Tuesday, February 24, 2015

The Lord began to awaken me with - tell them that I need them to stand down

Sunday morning, February 22, 2015, The Spirit of the Lord began to awaken me with some rather vivid dreams. In these dreams he said, there are mighty and upright men that are willing and able to remove the corruption that controls these United States. Implore them that they are to stand down, for this situation is of my design and for my purpose. Over the course of an hour, the same dream kept coming back to me. I finally figured out that the Holy Spirit was trying to tell me something so I got up and started typing.
May I be honest; I have some serious concerns about our government monitoring everything we do on the Internet. I believe that if I get to descriptive about what I saw men’s lives would be in danger, and I would have someone knocking on my door with evil intent. I wish to avoid that for as long as I can. If you are not aware of it, our government has deemed those who have strong religious convictions, voicing their opinion about wrongs in the land, to be a greater threat to this nation than Islamic terrorists.
I am calling out to thewatchmen upon the wall
watchmen upon the walls;
those who will not rest
until there is peace.
Isaiah 62:6

I consider myself a watchman upon the wall. I truly believe that God called me do that, and therefore holds me responsible for giving out what I hear and see. When you consider the origins of the watchman, there was really no Holy Spirit involved in the process; it was a job that provided for the safety of the city. In math you learned the term extrapolation, do that with a statement like this, contrasted against God’s word and you will find that we are that city. I learned a long time ago to not slap a qualifier to the things I hear in my spirit, and then speak out of my mouth. The reason is that you cannot take the man, the things that influence him, and his brokenness out of the prophetic word. It stands to reason then, that anything said can be motivated by current and past issues. If you followed me on Facebook, then you could easily understand where I am coming from.
The dream reappeared over the course of several hours. In it, I saw determined, angry, and righteous men, covered in camouflage, and heavily armed. In the dream, I understood their purpose, and God made it clear to me that they would successful. The dreams kept repeating and I tried to shake them off and go back to sleep, thinking they were motivated by the things I give too much attention.
I have one other concern. How I am supposed to stop determined men, men who call themselves Christians, from carrying out violent acts? This is all I know how to do. If this speaks to you, then pass it on.
The Spirit of the Lord said, tell them that I need them to stand down. For now I am asking you to, "Put your weapons away. (for) Anyone who lives by fighting will die by fighting. (Matthew 26:52 CEV). I do not need you taken out of the fight prematurelyThe day is coming soon when I will come and extract my church and take them home, but until that day comes your weapons are spiritual and of more use than any earthly weapon.
For although we live in the world, we do not wage war in a worldly way, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. They have God's power for pulling down of fortifications, destroying counsels, and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God. (2 Corinthians 10:3, 4, 5a CJBESV)
He continued, “there are dark days coming and you would be foolish to long for them, for the battle is already upon you. When those days come it will be time for the mighty to rise and lock shields. It will be the time to put on the face of war and determination, and yet it will still be a time of prayer and power; this is what I was telling you when I had my prophet Joel declare what the end will look like.
“Blow a ram's horn in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain; let all the inhabitants of the land tremble. For the day of Jehovah comes, for it is near at hand; a day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread on the mountains; a great people and a strong people; there has not been ever the like, nor shall there ever be again, even to the years of many generations.” (Joel 2:1-2 MKJV)
As believers you are being asked to take the role of a Para Jumper, a person whose primary purpose is to give aid, recover victims, and still be a serious threat to the enemy. Ready and willing to move in PRAYER at a moments notice.
What I am asking you to do, with the same determination and purpose, is Pray.”
“At a moments notice Pray.”
parajumpersPray as if your life depended upon it.
Pray as if your family was in jeopardy.
Pray, trusting that God will come through.
I am speaking to the mighty men, men who hear the cry and call in your spirit; men who will respond to me, just as they did to Moses.
Therefore take to yourselves the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. (Ephesians 6:13 MKJV)
If you are familiar with this event in scripture, then you know that Joshua, who had been at the bottom of the mountain waiting for Moses, reported that he thought there was a battle going on. If you understand Joshua, then you know he was ready to charge into the melee. Moses, on the other hand heard the sounds of a big party, and in many ways, it was. Pushed by the people, Aaron had made them a calf out of gold, at least that is the childish way it is described. Stephen, in the seventh chapter of the book of Acts, told the Sanhedrin court that was about to have him killed, that what Aaron made was the god Moloch. Moreover, Aaron had made a temple for the gods he made. No one on that panel of learned Jewish scholars challenged Stephen about his statement, because he was correct and they knew it. A little research indicates that what Israel did that day was so detestable, that they would not speak of it. Moloch was a half calf, half man creation that had outstretched arms. It would then be heated and they would lie their babies on the heated arms to roast as a sacrifice to a god they had adopted. The following verse is in response to the horrors they committed in sacrificing upon this piece of garbage.
"And when Moses saw that the people were unruly and unrestrained (for Aaron had let them get out of control, so that they were a derision and object of shame among their enemies), Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Whoever is on the Lord's side, let him come to me. And all the Levites [the priestly tribe] gathered together to him." (Exodus 32:25-26 AMP)
Yes, The day is evil, but it is going to get worse.” However, there is hope, and it comes on two fronts.
Those of us who have Christ living in us, are in Him, and therefore living in the promise of His salvation from that seven-year period of intensifying sorrow and death, coming upon the earth. Many call it the great Tribulation; it is not called that at all, but is called a time of wrath and judgment. Clearly, during that time there will an a time of great tribulation, bad enough to where all men in opposition to the ungodly world leader, we call the Anti Christ, would be killed.
That sounds pretty dismal and inescapable, and for some that will be the case. And yet, there are some who will come to Lord during this time and rise up in a power like unto the prophets like Elijah, who called down fire, or like unto Samuel who called the lightning down upon the Philistines, and by his word caused the ground to open and swallow many. We see the directive and evidence of this happening in Joel’s prophecy to end time believers.
You need to understand something; you do not want to take that chance, not when we have God’s grace extended to us now. Thanks to His Son’s sacrifice on the cross, we are covered by the blood of Jesus, and our sin (an unfortunate, permanent aspect of who we are) is paid for. We are not being judged for sin, having the advantage under grace to receive Jesus Christ into our lives. At that point, we are immediately accepted into the kingdom. People who come to God during the last seven years, have missed that opportunity, and now must prove their allegiance to God (that is the best way I can explain it).
“Later, I will give my Spirit to everyone. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will have dreams, and your young men will see visions. In those days I will even give my Spirit to my servants, both men and women. I will work wonders in the sky above and on the earth below. There will be blood, fire, and clouds of smoke. The sun will turn dark, and the moon will be as red as blood before that great and terrible day when I appear. Then the LORD will save everyone who faithfully worships him. He has promised there will be survivors on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and among them will be his chosen ones.” (Joel 2:28-32 CEV)
I grieve over the fact that while the people who go through the wrath are those that were not raptured, and must endure horrors comparable to what ISIS is dishing out in the Middle East. There is a sense of excitement, because I always wanted to walk through this earth, with strength, as I perceived the prophets did. That is the complete opposite of how I have perceived myself.
I think I am the exception and that no one else struggles internally. Truth is, these prophets were really no different from you or I, but there is one thing that set them apart, they chose to believe in a God that can and will come through.
Yes, we are in the last days. The signs of His coming are all around us, this is one of the reasons I write. This is my shofar and I am blowing it. Sadly, as believers, we have to be on our guard, because deception will come, and unfortunately, it will come from people you thought you could trust. Pastor Rob Bell has been busy lately selling out the church to Oprah Winfrey. An aspect of what he is saying is that the church must cave on its ideas about what sin is, or we will lose our relevance. I have news for you, our relevance is already lost; we gave that up when we pushed the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit out of the church.
Look at what Paul wrote to the church at Thessalonica.
Do not let anyone deceive you in any way. For the Day will not come until the final Rebellion takes place and the Wicked One appears, who is destined to hell. He will oppose every so-called god or object of worship and will put himself above them all. He will even go in and sit down in God's Temple and claim to be God. Don't you remember? I told you all this while I was with you. Yet there is something that keeps this from happening now, and you know what it is. At the proper time, then, the Wicked One will appear.” (2 Thessalonians 2:3-6 GNB)
I am telling you that the time of His return is upon us. I am not ignorant of how long people have said this; I am just choosing to ignore those that merely whine all the time. We have a mandate to live in anxious anticipation, and in so doing I preach a gospel of repentance. Do you know what repentance means, simply this, turn around and go in the opposite direction? Since we have the freedom to choose what gods we want to follow, we tend to follow the ones that make the fewest demands upon us. This allows us the freedom to act as selfishly as we choose, doing our own thing. That’s heavy. Christ clarified with a few simple words to a bunch of Jewish detractors, love the Lord your God, and love your neighbor as yourself. Is that really so hard?
If you are a believer, this passage in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-6, tells that the Antichrist will oppose everything godlike and all worship of anything but himself. I strongly suspect this will be Allah, it sort of fits the common theme among Muslims these days. On the other hand, did you notice that there is something holding this “world” leader back, keeping him from the free reign he desires? Here again I think I know the answer to that also. It is those of us who pray against the enemy’s advances.
A short story and then I am done. At a time when I was going through a divorce from a cheating wife, I rented a room from a friend down the street. Was I living successfully for the Lord at the time? I would not say so, but I was trying desperately to hang on. One night I stopped in the living room, where he was watching the news. They talked about a hurricane that was going to slam into the Texas coastline in a matter of minutes. With an unusual boldness, and the knowledge that he had an Episcopalian background, I said, scripture tells us that God made the sands as a limit to the waves, and in the power of the name of Jesus, I command this hurricane to turn back out to sea. A few seconds passed and then the newscaster said, they are telling me that the hurricane just turned and is headed back out to sea. My friend, with his mouth hanging open just turned and looked at me. I would love to be able to tell you that he fell on his knees, repented and turned his life over to God right then, but that did not happen. He seemed to look at me in awe after that, but nothing really changed, except in me. God became bigger in me that day, kind of like the Grinch.
The LORD is his name, and he is a warrior! (Exodus 15:3 CEV)
We are those warriors!
The 300 spartans

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Blood Moons, and how they might affect me.

I purchased John Hagee’s book, Four Blood Moons - Something Is About To Change, after watching Pastor Hagee and three prophecy teachers on TBN recently. Several gave Pastor John’s book the thumbs up, and I felt like I wanted a singular resource that would bring me some understanding about the blood moons. Having read it, I think they were just being polite. I will say this about the book though – once he got to the facts and stopped selling himself, I found it fascinating. Pastor John did make mention that he got his inspiration from Mark Biltz, and then followed that up with an Internet search at NASA.org.
Because I wanted to give you some scientific background information without the obligatory religious spin, I went to earthsky.org and obtained some information from an article by Bruce McClure and Deborah Byrd, entitled, “What is a Blood Moon?”
What is a lunar tetrad?
Both astronomers and followers of certain Christian pastors are talking about the lunar tetrad of 2014-2015. What is a tetrad? It is four successive total lunar eclipses, with no partial lunar eclipses in between, each of which is separated from the other by six lunar months (six full moons)”
The authors, whom I used to catch on NPR years ago, explained,
Meanwhile, both astronomers and some proponents of Christian prophesy are talking about the ongoing lunar tetrad – the series of four total lunar eclipses – which began with the total lunar eclipse on the night of April 14-15. We at EarthSky don’t have any special knowledge about the Blood Moons of Biblical prophesy. But, since they’re moons, and since people are asking us, we wanted to provide some info.”
The way I see it, they are not promoting this for religious purposes, and therefore I should not be inundated with drama. I am not denying that there may be drama involved, and that is likely if it coincides with God’s word as significantly as it has in the past (I will try to explain how earlier events coincided with God’s word, as we go).
Even the authors made note of Mark Biltz and John Hagee.
Blood Moons in Biblical prophecy. We’re not experts on prophecy of any kind. But we’ll tell you what we know about the new definition for Blood Moon that has raised so many questions recently. From what we’ve been able to gather, two Christian pastors, Mark Blitz and John Hagee, use the term Blood Moon to apply to the full moons of the ongoing tetrad – four successive total lunar eclipses, with no partial lunar eclipses in between, each of which is separated from the other by six lunar months (six full moons) – in 2014 and 2015. John Hagee appears to have popularized the term in his 2013 book Four Blood Moons: Something is About to Change. Mark Blitz and John Hagee speak of a lunar tetrad as representing a fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. After all, the moon is supposed to turn blood red before the end times, isn’t it? As described in Joel 2:31 (Common English Bible):”
I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth, Blood, fire and columns of smoke. The sun will be turned into darkness And the moon into blood Before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. (Joel 2:30-31 NASB)
 “That description, by the way, describes both a total solar eclipse and total lunar eclipse. Sun turned to darkness = moon directly between the Earth and sun in a total solar eclipse. Moon turned to blood = Earth directly between the sun and moon, Earth’s shadow falling on the moon in a total lunar eclipse.”
eclipse_total_espanek_10-27-2004-e1358526755212
I suspect that much of this blood effect is due to the haze and pollutants in our air. Nonetheless, it is dramatic, and coincides with the description scripture gives us. I was thinking about that aspect of the sun turned into darkness. Are you aware of the smog related conditions in China?
smog in BejingIndia also has its fair share of smog pollution.
New Delhi smog
New Delhi, India, has the worst air pollution in the world, according to the WHO. All that smog is altering weather patterns around the world. Altaf Qadri, File/AP
I have often wondered if God showed images like this to the prophetic writers and gave them the freedom to explain what they saw. Rather apocalyptic isn’t it?
SUMMARY OF THE FIRST 7 TETRADS SINCE CHRIST by Steve Fletcher
"There is a recurring theme we need to see... a very important recurring theme in each and every Tetrad. Did you notice? It has to do with..."
 ISRAEL, ROME & ISLAM
 162 - 163       Persecution of Jews and Christians... by Rome
 795 - 796       Rome and Islam battle for dominance
 842 - 843       Vatican attacked by African Islamic invasion
 860 - 861       Islam unable to advance into Europe
 1493 - 1494   Jews expelled from Spain, Birth of the New (Western) World
 1949 - 1950   Rebirth of Israel, freedom from the Arabs
 1967 - 1968   6 day war, victory over their Arab enemies
 Another important detail we need to consider with the tetrads... when you look at each one you will see that key events can happen before, during, or after the tetrads are completed. The Tetrads are a heavenly confirmation of major events that will occur, but the exact timing of those events are not revealed by the Tetrads. By looking at the chart above with all the Tetrads together you can see the key events before, during or after.
So, the pattern of all Tetrads shows... the Epic Battle for world domination between Israel, Islam, and the Roman Catholic Church has been played out at each and every turn. Based on this fact alone, we can know that this upcoming Tetrad will also be focused on this Epic Battle of the ages, the final battle for world domination... and for the inheritance of the Earth!
One more thing I wanted to show you is a graphic showing the moons in their tetrads, the years in which they happened, and the significant event. Some people are more visual learners like myself, and this may make the point more clearly. seven tetrads after Christ
We are in the middle of the last tetrad to be seen in this century. If you think about what has gone on for about a year now, I think you might agree that ISIS could be one of those significant things. I might also mention Hamas. Based upon statistics from the Israeli Defense Forces, since 2001 there have been over 15,200 rockets and mortars fired into Israel.
On July 7, 2014, the IDF launched Operation Protective Edge in order to restore quiet to the region and stop Hamas terrorism. The single goal of the operation is to stop Hamas’ incessant rocket attacks against Israel’s civilians.
The operation is ongoing, and since the start of the operation over 1000 rockets have been launched at Israel. Of those, 754 have hit Israel and approximately 201 were intercepted by the Iron Dome Missile defense system.
Hamas has fired long range rockets at cities across Israel, including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Rockets such as the M-302 – the same missiles confiscated from the KLOS-C weapons seizure – have long range capabilities and endanger the majority if Israel’s population. Rocket sirens have sounded non-stop across Israel, sending civilians running for shelter.
I am not so different from you. I have heard about the blood moons for a while now, and to be painfully honest, I was wishing they would shut up. I was taking the attitude that we were making far too much of this, and acting like this was going to be a literal event in terms of blood. The Holy Spirit eventually spoke to me, telling me to put the attitude away and pay attention. That is how this journey, a recent one, began. I felt I needed to start with what I think is ground zero for blood moons – Joel chapter two, and I started reading.
And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
(Joel 2:30-31 KJV)
As followers of Christ, we have an admonition about the truth setting you free. However, that will happen only if you allow it. I like to think of this as yielding to the leading of the spirit. Confronted by the truth, God’s truth, have the choice to respond correctly. I do not wish to act foolishly by saying things like there are no prophets today, in the church age. A statement like that goes in total opposition to God’s word.
As I began to share what I had learned, my acquaintance who leans so heavily upon Hank Hannegraf’s Equip.org web site to tell him who he can listen to or not, turned his swill toward me, saying, John Hagee is a false teacher with some notable, date setting errors. My friend also included Hank’s declaration that there are no prophets today. If you are a bible teacher, reading your bible with an honest heart (as my acquaintance is supposed to be), how do you make a statement like that? As you will see, Mr. Fletcher addressed this very thing. (As a side note: I tend not to tell people that God called me to be a prophet. I am not even sure what that means anymore. I just do what he tells me and it has worked out really well when I have been obedient.)
The following is from a website by Steve Fletcher which addressed the blood moons and end times events. Mr. Fletcher took his conversation one step further by addressing the prophetic nature of the information and the people, including himself, who are delivering those words. Sadly, we have far too much drama and that makes the world look at all of us as idiots. Mr. Fletcher even took this in a direction I did not wish to share with you.

Ephesians 4:11

And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers...
If I were to tell you I was a pastor, would you be offended or upset by me saying I am a pastor? What about an evangelist, would I be speaking too highly of myself if I said I were an evangelist? The church is full of people with titles, ministries, callings. It is not offensive or upsetting at all to know teachers and to call them teachers. But what about PROPHETS? It’s not offensive to say I am a pastor, evangelist or teacher. But one mention of the word Prophet and everyone gets all upset by this. Didn´t Paul admonish us to seek the greater giftings, especially to prophesy?

I Corinthians 14:1

Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.
God has given me a prophetic gifting. This is not exalting myself, its simply stating my calling. Its no different than your pastor saying he is a pastor, or a teacher saying they are a teacher. Did not Moses desire for all the elders of Israel to be prophets?

Numbers 11:29

Oh, that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!
"Old Testament prophets brought New Revelations that ended up canonized in Scripture. The apostles were also prophets that spoke of things to come and their writings were canonized. Paul, Peter, James and John were not only Apostles but also Prophets. They Prophesied of things to come, and the light we enjoy today comes from the words of these prophets to help guide us as thetimes of the end are upon us. At least one third of the Bible is written as prophesy... even promises are prophetic as we trust them to bless our future."
"After the apostles day, the role of prophets changed, but continued to exist. As the scriptures were sealed, no new revelations have come that will add to the written Word of God. But Prophets still speak of things to come and confirm the scriptures... it requires a prophetic gifting to correctly interpret the signs of the times."
 While we have a historical record of earlier events, and we can correlate them with the Jewish calendar of holidays, you should be aware that there are still two blood moons left, and like all the other events, they fall within the same two Jewish holidays – Passover and Rosh Hashana.
My critical friend asked if there are specific dates that he should be aware. The answer is no, but I am not stupid and quickly spotted that as a trap meant to debunk not only John Hagee, but me as well. The next question was, “then what do you expect me to do with this information?” I responded with pay attention to what is going on around you and keep your antennae up. I have come to live in expectation, because for one, that is a mandate for the believer, and two, due to the admonition to watch the signs because they tell you that his arrival to catch his church away is imminent. As Steve Fletcher, and history have pointed out, key events can happen before, during, or after the tetrads are completed. God is not constrained to a calendar, but He is making sure that we pay attention by aligning events with it.
You need to think outside of the box and not get so whiny about the statement, “no man knows the day or the hour”. Consider the precision with which God has used the day and hour. Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a precise day and hour. As a man he either had to figure that out, as Daniel did, or he just trusted what the Father told him to do. The temples were both destroyed on the 9th of Av. How would you have planned that out? And yet, God did. Is it possible, that even though we are not to know the day or the hour, we can certainly know the season? That is exactly what Jesus was talking about when he said,
And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. He answered them, "When it is evening, you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.' And in the morning, 'It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.' You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah." So he left them and departed. (Matthew 16:1-4 ESV)
 While some will tell you that social media is evil, and I have to come believe it is a venue for evil, I use it to pass along “signs of the times” to those that will listen. We are in the season of his return. Yes, I understand that followers of Christ have said this for over two thousand years, but a reader of the scripture will tell you, that is what He expects from us. Here is a scary thought from the book of Hebrews.
So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. (Hebrews 9:28 KJV)
What if your animosity toward the prophetic, and end times events and teachers, has scarred you to the point that you are not looking for him; what then?

2014-2015 lunar tetrad

The first total eclipse in this lunar tetrad was on April 15, 2014. The second was October 8, 2014. The next two will be on:
What hugely significant thing will happen on these dates, I do not know. What I do that is that this event time, started almost a year ago, and if I consider the 1492 Tetrad, history demonstrates that the events surrounding the Jewish ghettos, slaughter, and expulsion, actually started long before the tetrad that coincided with Columbus searching for a new land.
You see, what is happening around us now is much like cooking a lobster. The temperature keeps rising, along with its deadly effects, but we are not paying attention, and before you know it, we will be dead. On the plus side, that puts me in heaven, but what about those that must endure the seven years of hell on earth (God’s judgment and wrath). Thirty years ago I would have never guessed we would be dealing with Islam as we are now. If you do not think that they are capable of controlling the earth, you are a fool and deserve what is coming.
 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
(Revelation 1:7 KJV)
 

Something else makes this information about the blood moons important.

The biblical Feast of Trumpets, also known as the Jewish New Year, began at sundown on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2014. It also marked the appearance of the new moon. However, this year on the Hebrew calendar is not just any new year. It is the Sabbath year or “Shemitah” year.
From the website chabad.org:
As soon as the Jews settled in the Holy Land,1 they began to count and observe seven-year cycles. Every cycle would culminate in a Sabbatical year,2 known as Shemittah,3 literally: “to release.”
The year following the destruction of the second Holy Temple was the first year of a seven-year Sabbatical cycle. In the Jewish calendar, counting from Creation, this was the year 3829, 68–69 CE on the secular calendar. By counting sevens from then, we see that the next Shemittah year will be the year 5775 after Creation, which runs from Sept. 25, 2014, through Sept. 13, 2015.
At the end of seven years you will make a release. And this is the manner of the release: to release the hand of every creditor from what he lent his friend; he shall not exact from his friend or his brother, because the time of the release for the L‑rd has arrived. (Deuteronomy 15:1–2)
Deuteronomy 15:1-2 ESV "At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release. (2) And this is the manner of the release: every creditor shall release what he has lent to his neighbor. He shall not exact it of his neighbor, his brother, because the LORD's release has been proclaimed.”
The Shemittah year waives all outstanding debts between Jewish debtors and creditors. The Jews created a way around lenders not being paid, people not wanting to lend, and people trying to take advantage.
This problem has been around for over 2,000 years. Hillel saw that people were avoiding lending money as the Shemittah year neared. In the first century BCE, Hillel the Elder saw that people were avoiding giving loans as the Shemittah year neared. This posed two problems: 1) The wealthy people were transgressing the Torah prohibition against withholding loans out of fear of Shemittah. 2) The poor people who desperately needed loans had no way to procure them. He came up with a novel solution.
Hillel noted that the Torah tells us that only private debts3 are canceled by Shemittah: “He shall not exact from his friend or his brother.” If, however, one owes the court (i.e., the community) money, Shemittah does not affect the loan. Based on this rule, he instituted the pruzbul: a mechanism by which debts are transferred to a beit din (religious court).4 By making a pruzbul, you make your private debts public—and therefore redeemable.5
Isn’t this a loophole devised to circumvent a divinely ordained law?
The Talmud6 explains that nowadays the Shemittah loan amnesty is no longer in effect according to biblical law.7 Thus, since the Shemittah that we observe today is a rabbinic injunction, Hillel was empowered to circumvent these laws due to pressing need.
Virtually all of Matthew 23 demonstrates Jesus disgust with the Pharisees because they made their own rules and tampered with God’s law.
Matthew 23:24 ESV You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!

Take a Break from Farming

You shall sow your field six years, and you shall prune your vineyard six years, and shall gather its produce. And in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest to the land, a sabbath to Jehovah. You shall not sow your field, and you shall not prune your vineyard. You shall not reap that which grows of itself of your harvest; and you shall not gather the grapes of your unkept vine; it shall be a year of rest to the land. And the sabbath of the land shall be to you for food, to you, and to your male slave, and to your female slave, and to your hired one, and to your tenant, those living among you; (Leviticus 25:3-6 LITV)
During the Shemittah year, the residents of the Land of Israel must completely desist from cultivating their fields. They also relinquish personal ownership of their fields; whatever produce grows on its own is considered communal property, free for anyone to take. This aspect of the Shemittah year is known as shemittat karka, “release of the land.”
I realize we are not under the law, but God has never changed, and his laws have ceased to be honored. If abundance was the reward for honoring God’s law (the Shemittah) what happens when we do not, judgment.
Johnathon Cahn, in his book,  “The Mystery of the Shemitah” points out what has happened during several of Shemitah years.
From the World Net Daily website, wnd.com : http://www.wnd.com/2014/09/get-ready-shemitah-begins-this-week/#bqSTZL8X87liQbDU.99
  • Germany, for instance, began its Third Reich with the annexation of Austria in 1938, a Shemitah year, and it ended seven years later when Adolph Hitler committed suicide in April 1945, another Shemitah year.
  • The Russian, Japanese, Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires also fell in accordance with the Shemitah.
  • In 1945, a Shemitah year, America emerged as the uncontested leader of the free world following the surrender of Germany and Japan in World War II.
  • 28 years later, in another Shemitah year in 1973, America lost its first war, Vietnam. America fell victim to the Arab oil embargo and saw its dollar weaken as a result of President Nixon’s decision to remove it from the gold standard two years earlier.
  • 1987 there was a sign in the heavens, a supernova that could be seen with the naked eye. That same year the U.S. stock market crashed once again.
  • On Sept. 11, 2001, Islamic terrorist attacked the U.S. with the attacks on the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon, killing nearly three thousand people. A few days later we again suffered a historic stock market collapse, all during a Shemitah year.
  • Seven years later in the Shemitah year of 2008, another historic market collapse happened. It was the greatest one-day decline in the history of Wall Street.
Some quick math moves you forward seven years to the year 2015, and this is where we find the last two blood moons of the 2014-2015 tetrad. The point, God does everything by a set timetable, it operates on His clock, and there is nothing coincidental. As Pastor John Hagee says, something is about to happen.
On Rosh Hashanah it is customary to blow the trumpets once each day as a type of a warning, and the sound of the shofar is a symbol of alarm and judgment throughout Scripture.
“Yes Elul is all about warning, it’s about trumpets, it’s about getting right with God and it’s about repentance,” Cahn said. “Sundown comes and then comes the Feast of Trumpets, the blowing of the trumpet. The day of the judgment, or the day of the warning. All these converging on this exact precise day.”

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

A conversation in my head.

I am sure I have said these things many times. Sadly, it may have only been a conversation in my head. Before I go blowing off steam at someone I love, I have to ask myself if that was the case; if so, then I feel the need to reiterate. This was the case just recently, as one of the members of our bible study made a comment describing his puzzlement over God’s approach toward man immediately after the fall.
But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?" (Genesis 3:9 ESV)
Allow me to recap.
“Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.” (Genesis 3:1-6 KJV)
 Adam was standing right there. He heard everything. He knew what God had told him, and he had no reason whatsoever to doubt God. He had the same relationship with God that Jesus did. It was an intimate communion, like what you see in a good marriage. It was what Enoch had, and if you do your homework, you will find that Enoch walked this earth at the same time as Adam. Prior to the flood, it is not recorded that anyone, other than Able, had that kind of relationship. I guess that Enoch asked Adam what that was like, and Adam told him. Enoch proceeds to live like that, and walks off the earth.
What is the point of my rambling?
Then the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves apron like girdles.
(Genesis 3:7 AMP)
Adam was very much aware of the ramifications of eating the fruit off that tree. Standing there, watching his woman shove something in her mouth that he knows will kill her, what does he think? That we can only imagine. It is a little easier having experienced something rather like that (it is one of the reasons that I started admitting that I am co-dependent.) Death was immediate, but Eve did not drop at his feet, as he expected. He had no idea what just happened on the inside of her. All he understands is that God promised a death and he was going to be alone. (For a man who had the ear of God at a moments notice, it is hard to imagine that Adam would not have had a complete understanding of all things, but maybe you just do not need ask how and why all the time, when your creator withholds nothing from you.)
We do not know how long it took Adam to bite into that fruit, but when he did, the impact was immediate. Death happened immediately from the inside out. We have such struggles with, how could a loving God even consider making a place of eternal torment, in which He would throw people who SIN like Adam did. You realize how horrible and restrictive that is to my life style. God did not make that horrid place for you. It was made for Lucifer/Satan a fallen angel, and all those who follow him. While there is an eternal torment involved, it is really all about separation from God, and that is exactly what Adam experienced the moment that he ate the fruit.
However long he roamed this earth, with his wife, acting as God would, dominating the “wildlife”, he never experienced any of the emotions and pain he was feeling now. What does Adam do? He tries to hide from God. Are you serious? How could you ever hide from God, and what makes you think he does not know where you are. Can you see how much the man has “died” on the inside?
And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?" And he said, "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself." (Genesis 3:8-10 ESV)
 What does God do?
He asks the man where he is as though he does not know, allowing the man to make the move back toward God. I suddenly realized that this is what we see when Jesus sat on the shore cooking fish, and Peter jumped out of the boat to get to him. It was all about showing respect for the man He loved and created. A man who is broken all the way down to his DNA, and will have to be reminded until the day of his redemption that he is loved beyond measure.
Let us go back to that aspect of eternal punishment.
Why on God’s green earth would he make a hell to eternally punish the man he created, and then be willing to put his only Son through an indescribable torture; have him hung openly upon a disgusting cross meant to humiliate, and then put all the sin of the world upon that Son he loves so dearly? Only one reason, if it gives all of mankind the opportunity to restore the man’s broken relationship brought on by the original sin of Adam.
God is still showing respect for the human, YOU. The good is still there crying out for a restoration of your brokenness, a restoration of communion with the one that made you. Once again, hell was not made for you, only for those who follow Satan, their lord. All it takes is for you to choose the life that Jesus offers you. No, you will not be judged for your sins, and by the way, just sitting there in your rocking chair, you are riddled with sin, whether you know it or not. Unfortunately, in the end, it boils down to, what did you do with Jesus.
 

Saturday, February 14, 2015

What do you see there?

This was the lead in question at a bible study I go to. We had only the week before been assigned a small part of 1 Corinthians chapter one to read. To be honest I did not read it, but next week is coming and we will start at verse 10.
How quickly we forget the beginnings of the church.  I am not as interested in history as I should be, but it might play into Paul’s angst. You quickly notice the fact that Paul is troubled by what he heard. You can make an assumption based upon the overall context of this letter. The problem with an assumption like this is that you may not have read the entire letter. The other aspect of history would be environment. That is great if you have the resources to assess that, but you may not have a study bible, or a good commentary. Without resources, how would you determine the motivation behind Paul’s writing? You have to pay attention to details.
Paul founded this church, assisted by two Jewish believers, Priscilla and Aquila, with whom he lived for a while. Eventually Silas and Timothy joined them and Paul begins preaching even more intensely in the synagogue. When most of the Jews resisted the gospel, he left the synagogue, but not before Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, his family, and many others were converted. 
Because I have recently pondered this idea of "calling", I see where Paul spoke along the lines of circumcision being a calling too. I had no choice, and it was common for babies to be circumcised, but circumcision falls under the category of law (legalism) and has nothing to do with your relationship with God. Christ became the law, freeing us from it, because it did not bring life. We are free from the law; free to no longer live according to the desires of the flesh and operate contrary to the law.
Note the variation between these two translations. While they may be conveying the same idea, one gives the idea of being robotic in actions, while demonstrates the possibility that they are not getting along.
1 Corinthians 1:10 NET.   (10) I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to agree together, to end your divisions, and to be united by the same mind and purpose.
1 Corinthians 1:10 KJV Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
I opened this comment by noting the Jewish influence that would have played heavily in thought and deed, even if they had been converts. I sometimes wish I had received a deep understanding of Jewish thought and tradition and then come to know Jesus. There are things I read now, that I know would make so much more sense to me.
Sadly, I think because of a Jewish acquaintance and her non-thinking responses based in a Jewish tradition that by admission she barely clings to, I would be horribly resistant to someone telling me to throw aside things that have such depth and beauty to me. I do not believe Paul did that. The man was like a Doctoral candidate; he knew the Talmud and the Torah inside out and backward. However, he did not know the Messiah. It does not take much thought to figure out that he walked with the Pharisees as they confronted Jesus. Why he may have been the most vocal of the group, God used who and what he was to flesh out all the freedoms that we believers hold so dear.
When I look at John McArthur's commentary, he is saying, Paul is emphasizing the unity of doctrine in the local assembly of believers. John McArthur goes on to say, "Doctrinal unity, clearly and completely based on Scripture, must be the foundation of all church life." I agree, doctrine, based in scripture, makes for our foundations, but most of us really do not have a clue what our doctrine are. Having looked these up, I can tell you that there are no two that agree. Some foundational truths that are shared are that Jesus Christ is the Son of God; he died on the cross for our sins, and he rose again to give us life. I have moments when I think these are the only things that should be taught, because, based upon conversations, most do not even know this. If they do, they do not act like it.
Doesn’t it make you comfortable knowing that Paul was able to rely upon the scriptures to convey these truths to the newly forming church. I am being facetious, because, as you should know, the closest thing Paul had to scripture was the Talmud and Torah on scrolls. These were so time-consuming to create that they were treated as sacred and kept in the synagogues. No one had a copy in their home, and learning was primarily done on an oral basis. This oral tradition, memorized, was the basis for Paul’s doctrine, and the basis for what he passed on to the church.
For me to read McArthur there is an immediate sense of legalism. This is enforced by a friend of mine who loves to use the term as well. With him, it is always used as a ploy to avoid talking about things he apparently does not understand or makes him uncomfortable. When he uses the term "doctrine”, it is always with volume and emphasis. I guess that is supposed to make us feel small and guilty, as though what we are talking about is not a part of church doctrine.
Webster's dictionary defines doctrine as: 1. In a general sense, whatever is taught. Hence, a principle or position in any science; whatever is laid down as true by an instructor or master. The doctrines of the gospel are the principles or truths taught by Christ and his apostles.
Church history records that Paul spent over a year in Corinth; he taught in the synagogue. That may mean he was there every Saturday (Sabbath). However, it can also mean that he was there at other times as well, using whatever venue was available. What he taught then was considered the principles or position of our freedoms in Christ - the God-man that fulfilled the law, because he knew we could not.
I talked about how Saul/Paul exceeded his brethren in learning and zealousness for the law. Goofing around I said, he was a Doctoral candidate. Perhaps, in a sense, he might have been the equivalent of a Doctor of Theology, and yet he did not know God. Having been knocked off his horse, and blinded by the light, he asked who was talking to him.
I do not know if you are aware of this, but you do not have to receive the baptism in Holy Spirit to have God talk to you. I suspect you could even know whom it is that is talking. Having read testimonies of converted Muslims, many have said that Jesus came to them in a dream or a vision. They have never seen Jesus, and if they had, he most likely would have presented himself in a manner that fit their understanding. Did he do that? Not at all, Jesus shows up dressed in white and blazing with light; and they know immediately whom he is. Did you get that? They recognized him.
Does that seem odd to you; perhaps this will help with your understanding. When Jesus was transfigured on the mount and Moses and Elijah appeared to him. Peter saw this and knew it was Moses and Elijah. Does that make any sense? Surely, someone must have painted a picture of the two that truly captured their profile and essence. Hogwash, all Peter has is a verbal learning of the law and prophets. At best, his mind has created images, just as mine has, and yet he knew who they were.
Let us get back to this idea of doctrine. Therefore, Paul teaches them freedoms, pulled from the only place known to a Jew, the law and the prophets. If you take the time, you will find that everything Paul taught can be traced back there. Paul told us that Jesus himself taught him. Be it ever so brief, Paul describes a time he was caught up into heaven. What I am trying to convey, and I am struggling to paint it, because I am not grasping it, is that the magnificence and character of God emanate from his word. This is what Paul taught. This is what the keepers of the covenant were missing, a relational and true image of God. Adam knew this kind of relationship and he taught it Enoch. Enoch took this understanding and walked off the earth, into God's presence.
Doctrine, doctrine should give us the entire basis for light and life, but what do we do? We scrap with each other; deny others their freedom; accost those that live in freedom; and lambaste any one that is not an attendee of the same denomination as them. We use the term like a baseball bat. We use it to control and subdue; we use it to divert people from truth.
Were we there when Paul spoke? No, we only have the letters that he wrote encouraging believers to stick with the truth. What was truth? What Paul had delivered to them. God must have entrusted Paul with the souls of the world if that is the case.
Paul emphasized that they all speak the same thing. Foundational truths were only the things he taught them, but in those foundations were hidden mysteries pulled from the law and the prophets. We are told that had Satan known these mysteries, he would not have slain the Son of God. This tells me it is all there like that pearl of great price, but who do you know that is willing to buy the field in order to find it? Did Paul teach heresy, going off script, pointing people to things other than the truth found in scripture, no way? I have to wonder, are we pulling people off track, and teaching heresy when we shut them down because we do not like what they are saying, while we adamantly berate them for not sticking to doctrine.
An acquaintance of mine, because of a moral lapse, that only had conversational aspects to it turned into him being forced to step down from a leadership position at church. He was now, over a year later, there at one of our Band of Brothers boot camps. He saw me in action, not integrating well and isolating, and almost a year later had to make a comment to me about it. He said, I noticed how you did not assimilate. Having enough Star Trek to understand how the Borg operate, I take assimilation as a bad thing. Ponder the definition of the word with me.
ASSIM'ILATE, v.t. [L. assimilo, of ad and similis, like. See Similar.]
 To bring to a likeness; to cause to resemble.
Because of the dysfunction within my home as a youth, I have essentially no knowledge nor interest in football. I used to be up on baseball, but that was twenty years ago. Because of my own failures, I have lost everything and never been able to regain any aspect of it again. I am not successful, I am poor; I was shy as a teen, and yet I come alive now if you give me a microphone; my weakness has only proven to now be my strength, because I can get real excited about the changes God has made in me, and should you want to hear about those changes I will be glad to talk to you. All I know is Jesus Christ and him crucified. 
Assimilate, no thank you, but I would love to have a few good friends that will not turn their backs on me, especially when I am hurting. Jesus is all I know. If you think about how well Paul was initially received by those that knew of him, what kind of conversations do you think he had?
There is only one thing that matters to me, my hope in Jesus.


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