Truth or Consequences

"The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.'"--Psalm 14:1

Karl Marx, the patron saint of secular humanists, dismissed God as a myth embraced by ignorant fools. Marx derisively referred to religion as "the opiate of the masses" that blinded minds and ruined lives by hanging guilt trips around the necks of millions of people.

Of course, Marx believed that those guilt trips were caused by the God that he hated and steadfastly refused to believe in. Instead, the patriarch of Communism embraced evolution as the source of all physical life. To Marx, Charles Darwin--who dreamed up the atheistic theory of evolution--was a messianic figure who liberated modern man from the chains of religion.

Certainly, Marx had cause to reject religion as a useless institution legislated by hypocrites who lined their pockets at the expense of gullible people who were offered heaven in exchange for their money. Marx was born in Trier, Germany in 1818; a predominantly Roman Catholic town.

The Catholic Church in Trier was a corrupt institution that maintained a cult-like grip over the townspeople by convincing them that Rome held the keys to the gates of heaven. However, since the Catholic Church couldn't guarantee heaven even to those who faithfully followed Rome's liturgical traditions, no one was ever sure of what awaited them after death. That bothered Marx. If adherence to Rome's religious traditions couldn't provide anyone assurance of heaven, then what good was religion? And so, when Darwin appeared and penned his dubious theory on the origins of physical life, (On the Origins of the Species, 1859) Marx became an enthusiastic disciple.

There were some who strongly believed that Marx became a Satanist after he renounced his belief in God. One such person who suspected that Marx worshiped the devil was evangelist and Christian missionary Richard Wurmbrand who was brutally tortured by communists in Romanian jails because he refused to renounce his faith in Jesus Christ. Wurmbrand's suspicions were based upon a collection of poems written by Marx that seemed to glorify Satan.
http://www.crossroad.to/Quotes/communism/marx.htm

Whether Marx's poems provide the absolute proof of his involvement in Satanism is debatable. What isn't debatable is his hatred of God that truly bordered on the satanic.

Incredibly, even though Marx embraced evolution, he didn't embrace its tenets. Marx hated capitalism. He believed that all crime, poverty and violence resulted from "haves" stealing from "have nots." Marx believed that wealthy robber barons and rich bankers stole money from the working class which in turn caused social unrest among the poor. And yet, if Marx truly believed in evolution, then he would've believed that "haves" exploiting "have nots" was just a manifestation of Darwin's law of Natural Selection. Natural Selection teaches that the strongest members of living species survive by eliminating the weaker ones.

However, Marx's conscience--albeit flawed--was deeply bothered by the existence of human suffering. Unfortunately, Marx rejected sin as the cause of human suffering and attributed the consequences of sin to human suffering. And whether that was the result of Marx's exposure to dead, corrupt religion in his youth or to rebellion, the German pseudo-intellectual really got it wrong and made matters much worse with his misguided theories.

And sadly, millions throughout the world continue to embrace Marx's terrible theories. Sin and rebellion against God and His transcendent moral laws are the causes of human suffering, not economic inequality or social injustice. Those are the inevitable consequences of sin. Had Marx understood that, he and fellow atheist Friedrich Engels wouldn't have penned their horrible thesis; The Communist Manifesto that has been the cause of untold suffering, violence and mass murder for over 160 years.

He is Risen

"But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep. (died)--1 Corinthians 15:20

The greatest single event that occurred in human history is the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Not only did that defy nature, it defied death and proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. Christ's resurrection wasn't some rumor or myth concocted by His disciples and followers; it was witnessed by over 500 people, and accepted by many who didn't follow Him such as Roman historian Cornelius Tacitus and Jewish scholar Flavius Josephus.

In fact, the evidence for Christ's resurrection is so overwhelming that it convinced a hardened atheist named Simon Greenleaf to become a Christian. Who was Greenleaf? He was a 19th Century Harvard Law professor and he was also Jewish.

Greenleaf, who was a stickler for evidence, was asked by his students one day if he would believe in God and Jesus Christ if they could provide the evidence. When Greenleaf balked, the students accused Greenleaf of hypocrisy. The professor relented and challenged his students to furnish the evidence. When they did, Greenleaf became a believer and said this: "Based upon the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ, there isn't a court of law in the world that could deny that this resurrection took place."

If an educated man such as Greenleaf could come to believe in Christ and His resurrection, then anyone can if they would just put aside the cultural and religious biases and look at the evidence. But that's often the problem. Many cultures are set up to promote their own false gods. And those who are born into these cultures are required to either follow these belief systems or be ostracized. Religious cults aren't the only groups that can be brutal to those who question and refute their doctrines.

I can speak from experience. I'm Jewish and I was told from childhood that Christ was our enemy and we didn't believe in Him. Later, as a young adult, I decided to find out who Christ really was. Was He just a rebel from Judaism as I was taught as a youngster? Or was He in fact the Jewish Messiah that the ancient Hebrew prophets revealed hundreds and thousands of years before He came into the world?

When I looked at the evidence for Christ, it was overwhelming. Like Greenleaf, I came to believe that Jesus Christ died for my sins on a Roman Cross, just as the ancient prophet Isaiah had prophesied in the 8th Century B.C. (Isaiah 53:5) and that He rose from the dead, just as the prophets had revealed the Jewish Messiah would do. (Psalm 16:10, Isaiah 52:13, Isaiah 53:11-12)

Because I became a born-again Jewish believer in Christ, I automatically became persona non-grata. I was accused of committing the ultimate sin against Judaism--I came to believe in Jesus Christ. As such, I was no longer welcome among family and I lost many friends.

Whether you're a Jew or not, or you belong to a culture or a religion that doesn't recognize Christ as God's true Messiah, I ask you to consider the evidence. If you put aside the cultural bias and examine the historical, prophetic evidence for Christ and His resurrection, you'll come to the same conclusion that Simon Greenleaf and I came to--that Christ is God's One and Only Messiah. There is no one else. Religion can't save you, nor your good deeds, achievements, charity etc. Only faith in the crucified and resurrected Jesus Christ can save you from eternal death and damnation.

That may cost you friends and family members as it did me and countless others who made that decision, but it will bring you eternal life in the kingdom of God that no religion or friends and family members could ever bring.

Think about the cost, and then think about the evidence for Christ.

Christ and Christmas

"The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned."--Isaiah 9:2

Sadly, when most people celebrate Christmas today, few will take the time to understand just why Jesus Christ came into this world 2,000 years ago.

For many folks, Christmas is just a day to exchange gifts, overindulge in food and drink and be lazy. For others, it's a day to visit all those wonderful relatives you can't stand or to stare at the TV screen for endless hours.

But Jesus Christ didn't come into this world just so we could celebrate his annual birthday party at a time of the year when the nights are long and the days are short and the weather is dreadful in many places. Rather, He came into this world to become the everlasting atonement for sin on a Roman cross that God's infinite justice demanded.

That's the reality of His birth that took place 2,000 years ago. And His death on the cross was far more important than His birth because His death allowed us by faith to be reconciled back to a Holy God that we had been alienated from because of our sins. Christ himself stated it best: "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)

Eternal life through Christ's crucifixion on the cross for our sins is the free gift of salvation that God has offered mankind for 2,000 years. The apostle Paul clearly understood that it was a gift when he wrote this to the early church in Ephesus: "For it is by grace you have seen 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)

Unfortunately, much of Christendom quickly forgot that salvation was a free gift from God. Instead, many churches set up an ecclesiastical system of works that denied God's grace and forced people to follow a counterfeit path to heaven that couldn't save anyone. Perhaps the best example of that is the bogus system of sacraments that the Roman Catholic Church set up, beginning in the Fourth Century A.D.

Though a Roman Catholic Monk named Martin Luther led many out of that spiritual darkness beginning in the 16th Century when he launched what became known as the Protestant Reformation against Roman Catholic heresies, some Protestant churches have rejected Luther and are returning to that darkness.

Ironically, Christmas is a holiday that was manufactured by the Catholic Church, beginning in the Fourth Century when Rome renamed the pagan festival called the Saturnalia--a celebration of the pagan Roman god Saturn--Christmas to recruit the pagans into the church. December 25th isn't the birthday of Jesus Christ. Then what is the true date of His birth? We don't know. And it doesn't matter.

What does matter is that we recognize why Christ came into this world and why he died an ugly, brutal death on the cross. Death is always ugly and God never intended it for His creation. But it became necessary because of sin that entered the human race through the original transgressions of Adam and Eve. And sin has been passed on to every generation and every human being who has ever lived since the beginning of time.

Though Christ was perfect and sinless, he willingly paid the ultimate price for our sins that we never could have paid ourselves--not through good works, obedience to religions and their doctrines, church membership, baptisms, academic achievement etc. Christ's death opened the door to eternal life for us that nothing else could. For those who reject Christ either because of cultural or religious reasons, they will never gain eternal life. For them, their destiny is eternal death and damnation. (John 8:23-24)

That's what we should be thinking about today. Not parties or toys or presents or reindeer or jingle bells or Santa Claus or Christmas lights or snow-covered landscapes with evergreen trees and a setting sun in the background. Think about Jesus Christ. And think about the real reason why He came into this world 2,000 years ago in the form of a humble man.

When is it Possession?

Jared Lee Loughner

When we examine evil, there are two common schools of thought: (1) That people commit evil deeds because they are demon possessed and (2) that evil is really just abnormal behavior that is triggered by some medical condition or social pathology.

I've been familiar with people who embraced these views. I was once associated with a pastor who believed that practically every malady from headaches to gas to diarrhea was caused by demons. He even believed that true born-again Christians could be possessed, even though the Bible never reveals that. The apostle Paul warned early Christians not to "go beyond what is written." (1 Corinthians 4:6) So to claim that demon possession is responsible for practically every sickness or aberrant behavior is unbiblical and just plain heresy. 

I've also known some professing Christians who always tried to explain away evil by attributing pathological theories to nearly every sickness or bad form of behavior. Indeed, most illnesses have pathological causes. But not all. Luke's gospel details the account of a woman crippled by a spirit for 18 years that Jesus Christ healed. (Luke 13:10-13) But all bad behavior is the result of personal choice rather than "mental illness." Unfortunately, some forms of bad behavior can result in demon possession, such as taking hallucinogenic drugs or getting involved in spiritism, witchcraft, Satanism, eastern mysticism, hypnosis etc.

However, not everyone who takes drugs or gets involved with the occult becomes possessed. There isn't any science to it. Suffice to say, those who do these things have a far greater chance of becoming possessed by evil spirits than those who avoid these things. For example, I believe that mass murderers Adam Lanza, James Holmes, Jared Lee Loughner (pictured above) and Richard Ramirez, the infamous Night Stalker, were demon possessed. I don't believe that Columbine High School killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were, although they were certainly influenced by spiritual forces through the demonic social media that they exposed themselves to.

So, how can we determine whether someone is possessed or not? In some cases, you can tell simply by looking at their eyes. Jared Loughner's eyes tell you quite clearly that he's possessed. In my post on December 16, (Forces of Darkness) the eyes of Adam Lanza and James Holmes pictured in the post tell the story. http://prophecyreviewtoday.blogspot.com/2012/12/spiritual-forces-of-darkness.html

But not everyone who is possessed looks like that. So, how can we tell? Determining possession is one of nine spiritual gifts from God (1 Corinthians 12:10) that the apostle Paul identified as distinguishing between spirits. Not everyone has this gift, but those who do have the ability to discern when someone is possessed. And not everyone necessarily needs this gift to determine when someone is possessed. In some cases, the Holy Spirit will impart wisdom and knowledge (1 Corinthians 12:8) to believers to alert them that someone is possessed by an evil spirit.

What's the ultimate antidote for demonic possession? It's being born again into eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God who died for your sins on the cross. If you fear that you've either become oppressed or possessed by demonic spirits because of something you did or got involved with, then ask Jesus Christ to come into your life right now by confessing your sins to Him and ask Him to become Lord of your life. You'll not only be delivered from Satan's power, you'll also receive the free gift of eternal life.

Make that decision right now. No matter what you've done, or how bad the deed was, it will be forgiven in Christ because "the blood of Jesus, his (God's) Son, purifies us from all sin." (1 John 1:7) 

Blind Religious Guides

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach

"Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit."--Matthew 15:14

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach is a popular man with media elites and big time celebrities. Like his large constituency, Boteach tells them what they want to hear.

Last week, after the tragic massacre that occurred on Dec. 14, at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Ct. some conservative Christians strongly suggested that America's increasingly depraved culture was to blame for the carnage. According to the conservative leaders, Adam Lanza, the crazed gunman who mowed down 20 children and six adults that day at the school before he took his own life, was the product of a secular, nihilistic culture that glorifies violence, rejects God and lives by its own relativistic rules.

That analysis didn't sit well with the rabbi who used his large bully pulpit to blast the conservatives as out of touch with reality. One particular conservative Christian named Bryan Fischer especially drew Boteach's wrath:  “Let’s be clear,” Boteach said. “Not only is he [Bryan Fischer] wrong that we kicked God out of our lives, the United States and the American people are the most righteous people in the world.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/12/19/rabbi-slams-christian-rights-reaction-to-newtown-as-the-ultimate-statement-of-heresy/

Then, amazingly, Boteach went on to offer examples of war bravery and the "presence" of God on our money as proof that America is a righteous and virtuous nation: “We have spent endless blood and treasure to defend complete strangers, women from being beaten up by the Taliban. Our soldiers died for those people. God is on our money. We give more charity than any nation on earth. We deserve better. I am tired of people maligning the American people and saying we deserve to suffer, we've kicked God out. This is the most religious country in the western world."

Boteach did get one thing right; America is the most religious nation in the western world. But religion and faith are two completely different things. Religions are nothing but manufactured man-made belief systems that separate men and women from God. True faith is different. It trusts completely in the historic, prophetic evidence of God's revelatory word in the Bible rather than in the vain traditions of men that Boteach and his cohorts trust in.

Boteach claims that we are to "hold God accountable" for tragedies such as Sandy Hook. I'd like to call Boteach an idiot, but my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ warned us not to apply such monikers to our brothers and sisters. (Matthew 5:22) So instead, I'll just say that he's badly misguided and misinformed.

It wasn't God's fault that Adam Lanza committed mass murder. And it isn't God's fault for all the other mass murders that have occurred throughout history going all the way back to the first murder in history when Cain murdered his brother Abel. (Genesis 4) The fault belongs to man who has turned his back on God and spurned His laws and commandments. And yet despite man's rebellion that deserves eternal death and damnation, "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)

Boteach doesn't recognize that. Nor does he recognize that we've indeed kicked God out of our culture. And in doing so, we're reaping what we've sown; the rotten fruit of the rotten seeds of amoral secular humanism that hides behind a mask of dead and powerless religion.

And so rabbi, what really prevents tragedies such as Sandy Hook is the fear of God and the knowledge that we're all morally accountable to Him for our thoughts, actions and words here on earth. Had Adam Lanza understood that, the Sandy Hook massacre would never have occurred. You might want to think about that rabbi, before you go pointing fingers at those who still fear God and believe in His word.

Convenient Scapegoats

Leftists strike again

In the economic dust bowl age of Obama, many homeowners who can't get mortgage relief are struggling to keep up with the payments and stay out of foreclosure.

It stands to reason then, that some homeowners who can't find buyers for their homes are devising some clever schemes to unload their property and get rid of the payments. In the old days, a gasoline can and a match often did the trick. But since forensic arson detection is much more advanced these days, burning down the house isn't a wise choice anymore. 

So instead, three people that live (or lived) in Indianapolis, In. came up with a different scheme to get rid of their expensive house--they would blow it up. They decided to tamper with the gas lines and let the house fill up with gas for several hours before a programmed microwave would engage and blow the place into the sky.

The plan not only worked; it worked too well. The house not only blew up, it also blew up the house next door and set fire to several other houses in the neighborhood. While the scheming homeowners were conveniently elsewhere when the explosion took place, their next door neighbors weren't and they died when the blast leveled their home. Twelve other neighbors were injured in the explosion and the property damage was estimated at $4 million.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/21/justice/indiana-home-explosion/index.html

I mention this only because fallen, selfish and sinful human beings who reject God and His transcendent moral laws, will stop at practically nothing in their quest to commit mayhem and murder. While the Indianapolis homeowners certainly didn't intend to harm anyone, their selfish actions killed two people, injured many others and destroyed several homes and property of innocent people.

Last week, a crazed gunman named Adam Lanza went on a rampage at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Ct. killing 20 children and six adults. And though Lanza was a product of a godless and immoral generation, raised on violence and depravity that he obtained from the internet and video games, the NRA (National Rifle Association) was conveniently blamed for the carnage. We're told by leftists that the NRA's promotion of guns encourages people such as Lanza to go out and commit mass murder.

Since leftists don't believe in God, they deny the presence of evil. Instead, when tragedies such as Sandy Hook occur, they blame them on a host of social pathologies such as economic deprivation, unemployment, racism, religious intolerance, guns etc. They conveniently ignore the fact that many of their own policies have created the evil climate from which wicked people such as Adam Lanza have emerged. 

It's Hollywood leftists that produce many of the violent movies that glorify murder, guns, drugs, sexual immorality, the inner-city "Gangsta" culture and other social ills. It's leftists that control the record companies that produce the music and videos that glorify violence. And it's leftists that own the video game companies that produce the evil, satanic shooter and slasher games that influence young people to commit violence.

But it's always easy to blame the NRA because gun-owners are viewed as ignorant morons "who cling to their guns and religion" (Barack Obama, 2008) when times are tough. You can take away the guns, but you can't take away the evil. And you certainly can't take away the evil when you don't even believe in it.

Another mass murder occurred last week that got far less attention than the Sandy Hook massacre. In China, where guns are outlawed, a man went berserk at a primary school and knifed 22 children to death. Evil people don't need guns to commit mass murder. 

After Indianapolis--who knows? Maybe leftists will seek to regulate microwave ovens in homes with natural gas. In their never ending quest to create a godless social utopia on earth, leftists will think of many things. Except God, of course.

Reality or Superstition?

Linda Blair in The Exorcist

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."--Ephesians 6:12

According to one of Adam Lanza's former classmates, the troubled young man who committed mass murder last Friday at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Ct. was into Satan worship.

From the Mail Online: "The Sandy Hook gunman worshiped the devil and had an online page dedicated to Satan, a former classmate revealed, as his childhood barber recalls Adam Lanza never spoke and would stare at the floor every time he had his hair cut. Lanza's worshiping page had the word 'Devil' written in red, Gothic-style letters against a black background, Trevor L. Todd told The National Enquirer, something which he said was 'weird' and 'gave him the chills'." http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2250608/Adam-Lanzas-classmate-reveals-Sandy-Hook-gunman-online-devil-worshiping-page.html 

This is how Lanza became demon possessed. Satanism has been a growing problem among young people for decades, but unfortunately, few people and few parents recognize it. Why has Satanism become so popular? Because worship of the devil represents the ultimate in rebellion against established authority. 

Satanism isn't the only door opener to demon possession. Other door openers include hallucinogenic drugs, occultism, hypnosis, Kabbalah, eastern religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism etc.) and their religious practices such as Transcendental Meditation, Tantric Yoga and Kundalini Yoga.

In some cases, people become possessed through curses passed down from family members and ancestors. There isn't any reason or science to it. For some reason certain family members are more susceptible to demonic oppression and possession than others. Fortunately, through faith in Jesus Christ, the curses are broken over the oppressed and possessed and they are delivered from the forces of darkness. But this occurs only through Jesus Christ and no one else or nothing else.

Sadly, Lanza's demon possession will be ignored and denied. Instead, psychiatrists and psychologists will be trotted out by the media to offer various theories on why Lanza "snapped" and went berserk, killing 20 young children and six adults at the elementary school before he committed suicide.

Unfortunately, demon possession is viewed by many today as the superstitious beliefs of ignorant religious people. When many people think of exorcism, they think of the 1973 horror film, The Exorcist. That was Hollywood make-believe stuff designed to scare the daylights out of people, but it wasn't supposed to be real. And yet, The Exorcist was in fact based on a true story. http://www.prophecyreviewonline.org/apps/articles/default.asp?articleid=82525&columnid=  

Yet few people believe in that stuff anymore except bible-thumping morons. Even many professing Christians are uncomfortable with the subject, preferring to use typical psychological labels such as paranoid schizophrenia, psychopath, psychotic, neurotic, etc. to define violent people such as Lanza.

However, Lanza was indeed possessed. Only someone who is demon possessed behaves the way Lanza did. The demon or demons that hijacked Lanza's body, blinded his conscience and proceeded to fulfill Satan's will to steal, kill and destroy. Jesus Christ called Satan "a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies." (John 8:44)

If you've ever been involved with drugs, the occult, Satanism or eastern religions, you've exposed yourself to a dark spiritual realm. You may not be possessed, but you've given the devil a legal right to oppress you and influence your life. I urge you to come to Jesus Christ right now in faith and confess your sins to Him. He will not only set you free from demonic oppression and possession, he'll bring you the most blessed gift of all--eternal life through the blood He shed for your sins on a Roman cross 2,000 years ago.

What the Real Problem Is

The Myth of Evolution

"Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done."--Romans 1:28

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) says it's time to ban assault weapons. Ditto, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel who presides over one of the most violent cities in America.

Such is the rhetoric in the wake of last Friday's catastrophe that occurred at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown Ct. Too many guns and too many assault weapons, and they have to be eliminated.

What Durbin either intentionally or ignorantly failed to mention is that most gun homicides are committed by handguns rather than by assault weapons. While gunman Adam Lanza did in fact use a Bushmaster .223 assault rifle during his attack at the elementary school, he also used two handguns. Even without the .223, Lanza would've still committed mass murder. 

What Emanuel failed to mention is that practically all of Chicago's 2012 homicides (516) have been committed by handguns rather than by assault weapons. Not so ironically, Chicago has had a handgun ban for many years. The only thing that Chicago's handgun ban has accomplished is to keep handguns out of the hands of law-abiding citizens rather than criminals.  

Nevertheless, it's always easy for politicians and do-good social activists to pontificate about gun control after tragedies such as Sandy Hook. Gun control rhetoric points fingers at gun shops, gun shows and the NRA which always sounds good, sounds politically correct and only offends gun owners who are considered stupid and ignorant.

However, the real underlying factor for tragedies such as Sandy Hook is the growing malignancy of godless humanism that has evicted God and His transcendent moral laws from the public square. Beginning in the early 1960s, school prayer, the Bible and the 10 Commandments (1980) have systematically been removed from America's public school classrooms because they allegedly violated the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment Establishment Clause that supposedly mandates a wall of separation between church and state.

In reality, the Establishment Clause merely prohibits the establishment of a national church or religion rather than the free exercise of religion in America's public schools. However, leftists and humanists have purposely misconstrued the clause to drive all vestiges of God and His laws out of classrooms and the public square.

Since the early 1960s, the results of God's disappearance from the public square have been tragic and obvious; rising crime, soaring moral depravity and increasing incidents of catastrophic violence such as the Sandy Hook massacre.

Instead of being taught the clear distinction between right and wrong and moral accountability to a Holy God who hates sin, children are taught that they are merely the end products of millions of years of random evolutionary forces. Thus, if they're convinced that there is no God, then His transcendent moral laws and commandments are nothing but human constructs that can be ignored, changed or perverted by the powerful elites.

That's the real problem in America today and throughout much of the world. The real problem is man's fallen sinful nature, not guns, assault weapons or any of the various social pathologies that leftists love to use to rationalize away evil. The antidote for evil is the acknowledgment, honor and respect for a Holy God and his unchanging moral laws. Nearly 3,000 years ago, King Solomon wrote: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline." (Proverbs 1:7) 

Spiritual Forces of Darkness

"If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it."--Genesis 4:7

Take a look at the faces of Adam Lanza (left) and James Holmes. (right) Those are the faces of men who are demon possessed.

I've had experience with men like these. Having worked in the deliverance ministry field, I've become accustomed to that glare; unblinking and wide open eyes, mocking you and daring you to do something about it. What is deliverance? It's more popularly known as exorcism in the Roman Catholic Church and it involves casting out demonic spirits that have taken up residence inside people such as Lanza and Holmes who have exposed themselves to the spiritual forces of darkness.

But demon possession isn't something that you'll be reading about concerning Lanza, the crazed shooter who massacred 20 children and six adults before committing suicide on Dec. 14 at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, located in Newtown, Ct. Nor will demon possession be offered as a valid reason why Holmes shot up a movie theater in North Aurora, Co. on July 20, when he killed 13 people and wounded many others.

Rather, the usual blarney will be offered by psychiatrists and psychologists who will attach the same time-worn labels to Lanza such as paranoid schizophrenia, psychopath, psychotic, neurotic, delusional etc. Mental illness has become the modern chic pseudo-medical excuse to explain the behavior of people such as Lanza and Holmes who commit catastrophic acts against other people.

It's an easy way to ignore the very serious problem of evil and its consequences. If the violent behavior of people such as Lanza and Holmes can somehow be explained away by chemical imbalances inside the brain, or by dysfunctional families that ignored, deprived or abused these people when they were young, then they become the victims instead of the villains.

However, demon possession is a very real problem in our modern world, just as it was a very real problem in the ancient world. Jesus Christ cast out many demons during his ministry in Israel. And these spirits were often responsible for the extremely odd and violent behavior that we see today in people such as Lanza and Holmes. For example, during His travels, Christ encountered a violent man who lived in some tombs in a remote region called the Gerasenes, which was located near Galilee. The man was so violent that he couldn't be restrained by chains. And certainly, no one wanted to go near him for fear of death. When the man saw Christ, he fell to his knees in mortal fear because the demons inside the man knew who Christ was. Christ cast the evil spirits out and the man regained his sanity. (Luke 8:26-38)

But demon possession is considered by many today--even many Christians--to be vain and outdated superstition; embraced only by those who are either too dumb or too naive to understand the complexities of human behavior. Though somehow it was recognized as a real problem by the ancient world--including Christ who often spoke to these evil spirits before he cast them out--demon possession is no longer even considered by those who attempt to analyze what motivated Adam Lanza and James Holmes to behave the way they did.

If Lanza and Holmes were indeed demon possessed, then how did that occur? It occurred because they exposed themselves to the demonic, either through drugs, the occult, Satanism or eastern religions. Not everyone who gets involved with those things becomes possessed. But many do and they don't even know it.  And not everyone who commits violent crimes is demon possessed.

But some are. How do we know? Look at their eyes. And remember the eyes of Jared Lee Loughner, the shooter who murdered six people at a Tuscon, Arizona shopping mall on January 8, 2011. The eyes do indeed tell the story.

Another Tragedy from Another Time

Victims of a tragedy

The tragedy that occurred Friday at the Sandy Hook Elementary School located in Newtown, Conn. where 20 children and at least six adults were massacred by a crazed gunman, rekindled grim memories of another school tragedy that happened 54 years ago.

That tragedy occurred on Dec. 1, 1958 in a Roman Catholic elementary school located on Chicago's Near North Side. A total of 92 children and three nuns perished that day in what continues to be known as the worst disaster that ever struck a school in American history.

The school was known as Our Lady of Angels, and unlike Friday's tragedy, the weapon that caused the tragedy was a match instead of a gun. The fire was ignited by a student who lit up a trash container at the base of a stairwell in the old building that contained a heavy wooden infrastructure. 

The student, who shall remain nameless, later told investigators that his intent was to create a smoky diversion that would get the kids out of school early that day. Instead, the smoky diversion became a raging inferno when the fire jumped from the trash drum onto the wooden staircase and soon enveloped the entire building. 

In those days, there were no smoke detectors in schools. And Our Lady of Angels had only a handful of fire extinguishers that were oddly placed seven feet above the floors, making them virtually impossible for the small nuns and teachers to reach. And the school had no fire escapes. That wooden staircase provided the only exit route from the school. And since it was engulfed in flames, the students and nuns were trapped inside the classrooms. When the fire department finally arrived--it was too late--many of the students inside the building had already died from smoke inhalation or severe burns. 

If there was anything positive that came out of that tragedy it was the implementation of newer and more strict fire prevention rules in school buildings. Fire escapes were added to the exteriors of buildings. Sprinkler systems and smoke detectors were added, and more fire extinguishers were also added and placed in better locations that were accessible to everyone, not just extremely tall people.

Friday's tragedy was caused by guns. And although I support the Second Amendment, I truly believe that there are too many guns available and that they're too easy to acquire. But consider this: the tragedy that occurred in a Portland, Ore. shopping mall on Dec. 11 and yesterday's tragedy weren't caused by violent gangbangers trying to protect their drug turf; they were caused by godless, evil people overexposed to violence and depravity. Both Jacob Tyler Roberts and the Sandy Hook shooter, Adam Lanza, didn't fit the typical stereotypes of crazed shooters. 

But they were influenced by a godless, secular culture that swallows up many young people today through drugs, alcohol, violent media, video and internet games, hardcore pornography and Satanism. It's a culture that rejects God, rules, moral accountability and life. And it's far worse than anyone imagines.

Like the Our Lady of Angels tragedy, the Sandy Hook tragedy will have ramifications as well. Eventually, the Second Amendment will either be severely restricted or even repealed. Guns will be all but impossible to obtain, except for criminals. 

But Sandy Hook wasn't about guns, it was about moral depravity. You can take away the guns, but you can't take away the evil. Recently, a man in China stabbed 22 children to death at a primary school. Since guns are outlawed in China, the man used a knife as his weapon of mass destruction.

Unless we get back to the fear and knowledge of God (Proverbs 1:7) and the respect for His laws, more tragedies like Sandy Hook are sure to follow.

Leftism and Evil

Jacob Tyler Roberts

Though we don't yet know what motivated Jacob Tyler Roberts to go on a shooting rampage in a Portland, Oregon shopping mall on December 11, that killed two people before he committed suicide, the item that he's wearing on his shoulders in the above picture gives us a strong clue.

That's a Palestinian Keffiyeh or scarf that's become a popular symbol of rebellion among leftists and anarchists in the western world. The keffiyeh was made popular by the late Yasser Arafat, the former Chairman of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) that was established by the Arab League in 1964 for the specific purpose of destroying Israel and driving the Jews out of the Middle East. Arafat was seldom seen in public without his famed keffiyeh and his scarf became his personal trademark, much like the beret worn by communist anarchist Che Guevara.

The keffiyeh, we're told, is a symbol of resistance against Israel. The Palestinians claim that Israel illegally occupied their land in 1948 via the United Nations and then enslaved them into squalid refugee camps. And through an elaborate and effective propaganda campaign sold to a gullible and ignorant western world, the Palestinians and the Islamic world have convinced many that Israel is a criminal entity that continues to seize land that doesn't belong to her while murdering thousands of innocent people.

The Palestinians are a manufactured people that have no history or lineage in that region of the world. And we have dealt extensively on this subject in a previous message on this blog http://prophecyreviewtoday.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-real-islam.html as well as on our website. http://www.prophecyreviewonline.org/apps/articles/default.asp?articleid=77001&columnid=

But the propaganda campaign of hate that has become a new form of anti-Semitism has firmly taken root in the minds of many ignorant folks such as Jacob Tyler Roberts. It was the apostle Paul who prophesied 2,000 years ago that in the last days on earth directly preceding the return of Jesus Christ, many would reject the truth and follow falsehood. Paul wrote: "For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths." (2 Timothy 4:3-4)

It may turn out that Roberts was just a proverbial whack-job who didn't fit in with mainstream society. We may or may never find out. Certainly, law enforcement officials will comb through his personal items such as computers, phones, possessions and residence to try to establish a motive. They'll talk to friends, acquaintances, parents, relatives, former classmates etc. to try to form a psychological profile of the shooter. And certainly the anti-gun zealots will scream for even more gun control, as if doing away with guns will somehow eliminate evil.

But of this you can be sure; Roberts, like other recent shooters such as Jared Lee Loughner, the man who shot up a Tuscon, Arizona shopping mall on January 8, 2011 that killed six people, was motivated by hatred stoked by leftists. Leftists hate both conservative Christians and Jews; particularly Israelis that they have been convinced are evil. Loughner hated religion and he made no secret of that. And one of his targets was Cong. Gabrielle Giffords who is Jewish. Though Giffords survived the shooting, she was forced to resign from Congress because of her injuries.

The foundation of these tragedies is hatred, not guns. The motivational factor for hatred is rebellion against established authority. And it's leftists rather than conservatives or Tea Party members that almost always sow the seeds of these deadly disasters. Until we confront lies and falsehood with the truth of God's word found in the Bible rather than with empty social crusades, we'll continue to see these tragedies happen again and again.

Who He Is and Who He Isn't

The Lamb of God

"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation."--Colossians 1:15

Who is Jesus Christ? That should be an easy answer for most people but for some reason it isn't. 

To some folks he's just an ancient historical figure who started his own religion 2,000 years ago with 12 ragtag disciples. To others, he is the Son of the Living God, but not equal to God in power or providence. And to others, he is merely a prophet who lived a righteous life on earth but was tragically murdered by moral reprobates. To most Jews, he remains a rebel from Judaism; a charlatan who fulfilled none of the prophecies concerning the promised Jewish Messiah.

How can we determine who the real Jesus Christ is? Simply by examining the evidence. And the evidence is found throughout the Bible's Old Testament scriptures that identify Christ as the Jewish Messiah and Savior of the world and no one else. How can we be so sure? The rabbis and many modern skeptics claim that the modern Bible we read is corrupt because it contains nothing but a mishmash of unreliable translations and re-translations pieced together by folks who didn't have access to the ancient, original manuscripts.

That's hogwash. The modern translations, such as the New King James and the NIV (New International Version) have been translated directly from manuscripts that date back to the first and second centuries C.E. The writers of those manuscripts were not only contemporaries of Christ, they were also familiar with the prophetic writings of Israel's ancient prophets that clearly identified Christ as the long-awaited Messiah. Concerning the validity of Christ as the Messiah, the apostle Peter, who lived and walked with Christ wrote this: "And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a shining light in a dark place, until the morning star rises in your hearts." (2 Peter 1:20)

Here are some of the prophecies that identified Jesus Christ as the Messiah: Christ's virgin birth; (Isaiah 7:14, Eighth Century B.C.) Christ's birthplace in Bethlehem; (Micah 5:2, Sixth Century B.C.) Christ's appearance in Jerusalem riding a donkey; (Zechariah 9:9, Sixth Century B.C.) Israel's rejection of Christ as her Messiah and His appearance in Israel as the ultimate, eternal sacrifice for sin; (Isaiah 53) Christ's crucifixion; (Psalm 22, 1,000 B.C.) His resurrection (Psalm 16:10, Isaiah 52) and the exact time of His appearance in Israel. (Daniel 9:25-26, Sixth Century B.C.)

Furthermore, the Dead Sea Scrolls, that were discovered in 1947 in caves located near the Dead Sea, date back to the First Century B.C. and contain many of the prophetic books of the Old Testament that spoke about Christ. The scrolls were discovered to contain the same exact prophecies concerning the Jewish Messiah that the modern bible translations contain. So the argument is fallacious that modern bible translations are unreliable concerning the ancient prophecies that revealed the Jewish Messiah. The modern translations--with the exception of the translation circulated by the Jehovah Witnesses--are completely reliable. 

Who is Jesus Christ? He is the Son of the Living God; the Second Person of the Trinity; the Savior of the world and God incarnate. He is Israel's eternal king and he is coming again soon to rescue Israel from her enemies and to execute judgment upon a wicked and rebellious world that is highly religious and highly reprobate. 

And He is the only path to eternal life. (John 14:6) No religion, creed or humanistic system of righteousness can save you. Only Christ can wash away your sins and bring you eternal life. But that comes by faith, not by the works or sacraments of a man-made religious system. All you have to do is acknowledge that you are a sinner to Christ; ask for His forgiveness of your sins and commit your life to Him. It's that easy. But make sure you're serious because false confessions fool only those who profess them. It's your choice.

Israel's Illegitimate Priesthood

Lubavitch Jews

"Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness."--Romans 10:3

One of the great mysteries throughout the ages has been Israel's corporate rejection of her Messiah Jesus Christ. Despite the overwhelming evidence that exists that proves beyond a doubt that Jesus Christ is the Jewish Messiah, the majority of Jews throughout the world today still consider Him to be a fraud.

While there are more Jews today that do in fact consider Christ to be the Messiah--perhaps as many as one million Jews--most still reject Him. Why? Simply because their ancestors who lived during the time of Christ's appearance in Israel 2,000 years ago, weren't looking for Him. Instead, they were looking for a conquering messiah who would free Israel from the tyranny of Roman gentile rule that began with Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar's invasion of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.

Sadly, God had purposely allowed Israel to be taken over by the gentiles because the ancient Jewish nation continually broke His laws and violated His commandments. Despite the fact that the Lord had sent His prophets to warn the ancient Jews to repent of their wickedness or face judgment, they ignored His prophets and suffered the consequences. Nearly 200 years before Nebuchadnezzar invaded Jerusalem, the Lord spoke these words to the prophet Isaiah: "Ah, sinful nation, a people loaded with guilt, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the Lord; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him." (Isaiah 1:4)

Two centuries later, Israel lost her independence when the Babylonians rode into Jerusalem and ransacked the city, killing thousands of Jews and taking thousands more captive to Babylon. While the Jews eventually regained their freedom in about 445 B.C. when the Persians, under King Artaxerxes allowed them to return to Jerusalem, Israel would not gain her freedom and independence as a nation again until 1948. 

Since that time, Israel has been plagued by wars, invasions and the threat of wars by hostile Islamic nations that want to destroy her and drive the Jews out of the Middle East. And for over 2,500 years, the Jews have arguably been the most hated people on earth wherever they've lived. That's a fulfillment of a prophecy the Lord gave to the ancient prophet Jeremiah concerning Israel's chronic rebellion against Him: "I will make them abhorrent and an offense to all the kingdoms of the earth, a reproach and a byword, an object of ridicule and cursing, wherever I banish them. I will send the sword, famine and plague against them until they are destroyed from the land I gave the them and their fathers." (Jeremiah 24:9-10)

And so, the modern Jews remain under a curse that began when their ancestors forsook the God of Israel and embraced the false gods of pagan nations. Tragically, their modern religious leaders continue to spurn God by rejecting His Son Jesus Christ who came and fulfilled over 300 specific prophecies that revealed Him as the Jewish Messiah and no one else. No one can know and have a relationship with God unless they have been born again by faith in His Son Jesus Christ who died for all sinners on a Roman cross 2,000 years ago. To a group of unbelieving Jews who thought they knew God, Christ said this: "You do not know me or my (Heavenly) Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also." (John 8:19)

The modern Jewish rabbis reject Christ because he died on the cross. According to them, the true messiah would never die such an ignominious death--he would destroy the enemies of the Jews and liberate Israel. And yet their own prophets foretold that the Jewish Messiah would indeed die for their nation, be raised from the dead and one day return to conquer Israel's enemies. Isaiah wrote: "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him and by his wounds we are healed."(Isaiah 53:5)

If you're a Jew who believes in God--and tragically many don't--then you can't know Him personally unless you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Consider this--you'll never gain eternal life by following Judaism which is the religion of the rabbis--the same man-made religion that rejected Christ 2,000 years ago. Consider the evidence for Christ and then consider the lack of evidence for the religion of the rabbis. Would you rather be popular with men and be condemned to hell, or would you rather be popular with God and be blessed with eternal life through His Son Jesus Christ? 

Or consider this; evidence is the alpha and the omega of truth, but ideology is the wisdom of blind fools.

Have a Holly Jolly (Holiday Season)

Politically Incorrect

Residents of the Willows senior apartment complex in Newhall, Ca. don't usually wish for a white Christmas because it rarely snows in Southern California.

However, until recently, they were forced to wish for just any kind of Christmas because the purveyors of social justice and political correctness decided that Christmas trees and menorahs on display in the building's common areas constituted an unlawful endorsement of religion. JB Partners Group, that owns the senior complex, told the residents that the time-honored displays had to come down, or else.

According to an article published Los Angeles Daily News, a JB supervisor named Wethanie Law told residents that the Christmas tree "had to be taken down because it's a religious symbol." 

JB's scrooge-like edict generated a firestorm of protest from residents. Max Greenis, who's one of the residents, even threatened to hold back his rent money to protest JB's decision. Said Greenis: "I've got grandkids and they come here and now they'll ask, 'Grandpa, where's the Christmas tree?' Then I'll have to explain that someone said we couldn't have one. What kind of message is that sending to the kids?"

The message that it sends is that Christmas, like Christianity isn't in vogue in America anymore. Rather, according to the secular promoters of political correctness, Christmas and Christianity represent bad symbols of white Europeans who invaded America centuries ago and forced the natives to adopt their customs. These folks, such as the people who operate JB Partners Group usually defend their actions by claiming that they're just trying to be fair to those who don't celebrate Christmas when they demand that trees and other Christmas symbols be removed.

But that's nonsense. Christmas is a federal holiday which means that it's completely lawful for Christmas trees and Nativity scenes to be on display in public and private settings. I don't personally celebrate Christmas because it's a holiday with pagan roots that was originally known as the Saturnalia until the Roman Catholic Church reinvented it many centuries ago as the birthday of Jesus Christ in order to recruit the pagans. If Christians want to celebrate Christmas as the birthday of Christ, then that's their business. But that decision should be up to them rather than up to government bureaucrats. 

Thankfully, the folks at JB Partners finally "saw the light" after the huge blowback from the Willows residents and they reversed their decision. The seniors at the complex will be allowed to display their Christmas trees and menorahs this year.

But next year? Who knows? The growing hostility toward Christmas underscores an even greater hostility toward Christianity in America and the western world. Unless Christians decide to "contend for the faith" as the apostle Jude (Jude 1:3) warned them to do 2,000 years ago, both Christmas and Christianity may be banned in more places in the future than just senior housing complexes.

Why Depravity Reigns

Chris Andersen of the Denver Nuggets

"Somehow, it's become cool to act like where you came from. But that's not cool at all."--Isiah Thomas

Nearly 2,000 years ago, the apostle Paul revealed that the last days on earth directly preceding the return of Jesus Christ would not be good times. Here's Paul's prophecy: "But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days." (2 Timothy 3:1)

What specifically will make the last days on earth so terrible? Paul expounded:  "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)

There's a cause and effect relationship for just about everything that happens in life. The cause of moral depravity that Paul revealed will be prevalent throughout the end-time world is directly related to the declining influence of Judeo-Christianity. For example, King Solomon taught this important lesson: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline." (Proverbs 1:7)

Solomon revealed an ultimate truth; that when people fear God they honor and respect His power. And they make it their business to learn his laws, commandments and statutes. When one fears God, one understands that he is directly accountable to God for his thoughts, actions and words. That also manifests in obedience to civil laws and respect for the welfare of others.

But when one either doesn't believe in God or doesn't believe that he's held personally accountable to God for his behavior, then literally anything goes and chaos usually prevails. Absent the fear of God, society quickly descends into the sewer of depravity. 

Two incidents recently happened that underscore the growing cesspool of depravity that is relentlessly destroying western civilization. The first incident involved an NFL football player named Jovan Belcher (Kansas City Chiefs) who shot his girlfriend to death at the home they shared in Kansas City before he later turned his gun on himself and committed suicide. Belcher evidently got into a violent argument with his girlfriend over his out-of-control lifestyle that involved drinking, drugs and womanizing. 

The second incident occurred in a New York City subway tunnel where a man died after he was hit by a train. The man evidently had been pushed onto the tracks by another man during an altercation. What made the incident especially tragic was the fact that an amateur photographer witnessed the incident and decided to snap some photos of the man desperately trying to climb back onto the platform before he was struck and killed by the train. Instead of trying to save the man's life, the photographer thought only of himself and the fame he might gain by taking pictures of a helpless man about to die. When people no longer believe in God, they become nihilistic and life becomes extremely cheap and meaningless. 

I've often said that professional sports provides an accurate reflection of society as a whole. Chris Andersen, the basketball player pictured above, is one such reflection. He's a terrible role model who glorifies the malignant "Gangsta Culture" that swallowed up Jovan Belcher. Andersen may claim that he has a right to paint his body full of tattoos and wear outrageous clothing. And he indeed has that right. But he also has an obligation as a professional athlete to set a good example for young kids who look to professional athletes such as him for inspiration.

When that inspiration involves looking and acting like an inner-city gangbanger, then thousands of kids will think that's cool and emulate Andersen's persona. Belcher also emulated the gangbanger culture with its loose women, drugs, alcohol and guns. And it destroyed him. 

But ultimately, Andersen, Belcher and that amateur photographer who declined to rescue a helpless man are the tragic reflections of an evil, post-Christian world that the apostle Paul warned us would come. And now it's here.

End Time Delusions

Another false prophecy

"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."--Matthew 24:36

Eschatology, or biblical prophecy that concerns the end times is much like an elaborate jigsaw puzzle. Rather than one giant piece, it consists of several different pieces that must be carefully put together in order to get an accurate picture of just what is going to happen during the last days on earth preceding the return of Jesus Christ.

I've been studying eschatology for over 25 years and I've had to change my view of the end times since I first began investigating prophecy. When I was a novice believer in Jesus Christ in the early 1980s, I truly believed in the pre-tribulation Rapture. What is the Rapture? It is the biblical doctrine that God plans to remove His church and all true Christians from the world prior to global judgment and the return of Jesus Christ. 

Global judgment refers to what the Bible calls the Tribulation and Great Tribulation periods, which consist of two 3-1/2 year periods that make up a seven-year period. Though Christendom has been accused of inventing the Tribulation doctrine, it was revealed by the ancient Hebrew prophet Daniel nearly 2,600 years ago. (Daniel 9:27, Daniel 12:11-12) The Rapture is also biblical and it was revealed by Daniel (Daniel 12:1) as well as by Christ (Matthew 24:31) and the apostle Paul. (1 Corinthians 15:51-52, 1 Thessalonians 5:2, 2 Thessalonians 2:3)

The pre-tribulation rapture doctrine teaches that just before the dreaded Antichrist appears on earth, God is going to remove His church. That doctrine has become immensely popular since 1970 when Christian author Hal Lindsey published a book (The Late Great Planet Earth) that presented a compelling argument based upon biblical prophecy for the end-time appearance of a revised Roman Empire and the pre-tribulation rapture.

Since Lindsey's book first appeared, literally thousands of books, articles and CD's have been published that promote the pre-tribulation rapture. Unfortunately, the doctrine of the pre-tribulation rapture is based more upon wishful thinking and out-of-context scripture than it is on solid biblical truth. How so? Because both Christ and Paul, who wrote extensively on the Rapture, never revealed a pre-trib rapture.

For example, when Christ revealed the general time that the Rapture will occur, he placed it at the end of the Great Tribulation period, not before. (Matthew 24:31) Furthermore, he warned true believers not to be taken in by false prophets and elaborate counterfeit messiahs that will appear on earth and deceive multitudes prior to His return. (Matthew 24:24-28) Christ's warning doesn't make any sense if there's going to be a rapture prior to the appearance of the Antichrist who will be the ultimate counterfeit messiah. That warning was specifically directed toward true Christians rather than nominal Christians or unbelievers who will be easy dupes for false prophets and pseudo-messiahs. If the rapture occurs prior to the appearance of the Antichrist, then there won't be any true Christians around to be deceived.

And furthermore, Paul also revealed that the true church is going to be around when the Antichrist appears. (2 Thessalonians 2:3) If that's true then the pre-tribulation rapture isn't. How then can we properly understand Christ's warning to be alert for His return? "Therefore, keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come." (Matthew 24:42) Wouldn't we expect Him to return during a time of trouble rather than during a time of peace?

Consider this; if the Rapture fails to occur before the Antichrist appears, and he begins persecuting Christians worldwide, then many will lose their faith and consider the Rapture to be a fraud. How many Christians then, will actually be looking for Christ after that? Not many. Consider this rhetorical question that Christ asked concerning His second coming: "However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8)

He will if he returns prior to the Tribulation and Great Tribulation periods. But he won't if he returns at the end of these periods.

Losing Friends and Gaining Life

Angus T. Jones

Angus T. Jones is an actor who committed an unthinkable sin in the eyes of corporate TV executives; he bit the hand that feeds him.

Jones, who plays the character Jake Harper in the popular CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men, told his fans during a recent interview with Voice of Prophecy, a ministry run by the Seventh Day Adventist Church, that the show promotes moral filth and he doesn't recommend that anyone watch it. That took courage on Jones' part because the young actor is paid $300,000 per episode. Since the show is now in its tenth season and tapes 20 episodes per season, Two and a Half Men has been extremely lucrative to Jones.

So why would he condemn the show despite the fact that it's made him a wealthy and popular young man? Because Jones had a coming out of sorts a few years ago when he admitted that he became a Christian and gave his life to Jesus Christ. Why would that be considered a "coming out"? Because anyone with even a rudimentary knowledge of Hollywood and the entertainment industry knows that true born again, bible believing Christians aren't wanted or welcome in Hollywood.

Jones' public admission of his faith and his denunciation of Two and a Half Men predictably created a firestorm of blowback against the actor. Jones was accused of being brainwashed and he was called a puppet of Christian fundamentalists. Though Jones has since apologized for trashing his show, the damage has been done and it's a strong possibility that he may never work again in the entertainment industry once Two and a Half Men finally runs its course and expires.

While I admire Jones for calling Two and a Half Men for what it is; a cesspool of moral filth that glorifies hedonism, marital infidelity and fornication, I don't admire his compromise. Not only should he never have caved in and apologized for condemning the show, he should have resigned. By caving to the inevitable criticism that followed, Jones revealed that his faith isn't as strong as his words. When trouble came, he backed off which sent the wrong message to millions of young impressionable fans of the show that money and job security are more important than one's faith in Jesus Christ.

Sadly, Jones missed a golden opportunity to set an example of what a true born again Christian is all about; no compromise no matter what the cost. Had Jones backed up his faith by resigning from the show, he would've taught an important lesson that serving Jesus Christ as Lord is far more important and rewarding than anything the world has to offer. That takes true faith; the kind of faith that has motivated Christian missionaries for 2,000 years to preach the gospel all over the world despite incredible persecution. 

Hopefully, like Jones, more young Christian men and women will come forward and take a public stand against the encroaching moral depravity that is destroying America and western civilization. And hopefully, they'll refuse to cave in to the inevitable criticism and persecution that will come from moral reprobates that hate God and have no use for the redemption that His Son Jesus Christ earned for them on a Roman cross 2,000 years ago. As God spoke to the writer of Hebrews long ago: "But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him." (Hebrews 10:38)