"Age of Deception"

What is the biggest threat to our world today?

If you're thinking nuclear war, pandemics, or natural disasters, we'd say, "close, but no cigar."

Scripture is replete with warnings, but one looms larger than all the rest: deception.

The Bible says Satan is the god of this world and calls him the "father of lies." Spending his time whispering his heresies into the ears of unsuspecting people, Satan loves to deceive, kill, and destroy. Let's face it, gang, there's a war going on, an invisible, cosmic contest for the souls of men.

God wants you in heaven. Satan wants you in hell. It really is as simple as that.

Because Lucifer is an 'angel of light', he's an expert at making good look evil and evil look good. He hates God and God's people and is working overtime to make sure the world does too. A recent Barna Poll shows that 25 % of Americans have a negative view of Christians, up from 12% in 2011.

Really?!?

Actually, we shouldn't be surprised.

Jesus warned us. He said, "When the world hates you, remember it hated Me before it hated you. The world would love you if you belonged to it, but you don't. I chose you to come out of the world, and so it hates you...the people of the world will hate you because you belong to Me, for they don't know God who sent Me. (John 15:18).

1 John 2:11 says: "Anyone who hates a Christian is living and walking in darkness. Such a person is lost, having been blinded by the darkness." In other words, being a Christian will not win you any popularity contests with unbelievers because "the sinful nature is always hostile to God. (Romans 8:7).

To make matters even worse, Satan and his minions have wormed their way into the church! False teachers abound. 2 Peter 2:2 says, "Many will follow their evil teachings and shameful immorality. And because of them, Christ and His true way will be slandered."

1 Timothy 4:1 says, "Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from what we believe; they will follow lying spirits and teachings that come from demons. These teachers are hypocrites and liars. They pretend to be religious, but their consciences are dead."
Looks pretty bleak, doesn't it? Just remember this: We have a secret weapon that sends the enemy trembling in fear--the Holy Spirit.

The Bible says, "Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; in stead, rebuke and expose them." (Ephesians 5:11).

This is exactly what we intend to do...stay tuned.

A wise man once said: "We have gone from being a post-Christian nation to being an anti-Christian nation." -- Roger Marsh, radio show host

News:

• Fox News Channel: N. Korea "an urgent national security threat and top foreign policy priority," says U.S. senior officials.
• Bloomberg: Putin Warns N. Korea Situation Has "Seriously Deteriorated."
• The Washington Post: N. Korea posts new video showing White House in cross-hairs in simulated U.S. attack.

"Is The Number '70' Prophetic?"

Anyone who studies Bible prophecy knows the number '70' makes frequent appearances. According to the Nelson Study Bible, 70 years symbolizes a full measure of time, a life time, or a generation.

Next year the nation of Israel will be 70-years old. God's prophetic time-clock is linked to the rebirth of Israel (according to most Bible scholars) and that happened in 1948.

So what indications do we have of Christ's soon return that other generations lacked?

Before answering that question it is imperative that we understand a few things:

• God has a purpose for mankind
• History is not happenstance
• Prophecy reveals that plan in advance

In Matthew 24, Jesus says the generation that sees the events He described beginning to happen will not pass away before everything happens; in other words, the end-time events will all take place within one generation.

In 1948:

• The nation of Israel was restored
• The transistor chip was invented
• The global economy was born with the creation of GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) which was replaced by the World Trade Organization
• The seeds of a global government were planted with the creation of the United Nations
• The Treaty of Rome was signed which evolved into the European Union
• The World Council of Churches was formed which will eventually morph into a one world religion
• The predecessor of NATO, the Treaty of Brussels, was signed

All seven of these events have profound prophetic significance, and set the stage for the fulfillment of all the rest of the prophecies. Is it just coincidence they all began in 1948?

Remember God has a purpose for everything that happens. History = His Story. He has a purpose and a plan for mankind and a purpose and a plan for us. Our job is to figure out what it is. The good news? Everything we need has already been complied for us in one big book, the Bible. All we have to do is look.

Oh, and guess what else was invented just before God hit the start button in 1948?

The famous Doomsday Clock! Introduced in June of 1947, it was set at SEVEN minutes til midnight.

So will 2018, the 70th anniversary of the rebirth of Israel be a prophetic year? Time will tell.

A wise man once said: "Some liberal theologians still insist that prophecy has no literal meaning for today and that it cannot be taken seriously. It is difficult to understand this view if one carefully weighs the case of Israel's rebirth as a nation." --Hal Lindsey, The Late, Great Planet Earth

"For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12).

News:

• Reuters: N.Korea warns of 'super-mighty preemptive strike'; N.Korea belligerent after failed missile test.
• USA Today: Fla. military unit watches for N.Korean nuclear tests using $3 billion surveillance network.
• NBC News: U.N. Security Council threatens N.Korea with new sanctions for its "highly destabilizing behavior"

"Is The Stage Being Set For War In The Middle East?"

It's hard to believe that in the years prior to 1948, most liberal scholars ridiculed the idea of a restored Jewish homeland. "You can't take the Bible literally," they scoffed. Others thought that the promises God made to Israel must now be applied to the church. Why? Because Israel had rejected her Messiah. Any promises made to her were now null and void.

Well, I guess God didn't get that memo and neither did many of the conservative scholars throughout history. People who took the Bible at its word (i.e. literally) understood the certainty of Israel's re-establishment as a nation long before the events of 1948. Many of them wrote about it as far back as 1611. They were looking for three signs:

1. The rebirth of the nation Israel. (fulfilled on May 14, 1948)
2. The Jewish repossession of old Jerusalem. (fulfilled in 1967)
3. The rebuilding of the ancient Jewish temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. (not yet fulfilled)

These three clues will signal that the time of Messiah's return is near.

Unfortunately, that ain't all folks. Israel's return to the land would trigger ongoing hostility from all of her surrounding neighbors. Psalm 83 predicts a conspiracy involving the nations on Israel's borders. Their plan? Destroy Israel. (obviously, this hasn't happened yet, but when it does, it will fail).

Many believe this war is next on the prophetic calendar and will set the stage for the famous Ezekiel 38 prophecy, which details a surprise attack against Israel involving Iran (aka Persia), Russia (Magog) and a coalition of Muslim nations. The Bible indicates this war may be nuclear.

Only time will tell.

"...Thus says the Lord GOD: 'Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel...(Ezekiel 37: 21-22).

"...In the latter days you will come into the land..." (Ezekiel 38: 8).

A wise man once said: "God didn't give us prophecy to scare us, but to prepare us." -- Dr. Ed Hindson, prophecy teacher

News:

•  Bloomberg: Russia Says Evidence Growing Syria Chemical Attack Was Staged
• Washington Examiner: Getting Ready: Pentagon to protect electric grid from massive attack by North Korea or Iran
• Daily Mail: ISIS hammered as U.S. drops biggest non-nuclear weapon ever

"Does Trump + Spring = Civil Unrest? Preppers Say Relaxing Doesn't Add Up"

George Soros is predicting a Trump fail, which means a drastic stock market slide and eventual chaos in the streets. Some believe Soros has the power to make it happen.

So what can we do? Prep, of course.

Google the word 'prepping' and you'll get 7,420,000 results.

No kidding--'prepping', once the purview of doomsday cults, has gone mainstream. Well, almost.

"When some people think of prepping, it conjures images of strange people wearing tinfoil hats huddled in a shelter while they wait for the mother-ship to return," says the PreppingToSurvive.com website. "For others, thoughts of a recluse living in a one-room shack in the middle of rural Montana come to mind."

So what's the real nature of preppers?

According to David Z. Morris of CNN Money, "Many preppers are average consumers reacting to concrete worries, and their way of thinking is spreading, fueling an emerging lifestyle trend."

"More and more Americans are spending money to get ready for an uncertain future," Morris said.

Today's prepper, far from being a wild-eyed fanatic, sees prepping as an insurance plan. According to PreppingToSurvive they:

• buy extra food when it's on sale
• store extra water
• buy supplies in bulk and store some of it
• grow their own garden
• keep extra cash on hand
• get out of debt
• payoff their mortgage, if possible
• learn emergency first aid
• get to know their neighbors
• get to know their Bibles
• pray

In other words, today's prepper is: 

"A prudent person (who) foresees the danger ahead and takes precautions" (Proverbs 23:3 and 27:12. It's there twice to make sure we get it!).

It doesn't have to be the end of the world. We are only one super-sized disaster away from the end of our world. (Think Katrina, Fukishima, Super-storm Sandy, last week's super-typhoon, Richter scale 8-plus mega-quakes in various places, the loss of the US dollar as the reserve currency, hyper-inflation, or even a personal job loss or illness). Let's not be part of the crowd waiting around for somebody else to come to our rescue.

A prudent person takes precautions.

To see why you should prepare,click here

A wise women  once said:

"Private opinion creates public opinion. Public opinion overflows eventually into national behavior and national behavior, as things are arranged at present, can make or mar the world. That is why private opinion, and private behavior, and private conversation are so terrifyingly important." -- Jan Struther, author

News:

• CBS: CDC Issues New Warning on Impact of Zika Virus
• Reuters: Russia Warns USA Over Possible Military Action In Syria
• CBS News: U.S. appears to be on the verge of Syria missile strike