When is Spring Coming?

By Ray Gano

It is Monday, and it is still cold. Do you believe it, we are suppose to get snow here in Texas again!

Folks, God blessed Texas with His own hand..

Brought down angels from the promise land..

Gave them a place where they could dance..

If you wanna see heaven, then here's your chance..

We've been sent to spread the message….

God blessed Texas.

OK … OK … so it is a country and western song.

But still, we live south of the Mason Dixon line, there ain't supposes to be snow in these here parts.

"Snow is for them thar Yankees north of the Mason Dixon." (yep, that's how we speak down here in Texas)

I have to say though, it really makes you appreciate the spring when it comes.

I am already making plans on starting on our garden here and I have some new things that I want to try out.

Experiment #1 - Planting strait into bags of soil. Yep, I was reading an article on "no tilling gardens" and in the article they laid bags of soil down in a row, cut them open and planted right in the bags of soil. I thought that this was a great idea and if this is something that works for me, then it can work for anyone. One of the main reasons I want to give this a try is for all the folks who live in the city, specifically apartments. If one can lay a bag of soil on a patio and grow things, well one can have a garden. It may not be huge, but one can do it.

So, $7.00 for a bag of soil and some seeds and you are good to go.

Experiment #2 - Old carpet weed barrier. I read about this idea in one of the many forums I belong to. Take old carpet and lay it on the ground with the burlap facing down. Cut holes in the carpet and that is where you plant. The rest of the carpet acts as a weed barrier as well as retaining moisture in the ground.

We have a horrible problem with crab grass invading everything. I have raised beds for this reason, but I want to take advantage of the area we are not using. I have tried other weed barriers and they just can't keep the crab grass at bay.

So I am looking forward to giving this a try in those areas where the crab grass is prevalent.

So why am I mentioning my garden? Here is some interesting info from Eric deCarbonnel 's report "2010 Food Crisis For Dummies." This is one of the best, well researched articles out there. I have shared this with folks in the past and his findings are now showing up in the Main Stream Media. People are starting to take notice.

2010 Food Crisis for Dummies

by Eric deCarbonnel If you read any economic, financial, or political analysis for 2010 that doesn’t mention the food shortage looming next year, throw it in the trash, as it is worthless. There is overwhelming, undeniable evidence that the world will run out of food next year. When this happens, the resulting triple digit food inflation will lead panicking central banks around the world to dump their foreign reserves to appreciate their currencies and lower the cost of food imports, causing the collapse of the dollar, the treasury market, derivative markets, and the global financial system. The US will experience economic disintegration.

The 2010 Food Crisis Means Financial Armageddon

Over the last two years, the world has faced a series of unprecedented financial crises: the collapse of the housing market, the freezing of the credit markets, the failure of Wall Street brokerage firms (Bear Stearns/Lehman Brothers), the failure of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the failure of AIG, Iceland’s economic collapse, the bankruptcy of the major auto manufacturers (General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler), etc… In the face of all these challenges, the demise of the dollar, derivative markets, and the modern international system of credit has been repeatedly forecasted and feared. However, all these doomsday scenarios have so far been proved false, and, despite tremendous chaos and losses, the global financial system has held together.

The 2010 Food Crisis is different. It is THE CRISIS. The one that makes all doomsday scenarios come true. The government bailouts and central bank interventions, which have held the financial world together during the last two years, will be powerless to prevent the 2010 Food Crisis from bringing the global financial system to its knees.

Financial crisis will kick into high gear

So far the crisis has been driven by the slow and steady increase in defaults on mortgages and other loans. This is about to change. What will drive the financial crisis in 2010 will be panic about food supplies and the dollar’s plunging value. Things will start moving fast.

Dynamics Behind 2010 Food Crisis

Early in 2009, the supply and demand in agricultural markets went badly out of balance. The world experienced a catastrophic fall in food production as a result of the financial crisis (low commodity prices and lack of credit) and adverse weather on a global scale. Meanwhile, China and other Asian exporters, in an effort to preserve their economic growth, were unleashing domestic consumption long constrained by inflation fears, and demand for raw materials, especially food staples, exploded as Chinese consumers worked their way towards American-style overconsumption, prodded on by a flood of cheap credit and easy loans from the government.

Normally food prices should have already shot higher months ago, leading to lower food consumption and bringing the global food supply/demand situation back into balance. This never happened because the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), instead of adjusting production estimates down to reflect decreased production, adjusted estimates upwards to match increasing demand from china. In this way, the USDA has brought supply and demand back into balance (on paper) and temporarily delayed a rise in food prices by ensuring a catastrophe in 2010.

Overconsumption is leading to disaster

It is absolutely key to understand that the production of agricultural goods is a fixed, once a year cycle (or twice a year in the case of double crops). The wheat, corn, soybeans and other food staples are harvested in the fall/spring and then that is it for production. It doesn’t matter how high prices go or how desperate people get, no new supply can be brought online until the next harvest at the earliest. The supply must last until the next harvest, which is why it is critical that food is correctly priced to avoid overconsumption, otherwise food shortages occur.

The USDA—by manufacturing the data needed to keep supply and demand in balance—has ensured that agricultural commodities are incorrectly priced, which has lead to overconsumption and has guaranteed disaster next year when supplies run out.

An astounding lack of awareness

The world is blissful unaware that the greatest economic/financial/political crisis ever is a few months away. While it is understandable that general public has no knowledge of what is headed their way, that same ignorance on the part of professional analysts, economists, and other highly paid financial "experts” is mind boggling, as it takes only the tiniest bit of research to realize something is going critically wrong in agricultural market.


USDA estimates for 2009/10 make no sense

All someone needs to do to know the world is headed is for food crisis is to stop reading USDA’s crop reports predicting a record soybean and corn harvests and listen to what else the USDA saying.

Specifically, the USDA has declared half the counties in the Midwest to be primary disaster areas, including 274 counties in the last 30 days alone. These designations are based on the criteria of a minimum of 30 percent loss in the value of at least one crop in the county. The chart below shows counties declared primary disaster areas by the secretary of Agriculture and the president of the United States.

The same USDA that is predicting record harvests is also declaring disaster areas across half the Midwest because of catastrophic crop losses! To eliminate any doubt that this might be an innocent mistake, the USDA is even predicting record soybean harvests in the same states (Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Alabama) where it has declared virtually all counties to have experienced 30 percent production losses. It isn’t rocket scientist to realize something is horribly wrong.

USDA motivated by fear of higher food prices

The USDA is terrorized by the implications of higher food prices for the US economy, most likely because it knows the immediate consequence of sharply higher food will be the collapse of the US Treasury market and the dollar, as desperate governments and central banks dump their foreign reserves to appreciate their currencies and lower the cost of food imports. Fictitious USDA estimates should be seen as proof of the dire threat posed by higher food prices, as the USDA would not have turned its production estimates into a grotesque mockery of reality if it didn't believe the alternative to be apocalyptic.

While the USDA may be the worst offender, the United States isn’t the only government trying to downplay the food situation out of fear. As one Indian reporter writes, governments are lying about the looming food crisis.

… some experts and governments, in full cognizance of the facts, want us not to create panic and paint a picture of parched crops and a looming food crisis. This, they say, would push up food prices unnaturally, lead to hoarding and ultimately result in a situation where many more millions across the world would go hungry. And whether it is the developing world or the developed, it is those at the bottom of the pyramid who are the most affected in such scenarios.

This leads to a confusing divide between reality and government pronouncements, or even between the perspectives of government departments

Confusing divide between reality and government estimates

For months now, the media has been reporting two distinctly, contradicting realities. One of these realities is filled with record crops and plentiful supply, and the other is filled agricultural devastation and ruin. It has been a mad, frustrating experience to read about agricultural disasters and horrendous crop losses in virtually every state combined with predictions of a US record harvest, sometimes in the same article.

You can read the rest of this lengthy article at…

http://www.marketskeptics.com/2009/12/2010-food-crisis-for-dummies.html

My advice is that you start thinking about putting in a garden this spring. I will keep you posted on how our garden does.

Like it or not, things are going to get weird out there, as if now isnt weird enough.

Just to let you know, we are ramping Wisdom Farms website back up again and we are changing the business model. Tracye got buried with the site. So we are moving to a "registered user" model. Tracye is adding articles and updating the site. She is not going to produce a newsletter, but all articles are for folks who choose to register at Wisdom Farms and will gain access to the site. She is still getting things in order, but you can check out the site at www.wisdomfarms.com. Make sure you register and you will gain access to the information.

TIME TO CHOOSE - Cowboy UP or Complacency

By Ray Gano

Ever have one of those nights where you wake up and then you can’t get back to sleep because all of a sudden your brain has gone into overdrive? Seems that at times like these I am able to solve the world’s problems, write novels in my head, design and draw our dream house, etc. Well this time it was kind of different and no matter what I thought to change the direction I kept coming back.

It is kind of hard to put a finger on it and my thoughts kept coming to me from a zillion different directions. Funny thing is that they all corresponded with each other.

There is a saying here in Texas, when the going gets tough, “Cowboy Up.” The term means to dig down deep within yourself and muster up what you need to muster in order to get the task at hand completed. Other versions of this is.. Buck Up, Suck it up, Get it together, Get with the program, ect.

Before we go any further, let me make this clear. I am not a prophet, son of a prophet and I did eat Mexican food yesterday. But these thoughts were going through my mind while I was awake, not asleep and no matter how hard I tried I could not tune the thoughts out.

One of the thoughts that kept coming back was a pretty deep discussion I had with Bill Koenig about a year ago. We were talking about the separation of the church, or what we are both seeing as a separation of the wheat from the tares. No matter where I look I am seeing two types of Christians. One type who have maintained the traditions of our fore fathers and the fundamental principals of Christianity found in God’s Word and then there are the rest who are just “Christian lolly gagging” through life with a “fa la la” attitude. And yes those are official Ray Gano technical terms and I hope you understood there complexity.

Bill estimated that there are about one million, if that many, so called solid hard core, know the Word, live the Word, Jesus is my rock Christians. You see, Bill lives on the road 3 out of four weeks per month speaking and sharing the Gospel. So I believe his estimate. Not only that, but I have heard this also from my friend Walid Shoebat as well as several others who are out on the road also. Interesting thing is that not only are we seeing this, many of you out there are seeing it too.

George Barna came out with a report that shown that only 6% of Americans hold to a biblical world view, that means that 94% do not. Kind of a scary thought.

A little while ago my Pastor taught from these verses and they resonated with my spirit as I ponder these things.

Proverbs 22:28 says, "Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set."

Deuteronomy 6:4 – 9 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.

Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

James 4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

Folks I am deeply concerned.

1. I am concerned that we as Christians have stepped completely away from the solid teachings, the solid Word of God, and the solid songs, hymns, and psalms of the Lord. We have forgotten the “ancient landmarks” of our forefathers.

2. We no longer love the LORD thy God with all our heart, soul and might. We do not meditate on Him or on His Word. We no longer teach it to our children and we do not meditate on it day and night 24/7. We have forgotten the LORD our God and have put Him away and in His place we have accepted a sugar coated humanistic social gospel.

3. We have not separated ourselves. We are Christians no longer holy and acceptable unto God. We have watered down the gospel, watered down our churches, watered down the very word of God and watered down our praise and worship. The authority of God’s Word no longer matters. It is group thought and our own subjective thought that counts, who cares that the Bible is only the infallible Word of God.

4. We are in love with the world and to justify it, we slap the word Christian on all our actions. Our actions give us that warm fuzzy feeling. This is a lie and we know it. We have become friends of the world and we willingly have done so. The warm fuzzy is the trappings of the world and we have willingly partaken of those trappings much like Adam and Eve took to the apple.

5. We no longer have men of God and in its place we have created feminized men who are now leading the church with a touchy feely sugar coated, don’t offend anyone attitude. Women, due to the vacuum men have created; have stepped up to the plate. This is not their calling, nor their place.

1Timothy 2:12 - 13 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve.

This is nothing new but is horribly wrong. Here is a short story that was told by our Pastor; who by the way is a man completely committed to the Word of God and makes no bones about it.

“Theodore Roosevelt taught Sunday School at Christ Church, but he was so muscular a Christian that the decorous vestrymen thought him an unwise guide in piety. For one day a boy came to class with a black eye which he had got in fighting a larger boy for pinching his sister. Theodore told him that he did perfectly right--that every boy ought to defend any girl from insult--and he gave him a dollar as a reward. The vestrymen decided that this was too flagrant approval of fisticuffs; so the young teacher soon found a welcome in the Sunday School of a different denomination.”

- Theodore Roosevelt: An Intimate Biography By William Roscoe Thayer

You see, what Teddy Roosevelt did was correct, but where the church erred is turning the other cheek… a soft response. Teddy was in between two commands from the bible.

1. Turn the other cheek

2. Defend the weak.

Teddy rewarded the boy for defending the weak. The church fired him for his approval of the boy’s actions. What Teddy was doing was instilling the values of being a Godly man where the “men” of the church chose a more feminized solution.

Fast forward to today and look at what kind of church the men of God lead today. Many of them are unwilling to take a firm stand for the Word of God, unwilling to defend and to stand up to be counted as true men of God. We as men of God have forgotten how to be the true leaders in our family. We have delegated the position of spiritual leader to the wife, a role, responsibility and burden that she was not meant to have nor created to have. Because we are unwilling to lead in the family, we are unable to truly lead in the Lord’s Church today.

I am concerned… deeply concerned.

By this time I have probably ticked off every single one of you off in one way or another. See that is another area we have forgotten; accountability. We are no longer accountable to God, accountability to our church, nor to each other. We all walk around with 400 pound gorillas called “LOVE FOR THIS WORLD” strapped to our backs and no one has the guts to neither mention them nor even expose them.

Here is what God’s word says…

Psalm 119:128 -- "Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way."

Romans 16:17 -- "Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them."

Galatians 2:11 -- "But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed."

1 Timothy 1:19-20 -- "Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck: Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme."

2 Timothy 2:16-18 -- "But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness. And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus; who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some."

I have said all of that to state this.

I see a battle coming and tough times ahead. We as the church have two options.

1. Cowboy UP and get right with God so that when that day comes we are able to stand and be counted.

OR

2. Maintain our status quo of complacency, refusing to occupy till He returns because we are spineless jellyfish.

You see, we serve the Great I AM. We forget that “all things are possible through Christ Jesus.”

We as God’s people must separate ourselves from this world. The battle coming brings great opportunity. The opportunity we have is to once again be the true church of God of our fore fathers. We have the chance to grow great leaders the likes of Charles Spurgen, DL Moody, Clarence Larken, Billie Sunday, etc.

The rapture can take place this very moment. But if it does not we are commanded to occupy till He returns. We have come up seriously lacking to the duty given us. We have neglected our stewardship in exchange for the world.

We have the chance to impact the world like never before. We have the chance to once more have the church be the salt and light to this world and not the ineffective lukewarm Laodicean church we are today.

Here is the answer.

2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Joshua 24:15 b - But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

I leave you with these words from Paul to meditate upon…

Philippians 3:13 -14 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended:
but this ONE thing I do,

forgetting those things which are behind,

and REACHING FORTH unto those things which are before,

I PRESS TOWARD THE MARK

FOR THE PRIZE

OF THE HIGH CALLING OF GOD IN CHRIST JESUS.
(emphasis mine)

A special thanks to David Beatty Sr. A pastor I am honored to follow as well as a valued counselor for Prophezine.

Rampant Apathy Proven in the US

By Ray Gano

Annise Danette Parker was elected mayor of Houston on Saturday, winning her seventh consecutive city election and becoming the first openly gay person to lead a major U.S. city. Houston being the fourth largest city in the US.

Unofficial returns show that Parker led with a comfortable victory of about 52.8 percent of the vote to 47.2 percent for Locke, her election rival. Out of the 2.2 million citizens of Houston, the turnout was just 16.5 percent or roughly 152,000 people showed up to the polls to vote. Of Houston's 2.2 million people, an estimated 60,000 of its residents identify themselves as gay or lesbian. In fact a recent poll by the Houston Chronicle found that 77 percent of respondents didn’t care about Parker’s sexuality.

To win the mayor seat, Parker or Locke, her opponent, had to earn the support of 70,000 voters — slightly more than 40 percent of those who cast their ballots in the general election. Parker won with approximately 81,000 votes.

Folks, this mayoral election paints a very sad picture of the rampant apathy that grips this nation of ours.

Only 16% of Houston's population decided to go vote.

As an American and a Christian, this sickens me to my core. I think of the blood that has been spilt for this nation and basically 84% of Houston's population mocks those fallen heroes who paid for their freedom to cast a vote.

Locke, who was running against Parker won approximately 52,000 votes.

Do you realize that is just a difference of 29,000 votes?

Do you know that the nation's largest church is located in Houston Texas, pastored by none other than by Joel Osteen. Lakewood Church has approximately 30,000 members according to Forbes. In 2005 the church was renamed Lakewood International Center, and moved into the newly renovated 18,000-seat worship complex at Houston's Compaq Center in order to facilitate its rapid growth. Joel's #1 rated inspirational television program by Nielson Media Research is seen worldwide in 100 million households on ABC Family, BET, PAX, and CNBC Europe and Australia, among others.

What I have to ask is if Joel Osteen alone would have come out and called sin a sin and stood for what God's Word clearly states, would Houston have elected a lesbian mayor?

Lakewood is not the only large church in Houston either. There is First Baptist with a large congregation pastored by Pastor David Self, and then there is Second Baptist Church out on highway 10 Pastored by Ed Young. You may have even heard these guys on the radio. The interesting thing about Second Baptist is that they have many church campus' all over Houston. That means they have numbers.

Just think about it, together these two churches could have turned the tide of allowing a lesbian in Houston's highest office. That is if they preached God's true word from the pulpit instead of sugar coated "purpose driven life" sermons that they preach. If you don’t believe me, Google their websites and see for yourself. Both present your typical "psycho-babble Christianity" preaching "self and service" over the proper Biblical Christian walk God's Word calls for.

Were there any churches in Houston that took a stand on God's Word and come out against this grievous event? If so I would really love to hear from any pastor that was willing to stand on the pulpit and call a spade a spade, proclaiming the truth of God. If you are a pastor and voiced the error that took place, please contact me. I would love to interview you and the next time I am in Houston, I would be honored to attend your church if I am there on a Sunday.

The problem is that most pastors today will not preach on hellfire and brimstone from the pulpit today. No longer is sin a popular sermon topic because pastors want to keep happy fannies in seats that have deep pockets that tithe and give lots of dollars, and that is a fact.

Sin is running rampant and the church is oblivious to it. One of the reasons they are oblivious to it is that no one knows God's word anymore. I mean why not; when we have a bible version for just about every pet sin there is out there. Just look, there is the Gay bible, The Feminist bible, the Green bible, there is the gender neutral bible and a one hundred and one other different bibles that water down God's Word. Folks, it is Satan's oldest ploy in the book, "Hath God Said." He did this with Eve in the Garden and both Adam and Eve fell for it when they fell from grace. That serpent the devil has had close to 5000 years to perfect his art and he is doing a great job causing people to doubt God's Word more and more each day.

Want Proof? Just look at Houston.

But what I am interested in knowing is how many Bible believing Christians who love the Lord and are looking for his soon return did not take an interest in this election? Because they did not "occupy till He returned," they now have a lesbian in Houston's highest office.

Yea, I am now pointing at some of you, what excuse can you give? Why didn’t you occupy?

There is a complacent attitude going on out there that I have been rather surprised about. I have written about this before, but there seems to be a complacency in Christians who basically have given up the fight. These are good bible believing Christians too, but instead of occupying till Christ returns, they have just given up.

I hear excuses like "Christ is returning soon so why should I care?" Or "the rapture is coming and we will all be gone." It is like people have just rolled over and "since we are living in the last days, there is nothing they can do about it. So why try to fight the good fight when God says that the end of the world is coming?"

Folks, we have to fight the good fight because that is what Christ told us to do. Be good stewards over what He has blessed us with and stand firm on His Word.

But are people doing it?

When the fourth largest city in America, which happens to be located in what many view as the "bible belt" and elect a open lesbian, I clearly see apathy and complacency taken to a whole new level. In fact, what we are witnessing goes beyond that. What we are witnessing is out and out rebellion from God's own people, who in fact love the world more than they love God.

1 John 2:15-17 (KJV) "love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever."

1 John 2:4-5(KJV) He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.

Right now some of you are saying "how dare you judge…"

Well, to be honest, yes I am judging the people of Houston, but also the mere numbers speak the truth.

When you have 2.2 million people which only 152,000 showed up to vote; knowing that 60,000 of those are from the gay community, one can clearly see the picture that is being painted.

Most of Houston and her Christians don’t care anymore and the numbers prove it.

It is apathy like this as to why we have a man in the white house who clearly sides with the enemies of Israel and profess more of a relationship with Islam instead of Christianity.

It is apathy like this why we have leaders more bent on corruption and greed instead of having the fortitude to do the right thing in the eyes of God.

It is apathy like this why this nation is going down in flames just like the Hindenburg and no one is doing anything but standing around watching her burn.

The 80's rock band Def Leopard said it best in their song "Rock of Ages" when the lead singer said "it is better to burn out than fade away."

The worlds wisdom at its best and we as Christians have bought into that warped sense of wisdom.

What Others Are Saying.. Is It Too Late?

This last week I had the chance to interview many of those in bible prophecy at the Pre-Trib Conference in Dallas. One of the things I asked these men…"is it too late for this nation?" I mean have we as a nation strayed so far from God that it will basically take harsh judgment to bring us back to Him? Everyone I asked agreed that we as a nation have gone past the point of no return. I can hear some of you "nay sayers" right now saying… "Nothing is too great for God." I agree with that, but what needs to happen first is a changing and repentance of the heart of America's Christians and in fact her people over all.

But will that happen on its own? Based upon our sin nature, I really doubt it.

Today's Christian population no longer care and if we did care, most are to ignorant of scripture to do anything about it. All the Bible Prophecy teachers I spoke agreed that there are still pockets of righteousness spread here and there across this nation, but is that enough to make a difference?

All agreed that our numbers have dwindled to a point that this nation will most likely see God's hand of Judgment come down over this nation. Many believe that It is through chastisement that will get America's Christians attention again where it belongs, that being on Our Father in Heaven.

In fact several people I spoke to already believe that the judgment is beginning due to the leadership this nation now has in her highest offices.

We as Christians have allowed greedy, crooked, sexually deviant, heathens in about 98% of all our government offices from our local cities all the way up to the white house. The very fact that now the fourth largest city in our nation has a lesbian cements that fact too.

But even looking at this, does that mean we as Christians just roll over and give up?

NO!

So what can we do? We need to start in the home and start holding ourselves accountable to God's Word. Then we need to move that accountability to local churches and start holding our pastors accountable to God's Word. If they do not want to change their spineless ways, then we need to find new pastors who have the moral and spiritual fortitude to do the right thing and preach God's Word once again from America's pulpits. We need to be willing to walk away from the 501c3 status that has just about ever pastor out there shaking in their boots, afraid to say anything in fear of rocking the boat. If you are not willing to preach that we are all sinners in need of a savior and if we do not turn our lives over to the Lord, we will burn in Hell; then you do not need to be occupying the pulpit. We need to kick these hirelings out on the streets and replace them with pastors who will preach the conviction of God's Word. We want pastors who will preach that Jesus Christ is THE WAY… THE TRUTH...and THE LIFE and no man comes to the Father but by Him. AND… if one fails to accept this 100% fact, then they will burn in Hell….just as God's Word clearly states in Revelation 20:11-15.

But since we have become apathetic Christians, we now have pastors refuse to preach the conviction of sin and hell for fear of losing those happy fannies in seats with deep pockets.

So that is where we stand today. Basically a bunch of spineless, lack of conviction people who claim the title Christian, who play by our own rules just like Cain did and refuse to follow God's Word and His commandments.

Christ said in John 14:15 (KJV) If ye love me, ye will keep my commandments.

Looking at the state of the union today, not many love God anymore.

So when that day to cast our vote comes what do we do? It is one of two things, one, we do nothing or we elect Bible haters, gays and lesbians, lovers of money, crooks, thieves, legal hair splitters and the list goes on instead of filling those positions with Godly men who will stand for God.

But what is worse is now that we have made our bed, we are now complaining about sleeping in it.

So what can we do?

We need to get back to God and His Word and reject the ways of the world.

We need to choose who we are going to serve and then get off this fence we are sitting on and stand for who we have chosen to serve.

Joshua said it best…

Joshua 24:15 (KJV) And if it seem evil unto you to serve Jehovah, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve Jehovah.

Who Do You Serve?

Jesus stated the following…

John 14:6 (KJV) Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

If you do not have Christ in your life, you will spend eternity in hell. This is a fact. It does not matter if you believe this or not, it is the truth spoken by Jesus himself. If your name is not written in the Lambs Book of Life you will go to hell for what you have not done and that is accepting Christ as your personal savior. To be placed in the Lamb Book of Life, you need to turn your life completely over to Him. Having “head” knowledge or “just believing in Christ” is not the same as having “heart” knowledge with Christ living in your heart. We know that even the devils believe in Him, where are they spending eternity?

James 2:19 (KJV) Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

We work hard at Prophezine to show that Bible Prophecy is coming to pass. Because of this fact, the Bible is true. Since the Bible is the true and inerrant word of God, there is a heaven and there is a hell.

If you claim the title of “Christian” then take account of yourself this day. Many claim the title, but we read in God’s Word that the title does not get you into heaven.

Mat 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Mat 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

Mat 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Who you serve will determine where you will spend eternity. If you are not serving Christ and a true child of God, then you are serving Satan and a child of the enemy.

If you are not 110% sure, then take account of yourself, your very life depends upon it.

1 John 1:9 (KJV) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

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About the Author

Ray & Tracye Gano are the Executive Directors of Prophezine. Prophezine deals with Bible Prophecy and World Events from a Pre-trib, pre-millennial, dispensationalist stand point. They currently serve close to 70,000 (and growing) people world wide with a weekly newsletters, daily news updates, community based website and internet radio shows. Ray recently released his latest project “TEOTWAWKI - The DVD focusing on how to escape the trappings of mammon, learning how to live simply in God’s abundance and other useful bits of knowledge.

Please visit Prophezine by going to http://www.prophezine.com

The Fine Line

By Ray Gano

I recently presented an article where I presented the story, "Dying Without God." For those of you who have not read it, I include here.

Dying Without God

A youth at one of the large iron works in Sheffield was some time ago accidentally thrown on to a red hot amour plate. When he was rolled off by his fellow workmen, it was doubtful if he could live, as nearly all one side of him was burned to the bone. His workmates cried, “Send for the doctor,” but the poor suffering youth cried, “Never mind sending for the doctor; is there anyone here can tell me how to get saved? My soul has been neglected, and I’m dying without God. Who can help me?”

Although there were three hundred men around him, there was no one who could tell him the way of salvation. After twenty minutes of untold agony he died as he had lived.

The man who saw this accident, and heard the cries of the dying youth, was a wretched backslider, and when I asked him how he felt about the matter, he said, “I have heard his cries ever since, and wished I could have stooped down and pointed him to Jesus, but my life closed my lips.”

Does your life tell sinners that you are saved, or does it close your lips, when those around hear your talk and witness your actions?

- “Dying Testimonies of Saved and Unsaved Compiled By Solomon Benjamin Shaw – page 301 published in 1898

I received many emails regarding my article on how to share the gospel by using the scripture. But I got one email where the person asked for clarification.

While I generally enjoy your site and I do read the articles posted there often, I found your article "Dying without God" a bit troubling. The main issue I take with it is that in your example, a young man was "dying without God" and realized it in the last moments of his life. It was also in that moment that he confessed his sin (stated he didn't know God and that he had neglected his own soul by not knowing God), asked for forgiveness (when he asked who could help him, he was crying out to God, not just the bystanders) and was repentant. In other words, he asked, sought and knocked. Our God, a just God, would have accepted him into salvation at that point just as Christ had accepted the thief on the cross. If one were to take your article at face value, the young man asked, but was not given; sought but could not find; and knocked but the door went unanswered. Since God, nor His word, can be contradictory, how can you continue on with the article after making such a declaration? I understand the point you are trying to make in the article, but using an example that is totally contradictory to the word of God distracts from the credibility of your attempt.

The reader brings up some interesting ideas, but I have to say that what this person is presenting is a form of "easy beliefism." This is an ever growing error in today's church and why it is so important that we know the difference from scripture.

There is a fine line between the person in the iron mill and the thief on the cross. Even though it is a fine line, there is a huge separation between the two once we understand what God's Word says.

Let's look at the two for a moment. First the man in the iron works.

"but the poor suffering youth cried, “Never mind sending for the doctor; is there anyone here can tell me how to get saved? My soul has been neglected, and I’m dying without God. Who can help me?”

The best way to address this is by going to see what scripture says. In Romans we find the prerequisite to the Gospel.

Romans 10:13-14 (KJV) For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?

Romans 10:17 (KJV) So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

First we see that whoever calls upon the Name if the Lord shall be saved.

We also see Paul making the statement "How then can they call on Him whom they have not believed?"

So we know from this, that a person has to have the knowledge of Jesus Christ in order to call upon Him.

And finally we see that faith comes from hearing the gospel out of the Word of God.

By his own admission the man in the iron mill realized he was a sinner, but he did not know Christ, nor did he know the way to Christ. He did not have the knowledge to call upon the name of the Lord.

Now, let's look at the thief on the cross, this is found in Luke 23:39-43

Luke 23:39 (KJV) And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.

40 But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?

41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.

42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.

43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.

The thief on the cross realized he was a sinner, and we can clearly see that he had the knowledge to call upon the name of the Lord asking Jesus to remember him.

So even when these two different stories seem to be the same, sad to say, there is a difference.

The thief knew who he was talking to and about. He realized he was addressing the very Son of God. He knew Christ and called out to Him. The man in the iron mill did not know Christ, nor did he call out to Him.

The sad point is that the man in the iron mill did not know The Way. No one ever shared the knowledge of the Gospel with him. If someone in his life might have shared, he may have had the knowledge to call upon Christ.

On the other hand the thief on the cross was saved because he knew and heard of Christ. We clearly see that in scripture.

We know from John that Jesus Christ is the only way to the Father.

John14:6 (KJV) Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

One must call on the name of Jesus. There is no other name above the name of Jesus.

One cannot call on Buddha, Allah, Krishna, Joseph Smith, ect, ect, ect.

It is Jesus and Jesus alone. The thief called upon Jesus because he knew of Him and heard of Him. Faith cometh by hearing.

The iron mill worker knew neither because he never heard the Word of God nor of the saving grace of Jesus Christ our Savior. All he knew is that his soul was neglected.

This is why it is so important that anyone who claims to be a bible believing Christian, we must clearly know and understand how to share the gospel according to the scriptures.

It is also important that we dig deeper into the Word of God so that we can differentiate between the fine lines, because when we know the word of God, we realize that the fine lines are truly gaping chasms that separate us from God. But if we do not have the knowledge of God's Word, we only see fine lines. And in that, there is a danger that are easily crossed.

Here is the best guideline that I can give you...

Proverbs 3:5-6 (KJV) Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

It is for this reason why we are to always lean upon His Word as the final authority and never our own understanding.

Because with knowledge of God's Word, we can clearly see the fine lines and great chasms, thus avoiding both.

Persecution Coming To America ? You're a Post Tribber!

By Ray Gano

Yesterday I posted my latest video titled "Persecution Coming To America." If you have not had the chance to view it yet, please take the time, it is rather eye opening.

If you have not seen it, you can view the video at...
http://www.youtube.com/prophezine

In fact here is what a few people have said…

AwaitingGlory said…

Great video, Ray! It was grainy and scary enough to be right now! Because we know that is how the video would appear from a secret location if we are marginalized and isolated into persecution. Thanks for making it. May everyone pay attention to the wakeup call.

rureyeswideopen2 said …

Timely message! A sure warning for us all as Islam has infiltrated into every level of Gov. and places of power, and leadership in the USA. Persecution, if God allows is coming not a matter of if, but when! As America has turned it's back on God. We know Jesus is coming! Could be anytime, but if we go into persecution we rest assured in Jesus, our Blessed Hope, and Savior. Standing firm in Faith, and on His Words, and Promises we have stored in our hearts. TY, God bless you, and Maranatha!

But I got an interesting post from someone who just happen to open a brand new You Tube account, under the user name of "TheHotelApocalypse."

To be honest, there is nothing new regarding something like this, but what I find interesting is the post the person put up there.

Here is what TheHotelApocalypse said …

I think Ray Gano use to be pre-trib rapture timing, but with all this survival stuff he is pushing lately, I wonder if he is now pre-wrath, mid-trib, or post-trib?? He really seems like he has indirectly taken a different rapture timing path without officially coming out and saying it. What's your rapture timing position Ray??

First thing that I have to ask is what does that have to do with the context of the video I posted?

To be honest, I have been getting these sort of emails and it is a troubling attitude that I see taking place.

Just to answer this person's post, let me say right here that I stand on the imminent return of our Lord Jesus Christ and that it is my life's work to share the blessed hope of His soon return.

Anyone can go to our website and read in our About section what it is we stand upon…

Prophezine deals with Bible Prophecy and World Events from a Pre-tribulation, pre-millennial, dispensationalist stand point. We currently serve close to 80,000+ (and growing) people world wide with a newsletter, news updates and website.

Here is the beef I had, and why I am addressing this publicly. Preparing to share the gospel during hard times is greatly needed and greatly overlooked. We are still living in the"until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled" period / age. (Luke 21:24)

The problem is that many here in the US think that God's throne is draped in the US flag. Christians in America have become very self centered and based upon what many are saying; believe that the world revolves around the US.

Now I know that many will say that is not true, but it is believed and implied by many people and prophecy teachers as well.

Hard times are coming to this nation. In fact, much of these hard times are based upon our own doing.

Let's look at some events that we are facing as a nation

Economy - The economic upheaval that we are feeling right now and which will get a whole lot worse is not some judgment from God. It is based upon the greed of a few hundred men taking advantage of millions via a fiat based economy. There are known effects of a fiat based economy with the outcome always being hyperinflation followed by charismatic dictator. This has been the case throughout history since the first fiat based system that took place in Greece 650 BC. Those who took us down that path knew this, but it is greed that drove them and continue to drive them today.

Terrorism - Terrorism is a result of poor leadership and a refusal of standing upon what is right. Why is this nation facing radical Islamic terrorism? Because to this day we still have not addressed it head on. One of our greatest presidents, Thomas Jefferson faced the Barbary pirates, the Muslim terrorists of that day head on. The Muslim pirates controlled the Mediterranean sea and surrounding areas. They basically stopped all trade taking place with Europe as a whole and America. Other countries who wished to sail freely who pay a "safety tax" to the pirates for safe passage. Thomas Jefferson saw how much America was doling out to these thugs and said no more. America’s first confrontation with the Islamic world via Thomas Jefferson's helped forge a new nation’s character. Jefferson took the battle to "the shores of Tripoli" and won, pushing back the Muslim horde and freeing the Mediterranean once again for all to sail in peace. What have we been doing here recently? Diplomatic negotiations which is viewed as weakness. We are inviting terrorism in with open arms and doing nothing about it.

Israel - We have turned our back upon the apple of God's eye. God's Word clearly states in Genesis 12…

Genesis 12:3 (KJV) And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

Look at how we have been forcing Israel to divide the land. Ever since the Carter administration our nation has been taking sides with the enemies of Israel. We had a respite of time during the Reagan years, but once Bush Sr was elected, we went back to making demands upon Israel.

Abortion - We kill millions of innocent babies every year.

Hedonism - sex, pornography, perversion is everywhere.

Homosexuality - is rampant to the point that now Christianity is in such decline that the church is no longer relevant in many people's eyes. If it feels good, do it, who cares about the outcome.

I can go on and on of things we have allowed to take place in this nation. What I am pointing out here is obvious cause and effect. God is a just and fair God, when we follow Him and His Word, this nation is greatly blessed. When we go against Him and His Word, we suffer the consequences of a nation living in sin.

But here is what is troubling, people think that because of all these "bad things" that are staring us in the face, they equate it to Bible Prophecy and say "God is going to rapture us outta here."

Just because this nation is facing situation of our own doing does not mean that God is going to rapture " all the good Christians" out leaving the rest of the "bad folks" behind.

I hate to say this but this mindset is skewed based upon half truths, thus not Biblically sound.

I don’t know about you, but I do not have an all seeing crystal ball telling me exactly when our Lord and Savior is going to rapture us out. Here is also a news flash, no one else does either.

Now by this time some of you are probably calling me a heretic, he is a back slider, etc etc. But let me tell you that is not the case. I am saying all these things because that is what we facing in the US.

It is a fact and no matter how deep we want to bury our heads, the storm of hardship is still coming. The question is what are you going to do about it, especially when we know that Christ Himself told us to "occupy till He returns."

What do I say? I say prepare for the hard times for the sake of the gospel. We are all watchmen and women on the wall. We all know that we are living in the last days of the last days. But none of us have that all seeing crystal ball telling us exactly when Christ will return for his church. It could be today, tomorrow or 10 years from now. We do not know. That is why Christ told us to "occupy till He returns."

Another thing that we in the US need to wake up to is that scripture does not revolve around the US, it is Israel which is the apple of God's eye. I feel very strongly that we are a "sheep" nation and in the end when Christ judges the nations, we will be with the sheep nations vs the goat nations.

Now based upon the logic of what "TheHotelApocalypse" said, anyone who sees the coming storm and is preparing for it is not Pre-Trib?

We have got to wake up and smell the coffee. Mat 28:19-20 is our great commission. In this Christ said "GO YE," that means everyone. It is the responsibility of every Christian to share the gospel when called upon.

1 Peter 3:15 tells us to ALWAYS be ready to share the hope. That means no matter our situation that we need to be ready.

Here is what I asked that person…"What are you doing knowing that this nation is going down the tubes?"

Christ told us to occupy till He returns, not sit on some mountain top with rose colored glasses.

This nation is where it is at today because so many have been sitting on the mountain top wearing rose colored glasses. We as Christians have become severely complacent, to the point of losing everything. I hate to say this but I have witnessed many first hand, who basically have given up and are allowing the enemy the high ground. Why? Because they are not occupying till He Returns.

To be blunt, people are using the rapture as an excuse to not do anything.

Why should I share the gospel when the rapture is right around the corner?

Why should I get involved with outreach at church when the rapture is right around the corner?

Why should I prepare for hard times when the rapture is right around the corner?

Why should I defend the scripture when the rapture is right around the corner?

Why should I fight against the gates of Hell when the rapture is right around the corner?

Folks, I get more and more emails expressing this complacent attitude.

The doctrine of immanency, or the belief in Jesus returning at any moment, is our motivation to charge the gates of hell. How many people do you know that do not know the gospel? But worse, what are you doing about it?

We must be ready to share the gospel no matter what. Why? Because the rapture is immanent, we are running out of time, but we cannot allow that "running out of time" steal our zeal for the Lord's work.

We cannot have our heads in the sand to the obvious any longer. No man knows the day or hour, and yet many are sitting on the sidelines doing nothing all in the name of "waiting for the rapture."

We know for a fact that hard times are coming, how effective will you be when hard times hit?

A great example is looking at Haiti. That could very well take place here. In fact I lived through the 1989 San Francisco earthquake. That to was a 7.0 earthquake. People were hurting and in need then, at that time I was not walking fully with the Lord and did not do anything to help share the gospel when the time was needed.

Imagine those who are prepared in Haiti and how effective they are in sharing the gospel and helping those in need. How many people will they effect for the Lord? Why? Because they were properly prepared, ready for situations, looking for open doors to be ready to share. Is there any question as to what that person stands on being Pre, Mid, Post, ect?

No.

We need to occupy till He returns, we need to get off the sidelines and get ready. The storm is coming and those of us who are watchmen and women on the wall can clearly see it coming.

What credibility will you have if you are standing in welfare lines because you have nothing? But specially since you knew this nation was in trouble and going down. Knowing this information what credibility will you have ?

The answer is none. Specially in a world which sees Christianity as irrelevant in their lives in the first place.

We need to set ourselves apart like Scripture calls us to do and always be ready to share the gospel in good times and in bad. We never know when that one person will approach us and we will feel that tug in our heart to share the gospel.

People are looking for something to make a difference in their lives. How different will you be when the storm of hardship finally comes?

Scripture says...

1 Corinthians 15:34 (KJV) Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.

To what shame will you face when you stand accountable before the Lord?

Hard times are coming and out of hard times people are open to God's Word. Are you doing nothing about it and mocking many of those of us sounding the alarm and warning the US. Or are you getting ready for that evil day and having done all, to stand (Eph 6:13)

Ephesians 6:13 (KJV) Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

THE DEBATE OVER ANTICHRIST

By Walid Shoebat

THE THREE CHALLENGES

Does the beast of Revelation involve Middle Eastern Muslim nations, is it exclusively European, or is it both? Some say the notion that Islam could play a prominent role in the coming revival of the Roman Empire is impossible, unorthodox, untraditional, the work of ‘Lone Ranger’ type interpretation, and even revisionist.. ¹

The majority of American evangelicals believe that the Antichrist system must be exclusively European, yet this view is changing after the last few years with the rise of Islam.

So, could Islam play a role in this end-times scenario? You might think to yourself—so what? Why should we care? Well, why then did the Almighty give us Daniel and Revelations? Even better still — why did God give us all the Messianic prophesies regarding Jesus’ first coming? Careless followers that missed these ended up without salvation, regardless of whether they sacrificed lambs in the Temple or obeyed the law—when it comes to the issue of Messiah, they missed the most crucial event in history. All for not paying close attention to Bible Prophecy. And what about the second coming? Are we to be careless with respect to the evidence presented in the Bible? I am not saying that you could lose your salvation, but if you end up on the side of Antichrist, you never had salvation in the first place.

Yet today, the debate is brewing—what about the threat of Islam? Did the Bible warn us about it? Are we supposed to keep our focus exclusively on Europe ?

To shed light on the implications of such detailed evidence (which spawned countless challenges and questions) I decided to write God’s War on Terror regarding Islam’s involvement in end-times. Consequently, I get challenges daily, not only by Muslims that want me dead but also from Christians who are dogmatic about their views. Ironically, we have no record of any Christian minister killed for exposing the E.U. as the work of Satan, yet we have millions who gave their lives for standing up to Islam. So please allow me to alleviate some pressure and present you with only three challenges:

CHALLENGE 1: Did traditional Prophecy scholars teach that Europe is exclusively the Antichrist kingdom?

You might be shocked to know that the highest caliber commentators of old did not believe that Europe was the exclusive player in the End-Times. A revival of a Roman Empire never meant a revival of a European Empire.

Many of our best western scholars on Bible prophecy believed that Islam would be a major player and will revive in the end of days as part of this end-time beast. John Wesley interpreted the Iron in Daniel 2 as Islam (Works, 1841). Hilaire Belloc foresaw Islam‘s rise.² Gregory Palamus of Thessalonica interpreted the martyrdom of Christians during the Great Tribulation to come from Islam. Josiah Litch interpreted Revelation as the ushering in of Islam.³ He even described the magnitude of Islam’s role being Antichrist to the extent of calling it the “general agreement among Christians, especially protestant commentators.” Cyril of Jerusalem (315-368 A.D) in his Divine Institutes believed that Antichrist proceeds forth from the region of ancient Syria ⁴, which today extends from Syria well into portions of Asia Minor ( Turkey ). Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem (560-638) and Maximus the Confessor (580-662) identified Islam with Antichrist and lived through Islam’s invasion of Jerusalem .. Maximus was also an important theologian and scholar of the early Church who helped defeat the Monothelite heresy referred to the Muslim invasions as “announcing the advent of the Antichrist.” John of Damascus (676-749) was another very important figure in the early church. In his famous book, Against Heresies, he identified Islam as the forerunner to the Antichrist. Eulogius, Paul Alvarus and the Martyrs of Cordova (9^th century) believed Muhammad to be a false prophet and the precursor to the Antichrist. ⁵ Many are not aware that while Martin Luther, father of the Protestant Reformation, believed that the Papacy played the role of the spiritual harlot, he also believed that the Muslims were the Kingdom of Antichrist . ⁶

John Calvin interpreted Daniel 2 eastern leg as the Eastern-Roman Islamic Empire and that Daniel 11:37 applied to the Muslims. ⁷ Even Jonathan Edwards the great American congregational preacher, revivalist, and president of Princeton University , like Luther and Calvin, saw Islam as one of the premiere elements of the Antichrist Kingdom . ⁸ Calvin even interpreted Islam’s fall at the sound of the great trumpet ⁹ Islam falling at the sound of the great trumpet even carries Islam into the Great Tribulation and not as many of our contemporary prophecy analysts who allege that Islam must be removed prior to Christ coming.

Even Sir Robert Anderson, perhaps one of the best prophecy experts who unlocked the seventy weeks of Daniel, in his remarkable book The Coming Prince, insists to focus on the Levant (Eastern) parts rather than the Adriatic (West). ¹⁰

Countless other Bible commentators warned about Islam being the kingdom of Antichrist—Selnecker, Nigrinus, Chytraeus, Bullinger, Foxe, Napier, Pareus, John Cotton, Thomas Parker, Increase Mather, Cotton Mather, and George Stanley Faber. ¹¹

Also added to the list is Rev. Professor Dr. Francis Nigel Lee who sums up the traditional view in his excellent work Islam in the Bible: “from the seventh century onward – [the two legs] would degenerate respectively into the Papacy (which progressively took over the West) and Islam (which progressively took over the East.” (p. 5)

Making Europe the exclusive body of Antichrist kingdom is not the orthodox or even the traditional view. Some insist that Antichrist is Italian since he comes from the Roman Empire, but Roman does not strictly mean Italian, just as Alexander the Great was Grecian, this does not mean Athenian—he was from Macedonia . Antiochus Epiphanies, another biblical prediction was Syrian not Athenian or Cypriot. Why then, when it comes to Antichrist, insist on an Italian ignoring the whole empire. Even Jesus insisted that Pergamum in Revelation 2:12-13, was the seat of Satan and not the gymnastically altered interpretation for an archeological relic that sits in Berlin .

While contemporary prophesy analysts trumpet the idea that the fourth composite of Daniel 2 iron metal as strictly European, traditionalist views differ. Dr. Matthew Henry comments: "Who is this enemy—whose rise, reign and ruin are here foretold? Interpreters are not in agreement. Some will have the Fourth Kingdom to be that of the Seleucidae and the ‘little horn’ to be Antiochus.... Others will have the Fourth Kingdom to be that of the Romans, and the ‘little horn’ to be Julius Caesar and the succeeding emperors, as Calvin says. The Antichrist, the Papal Kingdom , says Mr. Joseph Mede.

Others make the ‘little horn’ to be the Turkish Empire [Muslim]; so Luther, Vatablus, and others. Now I cannot prove either side to be in the wrong. Therefore, since prophecies sometimes have many fulfillments, we ought to give Scripture its full latitude (in this as in many other controversies)—I am willing to allow that they are both in the right.” ¹²

NORTH AFRICA

Most students of prophecy that ascribe to a revival of the Roman Empire ignore that North Africa (Phut) encompasses five Muslim nations historically part of the western wing of the Roman Empire, and already mentioned literally in several end-times references. In order for the exclusively European model to fit, the whole of this Muslim region must be irrelevant. So what part of the Roman pie do we slice off and what parts do we include?

CONTEMPORARY VS TRADITIONAL

So what happened? Why do we have such a variation between contemporary versus traditional? The problem began in 1981 when Greece joined as the tenth nation in the European Union and many sounded a false alarm that announced they unlocked the mystery and have the fulfillment of Revelation 17, all with its ten horns, to later be embarrassed when the European Union mushroomed into twenty some nations.

Instead of pulling back their books, these analysts ran back to the drawing board, not to confess their error, but to insist that the E.U. model must shrink to only ten.. They still chose to finagle with the theory. Some, like Arnold Fruchtenbaum, realized that this was wrong: “It has become common today to refer to the ten kingdoms as being in Europe only, especially the Former Common Market, now the European Union. But the text does not allow for this kind of interpretation. At the very best, the European Union might become one of the ten, but it could hardly become all of the ten.'' ¹³

According to Fruchtenbaum, the European model comprises only one tenth, a mere slice of the whole pie. Jamieson Fausset & Brown insist that, “the ten toes are not upon the one foot (the west), as these interpretations require, but on the two (east and west) together, so that any theory which makes the ten kingdoms belong to the west alone must err..”

CHALLENGE 2: Besides the argument on whether Magog is Russia , can anyone cite any literal reference to a nation that God destroys in the End-Times that is not Muslim?

Only if you ponder this question can you grasp its magnitude. On one occasion during a lecture to a group of prominent Bible prophecy teachers in the Pre-Trib Prophecy Conference in Dallas, I asked this question and no one raised a hand to answer.

In frustration, I pointed to Dr. Randall Price, a known Prophecy teacher and asked him to respond, in which he pointed that when it comes to literal references there are none. Grant Jeffrey, another known author, once attempted to respond with Cush, not realizing that biblical Cush (a reference sometimes translated as Ethiopia) is defined in the Unger Bible Dictionary as a landmass south of Egypt . Today this will be Sudan and Somalia .

Grant Jeffrey chose one of the most fundamentalist Muslim nations as a response to find non-Muslim nations in end-times. David Reagan of the Lion and Lamb Ministries with frustration pointed to Mystery Babylon ¹⁴ ignoring that the crucial word in that question is “literal”. If Babylon is a response to cite any literal reference for a non-Muslim nation that God destroys, this would still support my view— Mystery Babylon is an allegoric reference.

CHALLENGE 3: In every portrayal of Christ’s return to the earth, is He not fighting a nation that today is Muslim?

The significance of this question is as follows —scholars are unanimous, that Christ’s second coming must happen after Antichrist appears on the scene. Christ’s mission will be to destroy Antichrist and establish His Millennium kingdom. The European Union model has the Muslim hordes destroyed before the Tribulation period. Yet the text shows that Messiah Himself deals with Muslim nations.

The next prophecy conference you attend ask, “Is Jesus on earth on the Day of the Lord?” Ezekiel tells us of that day, “For the day is near, even the Day of the Lord is near” (Ezekiel 30:3). Yet this is when “ Cush and Phut , Lydia [ Turkey ] and all Arabia, Libya and the people of the covenant land will fall by the sword along with Egypt ” (Ezekiel 30:5). Other prophesies show these nations are cast into Hell, including Asshur – “ Iraq – Syria ”, (Ezekiel 32:22-23) Elam – “ Iran ” (Ezekiel 32:24-25) Meshech & Tubal “Asia minor— Turkey ” (Ezekiel 32:26) – Edom – “ Arabia ” (Ezekiel 32:29). These nations are punished for striking terror against Israel and the believers (Ezekiel 32:22-24 & 27).

Perhaps sharing a few from the volume of hundreds of prophecies of Jesus’ wars during the Great Tribulation can shed more light on the matter: “See Jehovah rides on a swift cloud and is coming to Egypt . The idols of Egypt tremble before him, and the hearts of the Egyptians melt within them” (Isaiah 19). Does this remind you of the song “behold He comes riding on the clouds”? Yet rarely are we told that Jesus here is fighting Egypt —a Muslim nation.

Even in Christ’s judgment of the nations (Joel 3) He is fighting Muslim entities. “Now what have you against me, O Tyre and Sidon [Lebanon] and all you regions of Philistia [Gaza]” (Joel 3:4) It couldn’t be more clear! It was as if Jesus Himself was speaking directly to Hezbollah ( Tyre and Sidon ) and Hamas ( Philistia ), challenging them regarding their bloodlust against the Jewish people. Their fight against Israel is in reality a declaration of war on the King Himself.

In Isaiah 25:9-10 at the time of the Lord’s return, we have Christ fighting Moab “And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation. For in this mountain shall the hand of the LORD rest, and Moab shall be trodden down under Him, even as straw is trodden down for the dunghill.” (Isaiah 25:9-10).

Even in Isaiah 63, scholars unanimously agree that He fights Edom ( Arabia )..

Are the Muslim nations in prophecy destroyed prior to the Christ’s coming? Will the Antichrist then establish his European rule? Can anyone find a verse in the Bible in which Christ fights and nations are literally mentioned which are not Muslim?

This is why many who exclusively see Europe as Antichrist insist on removing Islam from the scene prior to the coming of Christ. Since the Muslims still exist on earth upon the Lord’s return fighting against Him, their whole premise of an exclusively European Antichrist falls apart.

Walid Shoebat, God’s War on Terror www.Shoebat.com (720)935-2826

REFERENCES

1 Lamplighter Newsletter, David Reagan, January 2009 edition.

2 The Great Heresies, chapter 4 March, 1936, page 127-128

3 Hosiah Litch, The Three Woe Trumpets, Fall of The Ottoman Empire , August 11, 1840

4 Divine Institutes, 7:17

5 Paul Alvarus, Memoriale sanctorum 2.4

6 Martin Luther, Tischreden, Weimer ed., 1, No. 330

7 Calvin On Islam Revelation Prof. Dr. Francis Nigel Lee, Lamp Trimmers El Paso , 2000

8 Jonathan Edwards, The Fall of Antichrist, Part VII, page 395, New York, Published by S. Converse 1829

9 Jonathan Edwards, The Fall of Antichrist, Part VII, page 399, New York, Published by S. Converse 1829

10 The Coming Prince, Page 273

11 Froom: op. cit., II pp. 323f, 325f, 331, 340f, 412f, 458 & 518f and also III pp. 40f, 74f, 125-31, 149, 183, 240f, &352f.

12 M. Henry: A Commentary on the Holy Bible, with Practical Remarks andObservations, London : Marshall Bros. Ltd., n.d., IV:1270f.

13 Fruchtenbaum, Footsteps of the Messiah, page 36

14 Lamplighter Newsletter, David Reagan, January 2009 edition.