New York protesters slam ‘incredibly dangerous’ Iran deal

10,000 demonstrators urge Congress – and NY Senator Chuck Schumer – to vote against nuclear agreement

By Cathryn J. Prince July 23, 2015, 4:27 am 107

Supporters react to a speech by Republican presidential candidate former New York Gov. George Pataki at the 'Stop Iran' protest Wednesday, July 22, 2015, near Times Square in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

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• Republicans challenge Obama on Iran accord

NEW YORK – The last time Dr. Arnold Berlin held a sign at a protest he was a student at Tulane University and it was 1967, the height of the Vietnam War. And while many US foreign policy decisions have since irked the physician, it took the recent nuclear deal with Iran to convince him to take to Times Square Wednesday night as part of the “Stop Iran Now” rally.

“I am very much against this deal. It’s incredibly dangerous. I had to come,” said Berlin, who came from Williamsburg, Brooklyn, so he and a friend might hold his nearly 8-foot-long banner high above the crush of people.

An estimated 10,000 people converged on Times Square, from 42nd Street all the way to 40th Street. People came in buses and caravans from Charlotte, North Carolina, from Chicago, Columbus and Philadelphia. In addition to Times Square, there were also similar demonstrations in Ft. Lauderdale, Phoenix, Los Angeles and Toronto, Canada.

Police repeatedly instructed people to keep sidewalks clear to no avail; the sidewalks were impassable.

Jeffrey Wiesenfeld, a financial expert who has also held senior positions in government, organized the rally to alert Americans to the dangers of the nuclear agreement recently reached between Iran and the so-called P5+1 group of world powers, he said.

“We came to the conclusion that we must educate the public, in the most strident language, that this is a farce, this is a threat – not just to Israel but for America and for the world. A failure to ‘Stop Iran Now’ could necessitate a military response later,” Wiesenfeld told The Times of Israel.

Supporters line Seventh Avenue during the ‘Stop Iran’ protest Wednesday, July 22, 2015, near Times Square in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

The result of years of negotiations, the deal aims to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions in return for sanctions relief. But opponents of the deal say it leaves Iran’s nuclear infrastructure intact, including centrifuges and research facilities, and does not offer sufficient guarantees of transparency to ensure Tehran does not cheat on the agreement.

Wiesenfeld hopes the bipartisan rally will convince members of the US Congress to reject the deal. He called on New York Senator Charles Schumer, a Democrat, to lead the way. Many of the signs held aloft at the rally addressed Schumer, alongside chants of “Where is Chuck?” from the crowd.

Schumer has said he has not yet decided how he will vote. His spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“The public will not be fooled again; Americans will not stand for another North Korea. If this deal is not stopped, New York voters will know who to blame,” Wiesenfeld said.

In a telephone interview before the rally, former New York governor and 2016 GOP presidential candidate George Pataki said US President Barack Obama violated his oath of office when he took the deal to the United Nations Security Council last week before giving Congress a chance to review the document. Under the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015, Congress has 60 days to review the deal, and can seek scuttle it with legislation that would prevent the White House’s planned rescinding of some of the sanctions placed on Iran.

Republican presidential candidate, former New York Gov. George Pataki greets supporters at the ‘Stop Iran’ protest Wednesday, July 22, 2015, near Times Square in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

“That showed tremendous disrespect for the US Congress and it was an active betrayal of Israel, our strongest ally in the Middle East,” Pataki said of the UN vote.

The deal threatens American security, Pataki said.

“In no way does this deal change Iran’s attitude to America. During the negotiations it was calling for ‘Death to America,’” he noted. “There are dozens of legitimate reasons to reject this deal. It allows for hundreds of billions in [sanctions] relief, the lifting of sanctions on conventional arms, all while Iran keeps supporting terror around the world.”

Weisenfeld is the head of the Jewish Rapid Response Coalition, JRRC, which he founded in 2014 to protest the Metropolitan Opera staging of the controversial opera “The Death of Klinghoffer.”

“Clearly Iran is a much greater threat to the world than an opera,” Wiesenfeld said.

Dozens of organizations were represented at the rally, including Christians United for Israel (CUFI), Israeli American Council, New York State Federation of Republican Women, Simon Wiesenthal Center, StandWithUs and the Zionist Organization of America.

Speakers included Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, “The Israel Campaign” founder and an outreach coordinator for CUFI Kasim Hafeez, former Manhattan district attorney Robert Morgenthau, journalist Caroline Glick and former CIA director James Woolsey.

“I was personally in favor of a negotiated agreement if it’s an airtight deal, if Obama kept his promise. But the deal is not airtight,” Dershowitz told The Times of Israel. “The opposition to the deal that many have expressed made it difficult for Kerry to back down any more. The rally is important because it’s always helpful to add pressure.”

Beth Chesir came to the rally on her way home to New Jersey.

“I don’t want to face the mirror someday and say I didn’t do everything possible to stop this deal,” Chesir said. “I’m fearful that it can’t be stopped now that Obama threatens to veto any resolution Congress passes, plus the fact that the Europeans support it. But if this can help, then that’s good.”

According to a recent Monmouth University poll, 55 percent of Americans said “not at all” when asked if they trusted Iran to honor the agreement’s terms.

Organizers estimated about 10,000 people attended the event.

The Hal Lindsey Report | Hal Lindsey

The Hal Lindsey Report | Hal Lindsey

Paul’s Encouraging Letters to the Thessalonians

Reblogged from prophecywatchers.com

by: Gary Stearman on July 21, 2015

During the last five or six decades, the restraining forces of Western civilization are quickly slipping away. Societal, moral and financial moderation is yielding to self-indulgent lust — just as the Bible said it would. In the words of Paul:
“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come” (II Tim. 3:1).

Here, as we have observed over the years, Paul suggests that a kind of social insanity would characterize the world of the latter days. As we observe the relentless downward spiral of global society, we recall that biblical prophecy clearly states this. It says that the latter days would be marked by a collapse of faith, morality and ethics. The question we’re now asking ourselves is simple: Have we gone beyond the point of no return, or can there be spiritual revival?


No one can really answer this question. God’s plans are His own. But our clear perception in the light of biblical prophecy is that we’ve entered the latter days. Israel is back in the Holy Land, embroiled in an international conflict that precisely matches a number of Scriptural prophecies. Everywhere, dark occultist and demonic schemes are growing in prominence. Having abandoned God as Creator, men have begun evil genetic experimentation on plants, animals and humans is now a reality. Morality is overwhelmed by shameless behavior. Many Christian writers have illuminated these developments for years.
The Apostle Paul wrote that this would happen. He noted a future “falling away” that would mark the coming of the Antichrist. The question is, have we reached that point?

As we examine the meaning of Paul’s expression, we would first note that it seems to be describing a latter-day spiritual collapse. A few months after sending his first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul sent them a second one. It was an update and clarification of that first epistle, which had carefully laid out the doctrine pertaining to the rapture of the Church. And it dealt with a specific misunderstanding that had been spawned by deceptive false teachers in that interim period.

Certain “teachers” had entered congregations and had begun to point to the ongoing Roman persecution of Jews and Christians, coupled with a developing revolutionary undercurrent, as being prophetically significant. They taught that the Day of the Lord had already arrived. They were apparently persuading believers that the Tribulation had by that time already begun, and that they were currently going through it.
Paul vigorously refuted this mistaken idea, while supporting his original statement that the rapture would come before the Day of the Lord. We believe that this “Day” will consist of seven horrific years of catastrophe … God’s judgment.

Like Paul and his early followers, we too live in an increasingly tumultuous world. The constant downpour of new and dramatic anti-Christian developments is a daily reality. The state of Israel has set the stage for a procession of prophetic fulfillments. Bible-believing Christians of our era have honed their anticipation to a fine edge. For decades, we have been searching the Scriptures under the conviction that through them, the Lord will speak words of confidence, comfort and hope in a world that is spinning out of control.

But in a repeat of the way it happened in Paul’s day, there is now an increasing undercurrent of negative teaching, in which some Bible expositors are suggesting that the Day of the Lord will come while Christians are still on the Earth. In fact, many of them are presenting what they interpret as “evidence” of this fact. In other words, the same problem of interpretation that plagued early Christians is alive and well to this day.

Those of us who believe in a pretribulation rapture also live in the moment-by-moment expectation that our “blessed hope” will be realized during our lifetimes. We speak, of course, of our Lord’s promise to come and personally escort us home, as we experience rapture and resurrection. The timing of this event will be a total surprise! This is the doctrine of Christ’s imminent return, taught with great clarity by the Apostle Paul. He believed it, and taught the congregations of his own day to live in the light of this blessed expectation … awaiting the Lord’s arrival … which they all believed could come at any moment:
“16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (I Thess. 4:16,17).

This was followed by Paul’s unequivocal statement that Christians won’t experience God’s coming judgment of planet Earth: “9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ” (I Thess. 5:9).
God’s wrath is His judgment of planet Earth, an event specifically addressed toward the unsaved, not the saved – the body of Christ.

“A Falling Away”

Amazingly, these and other assurances written in First Thessalonians weren’t enough for the believers in Thessalonica. Some of them were still being persuaded that the wrath of God had already begun.
In the process of writing a clarification in his second letter, Paul gave them (and us) a remarkable clue as to the sequence of events that would come before the Tribulation. Its opening statement is absolutely clear:
“1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition” (II Thess. 2:1-3).

For Christians, this prophecy is at the top of their list. It tells us that prior to the Tribulation, something called “a falling away” must come. In the light of many other prophetic developments, this event seems to be in the process of happening at the present time. But we must ask: Is this really the case, and how will we know when it has reached completion? In other words, how much worse must things get before Paul’s prophecy is fulfilled?

Before answering this question, it is appropriate to note that over the last two thousand years, humanity has witnessed many calamitous episodes that might meet the terms of a “falling away.” In Paul’s own day, the decadence of the Roman Empire, along with the strained political ties between the Herodians and Jewish leaders could easily have been defined as an “apostasy,” or “falling away.”

The terms of Paul’s clarification are crystal clear. Here, he acknowledges that some of his contemporaries believed that the Day of the Lord (here called “the day of Christ”) had already arrived. Because of false prophecy, mistaken preaching or forged letters, they had become convinced that God’s wrath had already fallen upon the world.

And why wouldn’t they? At the time this letter was written (in the first century, around AD 51), the reign of Roman Emperor Claudius was nearing its end, marked by debauchery, political deceit and finally, the assassination that brought Nero to power. Claudius had persecuted the Jews, who had previously felt safe in the empire. Both Jews and Christians were shocked and repulsed by increasing debauchery in the imperial household. Roman society was devoted to the reprobate practice of worshiping gods and goddesses.

Furthermore, Claudius had appointed Herod Agrippa II as king of Chalcis. This dark king was married to his own sister, Bernice. This strange couple had become the focus of gossip throughout the empire. To make matters worse, Agrippa controlled politics and finances at the Temple in Jerusalem. And its priests had long since been corrupted by their unholy political alliance with both Roman and Herodian governance. Jerusalem, itself, had fallen into utter corruption.

Looking at these and other events, it would have been easy to conclude that the vaunted stability of the Roman government and law was rapidly disappearing. It was being replaced by unscrupulous madmen, creating the general conception that danger lurked on every hand. (Nero would soon be in power). The Jewish priesthood was irreversibly corrupt, suggesting that God’s judgment could be near.

Yet, with all this social upheaval and religious apostasy, Paul still assured the early Church that the event that he called “a falling away” had yet to happen. This term is a translation of the Greek apostasia, generally regarded as signifying apostasy from the faith.
We know with historical certainty that this mysterious “falling away” didn’t happen throughout the first century. This period marked the beginning and building of the Church, not its demise … and certainly not its rapture.
And even throughout the reigns of Nero, Vespasian, Titus and Domition, (AD 54-96) with their infamous and deadly persecutions of the early Church, this critical “falling away” didn’t occur.

Instead, there followed a continuing shift of power away from Jewish control of the Holy Land. Finally, in AD 135, the emperor Hadrian presided over the total defeat of Jewish resistance. He renamed the Temple Mount “Aelia Capitolina.” Israel, he called “Syria Palestina.” The diaspora had begun.
During all these events, the “falling away” hadn’t occurred. How do we know this? Because Paul wrote that when it came, it would introduce a chain of events. First, the “man of sin” would be revealed to perform the act of standing up in the Holy of Holies of the Jewish Temple, claiming to be God:
“Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God” (II Thess. 2:4).

It seems almost unnecessary to point out that none of these things has happened yet. The “man of sin” has not presented himself as God, or even “a god.” He hasn’t enthroned himself in the Temple of God. Nor did he do this in the first century, before the Temple was destroyed in AD 70. Around AD 132, Hadrian placed a pagan statue of Jupiter in his Temple … a rebuilt version of the Holy of Holies. And he also placed a statue of himself on horseback standing before this obscene idol. But after a short time, it crumbled into dust. Historically, this is as close as we can come to finding an example of Paul’s prophecy. From that time to this, no man has ever enthroned himself in a temple, let alone a Jewish Temple, proclaiming himself as God.

And this has been the situation throughout the Church Age. As E. Schuyler English put it in his book, Re-Thinking the Rapture, “How would the Thessalonians, or Christians in any century since, be qualified to recognize the apostasy when it should come, assuming, simply for the sake of this inquiry, that the Church should be on Earth when it does come.” [p. 70]
 
To read more click: prophecywatchers.com

John Haller´s Prophecy Update 2015 07 12

Personal reflection on the rainbow (real and counterfeit)

This is a repost from the original post written Tuesday, October 21, 2014 in anticipation of the SCOTUS vote.

Written and posted by Jean-Louis.

The idea to write this post came to me when a few days ago, I saw a picture of a rainbow cake on Facebook.

I had previously read several articles in the past few years about Christian businessmen and women who refused to cater to homosexual couples weddings with their services such as baking the wedding cake with a gay theme, providing the photographers or  for a pastor to perform a same sex wedding ceremony. 

 To read about the baker´s struggle click Two lies our culture has embraced and Christian couple standing firm.

They did that not out of hate or lack of love because true Christians do not hate anybody but on the contrary love homosexuals with the love of the Lord Jesus who died for the whole world regardless of what kind of sins they commit. They refused to bend the knee to the Political Correctness relentless pressure of Cesar out of integrity of conscience and their desire to not offend the Holy God that they love and worship.
And for that righteous and courageous stance, they were threatened with heavy fines until they complied with the unjust laws. Some of them ended up losing their family business altogether. 
 
After all, why would anyone find a wedding cake offensive when it is a symbol of celebration and of the participation of the guests, family and friends in the deep love and life commitment of two people who chose to unite their life in the bond of matrimony?
 
Usually, I stay out of controversial disputes and arguments. I am a peace maker and try to follow Paul´s admonition to be ambassadors for Christ and bring reconciliation between God and man and between men themselves by proclaiming the good news of the Gospel of Grace and teaching from the Bible.
So, as you will see further on, this study is concerned with the rainbow and its significance in the lives of men.                   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The rainbow is one of the magnificent signs the Lord God Almighty has placed in the heavens for all of mankind to admire and to worship Him. Characteristic and interesting properties can be deduced from observing this marvelous heavenly phenomenon.
 
First, a certain amount of clouds, rain and sunlight has to be present in order for us to witness the glorious appearance.
 
Secondly, it takes place in the atmosphere which is the sphere of Satan´s spiritual influence and operations.  It helps us understand the reason why God provides signs that are visible to all mankind and the lessons we can learn for watching the heavens especially in these precarious and perilous times in which we live.
 
Thirdly, I notice that like the wind that you cannot take in your hand, you cannot grab it and say that you possess it, so it is with the rainbow, it belongs to God and he uses it as he pleases as a demonstration of his glory and a communication of his faithfulness and his ever present watchfulness over the 
earth and the lives of its inhabitants.
 
Fourthly, it appears only as a half a circle as it takes a very precise angle combination of light, water vapor and the location of the observer according to the position and rotation of the earth.
Anyone can observe and marvel at a rainbow  without an extensive knowledge of astronomy or the detailed physical, optical properties of light, water earthly position of an object.
 
An interesting detail is that the counterfeit rainbow has 6 colors, 6 being the number of man whereas God´s created rainbow  has 7 colors, 7 being the number of perfection. And this perfection from a holy God can never duplicated by a sinful man in rebellion against his creator.
It becomes even more interesting when I am on the lookout for some verses about the interaction of the different planes and spheres of influence between the visible on the earth our physical domain and the invisible or spiritual domain as a subject for encouragement, exhortation or discernment.
 
The first rainbow The Scriptures interface between these two domains so that we are reminded by our Lord Jesus to consider earthly things as the fields of wheat, the clouds in the sky, the splendor of the lilies and the seasons, and draw spiritual lessons from them that can help us in understanding the spiritual side of life and grow in understanding and depth of knowledge and wisdom.
“Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls? ²⁵ And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit?²⁶ If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest?²⁷ Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.²⁸ If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and tomorrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?" Luke 12.
 
He also warned the  people  especially the hypocrites, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law with severe  tongue lashings: ⁵⁴ And he said also to the people, When ye see a cloud rise out of the west, straightway ye say, There cometh a shower; and so it is. ⁵⁵ And when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, There will be heat; and it cometh to pass. ⁵⁶ Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time?" Luke 12.
 
In Matthew 24:32, the Lord Jesus was answering questions by the apostles  about the signs of his coming and of the end of the age. The parable of the fig tree is one of the best and most important prophetic illustrations of the end times signs given to believers because everybody on planet earth is aware the rapidly succeeding events started by the Jewish people being back in  their land of Israel as a nation in 1948.
 
I believe as it is written that the rainbow although only in the half shape is one of those signs that the Lord put in the sky for encouragement since the time he gave it to Noah as a sign of the covenant between him and Noah and his posterity.

 ¹² And God said, This is the token (symbol) of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: ¹³ I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token (symbol) of a covenant between me and the earth. ¹⁴ And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: ¹⁵ and I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. ¹⁶ And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. ¹⁷ And God said unto Noah, This is the token (symbol) of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth. Genesis 9:12-17.
Now we have to see the chronological order of the two means of destruction the Lord uses in his punishment of the rebellious and disobedient people on the earth:  first comes the water or the flood, then follows the fire for judgment and cleansing.
 
These two judgments of God punctuate two events, the first one with Noah when he set his rainbow as a sign of grace, hope and encouragement that he will not destroy the earth completely and the second with Abraham with the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah showing the merciful requests of Abraham and the justice of God even after acceding to the requests of the patriarch for the salvation of the cities.
 
In I Cor 15: 46, 47 the chapter on the resurrection of the body of the believer, we find Paul very important key argument for what I believe will happen soon, “ The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven”. 
These verses tie in with the words of warning of Jesus to watch the heavens, be alert, vigilant, in prayer so we will not be deceived and be led astray. The first sign, the magnificent rainbow following the destruction by water is present in the sky to remind us of the general grace and mercy of God who sends the rain and the sunshine to provide all his creatures with all that they need to live and prosper.
 
God has kept his promise until now but according to the Bible, the second judgment is close to happening, the judgment by fire just as the one happened to Sodom and Gomorrah. Now comes the encouraging part that gives me hope and helps me not to get into the trap of discouragement when reading the news of the tide of evil engulfing the nations of the earth and our lives. 
Satan, knowing that his time is short uses the beautiful things of God as weapons against us to try to keep us discouraged and defeated and to keep us apart by dividing us and keeping  us busy and distracted from the main things.
 
The rainbow, emblem of the LGBT Have you ever wondered why the rainbow has become the banner emblem of the LGBT?
At first I thought nothing of it, but in the last 10 or more years, its growing popularity worldwide had me thinking more about what it represents and witnessing the growing ensuing ravages in the families and societies all over the world, I concluded that it´s Satan´s stratagem to counterfeit and try stealing the very glory of God,  the reminder of this glorious promises to us.
 
So instead of being discouraged and giving into the trap of the deceiver, the father of lies, I choose to use the mind that is protected by the helmet of salvation and reject the notion that the adversary has won the battle first and foremost because he cannot steal what does not belong to him. Try as he may, he will not be able to make the beautiful rainbow of promise from the heavens that God has given us a permanent symbol for his cause and his evil schemes. 
 
He is not a creator, but a poor imitator at best. His followers most of them unaware of what they are doing and of the spiritual aspect of the rainbow will try to rally after a pied piper who is leading them with a false banner that can be burned to ashes just as any man made flag would.
 
The symbol of the goodness and promise of God has been turned into a travesty, an idol,  if you will, standing for debauchery, immorality and human depravity parading in the streets of the world cities.
 
God must be laughing, besides being angry when he sees his indestructible rainbow and how beautiful and perfect it is as a reminder of his goodness and tender loving kindness toward the people of the earth that think they can appropriate for themselves a symbol that belongs to God only. Instead they should be humbling themselves and ask for pardon for their sins of pride, haughtiness, self-sufficiency and rebellion, offending a Holy God and rejecting the only way that we can be made acceptable to and be reconciled with him, namely His Son Jesus-Christ.
 
We can choose to not be intimidated by the hordes of people following the devil and not giving in to hate, to vengeance or using the carnal weapons of the world, political scheming and illegitimate alliances that the Lord has forbidden.  

Thinking that we can appease the enemy and redress and rule the world in our own strength joining forces with anybody  and preaching peace and unity between light and darkness, good and evil at whatever cost and consequences while ignoring and neglecting the whole counsel of his eternal, immutable, powerful and pure word is counterproductive and doomed to failure. Sadly, this is what a  majority of churches are choosing to do in their desire to adjust with the changing times and the ways of the world.
The world´s armies might have their banner, and fight for their countries, their beliefs as we now see the black banners of Islamic States unfurl in the wind of conquest in the name of Allah. 
 
The cross of Jesus-Christ, our banner We believers in and followers of Jesus-Christ have only one, namely the cross of Jesus-Christ on which the Savior of the world hung between two common criminals. This is our banner of his love, a banner that leads us to be overcomers, more than conquerors because our Lord and King Jesus has won the battle against the devil, the world and the grave, giving us peace in this life and the hope of being with him when he comes back to take us to be with him forever. The Lord Jesus said in John 12:32: "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself." 
And to us the Church his bride, the Scripture states what I think as prophetic, the celebration of our wedding feast in heaven: 
“ He has brought me to his banquet hall,
And his banner over me is love."
Have you ever read a book starting with the end because you were anxious to know the denouement (the ending)?
 
The last rainbow We have such a preview at the end of the Bible, Revelation chapter 4: 3, John the Revelator describes the scene around the throne of God: ^3 “And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne.”
What an incredible heavenly spectacle! What a privilege to witness the glory and majesty of our God rain and the complete rainbow, perfect circle shining without the incomplete, diminished earthly vision of the atmospheric rainbow depending on the sunshine, the rain and our local position. This ought to stir our heart us up into faith, action and obedience to Christ as we see the time of the end approaching. 
 
To conclude, listen to Peter praising God for the living hope that we, as Christians experience as we patiently wait for our returning Savior. I Peter 1:3-9:  ^3 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶ In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. ⁷ These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. ⁸ Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, ⁹ for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”
 
If you do not know Jesus-Christ as your Lord and Savior, go to him in prayer and ask him to save you, he promised that anyone who asks will be answered.  He said: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28. 
 
John the Apostle writes: "Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God." John 1:12.
  
If you want to receive salvation and the Spirit of Jesus the living God, humble yourself, repent of your sins with a sincere contrite heart  and ask for his forgiveness. You need him to show to you who you really are, as he sees you, not as what you or other people think of you, because he loves you, died for you on the cross and took the penalty for your sins so you would not have to suffer an eternity in hell separated from God.It really is a matter of eternal life or eternal death. Romans 10:9 states: ^9 [a]that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
Maranatha, come Lord Jesus.
 
If you want to become born again of the Spirit of God and know Jesus-Christ, click on the following link for a simple explanation of what it means to be saved or born again. Keep it simple 

Read more: http://thelightseed.blogspot.com/2014/10/reflection-on-rainbow.html#ixzz3fbnDSDMu

A word from a free man Kent Hovind -- 2 videos

Legalism, joyless faith, persecution, and carts that get before their horses

Reblogged from servehiminthewaiting.com  

By STLloyd July 8, 2015 Faith in God

 

How can God stand to witness the things that we find so disheartening, any more than we can?  How can He have watched the horrific things that we know to have happened in the history of this world?  I suppose to answer that, we could go to the example of Lazarus.  No one understood at the time, why Jesus took his jolly time getting there to prevent Lazarus from dying.  It seemed all so unnecessary for Lazarus to have died, when Jesus so easily could have prevented it.  But isn’t that the point; the fact that death is subject to Christ?  Isn’t that the lesson there?  Death has to give back what it takes, if Jesus commands it to.

It is so hard from our human perspective, to accept that there are workings taking place we know nothing of because they are invisible to us.  I don’t know about you, but I have to work extremely hard to maintain a perspective that keeps God in the forefront, and all else in order behind the fact of Him.  That sounds like a strange sentence, I suppose.  But He does tell us He is the first and the last, the beginning and the end.

For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that were made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.  Because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish hearts were darkened. (Romans 1:20-21) So, should we cease to glorify God in the face of things discouraging, and cease being thankful, does that open the door to “vain imaginations”, you know, all those pesky “what-ifs” we tend to conjure up?  I know that this passage has a much different application in regards to those who reject Him entirely, but does that preclude there being an application also for those who do follow Him?  Does doubt invite darkness?  I mean, without faith, it is impossible to please Him.  So, wouldn’t doubt be a move away from that which pleases Him?

It is normal for doubt to pop up, just like temptation to other things, but we have to extinguish them.  Immediately.
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;  (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)
“Every thought”, you say?  That doesn’t just apply to lust and covetousness?  How about anxious thoughts?  Worry?

Sometimes I just have so much on my mind and in my heart, that it is difficult for me to narrow it down to a single issue.  I get frustrated with myself for getting discouraged by what I see happening, because I do know that it is all going according to what Scripture warned us to expect.

We have seen a lot of copy devoted to the subject of judgment coming to America.  The reflexive response for many of us as we witness the sheer arrogance of our Supreme Court and President, is to run for cover.  Surely after what God did in the days of Noah, and at Sodom, wrath is coming.  The problem with that expectation is that we are living in the age of Grace at the moment.
Christians right now, myself included, find themselves asking why God doesn’t put a stop to this train wreck that is happening to our nation right now.  But now wait a minute.  Are we forgetting that scripture also says judgment begins in the house of the Lord?  What does that mean?  Does it mean that the shape this world is in right now is due to our own failure to be salt and light, and that before He deals with the reprobates in the Supreme Court, The White House, under the ISIS banner, etc., He is going to deal with the failures in the church?

It does amount to persecution for the Believer to be penalized by civil law, for refusing to disobey laws clearly set forth by God Himself. It sets up a conflict.  But if civil law never conflicted with God’s law, in times like these, what would differentiate to a lost world, the true sheep from the pretenders?  We can be upset that guys like the Pope and Todd Bentley and Fred Phelps of Westboro Baptist fame, for “giving Christianity a bad name”, and we can be indignant because the arrogance of the Supreme Court threatens our freedom to worship and practice our faith, but in light of Hebrews 12:3-4, should we?  (For consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest you be wearied and faint in your minds.  He despised the shame of the cross, but He endured it for the joy that was set before Him)

In other words, on the other side of the cross, He knew that He would sit at the right hand of the throne of the Father. The self-righteous law-keepers who believed they were sinless, accused the one and only sinless man who ever lived, of breaking the law, and put Him on trial.  And we get indignant that the Supreme Court is infringing on our “right” to obey God without bringing down civil and/or federal recriminations on our heads?

Our own tribulation is only meant to perfect our faith.  Yesterday I reblogged a post from Jasper and Sardine, about ministers who were encouraging churches to raise the Christian flag above the American flag.  I think there is something to that!  I think we Christians got their patriotism and their Christianity all jumbled up together at some point, and well, that is definitely a cart before the horse situation.  We ought to vote, we ought to contact congress, because we can, (not that it makes much difference now), but we let that take the place of praying.  Beseeching God, who is the one who gives men their power.  We are conditioned to go “up the chain of command” but that is a man-made policy.  Jesus rent the veil, and we have direct access as Christians to the throne room.

But we become enamored so easily with human government.  “Self”-government.  And what we can do, our own busyness.  Busy busy world.  Running to and fro, increasing our knowledge, writing more books, improving and “evolving” our technology.  Wow. Yay us.
Professors are proud of their degrees.  Preachers are proud of theirs too.  And Christian do-gooders are proud of their good doings.  (But then, so are godless atheists and social justice proponents, whether religious or not).
All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. We aren’t sinners because we sin.  We sin because we are sinners.  We don’t make ourselves good by what we do, nor by what we abstain from doing. All our goodness is filthy rags. All means all, mister!  Whether we are saved or lost.

What?
You heard me!
Legalism is self-condemning. That’s the irony.  The Law can only show us our utter inability to keep it.  It is a schoolmaster to show us our sinfulness.  It is a mirror.  Fundamentalists are proud that they keep the “old paths”, Holy Rollers are proud they speak in tongues.  Unitarians are proud they accept everyone and never speak of condemnation or hell.

I kind of get flack from some people sometimes, for my focus on the “negative” things of this world.  There is a whole religious movement in “Christianity” today, that says your thoughts are like magic, and will fulfill themselves in your life, so if you think only positive things, your life will be good.  That is a nice thought, but it’s a bunch of hooey.

Speaking just from a personal perspective, though, I see it as cheating for folks to turn a blind eye to the misfortunes and suffering that are a very real fact of life in this world, and then revel in their “positivity” and tell me that the reason they are so happy and carefree is because they don’t focus on the negative, and the reason I have health problems is probably because I think to much about the tragedies and problems in this world.  Lol.  The actual term for that is denial.  
And so many professed Christians live that way.  They are no different from the world elites.  There is an arrogance in that attitude that is a stench to the nostrils of the unbeliever, and to God Himself.  Not to mention the Christian who lives with paraplegia, chronic pain, a Down Syndrome or autistic spectrum son or daughter, you get the idea.  That attitude makes as much sense to me as the uber-pious who respond to those surveys of Christian men who indicate that everything from an errant bra strap, to slacks on a woman, to peep toe shoes, troubles them with lust.  Seriously?  Ok, look, I admit that modesty is practically extinct, and I get that these things can be an issue, but from the results of those survey’s, you would think that the Birka is in order for all Christian women as well as for the Muslims, but there is one slight problem with that.  Since rape is as prevalent in cultures where women wear Birkas as anyplace else.  When asked how, exactly, slacks on a woman causes lustful thoughts, the answer is that, you know, it draws the eye to the crotch.  Yeah, so it’s okay for a man to wear an article of clothing that draws the eye there, but it is wrong for a woman?

Double standard.  Period.
The same goes for the professing Christian who is proud in his “separation” from the world because of all the things that he abstains from.  Let me tell you something.  I am a sinner.  When the world looks at the squeaky-clean church-goer, and says you’re no better than me, the world is right.  And I had rather sit among the foul-mouthed sinners who know they are not good, than the church folks who believe they are.  We are not good, and getting salvation through Jesus Christ doesn’t make us good.  To believe we are good is a misconception after we have been redeemed, just like it was before we were redeemed.  We are not good, we are just redeemed.  God pulled us out of the trash heap, and He has plans for us, but there was absolutely nothing about us that earned us the status of being one of the rescued.  It was only in confessing our sinful condition, our inability to redeem ourselves, and trusting Christ as redeemer, that we are set apart.  We don’t actually do the setting apart.  He does.

He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth.  He was brought as a lamb for the slaughter, and as a sheep before his shearers is dumb (mute), so He opens not His mouth.  He was numbered with the transgressors.  (Isaiah 53: 7-12)
You know what?  I don’t like the idea of persecution either.  I am struggling with the fact that one huge part of the church seems to be all about the “good life”, while another is under the delusion they are going to conquer the world for Christ, and yet another seems to feel that they are keeping their garments clean all by their own efforts and maybe by their abstention from certain things, and staying away from lowbrow sinners, the ones who are sowing to the flesh and unrepentant and unapologetic, and wear pants and have tattoos and piercings.
Faith becomes joyless in religious legalism.  That was the problem of the religious Jews, and it is the problem of religious Christians as well.

The scriptures told us that the Kingdom of Heaven would harbor all kinds nestled in it’s branches.  It is God who separates the wheat from the chaff.  Humans can’t recognize the subtle difference, so He instructed us to let it all grow there together, and He will separate it on the threshing floor.
Well, what is the threshing floor if not persecution?

God often uses the ungodly to chastise the His children, did you know that?  I’ve tried many times to live up to certain expectations placed on me by “the church” or Christian leaders.  Too often it is a false yoke.  The Scribes and Pharisees were experts at the false yoke.  But a lot of churches are pretty adept at it as well.

I don’t mind chastisement.  I would rather the Lord chastise me, than to go my own way to my own detriment.  It’s never fun, of course, to be chastised.  But you’re “none of His” if you’re never chastised.  Whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth. If I am guilty of cynicism toward church experiences I have had, then may the Lord address that, but I refuse to pretend.  The Bible tells us we should “be of good cheer” because Christ has overcome the world.

You can have cheer, and joy, and peace in your heart, and not necessarily go around displaying that in the form of an ever-present smile for your facial expression.  Is it appropriate to be “cheerful and joyful” at a funeral?  Serious sin is being celebrated as virtue in our world today.  Is that a condition in which cheerfulness and joy are appropriate?  Are we not to mourn with those who mourn? Are there not Christian mothers and fathers who are losing their kids to the homosexual lifestyle?  Are the gays the enemy? NO, we wrestle not against flesh and blood!  Is that getting through?  How often does Satan persuade you to disdain the sinner? To be angry with the agents God put in your path to frustrate you because your attention is on the wrong things?

I embrace the treasures of God’s promises to His children in His Word.  I know that I have riches beyond measure, and blessings awaiting me that I can’t even begin to imagine.   But right now, we are coming to the end of the age of Grace.  I still have friends  who adamantly refuse to allow me to speak about that in their presence.  Professing Christians, I mean!  I am not about conviction.  That is way above my pay grade.  That’s the Holy Spirit’s job.  Both in the saved, and the unsaved.

God said I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. So then it is not of him that wills, nor of him that runs, but of God who shows mercy.  For the scripture says to Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised you up, that I might show My power in you, and that My name might be declared throughout all the Earth.  Therefore has He mercy on whom He will, and whom He will, He hardens.
You will say then to me, why does He yet find fault?  For who has resisted His will?  Nay but O man, who are you that replies against God?  Shall the thing formed say to Him that formed it, why have you made me thus?  Has not the potter power over the clay?  Of the same lump to make one vessel to honor and the other to dishonor?

What if God, willing to show His wrath, and to make His power known, endured with much long-suffering the vessel of wrath fitted to destruction? And that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had before prepared to glory? (See Romans 9).
When we remain steadfast in our faith in the face of persecution, our faith is “proven” to be genuine.  That strengthens our faith, it Glorifies the Lord, and it attracts the skeptics and doubters who would like to have something to believe in that is real and worth suffering and possibly even dying for.  We aren’t going to win over the lost by showing them how good we have it being a Christian. (Or how good we are “as” a Christian). The devil is the one offering that deal. Sorry to be so blunt and buzz-kill-ish.  But that is the truth.  There is no place in scripture where God promises a great, prosperous, successful, thriving life here in the Earthly realm.  It’s just not there.  Jesus promised us the world would hate us, because it hates Him.  So we are to go to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach.  What does that even mean?  Have you wondered?

Everyone in the world wants to be “in”.  They want to be “in the know”.  The want to be “in style”.  They want to be accepted in the clique, voted into the club, admitted into the Ivy League, yada ad nauseum.
Come out of her! (Babylon the Great- Revelation 18:4)
Go to Him outside the camp, (Hebrews 13:13)
Go out of the land of Egypt, the land of Pharaoh (Exodus)
Go out of Babylon (Jeremiah)
Go out of that city which will not receive you and shake off the dust of your feet (Luke)
Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. (Jesus in Luke 14)

Some day soon we are going out of this world. One way or the other.  For me, the sooner the better!  I know where I am headed and have no illusions about having earned it, and  no fears of having lost it. I got “passage” there secured by the King of Kings who cannot lie. It’s available to “whosoever will”. It’s what you might call a “done deal”. Because He is outside of time and I am hidden in Him.  Sounds mysterious, right? Only to those who won’t read the Book!  It’s all there in black and white (and red).

Dave Hodges on The Hagmann & Hagmann Report 07/07 by Hagmann and Hagmann Report | News Podcasts

Dave Hodges on The Hagmann & Hagmann Report 07/07 by Hagmann and Hagmann Report | News Podcasts

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