The Revival of Desolation

A Marian apparition that appeared in Egypt

"The coming of the lawless one 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

Though few people expect or even believe that a global religious revival is going to happen, one is coming. And it's going to be an extremely bad one.

What will be so bad about it? It will purport to be a "Christian" revival that will be demonically inspired. 

This revival that will be highlighted by supernatural phenomena that science won't be able to explain away.

It will not only convert many skeptics, agnostics and atheists, it will even seduce many professing Christians. Jesus Christ Himself warned: "For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect--if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time." (Matthew 24:24-25)

The fact that Christ alerted his followers "ahead of time" tells us that this revival will come upon the world suddenly. And Christ's warning also reveals that this revival will be so powerful that many Christians will be tempted to embrace it as genuine.

But what will trigger this counterfeit revival? It will be triggered by Marian apparitions that will begin to appear across the world. If the 20th century was any indication of what's coming, then we are getting close to this grand counterfeit. Approximately 472 Marian apparitions appeared across the world in the previous century.

http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/resources/aprtable.html 

But what does the Virgin Mary (not to be confused with Christ's real physical mother Miriam) have to do with a global religious revival? She is recognized and worshiped by Roman Catholics, Orthodox Christians, Muslims and a growing number of Protestants and Evangelicals. Together, these folks make up nearly half of the world's residents. She has the potential to seduce the entire world.

Therefore, Mary becomes the catalyst for a counterfeit global religious revival. What makes this revival so dangerous? Three things: (1) Mary isn't divine and is not to be worshiped; (2) Mary will direct folks away from the Bible to religious experiences or miracles that cannot be tested, and (3) she will encourage the world to follow a counterfeit Jesus Christ who will in fact be the Antichrist.

Why would God allow such a revival to occur? Because the world desperately seeks its own messiah that it can worship on its own terms rather than God's terms.

When God's true messiah Jesus Christ appeared 2,000 years ago, he paid the ultimate price for the sin of the world by dying on a Roman cross. And he preached that those who repent of their sins and put their faith in His death on that cross for their sins and His resurrection from the dead will gain eternal life.

Those are the terms that God demands. But the world has rejected those terms along with God's genuine messiah. Rather, the world wants its own messiah on its own terms.

And it's going to get that messiah. And this fake will be preceded by an explosion of demonic signs and wonders that will deceive multitudes. Even many folks who profess to be Christians.

And so, beware. The revival is coming. The future doesn't belong to Islam nor godless humanism. It belongs to a false Christianity that will spread globally through supernatural events that will be demonically inspired.

And it will take place when it's least expected. 

Dreams and Reality

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Many of you who read this space know that I admire Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He was a true Baptist Minister who projected a Judeo-Christian worldview into his sermons.

I realize that there are some people--even professing Christians--who don't like Dr. King and believe that he was a phony. Unfortunately, I think some of that perception comes from those who have claimed to follow in Dr. King's footsteps after he was tragically assassinated on April 4, 1968. But more on that later.

It's been 50 years since Dr. King gave his famous I Have A Dream speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. That speech, which took place on August 28, 1963 became the apex of the Civil Rights Movement. It was the clarion call for the United States of America to do away with its ugly, bigoted past and move ahead towards unity and respect for all people.

Dr. King asked for equal opportunity for African-Americans in government, the private sector, business and education. His message was crystal clear: Give us the same opportunities that are afforded others and we will excel just as they do. 

Dr. King's speech was powerful and effective. It resonated with millions of Americans because it was spoken with a biblical worldview. 

Dr. King didn't demand entitlements, special rights, reparations or affirmative action. In fact, he didn't demand anything as so many of the race hustlers and religious charlatans have who came after him. All Dr. King asked of America was to give African-Americans an equal opportunity to succeed in life.

America began to provide those opportunities, although they often came painstakingly slow. By the 1970s, African-Americans who graduated college had careers waiting for them at Fortune 500 companies. And for those African-Americans who couldn't afford college, scholarships were readily available to pay for their education.

Many people will claim that what I just wrote isn't true. Baloney. It was true. I was closely aware of who the business recruiters were seeking who visited my university campus. They were looking for African-Americans to hire. In fact, they usually considered African-Americans first before they considered candidates from other racial and ethnic backgrounds. 

Then, what has happened to Dr. King's dream? Why do African-Americans suffer the highest unemployment rate in America? Why are so many African-Americans still living in poverty? Why do so many African-American youths drop out of school? Why do African-Americans have the highest incarceration rate of any racial group in America? And why are 73 percent of African-American babies born outside of wedlock?

Has Dr. King's dream failed? Has America returned to its ugly racist past? Many people would like us to believe that. Wretches such as House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and the Rev. Al Sharpton want us to believe that America is a nation of redneck racists that don't want African-Americans to succeed.

In fact, if Dr. King's dream has failed it's because people such as Nancy Pelosi, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and Marxist groups that portray themselves as civil rights organizations such as The Southern Poverty Law Center, The NAACP and The Anti-Defamation League have destroyed that dream.

These people and these groups have no right to claim Dr. King's legacy. They are evil. They don't want African-Americans to succeed. And they never did. For them, it isn't about keeping Dr. King's dream alive--it's about keeping racism alive so they can use African-Americans as human pawns to line their own pockets. If Dr. King returned today, I believe that he'd be shocked at what's taken place since he left this earth. 

Shame on those who claim to speak for Dr. King but do not follow in his footsteps. And shame on their media sycophants who play along with this pathetic charade by promoting their corrupt agendas. 

In the end, they will reap what they have sown.

Praying For Wicked Leaders

Barack Obama

In his first letter to fellow apostle Timothy, the apostle Paul urged all believers to pray for the political authorities who govern them.

Here's what Paul wrote: "I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.  This is good, and pleases God our Savior,  who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.  For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus,  who gave himself as a ransom for all people." (1 Timothy 2:1-6)

While praying for political leaders isn't mandatory and certainly isn't a salvation issue, it's encouraged by God because our leaders are constantly pressured by the influences of evil. And that influence often comes from Satan himself, whom the Bible identifies as "the God of this age." (2 Corinthians 4:4)

Obviously, it's not easy to pray for some authorities. In the case of Bashar al-Assad, Syria's wicked dictator, people ought to pray for his downfall because this man is a mass-murderer. In the case of Egypt, folks ought to pray for a strong but peaceful leader to emerge who can put an end to the anarchy in that nation.

But what about President Barack Obama? He's a difficult man to pray for. Certainly, he's a wicked man. He's mendacious; his administration is staffed with incompetent people and it's plagued by numerous scandals. And it's quite evident that Obama's unqualified to hold the highest office of the most powerful nation on earth.

It's also quite obvious that prior to entering politics, Obama associated with radical Marxists and black super-racists for many years. These were the folks who helped mold Obama into the man he is today.

Barack Obama never should have been elected to America's highest office. His election reveals more about the ignorance and apathy of American voters than it does about his gift of con that rivals some of the most notorious cult leaders throughout history.

Nevertheless, he's America's president. And he was reelected last year despite his catastrophic first term.

And so, we need to pray for him. And I don't encourage folks to pray for terrible things to happen to him. He's also a father who's raising two daughters. 

If folks want to pray for the Lord to remove Obama from office, then so be it. But don't pray for wicked things. Rather, pray that he comes to his senses and starts governing for the will of the people instead of against it. Pray that he begins respecting the Constitution instead of ignoring it.

And pray that he recognizes that he wouldn't hold America's highest office if God had not permitted it. 

Some folks wonder why God permitted Barack Obama to become America's 44th president? Because the United States has become a vile and wicked nation. And like ancient Israel that got wicked kings because she rebelled against God, America has gotten wicked leaders such as Obama because she has rebelled against God.

That's reality. People ultimately get the government and the leaders they deserve. But whether those leaders are righteous or evil, we still need to intercede and pray for them.

The Evil Last Days

Courtesy of TheBlaze

I often refer to a prophecy recorded by the apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 that reveals how evil the world will become just prior to the return of Jesus Christ.

For those of you who haven't read that scripture, here it is: "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. Have nothing to do with such people."

Unless you live in an alternative universe--as many people evidently do--then I think you realize that Paul's prophecy is now being fulfilled. In fact, Christ also prophesied that the last days on earth would be filled with wickedness. (Matthew 24:12)

The letter pictured above provides further confirmation that both prophecies are being fulfilled. The letter was written by the neighbor of a woman who has a mentally-handicapped child. Obviously, the woman's neighbor doesn't like the child. Obviously, she believes that the child should be killed.

While I realize that wicked people and jerks have existed on the earth since the dawn of history, I think it's safe to assume that we have never seen the volume of callousness, depravity and evil on the planet as we're witnessing today. 

What's the reason for the marked increase in wickedness across the world? The answer is simple: The world has rejected God. And when I refer to God, I'm referring to the true God of the universe revealed in the Bible--God the Heavenly Father, God the Son Jesus Christ and God the Holy Spirit. Not three Gods. Rather One true God who consists of three distinct persons.

Since the advent of Darwinism in the 19th century and its destructive ideology that denies God and His transcendent moral laws, we've seen a steady erosion of morality and civility throughout the world. Life has become cheap and meaningless. Human beings are now considered no more distinctive than worms or ants.

And that attitude manifests in the holocaust of abortion and in the explosion of violent crime that has resulted in multiplied murders, assaults, rapes, vandalism and property damage over the last 100 years.

When folks don't believe that they're held morally accountable by God for their thoughts and behavior, then anarchy prevails. Nearly 3,000 years ago, King Solomon wrote this: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline." (Proverbs 1:7)

I can't imagine what the mother of that handicapped child thought when she received that despicable letter. It must have ripped her heart out. I have a handicapped brother and I know what a difficult time my parents had dealing with him.

Though he was born normal before his brain was severely damaged by a doctor's mistake, my father blamed himself for what happened. He truly believed that he did something bad in his life that warranted my brother's misfortune. If you've never had a handicapped sibling or relative, you simply can't relate to the experience.

Obviously, the woman who wrote that cruel letter has never had that experience. She has no idea how physically and emotionally painful it is to raise a handicapped child. She has no idea how painful it is to go out in public with such a child and be stared at by ignorant buffoons.

And for those of you who agree with this woman, keep this in mind: These people didn't ask to be born that way. And they are human beings created in the image of a Holy God. They are not to be discarded like trash simply because godless ignoramuses such as the woman who wrote that letter don't want to see them or hear them.

And heed these words of Christ concerning those who say and write such wicked things: "But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned." (Matthew 12:36-37)

For those of you who sympathize with that callous letter-writer, then I strongly recommend that you repent of your bitterness and evil. And quickly. Because I wouldn't want to be in your shoes when the Lord comes calling for your soul.

Right Ways and Wrong Ways

Windshield flyer

I'm not a fan of those annoying windshield flyers that I periodically find tucked under my wiper-blades.

I recently discovered the one pictured above, and while I wholeheartedly agree with most of its message, I don't agree with all of it for obvious reasons.

Certainly, Jesus Christ is the only way to eternal life. He fulfilled over 300 specific prophecies recorded in the Bible's Old Testament concerning the life, ministry, death and resurrection of the Jewish Messiah. The evidence for Christ is so overwhelming that only a fool would deny it.

And yet the world is populated with fools who deny the evidence for Christ. Many of those fools, who present themselves as religious scholars, claim that the Bible is unreliable because it's been rewritten numerous times over the centuries. Therefore, according to their logic, any biblical claims for Jesus Christ cannot be trusted.

That's baloney. Not only do several ancient manuscripts exist that validate what Israel's prophets recorded concerning the Jewish Messiah, we have the Dead Sea Scrolls that were discovered in the Qumran Caves beginning in 1946. 

Those scrolls contain the writings of the ancient prophets that foretold of Christ hundreds and thousands of years before He appeared. The manuscripts date back to the 5th Century B.C. and they are worded almost exactly the same as modern Bible translations such as the New King James and the NIV. 

The main differences between the scrolls and modern bible translations are minor. They are found in words used to describe such things as doors and gates. Otherwise, the historic, prophetic context is exactly the same.

Given the evidence for Christ, you'd think that it would be easy to convince most folks that Jesus Christ is the Jewish Messiah and the Son of God. But it's not. Christ Himself couldn't convince everyone during his time in ancient Israel, despite the numerous miracles that He performed and the prophetic evidence that backed up His coming.

Evangelizing folks is difficult work. It not only involves biblical wisdom, it demands a strong working knowledge of secular ideologies, cults and false religions. 

And it involves patience, courage and a humble spirit because many folks have been brainwashed to believe that Christianity is just another belief system that's no different than any other system. Some people become downright hostile and belligerent when presented with the gospel. Others become mocking and insulting.

And yet, the proper way to fulfill the Great Commission of Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:16-20) is to present the gospel directly to folks instead of placing tracts or flyers on car windshields. The majority of those things usually get crumpled up and tossed on the ground. I don't think that's the proper way to respect God's word.

Obviously, it appears as though the flyer pictured above was created on someone's computer. 

And so, if you're going to attempt to spread the gospel this way--which I don't recommend--here's some advice: (1) Emphasize that every year is the Lord's year rather than just 2013. (2) Leave out the conspiracy theories concerning Barack Obama and microchips because conspiracy theories make you look foolish and destroy your credibility. While I loathe Obama as much as anyone, he's not the Antichrist and he's not going to institute the infamous Mark of the Beast. That will be done by someone else in the future rather than by Obama. (Revelation 13:16-17) 

And (3), please understand that simple salvation prayers, such as the one you included in your flyer, don't save anyone. A person needs to truly believe in Jesus Christ in his or her heart before he or she can be saved. (Romans 10:9-13) Choreographed prayers uttered without faith don't save anyone. 

Finally, save the ink and paper and join up with a strong ministry that will train you in the proper way to evangelize the unsaved. 

You can join us or we can recommend another ministry. But learn how to do it the proper way and please ditch the conspiracy theories as well.

Ashamed of Christ?

The apostle Paul, who was known by his Hebrew name as Saul, was a Pharisee. The Pharisees were the ancient equivalent of today's Orthodox Jews.

In fact, many of the customs and religious traditions observed by the Orthodox Jews trace back to the time of the Pharisees.

For those of you who are versed in the New Testament, you know who the Pharisees were. They were bad people. They were the religious leaders who gave Jesus Christ a very hard time during His ministry in ancient Israel.

They often plotted to kill Jesus because Christ presented a very serious threat to their authority. Unlike Christ, the Pharisees were loathed by the people. Unlike Christ, they were dull, boring, phony, corrupt and arrogant. And unlike Christ, they had no power to perform miracles such as giving sight to the blind, raising the dead and healing deadly diseases.

Eventually, the Pharisees succeeded in killing Christ by bribing one of His disciples--Judas Iscariot--into handing Christ over to them. However, unbeknownst to them, the Pharisees fulfilled God's will by crucifying Christ whose death on Calvary's cross provided atonement for the sins of mankind. (Isaiah 53)

How does Paul fit into this? As a Pharisee, Paul originally persecuted the early church until he encountered the risen and glorified Christ one day on a road to Damascus. (Acts 9) Paul's encounter with Christ convinced him that Jesus was indeed the Jewish Messiah. The hardened Pharisee, who derived great pleasure in persecuting Christians, became the greatest apostle to the gentile world.

One of the important lessons that Paul learned as a new convert was that both Jews and Gentiles became a brand new creation in Christ. Here's what Paul wrote: "You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise." (Galatians 3:26-29)

Paul continually emphasized that during his travels throughout Asia Minor and Europe. Jews and Gentiles, that had once been separated, were now brothers and sisters in the Lord.

Tragically, there are those who don't believe that. There are so-called Christians who believe the Jews are eternally cursed and cut off from God because their ancestors rejected Christ.

And there are those who identify as Messianic Jews who want nothing to do with Christianity nor Gentiles. They claim that God has called them to carry on in the religious traditions mandated by Rabbinic Judaism and to stay out of the Christian church. In fact, they don't want to be known as Christians.

Anyone who believes in Jesus Christ--or Yeshua as Messianic Jews refer to Him--is a Christian. Anyone who has truly confessed Christ--or Yeshua--as Lord or Moshiach, has a responsibility to preach Christ crucified for the sins of the world and His resurrection from the dead. That's the calling of every believer in Christ--or Yeshua.

No Jewish or Gentile believer is called to divide the Body of Christ by following the religious traditions of either pagans or those who hated Christ and betrayed Him.

Messianic Jews argue that they're being obedient to God by returning to the biblical roots of their faith. But that's dead wrong. The religious traditions practiced and promoted by the rabbis aren't biblical. They're anti-biblical and they're designed to prevent the Jews from coming to Jesus Christ.

What would Paul say to modern Messianic Jews? He'd probably tell them this: "Your boasting is not good. Don't you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast--as you really are." (1 Corinthians 5:6-7) 

True and False Unity: Part II

Billy Graham and Pope John Paul II

"Do not be yoked with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?"--2 Corinthians 6:14

In the early 1990s, the United States and the western world were in the midst of a downward moral spiral. Crime was increasing; families were falling apart, drug and alcohol addictions were on the rise, Islam was spreading rapidly and millions of people were abandoning the Christian church.

In order to combat all this, several evangelical and Roman Catholic leaders met and decided that Christian churches needed to stop bickering among themselves and present a new, unified face to the world. 

And so, in 1994, the greatest betrayal of Martin Luther's 16th century Protestant Reformation took place when prominent evangelicals signed a document with high-ranking Roman Catholic leaders called Evangelicals and Catholics Together. That document called for evangelicals and Roman Catholics to put aside their differences for the purpose of promoting the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world.

Here's a sampling of that infamous document: As Christ is one, so the Christian mission is one. That one mission can be and should be advanced in diverse ways. Legitimate diversity, however, should not be confused with existing divisions between Christians that obscure the one Christ and hinder the one mission. There is a necessary connection between the visible unity of Christians and the mission of the one Christ. We together pray for the fulfillment of the prayer of Our Lord: “May they all be one; as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, so also may they be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me.” (John 17) We together, Evangelicals and Catholics, confess our sins against the unity that Christ intends for all his disciples.

http://www.firstthings.com/article/2007/01/evangelicals--catholics-together-the-christian-mission-in-the-third-millennium-2

The 25-page document was signed by notable evangelicals such as Max Lucado, J. I. Packer, Pat Robertson, Chuck Colson and Dr. Bill Bright. One of its provisions called for evangelicals to accept the Roman Catholic gospel as a legitimate path to heaven in order to better evangelize the world for Christ. 

What ECT did was nullify the genuine biblical gospel of Jesus Christ that declares that eternal life is a free gift from God that cannot be earned, (Ephesians 2:8-9) in favor of an ambiguous universal gospel that promotes high moral conduct over faith.  

The infamous document set off a firestorm among evangelicals who rightly claimed that it sold out Christ by legitimizing the gospel of the world's oldest and largest religious cult.

Several evangelicals who signed the infamous document backtracked and claimed that they merely signed the agreement with Rome to wage war against moral depravity.

But that was a fallacious argument. The church's greatest responsibility is to preach Christ crucified for the sins of the world and His resurrection from the dead.

While the church is indeed called to fight against moral depravity, that's not her highest calling. A church that merely wages war against evil without presenting the biblical path to salvation and eternal life through the cross is a dead, corrupt church. Evil exists because people have rejected God and spurned His laws. And people can only be delivered from the power of evil when they are truly born again by faith in Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

No one can be born again unto eternal life through the Roman Catholic gospel. In fact, the Catholic Church pronounces a curse on anyone who believes in salvation (justification) by faith. If anyone says that by faith alone the sinner is justified, so as to mean that nothing else is required to cooperate in order to obtain the grace of justification. . . let him be anathema (Trent, sess. 6, canon 9). If anyone says that the righteousness received is not preserved and also not increased before God by good works, but that those works are merely the fruits and signs of justification obtained, but not a cause of its increase, let him be anathema (Trent, sess. 6, canon 24).

The false unity of an ecumenical gospel not only fails to deliver people from the bondage of evil, it sends them to hell.

Or, as the old saying goes: The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

True and False Unity: Part I

Nearly 2,000 years ago, the apostle Paul recognized that the biggest enemy of the fledgling church was disunity.

Here's what he wrote: "Make every effort to keep the unity of the (Holy) Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit--just as you were called to one hope when you were called--one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and the Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all." (Ephesians 4:3-6)

Tragically, many Christians failed to heed Paul's words and quickly broke off into factions that changed, ignored or perverted the gospel. During Paul's early travels, he encountered factionalism in the early Corinthian and Galatian churches.

The Corinthians had allowed themselves to be duped by hotshot apostles who drew early believers away from Jesus Christ to themselves. The Galatians had allowed themselves to be deceived by Judaizers who convinced them that they were required to keep the Mosaic Law in addition to their faith in Christ if they wanted to be saved.

There were several aberrant movements in the early days of Christendom that divided the church. Two of the most notorious were Docetism and Arianism. Docetism taught that Christ never actually possessed a mortal human body while Arianism erroneously taught that Christ didn't exist before he was physically born.

Perhaps the biggest aberrant movement within Christendom was created when the First Council of Nicaea (325 A.D.) laid the foundation for the Roman Catholic Church. The Catholic Church not only rejected the Bible's clear proclamation that salvation was a free gift from God that could only be received by faith, (John 3:16, Romans 10:9-11, Ephesians 2:8-9) it incorporated various pagan customs and rituals into its liturgy.

When a Catholic Monk named Martin Luther launched what became known as the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century by rejecting historic Roman Catholic teaching, he opened the door for millions of Christians to return to the genuine biblical teaching on salvation.

And yet even Luther's Reformation eventually fractured into numerous denominations that offered different views on salvation, eternal life, baptisms, holiness and sanctification.

Today, the very fact that numerous churches and denominations exist throughout the world that offer competing doctrines underscores the disunity that plagues Christianity. And it was Christ Himself who stated that "every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand." (Matthew 12:25)

That explains the sad state of modern Christianity. If you visit three different churches, you'll get three different views on such topics as the deity of Christ, salvation, holiness and baptisms.

And that shouldn't be. The Bible is very clear about salvation, eternal life, the deity of Christ etc. There shouldn't be any confusion. But sadly, there is.

Certainly, a divided house cannot stand. But a house that's built on a flimsy foundation of ecumenism--or false unity--cannot stand either.

In Part II, the coming false unity of a global counterfeit religion.

Angels and Demons

Artist rendition of a mystery priest

I believe that there are angels under God's authority that minister to God's people here on earth. In fact, I saw one about 30 years ago.

I also believe that there are demons (fallen angels) under Satan's authority that appear from time to time in the world to do the bidding of their diabolical leader. 

While many people claim that they've encountered angels during various events and experiences in their lifetimes, not everyone has had an actual encounter with an angel. Some people merely experienced an hallucination. 

Others thought they met an angel, only to discover that they encountered a real person. Still others--apparently for self-serving purposes--made up stories of encounters with angelic beings. And there are those who've had encounters with demons that they mistook for angels.

However, an event that recently occurred near New London, Missouri has many people convinced that they encountered an angel. That event was a terrible car crash in which the victim, 19-year-old Katie Lentz, was involved in a head-on collision with another car that had crossed over the center line on a rural road.

Lentz, who was driving from her home in Quincy, Missouri, was seriously injured and trapped inside her vehicle. When emergency crews arrived on the scene, they were initially unable to cut Lentz free because the vehicle she was driving was an older Mercedes Benz model that featured heavy gauge steel. 

During the time that emergency personnel worked on rescuing Lentz, a Catholic priest appeared and requested that he be allowed to pray with Lentz and anoint her with oil. Officials initially refused, but then relented and allowed the priest to pray over Lentz while emergency workers cut through the twisted steel.

What was so unusual about the priest's visit to the crash scene? Priests and other clergy visit trauma scenes frequently. What was so unusual is that no one from the area recognized the priest or knew where he came from. 

There apparently weren't any churches nearby. The road where the crash occurred was closed for miles in each direction to prevent curiosity seekers from visiting the accident scene. And no one at the roadblocks reported seeing the priest.

To further the mystery, Lentz and several of the emergency workers saw and spoke with the priest. So that eliminates the possibility that some people colluded to fabricate the priest and his appearance. And what deepens the mystery is the fact that New London Fire Chief Raymond Reed claims that he took 80 photos of the accident scene while the priest was present and yet the priest never appeared in a single photo.

What's my take on this event? Unless the mysterious priest comes forward and identifies himself, then indeed, he's a supernatural being.

But he's not an angel. Why? Because he appeared as a representative of a mega-false religion. God would never allow his angels to appear on earth dressed in the vestments of an ageless cult. 

But didn't he appear and offer spiritual comfort to a person in distress? Yes, he did. But if it furthers Satan's interests to promote a false religion by sending his demons dressed in religious garb to perform acts of heroism and bravery, then he's all for that. Because for Satan, the end always justifies the means.

Nearly 2,000 years ago, the apostle Paul, who was very familiar with Satan and his clever schemes, wrote this concerning the devil and his fallen angels: "And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness." (2 Corinthians 11:14-15)

To that, the apostle John added this warning to all Christians: "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world." (1 John 4:1)

Update: A priest named Rev. Patrick Dowling, who's assigned to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Jefferson City, Mo.  has since come forward and admitted that he was the mysterious priest who attended to Lentz at the crash scene.
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2013/August/Mystery-Car-Crash-Priest-Comes-Forward/

Islam or Christianity?

The Koran and the Bible

"To the law and to the testimony! If anyone does not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn."--Isaiah 8:20

If you believe in God--and a growing number of people in the western world no longer do, then which God would you prefer to serve and worship? A God who's unknowable, impersonal, mysterious, wrathful, vengeful; hates Jews and Christians and offers no assurance of salvation?

Or, would you rather serve a God who is loving, knowable, unbiased, merciful, generous, fair and offers an easy and understandable path to salvation and eternal life?

Historically, most people have chosen the latter because no one wants to serve an angry, vengeful God who's catatonic, unpredictable and offers no guarantee of eternal life.

But incredibly, many people today have rejected the latter and are choosing to serve the former who didn't exist until the 7th Century C.E. That would be Allah who was previously known as Al-Ilah and was worshiped as the moon god of the ancient Arabian Quraysh tribe. 

Muhammad, Islam's founding prophet, took Al-Ilah from the Kabah, a pagan temple located in Mecca where hundreds of pagan idols were worshiped, and reinvented him into Allah, or the supreme God of the universe.

Anyone who's familiar with ancient Arabian culture knows all about Al-Ilah. While Al means "The", Ilah means "god" in Arabic. However, "The god" that Muhammad took from the Kabah was a pagan god who had three daughters named Al-Lat, Al-Uzza and Manat. 

Muhammad redefined Al-Ilah into Allah, the God of the universe. During Islam's fledgling years, Muhammad allowed Allah to keep his three daughters before he discarded them. If Allah was no longer allowed to have daughters, he was also forbidden from having a son named Jesus Christ who is the Son of the biblical Judeo-Christian God.

Remember author Salman Rushdie? He was versed in ancient Arabian culture, so much so that he made the mistake of writing a book titled, The Satanic Verses that revealed Allah's daughters. Rushdie so inflamed the Islamic world that he was charged with blasphemy and sentenced to death by the Ayatollah Khomeini.

If Islam is indeed the fastest growing religion in the world, then that's because millions of people across the world are completely ignorant of Islam and unaware of its past.

One man, a self-promoting author named Reza Aslan who recently published a book titled, Zealot, the Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, claims that he was once a Christian who converted to Islam after he discovered the Bible to be full of errors, contradictions and historical inaccuracies. He claims that the Koran contains no such discrepancies.

If Aslan really believes that, then he knows even less about Islam than he does about Christianity. In my previous post: Arabian Fables, I chronicled just a sampling of the numerous errors contained in the Koran.
http://prophecyreviewtoday.blogspot.com/2013/08/arabian-fables.html

Furthermore, Islam's founding prophet was a racist. Even though Christianity is often unfairly maligned as "the white man's religion", Muhammad hated blacks and made no secret of his contempt for them. And that's reflected in the Koran that claims that on Judgement Day, only whites will be allowed into heaven while blacks will be eternally condemned. (Sura 3:106-107)

Incredibly, though Muhammad is considered a prophet, the Koran contains not a single, verifiable prophecy. Contrast that with the Bible that contains over 300 prophecies in the Old Testament alone that reveal the coming of the Jewish Messiah Jesus Christ; His life, ministry, death and resurrection.

And the Bible also prophetically reveals God's judgment of ancient Israel for her chronic rebellion against Him as well as God's reestablishment of Israel as a world nation once again after that judgment finally ends. In 1948, God's prophetic word was fulfilled when the United Nations voted to declare Israel a sovereign nation after Israel had been voided by the Roman Empire in 130 A.D.

Ironically, Islam's exponential growth fulfills a biblical prophecy recorded by the apostle Paul who wrote this 2,000 years ago: "The (Holy) Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons." (1 Timothy 4:1)

Tragically, when truth no longer matters, then falsehood reigns. Islam is a false religion that can't save anyone. That's not my opinion--that's based upon the evidence. As Psalm 119:105 declares concerning the truth of God's revealed word recorded in the Bible: "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path."

Anything else leads only to darkness, gloom and eternal destruction. 

The Epic Tragedy

"No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer."--2 Timothy 2:4

For those who believe that they can legislate their way to a moral and just society, then remember something called Prohibition.

That was passed in 1920 with the noble intention of eradicating alcoholism in America. Eradicating alcoholism is always a good intention, provided that those who would be deprived of drinking beer and liquor are willing to forgo those beverages.

However, in the first half of the 20th century, many Americans weren't willing to be deprived of their alcoholic beverages, so big trouble ensued. Prohibition encouraged bootlegging that gave rise to organized crime.

When Prohibition was finally repealed in 1933, the body count was staggering. Not only had Prohibition failed to stop alcoholism in America, it led to widespread corruption and bloody wars between criminal enterprises that fought for control of liquor distribution in cities and towns across America.

Prohibition provided a valuable lesson that you can't force people via legislation to do what they refuse to do. Another good example of that is handgun control legislation.

While various cities throughout America have passed stiff laws that restrict or outlaw possession of handguns, those laws have merely made it more difficult for law abiding citizens to protect themselves with firearms. Not so with criminals who ignore the law. For example, the city of Chicago, which has banned handguns for many years, ranks among the top cities in America almost every year for handgun homicides.

For too many years, the Christian Church in America has been on a losing streak. And that's because the church has tried to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ through the ballot box rather than by the power of God's Holy Spirit.

When Christ commanded His disciples to "go 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) he didn't send them out to spread the gospel across the world by promoting political agendas and slating candidates that would legislate Christianity into law. Rather, he sent His disciples out anointed by the Holy Spirit to spread the gospel through the power of God.

When the church followed the Holy Spirit, Christianity quickly spread wherever it was preached. But when the church began to rely on human power, the faith withered and died. The apostle Paul reminded the early church that there was no substitute for God's supreme power: "For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel--not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power." (1 Corinthians 1:17)

Indeed, the cross has been emptied of its power. When the church tries to defend the faith through politics and in the courts, it has lost both the battle and the war. The battle has been lost on the streets where paganism, atheism, political correctness, relativism and multiculturalism have convinced two generations of Americans that truth is whatever they decide it is in their eyes.

And the war has been lost when a growing majority of people now view Christianity as an outdated religion that is anti-science and promotes racism and intolerance.

How do we change that? By getting back to promoting the gospel the way it's supposed to be promoted--through courage, hard work, sacrifice and diligence.

That will bring persecution. It always does. Some people will get hurt. Some will be thrown into prison. Some may even die. But Christ never promised his followers a cakewalk. He said this: "In fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God." (John 16:2)

But that's how the gospel truly advances that translates into repentance, salvation, revivals and a God-fearing world where crime recedes and people honor and respect each other.

For the Christian Church, that's the only way to reverse an epic tragedy that has caused the literal collapse of Christianity in America. "Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty." (Zechariah 4:6)

Repentance or Revival?

Joel Osteen

Almost everyone agrees that the United States of America is in very serious trouble. 

And though most of that trouble manifests in high unemployment, (don't let that 7.4 percent unemployment figure fool you) hopelessness, violent crime and broken families, America's real problems are caused by moral depravity rather than economic deprivation.

Many of America's glitterati clergy have called for a national revival, much like historic revivals of the past such as the Great Awakening that took place in the 18th century. That revival was sparked by a humble preacher named Jonathan Edwards who spoke softly but delivered a powerful message.

Edwards delivered an historic sermon titled, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. That sermon warned of God's impending wrath upon a rebellious and immoral people. Edwards was blunt and to the point. He told all who would listen that they had the choice to either repent of their sinful behavior and turn back to God or face the consequences.

Many people heeded Edwards' warning and repented. Churches overflowed, violence receded and crime diminished. Edwards refused to take credit for the turnaround and stated that he was only doing his job as a servant of Jesus Christ.

How would Edwards be received if he preached that same message today? Not very well, I suspect. Why? Because true repentance must always come before genuine revival. And in order for repentance to happen, people must see themselves as God sees them--standing naked before him and condemned in their sins. And they must realize that the door to hell and eternal damnation stands open and ready to swallow them up.

And then they must understand that no good works, devotion to religious creeds, rituals, traditions, customs, medals, rosaries, scapulars or church attendance can save them from their sins. 

That can only happen through faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God who came into this world 2,000 years ago in the form of a man to die for all sinners on a Roman cross. Regarding eternal life, Christ said this: "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)

If the church of Jesus Christ in America truly desires revival--and America desperately needs one--then the church must realize that real revivals begin with hard work, not flashy pageants. 

They don't come about by spectacles featuring high profile power-preachers reeking of Paco Rabanne and wrapped in $6,000 Gucci and Pierre Cardin suits. They don't come about by large bands playing loud music underneath Jumbotron screens surrounded by colorful balloons and expensive floral arrangements that provide the colorful backgrounds for the power preachers who dance and scream and thump their bibles and frantically wave their arms to the adoring masses.

No, that's not how revivals begin. That's entertainment that makes people feel good but accomplishes little else. When the band stops playing and the Jumbotron goes dark and the balloons fall from the ceiling and the flowers wilt and the power preachers stinking of Paco Rabanne head back to the parking lot to ride off in their 7-Series BMWs to their gated communities, the revivals end.

World-renowned evangelist Reinhard Bonnke claims that God has told him that a mighty wave of salvation is about to sweep America. Maybe so. But unless the Christian church in America is willing to do the hard work of making the Gospel of Jesus Christ relevant again to an adulterous and wicked generation that has rejected God and defecated on his laws, then there won't be any revival coming to America.

Rather, only doom, gloom and harsh judgment will be visiting America. 

Arabian Fables?

Reza Aslan

Since I haven't read Reza Aslan's latest book; Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, I can't comment on the authenticity of his work. Thus, I'll leave that to others who've read the book.

Aslan, who's not shy about touting his academic credentials, claims that his book presents the clearest and most accurate portrayal of Jesus Christ that's ever been written.

However, several Christian scholars who've read Aslan's book strongly disagree. They claim that his book not only offers nothing new about Christ that's never previously been claimed, but that it merely recycles many historical canards about Jesus that were disproved long ago.

For example, Dr. Danny Burk, an associate professor of Biblical Studies at Boyce College, the undergraduate arm of the Southern Baptist Thelogical Seminary, claims that Aslan's book does little more than promote an "historically reconstructed Jesus, not the Jesus that appears on the pages of Scriptire." 
www.christianpost.com

Dr. Greg Carey, a professor of New Testament at Lancaster Theological Seminary states that Aslan's book "seems to have bought into an outdated model of Christian development." 

Perhaps the harshest criticism of Zealot comes from Baylor University Professor Alan Jacobs who dismissed the book as opinionated propaganda. Jacobs said this: "Aslan makes no new discoveries, and makes no arguments that haven't already been made--in some cases very long ago. In Zealot, he is writing well outside his own academic training. Reza Aslan is not a New Testament scholar."

But don't tell that to Aslan who has a very large ego. Aslan, who claims to have been a Christian before he converted to Islam, sounds more like a hardcore leftist than an academic religious scholar. He can be quite arrogant and profane, particularly with folks who disagree with him. His Twitter account provides the profile of a man who's narcissistic, crude, crass, foul-mouthed and self-promoting. Those aren't the sort of attributes you associate with people who claim to be Harvard University graduates.

As for Aslan, he claims that he converted to Islam after he discovered the Bible to be "replete with the most blatant and obvious errors and contradictions." And he also claims that the true Jesus Christ is historically unknowable and can't be found.

If so, then his book collapses under the weight of its own argument because it debunks the biblical account of the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Christ to offer a different account. In order to do that, you have to provide evidential proof that positively refutes the former source while supporting the latter. If Aslan claims that Christ is historically unknowable, then what's the point of his book?

If Aslan wants to talk about a holy book that offers numerous contractions and historical inaccuracies, then let's talk about the Koran. For example, the Koran provides four conflicting accounts of Mohammad's reception of the Koran. (Suras 53:2-18, 81:19-24, 16:102, 26:192-194, 15:8, 2:97) 

The Koran also offers two conflicting accounts of creation (Sura 41:9-12, Sura 7:51) and embarrassing historical inaccuracies such as claiming that Christ's physical mother Mary was also the sister of Moses and Aaron, (Sura 19:28) and that Alexander the Great was a Muslim who worshiped Allah. (Sura 18:89-98) That's impossible because Alexander lived during the 4th Century B.C. and Islam didn't appear until the 7th Century C.E.

However, the Bible provides over 300 verifiable prophetic sources in the Old Testament that validate the New Testament and the four gospels. For example, Christ's virgin birth, (Isaiah 7:14) life, ministry, death and resurrection, (Isaiah 53) birthplace of Bethlehem, (Micah 5:2) and his famous ride on a donkey into Jerusalem (Zechariah 9:9) were foretold hundreds of years before Christ appeared on earth.

Compare that to the Koran that contains not a single verifiable prophecy. I think you know what book is truly replete with blatant errors and contradictions.

I don't know whether Aslan is a phony who's doing the bidding of leftists by defaming Christianity or is just trying to make a living by writing books that he believes offer serious historical scholarship.

I'm inclined to believe the former. I do know that someone who gets extremely defensive when he's questioned and critiqued about his work generally has something to hide.

And that's usually the truth.

The Mystery of Anti-Semitism

"I will make them abhorrent and an offense to all the kingdoms of the earth, a reproach and a byword, a curse and an object of ridicule, wherever I banish them."--Jeremiah 24:9

One of the great mysteries throughout history has been the world's relentless hatred of the Jews wherever they've existed.

Going all the way back to the ancient time of the Philistines, (1100 B.C.) the Jews have been scorned and mocked as perpetrators of evil; arrogant, schemers, lovers of lucre, hopelessly corrupt etc.

During the time of the ancient Seleucids, Antiochus Epiphanes (175-164 B.C.) desecrated the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem by sacrificing a pig on its altar. Epiphanes also commanded his soldiers to slaughter as many Jews as they could and ordered those they spared to worship the false god Zeus.

The Romans, who succeeded the Seleucids, hated the Jews just as much as their predecessors. They invaded Jerusalem in 70 A.D. and ransacked the Temple while slaughtering many Jews and taking many others into captivity. 

In 130 A.D., by the order of Emperor Hadrian, the Romans returned to Jerusalem to quash the Bar Kochba rebellion that had sought to liberate Israel from Rome. After Hadrian succeeded in putting down that uprising, he rededicated the Temple Mount to the Roman god Jupiter and renamed Israel Syria Philistinia or Palestine.

Nearly 1,000 years later, the Jews became the targets of wrath once again when the Crusaders, under the authority of the Holy Roman Church, invaded Jerusalem in 1099 A.D. and massacred thousands of Jews. 

In the late 15th century, the Jews were persecuted and driven out of Spain during the infamous Spanish Inquisition that was instituted by the Roman Catholic Church. Many Jews that were driven from Spain settled in Portugal. Unfortunately, the Inquisition followed them there and many Jews were tortured and massacred in that nation by the order of Pope Leo X.

And in the 1930s and early 40s, Adolf Hitler's Final Solution resulted in the mass murder of six million European Jews.

After Hitler's Holocaust, the United Nations voted to partition Palestine in 1948 and declare Israel a sovereign world nation once again after 1800 years. And as soon as that happened, the Arab-Islamic world declared war on the tiny Jewish state and vowed to complete Hitler's Final Solution. Since 1948, only the hand of God has protected Israel from certain annihilation at the hands of her hostile neighbors.

Of course, after Hitler's Holocaust, the nations of the world promised that they would never again tolerate anti-Semitism and allow the Jews to become the helpless victims of mass murderers such as Adolf Hitler.

For over 50 years, the world chose to keep that promise to the Jews. But not anymore. Anti-Semitism is once again on the rise throughout much of the world. According to ynetnews.com, anti-Semitism has gotten so bad again in Europe that many Jews living in nations such as France, Belgium and Hungary no longer feel safe in those countries and are considering emigrating.

In fact, according to the Jewish People Policy Institute's Annual Assessment Report, many Jewish families are leaving Europe for Canada and the United States because of the increasing attacks against Jews and their property in Europe.

And in the United States, once Israel's most trusted friend in the world, anti-Semitism is on the increase as well. On many American college campuses that are supposed to be bastions of freedom from hatred and bigotry, Israel is condemned as a racist illegitimate state that has no right to exist. And the Jews are maligned as wicked, crooked and hopelessly corrupt.

What's truly behind the historic and relentless anti-Semitism? It's God judgment that he ordered against His people in the ancient times because of their chronic rebellion against Him. For many centuries, the Lord sent His prophets to warn the Jews to stop perverting his laws and violating his covenant that he established with them through Moses.

But they not only ignored his prophets, they persecuted them. And finally, the Lord had enough. To the prophet Jeremiah, who lived during the Sixth Century B.C., the Lord said this: "I will pursue them with the sword, famine and plague and will make them abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth, a curse and an object of horror, of scorn and reproach, among all the nations where I drive them."(Jeremiah 29:18)

And since that time, God has kept his word. The Jews have indeed been pursued by the sword all over the world. They have indeed been scorned by all the nations of the world. And that's still going on today, even here in America.

But that's about to end. The Bible reveals that after the punishment of the Jews, the Lord is going to turn His wrath against all the nations of the world that persecuted the Jews. (Ezekial 38-39, Zechariah 14) 

In the end, the lesson of the world's historical persecution of the Jews teaches us that rebellion against a sovereign Holy God comes with a very heavy price.

The Jews have paid that price. And now the world is about to pay that price as well.