Be A Watchman

Are You Believer Enough To Be Persecuted?

2009-10-26T10:10:00.000-07:00

I ask myself that question? Do I stand out enough from the world for the world to persecute me for who I am – a follower of Messiah Yeshua? If someone were to look at how I spend my days, how I live my life would they see me any different than everyone else around me?

I read a passage by someone who was into Satanism and the occult recently. They related that they all looked at Christians strangely because they keep the same pagan holidays, celebrate the pagan sun god day (Sunday), live their lives the same exact way the Satanists do with one exception, they’ve said a little prayer. Is that difference enough to change their eternal destination?

The Word of Yehoveh tells us that there will be a great deception put upon the congregation in the last days. Those last days, the days of the gentiles, have been the last 2000 years since Yeshua was crucified. That great deception is growing darker by the day. That deception is that the Torah is no longer valid for us, that since Yeshua died He took that so-called burden away from us and that to keep it makes us “legalistic”. That deception is that all someone has to do these days to get into heaven is “say a little prayer and believe in Jesus”.

Well congregation of believers that is false teaching. Yeshua Himself taught right in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:17, 18 “Don’t think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete. Yes indeed! I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a yud or a stroke will pass from the Torah – not until everything that must happen has happened.” And in Romans 3:31 we read “Does it follow that we abolish Torah by this trusting? Heaven forbid! On the contrary, we confirm Torah.”

Torah is what shows the world how we are set-apart for Yehoveh. How we are different. How we are NOT like the world. That we keep the Sabbath Holy for Him, that we don’t celebrate pagan holidays and how we eat and drink differently. If we do everything the same way that unbelievers do then why in the world would Messiah have died for us? What are we doing that is so different?

Legalism is a word that came to the church early on when they wanted to distance themselves from the Jews. Keeping Torah is not legalistic. It wasn’t legalistic for the Israelites. What became legalistic were the hundreds of extra laws that the Pharisees added to the Torah. These were not set down by Yehoveh and they became a heavy burden to the people. Keeping the Torah is being obedient to our Creator who gave them to us as a gift to separate us from the rest of the world. When we throw them out then we throw out any chance of being different.

The pagan holidays all have their roots in Satanism. Satan is the father of them all. He is the master deceiver and the father of lies. He has convinced the world that evil is good and that good is evil and the church has gone right along with him.

In Joshua chapter 24 Joshua asks the people whom they will serve. The gods of the world or Almighty Yehoveh who brought them out of captivity and gave them their own land. We have that same choice put before us. Will we continue to serve the gods of this world or will we choose Yehoveh? As for me and my house, we will choose to serve Yehoveh. No matter what!

So to get back to my original question, am I enough of a follower of Messiah to invite persecution? That is a question every believer should ask themselves? If I keep the same holidays, go to church on the sun day, don’t keep Torah, don’t even know what a feast day is, etc. there is no reason for anyone to persecute me because I am the same as they are.

Here is a test. Tell someone that you have decided to keep Torah and to stop celebrating the pagan holiday of christmas (not capitalized on purpose) and see what the response is. If you find that they look at your strangely and tell you that you are crazy or worse then you’ll know that you are on the right path. It won’t be easy and that in itself is a sign that you are doing the right thing.

He is coming back soon. The signs are all around us. He will be looking for His set-apart people, His sheep. Are you different than the world? Different enough to be persecuted like He was?

Why Do Believers Celebrate Pagan Holidays?

2009-10-23T07:30:00.000-07:00

Our family used to say that Halloween was our favorite holiday. We worked for a month to decorate our yard with homemade tombstones and even a homemade coffin. We had spooky sounds, lights, skulls and blood everywhere. We won the neighborhood award for the best decorations. People would come from other neighborhoods to see our yard every night. We dressed up and gave out loads of candy.

Then something happened. We accepted Yeshua/Jesus as our Savior and over some time He convicted us that we should not have anything to do with Halloween any more.

Halloween, all hallows eve, ghosts, goblins, witches, werewolves, blood, skulls, skeletons, death, evil, fear and more. Just looking at these things in the light of Yeshua Messiah’s Holy Light, and comparing these things to Him, made us realize that there is nothing in this so called celebration that we should have anything to do with.

I have written several posts about how the Church in general has adopted so many pagan celebrations. I’ve heard it said by other believers that we’ve turned them into something good so they are OK now. Halloween is fun, the children dress up and get candy and it’s just a good time. Even churches have gotten in on it with fall celebrations and selling pumpkins to be made into jack-o-lanterns as a fundraiser. Some even say that with candy they give out tracts and so they are using it to witness to others.

We used to do the same – doing our own version of turning something evil into something Holy. Problem is only He can make something Holy – we can’t. We were not being a good witness by keeping the same holiday that unbelievers were keeping. We were doing exactly what the world was doing. Exactly what He tells us not to do. We are to be in the world but not of the world. If we are doing what everyone else does then how are we His set-apart people?

As I’ve said so many times before, this is exactly what the Israelites used to do before Messiah came. They used to take pagan Ba’al celebrations and put a godly spin on them and still worship Yehoveh through these celebrations. He did not accept that and when they didn’t stop He judged them and sent them into captivity. It is not that they stopped worshiping Him it is that they were using pagan celebrations to do so. It was unacceptable to Him.

We are doing the same thing when we take on pagan holidays and attempt to turn them into something fun and good and we call them all sorts of things to make us feel better about doing it.

Take a moment and Google the origin of Halloween. It dates back over 2000 years to the Celts bringing back ghosts and spirits of the dead. They would contact them to get predictions on what the next year would be like. November 1st was their new year and they believed that the night before the boundary between the worlds of the living and dead were blurred so that the Druids, the Celtic priests, could more easily be in contact with these sprirts.

The Word of Yehoveh tells us that to try and contact the dead is against His Word. Ghosts and spirits are Satan’s evil demons. He is constantly working to pull us his way and away from Yehoveh God. He does it through seemingly innocent ways. He doesn’t stand there and say, hey I’m Satan and I want you to come and follow me and leave God. He says, oh isn’t that a cute little princess costume. Let’s do Halloween and go trick or treating. One more step in his direction. A slippery slope.

To even try to mix what is Holy and Righteous with this evil and call it fun and harmless is just plain deceptive. Whatever name is put on it, however it is described, its roots are evil and that evil cannot be changed into good. There is no place in His Word where His people have been able to do that. Holy is Holy and evil is evil and they cannot mix.

In these end of days just before He returns to earth to claim His own it is critical that believers live their day to day lives in a Holy manner in all things. He was very clear that many who think they are His will be told “I don’t know you” when He comes back. When we constantly do what is right in our own sight instead of following what is in His Word then why would He choose us to be with Him for all eternity? He wants true followers, not just those who mouth the right words. As His Word says, we shall know them by their fruit.

He is coming back. He is coming back soon. We are in the end of the end of days. The world as it has been is crumbling apart. Are you ready? Are you living your life as if He is soon to be here? Are you showing others around you that you are just the same as they are or are you different? Are you different enough to be noticed? Perhaps different enough to be persecuted for how you are living your life? If you aren’t, then perhaps now is the time to make some changes. Repent of the pagan ways you have adopted into your life and ask Him to forgive you. Start living your life Holy for Him. It will mean a difference for all eternity.

How Much Time Do You Spend?

2009-10-02T06:42:00.001-07:00

A few years ago I had the opportunity to spend some time in Australia attending the wedding of my son and daughter-in-law. I stayed at an amazing bed and breakfast just off of Bondi beach just outside of Sydney. There is an indescribable coastal walk that goes from Bondi beach to Maroubra beach. It is 7.4 miles one way hopping from one gorgeous beach to the next with wild and wonderful coastline in between. It takes about 4 hours to walk each way so there is plenty of time to enjoy Yehoveh’s amazing creation and do a lot of thinking as well.

One day as I was walking along I started thinking about Yehoveh’s Word – commonly called the Bible. I had read bits and pieces, even whole chapters but had never read it through entirely. Something spoke to me while I was staring out at His enormous ocean, waves crashing on the cliffs below me, that one day I would be standing in front of Him, the author of this incredible book and what would I say if He asked me, “Have you ever read my book through start to finish?” It hit me that I would be so ashamed at that moment. Everything that He did to give it to me and I didn’t care enough to even read it.

That moment I made the decision that no matter what I was going to start at the beginning and read it straight through. Every single word, name, number, no matter how confusing or boring it might be in places. As soon as I got back to my room that day I opened it up to Genesis 1:1 and started reading. No studying it, just reading, like I would any other novel or book. It took me 4 months and I finished up at Revelation 22:21.

WOW! The picture became very clear. I could see Yehoveh’s plan completely laid out from the very beginning. It all came together so perfectly. It strengthened my faith in ways I cannot even count. To read story after story of how He protected, saved and rescued person and nation time and after time when none of them deserved it was so inspiring.

I could see His plan for the nation of Israel and how He so perfectly opened the door to gentiles to become a part of it and how it was His plan all along. That from the first moment He prepared to send His Son, Yeshua Messiah, to complete the sacrificial system that He began at Mt. Sinai. WOW! That piece by piece He put the puzzle together, bringing mankind along the journey of knowing Him.

Since then reading the bible through has become a normal habit to me. I finish up with Revelation and start right again with Genesis. As many times as I have done it over the past few years there is always something that I read that jumps out at me as if I had never read it before. The picture becomes clearer every time.

For those of you who have never read the Word of Yehoveh through I encourage it. It will bring you so much peace and understanding. A while ago I came across a webpage about reading the bible through. It had an online booklet written by Phillip Green. http://www.kjv-asia.com/read_your_bible_.htm

This is how I have broken down my time in His Word:

1. Spending time daily just reading through the bible.

2. Spending time daily doing a specific bible study – currently I am working through the Torah and Old Testament doing a free online study at www.torahclass.com

Now I can stand before Him and at least I can say yes I have read your book. And I cannot wait to spend time with Him discussing the things I have read.

To Obey or to Disobey - That is the Question!

2009-09-28T06:06:00.000-07:00

Mark 7:6-13

6 And He said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocites, as it is written, “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;
7 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
8 You leave the commandment of Yehoveh and hold to the tradition of men.”
9And He said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of Yehoveh in order to establish your tradition!
10 For Moses said, “Honor your father and mother; and, Whoever reviles father and mother must surely die.’
11 But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban” (that is, given to Yehoveh) –
12 then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother,
13 thus making void the Word of Yehoveh by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”

I was having a conversation the other day with another Christian. We were discussing Christians celebrating the traditions of christmas and easter. (Not capitalized on purpose). Her stance was that it was OK to have those traditions because Christians took those pagan holidays and turned them into something good for God. I disagree on several points.

1. Only Yehoveh can turn something made for evil into something for good and only if He chooses to do so. We do not have the right to do anything of the sort. Humans cannot make something Holy – only Yehoveh can do that.

2. The Torah gives us the proper way to worship Yehoveh in His own words. There is no adding to or subtracting from that. Many Christians have been taught that the Torah has no use for us because Yeshua came. Even He said this about Torah:

Matthew 5:17 - 18:
17 Don’t think that I have come to abolish the Torah and the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete. (Your Bible may say fulfill).
18 Yes indeed! I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a yud or a stroke will pass from the Torah – not until everything that must happen has happened.

Does that sound to you that we should abolish the Torah? What it means is that Messiah Yeshua fulfilled the ultimate sacrifice to atone for sin and that there is no need for the sacrificial system. But how do we even know what sin is without Torah to tell us. We honor the Ten Commandments but those are just the basis for the 613 Torah laws. How can we do some without doing all and especially when Yeshua tells us that until He returns it will all still be valid?

3. This is what we (Israelites and Christians) have done since the beginning. Take pagan worship rituals and use them to worship the Almighty Yehoveh. He didn't like it when the Israelites did it and He doesn't like it when we do it today.

The bible is filled with testimony from the prophets warning Israel to give up the traditions of worshiping using pagan rituals. Most think that the Israelites got into trouble from Yehoveh because they were worshiping false idols. That is false for the most part. They were using the Ashteroth pole and other things to worship Yehoveh. They mixed it all up.

Read through Isaiah, Hosea and the other prophets. Warning Israel and Judah to give up those worship practices or else. The "Or Else" happened, first to the Northern Kingdom of Israel and then to the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Even after Judah came back from Babylon it happened again and as you can see by the opening verse in Mark, it was happening in Yeshua's time. Traditions of man had replaced Torah and the Bible.

We, as Christians, have the choice to obey or disobey Yehoveh. His Word clearly speaks the truth of what He wants from us. The Torah was written to believers. It was a message on how a believer should live their life in worship to Him who created us.

We can choose to learn what He wants from us and obey - by the way this is the hard choice. It may mean giving up things you love, distancing yourself from people you care about and even being persecuted. (hmmmm...didn't Yeshua say that if you follow Him to expect that?) Or you can choose to keep your traditions. Most will choose this path because it is easy and you can justify it through many means. (One person recently said, well we have to keep our ham easter dinner because we need to be a good witness for our unsaved son. UGH! How in the world is keeping a pagan ritual and eating unclean food that Yeshua wouldn't ever touch a witness for Him?)

Justify it all you want. There is Yehoveh's truth and there is your justification for disobeying it. Yehoveh's Word constantly talks about the remnant and the narrow path. How many pagan rituals can you still keep and be on that narrow path?

If you would like to learn more about Torah and what it means to Christians today please visit www.torahclass.com and click on Old Testament studies. You can do free studies starting in Genesis all the way through Torah (Genesis through Deuteronomy).

As Joshua said, “As for me and my house we will choose to serve Yehoveh”.

No Matter What!!

2009-09-20T10:01:00.000-07:00

I'm a little riled up today. OK, OK so that is normal for me. You can laugh. Go ahead. I get riled up when church doctrine gets thrown in my face and made out to be more important than the Word of Yehoveh. Yes, that's right. Man vs. God and I'm supposed to just be quiet and do what I'm told. Sorry, you picked the wrong person. I've committed to standing up for the truth of His Word no matter what. I don't care who you are, what church you are, how long you have been in ministry, that you went to seminary, what kind of ministry you have, how long you've been a Christian, or whatever. If you want me to bow down to church doctrine and it goes against His Word then a big NO to you! And I don't care what it costs me. Ban me, kick me out, ask me to leave, ignore me, delete me from being your "friend", whatever.

You say, well what could be upsetting you so? The fact is that the church who is supposed to worship our Savior, Messiah Yeshua/Jesus Christ, is so attached to their doctrines and their celebrations and their holidays that they can't stand for someone to tell them that what they are doing is against God's Will. I've written about this before and I'm sure I will again. The festivals that Christians love so much, christmas and easter, are NOT in the bible. Jesus did not celebrate them. The apostles did not celebrate them. In fact, do a google search on the history of them. The history is that they are celebrations of false gods since the time of the Tower of Babel with Nimrod. Just handed down century after century and given new names depending on the culture of the time. Satan is very subtle and doesn't change his mode of operation. He just gives it new names.

And to go it one further, when reading the bible you come to understand very quickly that Yehoveh HATED these false gods and celebrations, and hated how the Israelites adopted so many of them into their worship of Him, that He exiled them. First the Northern Kingdom of the ten tribes and then the Southern Kingdom into Babylon.

He has NOT changed. He is the same God today that He was then. He has NOT changed His mind on how to worship Him. He does NOT want pagan celebrations attached to His Name.

Do what you want to me. I will continue to stand up for the truth of His Word no matter what. If you don't like what I'm saying then take it up with Him. Ask Him what He thinks and then read His Word about it. It is very clear.

Read my blog post about Syncretism. It is that very thing that has crept into the church and muddied it all up. The blending together of Christianity and paganism. We cannot just put a new name on something and it becomes Holy. Only Yehoveh can deem something Holy. And He never did that with christmas or easter.

Church we are in the last days according to the prophet Daniel. We are in the "time of the end". This is not the time to be playing around with pagan celebrations. Please open the Bible and read how He wants us to worship Him. Get prepared. The Kingdom of God is at hand.

When Do You Call on the Lord?

2009-09-02T06:42:00.000-07:00

I was listening to a teaching on Zechariah this morning on my walk. The teacher asked a question. "Do you call on the Lord only in times of trouble?" What he meant by that is, what kind of relationship do you have with Him? Is it only when you need Him or is it an every day relationship?

Even pagans - those without God - will call on Him when they think it is their last resort. We've all heard stories of even atheists calling out to God when death is certain or a loved one is in serious condition. That isn't relationship, that is idol worship. Yehoveh wants more than that from us, His chosen people. He has mercy on us not just because He can give that to us, but because He wants to be in relationship with us. That is called grace. Grace is mercy given for a reason and His reason is relationship.

In many cultures it is common that in times of trouble, the family idols are brought out, prayed to and asked for help. If we only talk to Yehoveh in challenging times how is that any different?

I always like to compare it to the relationship that I have with my husband. I love him and love being in relationship with him. Because of that I like talking to him, being with him and all that goes with being in a relationship. What kind of relationship would it be if I saw him only when I was in trouble and needed him? Or said the same words to him every day at the same time and without really feeling anything? More duty than love? It's obvious that we wouldn't have much of a relationship at all. In fact, it is a relationship like this that often leads to divorce.

What kind of relationship do I have with Yehoveh? Is it the same boring stuff day after day, or even going days without speaking to Him or reading His Word? How long would my marriage last if I went days without speaking to my husband or listening to him speak to me? Not long I would think. How long will my relationship last with my Lord if I rarely speak to Him, think about Him or read His words to me? Not long I would think. That is called walking away from Him.

The time is short in this world. The times He tells us about in His Word are upon us. The time to spend building a relationship with Him is almost over. Please don't waste one more minute living for this world. Lift your eyes up to Him and tell Him that more than anything else you want to be in a fantastic relationship with Him for now and for all eternity. Talk to Him and read His Word.

*

Looby Loo!

2009-08-14T05:05:00.000-07:00

Remember the game we used to play as children called Looby Loo? Put your left foot in, take your left foot out, put your whole self in, take your whole self out, etc. I believe that many Christians play this game with their faith. These past few days I've been re-evaluating my walk and realized that it is so easy to have one foot in and one foot out at the same time. This world is so challenging right now that we have our hands full just trying to manage and get through our days.

You want to please those around you; your family, your boss, your friends, your co-workers, etc. The question we rarely ask ourselves is are we pleasing Yehoveh God? Are we putting the way people think about us above what He thinks about us.

Over and over the past few days Yehoveh has put His Word in front of me with the answer. He has put people in my path with the answer. The answer is that I have been more concerned with what others think of me than I have with being obedient to Him. I have thought about and worried what they might think of me, how they might treat me, if they would like me anymore or even walk away from me if I stood up for truth. Would I lose business? Would I lose a friendship? Would I lose a close family member? Would I get ridiculed, laughed at, ignored, hated, called names, rejected? Would they remove me as a friend from Facebook - sad, but true.

I had one foot in with Yehoveh and the other one firmly in the world. This morning He led me to the first three chapters in Revelation. He made me realize that living that way leads to destruction. Those three chapters are written to His believing church. They were not written to the unbelievers of the world or even seekers. He was admonishing His people to step up and do right by Him, not right by the world. He also let them know quite frankly that if they didn't, the consequences would be severe. Eternity without Him.

Gasp! Yes - contrary to the popular belief that is taught in today's churches, you can walk away from Him. You have free will and can choose your eternity. Messiah Yeshua spoke about this very issue in Matthew 7:21-23 "Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord! will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, only those who do what my Father in Heaven wants. 22 On that Day, many will say to me, Lord, Lord! Didn't we prophesy in your name? Didn't we expel demons in your name? Didn't we perform many miracles in your name? 23 Then I will tell them to their faces, I never knew you! Get away from me, you workers of lawlessness!"

He was not talking to unbelievers. Unbelievers don't do these things. He was talking to people who were doing things in His Holy name. Believers.

Revelation 1:3 Blessed are the reader and hearers of the words of this prophecy, provided they obey the things written in it! For the time is near!

In the time of John the word hear did not just mean to hear something, it was an action word. It meant that you had to DO something to show that you heard and understood. If you trust Yeshua/Jesus then hear and obey! If you have a foot in the world NOW is the time to pull it out and firmly stand on the Rock of Salvation. It's all or nothing - you can't have it both ways.

Joshua 24: 14-15 Therefore fear Yehoveh, and serve Him truly and sincerely. Put away the gods your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve Yehoveh! 15 If it seems bad to you to serve Yehoveh, then choose today whom you are going to serve! Will it be the gods your ancestors served beyond the River? or the gods of the Emori, in whose land you are living?

As for me and my household, we will serve Yehoveh!

What's in a Word? - SYNCRETISM

2009-08-04T12:12:00.000-07:00

According to the American Heritage Dictionary the definition of syncretism is "Reconciliation or fusion of differing systems of belief, as in philosophy or religion, especially when success is partial or the result is heterogeneous".

I recently finished a study on the book of Judges. It is a good example of syncretism. Yehovah instructed Joshua to enter Canaan and give the people living there a choice. Either pack up and leave or die. There was no middle ground. He did not want His chosen people to live with people who held other beliefs and other gods. Syncretism happened because Israel did not obey God. Instead they decided to tolerate the Canaanites and allowed them to live along side of the Hebrews. They tolerated the many gods including Baal and Ashteroth.

It didn't take long for syncretism to rear its ugly head. It happened very quickly and before the Israelites knew what happened to them they were worshiping not only Yehovah but the gods of the Canaanites as well. They worked together, worshiped together, married each other and so on. The Torah was not being followed and the priesthood and sacrificial system set up by Yehovah at Mt. Sinai was completely watered down.

Today we are seeing the same thing happen to both the Jews and the Christian church. Instead of following Yehovah's Word, we are building churches based on doctrine. Doctrine that in many cases has no real basis in the Bible. Doctrine that is falling short of readying the church for the fast approaching Kingdom of Yehovah.

The church has adopted the ways of the world to such an extent that it's hard to tell the difference between the two. When a person listens to the same music, watches the same movies and television shows, reads the same books, talks the same talk and basically lives the same life as someone who doesn't know Messiah Yeshua, how are they living the life of a set-apart people?

One reason Yehovah set down the Torah laws was to show how His people were different from all other peoples of the world. We are not supposed to be the same. We are different; set apart for a Holy God. That God expects His people to be different than the rest of the world.

I ask myself daily if someone was watching me could they tell by my actions that I am a follower of Messiah Yeshua. Am I keeping both feet where they belong or do I have one foot in this world?

Many Christians today are living a life of syncretism. They don't even realize that they have combined the world and their faith. I pray that you are keeping yourself set apart for Him.

What in the world are they thinking?

2009-07-20T09:34:00.000-07:00

As I drove into work this morning the news played a clip from the new Harry Potter movie that is all the rage and breaking box office records. I switched channels. When I opened my Facebook page this morning a post jumped out at me from a Christian who went to church then to see the HP movie, which they said was very good. A heaviness came down upon me so great that I cried out to Almighty Yehovah to please come back and come back soon as I didn't know how much more of this I could take. When Christians embrace a movie so steeped in the occult for entertainment, surely He isn't long in His return.

Is it that they just do not know how Yehovah God feels about this subject? Or do they know and they don't care? I am no biblical expert but I do spend time reading the Word daily and even I have read the passages about the occult and what God did to even His own people Israel because they dabbled in it. The most famous account is of King Saul speaking with a medium and what the repurcussions of that encounter brought to him.

Are we obeying our Savior King when we do exactly the opposite of what He commands us to do when it comes to witchcraft and the occult? Many will say "I love Jesus". But what good is that when you don't do as He says? That would be like my child saying I love my mom and dad but goes on to defy what we say. All words and no obedience. As James states in his letter, faith without works is dead. When we profess that we are followers of Messiah Yeshua but then fail to follow His commands we are having faith without works, which isn't really faith at all.

I've heard all of the excuses for seeing movies like HP. "I can handle it". "I know it's fiction:. "It's just a movie". "It's not really that bad". Etc. If Messiah Yeshua were going to the movie with you, would you take Him to HP? I highly doubt it.

Not to mention what kind of example are they setting for those non-Christians who are watching them? When a Christian acts just like a non-Christian there really is no difference between them.

The apostacy is full upon the church these days.

Nearing the End?

2008-11-12T07:43:00.000-08:00

What a roller coaster ride we are on right now. A new president, the financial crisis, rumors of wars in the middle east, Israel surrounded by enemies and wondering if America is still her friend and more. I read someone today on the internet who said that we could still be a thousand years or more until Christ returns. That is the response of many today, many who profess a love of Jesus and want to spend their eternity in heaven. Yet they don't believe that He is really coming soon. Or maybe they don't really believe He is coming at all. After all it has been 2000 years since He was killed. That's a long time in anyone's calendar.

The length of time is causing many to wonder "is He really coming"? That is when atheists chime in and say, yeah, Christians have been saying that for 2000 years and He's not here yet. Like Jesus is on their time frame or something. Remember for God, time has no meaning. Time does not exist except for us here on earth and only until He returns.

The church is being dulled into sleep by the length of time yet with everything happening around us we should be shouting in the streets, Repent, be saved and get ready for the Kingdom is near. Christ is coming - SOON! I don't hear many Christians saying that though. Most are embroiled in wondering how they are going to cope without a job, without their retirement savings, without their nest eggs. We are focused on the things of this world, exactly where satan wants us to have our thoughts. The church has become apathetic towards the return of Jesus Christ. It is more interested in enough money to build that new wing on the church.

It kind of gets me back to one of my first postings. Does the church really believe the bible? Is it true? When Jesus said He is coming back did He really mean it or was He just pulling our strings? Belief is an action and there isn't much action for the Kingdom in the church today.

You know what I find interesting? That God in His infinite wisdom told us down to the very day when to expect His Son the first time. He told us over 100 prophecies concerning His son so that people would know what to look for and what to expect. Some people were looking for Him and those that were looking found Him. There were many, many more however who were not looking and they did not see Him and in fact even took part in fulfilling the prophecies about His death. They were so wrapped up in their doctrines and their lives that they completely missed the first coming of Jesus Christ.

I find it ironic that today we are in the same position. Aren't we supposed to be so much smarter than they were back then? There are those who are looking, watching for the return of Christ. They know they are very close and the time is here that God wrote about in His Word. They are waiting with expectant hearts and wide open arms. But most aren't. Most are apathetic at best. Most don't even want to talk about it. They aren't interested. Most say, well even Jesus doesn't know the hour or the day line of scripture. Or He will come as a thief in the night. Problem is they are taking verses out of context and time.

Jesus did not know when He left this earth but as soon as He ascended He knew. He knows exactly when He's coming back. And He told us in His Revelation to the apostle John when to expect Him to come back. The thief in the night is for those of the world who do not know Christ and are not looking for Him at all. For those of us watching we do know.

I spoke with an 81 year old bible prophecy teacher the other day. He has been studying Daniel and Revelation for almost 30 years. He said that he fully expects to be alive when Jesus returns; that we are so very close to that time. We are at door step of eternity right now.

Acts 1:9-11
9 And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
10 And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them.
11 They also said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.

Revelation 19:11-13
11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.
12 His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself.
13 He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called the Word of God.

Jesus Christ, the King of all, is coming - SOON! Please get your priorities in order and get ready to receive your King. Money, stuff, job doesn't matter. Relationship with Him does. Pray for your loved ones to accept Christ as their Savior and put away the world. Be a light to those around you who don't know Him yet. The time is almost done for them to repent and accept Him. Soon it will be too late. This is not the time to be complacent and spend our time worrying about what is going on around us. This is the time to be in our Lord Jesus Christ because He truly is our only hope.

Ellis Skolfield - End of Days, Islam, and what about the Tribulation???

2008-10-27T08:39:00.000-07:00

I just have to recommend another excellent read for those of you who love end times and prophecy. This is another entirely new thought process and you will need to go into it very open minded. I first read some of Ellis Skolfields work a few years ago when I was a firm believer in a pretribulation rapture according to the Left Behind series of books. I read a bit and put it down thinking man he is way out in left field and I don't want to read another thing. So I didn't. Until last week.

Funny the path that God puts us on. I'm convinced that our journey will take us as far as our obedience to God will. The minute the obedience stops, so does the knowledge, widsom and understanding. Every day I ask God for those three things and I work to be obedient to His Word, the Bible. And He continues to reward me by leading me on a path of more and more knowledge of Him and His ways.

Matthew 7:8 "For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

Many people are taught this verse in relation to their physical life. A nice house, car, bank account, etc. I believe this verse means to ask for spiritual gifts and they will be given to you. Gifts of understanding, knowledge and wisdom are gifts that I desire from my God and I believe He is and has given them to me.

So back to the topic at hand. Mr. Ellis Skolfield. Last week I happened across his work again. In fact twice it was shown to me in different ways. This is where the obedience kicks in. I try not to make God show me too many times or I think He just might stop showing me. So I looked Mr. Skolfield up again. I read through his website. http://www.ellisskolfield.com/

Mr. Skolfield has many letters, articles and books free online just for the time to download them. This is a big thing to me. That this information is out there at no charge shows a giving heart by Mr. Skolfield.

I downloaded and printed off the book, The Last Prophet. Approximately 190 pages and read it, finishing it over the weekend. Get ready for a major paradigm shift in your end times thinking. You may be like me a few years ago and throw it to the ground saying, that's absurd. Or you may be like me now, going hmmmmmm...let's see what the bible says about this.....oh my well this is starting to make a lot of good sense.

We've all heard of the 7-year tribulation, 3.5 year great tribulation, antichrist, mark of the beast, false prophet, and all the rest of the end times verbiage. Prophecies in Daniel, Matthew, Ezekiel and of course Revelation have peaked curiosities for centuries. Problem is, according to Mr. Skolfield, none of those prophecies could possibly make sense until 1948 and 1967. Why? Two reasons: Israel and Jerusalem.

Want to know more? Go to http://www.ellisskolfield.com/ and click on books & essays. On that page you will see a free download for chapters 1 - 9 and 10 -17 of the False Prophet. You will also see several other free downloads for your reading pleasure.

Enjoy and let me know what you think. I'd love to hear your opinion.

God's War on Terror by Walid Shoebat

2008-09-04T06:49:00.000-07:00

Are you interested in End Times prophecy? Do you want to know if what is happening in the middle east right now will affect America? Do you wonder if the bible is really true and the things it says really will happen? Then this is one book you will want to add to the top of your reading list.

After finishing this book I truly believe this man was saved out of a life of terrorism for the purpose of alerting God's people to what is coming our way. I won't go into the entire history of Walid as you can go to his site to read his amazing story of salvation. http://www.shoebat.com/

I will briefly tell you that he was born in Israel to an Arab father and Christian mother. Walid grew up as a PLO terrorist and then became a Christian and changed his life. He spends his life teaching people about the dangers of Islam and this book shows God's prophecies from the bible and how Islam plays a major role in the end times.

As a watcher I read everything I can get my hands on. Then I put it up against scripture. Most don't hold up. I don't think anyone is going to have it 100% correct until it's over but there are some very discerning authors out there that I believe God is using.

The point is that we've been listening to prophecy teachers teach the same old thing for a long time. They keep passing it down and we all just believe it. God took this man who was an avowed PLO terrorist and hated Jews and Christians and God saved him. Why? Maybe, just maybe, it is a part of God's plan to warn His people. The bible states time after time that God gives His people warning before things happen. I believe that God is the same today as He was in the bible. He hasn't changed. He is still going to send messengers with warnings. And there are going to be many who just disregard it because it doesn't fit their picture of who, what, where and how. Or it's going to come from someone that doesn't fit their image of a messenger from God. Which are you?

I've done my due diligence on this and I am confident that there is a lot of truth in what he wrote and I am blessed to have the knowledge. I have a peace that does surpass all understanding that wasn't as present before as it is now.

This is a link for a 6-minute video introducing the book. http://www.joelstrumpet.com/?p=1339

Be sure to post your thoughts after you've read the book. Looking forward to hearing from you!

Kathe

Where have I been? And today's churches...

2008-04-07T08:12:00.000-07:00

I haven't written since mid-January. I really haven't had much to say lately. Busy taking it all in I guess. Today I have some things on my heart. I'm sad. Very sad. At the state of our churches today.

Where did it all go? I'm talking about talking about the Kingdom of God and the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Why don't churches talk about it anymore?

When you read the apostles in the bible that's pretty much all they talk about. They were so excited about Jesus coming back. After all they knew Him in person and they loved Him and they couldn't wait to see Him again. Even the early church fathers taught that Jesus could come back anytime and that we as Christians needed to be ready.

Seems we have lost that these days. Churches now talk about how to handle finances, how to have a good marriage, how to be a good parent, etc. There is little or no talk about getting ready to face the coming tribulation and how to hold out until the end. The end is when Jesus comes back. Maybe our church leaders don't really believe that it's going to happen and that's why they don't teach it? Maybe they are too wrapped up in getting more people in the seats to pay for their buildings? I don't know. I really don't.

I really don't understand it either. The bible says that pastors and teachers will be held to a higher accountability than the average person. Why? Because they are responsible in part, for their flocks. So you would think that they would feel an added burden to make sure their flock was totally prepared to go through tribulation.

So I can only conclude that either (a) pastors don't really believe the bible or (b) they really don't think these things are going to happen in our lifetime so it doesn't really matter right now.

I don't know what else to think. I believe God says what He means and He means what He says. When He says we must endure to the end I believe Him. When He says that if I read the book of Revelation I will be blessed I believe Him. I believe that by reading it, and the rest of His word, that I will be prepared to endure to the end. Whether that means making it all the way to Christs return at the end of tribulation or a martyrs death, I will endure for Christ. No matter what.

Are you ready?

Kathe

Just say this little prayer.....

2008-01-22T11:20:00.000-08:00

Is it really that easy? Just say this little prayer, called the sinner's prayer, and you get your ticket into eternity with God. Is that really all it takes? And once you say that little prayer and you have your ticket, can you live your life pretty much how you please without worrying about losing it? That is what I hear from most preachers today. It's called the OSAS or Once Saved Always Saved doctrine. Basically once you say that prayer and accept Jesus as your Savior, you are always saved and nothing can take that away from you.

My husband and I are reading through Revelation right now, doing a little bible study on our own. As we were reading this past week we came across some verses which caused us to pause and talk about the OSAS doctrine.

Revelation 2:25 - 28 (25) Nevertheless what you have, hold fast until I come. (26) He who overcomes and he who keeps My deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations; (27) and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I also have received authority from My Father; (28) and I will give him the morning star.

To be given all of these things a person needs to hold fast until Jesus comes. He needs to overcome and keep "MY" deeds. Since this is Jesus speaking, He is the "MY" here. He also says that this person who does these things will be given the morning star. If you look in the bible for references to the morning star (Revelation 22:16) you will find that the morning star is another name for Jesus Christ. So in order to have Christ, we must overcome and hold fast until He comes back for us. To me this says you need to do more than just say a simple prayer.

Revelation 3:5 states: He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.

OK........so if Jesus says He will not erase a name that must mean that some names are going to be erased. And if a name is erased doesn't that mean that in order to be truly saved and spend eternity with Jesus that you have to do more than just say a simple prayer?

I am reading James right now. I read it through last week and realized that there is so much amazing information in it that I decided to read it again, and again. Then I decided that I'm going to read it every day for at least a month. Every time I read it I get something else from it.

Some things are jumping out at me. In James 2 he talks about Faith and Works. James 2:17 states, Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. Will dead faith get you into eternity with the Father? I don't think so.

James goes on to talk about Abraham and how Abraham showed his great faith by his works when he believed God and did what he was told to do with his son Isaac. James 2:24 states, You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. It seems pretty clear to me that to just say a simple sinners prayer is just not enough. There has to be something else.

The book of James is full of wisdom on how to live life according to God's will so that your deeds will be an outward showing of your faith. Faith is not a religious act of going to church and praying at the dinner table. Faith is living your life for Christ, not yourself.

Kathe

The Narrow Gate

2007-12-17T07:35:00.000-08:00

Matthew 7:13 Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. (14) For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

I've been thinking about this a lot lately. What does that mean? As I have stated before I believe the bible literally. That means if it says something I take it at face value unless something tells me otherwise. So when Jesus says that the gate is narrow I have to believe what He is telling me.

A narrow gate means to me that you can't be loaded down with a bunch of stuff and still get through the gate. It's pretty much you and the clothes on your back.
Stuff. We accumulate a lot of stuff going through this life, especially when you live in a western country like the USA. Stuff seems to be the central focus of our lives. Buying stuff, especially the latest stuff. Then once you buy stuff you have to take care of stuff. How much time do we spend just taking care of the stuff we have?

We moved into our home almost 14 years ago. We moved from a 2 bedroom apartment into a 4 bedroom, 2800 sq foot home with a 1/2 finished basement. When we moved into it we didn't have very much stuff. Now it seems that every nook and cranny is filled with stuff. Where did it all come from? Much of it came from having 6 children. We have our stuff and their stuff. We have stuff from every year they went to school. We have trophies and school papers, old sporting goods that might be passed onto a little brother or sister, and all kinds of stuff. We have Christmas cards from years past and reports from 4th grade. We have photo's and videos and tons of memories in boxes. We have a pool table that we can't play pool on because it has stuff stacked on it. Same for the ping pong table.

Stuff, stuff and more stuff. And now it's Christmas and we are out buying more stuff. More comes in and nothing goes out. How did it get this way? Neither myself or my husband grew up this way.

We have decided to get rid of stuff. It is going bye-bye. We have decided we want to live simpler with less stuff. We are finding new homes for lots of stuff or it's going in the trash. We started a few months ago and it seems we have hardly made a dent. We are determined though and will keep it up.

The point is that when you follow Jesus Christ it is more important to have Him than stuff. I don't need stuff, I need Him. The more stuff I get rid of, the more room I will have for Him.

I believe Him when He talks about the narrow gate. I can't expect to live my life for stuff and still get through the narrow gate. It's just not possible and eternity is much too long to get this wrong. I don't need the latest gadget, I need more time with Him and His word. I don't need to fill my house, my head or my time with stuff, I need to fill myself with Him.

How much stuff do you have? If something happened to you today would you fit through that narrow gate into eternity with Jesus Christ?

In my read through the bible I am currently in Ecclesiastes. King Solomon, who was the richest man in history, talks about stuff and how it is all vanity. It is for nothing. He says the only thing that matters is God. This is a man who had everything. Anything he wanted he had at the snap of his fingers. And all for nothing. It was just stuff.

Picture one of those old fashioned weight scales. The ones with 2 dishes that are supposed to balance when the 2 weights match. Put your stuff on one side and your relationship (time spent) with Jesus on the other side. Which one is the heaviest? Will you get through that narrow gate?

Kathe

Standing up for the little things

2007-12-13T05:53:00.000-08:00

I had a conversation with my husband last night as we were walking through the mall about standing up for the little things. We had gone there to get a walk in after dinner as it is freezing cold outside.

One thing I am standing up for this year is Christmas. Now most of us know that Christ really wasn't born in December, more likely September, and most of us know that December 25th was originally a pagan holiday for the Romans and that Christians took it over in the name of Christ somewhere around the 3rd or 4th century, but from then on it was a Christian day to remember the day our Savior came to this earth for us. That is how we celebrate it in our family.

In recent years this celebration of the Saviors birth has evolved into something that doesn't even look like a distant relation. It is now a holiday celebration (what holiday I have no idea) and is all about buying and getting instead of remembering the greatest gift ever given. In case you don't know what that gift is it is the gift of eternal salvation. Christ gave up His amazing throne in heaven (we can't even imagine what that is like) to come to earth and live like a man. He was ridiculed, beaten, whipped and put on a cross to die like a common thief. Then, 3 days later, He rose from the grave and in doing all of this He gave us the choice to live eternally with Him instead of the Lake of Fire. Amazing.

And we have turned that gift into the most self-centered time of year possible. It's all about getting the latest gadget and how much am I getting and I didn't get what I wanted. Me, me, me! I guess we weren't happy with the original gift that was given???

Anyway, this year I am getting emails from different retailers wishing me happy holidays and to please come into their store and buy my holiday gifts. Well, instead of doing what they want I just send an email back and let them know that I celebrate the real reason for this time of year, Christmas, and that I will be doing my Christmas shopping at stores that feel the same way I do and that aren't so PC correct that they can't use the word Christmas. I tell them why there is a Christmas to begin with, Christ, and that is what I celebrate.

Most I don't hear back from. Some I do. Most I hear back from are very defensive and basically say they go with the majority. To that I say no, you are going with the very loud minority. Along with most others who don't care one way or the other, which is even more sad. (Jesus talks about this group in Revelation when He speaks of the lukewarm church that He spits out of His mouth).

I did get one back that thanked me because from my email he was convicted to start treating this season for what it really is and to stand stronger in those convictions rather than bend to being PC just to make more money. Yay!

So how about it. How about we all take the time to write a little note. Be nice about it, but state the truth. We can make a difference, one person at a time.

Next time I want to talk about how standing up for the little things lead to standing up for the big ones and how important that is going to be to you one of these days.

Through His Grace I am saved.

Kathe

Do you REALLY believe the bible?

2007-12-11T07:06:00.001-08:00

I mean REALLY believe it? This thought has been on my mind for the past few weeks as I watch Christians that I know and Christians in the news make some really dumb decisions. I have to wonder, do they really believe the bible.

I do. I really do. I believe every single word is there because God wants it there. Yes there are different translations and versions and everyone and their brother has their favorite and will debate to death which is the right one. I don't want to hijack my own blog and turn this into a debate on which one is the right one. My point is, I believe God is in control. Period. And the Holy Spirit lives inside of me so when I pick up a bible, no matter what version or translation it might be, the Holy Spirit is going to teach me what God wants me to know.

So I believe God. I believe that what He says, He means. That when He says He is going to do something, that it will be done. It might not be in the time frame that I think it should be, but it will be done. And when you read God's word, the bible, there is some pretty nasty stuff coming our way at some point in the future. Many people say we are on the cusp of it right now.

So my question is, if you REALLY believe the bible, meaning you REALLY believe God, would you live your life the way you are living it right now? Would these Christians we watch on TV with their big fancy homes, cars and airplanes really live like that if they REALLY believed the bible? In my humble opinion, no. Not a chance. Not for one second.

If I truly believed that Jesus, the Lord and Savior of this world, was coming back one day soon to judge the living and the dead I would live my life according to His standards, not the standards of this world. Remember who is in charge of this world right now - the evil one - satan. What I see is most people, and that includes a lot of Christians, living by the standards of the enemy rather than the Lord Jesus Christ.

This is serious folks. Really serious. This is not a joke. One day each of us will have our time standing in front of the Lord who created the universe and everything in it. I mean, just think about it. He created everything you see. He made everything work just right, perfectly to sustain your life. And it will be just you standing there with Him. The two of you. No lawyers, no pastors, no authors, no "experts". Nobody but you and Christ. WOW! The God, the One! And decisions will be made which will affect your entire eternity. (That is a long, long time)!

The thing is, He is only going to make known the decision that you are making today. How are you living your day? Your week? Your month? Who are you spending your time with? How are you spending it? What do you spend your money on? How much time do you spend building your relationship with Christ? Is it a priority or do you never really get around to it? Do you go to church on Sunday and do all the right things in the eyes of the people around you? Is there a personal relationship between you and Christ? How many times a day do you talk to Him? Think about Him? What type of decisons do you make in your business? How much are you compromising your faith in order to make more money, have the friends you have, live in the right neighborhood, etc? Maybe you don't make a big deal about your relationship with Christ because you don't want people to think you are weird or "one of those crazy Christians". Maybe you don't want to offend anyone. (This offend thing is another post for another day).

Do you get up every morning and give your day to God? Will His will be done "no matter what" in your life and your day? Is it more important to impress your friends and co-workers or impress Christ? Where does your money go? New stuff and the latest gadget or a food pantry, orphanage and soup kitchen?

I'm not here to judge you. That's not my job. Someday we will all stand in the same spot with the same judge and He is not like the judges on this earth. He is perfect and He will judge perfectly. Will you be judged worthy to live in His kingdom or be sent to a living hell for eternity, burning up in the Lake of Fire in agony for all time? And if you get a decision that you don't want there is no appeal. None.

If you are blessed and judged worthy to live in the Kingdom, will you be one of those who fruit on earth brings you many blessings in the Kingdom or will you be left wishing you had done more for Him while on earth? Your deeds will be put upon the fire to see if they burn up or not. You will be blessed by any that do not burn up. You will spend eternity being compensated fairly for the way you live your life TODAY. Every day makes a difference.

Maybe you don't believe in all of this stuff. That is your choice, your decision. God gave us all free will to believe in Him or not. He would like you to believe in Him but He is not going to force you. And that fact will be made known to you during that time you have alone with Him. This is your decision. It will be made whether you believe it will or not. I'm not going to try to convince you. I would tell you that maybe, just maybe, you should spend some time asking God if He is real. You will be surprised at what you find out.

Sooooo.......Where does Christ fit on your "TO DO" list today?

Praying that you serve God well today and every day for the rest of your life.

Kathe

Bible verses that tell a story

2007-12-08T10:09:00.000-08:00

1 Corinthians 15 (51) Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, (52) in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the LAST TRUMPET; for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

1 Thessalonians 4 (16) For the Lord Himself will descent from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. (17) Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.

Revelation 11 (15) The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and He will reign for ever and ever." (16) And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshipped God, (17) saying: "We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign. (18) The nations were angry; and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and great - and for destroying those who destroy the earth." (19) Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and within His temple was seen the ark of His covenant. And there came flashes of lightening, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a great hailstorm.

These are just some of the verses that came to my attention when I started questioning a pre-tribulation rapture of the saints. Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, is returning to the earth to vanquish the enemy, satan, and will then rule. He is returning at the LAST TRUMPET. Also, according to scripture itself, the resurrection of the dead happens at that same time. And according to scripture from the apostle Paul, we who are alive should have hope for our dead in Christ because they will rise before anyone who is alive. So, when you put all of those scripture together you have the complete story.

Jesus is returning at the last trumpet at which time the resurrection of the dead will take place and then the rapture of the church. Since Jesus doesn't return until the last trumpet, and at that time He takes over rulership of the earth, this is at the end of the Great Tribulation period.

This means that the writers from the early church all the way down through the church age until the early 1800's were correct in their belief that the church will be going through the Great Tribulation.

Right now the church, for the most part, believes that it is going to be taken out prior to the Great Tribulation. You might ask, what is the harm of believing that? There is great harm in believing that. It leads to a false sense of security. Why in the world would someone spend time getting ready for something that they are never going to experience? They won't.

I like to use the example of a marathon runner. Any serious runner knows that you don't just wake up one morning, decide to run a marathon, put on some brand new shoes and head out the door. That is ridiculous and anyone would laugh at you for even thinking you could do that. No training and your shoes are not even broken in.

No, a serious runner trains for months before running a marathon. They go out almost every day and run for practice, running longer and longer as they build up their stamina. They might even run some smaller races to get ready for the adrenaline rush the marathon will bring. They will start eating right, they will get enough sleep. They will understand that there is a link between running and the mind. They will train their mind to overcome that voice that tells them they can't do it. They will get through injuries and they will go to the gym for weight training. They will understand that they'll hit a wall and train themselves on how to break through it to their goal.

This is what the serious Christian needs to do to get ready for the Great Tribulation. We need to be in serious training. Our training consists of daily reading of God's word, daily prayer and communication with God and walking our daily life imitating our Lord Jesus Christ. When we have obstacles to overcome in our walk, we go to the Lord and overcome the way He would. This gives us strength, through Him, to get through. Each time we do that we build up our strength in Him. Depend on Him for strength to get through tough times. The tough times that we have now are there to help us build up strength for the really tough times ahead. We shouldn't look at them as trials, but as opportunities to grow in Christ so we are more able to handle things as they get worse. We are training for the hardest marathon ever to take place. It's going to be 7 years of going through the hardest thing imaginable. Are you ready?

This morning I was reading through my latest copy of the Voice of the Martyrs magazine. I strongly recommend every serious Christian to get on their mailing list and study that magazine every month. These are Christians on the front line right now, things we will all be faced with in the future. Reading their stories will help you build up your faith and your strength in our Lord Jesus Christ. You can find out more at http://www.persecution.com/. And please do not make the mistake thinking that just because you might live in the U.S.A. that you will be safe from things like this because you will certainly not. In fact, in future blogs we will be talking about the future of the U.S.A. and it's place in biblical prophecy.

I truly pray that these words will give you some things to think about, pray about and study about. Get into God's word and find the truth for yourself. Do not take my word for it - I am only a student such as yourself. I am no bible expert. I am only sharing my thoughts in hopes that it might cause you to dig more deeply into this for yourself. Don't listen to any man, or woman for that matter. Listen only to God. Pray for wisdom and discernment. Pray for strength from Jesus Christ. He is our only hope.

For His glory, Kathe

The deception of a pre-tribulation rapture

2007-12-08T04:39:00.000-08:00

For many years I didn't even know of such a thing as the rapture. I wasn't a Christian and therefore wasn't exposed to this teaching. Once I became a Christian and starting going to church I would hear people refer to this rapture and wondered what it was. They would say things like, "I can't wait for the rapture to take us away" or "I hope the rapture happens before (fill in the blank with just about anything you can think of such as; the new year, my birthday, before I have to get a new job, etc)".

So I googled this term, rapture and it came up with a lot of hits. So this was something pretty big then. I clicked on one of the links and came to a site called Rapture Ready. Hmmm.....there were a lot of people ready for this rapture thing, whatever it was. So I started reading and learned that many Christians (in fact most of the church today) believes that at some point, could be any time, any moment, Jesus Christ would come in the clouds and call up His people to join Him. This would include any people who died as Christians and anyone who was currently living as a Christian. While on their way up, they would be transformed into their new bodies and spend the next 7 or so years in heaven with Jesus, having a banquet or marriage supper, while down on earth the Great Tribulation was taking place. So, these Christians would miss this most horrible time the earth had ever experienced. WOW! This sounded really good so I jumped on the bandwagon.

For several years I was part of the pre-trib (as they are called) crowd. I joined in the message boards, even posting some compelling posts on why the rapture would be pre-trib. I was excited to know that any moment Jesus would be coming to snatch us all away before anything terrible happened.

Then one day I was reading about some Christians in the middle east and in china who had been killed for just being Christian. Then I read that over 150,000 Christians every year die just for being a Christian. Hmmmm.....so I started wondering. Then I read that millions and millions of Christians and Jews have been killed in the past 2000 years just because of their beliefs. Suddenly this idea of Jesus plucking us out of here before anything bad happened wasn't making sense to me. So I prayed. I prayed for understanding on this issue. I prayed for knowledge and discernment to know the truth. The real truth of Jesus, not from some man, no matter who he was.

I started researching where all of this came from. Did the early church fathers, the men who were taught directly by the apostles teach this? No, not one of them. They were all quite clear that the church would be going through the Great Tribulation. I kept reading. More and more I read down through the centuries that biblical scholars taught that the church would need to stand strong through this most trying time in the future. It wasn't until about 200 years ago that it changed.

I'm not going into all of the details on Margaret MacDonald and John Darby and the beginnings of this teaching from the early 1800's as there is loads of information on the net and in books on it. Suffice to say that to the best of my research, this is where is began to take hold. And take hold it did. It has become one of the strongest doctrines of the church today. Most bible believing churches and church goers believe that one day soon they are going to be snatched right out of whatever they are doing and taken up to meet the Lord in the air. Whole websites are dedicated to watching the signs of the times to see how close we are getting, but at the same time they claim that nothing really needs to happen prophetically before that happens.

Reading some of those sites and especially the message boards is quite revealing. The message board that I used to frequent as a pre-tribber is now someplace that saddens me to the core. So many are deceived and will not be ready for the Great Tribulation that all of our early church fathers were convinced that the church would be going through. They are not getting themselves ready spiritually for that time. Recently I read a heartbreaking letter by Corrie Ten Boom who spoke of Chinese pastors regretting their teaching of a pre-tribulation rapture because their churches were not prepared to go through persecution and many fell away from their faith. (Read her letter here - http://endtimepilgrim.org/corrie.htm).

I read some of the posts and they seem almost desperate for Jesus to come back soon. I've heard people in my church say things like, "I'm so happy that we won't have to go through that because I just couldn't do it". That is frightening to me. How many Christians today will not have the faith to make it through this worst time in human history because they have the "Calgon, take me away" mentality. "Jesus, take me away".

I'm afraid for the Christian church today. I'm afraid of what they are going to have to go through and for the many that will fall away. I'm angry at the many men and women who are teaching this lie and who are leading the sheep astray. And making millions doing it. I remember that Jesus will be the judge and that these teachers will be judged more harshly than the rest because of what they have done to millions of people. I pray for them to start teaching the truth. I pray for the pastors to start teaching the truth. If they, who are standing in the pulpit every week, do not stand up and start getting the church ready, there is literally going to be hell to pay.

In the beginning of Hebrews chapter 6 it talks about the "milk" that a believer should know. There are six things on this list. One of these is the resurrection. Every single Christian is to understand what that means and be ready for it. My heart is heavy because there are so many that do not understand the truth and will not be ready and will be lost.

Don't rely on me. Get in your bible and see for yourself. Ask God to help you read those passages with fresh eyes instead of the pre-programming that you have had. Read for yourself what the early church fathers had to say about the end times and the resurrection of the dead. Do your own due diligence.

Remember, when you are standing before your judge - Jesus Christ - you will be alone. You won't have your pastor, your Sunday school teacher, or the authors of the Left Behind series there to blame anything on. We are each responsible for our own decisions.

Get ready, the time is coming soon.

Kathe

What does it mean to me to be a Christian?

2007-12-07T16:52:00.000-08:00

It used to be when you said you were a Christian that it meant one thing, that you were a follower of Jesus Christ, Savior of the world. Now there are so many people out there who claim to be Christian but when you look at how they live their lives you really have to wonder what definition of being a Christian they are talking about. I keep trying to come up with another name for what I am because I really don't want anyone to confuse me with one of those other types of "Christians". In fact, I really should write it as christian with a small "c" because the reason for being Christian is being a follower of "Christ" and that is not how it seems with some.

The bible says that we will know them by their fruits. What is a fruit. Not an apple or pear or mango. Biblical fruit is quite a bit more meaty. Biblical fruit is an outward appearance of a changed life. Does that mean that Christians don't mess up? No way, we are still human and will make mistakes. I know I make plenty. The thing is, there is a difference between making a mistake and doing things on purpose because you think you have your ticket into heaven anyway so what does it matter?

Biblical fruit is someone who accepts Christ as their Savior and you see real changes in their life such as they give up hanging out in bars every weekend getting smashed. They just don't want to do that anymore. They would rather spend time talking about the bible and Jesus than they would watching a trashy movie with bad language. You get what I'm saying. Things they used to do all of the time, they just don't want to do anymore.

When you see someone who is "christian" and they are still the same old person you've known all along, maybe it's just for show on the outside and no real changes made it to the inside. Now many might say, well Kathe, only God can see a persons heart and know for sure. Yes, that is true, but the bible still says we will know them by their fruit and it talks about not getting good fruit from a bad tree and visa versa. So you know if the tree is spouting garbage, it's a pretty good indication that the entire tree is pretty rotten.

For me, becoming a born again Christian means just that. I was born again. I am no longer the person I used to be. Materialistic, self-centered, angry, etc. That person is gone. Money and things have no interest to me any longer. I have nothing to be angry about anymore. I could care less about self because there is so much more to care about, especially about my God who came to this earth and died for me. And it shows in my life. Again, I am not perfect. But I do my best to be and act like Christ every day of my life. I try to show Him in my actions to others. I can feel the Holy Spirit showing me right vs. wrong in how I should act in situations.

I'm just a person, a mom, a wife, a business owner. Someone who has more sin in their past than most. What I do have forgiveness and a changed life and changed perspective. I now look at everything in the eternal perspective rather than the here and now.

So that's my thoughts for today.

Kathe