Commentary on world events that relate to Bible prophecy and on Rapture Ready issues


Jul 28

See You All In Sand Land

As many of you folks already know, I’m currently on active duty in the U.S. Air Force. For the past several years, I’ve been very lucky in not having to go on any remote deployments. America has forces in 120 nations, with the majority of them in countries that support the operation in Iraq.

Sometime in August, yours truly will be boarding on an aircraft bound for the Middle East. I can’t announce where I’m going until I get there. I do already know the base will be hot and sandy. Because we fear that one of the locals might try to attack us, most of our military installations are now in remote locations.

In the early 1990s, when I visited Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, it was hard to tell where we were located. The base was surrounded by miles of endless desert. As far as I knew, the base could have been located in Nevada’s Area 51 region.

I’m hoping to carry on with the business of this site with little interruption. Nearly all bases have internet connection as part of their Moral Wellness and Recreation programs. In case there is a major problem with getting good computer time, I’ve gone ahead and purchased a used laptop.

My biggest concern is my ability to access the servers that host the site. Someone told me that all networks in the region are heavily regulated with multi-layered firewalls to block hackers. I may not be able to directly update the weekly commentary. If that turns out to be the case, I’ve arranged to have one of my administrators upload the files for me.

I’m worried that during my absence, the RR News page will run into the ground. I monitor more than a dozen prophecy sites that post news items, and the lack of major news events has caused many of them to greatly slow down their postings. During the Gulf War, they all featured at least a dozen new stories each day. Now many of them, at times, are left blank for entire days. In fact, one hasn’t been updated since late May.

Because Jesus said He would come at a time when we “think not,” I’ve always had a special fondness for periods of slow news. In case Uncle Sam locks me out of the news-posting business, I’m going to have to ask that some dedication be paid to maintaining the RR News page.

While I’m over in the desert, I plan to keep purchasing classic Christian books. Ebay has turned out to be a wonder source for books. Most of the books I’ve bid for have been won in the price range of $10 to $20. I have chased some highly prized works up past $30. I regret not getting my hands on the 1985 title I Am Coming by James H. Brookes, which is a classic pre-trib book. Someone I was competing with in one auction just had to have it at any price.

I wouldn’t have to do all this work if others hadn’t already thought of scanning these books and sharing them with the public. Online book catalogs are about the only place you’ll find classic works being made available, but you have to buy those. A few good sites host Christian classics in a downloadable format, but I’ve pretty much sucked them dry of their best material.

Because scanning and formatting books is such a time-consuming process, I’ve designated 2004 as the year for accomplishing this task. The books first need to be reviewed to judge their quality. Some Christian writings are so boring or erroneous that they deserve to be lost to history. After I find ones with good information, I then scan them page by page, correct the computer translation errors, and then format the text into a web page.

Because I’m exclusively using Paypal to purchase these books, your donations to RR’s Paypal account would be very helpful. In the next few months, I plan to order about 200 books, and perhaps 50 of them will find their way to the site.

Rest In Peace Uday and Qusay– Well, Not Really

This past week, the news was dominated by coverage of the deaths of Saddam Hussein’s sons, Uday and Qusay. These two men were so evil that many in Iraq were joyous to hear of their violent deaths. Iraq's fledgling Governing Council officially described their deaths as "God's justice": “God's justice was finally achieved with the deaths of the two criminals Uday and Qusay."

Qusay, born in 1966, was as ruthless as his father and brother in dealing with opponents, and he sent many dissidents to their deaths. However, relatively speaking, he was the nice one of the Hussein family.

Uday was so evil that dear old Dad found him to be unqualified to succeed him as Iraq’s brutal dictator. Uday's long list of unbecoming personal traits would have caused Adolf Hitler to gasp. He had an obsession with raping girls as young as 12 or 13. He ordered hundreds of them to be sent to him from schools in poor neighborhoods, and he demanded others from Baghdad's elite families. He once had two brides dragged to him, screaming, from their weddings. Knowing what had happened, one groom took a pistol and killed himself.

As head of the National Iraqi Olympic Committee, Uday would imprison or torture athletes who performed below his standards. To encourage them, he would have them beaten with iron bars, caned on the soles of their feet, chained to walls and left to suffer in contorted positions for days, dragged on pavement until their backs were bloody, and then dunked in sewage to ensure the wounds become infected.

When the U.S. government released the ghoulish photos of Uday and Qusay in their lifeless state, I’m surprised not one news report speculated on their eternal state. It is rather obvious that they are not up heaven strumming harps. It gets very hot in Iraq in July, but I don’t think the heat there is any comparison to where they are now.

There can no mistake that shortly after Uday and Qusay were struck down by a hail of bullets and mortar rounds, they found themselves in a place of pure agony. By the time most of you folks read this article, it will have been one single week since Hussein’s sons joined the world of the eternally damned.

There are times when I feel frustrated over God’s lack of dealing with evil men. When I reflect on the finality of their fate, I’m able to realize how the Lord is able to patiently endure man’s wickedness.

“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). -- Todd

Snooping on the Snoopers

This space is headed “Nearing Midnight,” and we try to stay up with developments in every facet of our world that might indicate where this generation stands in relationship to the midnight hour of Bible Prophecy. In that regard, there is no more relevant an indicator to look at in the realm of science than developments in the arena of surveillance and tracking technologies.

You might say that to be true to our calling –among which includes doing our best to keep up with everything pertaining to end-time developments—it is incumbent upon us to snoop on the snoopers. This means watching carefully, and consistently, those who are watching all the rest of us through super-sophisticated surveillance methods.

Antichrist will be the ultimate snooper. We can know this by reading the following: “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name” (Rev. 13:16-17).

To have a system that will ”cause all” to receive the mark of the beast we have heard so much about, there must be a super technology to keep track of those who have the mark, and of those who do not. This, of course, smacks of the computer, as we know it today. Undoubtedly it will be a system advanced even beyond the technology of today’s world.

Computers, as all other technologies, are making quantum leaps every day, so the fact that such a system will be able to keep track of every commercial transaction at every moment shouldn’t be a point of debate. Many would argue that that technology is available in our time.

Antichrist will have at his sinister fingertips the ability to control every person on earth. Some would argue that this will not be possible –that there will be those who are so remotely located that they will be beyond even this satanically driven dictator’s reach. All I know is that the Word of the Living God, who knows the end from the beginning, says, through the prophet John, that “he causeth all…”. To my understanding, “all” means “all.”

I conclude that the Antichrist super-snooper system will be advanced to the point that there will be a method to keep track of absolutely everyone in the world –all the time.

We have heard about Eschelon –the system of governments keeping track of all communications conducted around the world. We’ve heard of Carnivore –a system that combines commercial and government abilities to track internet activity –e-mail, and the like. These are but the tip of the iceberg, as they say, when it comes to technologies already available.

Experts in such things tell us that most technologies involving government, particularly military technologies, are at least 7 to 10 years beyond what we, the public, know about.

Man’s imagination, we are told in Genesis, can produce whatever man can conceive of, so, the brainiest among us continue to push the envelope of every sort of technology –including people-control technologies.

VeriChip technology is not new to you, the reader, I’m sure. However, perhaps some have not yet gotten the latest on the snoopers’ most recent activities with the VeriChip.

First, a brief definition of the VeriChip: It is a handy, rice-sized piece of microchip technology that offers a simple and fairly permanent form of identification, used for the most part, and for the present, in keeping track of animals. More and more, however, there are reports of people choosing to have the chip implanted for purposes of keeping track of human beings, particularly children.

The device, linked to satellite tracking capabilities, is the brainchild of Applied Digital Solutions (ADS). And, now, the VeriChip is undergoing extensive experimentation in people tracking in Mexico.

One report tells a bit more:

“VeriChip is easily inserted under the skin of the arm or hip using a syringe-like device, some local anesthetic, and a few minutes of time. When the chip is then scanned, the dormant VeriChip is energized and transmits back the chip's serial number. This brings up the identification of the ‘chipped’ person, along with pertinent information such as blood type or specific medical conditions, which have been databased in the computer system. The chip offers those with medical problems a safer way to be quickly identified and treated even if they should come into the hospital unconscious” (K-House E-News, July 22, 2003, based on a story from The Journal-News article “Tracking the VeriChip”).

VeriChip is now being distributed through a program called SOLUSAT MEDICA in Mexico, by a company with the exclusive rights to distribute the technology in that country. It is being implemented within Mexico’s health care community, with all hospital administrations being strongly urged that scanners for the chip technology be included in all emergency rooms.

The report went on to say:

“VeriChip user Mr. Francisco Pujano was quoted as saying, ‘I was extremely interested in having a VeriChip implant after suffering a cerebral aneurysm. When I have an attack, I don't remember where I am or understand what's happening around me, and it can sometimes last for a long time, so for safety reasons, I opted for VeriChip.’"

The VeriChip seems, on the surface, beneficial, and desirable for health benefits, just as the cameras on every corner in England, and getting more that way in America, seems beneficial to the safety of the public. Promising to make our lives better and safer is a soothingly seductive way to eventually immerse all peoples, everywhere, in super-snooper devices, from which escape will one day be impossible.

Just as the cry for peace sounds good –and looks good—on its surface, tracking technologies promise to make life better and better as civilization progresses. But, the peace that Antichrist will bring will be a “peace that destroys” (Daniel 8:25.) And, the technology that promises to secure our health, wealth, and safety, will ultimately force all who are alive at that time to receive the Antichrist’s beast mark as a symbol of worship of him, or else die a martyr’s death.

The proliferation of super-snoopers in the world today is one more signal by which we know we are indeed nearing midnight.
--Terry James

Jul 21

Reflections On My Trip To The CBA Convention

Last week, Terry and I journeyed down to the Christian Booksellers Association Convention in Orlando to help familiarize our book to the media and book distributors. Our little table was just one among a sea of booths manned by a wide variety of authors and publishers.

I am normally a person who's difficult to impress, but this convention had me awestruck. When someone told me the convention would be large, I never imagined it on such a grand scale. The Orange County Convention Center has over 1 million square feet of contiguous exhibition space, which held more than 3,000 booths. An information page on the convention center’s website says the monthly electric bill for the building is $350,000.

On balance, I think the CBA convention acts as a valuable tool for allowing writers and publishers to reach a broader audience with their products. Because the gathering featured such a large cross section of the Christian community, I could easily spot two issues that have long concerned me.

The first thing I found troubling is the apparent distance between prosperous Christian leaders and the goal of evangelizing the world. I understand the need for Christian ministries and businesses to present their products to the public so they can make a living. My concern is that the wealth represented at CBA is not making into the mission field. All Christians have a responsibility to help advance the Kingdom of God. Far too many believers set the requirement for financial gain as their main priority. One of the best ways I have found to measure an organization's commitment to the cause of

Christ is to look at its website. Because cyberspace is not a great money generator, most ministries spend next to zero on their websites. It’s so ironic that the internet is the best value for reaching souls, and yet it is largely neglected.

At the CBA convention, money was no obstacle to putting on a grandiose display. The most humble booth cost at least $3,500. Some vendors spent more than $30,000 on their exhibits. One well-known word of faith preacher featured dozens of his books, tapes and videos in a large booth with Greek-style columns. Yet on his website, visitors can't find even one crumb of free information - not even a basic salvation message.

The second concern I have about Christianity, which was affirmed at the convention, is this:  While I walked among the many rows of booths, I noticed that Christians have done an amazingly skillful job of finding ways to present the Gospel message. Yet even though we’ve been very creative in producing large quantities of Christian material, we’re having less and less of an impact on the world.

A great comparison would be the problem we’re having with obesity in America. Never have there been so many weight loss products in stores and advertised on TV, and yet our nation is the land of expanding waistlines. Simply owning a Bowflex does not automatically make you thinner. The same principle applies to the Christian world: simply producing Christian materials does not automatically convince readers to trust Christ as their Savior.  

During the great revivals of the past, preachers who were unaided by any form of multimedia won huge numbers of new converts to the faith. Today we have expensive audio, video, and computer productions. We also have thousands of Bible commentaries and a mountain of books on subjects related to Christian themes.

I think the reason the Church is losing ground has a lot to do with the message being diluted or soft-pedaled to the world. In the Christian world, there is far too much emphasis being placed on trivial topics such as health food, diets, fiction, Bible codes, financial prosperity, psychology, and romance. Nothing is wrong with putting out books on these subjects. In fact, the fictional Left Behind series has been greatly beneficial in helping to lead thousands of people to Christ. Clearly, the bandwagon effect has created a glut of Christian novels that are now taking up a large section of most Christian book stores. However, I feel prophecy is more of a core biblical issue, so I would like to see it dominate the store shelves in the same way.

I’m currently searching for public domain books to add to the Best of the Christian Classics page, and I’ve noticed that most of the books I find stick very closely to the Bible. The majority of books printed before 1900 tend to be commentaries on some book or passage for Scripture. Because this mode of operation worked so well in the past, I don’t see why we should abandon it.
-- Todd

Daniel’s Dazzling Prediction

Daniel, the great prophet whom God’s angel called “most beloved,” foretold a number of things that have come to pass down through the ages.

We have gone over a number of times his great prophecy about Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and its significance to the major world kingdoms. We have looked at how specific the prophet’s foretellings have been, and how they have proven 100 percent accurate.

For example:

Daniel’s prophecies about the coming Antichrist, whom he describes as “the king understanding dark sentences,” “the king of fierce countenance,” and “the prince that shall come” have been addressed many times within the material on raptureready.com. Indeed, the Lord saw fit to entrust this wonderful man of God, as He did John –the other man an angel called “most beloved”--with giving us perhaps the Bible’s most specific and most profound foretellings.

The most underrated of Daniel’s astounding prophecies in my estimation, however, is the prophecy found in Daniel, chapter 12.

“But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased” (Dan. 12: 4).

Todd informed in his “Nearing Midnight” article last week that he and I would be attending the CBA (Christian Booksellers’ Association) convention at Orlando, Fla. We did, and had a productive time. (Todd guided this old blind guy around a floor that is one-half mile long and one-quarter mile wide, and his young legs just about walked these old guy legs off. But, it was a wonderful time together. We signed many, many of the Are You Rapture Ready? books and met many great, fascinating people.) And, incidentally, I want to take this brief space to thank each and every one of you, our Rapture Ready family and friends, who have shown such terrific interest in our first book together.

Now –to get to my point. While on the plane to Orlando, I thought of the fantastic technology that has been developed in less than a century. As we say, from horse and buggy to space travel in less than 100 years!

Daniel’s prophecy perfectly encapsulates all that has happened –already! It is fulfilled in our time!

Knowledge is said to be doubling every 14 months or so. This is called “exponential increase,” or “geometrical progression.”

We do indeed travel to and fro in today’s world. A trip from Little Rock to the area of Orlando less than a century ago would have taken months. Now, the automobile can make the journey in 12 hours or so. But, thankfully, the 737 my wife and I rode took only a few hours, and some of that was spent in terminals waiting to board.

The following article shows that we, as they say, “ain’t seen nothin’ yet,” with regard to technological development.

LIGHT SPEED EXPERIMENTS PROMISE GREAT THINGS

A series of scientific experiments during the past decade have shown incredible success in manipulating photons - even to the point of stopping and restarting light. Most recently, researchers have not only stopped light, but have done so at room temperature, promising to revolutionize quantum computing and telecommunications.

Light travels at 186,282 miles per second in a vacuum. However, when traveling through various media, such as glass or gasses or crystals, light can slow down significantly. In 1999, experiments slowed a pulse of light to an incredibly sluggish 38 miles per hour in a magnetically trapped super-cooled cloud of sodium atoms. Then, using a similar technique in 2001, these scientists brought a light pulse to a brief but complete stop.

These experiments, however, depended on the extremely cold state of the cloud of sodium atoms. Now, researchers at the University of Rochester, NY claim to have significantly slowed a pulse of light at room temperature using specially treated crystals of alexandrite.

The practical applications for this technology are far-reaching. Because photons, naturally, travel at light speed, researchers have sought to use photons as the next generation of information carriers. Quantum computing uses the quantum states of atoms and photons as bits of information. Yet, photons are far more difficult to "store" than electrons, and so have a poor memory. If photons could be stopped and stored, they would retain the information they carry for a longer time.

However, it is difficult to mass-produce clouds of sodium atoms cooled to just 5 degrees above absolute zero. The Rochester team's experiments are encouraging because they are able to produce their results at room temperature, offering many potential practical applications in optical communications and quantum computers (eNews, July 15, 2003, Koinonia House Online).

Amazing stuff!

However, God promises: “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him” ( 1 Cor. 2:9).

As wonderful, even astonishing, as technological developments are today, we can’t fully imagine, while still within the confines of our finite minds, the marvels the Lord has prepared for us in Heaven.

The millennial era itself will be fantastic to behold. In this regard, a brief commercial.

My just-released children’s novel, Adam’s Apples, deals with the millennial era, that 1,000-year kingdom of the King of all Kings –our Lord Jesus. I have tried to provide the reader, both kids and adults, with an imaginative glimpse into that marvelous time that will take the place of the terrible tribulation period.

We will post a thorough explanation of the novel and the series I hope to do along the same lines of the first book. That series will be called “Dream Doors.” I hope you will look for that promotional piece in about a week, near where we offer the “Are You Rapture Ready?” book.

Todd and I have done an interview on the “Adam’s Apples” book, which I prayerfully hope will further explain my purposes in writing the novel.

But, no matter how fantastic the story that anyone writes in the generations leading up to the time when Jesus comes back, nothing will approach the thrilling exhilaration of the real thing when it actually happens.

Daniel’s prophecies of Daniel 12:4 are already fulfilled, today. This is yet another indicator that we must be right up against the time when those who are His, will hear Jesus say, “…Come up hither...” (Rev. 4:1).
--Terry James

Jul 14

High Tide and Low Tide

When it comes measuring end-time watchfulness, the term "stability" does not apply. People tune into Bible prophecy based on world events. I’ve been able to observe high and low tides of prophetic interest by studying the data produced by the various site meters that record the traffic flow of end-time sites.

Whenever a major event occurs that relates to prophecy, web traffic to a site like Rapture Ready can double overnight. If world events remain calm for several months, the traffic flow drifts downward until the next big event drives it up again. 

This endless yo-yo cycle reflects the level of a person's commitment to being a follower of Christ. Some Christians are not interested in prophecy-- no matter what is taking place in the world. When people only investigate prophecy when there is breaking news, chances are that they don’t have a very healthy or well-balanced spiritual life.

Those who wait for world events to trigger their awareness of prophecy set themselves up to be part of the "left-behind" crowd. The rapture is very likely to occur when prophetic interest is at low tide

"But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only" (Matthew 24:36).

"Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come" (Matthew 24:42).

"Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh" (Matthew 24:44).

"Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh" (Matthew 25:13).

We appear to be in one of those periods of sluggish activity in world events, and it is causing the Bride of Christ to become distracted. If you are reading this article, you are obviously someone who has remained alert. I commend you for your dedication, and I encourage you to remain on guard. The Lord Jesus promises a special reward for His servants who look forward to His glorious return.

“Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing” (2 Tim. 4:8).

“If the master returns and finds that the servant has done a good job, there will be a reward” (Mat. 24:44 NLT).

Going Book Hunting

By the time most of you folks read this article, I’ll be down in Florida attending the Christian Booksellers Association convention. The official reason I’ll be there is to meet the distributors who might be willing to feature the book we just wrote.

I’ve never been to one of these meetings, but attending them appears to be a good way to meet everyone involved in the Christian book business. A friend once told me about a "short little guy" he had met at a CBA convention. The man had excitedly told my friend about an end-time novel he had just written called Left Behind. My friend didn’t think fiction books based on prophecy would fly. Of course, the man was Tim LaHaye and the book and others in the series soared up the book charts.

Amid all the wheeling and dealing, I’m going to be looking for some more books to add to my Best of the Christian Classics page. I understand that several dealers who specialize in rare Christian books will be at the convention.

I’ve already been making good use of the rare Christian book section that Ebay has to find more books that are out of copyright. Any book published before 1924 is legally considered to be in the public domain. The trouble with buying books online is that you can’t judge their quality from the very brief descriptions. It can get rather expensive looking for a gem among all those boring books with eye-catching titles.

Hundreds of great books on various Christian subjects are waiting to be rediscovered. I feel it’s important to find these books and get them scanned into a web format. The only other way to get them back into circulation would be for a publisher to reprint them. Because of the high cost of printing book, it’s unlikely that this will happen.

The benefit of using classic books for resource material is that someone spent many hours of research and thought in putting them together. It will be a while before I’m able to get these books added to the site. Please pray that Lord helps me find some lost masterpieces.
--Todd

Earth’s Final Fury

With this week’s column, I decided to give you a peek at an excerpt or two from a still-developing manuscript of an upcoming book, which, I prayerfully trust, will be released sometime in 2004, if Jesus doesn’t come first. The book’s title is Mid-East War and Peace. I’ve excerpted from chapter 15 of that manuscript, and adapted it somewhat to this column. The chapter’s title is “Earth’s Final Fury.”

War-like convulsions in the Middle East are like earth tremors. These quakes forewarn of prophesied explosive end-time events to come.

In the movie, “The Devil at 4 O’clock” starring Frank Sinatra, prisoners on a volcanic island hear the rumbles of the boiling mountain. They feel occasional earthquakes. The rumbling warnings and the quaking become more and more frequent. Finally, the governing authority orders all to leave the island, because there is going to be an eruption.

Throughout the movie, a series of lesser, then greater, rumblings and shakings forewarns impending doom. Sometimes all is still and quiet. But the sense is that this is the calm before the storm, and the prisoners and others on the island are never really at peace.

Finally, most of the island’s people get away in a ship. They get far out to sea, then it happens! The volcano erupts, then the whole island goes up in one tremendous explosion.

Not only the Middle East, but the whole world today is experiencing rumblings and shakings like never before. It is like that volcanic island. Sometimes things seem to become quiet. But, it is just the calm before the great end-time storm prophesied throughout the Bible.

Christians, like the shipload of people who escaped the island’s decimation in the movie, will be taken from this explosive earth before God’s wrath falls. This is called the rapture. All who have accepted Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord will be taken home to Heaven with Jesus when He comes to call them to meet Him above the planet.

There’s a whole lot of shaking going on! Let’s try to put God’s earthquake detector, the Prophetic Word, to the task of finding how near this generation might be to earth’s final fury. Unlike in the movie, “The Devil at 4 O’clock,” people of this volcanic planet have been lulled to sleep. They have trouble feeling all but the most violent rumblings and shakings.

Jesus, in the Olivet Discourse account, said it was like that just before the Flood of Noah’s day. He said it would again be that way just before He returns to this sinful planet.

People are going about their daily lives, apparently not even recognizing the signs of the end all around them. But the flood of end-time events will take them into a holocaust of judgment, just as surely as did the flood sweep all of sinful mankind away to their deaths.

The sad fact is this: Christians today are as lulled to sleep as are those who don’t know Jesus as Savior and Lord! Too many are asleep in the pews! “The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed,” the Bible says (Rom. 13:11). It is time to awaken! It is time to awaken others! Island Earth is about to explode!!

We have looked at Israel from most every angle. Put quite simply, Israel is not only God’s prophetic clock; Israel is Planet Earth’s time bomb!

More and more, every news eye and ear turns to the Middle East for any sight or sound of trouble. That is the one area, everyone in diplomatic circles senses World War III could easily break out.

More specifically, all eyes and ears turn worriedly toward Israel. This, as we have seen, is precisely what was prophesied for the last days in Zechariah 12. Jesus, and all of the other prophets predicted that the Middle East would be the most volatile place on earth at the end of the age.

Christians, therefore, have no excuse to be surprised by developments in these critical days. This is, for the Christian, not a day of gloom and doom, but the most exciting time in history.

The destruction of the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City was indeed a wake-up call. For a time, at least, Americans took notice. All eyes and ears turned to Afghanistan and surrounding regions. Then came Gulf War II, and we sat mesmerized while the coalition armies led by America took down the Saddam regime.

Just as it always does, however, our attention again focused on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. The world continues to watch the “roadmap to peace” plan unfold in the midst of horrendous terroristic murders in that most volatile of all the world’s trouble spots. It is a phenomenal time, in terms of being shown indication that we are bumping up against the very end of the age. Israel, regathered and at the center of the world stage! A peace process that was put together by the powers that be in Europe, intent on forcing Israel to sign on to a document that requires that nation give land so that another nation can be formed there! These are amazing moments in what could be man’s last generation before Christ’s return!

But too many of God’s children are yet asleep in the pews. Far too many ministers are not addressing the end-time issues as put forward by Jesus and the prophets. Christ said in Mark 13:37 “What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch”!’” Our Lord could return at any moment!

Do you think Antichrist is alive today? This is a question I often get in interviews when promoting a book. Another question is: “Do you think Antichrist might be______?” Fill in the name of your choice, among today’s world-figures.

People want these questions answered almost as much as they want to know when the rapture will happen, or even IF the rapture will happen. Even secular (non-religious) reporters are asking these questions. As a matter of fact, I sometimes think secular reporters are more interested in prophecy today than are the Christian seminaries, pastors, and people in pews of our churches.

Programs on television cable channels almost routinely run documentary-like shows on prophecies. Channels like Discovery, Arts & Entertainment (A&E;), and The Learning Channel. It is true that these programs always place more emphasis on and belief in the prophecies of false prophets like Nostradamus, Edgar Casey, and Jeanne Dixon, etc. But, occasionally these shows will throw in a true prophetic biblical scholar like Hal Lindsey, Chuck Missler or Tim LaHaye.

The Bible says that the rapture of the church will be a surprise to those not looking for Jesus. God’s Word tells us also that the Antichrist, referred to as “the man of lawlessness” in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, will not be revealed until there is a great “rebellion” or “apostasy” first.

In my view, the apostasy of the last days is most likely already well underway. The fact that so many Christian schools, preachers and people in the pews seem not to notice or care about this time of the signs in which we live, is a dead giveaway that the tribulation period and Antichrist’s revealing can’t be far off.

The “man with the plan,” as Dave Breese called him, indeed could be waiting just off of the world stage. Or, he could be among some of the better known leaders in geopolitical, international affairs today.

I believe personally that the one who will be Antichrist is alive today. This belief is based on the many, many signals of the last days we’ve been addressing for so long.

I hasten to add I even more firmly believe that if you are a true Christian today, you will not know who this man is. Unless, of course, God allows us a look once we’re in heaven with Him.

Antichrist will be revealed, you see, in the time of the tribulation or apocalypse. This is the time of God’s wrath. Christians of the Church Age are not appointed to wrath. (See 1 Thess. 5:9.)

Earth’s final fury could be upon the world in the very near future. But, take heart. God doesn’t want his children to be troubled. (Read John 14:1-6.)

Also remember: “When you see these things begin to come to pass, look up, and lift up your head, for your redemption draweth nigh” (Luke 21: 28). --Terry James

Jul 7

Satan’s Waiting Game

Conservative Christians were shocked by the Supreme Court’s recent decision to strike down state laws banning sodomy. The 6 to 3 vote was an abrupt reversal of the Supreme Court’s long history of upholding laws that regulate homosexual behavior.

If gay activists didn’t have reason enough to celebrate, they won another battle in the world of business. Wal-Mart Stores, the nation's largest private employer, has decided to expand its antidiscrimination policy to protect gay and lesbian employees.

The decision was first disclosed by a Seattle gay rights foundation that had invested in Wal-Mart and then lobbied the company for two years to change its policy. The group, Pride Foundation, which along with several investment management firms holding stock in Wal-Mart, had met as shareholders with company officials to discuss the policy and received a letter last week from Wal-Mart outlining the new employee protections. Wal-Mart officials later confirmed the policy change.

There is no doubt that the gay agenda is rapidly advancing on all fronts. It is easy to see the growing depravity, but the hard part is identifying the source of the slide.

The Bible plainly tells us that Satan and his host of fallen angels are the driving force behind the trend toward immorality. The devil is restricted by God in his ability to influence the nations. Because he is a spiritual being, he lacks the ability to interact in the physical world. During the tribulation when Satan achieves his greatest moment of triumph, he will have to bodily indwell the Antichrist to accomplish his goals.

Satan may have a physical limitation hindering him, but he has an advantage when it comes to time and endurance. We who dwell in the fleshly realm are limited in our ability to perform tasks by a number of factors. Because demonic beings are free of earthly boundaries, they don't grow old, get bored, or become mentally tired. They have the ability to remain focused on their mission 24 hours a day. While we're sleeping, demons are planning their strategy.

One reason the forces of darkness prefer going after the youngest generation is that by corrupting the nation's youth, they know they  eventually will achieve victory as the population ages. Indeed, the long-haired "freaks" of the '60s have become our lawyers, judges, and political leaders of today.

Because it has taken decades for our nation to fall into this state of apostasy, there is no quick way to reverse this process. If we are truly near the tribulation hour, it's highly doubtful that we will see any type of moral U-turns this side of the rapture. I do find it interesting that many evangelical churches preach a merry-go-round message that claims revival is constantly breaking out all over America. Of course, the opposite could not be more true.

There is a way to defeat Satan at his own game. If we Christians dedicate ourselves to the truth and make it our daily goal to advance the kingdom of God, it does not matter how long have to wait; in the end we come out victorious. Up until now, it may seem like the devil has all the time in the world. But we know the Bible predicts doom for him and all who work iniquity.

"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love" (2 Peter 1:5-7).
--Todd

The World’s Last Dictator

Planet Earth has endured many dictators. A number of them have been dictators over vast territories. Men like Nimrod, Nebuchadnezzar, various pharaohs, the Khans, Xerxes, the Caesars such as Caligula, Nero, and others have held diabolical sway over their hapless victims.

More modern-day dictators have ruled empires that threatened the whole world, men like Napoleon, Stalin, Hitler, and Mao. But only a select few have ruled, or will actually rule, the world. Two of them have ruled, or will rule, only a large portion, but not all of earth’s people.

Alexander the Great defeated the Medes and Persians, the only significant forces standing between himself and world conquest. He is said to have become hopelessly addicted to alcohol because he tried to drown out the sorrow of not having anything more to conquer.

The Bible speaks of Alexander, prophetically, in Daniel, Chapter 8. Alexander died an alcoholic at age 33, in 323 B.C.

Bible prophecy forewarns there is coming a man who will rule the world. He will be the world’s worst and last tyrant. The Scriptures say of him:

“And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practice, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand” (Dan. 8:23-25).

The New Testament also prophesies this man’s coming upon the end-time world:

“And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.

And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations… And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six” (Rev. 13:1-7, 11-17).

Those familiar with this website know this “man of sin,” “son of perdition,” “king of fierce countenance,” “beast,” “Antichrist” –all names given him in the Bible-- has been covered from virtually every angle. He, as we have seen many times, makes Stalin, Hitler, and all dictators of the past and present look merely like seventh-grade juvenile delinquents by comparison.

Antichrist will, we believe, come out of the geographical area once held by the Roman Empire, which disintegrated rather than was conquered. We believe that the scriptural proof of the world’s last terrible tyrant coming out of that area that was comprised of territories enslaved by the ancient Romans is found in Daniel 9:26-27. Antichrist will particularly hate Jews and the Christians (those who become converts during that Tribulation era.) He will murder both Jews and those who profess Christ and Him alone for salvation by the millions. (See the story of the martyrs in Revelation, Chapter 7.)

That last seven years of human history following the Rapture of the Church, and –at some point—the signing by Antichrist, guaranteeing a seven-year peace treaty, will be by far the most horrific time the earth has ever experienced.

But that beast of a world leader is NOT the world’s last dictator!

The last dictator this planet will know is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ.

Does that surprise you? Am I being blasphemous?

Let’s examine the one phrase given in Bible prophecy that proves that Jesus Christ, the King of all kings and Lord of all lords, will rule this planet with a “rod of iron.”

Psalm 2:9: “Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.”

Revelation 2:27: “And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.”

Revelation 12:5: “And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and [to] his throne.”

Revelation 19:15: “And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.”

When the black storm clouds of the last moments of the Great Tribulation part in scroll-like fashion, the King of all kings will descend on a glowingly white heavenly steed. He will be followed by all the saints of Heaven –that’s you and me, if we are saved by the precious blood of Christ!

Jesus will instantaneously put down all of the rebellious earth dwellers, beginning with the armies of the world gathered on the plains of Jezreel at Megiddo. His rule will then exercise its power over the entire world. All who have survived the terrible judgments of the scrolls, trumpets, and vials (bowls), will stand before Christ, the Judge. He will cast the people who are not believers from the earth (the goats of the goat-sheep judgment). He will rule planet earth absolutely. There will be no place for evildoing whatever. All who do so will be instantly dealt with, and dispatched from the planet into everlasting darkness.

Christ will be earth’s last Dictator. But His will be a dictatorship of absolute love, goodness, and never-ending growth within His beautiful Millennial Kingdom and beyond.

Although all honor and glory and praise will go to His Majesty, His unfathomable love will be returned a billion times over to those who love Him. All praise and honor and glory go to him, because we, His creatures, were made for this particular purpose. God made people so that He would have a close, loving family. The most natural love ever to exist, you see, is that love between God and mankind.

That love bond was broken in the Garden of Eden, when the evil one, Lucifer the fallen, seduced Eve. Adam sinned by partaking of the forbidden fruit, and God immediately set on a course to redeem His creation called man to himself.

Christ is that love gift that provides the essential redemption. Jesus will be the one dictator who will bless all the earth!

“He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus” (Rev. 22:20).
--Terry James

June 30

It's "Thank You Time"

It has been a while since I last thanked everyone for all their support of Rapture Ready. I've been burning the candle at both ends to build the site into an end-time information center.

My first thanks goes out to all those who have sent email messages my way. If you've been a long-time reader of this site, you know that I read every message I receive. I can't respond to every question, but I do try to answer as many as possible.

Please don't feel shy about sharing something with me. I find email to be essential in keeping me informed of major issues and events transpiring in the world. Because I get a constant flood of junk mail, it's nice to get a message from someone other than spammers who are trying to sell me male enlargement pills or a better home mortgage rate.

I am very much indebted to the people who helped create the new mirror sites. Until the bandwidth of the average web host drastically increases, the difficulty of handling a post-rapture traffic surge is going to be one of my greatest concerns. I've already decided to move two domains to larger accounts when they soon come up for renewal.

A big thank you goes out to all the people who contributed financially to the site. Enough people have responded to the appeal I made a couple weeks ago to keep the site on budget for the year. So far this year, I've spent several thousand dollars on editing and expanding the site's content.

My RR News posters have been doing an excellent job of finding end-time related news articles. The process of submitting news is a very easy task that takes a few minutes. The hard part is the willingness to keep contributing articles. Since the RR News page has been a feature of the site, I've seen about 50 posters come and go.

We currently can use a few more posters. Last week, my web host provider suddenly decided to change the way it configures CGI files. In doing so, it messed up the scripts that run the news program. Since I have no way of contacting the old posters to tell them of the new login address, we're now down to two individuals who are helping me with this daily task.

Because most new posters quit after their first week, I need to ask for people who are willing to commit to helping out over an extended period of time. One requirement we have decided on is membership in the message board. If any of you folks are interested, you can contact me at todd@raptureready.com.

I could list in detail many other areas in which people have given their assistance, but for the sake of brevity, I am just mentioning the main projects. Praise goes to the folks who helped with the effort to get our new book in libraries, the redesign of the message board, arrangements for the Myrtle Beach conference, the translation of articles into other languages, the personal testimonies and all the Soap Box articles.

End-Time Weather

As we get closer to the tribulation hour, it is very likely that we will see an increase in the number of destructive weather events. Because Jesus said the end times would come like labor pains, many Bible prophecy scholars have concluded that natural disasters will increase as we get closer to His return.

"Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains" (Matt. 24:4-8 NIV).

A huge amount of focus has been paid to the frequency of earthquakes; however, I think weather needs to be watched equally for signs of increase. There is little doubt that man's consumption of fossil fuels is causing global warming. The increase in temperatures will probably trigger a series of disasters around the planet. I have wondered if the consequences of green house gases are a judgment based on God's perfect timing.

We've already seen an increase in reports of drought and other heat-related calamities. Currently, India and Pakistan are suffering from the worst heat wave in more than a decade. Several location in the middle of Pakistan have reported temperatures above 123 degrees Fahrenheit. India's hot spell has lasted for three weeks and nearly 1,300 deaths are blamed on the heat.

One weather phenomenon I've long kept my eye on is the reported size of hailstones. In the Book of Revelation, we read that one of the most deadly plagues of the tribulation will be occurrence of hail that will weigh about 100 pounds.

"And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, [every stone] about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great" (Rev. 16:21).

I've been noticing an increase in the size of hailstones around the world. In the past couple of years, India and Australia have been lashed by hail of unusually large size.

A little over a week ago, giant hailstones fell from the sky here in Nebraska. Some of the hail was so large it punched holes in the roofs of houses. One ball of ice landed in the city of Aurora and set a Nebraska record for the largest hailstone, nearly matching the national record. At 17 3/8 inches in circumference, it was just 1/8 of an inch smaller than the record hailstone that fell near Coffeyville on Sept. 30, 1970.
---Todd

You say things are getting better and better?

Most who hold the preterist belief about Bible prophecy –the proposition that prophecy, for the most part, was fulfilled by 70 A.D. when Titus and the Roman army destroyed the Temple and Jerusalem—believe also that Christians are making the world better and better in preparation for Christ to return. The Lord will then, they preach, rule on His throne over a utopian earth.

Sadly, the entire reform movement (those who broke away from the Catholic Church in the 1500s-1600s) believe, too, that this world is becoming ever better through their efforts –that is, the efforts of the Christian Church.

If you’ll notice, these “reformers” –for example, Dr. James Kennedy of the Presbyterian Church and his Coral Ridge Ministries—preach a message that is heavily slanted toward working within the political process to make America and the world everything God means for them to be.

Please let me at this point try to assuage all who love and admire Dr. Kennedy from branding me instantly as a heretic. I’m one of you. He presents the Gospel in as clear light as anyone in the history of Christianity. I love and admire him and his ministry as his Christian brother.

However, I must take exception to the part of his theological package that proposes the world can get better and better through true Christian political efforts –or through any other human-based effort. It just ain’t happening, and ain’t going to happen.

Here’s why:

Man is still fallen. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. There is none good, no not one –except through and in Christ Jesus.

Those are some Scriptural reasons. Here are some proofs today of prophetic truth given in the words of the Apostle Paul:

Dr. Kennedy, I ask you…You say things are getting better, and better?

Read your headlines in your morning or evening newspaper today. Catch your local and national news on television, or on radio. You will find that every one of the symptoms of end-time man, listed by Paul in 2 Timothy, Chapter 3 resides within those stories –every day!

Again I must say –as I did last week—primary among signals that we are bumping up against the end of the age is the idea that God has turned his back on Israel. The Church is doing just that in large part.

Those who turn their back on Israel, denying that there is any future for the Jewish state, so far as God’s prophetic plans are concerned, fall right into place among the rest of America and the world, who, through their “do good” and “feel good” programs, march proudly having a form of godliness. But, they deny the power thereof. They are not making the world grow better and better. They are a major part of making it infinitely worse. They are dangerously close to the prophesied apostasy that will be filled with men (and women) who will deceive and be deceived.

Paul tells us, “from such, turn away” (2 Tim. 3:5).
--Terry James

June 23

The Demonic Nature Of Harry Potter

If you watched any news this past week, you probably saw a promotional segment that heralded the arrival of JK Rowling's latest Harry Potter story. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix has received a huge amount of media coverage.

Harry Potter has become a global publishing phenomenon. The first four books have sold almost 200 million copies in 55 languages and 200 countries. An estimated 13 million copies of book five have now rolled off the presses.

The book has already broken internet sales records with more than 1 million advance orders received by Amazon. A spokesman for Britain's largest bookseller, W. H. Smith, said copies were "flying out of the stores at a rate of more than eight a second."

The book series is about a boy named Harry Potter who attends Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. All his teachers are witches and warlocks, and they tutor their students in the dark arts of sorcery and divination: fortune telling, astrology, potion mixing, spell weaving and curse casting.

The Potter books are commonly praised for "capturing the imagination of children everywhere and helping to encourage a love of reading." I think it's ridiculous for people to claim that an increased interest in reading justifies exposing children to the dangers of the occult. If Rowling had written books on how to be a terrorist, I highly doubt that people would be pleased for youngsters to read them.

I strongly believe Harry Potter is a tool of the devil that is leading many young people into witchcraft. Here are a few quotes from some young fans of the series:

"Harry Potter is a religion," said Connecticut teenager Caitlin Messina, clutching her new Nimbus 2000 broomstick.

"I want to go to wizard school and learn magic. I'd like to learn to use a wand to cast spells" (Dylan, age 10).

"If I could go to wizard school, I might be able to do spells and potions and fly a broomstick" (Myra, age 12).

"It would be great to be a wizard because you could control situations and things like teachers" (Jeffrey, age 11).

"I'd like to go to wizard school and learn magic and put spells on people. I'd make up an ugly spell and then it's pay-back time" (Catherine, age 9).

"I feel like I'm inside Harry's world. If I went to wizard school I'd study everything: spells, counterspells, and defense against the dark arts" (Carolyn, age 10).

"I liked it when the bad guys killed the unicorn and Voldemort drank its blood" (July, age 13).

It's rather obvious that most Christian organizations have shied away from strongly condemning Harry Potter. The books have become so widely ingrained into society that church leaders are reluctant to speak out against Potterism for fear they be labeled as right-wing extremists.

The Christian community has largely lost its will to fight against apostasy, and it appears that the world has already realized this fact. In recent years, the producers of books and movies with occultic themes have only had to worry about how to market their products in the Arab world.

When the day of reckoning comes, I believe JK Rowling's books will prove to be as deadly as the writings of men like Karl Marx and Charles Darwin. What makes Harry Potter so destructive is the opportunity it provides for demonic forces to gain a foothold in the lives of its readers and our society.

The Bible repeatedly tells us that Satan and his host of fallen angles are responsible for causing much of the world's ills. When people become involved in the dark arts, they open the door for devils to create havoc in society.

The nation of Haiti is totally overrun with the practice of voodoo. It is no secret that Haiti holds the title, "the armpit of the western hemisphere." I blame the influence of demonic spirits for the Haitians' abject poverty and suffering under one corrupt dictatorship after another.

The Holy Bible offers numerous warnings about the dangers of fooling around with the occult:

"There shall not be found among you [any one] that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, [or] that useth divination, [or] an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things [are] an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee" (Deut. 18:10-12).

"Now, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who prophesy out of their own imagination. Prophesy against them and say, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Woe to the women who sew magic charms on all their wrists" (Ezek. 13:17-18).

"The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood--idols that cannot see or hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts" (Rev. 9:20-21).

"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils" (1 Tim. 4:1).

Source:
http://www.chick.com/catalog/videos/kids.asp

Antichrist's Religion Right on Schedule

The designation "Antichrist" has two basic meanings. First, it means "against Christ," or "opposed to Christ." Second, it means "an imitation of, or in place of, Christ." The apostle and prophet John -the same fellow who penned the Book of Revelation under divine guidance-defined Antichrist in this way:

"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world" (1 John 4:1-3).

We can know, with John's definition, that the Antichrist system, already a part of the world during the apostle's time, is a deeply spiritual entity. It is not God the Holy Spirit who spawns and perpetuates the Antichrist system; however, it is the evil spirit that first infected Lucifer and the angels who followed him in rebellion. The Bible calls it the "mystery of iniquity" (2 Thess. 2: 7).

Religion is but a "belief system." Usually it involves spiritual or life-after-death matters. But any belief system can become a religious system if "faith" is involved. In other words, when one believes so strongly that it becomes absolutely, irrefutably true in his own mind -even though there is no way of proving that belief, it is, in effect, religion to that person.

One very relevant example is evolution. No evidence that evolution, the way it is presented, has any basis in fact. Yet the scientific community, the public educational system, governments, and thousands of organizations, are blindly devoted to its tenets. This is religion.

So, the Antichrist system that is prophetically foretold to develop will be a religious system. And the major tenet of that religion will be the commandment to believe that Jesus Christ has not come in the flesh. Again, John the apostle and prophet, said: "...Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist..."

Let's look for a moment at this belief that Jesus Christ has not come into the world in the flesh. The first and most obvious meaning of the Antichrist spirit is that it denies that Jesus even came into the world as anything other than a man. The Antichrist spirit might even admit that Jesus might have been a prophet, teacher, or a special man. But the religion of Antichrist denies Jesus as deity, inserting himself into the affairs of mankind.

The second meaning, it can be inferred, is that Jesus Christ came into the world, but not to seek and save the lost. Again, this relegates Him to being merely a historical figure who taught man to do good things. But He certainly didn't come to redeem mankind from some sort of original sin.

A third meaning of the spirit of Antichrist that says that Jesus Christ has not come in the flesh is a most interesting one, and very relevant to our world today.

We must consider: What is meant by the term "...come in the flesh..."?

Did Jesus come in the flesh? Almost everyone, even atheists, believe that a man called Jesus, known by some as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth, was a historical figure who lived at around the time of 1-33 AD. Or as the revisionists would have it, 1-33 CE. (Common Era).

So this cannot be what is meant by the "spirit of Antichrist" as defined by John when he said that it is the denial that Jesus came in the flesh. There is, in my view, another -a third-meaning, which I now propose.

This meaning is wrapped up in the nation Israel and the growing attention it is getting from the world community.

The entire world at large, not just the Arab or Islamic world which so vehemently hates the Jew and Israel, gives that country no special place among nations. As a matter of fact, it considers Israel, for the most part, a stumbling block on the road to trying to make peace. Yet, God says in His Holy Word that Israel -the Jew-is a very special people. They are, He declares, His "chosen people." They are chosen in the sense that He, in His absolute right to choose to do whatever He wants with His creation, has chosen them for a very special and specific purpose.

God has chosen the Jew to bring Jesus into the world. By so doing, God, himself, has come down to man. Jesus came into the world in "flesh" form. That is, He was a living, breathing human being. Only He was, and is, the very Son of the Living God!

Jesus Christ's special purpose was to come to die for the sins of the fallen creature called man. He had to come in order to be the perfect sacrifice that will cover the original sin of disobedience in the Garden of Eden, and, subsequently, every sin that has ever been committed--past, present, and future.

Every person who has ever been born is already dead in sin, in God's holy view. That is, every person was born into a sinful world of sinful beings who must be cleansed of sin, or "saved" from that sin, in order to ever be redeemed. When a person is "born again," he or she is born into the family of God through belief in God's only begotten Son, the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ came into the world for that purpose. He came in the flesh. To deny that He came for that purpose, and accomplished that purpose, is to partake of the "Antichrist spirit."

Jesus came as a Jew. He was born to a Jewish mother, fathered by God, the Holy Spirit. Jesus was, is, and will forever be the Jewish Messiah. From the standpoint of His human heritage, He is a Jew!

Antichrist, like Hitler, Stalin, and so many other demoniacs throughout the millennia will hate the Jew. He will hate the Jew because his spiritual father, Satan, hates the Jew. They hate the Jew because the Redeemer of all mankind came into this fallen world to save man, and to ultimately overthrow all evil, through a race called the Jew.

To hate Israel (Jews), or even to blame them for the world's problems, or to write them off, is antichrist at the core. There is no other logical explanation why Jewish people have been so persecuted throughout the ages.

The race has given mankind many, if not most, of its grandest achievements, no matter which field we consider. Yet, the Jews have been reviled as the scourge of the world.

There is today a religious fervor again building. It is building in Europe like in the months leading up to Hitler's becoming chancellor, then fuehrer, of Germany during the 1930s. This fervor is a fever. It, at its festering center, denies that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. It is Antichrist in its implications!

This will be the core belief of the tribulation religious system found in the seventeenth chapter of Revelation. The religionists, as well as the secularists, i.e., every aspect of society during that seven years of horror -particularly the last three and one-half years-- will persecute, hunt down, and murder Jews. They will hunt down not only Jews, but the saints of Christ who have been saved during that era.

Coming back to the present, a question should be asked. Do we see this denial that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh within the Christian faith today?

I think the answer is a resounding "Yes!"

Replacement theology is on the rise. This means church theology is more and more putting forth the heresy that the Church has replaced Israel in God's prophetic plans. These theologians hold to the belief that God is through with Israel, that His covenants with the Jews are no longer in effect. They are denying Jesus' Jewishness.

Such belief and teaching is apostate. It is Antichrist at its black heart. It reflects the precise definition of John's words on the Antichrist spirit. By this, we know Antichrist's religious system is developing right on schedule.

It does one thing more. Replacement theology is but another major indicator that, combined with all the other indicators exploding all around us today, shows that this generation is quite likely the one during which the Rapture will take place.
--Terry James

June 16

European Union Draft Constitution Unveiled

European leaders have finally ironed out the final version of the draft for the constitution of an enlarged European Union. The document will be made public at a summit in Greece this week.

Former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing, who headed the convention that produced the text, said that history had been made. Representatives of several countries, including Britain and Spain, say the draft will need to be amended when governments start to debate it later this year.

The draft makes it quite clear that the EU's days of being an economic club are about to end. It states, "Every national of a member state shall be a citizen of the union." When the other 10 nations join with the current 15 members, the world will have a union with 450 million citizens. That's larger than any population mass except for China and India. And that represents an economy worth more than $9 trillion, which is close to that of the United States.

The Catholic Church reacted with a big uproar over the fact that the document makes no reference to God. Delegates decided from the very beginning that there would be no mention of the Creator.

The Greece summit could play a key historic role in determining whether the Union will remain a loose alliance of sovereign countries or move closer to a super-state status.

The Bible does not require that the Revived Roman Empire initially be a strong coalition of states. In fact, the Word of God says it will politically be the weakest of the all the world governments predicted by the Prophet Daniel. The EU will likely be the fulfillment of the future "ten toes" kingdom that the Antichrist will use as his power base.

? "This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay" (Dan. 2:32-33).

The proposed plan of operation calls for the EU to replace its rotating leadership, which now changes hands every six months, with a president elected for up to five years by the member states. The target year for making this switch is 2009. The EU will also get a foreign minister who will give the U.S. Secretary of State some stiff competition.

I am amazed at how quickly the EU super-state is coming into focus. Some policymakers are wrangling over who will control various parts of the new government. But no problem seems powerful enough to slow the forward motion of the integration process. Barring the development of any roadblocks, I firmly believe we have a strong indication that the Lord's return is drawing very near.

sources:
http://www.eubusiness.com
http://www.nytimes.com

 


 

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