Christ or the Canaanites

By Ray Gano

Joshua 24:14 -15 (KJV) Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD. 15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

When Joshua stated these words, he was on his deathbed. He called all of Israel together to speak to them one last time.

You see, he feared for Israel. He started to see Israel become lazy and choose the apostate ways of the Canaanites, the false ways, the ways of the world.

Like Joshua, we too must choose this day, who we are going to serve. Once we have chosen, we must take action on it.

Too often we see people making excuses so that they can indulge in the ways of the Canaanites, the ways of the world, the ways God has told us to stay clear of.

Oh, we put fancy words to it and all. We get all warm and fuzzy by slapping the name “Christian” on it to fool the ignorant. In reality all this does is dilute what God has said and in turn we excuse our indulgence with the ways of the world.

Before I get into this, I want to make sure you understand that I am not refuting the doctrine of eternal security. I believe once saved always saved. What I do have a problem with are those who are claiming the title Christian thinking that they are saved and living an open life of sin that is not according to God’s word. But instead they are indulging in the many ways of the world and making excuses for it.

Looking at the world today we see MANY people claiming the title “Christian” but I do not see them living the life worthy of a Lord who personally died for their sins.

Matthew 7:15-16 (KJV) Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

Matthew 7:18-20 (KJV) A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

I get a lot of emails telling me “who are you to judge me, your not God.” I agree, I am not God, but in the verse above I am told how we are to know who is NOT of God. This is also echoed again in Ephesians 5 talking of good fruit and worldly fruit. It is by their fruits that we shall know them.

It is through their fruits they identify themselves as to who they really serve.

In the days before Joshua’s death, Israel had many victories and won many battles over those who lived in the land. But we also learn that it was the tribe of Dan that led to the ultimate fall of Israel. You can read about this in Joshua 19. Because Dan dwelt among the Canaanites and Philistines they became exposed to the ways that were not of the Lord. They were introduced to their false gods, worldly ways and wild women. This in turn spread like a cancer, which Joshua saw in Israel.

In Joshua 24, it is seen that a covenant was made between Joshua, the people and God. They said that they would not turn away from the Lord and that they would turn away from the ways of the Canaanites and not worship their gods.

But when Joshua died, excuses came into play. Apostasy went to work and cancer spread throughout all of Israel.

This is exactly what we are seeing in Christianity today

Matthew 7:14 (KJV) Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

This should be a very sobering verse to those who are claiming the title and not living the proper life for the Lord.

It amazes me what people are doing today all in the name of Christianity and thinking that Grace gives them a license to sin.

Here is a short roadmap in which the ways of the world which have entered the church…

The Avenue (Wide Road)

- Watered down modern versions of the bible, NIV, The Message, RSV, Living Bible, NASB pretty much anything based upon the Westcott and Hort school of thought.

- Christian contemporary, Heavy Metal, Death Metal Rock

- Co-mingling of worldly beliefs and biblical beliefs

The Actions (Compromise)

- Christian Yoga; Yoga for kids

- Healing and practicing Reiki (wizardry)

- Feng Shui (occultic lay lines and earth magic)

- Walking the Labyrinth

- Contemplative prayer – (Transcendental Meditation - TM)

- Tai Chi and other forms of “Christian” martial arts

- The return of the Liturgy

- The return of candles, icons and incense

- The return of the worship of saints, mother Mary and of Angels

The Results (False Gospel)

- Salvation without the Blood of Christ, death burial and resurrection

- Salvation by works

- Rejecting the Bible as the infallible word of God

- Rejecting of doctrine and the tenants of the faith

- Complete acceptance of new age thought and belief along with the occult and pagan practices

I can go on, but I think you get the idea.

NOW… if something in this list has “ticked you off” or is a point of contention, you need first need to ask yourself “WHY?”

Why are you getting upset that your pet sin, belief or practice is listed here?

If you are a child of God, there should be some conviction going on as well as recognition that you have been indulging in the world’s ways.

Now if you refuse to accept the conviction in your heart, the next thing that usually happens, one usually lashes out at the messenger, which is me at the moment. This usually consists of calling me some name, attacking my intelligence, calling me a Pharisee, judgmental, stiff necked, fanatic, fundamentalist, ect. Saying that I have no idea what I am talking about.

Next the excuses come as to why we are allowed to wallow in some of these sins and pagan ways and working to discredit the messenger.

I point back to what Joshua said..

“Choose you this day whom ye will serve”

Often people think there is grey area with God. This is a major mistake. God is a YES / NO, binary, black or white God.

He is also a God who does not change His mind or ways to suit modern day man. Many would have us to believe that just because it was not ok for the Israelites doesn’t mean He holds us to the same standards of obedience today. It seems as if today’s thought in Christian circles is God does not care how I live, what I do or how I act as long as I am “working” for Him.

This is just not true. God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.

2 Timothy 3:16 (KJV) All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

Now, some of you out there may be involved in some of the things I have mentioned and not know it is living in the ways of the world. That is because you have been deceived. But, now that you know, you have a choice to make. Do you continue living in disobedience (sin) or not?

Now, If you continue living in disobedience this tells me one of two things.

1. You really are not saved
2. You are living in rebellion

If this is you, which one are you?

What sort of fruit are you producing in the eyes of God? Is this fruit godly and good - or wicked and corrupt? The Word of God has much to say about this issue, and anyone who claims Jesus Christ as their personal Savior should have no problem accepting the Bible as the final authority. Knowing this, we are called to submit to Him 100%. Again if you choose not to, you then serve your father the devil as stated in John 8:44. The other option is you are His and choose rebellion.

Personally, I would not want to be in ones shoes who choose to live in rebellion.

Here is how God will deal with those who choose to serve the world when they are His.

2 Chronicles 7:19 - 22 (KJV) But if ye turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them; 20 Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations. 21 And this house, which is high, shall be an astonishment to every one that passeth by it; so that he shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and unto this house? 22 And it shall be answered, Because they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshiped them, and served them: therefore hath he brought all this evil upon them.

Now, I can hear it already. If you are one of these people you are going to say to yourself, “well what I am doing is good, it isn’t hurting anyone and through it I am being a good Christian example and have even talked about God and shared the gospel, so I guess that it is ok and I can keep doing what I feel is right.”

Do you see what went on in that excuse? It is pretty much the same argument that Eve had with herself regarding the apple.

They went against God’s Word. Here is what God says…

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

Proverbs 16:25 (KJV) There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

Isaiah 8:20 (KJV)"to the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them."

Romans 12:2 (KJV)"and be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of god."

“Yea, hath God said??” said the snake to the Eve.

Are you leaning upon your own understanding, your own beliefs, your own wants, desires, lusts?

Are you ignoring what God’s word clearly says?

Here is what God’s word says…

Matthew 7:18-20 (KJV) A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

1 Corinthians 10:21 (KJV) Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils.

Like the verses in Matthew 7; 1 Cor 10:21 is very clear in that you can not serve two masters. Either you serve the devil and produce the fruits of the world, or you serve Christ and produce fruits of the spirit. There is no mixing the two.

Going back to Mat 7:14 we KNOW that there are not many who will go to heaven.

Matthew 7:14 (KJV) Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

We also know that many will claim the title but God will not know them.

Matthew 7:21-23 (KJV) 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. 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? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

We also learn that many claim the title, but the roots did not take hold. If one is not producing the good fruit of the Lord, then there is a good chance that they are not one of His.

Matthew 13:3-9 (KJV) And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; 4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: 5 Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: 6 And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: 8 But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. 9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Being a Christian is not easy, Christ told us that himself. But because we are His, we have the strength to continue on daily in His will. Paul tells us that our strength is made perfect in weakness.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (KJV) And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

It is when we submit 100% to him and His will, then the Lord does great things in our lives.

Living a life of sin, even when you claim the title seems easy, but in the long run, will lead to destruction.

Matthew 7:13 (KJV) Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:

The church has lost its way. Many people claim the title, but in reality many are not His. Many choose the ways of the Canaanites, ways of the world, their father the Devil and not the ways of the Lord. This is just another sign of the last days.

Here is what God’s word says…

2 Timothy 4:3-4 (KJV) For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

If you are one of those who got upset at me when you read this, you need to reexamine your life and get right with the Lord. If you are not a Christian, but claiming the title, you too need to get right with the Lord or choose you this day who you will serve.

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

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.

Matthew 7:21(KJV) 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.

Matthew 7:22(KJV) 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?

Matthew 7:23(KJV) 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.

1John 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 “Escape The End Time Money Snare – The CD a multimedia CD co-authored with Wilfred Hahn focusing on how to escape the trappings of mammon and learning how to live simply in God’s abundance.

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

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Daniel's Colloquialisms and Turning Them Into a Literal Translation

By Ray Gano

As many of you know I lean towards an "eastern leg" of Roman Empire idea. Recently we had a really good conversation going on the Prophezine Yahoo Group board and I thought that I would share a post I responded too. In this we were discussing the 10 kingdoms, America and the "west" in Bible Prophecy. One poster named Dan stated the following...

> While Psa 83 is a list of 10 nations, we must interpret
> Scripture in context and when Dan 7:23-24 says that fourth
> kingdom devours the "whole earth" with 10 kingdoms coming out
> of it, then we would be wise not to reject that statement in
> favor of a list of 10 nations found in the Psalms, IMO.

This is the common idea that many believe.

First of all, I want to let you all know that I am not trying to put anyone down, but I do try to show "holes" and errors in many people's logic in light of scripture.

What is taking place here is the common error of taking an allegory or colloquialism and turning it into a literal translation. Folks, this is something I have even done it myself.

To refute this, my first point, the word "earth" used in Dan 7:24 is not "erets"... Hebrew for earth, but in the verse you are referencing it is ar-ah' which is a figurative for "low".

In fact the "context" that Daniel is using is not earth at all, but the "whole land" or commonly understood that being the known world of the time.

If we are to take a literal translation of Daniel 7 and maintaining "literal context" then I have to ask the following regarding Daniel 7:3.

Dan 7:3 And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.

In writing this Did Daniel mean four beast LITERALLY came out of the sea? It is obviously No

But to better understand the context it helps to know who are the four beasts spoken of in Daniel 7.

We know for a fact that the first three beasts are Babylon, Persia, and Greece.

Now did any of these nations rule the "whole earth"? No, but here Daniel while interpreting Nebuchadnezzar dream of the statue states that one of the kingdoms did in fact rule over ALL THE EARTH.

Dan 2:39 And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.

Now we know based on prophecy fulfilled that Greece was the third kingdom as it was the third beast spoken about later in chapter 7. Knowing that I have to ask, did Greece literally rule over ALL THE EARTH? To further expand on this point, did the Indians in the Americas shake and tremble at the sight of Greece? What about the natives in Papa New Guinea? Did the people of Japan know of the power of Greece and did they succumb to her?

Anyone with a hint of historical knowledge knows the answer to these questions is No. If fact without coming out and saying it, the common man understands that what is spoken about here is the known world and not ALL THE EARTH when viewed in proper context and understanding of the colloquialisms Daniel as well as many of the writers of the Bible often used. It is a style of writing that Daniel in particular embraced.

We know that Greece ruled the KNOWN WORLD, but not ALL THE EARTH. Just like Babylon and Persia did as well.

So to use the word "WHOLE EARTH" and associate it to the entire globe is not what is being said here. What Daniel is referencing is the known world at that time, AKA the Middle East. Daniel used colloquialisms, so we can not take those and make them literal.
Now here is another point, what about the fourth kingdom?

Many people state that it is Rome. This is an incorrect belief that began with Martin Luther and his protesting of the catholic church. He is the originator of much that is being taught today about Rome, the Catholic church, the pope, ect. While many are aware that Luther (father of the Protestant Reformation) came to view the Rome's Catholic Papacy as the spiritual seat of the Antichrist, few are aware that Luther believed that actually the Turks were the Kingdom of Antichrist:

"The Pope is the spirit of Antichrist, and the Turk (Muslim) is the flesh of Antichrist." source - Martin Luther, Tischreden, Weimer ed., 1, No. 330

In Luther's 1520 Open Letter to the Christian Nobility, Luther declares: "There is no doubt that the true Roman Empire, which the writings of the prophets foretold in Numbers 24[:24] and in Daniel [11:30f], has long since been overthrown...That was brought to pass...especially when the `Turkish' [Mohammadan] Empire arose almost a thousand years ago." source - Works, Holman, Philadelphia, 1915, II, pp.149 & 154

To help prove a point regarding Rome, please answer following questions...

- During what reign, empire or kingdom did John the revelatory live?

- Who imprisoned him?

- When was the book of Revelation written?

I ask these questions to help point out that John, the author of Revelation clearly stated 3 times that Rome WAS NOT, the fourth kingdom.

To basically answer the questions which we as students of bible prophecy pretty much know, John was imprisoned by the Romans, lived during the Roman empire during the reign of Emperor Domitian on the Isle of Patmos and wrote Revelation around AD 95-96. Even it one does not know this off the top of one's head, it is very easy information to find out.

Moving forward...

Please read the following scriptures that John of Patmos wrote.

Revelation 17:8 (KJV) The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

Revelation 17:11 (KJV) And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.

Right here in black and white John is clearly saying that the Revived Empire of the last days is NOT Rome.

Not only does he say it once, but as I stated before he makes the point three times.

1. The beast that thou sawest was, (It existed prior to the time of John's writing Revelation) and is not; (DID NOT EXIST during the time of John writing Revelation) and shall ascend (shall return in the future) out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition:

2. when they behold the beast that was, (It existed prior to the time of John's writing Revelation) and is not, (DID NOT EXIST during the time of John writing Revelation) and yet is. (shall return in the future)

3. And the beast that was, (It existed prior to the time of John's writing Revelation) and is not, (DID NOT EXIST during the time of John writing Revelation) even he is the eighth (shall return in the future)

John is clearly stating that the revived empire is not Rome and yet the traditions of men say it is Rome. So who is correct? Is it men in all their teaching or is it God's Word? I know that I am going against the grain of many of you, but I have to say it, the teaching of a Revived Roman Empire does not match up to what Scripture states. John as well as Daniel back this up as well.

In fact it is Daniel in chapter 11 where he states where the AC will hail from by giving prophecy about Anticus Epiphanies the first "king of the North and then giving prophecy that has yet to be fulfilled about the modern King of the North... AKA the Antichrist. It is this same "king of the north" that will align himself with the 10 kingdoms, this is also backed up clearly in Psalms 83 with the 10 kingdoms mentioned. WHICH are also the same kingdoms that belong to the blood feud originating with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob spoken of in Genesis.

The EU, Illuminati, Rome, US, the West, ect are not named in Bible Prophecy, neither are they part of the blood feud originating with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Again I point out that what the church has done over the ages is a kin to replacement theology. We have placed "the west" and the church in place of Israel and the middle east, in God's Word, the Bible, which is all about Israel and the Middle East. Clearly the end time players are from the Middle East and it is Christ Himself who comes and rescues Israel from the 10 kings of Psalms 83 and The beast, Assyrian, King Pharaoh of Egypt, Prince of Tyre, The King of the North that person whom we call the Antichrist.

To take my point even further, often teachers of Bible Prophecy point to a EU strawman claiming this mystery person will be the Antichrist. Yet they can not point to any solid evidence and instead use self supporting circular reasoning to prove their points.

Well here is a mind bender for you.. Islam, the primary religion of the Middle East and the modern form of Baal worship has a person whom they are looking for to be their savior. This man is known as the Mahdi.

The following is a list comparing what we know about the Antichrist and what we know about Islam's Mahdi.

Both Deny Trinity And Cross
Both Deny The Father And The Son
Both Are Blasphemous
Both Are Called Deceiver
Both Claim To Be Messiah
Both Kingdoms Suffer A Head Wound
Both Work False Miracles
Both Ride A White Horse
Both Attempt To Change The Law
Both Deny Women's Rights
Both Rule Over Ten Entities
Both Are the Source of Death and War
Both Use Military Force
Both Honor Their God with Gold and Silver
Both Honor a God of War And Advance His Glory Through War
Both Condon Rape
Both Usher Seven Years Peace Treaty
Both Deceive And Destroy By Peace
Both Break Treaties
Both Love War for Booty
Both Desire World Domination
Both Lead A Turkish-Iranian Invasion
Both Exalted As God
Both Ascend To Heaven
Both Are Described As Beautiful And Wise Bird
Both Are Light Beings
Both Are Pride Filled
Both Are Lords of This World and the Underworld
Both Are Called the "Son of the Dawn"
Both Are Afflicters
Both Are Cast Out Of Heaven
Both Are "The Lords of Demons"
Both Are Possessed
Both Practice Beheading
Both Desire Israel's Destruction
Both Occupy the Temple Mount

Can the proponents of a EU / Western Antichrist point to anyone, any comparisons? All they have to point to is some smoke and mirrors sort of person personified in many western books and in fact a whole series was dedicated to this vapor of a person. So many now believe the book series and give it as much credit as they do scripture even though the authors clearly state that it is pure fiction and a work of their own imagination.

What many are guilty of, and I include myself in that as well is what I call "Parroting the parrots."

What we need to do is get back to scripture and allow scripture to interpret scripture and put away many of the old teachings of men. When we realize that the bible is a book authored by God through the Hebrew oracles about the promised land, the blood feud and the coming messiah, all of a sudden things seem to just fall into place. No more square pegs being forced into round holes. Things make clear sense because instead of using the ideas of man to interpret, we are relying on the original author, the Holy Spirit to show us and illuminate the scripture.

To say it in a more "courtroom" way... If Scripture Fits, We Must Submit.

I look forward to questions and comments. I enjoyed the chance to present these points from scripture.

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.

Ray; I'm Really Scared About These Camps

By Ray Gano

Bill H.R. 645 titled the "National Emergency Centers Establishment Act," has been introduced into congress.

Sec 3 (b)(1): "capable of meeting for an extended period of time the housing, health, transportation, education, public works, humanitarian and other transition needs of a large number of individuals affected by an emergency or major disaster."
Yep you read it right.

Congressman Alcee Hastings, a democrat from Florida, introduced the bill.

For a while now we have been hearing about “prison camps / detention camps” Back in the early 1990’s it was the UN who was behind them, today it is FEMA.

During WW2 the US Government “relocated” Japanese and Italian Americans to these types of “housing” areas.

I was going to write on Matthew 7 and the need to really understand undeniable truth / absolute truth, but God spurred me in another direction when I got an email this morning…

Dear Ray,

I'm really scared about these camps -

You have always been honest - my family and I heard an interview between Steve Quayle and a man named Greg Evensen - they claim the government will generate a crisis then impose martial law, call for voluntary gun confiscation - then go after everyone who has ever owned a gun - kill them or take them to these camps and kill them - they say this is suppose to happen within the next couple of months - my daughter owned one several years back - but in light of this I guess we will have to replace it

But I'm terrified - I literally haven't stopped shaking for a week...I know you have done stories concerning martial law on the youtube Prophezine news I won't lie I didn't want to believe them – I was prepared to lose everything (stored a little tiny bit of gold, and food - was trying to grab a trailer for back up living and we were going to grab some silver this month) - now I feel like I'm dying next week and should start giving it all away to people I had on a list that we knew we'd have to take care of if the economy got worse -

Thank you in advance - I didn't know who else to write and ask – Jack Kelly has told his readers to prepare financially but not to store food away and said recently he didn't believe Satan would come after us - Rapture Ready didn't feel we had anything to worry about between now and when the Rapture happens - Since you're the only one warning about martial law I figured I'd come to you-

God Bless
PZ Reader “K”

Folks, PZ Reader “K” is not alone. In fact I have been getting many emails expressing the same sentiment.

One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Eph 6:13…

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

Because of my stand on stewardship, being self reliant and promoting gardens and such people often say that I have no faith in God.

Actually that is wrong; I am doing what I do because I see a need and I am preparing for that need.

That need I see is to be ready to share the gospel in hard times. It is during the hard times that people have a willingness to turn to the Lord.

I thought that I would share the email I wrote in return because I feel that it will benefit many of those out there as well as help people understand why we do what we do here at the Gano home.

Here is the email that wrote to PZ Reader “K”…

=-=--=-=-=--=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-

Hello PZ Reader “K”

In all things we are called to occupy till he returns. (Luke 19:13)

1 Peter 3:15 tells us to always be ready to share the hope that is within us. In other words, be ready to share the gospel always.

If we have not made proper preparations, how can we have the time and freedom to share the gospel when the need is heavily called upon?

It is for that reason I want people to be prepared.

No matter what, I believe that hard times are coming to this nation. Be it economical, natural disaster, terrorist, ect.

This nation has refused to repent for her sins and this country continues to wallow in depravity. We have turned our backs upon the Lord and it is only His judgment that will make us look upon Him again. Man’s nature is that of sin. Only when the Holy Spirit acts through conviction or judgment, it is at that time that we turn our faces to the Lord.

We are a Christian nation, which is a fact. God punishes those who are His and this nation was founded upon Him.

Because of that, I feel that this nation will come under hardship and God chastising us.

Now with that said, I believe that if we are doing all that we can to prepare to share the gospel in the hard times; God will give us the grace to see us through.

God’s Word tells us to “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God….”

If we do nothing and sit on our hands in fear, then we deserve what we get, which will probably be bondage of some sort.

But if we work hard readying ourselves to share the gospel in the coming hard times, not only will we be able to help others; we will also position ourselves to help our family too. Now I am not proposing that we set up to be some sort of welfare soup kitchen. I am talking about our immediate circle of influence, those people we know and can help.

Example, if we work to grow a garden, store our harvest, put dry goods back for hard times, we can be in the position have extra to share with neighbors if needed in the hard times.

Just think, if we are in hard times, how much is a can of beans, spam, 12 eggs worth?

When hard times hit, they will be worth a lot. We learned this lesson during the great depression.

Now if you have that extra and you are willing to help your neighbor in need, do you think that they would be grateful?

Do you think that they would be open to hearing the gospel?

Do you think that your loving witness will make a difference in their lives?

If you said yes, then you are starting to understand my position.

What we need to be doing now is preparing to share the gospel and help our neighbors. Hard times are coming. We have the chance to be the salt and light no matter what happens, but to do that, we need to be ready like we are told in 1 Peter 3:15.

When the rubber meets the road, when we focus on building HIS kingdom, HE takes care of the details.

Tracye and I have been living every day by faith. Our bank is always close to empty, but we always have food and money to pay the bills. God takes care of our little details, we just have to learn to turn them over to Him and focus on the task he has given us.

I like to say that I am in charge of operations and God is in charge of accounting. If I do all that I can do with the gifts and talents God has given me to further the Gospel, then he will take care of the rest.

I feel that no matter what, as long as our eyes are upon Him, he will keep His Hand of protection upon us. I know this because he has done it many times for our family.

Learn from Noah. He knew something was coming, but did not know what it was because God did not really give the details. So he built an ark like God told him to do.

Now please take special notice here, God did not build the ark for him, Noah did. God also did not just drop the ark out of thin air.

Could have God done those things?

Yes, BUT… it was the actions of Noah that was the witness to all. People saw his faith, his actions.

When the time came to weather the storm, Noah and his family were taken care of.

Did everyone else see Noah doing this? Yes they did. Did they do anything to assist, help or build their own ark? No, they were caught up in the dealing of that day doing what they wanted. They were focused on themselves and the desires of the flesh.

That is what we see today, even in our churches.

Because Noah was faithful in doing what God told him to do, God preserved him and his family. In fact we see many examples of this sort of thing take place in scripture.

What Noah did was cover all his bases and was busy doing the task that the Lord gave him to do as best as he could do it and in doing all, he was ready.

What does Eph 6:13 say; “…and having done all, to stand.”

That is what we need to do. We need to do the best we can with what we have, the resources at hand and the time being given to us. We still have time, but we need to be diligent at the task.

We also need to do what we are doing unselfishly and in love for the lost. That is the key. If we are selfish, then we will fall into that fleshly trap of desire. Then we are doing no one any good.

Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things will be given unto you.

One last thing, you fear because the power of God is not in you.

I say this because it happens to me at times too. Like Peter, we need to get out of the boat and walk on the water with Him.

When I fear, it shows me that there is some sin in my life that I need to get right with the Lord. I need to repent and come back into His fellowship.

He lost faith and the power of God because he took his eyes off the Lord.

The crux of the matter is when I fear, I lack faith. I fear because I have taken my eyes off of Him.

When I have faith, I do not fear. I have faith because I am in fellowship with Him and my eyes are upon Him.

But for me to have the power of God's faith in me, I need to be right with Him and in fellowship with him.

We fear because we have not fed our spirit.

The food we need is the daily reading of His Word and fellowship with our Lord.

I encourage you not to neglect God's Word. Read it every day. Your physical body needs food daily, so does your spirit. If you want the power of the Lord so that you can have the strength to walk in faith, you need to be in His Word. You need to be in fellowship with Him.

BUT… if you try to do what you need to do in yourself, as many of us have tried, you will fail miserably.

We can only do what we can do when the Will and Power of God is working through us. But to do that, we need to be in fellowship with Him and in His Word.

Now, I want to say I am not promoting some charismatic swinging from the chandelier, rolling all over the floor, babbling off at the mouth stuff. I am talking about being sober and firm, walking a humble life leaning upon Him and His Word and not your own understanding.

I wrote a report couple of years ago titled “11-Items-You-Need-To-Get-Now.” If you do not have this, it helps you get a start on your priorities. You can download this at the Prophezine website in the PZ Stewardship area.

If you have any questions at all, do not hesitate to contact me, we are here to serve.

If you are not a PZ Insider, become one. We have been adding more articles to The PZ Insider Report dealing more with self sustainability and things you can do.

By being a PZ Insider, it also helps Tracye and I to prepare and do what we need to do.

What is going to get those of us through the hard times, is realizing that what we have is not ours, but the Lords. We are just stewards over it. We can horde it for ourselves or we can use it to further the kingdom. Tracye and I are using what we have to further the kingdom, you can do the same.

Hope this helps.

He Rides a Black Horse

By Ray Gano

In the last several months I have been seeing a drastic increase in the cost of food. Milk is sitting at $3.25 a gallon, Cheese has gone up $2.00 for a quarter pound block and butter is sitting at $3.65 a box.

Folks, we are coming to the end of the age. We are beginning to see the foundations that have been put in place, start to take effect.

During the tribulation we know that food will become scarce and the cost will sky rocket.

We read in Revelation 6:5-6…

Revelation 6:5 – 6 (KJV) And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. 6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

Christ himself stated..

Matthew 24:8 (KJV) All these are the beginning of sorrows.

In this Christ was speaking of wars, rumors of wars, false Christ’s, earthquakes, famines, pestilences. He was speaking about now, the end of the age.

Matthew 24:7 (KJV) For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

When one does a study on this verse we learn that he is using verbiage which equates to that of a woman about to give birth, or the birth pangs as it is commonly stated.

Birth pangs do not slow down, ask any mother, she will attest to the fact that they increase in strength and timing. They get harder and more painful as well as coming more frequently.

That is exactly what we are seeing today, read on…

Forget Oil, the New Global Crisis is Food

BMO strategist Donald Coxe warns credit crunch and soaring oil prices will pale in comparison to looming catastrophe.

A new crisis is emerging, a global food catastrophe that will reach further and be more crippling than anything the world has ever seen. The credit crunch and the reverberations of soaring oil prices around the world will pale in comparison to what is about to transpire, Donald Coxe, global portfolio strategist at BMO Financial Group said at the Empire Club's 14th annual investment outlook in Toronto on Thursday.

"It's not a matter of if, but when," he warned investors. "It's going to hit this year hard."

Mr. Coxe said the sharp rise in raw food prices in the past year will intensify in the next few years amid increased demand for meat and dairy products from the growing middle classes of countries such as China and India as well as heavy demand from the biofuels industry.

"The greatest challenge to the world is not US$100 oil; it's getting enough food so that the new middle class can eat the way our middle class does, and that means we've got to expand food output dramatically," he said.

The impact of tighter food supply is already evident in raw food prices, which have risen 22% in the past year.

Source - http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=213343

In this article Mr.Coxe is pointing out the production of biofuel / biodiesel is one of his primary concerns. If you do not know, biofuel / biodiesels are produced by using corn, wheat, sugar beets, ect. Many of the grains and produce used to make biofuel / biodiesel is also the same thing we use to feed the livestock thus promoting a healthy food supply.

Living here on the Gano Ranch, we have seen this directly as well as having an effect on us as these prices go up. In fact this was my main topic for this week’s Prophezine’s This Week In Bible Prophecy Show.

Watch Now - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbDntNOq3G0

We have noticed the cost of our chicken feed going up and even our dog food, which is also predominately made from grains.

With the continued cost of rising livestock feed going up, the products such as meat, diary, poultry and eggs are also going up.

Soon the rule of supply and demand will impact us. But which demand will win out? Will the demand to run our machinery win or will the demand to feed our livestock win.

No matter what, in the end, we learn that food will become scarce.

We read in Revelation 6:6

Rev 6:6 (KJV) And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible states…

“a measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; "Choenix", the measure here used, signifies as much as was sufficient for a man for one day, as a penny was the usual hire of a laborer for a day as found in Mat 20:2; so a choenix of corn was allowed to each man in Xerxes's army for a day, according to Herodotus ; the same quantity for a day was given by the Romans to their shepherds and servants, and is generally said to be about two pounds; according to Agricola it was two pounds and a quarter.”

So we learn that a measure of grain is approximately 2 pounds and the cost for that grain will be an average day’s wage.

In 2006 the average hourly pay across the board was $16.31. If you add benefits the average was $19.57 per hour for non supervisory workers. To get yearly income figure you take approx 2000 hours per year per hour ($16.31 x 2000) and you come up with $32620.00 for a full time employee for a year’s worth of work.

Source - http://www.visualizingeconomics.com/2007/11/04/has-middle-americas-wages-stagnated/

We have 52 weeks in a year so if you minus 104 from 365, that gives you 261 days a person works on average. This is not counting vacation time. That comes to an average of $124.98 or $125.00 per day if you round up.

Now this is US Dollars, but you can take your countries currency and basically do the same rough math and come out with a figure that meets to your countries’ currency.

So what does this tell us?

For approximately two pounds of wheat, it will cost the US consumer approximately $125.00. The cost for 6 pounds of barley will also cost approximately a days wage or $125.00. Now this is during the tribulation. What prevents the price making a climb up as we draw closer to the end of this age? Here is an interesting side note about barley; it is what beer is made from. Pay attention later in the article discussing alcohol.

One other point to make, we also know that the population of man is also going up thus making the current supply and demand even greater.

In reading the second part of Rev 6:6 is says “see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.”

The oil spoken of here was olive oil which was used in their lamps, to bath in, cook with but primarily it was used as an energy source. As for wine it was and still is a luxury.

In past articles I have pointed to Isaiah 5, the judgment of nations, as what will befall the United States as well as other nations that turn their backs upon God. But take note of what is spoken about here; we see greed, the cost of food going up and extreme drunkenness.

Isaiah 5:8-10 (KJV) Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth! 9 In mine ears said the LORD of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, without inhabitant. 10 Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of a homer shall yield an ephah.

Isaiah 5:11 (KJV) Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!

In reading these verses, we see that man driven by his greed will work to possess all that he can. He will displace all others not caring for his fellow man. He will drive off from their lands all others, and take possession of all they can and all for themselves. We see also that the land will not yield properly. Here ten acres only yields one bath or approximately seven gallons of wine. It does not tell us why, but I bet it is through the continued overworking of the land to the point that the good earth no longer produces. Again greed and the worship of self are to blame.

We continue in Isaiah and see that man will rise up and begin his day early with strong drink and do this until the night.

These things are taking place today. We are sittng at the edge of the end of the age. In Revelation 6:5-6 God’s judgment befalls man. It will be worse than today, but today we are already seeing the foundations begin to stir.

Folks, time is at hand and Jesus is returning very soon for his bride. If you do not know the Lord, you will be left behind to face the tribulation. If you are left behind, the odds are against you and you will most likely die a horrible death. If you choose to come to Christ during the tribulation, you will see persecution by the antichrist who despises all man, but especially those who love God. In that case scripture says that you will give your head and be a martyr.

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.

Matthew 7:21(KJV) 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.

Matthew 7:22(KJV) 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?

Matthew 7:23(KJV) 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.

1John 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. .

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

visit their new daughter ministry Wisdom Farms at http://www.wisdomfarms.com

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.