honor God’s word? Does he preach a sermon centered upon Scripture, or is it centered upon books written by men? I’ve listened to too many sermons that arecentered around a purpose driven idea, or quotes by atheists and rock stars. These sermons aren’t designed to edify anybody or confront sin, but to assure that everyone is happy. Never mind that the word of God is compromised. The congregation may multiply,but those who come to faith and honor God are few. In fact, such sermons actually deny Christ. “But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 10:33. It’s very serious to deny Christ in order to tickleears. Jesus was born at a time when there was much turmoil and tension in the world. The Jewish people were allowed to practice their faith, but the Romans ruled over them. Jesuscame to fulfill the Law, not to demolish it. God’s morality still applies to us today. When Jesus walked in Jerusalem, it was a serious offense to follow Christ. The temple was the center of Jewish life, but anyone accused of following Christ was expelledfrom the temple and the protection it offered. If you followed Christ, your family would disown you. Jesus wasn’t unaware of this problem, but was more concerned with saving souls than with multiplying followers who would be persuaded to follow each new craze. “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter againsther mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law, and a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And hethat taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.” Matthew 10:34-38. That’s not very seeker friendly, but it is the truth. Will it cause division? Yes, but it will also bring salvation. If you only want to please people, you may have many followersand be a megachurch, but unless you follow Christ you gain nothing. Christ brings division between those who follow Him and those who follow the world. One of the most non-seeker friendly sermons ever preached was spoken by Simon Peter. The disciples, now Apostles, were gathered together. They must have been unsure of whatto do after Jesus had died, and their hopes had been dampened. They didn’t know that they would be the ones to bring revival into the world. “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.” Acts 2:1. They were of “one accord” in “once place”. There was no division in them. They were all together, with the exception of Judas who had turned against Jesus and ultimatelycommitted suicide. Judas would have always caused division. Peter was there. Peter had denied Christ three times, but repented and was restored by Jesus. He would be used in a big way. The Apostles weren’t divided; they knew what Jesus had taught them anddidn’t deviate from His truth. That’s when the fire of the Holy Spirit came upon them and they were never the same. Peter turned his boldness towards spreading the Gospel. “The were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, asthe Spirit gave them utterance.” Acts 2:4. People who heard thought they were drunk. Peter had been told by Jesus to feed the sheep, and feed them he did. He used Jewish Scripture found in Joel 2:28-32 to explain thatprophecy was being fulfilled that day; prophecy is a very important study. Peter’s main focus of this Holy Spirit inspired sermon was Jesus. Peter convicted the crowd of their sins, but he also spoke of the miracles and sacrificial love of Jesus. “Him, beingdelivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.” Acts 2:23-24. Many of these same people who were listening to Peter had been in the crowd at Jesus’ trial. They were shouting “Crucify Him”! Peter didn’t sugar coat their sin. Did thesepeople get in a snit and stomp away? No, they didn’t, “Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?” Acts 2:37. They were to repent and be baptized. They couldn’t remain in their sin; they had to turn away from it. The baptism was an outward sign of an inward change. “Then they thatgladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.” Acts 2:41. Christians were multiplying, not dividing. Today we have many divisions among the various denominations, and many of the doctrines aren’t found in Scripture. Some denominations say that musical instruments cannotbe played in worship services, and others believe you have to speak in tongues. Jesus said to “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” John 5:39. When the Apostle Paul took the Gospel to the people of Berea, he found that “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readinessof mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” Acts 17:11. If your pastor doesn’t teach from Scripture, he is in error. That shouldn’t stop you from studying God’s word. Brothers and sisters, be like the Bereans. Paul also encouragedthe young pastor Timothy to study Scripture. Remember, the Scriptures were Old Testament writings, so don’t neglect any of Scripture. “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2Timothy 2:15. You need to study to be sure you’re being taught properly. My husband first came to know Christ in a church that had many false teachings. I encouraged Ron to compare whatwas being taught from the pulpit to what God said in Scripture. Ron was very discerning and soon came to realize how wrong that church was. Ron never lost his love for God’s word, and did his best to live for Christ. If your pastor is trying to multiply pew-sitters by preaching seeker- friendly or New Age heresy rather than rightly dividing God’s word of truth, then you need to rebukehim, or find a Christ centered, Bible believing congregation to worship God. God bless you all, Nathele Graham

Reshape The Global Economy

 In-Depth: Blackrock Sits At The Apex Of The Deep State, Holding Unfathomable Power To Reshape The Global Economy – By Alex Newman - https://harbingersdaily.com/in-depth-blackrock-sits-at-the-apex-of-the-deep-state-holding-unfathomable-power-to-reshape-the-global-economy/ Despite what you may have heard, it is about much more than “money.” It always has been. The recent cultural transformation of corporate America — think Bud Light, Target, and Disney as some of the more recent examples — has shocked traditional Americans to thecore. Suddenly, it seems that every major company in the nation has gone “woke,” promoting everything from man-made global-warming alarmism and “transgender” mutilation of children’s genitals to godless globalism and vicious race-mongering. It is all happeningunder the guise of improving “Environmental, Social, Governance” (ESG) scores and “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” (DEI) metrics. Customers hate it, of course, as many companies facing boycotts and steep financial penalties have learned the hard way. So do shareholders, managers, and employees. Yet,despite being a money loser and despite the endless “Go Woke, Go Broke” chorus chanted by conservatives, more and more companies and brands are jumping on the “woke” bandwagon, apparently oblivious to the catastrophic damage they are doing to their brands.But there is more to the story; a simple explanation to the madness is lurking just beneath the surface. Behind the scenes, quietly, there is a vast power responsible for pushing all this “woke” corporate fanaticism. It has a name: BlackRock. The world’s largest asset manager,the corporate giant has an estimated $10 trillion under management. For perspective, that is more than the gross domestic product (GDP) of every country on the planet except the United States and Communist China. When the overlord of it all orders lesser mortalsrunning Fortune 500 companies to jump in his annual “letter to CEOs,” business leaders around the world stand at attention and ask, “How high, sir?” Journalist Matt Taibbi famously referred to Goldman Sachs in a 2010 Rolling Stone article as a “great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jammingits blood funnel into anything that smells like money.” But as the largest stakeholder in the great vampire squid from hell, BlackRock, while less well known than its diabolical cephalopod minion, is now orders of magnitude more important in both businessand politics. It is the Grand Poohbah of all the vampire squids, to borrow Taibbi’s language. The power of this corporate leviathan is unfathomable. It owns more than five percent of most S&P 500 companies, according to CNBC. And its tentacles extend to every cornerof the global economy. In fact, along with State Street and Vanguard, BlackRock is among the largest stakeholders in most of the major companies you can name. It frequently is the largest stakeholder in companies that compete against each other, too. In a three-part exposé of the financial monolith, independent journalist James Corbett of the Corbett Report begins with a thought experiment. In his scenario, you start byshopping at Walmart, where BlackRock is one of the top stakeholders. Then you buy some Coke, another company in which BlackRock dominates. Then you get your Moderna shot — again BlackRock is there with about a seven-percent stake. Next you fill up at Exxon,and again, BlackRock is there. Finally, frustrated, you decide to lock yourself in your house and do your shopping on Amazon, and again, BlackRock owns one of the largest stakes. Once it buys these huge positions, BlackRock makes clear that the firm will go woke. Worst of all, perhaps, this evil imposed on companies is being advanced with your money.Despite the protests of investors, political leaders, and even institutions with massive amounts of money invested with BlackRock, the firm dutifully votes the shares that its clients technically own to promote the “woke” agenda. Indeed, the threat to boardmembers who resist that they will be ousted from their lucrative posts looms large over corporate board meetings everywhere. BlackRock Chairman and CEO Larry Fink has bragged repeatedly about what he is doing with your money. “Behaviors are going to have to change, and this is one thing that weare asking companies,” Fink declared during a 2017 discussion hosted by The New York Times. “You have to force behaviors, and at BlackRock, we are forcing behaviors.” It is true; BlackRock is, in fact, forcing behaviors on companies, as well as on the peoplewho work in those companies and even consumers. But the almost $10 trillion it manages for clients like you (via your retirement funds) and your local and state governments is only part of the picture. While State Streetand Vanguard are major players in investment management, both of those corporate giants, among many others, now rely on BlackRock’s Artificial Intelligence platform known as Aladdin (Asset, Liability, Debt and Derivative Investment Network). The system nowdominates the global economy, with lesser vampire squids everywhere taking their cues from the Dracula of cephalopods. Cronies ‘R’ Us: Fink & BlackRock’s Political Influence Aside from his company’s unimaginable economic power, the man who created and continues to lead BlackRock, self-proclaimed globalist Fink, is also one of the most powerfulglobal corporatists in the public eye in his own right. Among other roles, he sits on the board of trustees of Klaus Schwab’s World Economic Forum (WEF), the organization bringing together leaders of government and business to advance the “Great Reset.” Inaddition to being a top champion of ESG, the Switzerland-based WEF is also a “strategic partner” of the United Nations in radically transforming the world through the 17 “Sustainable Development Goals” known as UN Agenda 2030. Fink also sits on the board of the globalist Council on Foreign Relations, which basically serves as Deep State headquarters in the United States. Then-Secretary of StateHillary Clinton admitted that the CFR tells globalists like her “what we should be doing and how we should think about the future.” Former Vice President Dick Cheney, a Republican, boasted of his longtime association with the group, though he admitted thathe never told his constituents in Wyoming. Joe Biden once joked on stage that CFR President Richard Haass was his boss. And U.S. Navy Admiral Chester Ward, who spent 16 years as a CFR member before defecting, said the group and its members were dedicated tothe destruction of American sovereignty and the creation of a one-world government. Aside from the CFR, Fink is also a member of the even more exclusive elitist group known as the Trilateral Commission. The outfit was founded by the late billionaire DavidRockefeller, who boasted in his autobiography Memoirs of “conspiring” with a “secret cabal” of “internationalists,” working “against the best interests” of America, to form a global political and economic order. The organization has been dedicated since itsinception to advancing what it calls a “New International Economic Order” that is, in essence, warmed-over technocracy, a sort of fascistic and socialistic utopia in which technocrats and engineers run society and your life, supposedly in the name of efficiencyand sustainability. All of these organizations play a crucial role in the global transformation toward planet-wide, liberty-destroying technocratic governance. In other words, Fink sits at theapex of the Deep State. And he is using the unfathomable power of $10 trillion under management to completely reshape every business and the global economy. It is not just money and secretive organizations, though. In fact, Fink’s ties to government are so pervasive that it’s difficult to tell where the Biden administration endsand BlackRock begins. This has been acknowledged even by establishment voices. Bloomberg, the propaganda megaphone of autocratic billionaire Michael Bloomberg, famously referred to BlackRock as the “fourth branch of government.” And that is no hyperbole. Fink, a longtime Democrat, told Biden, “I’m here to help” in the 2020 election, according to establishment mouthpiece The Atlantic. And the relationship has only grown sincethen. BlackRock has also become a major power player in political contributions, handing out huge sums through its employees, its officers, and its own PAC, and setting a new record for spending in the 2022 midterm elections. Moreover, there is a seeminglynever-ending list of individuals in the “revolving door” who move effortlessly from BlackRock to senior government posts and vice versa. For instance, Brian Deese, then global head of sustainable investing at BlackRock, was chosen by Biden to lead his powerful National Economic Council. Before going to BlackRock,Deese served as senior advisor to Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Former BlackRock global chief investment strategist and former Obama official Michael Pyle, meanwhile, was selected as chief economic advisor to Kamala Harris. Another top Biden administrationpick, Deputy Treasury Secretary Adewale Adeyemo of Nigeria, previously served as chief of staff for Fink. The revolving door also sees many former government insiders serving in BlackRock. CFR member Thomas Donilon (CFR), chairman of BlackRock Investment Institute, previouslyserved as national security advisor to Obama. His brother, Mike, is known as the “Biden whisperer” and was chief strategist to Biden’s campaign. Former SEC bigwig Dalia Osman Blass now serves as BlackRock chief of external affairs. When it seemed almost certainthat Hillary Clinton would become president, Fink named former Clinton Chief of Staff Cheryl Mills to the BlackRock board. In short, BlackRock operatives are running the very government that, in theory at least, would be in charge of protecting the public from a weaponized, hostile force likeBlackRock being used to hijack the government and loot the public. The vampire fox is guarding the henhouse. Across Europe as well, Fink and BlackRock have been buying up politicians like baseball cards. The list is nearly endless. Analyst William Engdahl pointed out that among thosehelping BlackRock secure “lucrative contracts” with their former associates was former German Parliamentary bigwig Friederich Merz of then-Chancellor Angela Merkel’s “Christian” Democratic Party, who was widely reported to be Merkel’s possible successor. Hewas appointed chief of BlackRock Germany. Former British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, meanwhile, was hired as a “political consultant” for BlackRock. Fink has also been scooping up leading central bankers, helping BlackRock win huge contracts with some of the most powerful institutions in the world. Former Swiss NationalBank President Philipp Hildebrand, for instance, was hired as vice chairman of BlackRock. Former Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada Jean Boivin was appointed as “global head of research” at the BlackRock Investment Institute. And Stanley Fisher, who servedas vice chairman of the Federal Reserve and head of the Bank of Israel, was appointed “senior advisor” to BlackRock. Former Fed senior regulatory official Coryann Stefansson joined BlackRock’s Financial Markets Advisory unit in 2016. This is just the tip ofthe iceberg. ESG Mania To hear Fink and his fellow globalists tell it, sustainability and “sustainable development” are the overarching goals — the ideology underpinning the ongoing transformationof political and economic systems around the world. The UN’s Agenda 21 scheme for sustainable development in the 21st century, long exposed in these pages, is being broken up into more manageable units, too. The current one is known as the UN Agenda 2030 “SustainableDevelopment Goals” (SDGs). This Agenda 2030, embraced by every national government on Earth including the Obama administration, includes 17 goals and 169 targets that impact every area of life, fromhealthcare and education to law and agriculture. Then-UN General Assembly chief Peter Thomson called it the “master plan for humanity,” while then-UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called it the global “declaration of interdependence” approved by the “Parliamentof Humanity.” Governments have virtually all jumped on board, with the Chinese Communist Party boasting it played a “crucial role” in developing the global roadmap to technocratic totalitarianism.On the religious front, the Vatican and religious leaders around the world have joined forces to commit their followers to global development based on the SDGs. On the business side, the World Economic Forum, where Fink serves on the board of trustees, is working with the UN through a “strategic partnership” to bring businesses worldwideinto the global system. Fink is leading that charge by imposing ESG standards on companies. (For a much more in-depth treatment of ESG, read William F. Jasper’s cover story in our April 24 issue, “Biden’s ESG Agenda.”) Touting “stakeholder capitalism,” a concept popularized by Klaus Schwab and the World Economic Forum with roots in fascism and technocracy, Fink made clear that BlackRockwould be allocating capital based not merely on profitability, but also on new politicized goals decided by the planet’s would-be overlords. “As stewards of our clients’ capital, we ask businesses to demonstrate how they’re going to deliver on their responsibilityto shareholders, including through sound environmental, social, and governance practices and policies,” he explained in last year’s letter to CEOs. While painting the transition as inevitable and writing as if he were merely a passive observer of these trends, Fink makes clear that companies refusing to get on the sustainablebandwagon will have investment and credit dry up. “Sustainable investments have now reached $4 trillion. Actions and ambitions towards decarbonization have also increased,” Fink wrote in his widely followed annual letter. “This is just the beginning — thetectonic shift towards sustainable investing is still accelerating.” One of the big goals is “net zero,” which essentially means reducing net human emissions of gases such as carbon dioxide and methane to zero. Aside from the obvious fact thatthis is impossible short of exterminating the population of the planet (people exhale CO2 and every human and animal activity releases some), the implications of this are extraordinary. In his letter to CEOs last year, Fink made clear that resistance to the global predatory class’s agenda is futile. “Every company and every industry will be transformed bythe transition to a net zero world,” he warned. “The question is, will you lead, or will you be led?” These are not idle threats. In 2021, when Exxon’s leadership decided to pursue its own path on dealing with alleged man-made “climate change” rather than obey the dictatesof corporate-funded enviro-activists, BlackRock weaponized your money to force the energy behemoth to heel. In fact, by voting the shares it manages for its clients, BlackRock’s bosses added three new climate activists to the board of directors. Perhaps even more alarming, BlackRock’s machinations forced Exxon to slash oil production, conveniently allowing the CCP-controlled PetroChina — one of BlackRock’s big investors — to grab the American energy giant’s oil fields. “Markets don’t like uncertainty, markets like totalitarian governments where you have an understanding of what’s out there,” claimed Fink. “Democracies are very messy, as we know in the United States.” A major irony of the whole push for ESG and net zero is the 8,000-ton shrieking dragon in the room: Communist China. Fink and companies in which BlackRock holds a dominantstake have been funneling American capital into CCP-controlled entities in massive quantities, including into CCP military “companies” developing AI and other war-fighting technologies that will be decisive in any future conflict between the United Statesand China. While Fink and his fellow travelers claim to be ever-so-concerned about “climate,” the “environment,” and “human rights,” they don’t blink when funneling U.S. investment intothe hands of the most murderous and environmentally destructive group of gangsters to ever walk the planet. This obvious threat to U.S. national security is completely ignored by Fink’s buddies in the government. Of course, BlackRock is not alone in this. Its largest competitors have also jumped on board the ESG net-zero bandwagon, joining forces with the UN and other asset managersin a quasi-conspiracy to manipulate the market and destroy all competitors who will not bow down. While questions have been raised by leading law-enforcement officials surrounding possible legal violations involving failure to fulfill fiduciary responsibilitiesand anti-competitive collusion, so far the conspirators are moving ahead rapidly with very little external interference or even public scrutiny. If left unchecked, BlackRock and its fellow travelers will ultimately bankrupt all businesses and industries that do not meet the demands of the nightmarish “New World Order,” as the emerging global economic and political system has been described by its architects. Through its ability to manipulate markets and by starving companies and whole sectors of the economy of investment and credit, the prospect is very real. That was likelythe goal all along. Milking Taxpayers Fink’s rise to prominence has been intimately intertwined with Big Finance and Big Government. According to the Financial Times, Fink was one of the key economic players behindthe scenes in the Obama administration. During a battle over the debt ceiling in 2012, Obama Treasury Secretary Timothy “Turbo Tax” Geithner consulted Fink more than anyone else. “Mr Geithner’s chats with Mr Fink were among at least 49 conversations the two men had over the past 18 months, making Mr Fink the Treasury secretary’s most frequent corporateinterlocutor and an emblem of BlackRock’s growing influence in global financial affairs,” the Times reported in a 2012 piece that also mentioned BlackRock’s ties to various European governments. In addition to governments, Fink and BlackRock enjoy a very cozy relationship with the usurious banking cartel masquerading as a federal agency known as the Federal Reserve,as well as other leading central banks. In fact, BlackRock was a key partner of the Federal Reserve in the 2007-2008 economic crisis. “It helped the Fed value, manage and sell the collection of toxic securities known as Maiden Lane accumulated at the heightof the financial crisis through the government’s rescue of AIG,” the Times continued in its 2012 article about BlackRock’s political influence. Fink and BlackRock actually began under the roof of Blackstone in the late 1980s alongside a number of other co-founders. But within a short time, the firm was doing welland was spun off to become its own independent entity. Through a series of acquisitions and behind-the-scenes Deep State assistance, the company grew throughout the 1990s and 2000s into the multi-trillion-dollar beast it is today. Especially lucrative was the 2007-2008 financial meltdown that Fink helped engineer, according to critics and analysts. The reason so many pin the blame on Fink was his crucialrole in creating the whole mortgage-backed security bonanza that, thanks to Federal Reserve policies, produced the subprime meltdown that ended up taking down multiple major banks. The crisis was an unbelievably prosperous time for BlackRock, as governmentsand central bankers called upon it to “help.” BlackRock even oversaw the Fed programs dealing with Bear Stearns and AIG assets during the crisis. Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) became a major business for BlackRock, as investors handed over their money to the company to manage as part of various ETFs — and to misrepresentthose investors by voting their shares in a way that advances the nebulous “ESG” goals determined by the global predator class Fink represents. BlackRock dominates the ETF industry today, controlling almost 40 percent of the market, more than the next twobiggest competitors — Vanguard and State Street — combined. Its “iShares” ETFs, originally acquired from Barclays, now contains over $2 trillion in assets. BlackRock also played a key role in managing the 2020 pandemic “bailout” extravaganza. In fact, in March, the leviathan was enlisted through a variety of no-bid contractsby the Federal Reserve to manage a number of key programs. These included the extremely costly Fed bond-buying scheme and its commercial mortgage-backed security operation, as well as its credit ETF program. Among other schemes, BlackRock plowed huge amountsof Fed fiat currency into its own corporate bonds and stock ETFs. In short, the Fed was creating currency and stealing your savings while letting BlackRock handle the distribution of that loot to megabanks and other cronies — all while enrichingitself and its friends, and all with strings attached, naturally. Talk about a conflict of interest! This is just one of the tools that BlackRock and its allies in government and central banking have weaponized to force ever more aggressive visions of “wokeness” on American businesses and consumers. One of the most significant transformations of the global economy engineered by BlackRock involved something called “Going Direct.” Masterfully explained by Corbett in hisseries, this proposal by BlackRock in August of 2019 called for allowing central banks to inject newly created fiat money directly into the economy, not just through bond purchases and interest rate manipulation, by “Going Direct.” The scheme was adopted andimplemented not long after being proposed. In its 2019 paper, BlackRock’s former central bankers sketched out a new vision for a drastically expanded role for central banks in planning the economy and bypassing electedofficials traditionally charged with overseeing fiscal policy (taxing and spending). “An unprecedented response is needed when monetary policy is exhausted and fiscal policy alone is not enough,” argued BlackRock. “That response will likely involve ‘goingdirect’: Going direct means the central bank finding ways to get central bank money directly in the hands of public and private sector spenders.” Corbett explained the significance of this. “What we were told was a ‘pandemic’ was in fact, on the financial level, just an excuse for an absolutely unprecedented pumpingof trillions of dollars from the Fed directly into the economy,” he explained in part two of his series on BlackRock, noting that the firm itself helped oversee and profited from this revolutionary transformation. “It’s sufficient to understand what the centralbankers got out of the Going Direct Reset: the ability to take over fiscal policy and to begin engineering the economy of Main Street in a more … well, direct way.” Through its “Going Direct” revolution, in partnership with governments and central banks, BlackRock “had truly conquered the planet,” Corbett continued. “It was now dictatingcentral bank interventions and then acting in every conceivable role and in direct violation of conflict-of-interest rules, acting as consultant and advisor, as manager, as buyer, as seller and as investor with both the Fed and the very banks, corporations,pension funds and other entities it was bailing out.” Ultimately, BlackRock is on pace to become master of the universe, Corbett explained. “The transition of BlackRock from a mere investment firm into a financial, politicaland technological colossus that has the power to direct the course of human civilization is almost complete,” he concluded. Aladdin But wait — there’s more! BlackRock’s proprietary AI system known as Aladdin now oversees tens of trillions of dollars’ worth of investments beyond those managed by BlackRockitself. Nobody knows the true number, because BlackRock decided to stop making it public after the number ballooned to over $21 trillion. Ironically, even the firm’s biggest competitors, Vanguard and State Street, rely on Aladdin, as do many of the Big Techcompanies and countless institutional investors whose funds are being weaponized by BlackRock to impose the company’s technocratic vision on the economy. On its website, BlackRock offers a rosy view of it all. “Everything we do is guided by the conviction that investors need this clarity at every point in the investment processin order to make more informed decisions, scale efficiently and achieve better investment outcomes,” the firm says. “In pursuit of this goal, we are relentlessly innovating and constantly evolving Aladdin technology. More than investment software, Aladdintechnology brings clarity and connectivity to the world’s financial ecosystem.” It sounds so innocent — so helpful, even. And yet there is much more to the story. According to a 2020 piece in the Financial Times, half of the top 10 insurers by assets rely on BlackRock’s Aladdin system. The world’s largest pension fund, the Japanesegovernment’s with some $1.5 trillion, also does. The three largest publicly traded companies in the United States rely on the system to “steward” their hundreds of billions in corporate treasury investments as well. It is becoming increasingly difficult forany firm in the industry to remain competitive without the system, insiders say. In short, this AI-powered beast is rapidly coming to dominate the global investment landscape. Governments, investors, and banks around the world rely on Aladdin for everything from deciding where to allocate bailout funds to deciding where to invest capital. In fact,by some estimates, almost three out of four trades on the U.S. stock exchange are made by Aladdin or some derivative of its systems. Countless fund managers have been sidelined within BlackRock and beyond as Aladdin advances. Real estate may be the next frontier,as Aladdin-fueled megabanks and managers buy up even single-family homes. Because the system is proprietary, outsiders have no way of fully grasping or understanding all that goes on “under the hood.” The company portrays it as merely a “risk management” tool, which has been BlackRock’s specialty since the company’s genesis in the late 1980s. But in reality, there is much more going on than just calculating risk on the various investments such as stocks that are held by BlackRock’s clients and customers. Theamount of data being gobbled up by the system is simply incomprehensible. In a way, Aladdin is a microcosm of the future that Fink and his World Economic Forum comrades want for humanity. Decisions on everything — not just asset allocation and stockpicks — will be removed from the hands of mere mortals. Instead, those decisions will be made by machines and the complex algorithms that power them. Like BlackRock’s decisions, AI will decide based on not what is best for a particular individual, but whatis best for those at the top — those who determine what the algorithms do and how they make decisions. Today, BlackRock uses its position in the market to force every company — even private ones, since they have to do business with public firms — to adopt “woke” policies tokeep their ESG scores up. In the past, humans would have made decisions of where to allocate capital based on profitability and risk. Today, capital is allocated based on how well companies and managers comply with woke dictates such as peddling LGBTQ fanaticismand global-warming alarmism. In the not-too-distant future, similar processes will be put in place for AI-powered systems designed by technocrats to make even more decisions for you — at least if BlackRock and friends are not stopped. Fighting Back Even as BlackRock and the forces connected to it continue the long march through America’s corporate institutions, critics are marshalling their forces for war. There wasa time when liberals and leftists would have been fighting against the unchecked power of a rogue corporation. (Occupy Wall Street, anyone?) To the extent that corporate-funded leftists are protesting BlackRock at all, it is to express displeasure with thefirm for not doing enough to end capitalism and self-government. But opposition among conservatives is growing, and Republican-led states are working aggressively to rein in BlackRock’s abuses. Just over the last year, GOP-led states havepulled almost $5 billion from BlackRock. In late 2022, Florida announced that it was pulling billions of dollars from BlackRock over its “woke” ESG schemes. “Using Florida’s cash to fund BlackRock’s social-engineering project isn’t something we signed up for,” said Florida CFO Jimmy Patronis. “It’s got nothing to do with maximizing returns and is the opposite of what an asset manager is paid to do. We’re divesting from BlackRock.” West Virginia State Treasurer Riley Moore actually started a coalition of close to 20 state treasurers dedicated to protecting their constituents from BlackRock. In a seriesof interviews with The New American, Moore warned that BlackRock and other financial predators were seeking to undermine the industries that his state — and the U.S. economy — depend on. Meanwhile, BlackRock seems to have no problem with those industries inChina when they are controlled by ruthless mass-murderers. “Our own money is being weaponized against us,” Moore said before putting BlackRock on the blacklist of companies not allowed to do business with the state. Numerous state attorneys general involved in a coalition who spoke with this writer said they were investigating BlackRock’s schemes, too. Among other concerns, the top lawmenfor their states suggested the company may not be fulfilling its fiduciary obligations. Instead of focusing merely on returns, BlackRock is focused on all sorts of other goals, many of them political. There may be numerous other legal violations such as anti-trustas well, the state AGs said, vowing to hold the firm accountable. In an August letter to Fink, a coalition of state AGs warned in clear terms that his company’s machinations may be illegal — not to mention immoral. “Our states will not idlystand for our pensioners’ retirements to be sacrificed for BlackRock’s climate agenda,” they said, pointing to several potential legal violations involving the firm’s ESG investing and blasting its adherence to the UN’s “Sustainable Development Goals.” Awareness is gradually growing, too. Last year, then-Fox News host Tucker Carlson, by far the most popular cable news personality, exposed Fink and BlackRock to his millionsof viewers. As the head of the largest asset manager in the world, Fink has “unparalleled control over the U.S. economy and of the companies that comprise it,” Carlson warned his viewers before introducing anti-ESG investment manager Vivek Ramaswamy. “That’sa pretty significant fact given that Larry Fink has a political agenda that’s at least as aggressive as his investment strategies.” Ramaswamy, who runs his own fund and is now seeking the GOP nomination for president, slammed Fink and his schemes. “He is what I call the king of the woke industrial complex … and what they do is they cause companies to bend the knee to woke orthodoxy,” the investor said, blasting Fink as “the puppet master behind the scenes of corporate America” who weaponizes your money against you. “BlackRock says that we won’t invest in yourcompany unless you abide by these progressive standards, or we’ll dock the pay of a CEO or fire a CEO who refuses to bend the knee to woke orthodoxy.” The financial guru also brought up George Soros, suggesting Fink was worse and far more dangerous. “Say what you will about George Soros, at least it’s his money,” Ramaswamycontinued. “In this case, it is money that belongs to you, to everyday Americans in this country whose blood would boil if they actually knew the way their own money was being used to force a progressive social orthodoxy back onto them.” Ramaswamy is one of many working to provide alternatives to investors who do not want their money being wasted or worse in pursuit of nebulous “ESG” scams designed to reshapethe planet. The Timothy Plan offers multiple funds to help Christian investors put their money to work based on biblical principles, refusing to invest in anti-Christian companies supporting abortion and other evils. There is also an American ConservativeValues Fund (ACVF) and even a MAGA fund. BlackRock, which did not respond to a request for an interview, became the evil giant that it is through its symbiotic relationship with the U.S. government and central banks.As such, reining it in will simply require that Congress and state governments stop bleeding their constituents dry to feed this monster’s unquenchable appetite for money, power, and control. Consumers and investors can help accelerate this by refusing toallow any of their money, including retirement accounts, to be placed under BlackRock’s management. Now is the time, before BlackRock and friends destroy or devour everyone and everything standing in their way.