Signs From the Heavens

A monster hurricane off the coast of Florida

In his famous discourse he had with his disciples shortly before he was crucified, Jesus Christ revealed several specific signs that would alert his followers that the time of the end was near.

Christ revealed that one of those signs concerned turmoil in the heavens and in the earth's atmosphere: "There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken." (Luke 21:25-26)

That prophecy was fulfilled with the recent, devastating Hurricane Sandy that struck America's east coast, causing extensive flooding and an estimated billions of dollars worth of damage. As hurricanes go, Sandy could turn out to be one of the worst storms to ever strike the United States. Even worse, it struck an area that wasn't equipped to handle that type of severe weather. According to cnn.com: "One thing that makes this storm unique is not so much its 75 mph sustained winds, but the fact that such hurricane force winds extend 175 miles out from its eye. That portends to affect hundreds of miles of territory, on both sides of Sandy's eye, hit hard by destructive winds, with an even bigger swath getting tropical force-level gusts and drenching rains."

There's little doubt that Christ's prophecies concerning the end times are now being fulfilled. He prophesied that earthquakes and famines would increase throughout the world in the last days (Matthew 24:7) and we've seen the fulfillment of that prophecy since the dawn of the 20^th Century. For example, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reported 330 earthquakes across the world from 1900-1950. However, since 1950, the USGS has reported over 1,000 earthquakes across the world, an astounding increase of over 300 percent from the 1900-1950 period. Is This the Time of the End? - Prophecy Review Online

Christ's prophecy concerning signs in the heavens certainly entails more than just massive hurricanes, F-4 tornadoes and monster blizzards. But these signs are just the beginning of things that are far worse to come. Some self-styled experts attribute these increasingly troublesome storms to so-called "Climate Change" or "Global Warming." But there's scant evidence that alleged increases in carbon dioxide levels in the earth's atmosphere are responsible for this extreme weather.

Rather, the increase in violent storms is the direct result of God's judgment upon a sinful world that is growing more depraved with each passing year. Consider that Hurricane Katrina, the monster storm that struck the city of New Orleans in August, 2005 and did an estimated $81 billion in damage, came just days after President Bush had successfully coerced Israel into turning over the Gaza Strip to her sworn enemy the Palestinians. That land was given by God to the Jewish nation and wasn't meant to be turned over to an enemy of Israel. After Israel relinquished Gaza, the Palestinians turned that territory into a launching pad for terror and rocket attacks against the Jewish nation.

This is what the Lord said through the ancient Hebrew prophet Ezekiel concerning those who would divide up Israel's land: "In my burning zeal I have spoken against the nations, and against all Edom, (ancestors of Arab nations) for with glee and with malice in their hearts they made my land their own possession so that they might plunder its pastureland." (Ezekiel 36:5)

Was Sandy God's judgment against the United States? If so, then why? Consider that five of the states that were severely impacted by the storm (Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and New York) have legalized gay marriage. A sixth state that suffered significant damage from Sandy is New Jersey that currently has a bill pending in its legislature that would legalize gay marriage if passed. Furthermore, New York City is the hub of America's mainstream media that has become a propaganda tool for President Barack Obama. The media has been relentless in its attacks against conservatives, Christians and the nation of Israel. That media has also been complicit with Obama in helping him cover up the widespread corruption that has become the signature of his administration.

Certainly, the United States hasn't been the only recipient of destructive weather in recent times. Nearly every nation on earth has experienced severe weather or devastating earthquakes that has resulted in the loss of life and billions of dollars worth of property damage. But since the United States is considered the leader of the free world, it has an obligation to set a moral example for the rest of the world. When the nation promotes unfettered abortions, same-sex marriage, violence and sexual depravity through its entertainment industry, then it deserves God's condemnation and judgment. For example, President Obama, who is the de facto face of the moral free world is working to reverse DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) that was signed into law in 1996 by President Clinton.

What lies ahead for the world concerning Christ's prophecy? The apostle John who recorded the Revelation in about 90 A.D., revealed that the last days on earth preceding Christ's return will be marked by even more violent and unstable weather than we've ever seen. Using descriptive, metaphoric language to describe seven trumpet judgments from God, John wrote this: "The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down upon the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up." (Revelation 8:7)

That sounds similar to global warming, only it will result from God's judgment rather than some manmade source. Then, John wrote this: "The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the living creatures died, and a third of the ships were destroyed." (Revelation 8:8-9) This sounds like some sort of manmade disaster that will plunge into the oceans and be so toxic that it will kill a significant amount of marine life and even destroy ships and submarines.

 

Then, John revealed this: "The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water--the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter." (Revelation 8:10-11) This sounds like some sort of deadly, radioactive chemical that might come from a nuclear weapon and contaminate a significant portion of the earth's drinking water.

Finally, John recorded this: "The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night." (Revelation 8:12) This reveals that God's impending judgment upon the world entails darkening the sun, moon and stars so that the earth is plunged into darkness.

Are we living in the last days? If the increasingly violent weather is any indication, then indeed we are. Tragically, as the world continues to rebel against God by ignoring his laws and mocking his commands, we can expect more monstrous storms such as Hurricane Sandy in the upcoming future.

False Messiahs

Whose Lord and Savior?

To actor Jamie Foxx, Barack Obama is that very special person. So special in fact that the award winning actor boldly described Obama as his "Lord and Savior" at a recent Soul Train awards event. http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2012/11/26/jamie-foxx-calls-obama-our-lord-and-savior#ixzz2DKou43ep

However, over in Eastern Europe, they're not so fond of America's 44th president. From Xavier Lerma of pravda.ru: "Recently, Obama has been re-elected for a 2nd term by an illiterate society and he is ready to continue his lies of less taxes while he raises them. He gives speeches of peace and love in the world while he promotes wars as he did in Egypt, Libya and Syria. He plans his next war with Iran as he fires or demotes his generals who get in the way."

Lerma may be referring to the recent "resignation" of Gen. David Petraeus who stepped down as the Director of the CIA after his marital infidelities surfaced and became public. There was a large consensus that the discovery of Petraeus's philandering had less to do with his resignation and more to do with preventing his testimony regarding what he knew about the September 11, terrorist attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya that Obama and his media sycophants initially blamed on some crude internet video.

Petraeus eventually did testify before the Senate and House intelligent committees and he revealed that the CIA knew early on that the 9-11 Benghazi attack was related to al Qaeda and not to some internet video that insulted Islam. If that's true then Obama lied to Americans with his internet video excuse that he continued to peddle two weeks after the incident. Nevertheless, not only did America's corrupt media fail to raise much of a stink concerning Obama's mendacity, neither did the American public. That lends credibility to Lerma's assertion that many American voters probably didn't pass much more than gas in school.

It's not known whether Foxx passed more than gas when he attended school. But what is known is that Foxx, like an increasing number of Lerma's illiterate Americans, is worshiping a false messiah in Barack Obama who can't save him from his troubles or his sins. But Obama's messiah-like status among moral reprobates such as Foxx fulfills a prophecy revealed by the true Messiah Jesus Christ concerning the appearance of false messiahs in the last days: "For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect--if that were possible." (Matthew 24:24)

Certainly, Obama performed a great miracle by getting re-elected despite an abysmal economy and an equally abysmal record during his first term. Those things tend to happen when millions of people fall in love with a cult hero, despite his shortcomings. 

However, over in Russia, Lerma and his colleagues at Pravda aren't prostrating themselves before portraits and statues of Barack Obama. Lerma writes: "President Vladimir Putin could never have imagined anyone so ignorant or so willing to destroy their people like Obama, much less seeing millions vote for someone like Obama. They read history in America, don't they?  Alas, the schools in the U.S. were conquered by the Communists long ago and history was revised, thus paving the way for Communist presidents."

Do they still read history in America? Not as much as they used to. And they read the Bible even less when you take into account the growing cesspool of moral depravity that many Americans are drowning in. Certainly, idolatry has existed since the beginning of time and it exists today. But when a successful actor such as Jamie Foxx puts his faith and trust in a mortal man who can't even save himself from his own sins, then we have serious trouble. Foxx can worship whoever and whatever he wants. Unfortunately, he's a high profile celebrity who has a lot of influence with young people who admire him. 

And when he's instructing them to worship a fallen human being such as Barack Obama, he's not only encouraging them to break the First and Second Commandments, (Exodus 20:3-6) he's leading them to a false messiah who can't save them from their sins. That's not only blasphemous, that's eternally tragic. You can admire Barack Obama if you want to, but "worship the Lord your God and serve Him only." (Deuteronomy 6:13)

The Real Islam

"The last hour will not come until the Muslims fight against the Jews and the Muslims will kill them until the Jews hide themselves behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say Muslim; the servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me; come and kill him."--Sahih Muslim 5203 (Hadith)

The infamous Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) was established by the Islamic world in 1964 for one purpose only; to destroy the nation of Israel and to drive the Jews out of the Middle East.

And so, the prevailing propaganda that the PLO has successfully sold across the planet for nearly a half century is that in 1948, the Jews successfully coerced the United Nations into unlawfully establishing the State of Israel on land that had legally belonged to an indigenous people called Palestinians for over 3,000 years. In other words, according to this canard, the Jews invented the Holocaust as an excuse to explain why they were driven out of Europe and then they used the U.N. to help them seize land that belonged to "Palestine."

That explains what the so-called "occupation" means when the Islamic world speaks disdainfully about Israel's existence. To the Islamic world, Israel has no right to exist and the Jews have no right to "occupy" land that never belonged to them. And yet anyone with even a rudimentary knowledge of history understands just how fallacious that argument is. Before 1948, the only people who were recognized as "Palestinians" were the Jews. No Arab, Egyptian, Assyrian, Persian, Turk etc. wanted to be called a "Palestinian" because that moniker was just another name used to identify a reviled Jew.

Who are the "Palestinians"? They are a mixture of Arabs, Persians, Assyrians, Egyptians, Turks, Bedouins etc. who settled in that land over the span of 1,800 years after Roman Emperor Hadrian renamed Israel Syria Philistinia or Palestine in 130 A.D. when he crushed the Bar Kochba rebellion that sought Israel's independence from Rome. Furthermore, both the Bible's Old and New Testaments attest to the historical Jewish presence in Jerusalem for over 3,000 years, as does archeology. In fact, the New Testament's four gospels frequently mention Jesus Christ's presence in the ancient Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. That proves that the Jews have had an historical presence in that land for thousands of years.

Unfortunately, a dumbed-down world completely ignorant of history embraces the fallacy of Israeli "occupation." But lying is an integral part of Islam and it is used frequently when it serves Islam's purpose to deceive the world. Muslims claim that Islam encourages its adherents to lie as a means to achieve the ultimate end that seeks to convert the world to Islam and subject it to a global caliphate. Called taqiyya, lying has become the Islamic world's greatest weapon in reigniting global anti-Semitism and inciting the world against Israel.

While Muslims claim that Islam is merely a peaceful religion that just wants to return control of "Palestine" to the Palestinians, their real goal is to wipe all the Jews off of the face of the earth and force all Christians to either convert to Islam or be killed. Islam's hostility toward the Jews and Israel is a microcosm of its global plans to create a global Ummah or Islamic world government that would rule according to Shariah Law.

Islam is not a peaceful religion, nor has it ever been. The Koran contains numerous verses that encourage Muslims to commit to Jihad and fight against all infidels or unbelievers. Here are some examples: "And if you are slain in the way of Allah or you die, certainly forgiveness from Allah and mercy is better than what they (unbelievers) amass. (Sura 3:157) "And indeed if you die (in jihad) or are slain, certainly to Allah shall you be gathered together." (Sura 3:158) "O you who believe! Do not take the Jews and the Christians for friends; they are friends of each other; and whoever amongst you takes them for a friend, then surely he is one of them; surely Allah does not guide the unjust people." (Sura 5:51)

Islam's greatest weapons are fear and ignorance. And the way to overcome fear and ignorance is by the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ that calls us not into a relationship with a religion and its mysterious god named Allah, but rather into a true relationship with God the Heavenly Father through Christ Himself who died for all sinners on Calvary's Cross. That brings true peace into our hearts rather than some artificial peace through a man-made religious system that is violent and evil at its core.

Eternal Thanksgiving

"Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song."--Psalm 95:1-2

When he was asked to describe his faith in Jesus Christ, Richard Wurmbrand said this: "I would rather be the poorest man on earth and know Jesus Christ than be the richest man on earth and be going to hell."

Who was Wurmbrand? He was one of the greatest Christian missionaries who lived during the 20th century. And he also happened to be Jewish. Born in Bucharest, Romania in 1909, Wurmbrand grew up in a nation that eventually became swallowed up by the monolithic and communist Soviet Union. The Soviet Union was not only vehemently anti-Semitic, it was also atheistic, which meant that it viewed Christianity as an outdated belief system for people with primitive minds. When Wurmbrand first professed Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior in 1938, he had two strikes against him; he was both a Jew and a Christian.

That got Wurmbrand jailed twice; first in 1948 for preaching against communism and then again in 1959 for defying the Romanian government by continuing to preach and proclaim Jesus Christ after he had been ordered to stop. When he was mercifully amnestied in 1964, he immediately began traveling the world to share his testimony of the savage beatings and harsh persecution that he was forced to endure during his time behind bars.

This is what Wurmbrand wrote during his first imprisonment that lasted until 1956: "We didn't see that we were in prison. We were surrounded by angels; we were with God. We no longer believed about God and Christ and angels because Bible verses said it. We didn't remember Bible verses anymore. We remembered about God because we experienced it. With great humility we can say with the apostles, 'What we have seen with our eyes, what we have heard with our ears, what we have touched with our own fingers, this we tell to you.'"

During his second imprisonment, Wurmbrand was threatened daily with death; he was starved, beaten and tortured psychologically with nonstop tape recordings that denounced Christianity and praised communism. Though his body bore the physical scars of the torture he suffered, Wurmbrand's spirit never broke and he never renounced Christ. Despite the misery that he was forced to endure--the type of misery that would've broken most men--Wurmbrand continued to give thanks to God for the eternal life that Jesus Christ earned for him by paying the ultimate price for Wurmbrand's sins on Calvary's cross.

Sadly, when most people celebrate Thanksgiving on Thursday--including many professing Christians--they won't be thinking about giving thanks to God for the free gift of eternal life he presented them through Christ's crucifixion on the cross and His resurrection from the dead. Rather, they'll be thinking about consuming lots of food and watching football on TV. While that's become a time-honored tradition in America, it's just an empty ritual where few, if any people even bother to give thanks for anything other than a day off from school or work.

Before you gather at the table and eat the traditional Thanksgiving meal, stop and think about true freedom and who really made it all possible. Certainly, Richard Wurmbrand would gladly cherish your political freedom, and he would never take it for granted. And neither should you. However, mere physical freedom from political persecution without spiritual freedom from sin and eternal damnation really isn't any freedom at all. Therefore, before you eat, give true thanks to God for what Jesus Christ accomplished for you on a Roman cross 2,000 years ago.

The Hope(lessness) of Religion

The late John Cardinal O'Connor at an anti-abortion march

"(Catholic) Church teaching is that I don't know, at any given moment, what my eternal future will be. I can hope, pray, do my very best--but I still don't know. Pope John Paul II doesn't know absolutely that he will go to heaven, nor does Mother Teresa of Calcutta." John Cardinal O'Connor, 1990

How sad it is that over one billion people on earth who believe themselves to be Christians have no assurance of eternal life despite what Jesus Christ clearly taught regarding salvation. 

This is what Christ proclaimed: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16) The apostle Paul, who came to believe in Christ after he encountered him on a journey to Damascus, wrote this concerning eternal life in Jesus Christ: "But what does it (scripture) say? 'The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,' that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the scripture says, 'Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.'"(Romans 10:8-11)

John Cardinal O'Connor was the Archbishop of New York from 1984 until his death on May 3, 2000. And yet he refused to believe what his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ proclaimed concerning salvation. Jesus Christ was no ordinary man or religious leader; he was God incarnate and the savior of mankind who came into this world in human form to suffer a violent death on a Roman cross so that men such as John O'Connor didn't have to pay for their own sins.

And yet O'Connor didn't believe that, nor does the Roman Catholic Church believe that. In fact, the Catholic Church has never believed what Jesus Christ taught in regards to salvation and eternal life. What then does the Catholic Church teach in regards to salvation and eternal life? That salvation is a lifelong process that begins at birth and continues on until after death when the sinner has finally paid for his own sins in a place called purgatory. Then, and only then, can the sinner be admitted into heaven.

Though Christ never taught such nonsense, the Roman Catholic Church has proclaimed that false gospel since its inception in the Fourth Century A.D. In the classic Modus operandi of a religious cult, the Catholic Church arrogantly claims that no one can be saved outside of the Roman Church. The Roman Catholic Church teaches an unbiblical gospel of works as opposed to the biblical gospel of salvation by faith. 

In fact, a Catholic Monk named Martin Luther launched what became known as the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century after he opened his eyes to this scripture written by Paul in an epistle he penned to the early church at Ephesus: "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9) After Luther read that scripture, he rejected the Catholic gospel and went on to promote the genuine biblical gospel of salvation by faith alone in Jesus Christ's death on Calvary's cross for all sin and His resurrection from the dead.

Where is John O'Connor spending eternity? We don't know. But we do know that if he left this world trusting in the Roman Catholic Church for salvation instead of Jesus Christ, he's not spending eternity in heaven. Nor is anyone who put their faith in a manufactured, man-made gospel over the true gospel of Jesus Christ.

The bible clearly states that God "does not lie." (Titus 1:2) Jesus Christ is God; the second person of the Trinity, and he doesn't lie. His proclamation concerning eternal life through faith in his death on the cross for all sin is the ultimate truth. However, fallen men can and do lie, and don't be fooled by their religious titles or their outward piety. It is through these types of men and their corrupt religious institutions that the devil promotes his eternal destruction.

From the Ashes, a New Church

Judgment upon the corrupt church

"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men."--Matthew 5:13

If you're a true born-again, bible-believing Christian, then the Episcopal Church isn't the place where you belong.

From onenewsnow.com: "Officials with the national (Episcopal) church have "inhibited" Bishop Mark Lawrence, taking away his clearance to perform ministry functions for 60 days -- the time allotted for him to respond to allegations having to do with the division between the liberal, dominate faction of the church and biblically based members like himself. In response, his diocese has severed its relationship with the Episcopal Church."

Lawrence's sin in the eyes of the Episcopal ruling elite? He opposes such things as abortion, same-sex marriage and ecumenism; three prevailing views adopted by many apostate churches today where Jesus Christ is now considered as just one of many pathways to God. That certainly wasn't what the Episcopal Church and the other Protestant denominations taught for centuries since their inception. But that's what these churches teach today and it's no big wonder why Protestant denominations such as the Episcopal have lost millions of members since they abandoned the biblical Jesus Christ for a universal counterfeit.

According to Jeff Walton, a spokesman for The Institute on Religion & Democracy, "I think the Episcopal Church has really shot itself in the foot by doing this. They're losing one of their larger, more vibrant dioceses. Indeed this diocese is one of the few that's posted growth in recent years, and there is just nothing that the liberal leadership of the Episcopal Church is really gaining by effectively forcing this diocese out the door."

Tragically, as more churches abandon the biblical Christ for a phony, inclusive Christ, the more they lose members. Lawrence's diocese was one of the few in America that was actually gaining new members while most have been losing them. What this episode proves is that many people are still seeking spiritual truth in these times of incredible evil and depravity. And when they find it, they embrace it like a lost treasure.

Unfortunately, many churches today aren't seeking truth and they aren't interested in obeying Christ's command to go throughout the entire world "and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." (Matthew 28:19) Rather, they're only interested in attracting new members so that they can generate new revenue and try to stay in business.

But that isn't working, as evidenced by the the mass exodus of Christians out of these religious mausoleums. 

And so, for Mark Lawrence and other Christians who have been told to get lost by the mainlines because they refuse to abandon the real Jesus Christ and his commands, here's what you need to do: You need to get back to what the early First Century church was all about; to focus on Jesus Christ and his eternal power over sin and his majesty. And you need to share that with the world. Churches need not meet in exquisite buildings with fancy stained-glass windows. They can meet in homes, basements, garages, office buildings etc. Because where God's people are, that's where the Holy Spirit is, regardless of the venue or meeting place.

And you can get back to being what the church is supposed to be; God's beacon of truth and light to a dark and dying world. Let the mainlines and the big mega-churches keep doing their inclusive, ecumenical thing--their end is coming and it's coming soon. But, as the apostle Paul said: "Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction." (2 Timothy 4:2)

Mayan Malarkey

An ancient Mayan calendar

"At that time (end times) many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people."--Matthew 24:10-11

According to those who are experts at deciphering the ancient Mayan calendar, we've got perhaps only a few short weeks remaining until the Apocalypse takes place or the earth explodes, or something devastating occurs where much of the life on the planet will be erased in some cataclysmic event.

Certainly, after Barack Obama's recent reelection, many have been predicting such a doomsday scenario. The world's financial markets are in a free-fall once again; riots are occurring throughout Western Europe in response to government austerity programs and the United States of America isn't so united anymore with a bunch of states thinking about breaking off from the union to avoid four more years of having to deal with Barack Obama.

Those familiar with the Mayan calendar tell us that December 12 is D-Day for planet earth, as in Doomsday. The ancient Mayans allegedly calculated that on this upcoming day, the world will come to an end. While that's got some people extremely concerned--especially those who'd like to stick around for at least one more Christmas and New Years Eve celebration, not to worry. It was Jesus Christ himself who warned us 2,000 years ago that we'd see a proliferation of false prophets and doomsayers such as those Mayan prophets as we got close to his return.

Since Christ has much more credibility than the ancient Mayans or even Nostradamus, who has become the de facto end time prophet for agnostics and secularists who abhor biblical prophecy, we can take him seriously in regards to his revelations concerning the last days. For example, he accurately predicted the fall of Jerusalem to the Romans nearly 40 years before that occurred. (Luke 21:20-24) And he accurately predicted the rise of earthquakes and famines in the end times as well. From 1900 to 1950, the world experienced 330 major earthquakes, while from 1950 through 2010, the world experienced over 1,000 major quakes. .http://www.prophecyreviewonline.org/apps/articles/default.asp?articleid=82088&columnid=

Furthermore, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) the world experienced 27 major famines during the 19th Century and 37 major famines in the 20th Century. The world has already experienced 14 major famines during the current century which is only 12 years-old. If that pace continues, the world will experience more famines in the 21st Century than during any other century in recorded history.

And so, December 12 promises to come and go without too much fanfare. And the majority of us should be around for Christmas and New Years Day as well. However, somewhere in the not too distant future, the Apocalypse is definitely going to happen, but not before we see the rise of a global government and the appearance of the Antichrist. While that may not occur for a few more decades, it's definitely going to happen. Well, says who? Says Jesus Christ and he's more reliable prophetically than the ancient Mayans.

Here's what Christ revealed: "At that time the sign of the Son of Man (Christ) will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather the elect (true Christians) from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other." (Matthew 24:30-31)

Until then, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and Happy New Years. The world may indeed be coming to an end, but definitely not on Dec. 12, 2012.

A Marriage Made in Hell

Adolf Hitler and Pope Pius XII

"Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a desert. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns."--Revelation 17:3

After the recent presidential election in America that saw Barack Obama reelected against formidable odds, we've been told that the Roman Catholic Church is officially dead. And certainly, when you look at the support Obama received from Roman Catholics in this election, you could make a strong case for the Catholic Church's demise.

For example, 78 percent of Hispanics who are predominantly Roman Catholic, voted for Obama while 52 percent of non-Hispanic American Roman Catholics voted for Obama. Those are significant numbers when you realize that Obama is perhaps the most liberal, anti-Christian president in the history of the American republic. Despite the fact that the Catholic Church condemns abortion, homosexuality and same sex marriage, the majority of American Roman Catholics ignored their church's teachings to vote for an enemy of the Catholic Church. To say that the Roman Catholic Church has lost its influence in America would be a serious understatement.

You may remember the Catholic Church's vain attempt to rally its membership earlier this year with a protest called "Fortnight for Freedom" (June 21-July 4) that was a response to the Obama Administration's Obamacare edict that mandated religious institutions offer abortion and contraception coverage to their employees via their health care plans. Fortnight For Freedom was supposed to be the Catholic Church's clarion call to its membership to rise up against such government intrusion into religious freedoms. Instead, Fortnight For Freedom never generated much interest and was quickly forgotten.

Is the Roman Catholic Church finished in America and throughout the world? Though that would seem to be the case with the Catholic Church's declining influence and membership, biblical prophecy reveals otherwise. According to prophecy, the Catholic Church is going to experience a comeback throughout the world while Islam and secular humanism are going to wane and vanish.

But how so? By the appearance of supernatural events and miraculous signs and wonders that science won't be able to explain away. Though that scenario seems unlikely and farfetched, it's going to happen. In fact, we are beginning to see an increase in Marian apparitions and strange phenomena such as weeping portraits and statues in both Catholic and Orthodox churches as we get closer to this counterfeit spiritual revival that will envelop the entire world and attract millions to follow it. The Apostle Paul explained: "The coming of the lawless one (Antichrist) will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing." (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10)

This counterfeit religious revival will be centered in Rome and will arise in conjunction with a global government. The Apostle John witnessed an allegorical manifestation of this religious-political relationship in a vision (Revelation 17) he received in about 90 A.D. while in exile from Rome on the island of Patmos. John witnessed a garishly dressed prostitute riding high atop an ugly scarlet beast that featured seven heads and 10 horns. Though the scarlet beast represents a global government that will feature 10 nation groups headed by seven powerful leaders, what is the identity of the prostitute that rides this beast?

The prostitute represents a powerful religious institution that will be partners with this world government. But what is her identity? John gave us a clue; she represents a city surrounded by seven hills.(Revelation 17:9) Only two cities on earth are surrounded by seven hills; Rio de Janeiro which is located in Brazil and Rome which is located in Italy. The Vatican is located in Rome and is the world headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church. When John recorded his vision, the Catholic Church didn't exist and wouldn't come into existence until the Fourth Century A.D. 

So don't write the Catholic Church's epitaph just yet. She may seem finished, but she's about to make an incredible comeback. Unfortunately, that comeback is going to take millions of people to hell in the process.

Requiem For a Republic

"What good fortune for governments that the people do not think."--Adolf Hitler

Edgar "Sonny" Campbell, the leader of Philadelphia's Fourth Ward, gives us the defining statement concerning the Triumph of Obama II on Nov. 6: "In this election, you had to point out to the people what was at stake. And in many cases, they felt that the (Mitt) Romney doctrine was not going to favor the working man." articles.philly.com/2012

Never mind that Barack Obama's doctrine doesn't seem to favor the working man either. At least not African-American working men and women who have suffered immensely over the past four years under the Obama Doctrine. According to the latest statistics published by the United States Department of Labor, the unemployment rate for African-Americans in the U.S. is currently 14.3 percent, which is nearly double the national average of 7.9 percent. http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm

Nevertheless, Obama still received nearly 99 percent of Philadelphia's African-American vote despite the woeful unemployment numbers. One question that begs to be asked of Campbell and his ilk: Just when do they expect the Obama Doctrine to start producing real jobs and stop delivering real hopelessness and despair? Or more to the point: When are Campbell and his ilk going to wake up from their extended excursion to fantasyland and rejoin the real world?

And so, back in the real world, the numbers from Nov. 6 tell the story: American Muslims for Obama, 85 percent. Jewish Americans for Obama, 70 percent. Hispanics for Obama, 78 percent. African-Americans for Obama, 96 percent and Roman Catholics for Obama, 52 percent. Despite Obama's open support of gay marriage, unfettered abortions, federally-funded contraception and a blanket amnesty for millions of illegal aliens, America's people of faith whose faiths condemn such things as gay marriage and abortion ignored the tenets of their faith and voted for an enemy of their faith.

Nearly 2,000 years ago, the apostle Paul recorded this grim prophecy concerning the last days on earth: "But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God--having a form of godliness but denying its power." (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

America indeed has a form of godliness with ample churches, synagogues and even mosques. But that form of godliness has absolutely no power, as evidenced by the recent election results. When people who claim to believe in God reject his transcendent moral laws and commandments to choose evil, then they are following a different God who is honored only in the dead, liturgical religiosity of hackneyed rituals. Certainly, the decline of Judeo-Christianity in America has been happening for many years, going back to the sellout by many Protestant seminaries in the 19th Century to ecumenism and secular humanism.

And the results of that were realized yet once again on Nov. 6 when America chose evil over good. I've often said that a nation's leaders are a mirror reflection of the people who elect them. Moral people choose moral leaders who legislate according to God's laws, while wicked people choose immoral leaders who will pander to their depravity. Consider that despite the impending collapse of America's economy, 60 million Americans were more concerned about same-sex marriage, unfettered abortions, a manufactured war on women and free contraception than they were with the economic health, freedom and future of their nation. Shame on them.

Before America can recovery economically, she must recover morally. A nation is only as strong as its moral foundation. Once that foundation becomes rotten because of sin, laziness, apathy, indifference and sloth, then it's only a matter of time before the end invariably comes. And tragically, the end usually comes sooner rather than later.

What the Future Holds for America

Here are four questions in the wake of Barack Obama's reelection:

1) What will happen to Israel now that Obama has been reelected? Will Obama abandon Israel and force the Jewish nation to defend itself against Iran?

Since biblical prophecy (Daniel 8) reveals that a powerful western nation is going to overthrow Iran, we have to assume that the United States is that nation. Daniel's prophecy was recorded 2,600 years ago and identified "Persia" as a major world troublemaker in the last days. Ancient Persia is now Iran, and the United States is still the most powerful nation on earth, although it's in decline. Keep in mind now that Obama has been reelected, he's no longer beholden to his antiwar base. So, he can pull the trigger on Iran without worrying about any blowback from his base. Furthermore, Obama realizes that Iran is not only a threat to Israel, it's a threat to that entire region and even Europe. And so, at some point, he's going to realize that sanctions aren't preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon and he'll have to take military action.

2) What does Obama's reelection mean for American Christians?

I don't think you'll have to worry about the federal marshals coming to your home and arresting you. But Obama is certainly no friend of conservative Christians and Evangelicals. Remember how he insulted us back in 2008 when he remarked that when times are difficult, we "cling to our guns and religion"? During the next four years, I think you'll see more bullying of Christians at abortion clinics and at gay pride parades. The police will be encouraged to push us around and threaten us with arrest if we show up to share the gospel at these venues. You might even see some stealth legislation proposed in the Senate that will attempt to label criticism of such topics as homosexuality and Islam as hate speech. But I don't anticipate any radical moves by Obama to persecute Christians. That will come later.

3) What do you make of the recent election? Many people are stunned that Obama was reelected.

The numbers concerning this election just don't make any sense when you realize what the stakes were. Nearly 14 million fewer people voted in this election than they did in 2008. Certainly, Obama received nine million fewer votes in 2012 than he did in 2008. That made sense when you consider how lousy he was during his first term. In fact, if you told me before the election that Obama was only going to get 60 million votes, I would've pronounced him a loser. And yet Mitt Romney received two million fewer votes in 2012 than John McCain did in 2008. And McCain was a throwaway candidate who had no chance against Obama. What puzzles me is that Romney and his running mate Paul Ryan were drawing overflow crowds during the campaign wherever they appeared while Obama was speaking to half-empty arenas. And yet, Romney-Ryan got less votes than McCain did four years ago. Do I suspect fraud and vote-shaving? Yes I do, but good luck trying to prove that.

4) What prophetic events do you anticipate being fulfilled in the upcoming future?

First of all, I believe that we're going to take out Iran's nuclear facilities through a surgical and deadly military strike. Secondly, I think you're going to see more violent weather strike the U.S. as well as some potent earthquakes. We'll also see more of those deadly forest fires that devastate large areas of brush and land. Thirdly, I think you'll continue to see the Russians under Putin expand their military and nuclear arsenal. Fourth, you'll see both China and India continue to grow into industrial giants as the U.S. industrial base continues to decay. Fifth, I believe that some sort of major terrorist attack is going to strike the U.S. mainland that will result in major casualties. And Sixth, I think that you're going to see some states actually get into military conflagrations with the federal government over its immigration policies. 

When the Light Goes Out

"We don't have to destroy America with missiles. America will destroy itself from within."--Nikita Khrushchev, 1962

The Republic at twilight: In Michigan, Brian Banks, a lifelong Democrat has been elected as a state representative to the 1st District. From 1998 through 2004, Banks was convicted of eight felonies involving credit card fraud and writing bad checks.

From Illinois: Jesse Jackson Jr., who's currently being investigated by a House Ethics Committee for attempting to buy President Barack Obama's former senate seat from disgraced Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Though he's also under investigation by the FBI for using campaign funds to decorate his Washington D.C. home, he has won reelection to Illinois' 2nd Congressional district.

From Massachusetts: Elizabeth Warren, who has falsely claimed to be the descendant of Cherokee Indians, has been elected to the U.S. Senate, defeating incumbent Scott Brown.

From Chicago: Despite endless scandals, high unemployment, annual trillion dollar deficits and a disastrous foreign policy, President Barack Obama has been reelected to a second term. In fact, his opponent Mitt Romney, garnered even less votes than throwaway candidate John McCain did in 2008.

When you look back at the fall of great nations and empires throughout history you find this common denominator; that every collapse was preceded by moral decay and depravity. The ancient Greeks rose on the wisdom, strength and conviction of their culture and ideas that they felt compelled to share with the world. And they fell because they no longer believed that their ideas and culture were worth defending. The ancient Romans went from the most advanced culture of their time on earth to sloth, apathy, indifference, sexual perversion and dependency. Same with the Turks and then later the British who succeeded the Turks.

Though America's fall from greatness has been often been traced to Vietnam or Roe v. Wade in 1973, her fall actually began in the late 19th Century when Christian seminaries and divinity schools began importing liberal theology from their European counterparts. That poisoned the minds of young pastors and missionaries in training who in turn poisoned their followers. They passed off such poison as this; that Jesus Christ was no longer "the way, the truth and the life" (John 14:6) but rather just one of many paths to God. And they passed off this poison; that man's greatest malady wasn't sin but rather poor self esteem. Or this; that it was up to man to create his own heaven on earth rather than attain to some mythical paradise in the life to come.

Christianity's abdication of the biblical gospel in the 19th Century manifested in the moral rot in the early 20th Century during the Roaring 20s when narcissism, nihilism, hedonism and sexual immorality became the new norms for a burgeoning post-Christian culture. In the 1920s, homosexuality began coming out of the closet and alcohol consumption exploded, leading to the subsequent passage of Prohibition as the solution to combat excessive drinking.

The children of the 1920s became the parents of baby boomers who grew into the hippies, flower children and counterculture revolutionaries of the 1960s. As Christianity continued to wane in America, more and more Christians sought to stem the tide of moral depravity through the ballot box instead of the living gospel of Jesus Christ. The American Church failed to "contend for the faith" (Jude 1:3) and secular humanism spread like a deadly cancer through the culture, from education to the media to the entertainment industry. 

If there's a lesson to be learned from Barack Obama's stunning and unexpected reelection despite his terrible record it's this; that you can't legislate morality or spread the gospel of Jesus Christ through politics. I've been warning Christians for many years that if you try to impose Christianity upon a nation through legislation, secular humanists can just as easily legislate their godlessness upon a society.

Think about some of the issues that the Democratic Party continually promoted during the recent election; gay marriage, abortion rights, taxpayer-funded contraception and the so-called war on women. Despite high unemployment, a enormous national debt that threatens to destroy the U.S. economy and endless scandals such as Fast and Furious and the White House cover up concerning the terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya, the Democratic Party got Obama reelected because it sold its own moral agenda to a wicked, post-Christian nation. That mattered more to 60 million Americans who voted for Obama than the economy, the national debt and international security.

If America is to ever recover from Tuesday's debacle, then her churches must make the gospel relevant once again to the nation. That means that Christians must be willing to do the dirty work of knocking on doors, preaching in the streets and engaging the culture with the gospel rather than playing church on Sundays. You can't legislate morality. Prohibition proved that. You can't fight sin at the ballot box. If that's where you're going to battle abortion, homosexuality, gay marriage etc. then you're going to lose that battle every time.

Remember Terri on Nov. 6

Terri Schiavo

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."--John 10:10

I want you to look closely at the face of Teresa Marie "Terri" Schiavo. Though severely disabled, she's responding to her mother's affection. That isn't the face of some human vegetable, unable to sense, feel, see, think or interact with other human beings.

Unfortunately, the state of Florida saw Terri differently up until the day she died on March 31, 2005. That state labeled Terri a human vegetable; unable to function properly as a human being and thus not worthy of life. You may remember the description an evil dictator named Adolf Hitler gave to people such as Terri during his reign of terror as Germany's chancellor during the 1930s and 40s; the Fuhrer labeled people such as Terri "useless eaters."

Terri wasn't always a vegetable or a useless eater in the eyes of the state of Florida. She was once a stunningly beautiful young woman who was employed as a clerk for an insurance company until she allegedly collapsed and went into full cardiac arrest on February 25, 1990 in her St. Petersburg, Fla. home. I say allegedly because there were rumors at the time that Terri's husband Michael may have attacked her during a violent argument, although that was never proven. What made some people suspicious about Terri's sudden cardiac arrest was the fact that she appeared to be in excellent health before she was stricken. During the time Terri's heart stopped beating, her brain was deprived of oxygen and she suffered permanent brain damage.

After several years of trying to rehabilitate Terri, Michael finally decided that she was beyond recovery. In 1998, he petitioned the state of Florida to remove Terri's feeding tube and allow her to die. Terri's parents fought vigorously against the action and a lengthy court battle ensued that finally ended on March 18, 2005 when Pinellas County Judge George Greer ordered Terri's feeding tube removed. Thirteen days later, Terri died of starvation and dehydration. Even more tragically, Terri's parents tried in vain to take legal custody away from Michael so they could save their daughter's life and care for her. 

But to no avail. There were suspicions that Michael stood to collect a significant inheritance from Terri's estate upon her death and therefore refused to relinquish custody of her. And there were suspicions that Michael, an uneducated restaurant manager, was exploited with a significant sum of money offered by euthanasia advocates looking for someone to help them promote their cause. While these and other suspicions abound concerning his strange refusal to relinquish his rights as Terri's guardian, nothing has ever been established. Some even suggested that Michael sought Terri's death because he feared that if she recovered, she might reveal what really happened on February 25, 1990.

What relevance does Terri Schiavo's death have to do with the Nov. 6 presidential election? This: If Barack Obama is reelected, then Obamacare becomes a permanent law. And that law mandates that a board of 15 government bureaucrats (Independent Payment Advisory Board) will eventually have the power to decide who gets medical treatment and who doesn't under a government-provided healthcare system. Under Obamacare, private health insurance will become too costly for many people, forcing them to settle for the government's healthcare program. Remember, if they don't, they will be punished by the IRS with a heavy fine. And as more people leave private insurers, these companies will go out of business leaving the U.S. government as the only healthcare provider.

And that will lead to more heartbreaking situations such as the one that killed Terri Schiavo. Imagine a bureaucratic panel that possesses the power to decide who lives and who doesn't. Imagine someone who's fully capable of living and surviving with just basic medication, being denied that medication because they are too old, too infirm, or even worse--having the wrong religious beliefs or political affiliation. Does that sound paranoid and farfetched? 

If Barack Obama is reelected, that figures to become a nightmarish reality. And so, when you enter the voting booth tomorrow, remember Terri Schiavo.

NoBama No More

The Obamanation of Desolation

Those who regularly read this space understand that I'm no fan of Barack Obama. Since I'm from his political home town of Chicago, I know a little bit more about him than most people do. For example, in the early 1990s, Obama worked for the Chicago law firm of Davis, Miner, Barnhill and Galland. In 1994, he was the lead defense attorney in a case where he defended a notorious slumlord named Bishop Arthur Brazier, a church minister who also headed the Woodlawn Preservation and Investment Corp.

Bishop Brazier's WPIC bought depressed rental properties on Chicago's South Side with the stated intention of rehabbing them to provide quality housing for low income families. Unfortunately, after Bishop Brazier purchased the decrepit properties, he often failed to make the necessary repairs to satisfy Chicago's building code requirements. As a result, during the brutally cold winter of 1994, with the temperature -11 on January 18, the heat went out in one of Brazier's apartment buildings. 

Residents were forced to seek emergency shelter while the City of Chicago subsequently inspected the building and labeled it a literal death trap with numerous code violations. The City of Chicago asked for a permanent court injunction against WPIC as well as the appointment of a receiver and the imposition of a lien on WPIC to pay for necessary building repairs, court costs and attorneys fees. http://washingtonexaminer.com/chapter-iv-for-the-slumlords-defense-barack-obama-esq./article/2508420

Nevertheless, Obama, who claims to be the champion of the poor and the middle class, defended Brazier against the numerous charges brought against him by the City of Chicago. In fact, Obama defended Brazier so well that WPIC escaped with a paltry $50 fine. That was not only an insult to those poor residents who were forced to flee their homes during a severe weather crisis, it was an insult to everyone who has a sense of dignity and justice. 

Obama would probably claim that he was merely doing a job that was assigned to him at that time. Perhaps. But anyone who truly cares about the rights of the poor and oppressed would've rejected such an assignment. Not Obama. He was more interested in doing what was best for him by ingratiating himself with Chicago's powerful social and political operatives than helping those in need. As Brazier lay dying in a Chicago hospital in 2010, Obama offered this bon mot about the notorious slumlord: "There is no way that we can replace the gentle heart and boundless determination that Bishop Brazier brought to some of the most pressing challenges facing Chicago and our nation."

As I've often stated, a nation's leaders are a direct reflection of the people they come from. Moral and upstanding leaders come from moral and upstanding people. Wicked and vile leaders are produced by wicked and vile people. It was Jesus Christ who stated the obvious: "Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them." (Matthew 7:17-20)

When you vote on Tuesday, Nov. 6, I want you to think about the real Barack H. Obama as opposed to the airbrushed version we've been presented for the last four years by Hollywood leftists and America's mainstream Marxist media. The Hollywood version of Obama presents him as a god who descended from the heavens in 2008 to lower the earth's oceans and heal its lands. The real Barack Obama is a sociopathic liar who'll say anything to gain votes and influence. His lies concerning the recent Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya that saw four Americans die needlessly because he failed to protect them in order not to offend the Muslim world are reprehensible and disgusting. 

The real Barack Obama is a political hack who doesn't understand the real world with real folks who are struggling financially under the weight of a bloated and behemoth government and its terrible policies. The real Barack Obama is nothing more than a political puppet of the far left; elected in 2008 by the political machine created by far left billionaire hedge fund manager George Soros who believes that it is his destiny to remake the world through political operatives such as Obama. 

On Tuesday, we'll find out whether Americans seek redemption from the mistake they made four years ago when they elected an unqualified man to be their president. Or, we'll find out whether Americans want four more years of pain, misery, dishonesty, corruption, international embarrassment, high unemployment, higher taxes, high gas prices, high energy prices, high inflation, a shrinking dollar and shrinking paychecks. America, it's your choice.

The End of America

From John F. Kennedy's Camelot and daffodils and roses we now come to Barack H. Obama's Detroit and bulldozers and front-end loaders set to level entire neighborhoods in that blighted city. You may remember that Kennedy once said that a rising tide raises all ships. That was in reference to lower taxes that Kennedy hoped would create more economic opportunities and even greater prosperity for Americans in all economic classes from top to bottom.

In Obama's Marxist paradise, he believes that rising taxes will accomplish the same thing as Kennedy's high tides. Unfortunately history has always proved that rising taxes lower economic tides and maroon economic ships that necessitate bulldozers and front-end loaders to raise all those abandoned homes vacated by overtaxed and overburdened homeowners forced overboard into the Sea of Red Ink. And so maybe Obama and his overmatched economic advisers might want to go back and study Kennedy or even Albert Einstein who famously once described an imbecile as one who continues to make the same mistakes while hoping for different results.

And so during the bygone era of Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, etc. those who continued to fail with the same mistakes were usually replaced, fired or terminated and encouraged to seek new careers where they might find better results. During the upside down era of Obama, however, you can not only be an abject miserable failure at whatever you attempt, i.e. foreign policy, the economy, the environment, domestic affairs, military affairs etc. but you can count on your Hollywood, academic, union and media enablers to applaud the results and nominate you for the Nobel Peace Prize.

The abject failure of Barack Obama and his administration in all things domestic and foreign can more aptly be described as a colossal train wreck rather than a sunken ship because train wrecks are visible and ugly while sunken ships hide themselves on ocean floors deep in dark waters well beneath the surface. It's hard to hide the collateral damage of such a breathtakingly inept administration that has even become inept at mendacity that once was its only notable achievement. But if mendacity is the gift that Obama and his administration keep on giving then it's hard to look this gift horse in the mouth when his other end is pointed directly in your face.

If Americans feel increasingly like they've elected too many rumps of horses in recent years or that they've been losing prosperity and freedom while gaining the byproducts of horse rumps then it's because they've been electing too many leaders after their own hearts. In other words, if you don't like the medical prognosis you can keep changing doctors until you finally find one who tells you what you want to hear. Unfortunately, he probably won't tell you what you need to hear and when the end invariably comes you'll be more in need of an undertaker rather than a medical malpractice attorney.

And if America keeps on the same course that she has been on for the past 60 years then Uncle Sam will eventually be making a date with the undertaker sooner rather than later. The greatest and most prosperous nation on earth has cancer; the moral type that has been steadily and relentlessly destroying its foundation for nearly three generations. If America's presidents are indeed a moral barometer of the prevailing culture then the culture is rapidly approaching Stage Five malignant moral carcinoma.

Consider such godless chief executives as Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter, George Bush I and consider such pseudo-Christian executives as Bill Clinton and George Bush II. And consider conservative icon Ronald Reagan, himself a professing Christian who allowed his wife Nancy to chart his itinerary via an astrologist. The Bible expressively condemns astrology and forbids any practice of it (Leviticus 19:26) and yet Reagan used astrology rather than the Bible as his guiding light.

If America has become the proverbial "dead fish that begin rotting at the head" then the head is merely a reflection of the body. Over 60 years ago, America's body led the industrialized world in academic achievement with the highest ACT and SAT scores. Over 60 years ago, America's body filled churches on Sundays in honor and recognition of the Holy God who had blessed and made America strong and prosperous. However, by the mid-1990's America's classrooms were producing functional illiterates who had trouble identifying George Washington while many American churches had become religious mausoleums.

And so the late Russian Premier Nikita Khrushchev may not have been a prophet, but he did nail America's destiny back in 1961 when he predicted that America's destruction would come from within rather than from without. And indeed he was right; the decline of America has nothing to do with being out-hustled and muscled by other nations with superior military research and technology or even stronger industrial productivity. Rather, it has everything to do with moral bankruptcy that has produced laziness, apathy and a prevailing culture that embraces Hollywood values rather than biblical values. Sacrifice and hard work have given way to laziness, sloth, entitlement and narcissism. Honesty and integrity have succumbed to moral relativism and "situational ethics" while fear, honor and respect for God have been substituted for idol worship, greed and witchcraft.

You can blame American Christendom for much of this malady and indeed the church deserves some of the blame. Many Christians forgot that Christianity is a faith rather than a religion and that Christianity must be imparted by faith to each succeeding generation rather than by infant baptisms, Sunday schools or weekly church attendance. Unfortunately, many Christians foolishly believed that Christianity could be passed on to their children as an heirloom and they forgot that one can only inherit eternal life by faith (John 3:16) rather than by association with a denomination or a church. Many churches and Christians simply ignored Jude's contention to "contend for the faith" (Jude 3) and allowed the prevailing fallen secular culture to evangelize Darwinism and wreck the faith.

Where then is America's future? Is America referenced in biblical prophecy, and if so, then where? Indeed America is referenced in biblical prophecy under a metaphor used as the "King of Greece." The ancient Hebrew prophet Daniel, who recorded God's revelations 2,600 years ago, was given an incredible vision concerning an epic battle between east and west at the end of time. That battle was initially revealed to the prophet through an allegorical vision that featured a confrontation between a ram and a goat. Daniel witnessed the ram overwhelm all of its opponents until it was challenged and defeated by a shaggy goat that had appeared from the distant west.

The angel Gabriel then appeared to Daniel and interpreted the strange vision. Gabriel explained that the vision concerned "the time of the end" (Daniel 8:17) and the two-horned ram represented the kings of Media and Persia while the goat represented the king of Greece. Many biblical scholars interpreted Daniel's vision (Daniel 8:1-14) and Gabriel's interpretation of the vision as ancient Greece's triumph over Persia when Alexander the Great invaded and subsequently overthrew that ancient empire in 331 B.C. But that event couldn't have been what Daniel referred to because that wasn't the time of the end. Indeed, when Alexander invaded Persia, Christ's appearance on earth was still over three centuries away.

Who and what then was the prophet referring to? He certainly couldn't have been referring to modern Greece which has become militarily weak and financially bankrupt. Who was he referring to? He was referring to the United States that was revealed metaphorically as Greece. But why was the U.S. referred to this way by both Daniel and Gabriel? Because ancient Greece was the most prominent gentile nation in the ancient world and thus the gentiles were often referred to as Greeks.

But how do we know that Daniel's prophecy concerning the prominent goat that destroyed the ram is indeed the United States? Because America remains the most powerful nation on earth and is capable of destroying any enemy that engages her. And the region that once contained the ancient kingdoms of Media and Persia is now modern Iran that is developing nuclear weapons that may be used against Israel and the world. Daniel's prophecy concerning the end is now being fulfilled in our time; ancient Media-Persia which is now Iran is threatening the world and the king of Greece which is the United States will eventually respond by overthrowing this nemesis.

It certainly seems far-fetched that the current Obama Administration which is weak militarily will be the one to confront and overthrow Iran. What is more likely is that Obama will be a one-term president who will be replaced by a stronger executive who will take on Iran and defeat the Islamic nemesis.

But what takes place after that is just as important as the defeat of Iran. Daniel recorded this concerning the allegorical goat from the west: "The goat became very great, but at the height of its power his large horn (America) was broken off, and in its place four prominent horns grew up toward the four winds of heaven." (Daniel 8:8)

Daniel's prophecy concerning America is clear; the large horn on the allegorical goat represents America and that horn will be broken off and replaced by four new horns. The prophecy reveals that after America and perhaps a coalition of allies confront and defeat Iran, America will fade from power and four new nations will arise to take America's place as new world powers.

But who will those four nations be? Most likely, those four nations will be Russia, China, India and perhaps either South Korea, France or Germany. China, India and South Korea are currently on the rise as industrial giants in the world while Russia controls vast resources as natural gas and oil. Plus, the Russians have developed close relations with oil-rich Venezuela and recently signed an agreement with Cuba to begin drilling for oil off of Cuba's shores in the Atlantic Ocean. The Russians care little for "climate change" allegedly caused by too much carbon emissions in the atmosphere; they realize that fossil fuel is the new global economic pawn and the more oil and natural gas they can control the more they can dominate the world.

And the Russians are currently building up their military with the development of new sophisticated fighter jets and advanced ICBM's capable of carrying multiple nuclear warheads that can evade anti-ballistic missile systems and travel thousands of miles. The Russians have also introduced a new fleet of nuclear submarines that can travel deep beneath the ocean surface to make their detection nearly impossible, and these subs have the capability of launching Russia's new ICBM's. Though the Russians claim that their new military hardware is strictly for defensive purposes, this type of military technology is designed for first and deadly strike capability rather than for defense. Interestingly, Daniel revealed this concerning the coming Antichrist: "He will cause astounding devastation and will succeed at whatever he does." (Daniel 8:24)

But if the Russians are helping the Iranians build their nuclear power-plants and teaching them how to enrich uranium that can be used to build nuclear weapons, then why would they stand aside and allow the U.S. to destroy Iran's facilities? Because the Russians are after Iran's oil and have befriended the Iranians by providing them with their nuclear technology. After Iran's fanatical Islamic regime has been defeated, look for the Russians to install a puppet regime in Iran loyal to Moscow.

However, why are America's days numbered as a superpower on earth? We can certainly point to America's abortion holocaust that has murdered over 40 million unborn babies since Roe v. Wade in 1973 and we can point to the escalating murder and violence that have permeated American cities and towns since the early 1960's. But this has occurred throughout the world and certainly isn't unique to America. America is going to lose her status as the world's number one superpower because of two reasons; (1) her abandonment of her Judeo-Christian heritage for godless secularism and (2) her abandonment of Israel as her closest and most trusted ally in the Middle East.

God chose America for the specific purpose of defending the tiny Jewish nation against Israel's hostile Islamic neighbors and since 1948 the U.S. has been a staunch and loyal friend to Israel. And until recently, the U.S. has provided the greatest deterrent against an all out attack by Islamic nations against Israel in the region.

However that is changing with the current Obama Administration that has grown hostile to Israel by siding with Israel's sworn enemies. The Obama Administration wants Israel to give up her sovereignty over Jerusalem by allowing the Palestinians to take control of the city and declare it the capital of their new state should they ever gain statehood. Israel steadfastly refuses to ever relinquish that holy city into the hands of foreigners again which has infuriated the Obama Administration. And unless Israel relinquishes Jerusalem to the Palestinians, the Obama Administration will continue to threaten the Jewish nation by cutting off military and financial aid.

And that's not a wise move. In the ancient times, God spoke to Abraham concerning his descendants and their future nation that became Israel and God issued this stern warning to those who would persecute them and attempt to steal their land: "I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." (Genesis 12:3)

To the ancient Hebrew prophet Ezekiel (500 B.C.) the Lord spoke these words: "In my burning zeal I have spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, (Philistia) for with glee and with malice in their hearts they made my land their own possession so that they might plunder its pastureland. Therefore prophecy concerning the land of Israel and say to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys: 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I speak in my jealous wrath because you (Israel) have suffered the scorn of the nations. Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I swear with uplifted hand that the nations around you will also suffer scorn.'" (Ezekiel 36:5-7)

Ironically, the Palestinians claim to be the descendants of the ancient Philistines who were a sworn enemy of ancient Israel that lived just to the southwest of the Jewish nation along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. But the Philistines were Caucasoid in race (light-skinned) while the modern Palestinians are the descendants of Arabs, Turks, Bedouins, Egyptians, Persians and Assyrians. Ezekiel's ancient prophecy concerning Edom's persecution of Israel was a metaphor for the Palestinians who have wrongfully claimed that the land of Israel belongs to them and not to the Jews. And that lie has not only been promoted endlessly throughout the Islamic world; it is also being promoted throughout Christendom and by many world nations including the United States.

And the God of the Universe has vowed to punish everyone from individuals to churches to nations that attempt to persecute Israel by either cursing the Jewish nation or by attempting to punish Israel economically through boycotts and economic divestment from companies that do business with the Jewish state. Let it be known that those who oppose Israel will come under a powerful and deadly curse.

And that is the fate of the United States unless America stops opposing Israel and ultimately God by siding with Israel's enemies that are under the direction and control of the devil who is called "the god of this age." (2Corinthinians 4:4) Indeed, pray for the peace of Jerusalem and pray for the United States because these are perilous times.